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sports
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009
www.theeasttexan.com
That Sports Thing? Which was better: the food or football? ADAM TROXTELL SPORTS EDITOR
CALEB SLINKARD CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR
There are two things I look forward to the most when Thanksgiving comes: food and football. Usually, both are quality products and have me full both as an NFL fan and as a fan of my mother’s green-bean casserole. However, this year it was only the turkey and stuffing which left me satisfied. Let’s start with the Packers and Detroit. Despite the Lions’ struggling recently, I thought this might actually be a decent match-up. That was until Stafford decided to pull his usual stint of gifting the opposing team opportunities to score. Seriously, does he know what color Detroit’s jerseys are? Luckily by the time Green Bay had opened up a sizeable lead, the bread and butter had already made its trip around the table twice. The entire family gathered around for the Cowboys game, and I am not saying I didn’t enjoy a Dallas win. The most disappointing thing about this match: it was against the Raiders. Really?! The schedulers pit Dallas, America’s Team, against someone like Oakland on a true American holiday. They could not have played the 49ers, or even Washington? Thanksgiving is a day for exciting football, not an almost for certain whitewashing. Then when it came time for the final game of the day, featuring two struggling teams desperate for hope, the glorious NFL Network had to ruin the day. What kind of world do we live in when someone has to pay extra just to watch a football game on Thanksgiving? Holiday football should be left strictly for broadcast, no exceptions. Shame on you, NFL Network, for causing many people to miss a great Broncos win. Lucky for me, the pumpkin pie was immeasurable and the coffee kept on flowing. It’s a good thing Thanksgiving is a day synonymous with too much food for any human being to consume, because that was the only entertaining aspect of a great holiday.
On the surface, the NFL games played this past Thanksgiving look boring and trivial, hardly something that stuffed football fans want to see as they doze off some of that homemade stuffing. The Dallas Cowboys overcame their offensive struggles to outscore the perennial dormat that is the Oakland Raiders 24-7, Green Bay dominated a Detroit Lions team that has won two games in the past two years, and the New York Giants continued their second-half woes against the also-skidding Denver Broncos by losing 26-6. Yawn, right? Wrong. This Thanksgiving showcased some amazing football play. Here are three reasons that the best 2009 Thanksgiving football was not at your local Turkey Bowl. 1. Miles Austin. This guy can fly. He’s the best receiver on America’s team, and easily the biggest surprise of the 2009 NFL season. Sure, he was facing the Oakland Raiders, but he dropped 145 yards and a touchdown, and most of that in the first half. Every time he catches the ball, he’s apt to turn it into big yards. 2009 will be known as Austin’s breakout year, and his Thanksgiving Day game is his best games. His performance made the Dallas v. Oakland matchup worth watching. 2. Matthew Stafford’s interception throws. Stafford was the number one pick in the 2009 NFL draft, and now we all know why. The way he completes passes to other teams is amazing. He makes it look so flawless, it’s like he’s not even trying. If I didn’t know better, I would think that he was actually attempting to complete passes to his own teammates. 3. The collapse of the New York Giants and Denver Broncos respectively. The Giants were 5-0 to start the season, while the Broncos were a surprising 6-0. Both teams decided to follow up their winning streaks by losing four straight, effectively dropping themselves out of serious playoff contention. In the end, the Broncos won, but no one really cares. Especially New York and Denver.
Men’s Basketball Schedule:
Women’s Basketball Schedule:
12/03, @ A&M-Kingsville, 7 p.m.
12/12, v. Abilene Christian, 2 p.m.
12/05, @ Ouachita Baptist, 7p.m.
12/14, v. Angelo State, 6 p.m.
12/08, v. Henderson State, 7 p.m.
12/19, @ Eastern NM, 7 p.m.
12/12, v. Abilene Christian, 4 p.m. 12/14, v. Angelo State, 8 p.m. 12/19, @ Eastern NM, 7 p.m.
12/21, @ West Texas A&M, 4 p.m. 12/29, v. Incarnate Word, 2 p.m. 12/30, @ St. Mary’s, 4:00 p.m. (home games in bold)
Justin Wilkerson goes up for an inside shot against Trinity University.
Coach Sam Walker talks to his team during their opening games.
