NATIO'
THE BATTALIO
in aii
Sports
The Battalion
Page 7 • Tuesday, September 30, 2003
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UNCOVER!
Students should stop harassing one another over so-called tradition
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for the list and file
about telemarketer
www.donotcall.gov
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.enderman of St.
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H
ey a—hole, take your f—g hat off!
Stop being silly!”
This obscene yell, or an equivalent one, has
.become more popular at Kyle Field than the actual
“yells.” The only thing it needs is a passback.
But who is the one being silly?
The person who may or may
not go to Texas A& M? The per
son who may or may not know
to take his hat off during a yell
“out of respect?” Or the person
cursing a fellow Aggie supporter
to take his (insert expletive here)
hat off?
There is no written history
available online that details this
so-called tradition.
Traditions Council doesn’t know when it started
or why it started.
Senior yell leader Jonathan Lusk said he didn’t
know when it started, and tried to find out. And
maybe he could if he was given enough time. But
if a.senior yell leader, one of five people in charge
of leading the yells, can’t pinpoint the origin of
uncovering before a yell, it’s unlikely Joe Schmo
in section 226 does.
Everyone’s been told that it is a sign of respect
to uncover before yells. Respect for who? It’s a
great sign of respect to the other team by taking
our hats off before yelling, "Beat the hell outta ...”
But regardless of whether it is a real tradition,
apparently it is more acceptable to curse other
Aggies in the stands, just don’t hiss at them — it
might start a riot and could cost someone his Aggie
ring. Obviously, anyone who hisses another Aggie
isn’t really an Aggie.
Oh, and did the Aggies lose this weekend
because people didn’t take their hats off?
Senior electrical engineering major Kerry Stout
said he is tired of people yelling in the stands for
something so petty.
“1 hate it,T he said. “I’m embarrassed to take
friends from other schools with me to see a foot
ball game or to yell practice because they might
get screamed at.”
At a school that prides itself on being one of the
nation’s friendliest campuses, students shouldn’t be
ashamed to bring friends to a one-of-a-kind tradi
tion such as Midnight Yell Practice.
Stout said he saw a former student at yell prac
tice Friday teaching his little boy how to do the
yells. A moment that should have been special for
one former student — taking his son to his first
yell practice — was spoiled by a current student
who walked up and rudely told the man to take
off his hat.
That makes sense. An 18-year-old freshman
definitely has the right to yell at someone 10 to 20
years older for the sake of an unofficial tradition.
Tatum Neely, an oceanography graduate student
from California, attended her first game Saturday
against Pittsburgh. When she got to Kyle Field she
was impressed that students weren’t drunk and
obnoxious like those who she attended sporting
events with in California.
But by the end of the game, she wasn’t as
impressed.
After hearing fans curse and taunt one another
over something she knew nothing about, Neely felt
like the Twelfth Man she had heard so much about
wasn’t really all it was cracked up to be.
But she is lucky that she was amongst the “best
fans in the nation.” God only knows what would
happen if she had been at Texas Tech.
Aggies love to bash the Red Raiders for obnox
ious behavior and cursing Ags at Jones SBC
Stadium in Lubbock, but at least they aren’t curs
ing each other for not taking off a hat.
There aren’t many things that are more obnox
ious than a group of people two rows back scream
ing, “Take your f—g hat off!”
The funniest part about the whole uncover “tra
dition” is no one seems to know when it started,
why it was started or the real reason behind it. Even
the “redass” Aggies screaming at the top of their
lungs for people to take off their hats — usually
during the actual yell — probably don’t know why
they are yelling. They just think they sound cute.
No other school in the country can draw
Ruben DeLuna ‘THE BATTALION
30,000-plus fans every Friday at midnight to sing
the school songs and practice the cheers — or
yells. Even ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has comment
ed on the amazing sight of Kyle Field packed with
Aggies the night before the game. Let’s just hope
he watches from the pressbox and not from the stu-
Instead of barraging people to take their hats off
throughout the entire yell, enjoy Yell Practice,
enjoy the football game. Pass it back, hump it and
yell like crazy.
Who cares if the “a—hole” two rows up has his
hat on.
dent section.
True Brown contributed to this column
town for such out-
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u.edu
Astros 5 lack of hitting ends season early, again
By Michael Lutz
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON —The last week of the regular season
was too much like the playoffs for the Houston Astros.
Their hitting evaporated just as it has done the last
four times they’ve made it to the postseason.
