COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The theme of the College Station History Inquiry class Wednesday afternoon at the Larry Ringer Library was the history of Texas A&M sports. Panel moderator Tom Turbeville will be joined by longtime sports information director Alan Cannon, a member of the Aggies' 1975 Southwest Conference Championship basketball team and later an assistant coach under Dr. Shelby Metcalfe. Dr. John Thornton was invited. Thornton also worked in sports administration for over 20 years at his alma mater.
Mark Johnson is the winningest baseball head coach in school history and RC Slocum is the winningest football head coach in A&M history.
The panel discussion lasted for nearly an hour about the “good old days.” Turbiville presented the topic and the foursome shared their memories with the more than 100 attendees.
Cannon's fondest memories are from Olsen Field, where he joined the A&M baseball team under the coaching of Tom Chandler in the 1980s. According to Cannon, Coach Chandler saw something in him, and although he hadn't been in baseball that long, he had a talent for statistics and writing and suggested he consider a career in sports information. However, AC is said to be still active in that field even after 40 years.
Coach Johnson said his fondest memory is when the Aggie baseball team rallied at Olsen Field in 1999 and hit two solo home runs in the ninth inning to beat Clemson.
Dr. John Thornton wore more hats than anyone at Texas A&M. He started as a player on his A&M basketball team that won the 1975 Southwest Conference championship. He later returned as an assistant coach under Dr. Shelby Metcalf. When Metcalf was fired midway through the 1990 basketball season, Thornton was named interim head coach. Once the new basketball system was adopted, Thornton became involved in athletic operations for his alma mater. He will then temporarily add another interim title to his resume as interim athletic director.
RC Slocum served as head football coach for 14 seasons, taking over in 1988 during a tumultuous period following the resignation of Jackie Sherrill amid allegations of NCAA misconduct and violation of rules. Slocum led the team to the 1998 Big 12 Championship, but said the biggest win of his career came in 1999, when Texas A&M upset Texas to end the regular season. This game came on the heels of a bonfire collapse on campus that killed 12 students and helped the university and the Bryan/College Station community begin the healing process from that tragic event.
Slocum also shared an incident that KBTX Sports was unaware of. John David Crowe, director of athletics in the late '80s and '90s, fired Coach Metcalf years ago during a 1990 basketball tournament when the two disagreed. He said he regretted what he had done. season.
“So did I,” Thornton said. “One thing was that those two guys were really special! They were great competitors, they believed in what they were doing, and they were headstrong. And once they got to that point, Then there was no going back and I knew it wasn't going to end well, but it was interesting to hear that he had second thoughts about it a little bit because that's not how it should have been.'' Until the end of his career. And what he meant to the school,” Thornton recalled Wednesday.
The committee has been with the Texas A&M Athletic Department for more than 100 years, and Cannon and Slocum are still on the university's payroll.
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