Men’s basketball 4-0 after St.Mary’s tournament SPORTS INFORMATION Texas A&M UniversityCommerce scored 24 of the first 33 points of the second half en route to a 73-59 win over host St. Mary’s on Friday, Nov. 27 ,in San Antonio. The win is the third in a row to start the season for the Lions, who had three players in double figures. Seniors Cardell Hunter (pictured) and Ronnie Morgan each scored a team-best 14 points and senior Justin Wilkerson added 11 more to the cause. Cardell Hunter also had six assists and Wilkerson added five rebounds to the win. Early in the second half, A&M-Commerce (3-0) junior Dallas Hunter scored five in a row as the Lions built a doubledigit lead with an 11-0 run to take a 52-36 lead with 11:03 left in the game. The lead remained double digits for the rest of the contest for the win. St. Mary’s (2-3) was led
by Curtis Mitchell, who scored a game-high 23 points on the strength of four three pointers. Kevin Kotzur had a double double for the Rattlers, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss. The Lions shot 56.1% from the field as Kotzur blocked eight A&MCommerce shot attempts. The 56.1% is the highest clip since a 57.1% effort by A&M-Commerce against Central Oklahoma on February 25, 2009. Morgan and Brad Hambrick each had seven points and Cardell Hunter added six as the Lions’ went into the halftime break with a 33-31 lead. It marked the third time that A&M-Commerce had entered the intermission with the lead. All five starters for the Texas A&M UniversityCommerce men’s basketball team scored in double figures in a 10582 win over Langston on Saturday afternoon.
A&M-Commerce (4-0) was led by junior Brian Singleton, who had 20 points and senior Cardell Hunter had his third career double double with 14 points and a career-high 12 assists. Seniors Sammy Jackson and Ronnie Morgan had 19 and 12 points, respectively plus sophomore Brad Hambrick hit four three pointers towards his 18 points. Langston (2-5) got a game-high 26 points from Catrell Currie, who knocked down eight three pointers. He was joined in double figures by Alvin Lewis, who had 15 on five three pointers and Eric Harris, who added 13. Following the fifth tie of the game, 23-23 with 11:41 left in the first half, A&M-Commerce led for the remainder of the contest as they outscored Langston by a 34 to 13 margin to build a 57-36 halftime advantage. The 57 points in the first 20 minutes is the most in a
half since they scored 58 in the first half against Paul Quinn in the third game of the 2005-06 season. The 105 points are the most since a 108 point effort against East Central, last year, on February 18th in Commerce. A&M-Commerce continued its unselfish play on the season with 30 assists - including 12 from Hunter - on 42 field goals. In addition, they forced Langston into 22 turnovers that led to 29 points for A&M-Commerce. Plus, they had 16 steals and hit 58.3 per cent of their shots from the field. Next, they will play three games in five days as they take on Texas A&MKingsville on December 3rd at 7 p.m. After facing the Javelinas, they will take on Ouachita Baptist on the 5th of December at 7 p.m. before returning home for the first game at the A&M-Commerce Field House at 7 p.m. on December 8th against Henderson State.
The women’s basketball team is now 1-3 after a weekend which saw Nicole Anderson record her first win as A&M-Commerce’s head coach.
Split weekend for women gives Anderson first win SPORTS INFORMATION Three members of the Texas A&M UniversityCommerce women’s basketball team scored in double digits in a 90-60 loss to host Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday night. The Javelinas’ Felicia Soza hit back-to-back three pointers midway through the first half to give Texas A&M-Kingsville an early lead that they would not relinquish. Soza went on to score a game-high 22 points for the Javelinas, who had five players in double figures. A&M-Commerce (0-3) senior Nakazi Glover led the Lions with 16 points. She was joined
in double figures by juniors Mattilyn McIntyre and Anisha Ingram, who added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Both teams shot well from the field in the second half as the Lions shot 65.2% and the Javelinas hit 60.6% of their efforts. Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-1) outrebounded the Lions by a 34 to 22 margin and forced 28 turnovers in the win; plus, the Javelinas knocked down 14 three pointers. Joining Soza in double figures was Kayla Naylor, who had 17; Dyana Bullinger added 12 and Ursula Hill scored 10 off the bench. Texas A&M UniversityCommerce women’s basketball coach Nicole
Anderson picked up her first win as the Lions’ head coach in a 63-55 win over Texas A&M-International in Kingsville, Texas on Saturday. A&M-Commerce (1-3) had three players in double figures as Mattilyn McIntyre led the Lions with 14 points. Nakazi Glover and Genevieve Campbell, who each had 13 points, respectively, joined her in double figures. Anderson made a change to her starting lineup as Ashley Murphy and Anisha Ingram earned their first starts of the season and both made an impact in the win, noted Anderson. Murphy had nine points and 12 rebounds and Ingram had
a seven point, five assist and three-rebound effort. The Lions held Texas A&M-International to 36.7% shooting from the field and forced 22 turnovers as the DustDevils fall to 1-4 on the season. Four members of the TAMIU squad scored in double figures including Courtney Dixon, who had a team-best 13. She was joined by Kiandra Metoyer and Mary Tobias, who each scored 11 and Johnna Williams added 10. A&M-Commerce will be idle until its home opener on Thursday, December 12th at 6 pm when they host Abilene Christian in an LSC crossover game.
For more sports information and news, check out Talking With the Texan on KETV, local cable channel three. Hear the latest on football, volleyball, soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, and more.
The show airs every Monday and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.