This year, they didn’t even make it that far and
slipped into the offseason with owner Drayton
McLane taking a close look at the team’s $70 million
payroll and general manager Gerry Hunsicker going
forward with the team’s youth movement.
And, two of the team’s top performers this season,
closer Billy Wagner and right fielder Richard Hidalgo,
were guessing where they’ll be playing next season.
Wagner, who had a career high 78 appearances and
44saves, criticized McLane for not making a move to
get another starting pitcher for the 2003 season and he
Expects more of the same for next season.
! “It’s going to be a tape job,” Wagner said after
what seemed like final goodbyes to his teammates fol
lowing Sunday’s season finale. “It’s not like we’re
going out there and getting any marquee pitchers. It’s
just going to be nip and tuck and try to compete. “
Hidalgo overcame Toeing shot in the arm in a rob
bery attempt prior to the start of the season. He had a
big comeback season, hitting .308 with 28 home runs
and 88 RBIs. A year ago, he hit .235 with 15 homers
^and 48 RBIs.
' “I’ve just got to thank God that I’m here,” Hidalgo
said. “I feel sad that we didn’t make the playoffs. Now
there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Hidalgo is due a raise from $9 million to $12 mil
lion next season while Wagner, with one year remain
ing on a three-year deal worth $24 million, will get $9
million in 2004. Octavio Dote!, Roy Oswalt and Wade
Miller are arbitration eligible and will get big raises.
Lance Berkman and Jeff Bagwell also will add
more burden to the salary crunch.
“It will be a challenge to keep this club together,”
Hunsicker said. “We always have challenges with the
budget,” Hunsicker said. “I wouldn’t anticipate we’d
be expanding the budget so we’ve got to find ways of
working within the budget.”
The Astros missed the playoffs for the second
straight season. Before that, they won four NL Central
titles over a five-year span, although they were elimi
nated in the first round of the playoffs each time.
They lost six of their final nine games to fall out of
the playoffs.
“It’s hard to put a finger on any one thing,”
Berkman said. “It’s injuries, it’s underachieving at
certain points during the year. At the same time, the
Cubs played well and we haven’t had a bad
September.”
Miller struggled this season and finished with a 14-
13 record.
“I think we were a bunch of underachievers this
year,” Miller said. “I don’t think a lot of us lived up to
expectations. 1 know I haven’t. A few other guys feel
like they haven’t done it all year.”
The Astros had their most serious injury problems
among the starting pitchers. Oswalt was on the dis
abled list three times, a total of 71 days, with a
strained left groin. Jeff Kent spent 23 days on the DL
with tendinitis in his left wrist.
Carlos Hernandez, counted on as a part of the
youth movement in the starting rotation, missed the
entire season following shoulder surgery.
With little hope of an expanded budget for next
season, the Astros have turned to the youngsters for
help. Shortstop Adam Everett and third baseman
Morgan Ensberg had breakthrough seasons.
Brad Lidge overcame a long series of injuries with
a healthy season and became a part of the effective
late-inning bullpen that was the team’s strength.
“I think we have a nice nucleus here,” Hunsicker
said. “One of the things we started last year was try
ing to make this transformation of roster where we
infuse more of our young people. The challenge that
goes with trying to win and change the roster at the
same time.
“Everett and Ensberg, look where they were a year
ago and look where they are today, you can say with
confidence they are keepers and able to contribute on
a major league level.”
Wagner wants to finish his career in Houston. He
just doesn’t think he’ll get the chance.
“I don’t own the team, I don’t make those deci
sions. If they trade me, they trade me,” Wagner said.
“It’s been a great run and if I’m gone this offseason so
be it.”
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Orioles say goodbye
to Hargrove after
four losing seasons
BALTIMORE (AP) — Mike
Hargrove was fired Monday as
manager of the Baltimore
Orioles, one day after the team
finished its fourth consecutive
losing season under his direction
and sixth straight overall.
Hargrove told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview that
he met Monday with team officials
and was told of his dismissal.
“They said they weren’t going
to offer me another contract,”
Hargrove said. “I guess they
wanted a different personality.”
Hargrove, 53, went 275-372
with the Orioles, including 71-91
this year. His departure did not
come as a complete surprise,
given that his contract ran
through this season and the
team never talked about an
extension.
Jim Beattie and Mike
Flanagan, the vice presidents
who oversee the team’s baseball
operations, are expected to
quickly start the search for a new
manager.
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