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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2002)
10 Friday, January 25, 2002 SPO' THE BATTAUl No. 19 Aggie men host No. 3 Horn By Troy Miller THE BATTALION Some of the most elite swimmers and divers in the nation will come into College Station this weekend. On Saturday, the No. 19 Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team will host the No. 3 University of Texas Longhorns at 4 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium. Longhorn head coach Eddie Reese has led his team to two straight national champi onships, winning his most recent in March in College Station. Since 1979, Reese and Texas are 22-0 in dual meets against the Aggies. “They have had one of the better teams of all time recently, and then last year they grad uated a pretty outstanding senior class,” said A&M head coach Mel Nash. “They’re not quite as strong as they’ve been, but they’re still one of the class acts in the business.” This year Texas features two-time defending NCAA Diver of the Year, Troy Dumais, and his brother, Justin, who won the 2001 World Championship in Japan. Junior Chris Kemp and sophomore Brendan Hansen own the nation's fastest collegiate times in the 2001-02 season in the 200-yard freestlye and the 200-yard breast stroke, respectively. The Longhorn relay teams also hold the fastest collegiate times this year in both the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays. A&M will be led by All-Americans Matt Rose and Nik Tate. Last weekend the Aggies dominated two meets • against Louisiana State University and the University of Lousiana-Monroe. Eight swimmers and diver Jesse Even com peted over the weekend in the Dallas Morning News Invitational. The team placed fifth out of six top 20 teams. “The pool is not very fast |in Dallas], yet we got some season best and lifetime swims in there, and the guys comp extremely well,” Nash said. “From standpoint we’re really pleased.” The Aggies come into the meet Texas holding a 7-1 record, while University of Texas is 3-1 in dual me Texas’ wins have ; ome against lot■ competition, and t hey’ e only loss u:ll No. 2 Auburn, wh ich s also A&M * « blemish on the sea.* >on. “Swimming is a s ' ange sport," Wj said. “It’s not like i >ther sports whereoajfl two guys can get r eally liot and chanB t outcome of the gat ne. 1 n s\s imining. ®p, two people can’t iom nate a whole -ll meet, so it’s kind of u nigh to pull upip We’re going to try to u sc the fact iha;-jj have some of the be St sv ■ • ■ Tc,™ try for our people to n o .inotH sets us up well f or b -'•cn-nctM NC Rams look to challenge Eagles oftei JON LIVAS • THE BATTALION A&M junior forward Meg Banahan and the Texas A&M women’s basketball team will host No. 5 Oklahoma on Saturday at Reed Arena. Bounce Continued from page 5 The win kept the Sooners in contention for the Big 12 title after a loss to Iowa State last Wednesday. “Sometimes you need to lose maybe, unfortunately, to remind you how much fun this game can be, and how much you’re supposed to enjoy yourself for 40 minutes. 1 thought they did | Saturday],” said Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale. “1 thought they played together. I thought they enjoyed themselves on the fioor and played free.” The Sooners also had a con ference bye on Wednesday and should be well rested for Saturday’s game. Oklahoma leads the all-time series between the two teams, 12-7, and won the last six times the teams have met dating back to 1998. The teams played at Reed Arena last season when the Sooners, then No. 10, beat the Aggies, 93-70. Saturday will be the first of two conference meetings between the teams this season. ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Rams have this mindset that nobody, not even the blitz-crazy Philadelphia Eagles, can alter: They will throw often, they will throw deep and. they believe, they will not be stopped. So while Philadelphia looks to send everyone but Ben Franklin after quarterback Kurt Warner in Sunday’s NFC cham pionship game. St. Louis will not back down and go conservative. Not even after Warner missed much of practice Thursday with cramps in his rib cage; coach Mike Martz said he “will be fine tomorrow (Friday).” “We are clicking and pretty much on all cylinders,” said Isaac Bruce, one of four wide- outs who, along with All-Pro running back Marshall Faulk, will be Warner’s main targets during the final step to the Super Bowl. “It’s kind of hard to stop. I mean, you have to sometimes just step back in amazement and just look at the things that are happening. “I’m not really saying that everything goes with ease, but when you sit back on Monday and watch film, it looks pretty easy what's happening and what we are doing.” What they are doing is aver aging 32 points a game, although the defense has con tributed five touchdowns this season. That defense also scored 21 points in the 45-17 rout of Green Bay last weekend. Faulk, of course, is the most dynamic offensive weapon in the league, winner of three straight Offensive Player of the Year awards. But he also might be needed in blitz pickup more than usual against Philadelphia. That means Bruce, Tony Holt, Az Hakim and Ricky Proehl will be featured. Often. And particularly if Pro Bowl cornerback Troy Vincent remains hobbled by a groin injury that has kept him from practicing. So even though Eagles quar terback Donovan McNabb expects his team to have fun Sunday, All-Pro safety Brian Dawkins was not so sure. “Not whe/t they hit you across the head with deep balls, it’s not fun,” Dawkins said with a chuckle. “But seriou because that’s a chalk want as a defense, 1 speed that they have quarterback, where’s I ting the ball, you realb be on top of your ga have to be where you n every time. it ip [ We are clicking and pretty' much on all cylinders. It's kit id of hard to stop. — Isaac Bnjc< Rams' wide receive either. St. Louis gained s than 400 vai -ds 10 times ted son. It ave raged 418 \K] game, 291 ] passing. There d ay s of at leas vards and 1 4 runs of at leas I offense, you ta he able to p the No. 1 w das last." saidH I si catches, ill Faulk led seven ituidxtaj the team witifl catches, nin e for TDs. 1i are the fastesm in the Natioi nal Football Lea if we run tf ic fastest 40s fastest HXF ■». but I know 11 thing: We t •>la\ fast, and 3 “Everybody around the world knows that they are a big- play team. They want to get the big play, want to get two and three touchdowns in the first quarter and basically get you out of the game.” Yes. they do. And they are very good at it. This season, ibe always mind-boggling. When you watch filnut I you can’t really judge the 11 until you actually get outaj field and see how fast m playing, and how last we'r ting in and out of routes Id know if we're the fastesti meter team, hut I know- play fasl." ^0 A. Musical Masterpiece! Top: Senior sion to cant announced closed-circui Lerner and Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY res By S Bi Professor Henry Higgins has accepted a new student. Her name is Eliza Doolittle. And she promises to be his toughest ^ 1 ^ assignment yet. after . Lerner and Loewe's MY FAIR LADY is one of the most popular ^ ^ " Sponsored by musicals of all time. The Broadway favorite includes "I Could j n t ^MMfi Have Danced All Night," "Loverly," "The Street Where You to stuc IcrefI Live" and "I’m Getting Married in the Morning." Rudde mmm fr . ^ and K. For tickets, call the MSC Box Office at 845-1234 or buy dents > tickets on-line at opas.tamu.edu. foi dis hac »4 cv ' th,s y e itSall ( Spa K January 25 and 26 • 7:30 PM ; room> the .ZTxO j Rudder Auditorium Theate I f fl TIC KETS: Call 845-1234 j U JxS? (/ Online at opas.tamu.edu ^ 1 an 2001-2002 Season Media Partners sl " 1 * Eg! 'gix-.tv-ig'j fttmm HH majoi