Boiling Mad Over Rice Mistakes

Having a Texas grad like Randy Harvey write a history of Texas A&M; football [Dec. 29] is a bit like having a UCLA grad write about USC football; even if the facts are right, you expect some flavor to be missing. But Harvey’s report of the famous 1973 postgame siege of the Rice Marching Owl Band by Texas A&M; fans had some false notes even about the facts:

* The Rice band didn’t play “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?”; that would have been a mystifying accompaniment to its formation, a fire hydrant. It played “Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?”

* The angry A&M; fans weren’t just “outside the stadium”; they were on the field after the game, besieging the Rice band, which was huddled in the stadium tunnel.

* The Rice band didn’t need a police escort “back to campus.” It was already on campus; that’s where Rice Stadium is.

Harvey also omitted a major contribution to the A&M; fans’ bad mood. Despite being held to four first downs, Rice’s football underdogs still managed to beat A&M;, 24-20--a feat somewhat akin to Caltech defeating USC.

PAUL EGGERT

Los Angeles