I HO RTS 3B THE BATTALION Wednesday, September 4, 2002 Texans Banks eyes opener mackup QB says he wants win over Cowboys, not revenge HOUSTON (AP) lai bad men lor es of the Dal IS Cowboys a re far behind lirr Wt ‘11, almost. } tiring train in o camp last iea >n. the Cow lx ys unceremo- no sly released Bt mks, who ho ghl he’d be th £ o pening day ;tai er over rot _* Quincy An ;r. 3anks went on to play for he W; ishington Re dskins in .ast month. Banks signed a fro agent contrac t with the do ton T exans to be ro okie jUi erback David ITarr’s b ack- jp. 1| ■le Tex ans first regular sea- sot will be against the Co x>ys tl lis Sund; ly nighi and Ba oping hi s new earn wil K2 VICt >rious. ■1 lt*l David know how im rtant it is to wi n it,†B anks sai “If he’ other re ason to n it, a ad Fm s are he c loes. the i the las t reason is to w in it foi c. ■^ hen B inks was release d by thj ( owboy s, he sait at the i ime. "It was like my dad hitting me with a bat or something. It was the last possible thing I could imagine.†BANKS Courtesy oe www.houstontexans.com Now' the former St. Louis and Baltimore starter says the pain is gone. “I never played a down for those folks so they are the Dallas Cowboys and 1 am a Houston Texan,†Banks said. “Everybody wants to talk about what hap pened in Dallas because it was kind of surprising but that chap ter in my life is over. “I played for two other NFL teams but nobody wants to talk about them because of what hap pened in Dallas.†Banks got his first action with the Texans in Friday’s 17-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He hobbled one snap and fum bled another but he recovered to complete 4 of 10 passes for 56 yards. “Tony hasn’t been here very long but he has the kind of arm strength you want,†coach Dom Capers said. "He can really throw it up the field.†Although he understands his role as backup to the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick. Banks doesn’t accept the label. “I’ve got confidence in my abilities. 1 know what I’m capa ble of doing. I don’t even consid er myself a backup,†Banks said. “But to be a backup and help this team. I’ll just do whatever I can to help David and see what hap pens.†Banks’ repertoire was limited against the Buccaneers. He expects to have the full playbook at his fingertips the next time he gets into a game. “Now that I’ll start game planning for teams, I think I’ll have the whole package down by the end of the week,†Banks said. Carr still gets most of the rep etitions in workouts but Banks still thinks he’s getting the offense down. “With David being so young, and I was in that situation before, you have to take 90 to 95 percent of the reps,†Banks said. “Whoever the backup is, you only get about 13 reps, maybe one out of 10.†Banks might have signed ear lier with the team but he dropped a weight on his passing hand four months ago and has been healing. “Tve played this game for a while so I should be OK,†Banks said. “The hand is fine now. I haven't thrown a deep ball in five months but I got the oppor tunity in the game and it felt good. “I imagine if the bullets start Hying, I’ll be thrown into the fire.†lohn Madden makes debut on ABC ■\ i; > I, W Y ORK (AP) — They’ve tried a Binod anc old q uarterbacks. Now, Bth lohn M adden and Al Michaels. “Mom lay Nig it Football†is turning to tio oh .1 prt is w ho promise an emphasis on gi mes not imicks. 1 \B C S port s lured Madden from Fox fir its foot ball franchi se this season, pair- iile hii 11 w ith Michael s, who has been in lie “M 1 l)KA end ay h fight Ft >otball†booth since 1 f/oO. V A fit :r w orki ng threi ; exhibition games. th ■ne\ v ABC earn m< ikes its regular-sea- Spn d ebut M onday with an attractive nfutchup: the Pittsburgh Steelers against the defending champion New England Patriots in a rematch of the AFC champi onship game. I “I feel like I've worked with John for 10 years." Michaels said Tuesday. “It's that comfortable, it’s been that easy, it's been that enjoyable.†I ABC has a lot riding on the new team. H tings for "Monday Night Football" have nopped seven straight years, more than 15 percent during the last two years. But with the network's prime-time collapse over the past year, the show is still one of the most reliable programs on its schedule. I Madden and Michaels say they hope the network’s fortunes improve. But they Weren’t ready to take ABC on their backs. I “All we can do is prepare as perfectly as possible to make the best of every game we can,†Michaels said. ’There’s really nothing we can do to bring up the ratings except be as good as we can be. Everything else would just be a trick. It wouldn’t last very long.†j Madden, the former Oakland Raiders coach who was paired with Pat Summerall in CBS and Fox booths for 21 years, said he won’t change his blunt, blue-collar approach for the prime-time showcase. “What I do is reactionary,†he said. "It’s a reaction to what’s going on on the field and to the pictures. You can’t plan something. You can’t format a live event because you don’t know what’s going to happen.