Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2002)
m $P0; flDRTS 'HI BA1! HE BATTALION 3B Thursday, September 5, 2002 9/1 Baylor head coach safe for now t verify !j Athletic Director gives Steele vote of confidence liush, «ill n« w uul I I)\V. member WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor athletic |>*<*mber 1 i rei lor Tom Stanton, saying he won’t be —^waM.-d by Internet campaigns, rumors and iuiK>inunu» n 8 r ' l ans ’ £ ave a passionate vote of confi dence for coach Kevin Steele. ^^■tanton said Tuesday that Steele, whose •ver til record is 6-28 after a season-opening 0-22 loss at California, will remain the ^■h throughout at least this season. ^^^^^^^^K<evin Steele is the leader of our football and that’s not going to change k- AmcricMpecituse we went out to California and lost a a bclball game’” Stanton said. “That’s not the :nd of the world. We’re not going to go limp off a bridge and we’re not going to go ■lit our wrists.” Hit the pressbox after Saturday’s game, itaiton was visibly upset as he talked to iorieone on his cellular phone. California, a ?ac-10 team that was 1-10 last season, led $5-0 in the first quarter. ^K)n Tuesday, in an unscheduled appear- at Steele’s weekly media luncheon. Slat ton read off a prepared list as he out- linld improvements in the program in many areas, including academics, disci pline and administrative and organization al skills. Quitting is not an option... when you teach players not to quit, why would you ever let that thought into your mind? ” STEELE tame that the be Y But Stanton, who gave Steele an unspec ified contract extension last year, didn’t rule out a change after the season. “When the season is over, if Kevin and I decide that we want to do something else, then Kevin Steele and I will sit down and talk about that and we’ll make those deci sions at the appropriate times,” Stanton said. Steele, who said the vote of confidence from Stanton was appreciated but not neces sary, said he has never considered resigning. “Quitting is not an option,” Steele said. “Because when you teach players not to quit, why would you ever let that thought into your mind?” The Bears play their home opener Saturday against Division I-AA Samford, and have two more games after that before their Big 12 opener Oct. 5 against Kansas. Baylor has a 29-game conference losing streak, 0-24 under Steele. The Bears had a players-only meeting Sunday described as emotional. “It got pretty heated in there,” said quar terback Aaron Karas. “Not negative, but peo ple finally stepping up and making people accountable for their actions. I think you’ll see a different team out there this week.” Stanton said he was moved by the courage and emotion of players who came to him and "pledged their absolute commit ment and support to their head football coach and this university.” Shop on-line at www.varsityford.net VARSITY FORD Hundreds of02 s andpre-oumed to choose from Check out our specials on ALL trucks. Explorers, Mustangs and Focus College Grad and 1st Time Buyer Program for Internet Users Questions? E-mail us at sales@varsityford.net Remember Johnny Carino’s for your next catering needS - Weddings Business parties Family picnics Graduation Parties Luncheons SororitylFraternity functions Phone (979) 764-7374 Fax (979) 764-737S All You Can Eat Pasta Mondays & Tuesdays *5.99! SV.m! v Madi cnt. | d He pen New head coach gives ND faithful new hope ■(AP) He looks nothing like his predecessors. ^^■But in the span of a few months, and on the admittedly thin evidence of only a single game, Tyrone Willingham has given the faithful hope. He’s Heady stirred faint echoes. He has made Notre Dame football look, and feel and sound very ftfeuch as it used to — big-time. B All those trophies lining the walls and the statues outside his office might have some company yet. I Expectations scared off a few of the coaches who were in line ahead of him. Not Willingham. His only fear is getting ahead of himself. ■ “It’s like playing golf,” the new coach said after the Irish made his debut Saturday night almemorable one. “A hacker will get all excited when he pars a hole. But in his excite- ment, he’ll forget to play the next several holes. I’m not a hlcker.” I The last guy who held Willingham's job for more than a few days was Bob Davie. He didn’t understood what made Notre Dame special when he took the job and he was just as clueless when he lift. He worked plenty hard, but got trapped into thinking l'ii in the r- Perspiration was the same .nul ha> tfing as inspiration, past fourm- 1 “I don’t know if anybody is going to come in here and just k tithe top ^ ave t * ie * ans jumping up and i n ,u prep down each and every week. I t being v don 1 know if that 8 u y exists - ^ “If he did,” Davie said just before he was fired last winter, “his name was Knute or one of those other statues outside my office.” | Willingham is black, neither Irish nor Catholic. But he has embraced Notre Dame’s tradi- morthatwf lion as though he was born to ning like ^ mstead of a kid who was <ad coach!'raised a Baptist in North bration in ^ fjarolina and sneaked out of church on fall Sunday morn- combined ings to catch ND’s highlights. Bowls in*' ^ Llt l ie s made up for lost 1()s time in a hurry. Since luled for 8-' Willingham took the