Oregon Awaits PCC Race
DUCK TRACKS
J By CARL CLUFF
The battle is on! It oil started several weeks ago with a dis
patch from Corvallis by Coach Lonnie Stiner and his Orange
coaching staff predicting the University of Oregon Webfoot
squad is the team to beat for the Pocific Coost conference foot
ball championship this fall, and g
placing his own burly Beavers 1
, in a second division finish. §
This, we predict, is a hit of Stin- |
er skullduggery which has been f
used by the Aggie mentor on I
numerous occasions for the ad- |
.vantage of gaining his coveted |
underdog rating ot the outset f
of the seoson.
Genial Jim Aiken, for one, |
isn’t taking the Oregon State f
grid machine lightly. “Stiner I
will have one of the strongest |
teams this fall he has ever had,” |
-Aiken replied when reminded |
of the favorite role placed on |
his Ducks by the Corvallis
’ coaches. “We're on the spot,”
Aiken continued, “our oppon
, ents are building us up hoping
to knock us over.”
Oregon’s position as one of
the favorites has grown steadi
ly since a Seattle sports writer
JIM AIKEN
quoted Aiken last winter saying tne tv eMoots were Dowi-Douna
this fall. What Aiken really said was, “Sure we’re interested in
the Rose bowl, we’re one of the 10 teams in the Coast conference,
■ aren’t we ?”
One thing is certain, and that is Aiken no longer will have
* to depend upon the “Sacred Seventeen” to toil on the gridiron
every Saturday. He has added depth in every position and un
doubtedly will he able to field a complete offensive ond defensive
team throughout the ten game schedule.
The Lemon and Green gridders will be in the national spot
light on the afternoon of October 2 when Aiken sends his team
against last year’s national champions and Rose Bowl victors,
the Michigan Wolverines. This will be Michigan’s first home
game since walloping Southern California 4S-0 last January at
• Pasedena. There is little doubt but what the Ann Arbor stadium
will be fill to its 86,000 copocity by fons looking for a succes
sor to the smooth-functioning 1947 grid machine.
Many of the top sports writers in the nation will be on hand
, to chronicle the contest, which also will be the first home ap
pearance of Coach Benny Oosterban, who succeeds Fritz Crisler
at the Michigan helm. A victory over the power-laden Wolver
ines, perennial Western conference title contenders, would
bring a great deal of prestige to the Pacific coast conference
which has suffered immesurably in intersectional competition
the last few years.
Aiken expects to leave Aug. 8 for the east where he will be
the guest of Paul Brown, head coach of the Cleveland Browns
professional team, at the summer training camp being conducted
at Bowling Green, Ohio. Brown and Aiken were rival prep school
coaches in Ohio not so many years ago. Jim’s McKinley high
1 school of Canton, O., and Massillon high, where Brown held
the grid reins, were arch-rivals and produced many top collegi
, ate athletes.
Before returning to Oregon Aiken plans to attend the Ohio
high school coaching clinic at Canton. He will have a part in the
program which is expected to attract 1,000 prep coaches from
Ohio schools.
Large mprovements Slated
For Oregon Athletic Plants
Increased seating capacity for
McArthur court and Hayward field
was approved recently by the state
board of higher education.
The board approved preliminary
' plans costing $250,000 to construct
a balcony in McArthur court seat
ing 3000 spectators, and new con
, Crete stands at Hayward field
which will increase seating capac
ity by 7000.
These additions would boost the
.seating capacity of McArthur court
to 10,000 and Hayward field to 27,
500. Leo Harris, Oregon athletic
r director, said the balcony of Mc
Arthur court would include ten
rows of seats entirely around the
pavilion. Plans call for completion
by January 29, when Oregon meets
Long Island university.
Proposed plans for the Hayward
field stands call for construction to
start following the final 1948 home
football game. The addition will be
completed by the fall of 1949. Con
crete stands are to be built at the
south end of the field, completing
the present wooden grandstand into
an oval. The north curve wiil be re
constructed to make additional
seating possible.
