University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 27, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 6, 2002 Page: 6 of 6
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University Press • Wednesday, February 6,2002 • Page 6
Patriots win Super Bowl with last-minute field goal
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — They came through in the
blustery snow of New England and in perfect conditions
inside the Superdome. They went from being a 5-5 also-ran
to nine straight victories and their first Super Bowl title.
On a day designed for heroes, in a site that resembled
a military fortress as much as a stadium, the Patriots’
charmed season brought them to the top of pro football
with a 20-17 upset of the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
“This is something to relish, sit back and soak in,” said
Adam Vinatieri, whose 48-yard field goal on the final play
set off wild celebrations by the 14-point underdogs.
Vinatieri has never missed inside a dome — he also
had a 37-yarder Sunday — but, far more impressively, he
made two critical field goals at home in the snow two
weeks ago against Oakland to keep New England alive.
“I think that about every close game we had a chance
to win, we won,” he said. “I think when we were 0-2, every-
body wrote us off except for the members of this team. We
got on a streak and we just kept going.”
The game was as much a victory for America as for the
red-white-and-blue clad New Englanders. On a day filled
with patriotic themes inside the Superdome and high secu-
rity outside, everything went off without a hitch.
President Bush called Patriots owner Robert Kraft on
Monday morning while flying to Florida aboard Air Force
One. Bush congratulated Kraft for the victory and invited
the team to visit the White House at an undetermined
date, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Fans were urged to show up five hours before kickoff
to get through a perimeter filled with soldiers on the
ground and sharpshooters on the roof. For their coopera-
tion, they were treated to one of the great endings in NFL
history.
League MVP Kurt Warner woke up to rally the Rams,
who had the NFL’s best record (14-2) and most powerful
offense this season, from a 17-3 hole. He sneaked for a 2-
yard touchdown, his first rushing score all season, two
plays after a holding penalty on New England’s Willie
McGinest negated Tebucky Jones’ 98-yard romp with
Warner’s fumble that would have clinched the win.
Then Warner needed only three plays and 21 seconds
to take the Rams 55 yards, with Ricky Proehl’s 26-yard TD
reception tying it with 1:30 remaining.x
“We had a lot of new life,” said Warner, who was har-
ried all game and threw two interceptions that resulted in
AP Photoselect
New England Patriots’ kicker Adam Vinatieri celebrates his
48-yard game-winning field goal in the final seconds of
Super Bowl XXXVI against the St. Louis Rams Sunday in
New Orleans.
10 points. “We figured we’d hold them and have overtime.”
Instead, second-year quarterback Tom Brady, who
sprained his ankle in the AFC championship game, but was
healthy enough to start the Super Bowl, earned game MVP
honors with a poised 53-yard drive. It included a 23-yard
completion to Troy Brown that got the Patriots in range
for Vinatieri.
“I was planning to go out there and win the game,” saidt
Brady, who was so calm he took a nap in the locker room
before the game. “Adam wasn’t going to miss that kick.”
Vinatieri, who nailed a 45-yarder in the snow to tie.
Oakland and then a 23-yarder to win it in overtime, would-
n’t have been in such a position without the only three
takeaways of the game.
Ty Law ran back an interception 47 yards for the
Patriots’ first points. Terrell Buckley went 15 yards with a
fumble recovery to set up another touchdown, an 8-yard
leaping reception by David Patten. And Otis Smith ran
another interception 30 yards, leading to Vinatieri’s first
field goal.
The Rams led the NFL with 44 giveaways this year.
Their biggest giveaway — the Super Bowl — came Sunday.
“I think we didn’t help the cause,” said Ricky Proehl,
whose fumble was forced by Antwan Harris’ helmet, lead-
ing to Patten’s score. “They have capitalized on turnovers
all year, and that’s how they won the game.”
New England got physical from the start, giving
Warner a bloody lip and slamming Rams receivers to the
turf with regularity. The Patriots also didn’t let Offensive
Player of the Year Marshall Faulk damage them much.
Credit coach Bill Belichick, who reinforced his image*
as a defensive mastermind. While the Rams got their yards
and did make their comeback, they never were in control.
“Coach Belichick definitely had a vision,” safety*
Lawyer Milloy said. “This organization had a vision. We all
came together. That’s what is so sweet about this.”
The Patriots, 50-1 shots to start the season, are the first
from the New England region to win a pro football title
since the 1928 Providence Steamrollers. It was an improb-
able ride after going 5-11 in 2000 and then losing starting
quarterback Drew Bledsoe to a chest injury in Game 2.
After their 0-2 start, the Patriots found their way with
Brady, an aggressive defense — and some good fortune.
A replay reversal in the playoff game with the Raiders
was as pivotal as anything in getting the Patriots to their
third Super Bowl — all in New Orleans, the previous two
ending in defeat. Special teams scored twice in the AFC
championship game victory at Pittsburgh.
Luck Wasn’t the operative word for these Patriots.
Team was.
“We’ve got a whole team full of underdogs,” Brady
said. “And now we’re the top dogs.”
Texas A&M bonfire will not resume this year
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) —
Bonfire will not burn at Texas A&M
University this fall and its future after that is
uncertain.
A&M President Ray Bowen announced
Monday the 90-year-tradition will not resume
because of ballooning costs, legal liability and
the lack of a safety consultant for a restruc-
tured bonfire.
Bonfire was suspended after 12 Aggies
were killed and 27 others injured when the 59-
foot-high, wedding cake-style stack of more
than 5,000 logs collapsed Nov. 18,1999, while
under construction. The bonfire traditionally
has been lighted on the eve of A&M’s football
game against archrival University of Texas.