job, he’s will be te^ rea d tw o books on Rockne, on £5pn. watched all the mushy movies houl the a o what \hc ving her L for the new f imfer ** r was domi Stefan ' and it ~ bing Jewfcr. nhered Csp ir umpire i the spt- imcd dowr hrovui or . hangc the i to what I Mauresmo out conquc k from ad' t. Only 26. priorities r i a iifetiro n 1990. in' 1994, bad 7th in IW the first lilt No. I to d forth. un. she y ones thafi same !ni'' 13, rn.” v Yorkers. and old game films and memo rized the fight song. He’ll be reminded soon enough that there is no substitute for win ning. In the meantime, though, Willingham has bought himself some time. Last off-season was a rocky one for a program that hadn’t contended for nearly a decade to begin with. After a messy round of job interviews to replace Davie, first-choice George O’Leary turned out to be less than advertised. The starting quarterback split and the leading rusher was shown the exit. Three more players were dis missed from school after accu sations of sexual assault. None of that has been repackaged as an excuse. There have been no complaints about a tough schedule — Florida State, Michigan, Michigan State, USC — or having to compete against players — as Davie often claimed — who would not have been admitted to Notre Dame. Willingham, after all, came to Notre Dame from Stanford. He knew exactly what he was getting into, even if all his assis tants did not. “Everything you hear about Notre Dame is true, but even more so” defensive coordina tor Kent Baer said last month. He followed Willingham to the Midwest after seven sea sons at Stanford. “It’s amazing,” Baer added, “how important it is to so many people.” And this was before the Irish put a 22-0 hurt on Maryland, before they revived the slum bering subway alumni, before they played defense with inten sity and offense with enough imagination to attract the skill- position players Davie could never land. And he’s already learned something on his way into the office that Davie didn’t figure out in a thousand similar jour neys: Those statues outside were erected to honor men who took chances, who didn’t let being measured by the past stop them from building an even better future. WHERE AGGIES MEET AGGIES s :* Lunch Specials Monday - Friday f Daily Drink Specials * Pool, Darts, Dominoes & Shuffleboard T Happy Hour 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. daily *' Accepts all major credit cards, plus Aggiebucks r Live music Thurs/Sat in spacious beer garden Plenty of parking at Northgate and NO COVER 303 University Drive 846-8806 ) wireless We never stop working for you.^ Share Unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes Plus innft mo kile to mobile IUUU anytime minutes on the primary line and 250 mobile to mobile minutes on each additional line to call any of our 30 million customers nationwide on our national mobile to mobile network. and 300anytime minutes to use however you want with the America's Choice 51 Family SharePlan $ 59‘ ff~: 5cn99 monthly access as long as you remain on the plan. 1 year Customer Agreement required. ($39.99 primary + $20 for additional line) Calls placed while off the America's Choice network 69</min. NEW! Expanded Texas home area! No roaming or long distance charges while on the America's Choice m network. Network not available in all areas. Mobile to mobile not available throughout the America's Choice network. 1 year Customer Agreement and CDMA tri-mode phone with updated software required. Buy One. Get One FREE! Motorola VI 20c $4999 Two year Customer Agreement and activation required on each phone. While supplies last. Test W . VERIZON WIRELESS HAS THE BEST NATIONAL WIRELESS NETWORK IN AMERICA. the 1 But dont i ust take our worcJ for '*• Test if for yourself and if you're not 100% satisfied during your first 15 days, nJf % simply return your phone and pay for only the service you've used. It's all a part of our Worry Free Guarantee to you. 1.800.2 JOIN IN verizonwireless.com any of our stores Verizon Wireless Communications Store COLLEGE STATION 1901 Texas Ave., South (In the new Hobby Lobby Shopping Center) (979) 696-3112 Digital Network By Lucent Technologies VERIZON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS STORE OPEN SUNDAYS IMght ft Weekend hours: Mon-Fri. 9:01pm-5:59am Sat IZam-Sun. 11:50pm. Important Consumer hformation: Subject to Customer Agreement and Calling Plan. $30 activation fee applies per line. $175 early termination fee applies after 15 days per line. Requires credit approval. Not available in all markets. Cannot be combined with any other buy one get one free offers. Usage rounded to next full minute. Unused allowances lost. See Worry Free Guarantee Brochure and our Return/Exchange policy for full details. SharePlan promotion monthly allowance minutes may apply only to peak use. All lines on account share primary line allowance. Maximum of 3 additional lines and all must be on same billing account. Geographic and other restrictions apply. Subject to taxes, charges, and other restrictions. See store for details. The America’s Choice network covers over 250 million people in the U.S. Best Network claim based on reliability studies and network advantages. See www.verizonwireless.com/bestnetwork for details. Limited time offers. ©2002 Verizon Wireless.