†Michaels and sideline reporter / feel like I've worked with John for 10 years. It's been that comfortable, it’s been that easy, it's been that enjoyable. — Al Michaels ABC football analyst Melissa Stark are the lone on-air holdovers from last year’s team, which included comedian Dennis Miller, and former play ers Dan Fouts and Eric Dickerson. Miller was a controversial choice because he didn't have a football back ground. He drew mixed reviews, but ulti mately couldn’t change the direction of the ratings. He might have returned, but ABC pounced when Madden became available after Fox decided to break up the Madden- Summerall team. “You don’t want to say anything is a slam-dunk,†Michaels said. “But we've both been doing this for a long time and we have a lot of support. This just feels right." Asked whether he'd be disappointed if the ratings didn’t go up. Madden said he had no control over them. “I’ve always believed, don’t worry about things you can't control and don't take credit for things you can't control,†he said. While he’s always interested in little things that can make the broadcast better, Michaels said he sees no major changes in how ABC will present the Monday night games. “You have two guys in the booth who have a true passion for the game,†he said. “Our goal is to make the game as interest ing and entertaining and to be as informa tive to the viewer as we possibly can.†Both broadcasters said they wished they had more control over the “Monday Night Football†schedule. Although ABC makes suggestions of games it wants to see, ulti mately the NFL decides on the schedule. ABC has sought flexibility to change late- season games but hasn't received it. Madden said he believed a flexible schedule could be made to work so it bene fits all the NFL broadcasters. The Monday night schedule "looks pret ty good right now,†he said. “It's not going to look good at the end. You're going to have some duds in there.†He’s excited about the NFL’s Thursday night matchup between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers — even though it won’t be on ABC — because it offers an opening-day atmosphere that foot ball has never had compared to baseball. “We need more celebrations, more happiness, more fun and more tradition,†he said. SPORTS IN BRIEF Aggie golf team begins season in Scotland The Texas A&M men's golf team opened the fall season Friday and Saturday at the inau gural International Collegiate at the St. Andrews Bay Resort. The tournament is the first NCAA-sanctioned golf event conducted in Europe. The tournament will consist of 18 holes on Friday and 36 holes on Saturday at the resort's Torrance Course. A&M is one of seven American teams participating in the event. North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia Southern, Wofford, Akron and Texas Tech are the other U.S. schools involved. "This is the first NCAA event they've ever had over there adn we're honored to be invit ed," said Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins. "We're looking forward to showing that we are a pro gram to be reckoned with. We hope this is the start of what will be a great year for us." 'Aggie Sports Connection' back for sixth season The Aggie Sports Connection, which is the official television show of the Texas A&M Athletics Department, makes its sixth season premiere on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Net Southwest. The weekly 30-minute show gives viewers an inside look at A&M athletics throughout the competition year. During the Fall, the ASC focuses on football, as well as A&M volleyball and soccer. Hosted by the "Voice of the Aggies" Dave South, and foot ball coach R.C. Slocum, the show features interviews, high lights, and behind the scenes look at Aggieland. ASC runs from the week fol lowing the first football game through the last week in April. The HELP You NEED NOW... 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Find out at the Bockto her Fes t AX^eb site at www.shiner.com JfIL A C A'D ' t TM Y College Dance Classes Technique Training Now Enrolling 690-1813 Jennifer Hart Director of the Texa s A & M Aggie Dance Team College of Education Dept, of Teaching, Learning and Culture Undergraduate Advising Office 107 Harrington Tower • (979) 845-5312 Mandatory Group Meetings • Seniors • Student Teachers • Juniors • Sophomores • Freshmen • Secondary Students Advising Schedule: Fall 2002 Tues. Sept 10 Tues. Sept. 10 Tues Sept. 17 Tues. Oct. 1 Tues. Oct. 22 Tues. Nov. 5 Rudder 601 7:00 p.m. Rudder 601 8:30 p.m. MSC 201 8:30 p.m. MSC201 8:30 p.m. Rudder 601 8:30 p.m. Rudder 301 8:30 p.m. Individual Mandatory Advising Sessions • WEF:K 1 Sept. 2-6 * WEEK 2-3 Sept. 9-20 Sept. 13. 19, and 20 - reserved for Spring 2003 student teachers * WEEK 4-5 Sept. 23 - Oct. 4 • WEEK 6-8 Oct. 7-25 • WEEK 9-10 Oct. 28 - Nov. 8 * WEEK 11-13 Nov. 11-27 •WEEK 14-16 Dec. 2-18 Hours of Operation „ ^ Monday - Thursday ' 6 f m ' Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Websites: http://www.coe.tamu.edu/advising http://www.coe.t.imu.edu/scced Open to all students; walk-ins only Seniors Juniors Sophomores Freshmen Secondary Students Open to all students; walk-ins only Appointments and Walk-ins Walk-ins only http://www.coe.tamu.edu/smdentteaching S76S t/i& 6e wf u/im^ of 6/w/a^ masr/v t/ie 6e<piriy?wruf(jf a cwid/iea/lA^ nectp tfetw arv recr^i^ed tamic.ee/iis