I
Bill Bowerman
CompletsDuck
Coaching Staff
Appointment of Bill Bowerman
to U.e position of head track and
field coach and freshman grid men
tor at the University of Oregon last
June completed the. Webfoot coach
ing staff for the 1948-49 school
year. Bowerman succeeds John
Warren as track coach and takes
over frosh grid duties from Carl
Heldt who resigned after one year
as Duckling mentor.
Selection of Bowerman to the
Oregon athletic staff was made by
Athletic Director Leo Harris, Foot
ball Coach Jim Aiken, Basketball
Coach John Warren, and Baseball
Coach Don Kirsch. The former
prep mentor is the second coach
from the Southern Oregon city cho
sen for a head coaching position at
at the University.
Followed Callison
Bowerman’s own prep coach,
Prink Callison, graduated from the
prep ranks at Medford to guide the
grid destinies at Oregon in the
early 30s. Bowerman followed Cal
lison to the University and starred
in football and track for the Lemon
and Green.
After graduation Bowerman
coached a year at Franklin high
school in Portland before return
ing to his home town as grid and
track mentor from- 1936 to 1941,
and from 1946 until last spring. He
saw extensive service with the
army in Europe during world war
II as an officer.
Seven times Bowerman entered
his Black Tornado track and field
squad in the Hayward relays and
on each occasion his team walked
off with the class “A” crown. His
teams also brought Medford three
state track championships—1940,
1941, and 1948.
Bowerman’s football record also
is impressive. During his nine years
at the Medford helm his teams won
64, lost 8, and tied 4 games. His
1935 and 1939 Medford teams were
undefeated and only his 1937 and
1941 teams lost as many as two
games.
Webfoots Face Ten Grid
Foes During1948 Season
football enthusiasm in the Oregin campus is expected to reach
a new high this fall when wluit looks to be one of the best grid
iron machines ever turned out in Eugene awaits the starting
gun for the opening of the 1948 football season.
Sports writers along the Pacific coast have picked California’s
Golden Pears and the Ducks as preseason fovorites to cop th0
Pacific Coast conference flag won last year by Southern Calif
Ties Course Record
irniJimUMlMIM IUNI IIHUUIU11LM1I—■ ■
Lou Stafford, Oregon’s Northern
Division golf champion, fired a 32
on the first nine of the Stanford
university course during the NCAA
tournament this summer to tie the
course record. Stafford lost in the
quarter-finals to Ed Hopkins of
Texas.
Advance Ticket
Sales Expected
Havy demands for 1948 season
football tickets are expected, Leo
Harris, athletic director, stated.
Oregon supporters are contem
plating a good season for the Ducks
in the gridiron this fall and want
to be in on the action. Harris de
clared it will be “first come, first
served on the good seats.”
ornia. Oregon gleaned its favorite
role from the whirlwind finish last
year when the Ducks won thef^M,
1948 FOOTBALL, SCHEDULE
Sept. 18—Santa Barbara at Eit*
gene.
Sept. 25—Stanford at Palo Alto.
Oct. 2—Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Oct. 9—Idaho at Moscow.
Oct. 16—U.S.C. at Portland.
Oct. 28—W.S.C. at Eugene. '
Oct. 80—St. Mary’s at Eugene.
Nov. 6—Washington at Seattle.
Nov. 12—U.C.L.A. at Los Ange
les (night).
Nov. 20—O.S.C. at, Corvallis.
six games of the season and ended
in a second place tie with Califor
nia.
Oddly enough, the two favorites
do not meet on the gridiron this
year because of the scheduling pro
cedure adopted by the conference
several years ago whereby northern
schools play only three of the four
southern schools each yean
Opening practice session is
scheduled for September 1 on Hay
ward field. Aiken declared he will
conduct two practices a day for
the first two weeks and then tapnr
off for the opening game Septem
ber 18 against Stanta Barbara. Ho
said he has advised the squad to re
port in good physical condition be
cause he intends to lose no time in.
getting down to serious work.
“We have a rough schedule this
season,” Aiken commented, “but
with a few breaks we may go plac
es. There’s a lot of talk about Ore
gon going to the Rose Bowl but
that will be determined at the end
of the season. In the meantime we’ll
tackle the schedule one game at a
time as they come up each Satur
day.”
Bill Bowerman, newly appointed U O track coach, is shown here with the late Bill Hayward.