IDE NOTES
JMING FRIDAY
je A&M soccer team
|he first shot at knocking
in-state rival University
[xas for athletic bragging
hti Look for a preview of
Jam's Friday night game.
er a tough game on the
the Texas A&M football
returns to Kyle Field. Get
jmplete preview of the Ag-
jame against Wyoming.
BRIEFLY
,M head basketball
Billy Gillispie hired
er Illinois State assis-
coach Steve Forbes on
lay. Forbes filled the
acant spot on Gillispie’s
hing staff.
e Astros hit four first-in
home runs to down the
nnati Reds 5-2. With the
the Astros took over the
/ild Card Lead.
[ie U.S. World Cup hockey
i avoided elimination by
li
Id States had been beaten
Russians just five nights
‘the quarterfinal match.
flight after tagging the
i Sox for 10 runs, the Texas
»rs lost to Chicago 5-2.
Sports
The Battalion Page IB • Thursday, September 9, 2004
Rule over reason
NCAA doesn't use good judgement in rulings
By Kyle Davoust
THE BATTALION
In the spring of 2004, the Na
tional Football League and the U.S.
Court of Appeals gave the NCAA
a gift: The Court overturned a pre
vious ruling and granted the NFL
the right to continue barring play
ers who were less than three years
removed from high school.
This gift should have given
the NCAA long- and short-term
benefits. The long-term benefits
of the ruling were apparent to
everyone, including the NCAA.
It meant that college football
teams, unlike their basketball
counterparts, could hold onto
players for longer than a few
months. The ruling essentially
made college football a neces
sary step for an athlete wishing
to play in the NFL someday.
The ruling also had a potential
short-term benefit: the return of
University of Southern Califor
nia star receiver Mike Williams
Williams seemed
to be a player
caught in the
middle of
the whole
situation.
The ear
lier rul
ing had
cleared
the way
for play
ers of
t o \
enter
the NFL
draft and
Williams felt that he was ready
for the next level. He hired an
agent and took endorsement
money — the nor
mal process for
a projected
top-15 pick.
However,
the door
was shut
on Wil-
1 i a m s
when
the NFL
won its
appeal
and rein
stated its
age-based
ban.
Will Lloyd • THE BATTALION
This should have been too
good to be true for the NCAA.
It not only gave the NCAA a
chance to welcome back one of
their most notable stars, it also
gave it a chance to look human.
The NCAA has often been ac
cused of using rule over reason,
and this gave it the golden op
portunity to brighten its image.
Williams’ situation was spe
cial. He hired an agent and ac
cepted endorsement money,
but the law told him it was OK.
When the rules changed on him,
Williams did all he could to rec
tify the situation. He gave back
the money, enrolled in summer
classes and followed the guide
lines to be reinstated to play
football for USC.
However, instead of looking
at this as a special situation, the
NCAA denied Williams’ request
See NCAA on page 3B
.nil. .Mi, .aii..,
BIGiun
OSSIO
—NOTEBOOK;
mm
# 7 Texas vs
Arkansas
The No. 7 Texas Long
horns (1-0) will face their in
ner demons Saturday, as they
travel to Fayetteville to try
to revenge last year’s loss to
former Southwest Conference
rival Arkansas (1-0). The Ra-
zorbacks shocked everyone
last year with a 38-28 victory
over Texas, which quickly
laid to rest the Longhorns’ na
tional title aspirations.
The Longhorns’ chances for
finally earning a BCS bid are
hinged on games like this. The
rest of the team’s schedule,
namely its Oct. 9 match-up
against No. 2 Oklahoma, make
an early season loss almost too
difficult to recover from.
The Longhorns will once
again enter this match-up as
the heavy favorite after
See BIG 12 on page 4B
Volleyball team California bound for West Coast match
Sharon Aeschbach • THE BATTALION
A&M junior Holly Clay (center) rejoices after their 3-0 win against McNeese State.
By Shawn C, Millender
THE BATTALION
When No. 14 Texas A&M volleyball
team takes the court Thursday night against
No. 13 Lady Gauchos of University of Cali
fornia Santa Barbara, Aggie head coach
Laurie Corbelli won’t have to worry about
her husband’s loyalty to A&M.
Aggie assistant coach John Corbelli lettered
four years for the men’s volleyball team at UCSB
from 1975-1978, before heading to College Sta
tion to be an assistant coach. He said there’s
never any question where his loyalties lie.
“I don’t care how the Gauchos play. If
they play well, I hope we (Aggies) play bet
ter,” John Corbelli said.
How well the Gauchos play remains to
be seen. They come into the opening round
of the Golden Bear Invitational at Berkeley,
Calif., with an inexperienced and relatively
untested team.
“We’re a very young team, with four
sophomores and a few freshmen,” said Lady
Gauchos head coach Kathy Gregory. “We
did play well against Wichita State in the
See Volleyball on page 4B