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Sports
The Battalion
Page 7 • Tuesday, October 28, 2003
High-scoring
Vlavs want
more points
By Jaime Aron
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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DALLAS
After an active offseason, the
ibath/2iftir'*' arl handle Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan or
i, t.5m®(evin Garnett.
Then again, the Mavs figure, neither does
anyone else.
So after being spurned by Alonzo Mourning,
hey gave up on their plan to find someone to
anchor their inside game and
instead decided to try improv
ing what they already did best
— scoring.
Dallas took the league’s
highest-scoring offense and
juiced it up more, bringing in
Antoine Walker and Antawn
Jamison to join its Big Three
of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash
and Michael Finley.
The message is clear: To beat the Mavericks,
teams will have to outscore them.
“We’ve been able to add a lot of guys who can
do a lot of different things and make a really
dynamic lineup,” said Nash, the point guard who
will run the show. “1 think it’s a beautiful thing.
We’re going to be a great team to watch, and
hopefully an even better team on the floor.”
After winning 60 games last season and
reaching the Western Conference finals, the
Mavericks went into free agency hoping to make
Mourning the center they’ve lacked for more
than a decade. Then he signed with New Jersey
and Dallas didn’t land any other big man.
While other West powers reloaded, the
Mavericks waited. They finally made a move in
August, sending playoff star Nick Van Exel to
Golden State for Jamison and Danny Fortson.
Walker arrived from Boston midway through
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SPORTS IN BRIEF
Little out as Boston manager
BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox manager Grady
Little will not be back next year, paying the price
for his decision to stick with Pedro Martinez in
Game 7 of the AL championship series.
The Red Sox let Little go on Monday, less
than two weeks after Boston blew a chance to
play in the World Series when its ace couldn’t
hold a lead against the New York Yankees.
The Florida Marlins beat the Yankees in the
Series that wrapped up Saturday, ending
baseball’s embargo on major moves and free
ing the Red Sox to cut Little loose.
Little’s contract expires Friday, and the team
decided not to exercise its 2004 option.
Team president Larry Lucchino said team
officials notified Little of the decision in a tele
phone conversation Monday morning.
"He took it very well,” Lucchino said. “He was
i/ery gracious. There was no anger.”
JP Beato III • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M junior Blake Kendrick, shown here after the Baylor game, has seen action on the field during the past three seasons as a member of the Twelfth Man Kick-off team.
E. King Gill would be proud
Hard work landed Kendrick in A&M’s most coveted role
By Michael Crow
THE BATTALION
When Blake Kendrick graduated
from Willis High School, he knew he
wanted to be an Aggie. The All-
District linebacker had been
immersed in Texas A&M culture
from a young age, and he dreamed
of playing football for the University
from the time he first strapped on a
helmet in the seventh grade.
Still, Kendrick nearly took a dif
ferent route. Several smaller schools
offered him full athletic scholar
ships, and he was strongly consider
ing another option when his letter of
acceptance from A&M arrived.
“I was actually going to go to a
school in Colorado,” Kendrick said.
“But, then I got my acceptance letter
to A&M, and I just couldn’t pass up
the opportunity.”
While excited, Kendrick knew
he would need to talk things over
with his parents. After all, he came
from a hardworking family, and he
knew attending A&M would mean
turning down a free education else
where.
Unbeknownst to Kendrick,
attending A&M was a decision his
parents were already hoping he
would make.
“I was ecstatic,” said Kendrick’s
mother, Ann. “That’s where we always
wanted him to go, but we wanted him
to make that his decision.”
With his family’s full support,
Kendrick entered A&M in the fall of
2000 with every intention of making
the football team.
But many of the people Kendrick
shared his ambition with reminded
him what a challenge it would be.
“I had plenty of people telling me
I couldn’t make it up here, so I was
kind of intimidated by that”
Kendrick said. “But then I said if I
don’t do it. I’m going to look back
when I’m 40 and think, ‘What if I
would have?’”
Kendrick’s father, Steve, said he
remembered one visit in particular
with his son’s academic deans.
“They didn’t really discourage
him from (walking on), but at the
same time, they were trying to
impress upon him how difficult it
was going to be academically,” Steve
Kendrick said. “But that’s just the
kind of person he is. When he sets
his mind to do something, he,’s going
to do it. And, he’s going to do what
ever it takes to be successful.”
So, joined by roughly 60 other
hopefuls, he made his way to the
football tryouts. Kendrick was one
of only three athletes to make it
through the grueling cut process, and
he earned a spot on the team.
After redshirting in 2000,
Kendrick earned a varsity letter the
next season and represented the stu
dent body as the Twelfth Man Kick
off team captain. He said this was
particularly special to him.
“Here the Twelfth Man really
supports us,” he said. “I’ve been to
stadiums the last three years where
the home team gets booed, we get
booed. Here the Twelfth Man is
going to stand up and support us
whether we’re in a losing slump or
we’re winning.”
Still, there were plenty of chal
lenges along the way for Kendrick.
He was dedicating his days, nights
and weekends to football, not for a
scholarship or for name recogni
tion, but to prove something to him
self. At times, he said, this would
wear on him.
“It’s hard coming and doing it as
a walk-on, just out of the pure joy of
doing it and the love for the game,”
he said. “But, you just have to keep
pressing ahead, and I had to tell
myself just to keep going and every
thing would work out.”
And, things have worked out.
In 2002, Kendrick was on the
field in every A&M game en route to
his second straight season as the
Twelfth Man captain.
This season, Kendrick has contin
ued to see his playing time increase,
and he has worked himself into the
See Kendrick on page 8
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Friday, Oct. 31: ^Boogie Night
8:00 pm - 11:30 pm
* Costume Karaoke at 9:00 pm in MSC Flagroom
Prizes for Top Three Best Costumes and Karaoke Winners!
* Darkside of Oz at 7:00 & 9:45 pm in Rudder
Free w/ TAMU ID In collaboration \v/ MSC Film Society
* Battle of the Bands at the Zone Plaza
In collaboration w/ MSC Town Hall
* Chess Tournament in MSC Basement
* Free activities In the MSC Basement: arts & crafts,
pool, bowling, and dance dance revolution
Come Dressed for Halloween
and Trick or Treat for candy!!!
Free door prizes at 11:30 PM in MSC Flagroom.
Must be present to win!
FREE Domino's Pizza
<& Smoothie King
979.845.1515 aggienights.tamu.edu
xt For special needs, please contact us
v-A- three days prior to the event at 845- 1515.