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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2004)
SIDELINES ON 3B The Houston Astros de feated the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 to tie with San Francisco fortheNLWild Card lead and could take sole possession if the Giants lose to the Padres. ON 4B The Big 12 starts confer ence play in full swing this weekend and is highlighted hyTexas, Missouri and Okla homa games. Officials in Montreal formally announced before Wednes day night's game against the Florida Marlins that the Expos will be moving to Washington, D.C.forthe 2005 season. COMING FRIDAY The A&M sports weekend is chock full of games to at tend, including football, soc cer and volleyball games. Look for complete previews breach matchup. BRIEFLY The Texas Rangers lost to the Anaheim Angels, 8-7. Sports The Battalion Page IB • 1 hursday, September 30, 2004 PAGE BY: JORDAN MESEROLE Bring it on Rivalries bring sports fans together on common ground Here’s a memo to the Dallas Police Department in case it forgot: In less than two weeks. Fair Park will be filled with out- of-towners dressed in costume looking for a good time, some cheap thrills and a way to raise some hell. Oh, and the State Fair of Texas will be going on as well. The annual Red River Shootout between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma is set for 11 a.m. on Oct. 9 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Fans from all over will jam into an increas ingly inadequate venue to witness one of college football’s most heated rivalries play out before them, and you can expect nothing less than bad blood between these two schools. The showdown between the ‘Horns and the Sooners is one of many bitter debates across the nation that heighten public interest in sports through its history and game day spectacle. There is something about a storied rivalry in college and professional sports that heats the blood and fills fans with spark and intensity unlike any other match-ups. It’s that sense of pride, tradition and inexplicable animosity you learn to acquire for your swom enemy. Whatever the case may be - Yan- kees-Red Sox, Ohio State-Michigan, Duke-North Carolina or a host of others - rivalries in the world of sports give even the most detached fan something to cheer about. Sunday, the annual season series between the New York Yankees and the Bos ton Red Sox wrapped up at Fenway Park in Boston with an 11-4 Red Sox victory. Though the Red Sox are three games behind the Bronx Bombers for the AL East lead, they no doubt have some satisfaction that they finished with an 11-8 series advantage this season over their rivals since the early 1920s when they sold Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth to New York. Fans across America watched last fall as these two powerhouses met in the AL Championship Series, with the Yankees taking Game 7 in New York on an extra-innings walk-off home run from Aaron Boone. For baseball in America, there could not have been a better setting. Television ratings soared as almost every game included a bench clearing brawl, exchanges of profanities and insults, and in one instance, Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez toss ing 72-year-old Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer to the ground. Although it gets ugly at times, you can always count on a rivalry to be an amazing game to watch. And even when there is clearly a dominant team, the annual battle is never a given. There is something special in the air that underdogs dig down deep to bring to the fight. Fans love to recount the histories of rivalry among teams and take sides in the annual matchup. These are the games you don’t watch with apathy because nothing else is on; you pull for somebody and you fight to the death. On the college gridiron, rivalry is a given. Who could forget the Texas-Texas A&M battle, now formally known as the “Lone Star Showdown.” Alabama and Auburn duke it out each year in the Iron Bowl, Ohio State and Michigan spill blood annually for Big Ten bragging rights, and the contest between the Longhorns and the Sooners See Rivalry on page 4B RYAN IRBY Sports Columnist Texas A&M defeats Baylor 3-0 in quick match By Shawn Millcnder THE BATTALION The Aggie volleyball team’s quest to end a two-match losing streak looked to be in jeopardy at the outset of Wednesday night’s match against the Baylor Bears. The underdog Bears opened with an 11-6 lead on the Aggies in the first game behind the play of sophomore middle blocker Desiree Guilliard before the Aggies ral lied to win the match 3-0, sparked by the furious serves of Texas A&M junior middle blocker Kendra Felder. A&M beat the Bears by a final score of 30-23, 30-19, 30-23 in the win. The Aggies were looking up at the Bears 17-18 in the first game when Felder started serving. When she was done, the Aggies held a 22-19 lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the match. “They just started serving tough,” said Baylor head coach Jim Bames. “If we had continued to serve well we could have stayed on top, but A&M really became the aggressors.” Baylor had trouble all night returning serves. Bames said his team matched up well physically but came up short on returns. “We just don’t have the experience,” Barnes said. “All three or four of our passers are just learning how to do it this year.” Guilliard did her part to lead the Bears offensively, recording eight kills. She also totaled seven errors and See Volleyball on page 3B Darkness Falls This October at a Haunted House near you ,.,*??? -A o* Not for the sur viv e „ V(vt? \\ ,\,£ a e> v Not for the young or faint of heart. <Jy <? ///«, t A CSS o<jeA- , c ev^ se , , fro" 1 ' s V<3 rai#',V, Rr^ 0 ' Hours of Operation October 1 9-3 2 9-3 3 9-3 4 r 6 7 9-3 8 9-3 9 9-3 10 9-3 11 12 13 9-3 14 9-3 15 9-3 16 9-3 17 9-3 18 19 9-3 2D 9-3 21 9-3 22 9-3 23 9-3 21 9-3 25 9-3 26 9-3 27 9-3 28 9-3 2D 1 9-3 30 9-3 31 9-3 Group rates offered. Party rooms available. Call 774-1890 for more info. 1673 Briarcrest Bryan, TX (The old Gattiland Location) Excessive Productions Presents $3.00 Off general admission •Not valid October 28-31 •Not valid with any other offer DARKNESS FALLS THIS OCTOBER wmw — www.exeessiveproduetions.eom |JSfot recommended for the young or faint of heart.^Jj