Bowen said the biggest factor in his deci-
sion was the lack of a safety plan because the
firm A&M had hired to develop it resigned
last week when it could not obtain insurance.
But he also cited a $2.5 million cost to resume
the bonfire this year and $1.3 million in
future years as well as the tremendous legal
liability associated with building the log
stack. Previous bonfires had cost $65,000 to
$75,000.
“I am sad for our students and for our
university. This decision, while extremely dif-
ficult for me and many others, is going to be
very unpopular. Our community wants a bon-
fire. I wish I could make it happen,” Bowen
said.
The unpopularity of his decision was evi-
dent immediately as a group of about 10 stu-
dents walked out of the room before Bowen
finished his remarks.
More than half of the several hundred
students who gathered at the campus stu-
dent center to watch a broadcast of Bo-
wen’s announcement picked up their back-
packs and somberly walked out shortly
after he read his decision. Some students
sighed angrily, at least one cried.
Will Clark, a senior who was involved
in a student organization that supported the
return of bonfire, said he wasn’t surprised
by Bowen’s decision but was saddened,
angered and disappointed by it.
“I just don’t think it’s right Dr. Bowen
decided this on his own,” Clark said. The
revamped bonfire “was set up to fail, based
on an impossible set of parameters.”
Bowen said the conditions he laid out
in June 2000 to have a safe bonfire were
not met.
“Today, as it will for many of you, it
feels like everything fell down again,” said
Schuyler Houser, A&M’s student body
president. “Bonfire is an amazing memory
for those us who knew it. For me, I realized
that’s what it’s going to be.”
Bowen, who plans to return to teach-
ing and retire in June as president, said
bonfire’s future after this year will be up
to his successor.
He encouraged students to create a new
tradition they can support but also said, “I
hope there’s a bonfire.”
An A&M commission blamed the col-
lapse on flawed construction techniques
and the lack of adequate supervision of
students assembling the stack. The report
did not single out anyone for blame.
A Bonfire Steering Committee had
been working the past 18 months to create
a plan for a revamped bonfire.
From 17 submitted designs for a new
bonfire, the committee chose one that
looks like the three-tier wedding cake-like
shape traditionally used for bonfire. The
choice was submitted to Bowen.
AP photoselect
Texas A&M junior Wendy Alexander wipes a
tear after hearing A&M president Ray Bowen
announced that there will not be a school bonfire
for 2002. The 1999 bonfire collapsed during
construction, killing 12 and injuring dozens.
(
UP briefs
Homecoming parade set for Feb. 16
The Lamar University Interfraternity Council is hosting this year's Lamar Homecoming
Parade. The parade is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 9:30 a.m., and
will start and end at the Montagne Center, homecoming chair Chase Burgin said.
Participation is open to all student organizations, along with local businesses and
schools.
“This is the first Lamar parade to be held in over five years,” Burgin said.
In addition to the parade, there will be a car show at the Montagne Center.
For more information, call 835-2411.
Hall crowned Miss Black and Gold
Anetra Hall, a Lamar senior, was crowned Miss Black and Gold at a pageant held in
late November, hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, John Santos, Alpha Phi Alpha
president, said. The pageant took place in the Setzer Student Center Ballroom.
This event was last held at Lamar in the early 1980s, he said, when it was hosted by
the Epsilon Rho Chapter.
The pageant consisted of 10 women competing for the title.
Hall is a pre-med student majoring in biology.
TALH to conduct information presentation
The Texas Academy of Leadership in the Humanities (TALH) will conduct an informa-
tive presentation on Feb. 7 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Beaumont at the Region 5
Service Center, Room B, 2295 Delaware, Brian Sattler, director of public relations, said.
TALH is a residential, early college program, free of tuition. It enables Texas students
with academic qualifications to receive college credits while still attending high school.
To qualify for the academy, students must send in a completed application, including
transcripts from eighth grade to date, an autobiographical essay, SAT score of at least
1,000 (minimum score 500 on each portion), two recommendations from an English
teacher and high school counselor or principal, as well as a personal interview with the
candidate and parent/guardian.
For more information and applications, contact TALH at 839-2995. For the informa-
tion presentation, call 839-2990.
Chess Club to meet
The Lamar University Chess Club will have its first meeting of the semester on
Wednesday, Feb. 13, a spokesperson said. The meeting will be held from 5:15 p.m. to
7 p.m. on the second floor of Gray Library.
The spokesperson said that anyone interested is encouraged to attend, regardless
of skill.
For more information, the club may be contacted via email at
LUchessclub@yahoo.com
Sally Ride to visit Lamar
The College of Education and Human Development, along with the College of
Engineering, will be sponsoring a lecture to be presented by Sally Ride. The lecture will
be given at the Montagne Center on April 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Known for her historical contribution as America’s first woman in space, Ride has
made many other contributions as well, Brian Sattler, director of public relations, said.
Ride is co-founder and CEO of Imaginary Lines, Inc., has received many awards,
and has written four books, Sattler said. She currently serves as a physics professor at
the University of California, San Diego.
For more information, call 880-8419.
Deadline for submitting announcements for UPbriefs is noon of the day one week
prior to publication. Announcements are run as space allows — no exceptions.
Press release forms are available for organization reporters in the UP office, 200
Setzer Student Center. Information may be addressed to University Press, P.O. Box
10055, Beaumont 77710 or may be sent by fax to 880-8735.
UP briefs compiled by Heather Lackey.
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Chand, Daniel. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 27, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 6, 2002, newspaper, February 6, 2002; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500893/m1/6/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.