DUCK TRACKS
By JOHN BARTON
Emerald Sports Editor
The Washington State series showed Oregon two kinds of
basketball teams. On Friday night, fans saw a Webfoot squad
which was “hot.” The Cougars were, on the other hand, slightly
cold. They couldn’t hit their shots, and their defense wasn’t
wuiKing weu. ine uucks nac
an amazing percentage on theii
field goals and their free throw
mark was also boosted a bit.
The next night, the show
was exactly reversed. Ore
gon went back to its previous
habit of a rather mediocre
shooting average. While they
followed and even tied up the
Cougars several times during
the game, they fell behind
sadly near the end. WSC, on
the other hand, sharpened its
shooting and bettered its de
fense.
SLATS GILL
-inus, lans saw two cnrterent types ot basketball teams over
the weekend, I' rid ay night, it was Oregon in the all-conquering
roll of the better team on the floor. The. Cougars were not of
. champion stock that night. The next night, the two clubs simply
^ traded positions.
Did Bob Celeri Gamble?
Since the defeat of California by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl,
there has been much chatter by the press of Bear Quarterback
Bob Celeri s gambling” in the game. His figurative tossing of
the dice in the huddle did not pay off, it seems. Throughout the
season, however, Celeri was praised for his gambling, which was
called daring when it payed off.
Now, the question arises—is football, or any sport for that
matter, a thing to be gambled with by the participants, and while
they are participating? (Competitive sport, that is, not poker.)
Well, why not? It makes the game more exciting, doesn’t it?
The spectators love it, don’t they? But will the steady gambling
quarterback be a steady winner ? That we won’t venture to an
swer. We merely will state that it doesn’t hurt the game one
darn bit. Celeri lost because of his gambling, MAYBE, Gam
bling, schmambling— Ohio State had a better team.
Oregon’s own John Warren does a bit of gambling himself
now and then. When he discovered Will Urban last year he was
gambling. Urban was an unproven Sophomore forward right,up
from the Frosh team. Warren slammed him into the line-up just
about a year ago in the 1949 WSC series and what happened? In
the first game, the remarkable Eddie Gayda was held practically
scoreless by Urban. Since then, Will has been flying high.
Vranizan Was a Winning Gamble
Now, once again Warren has come up with a winner from a
gamble. The gamble was big Jim Vranizan in the second Colum
bia game. Before the game, we saw Warren in the hall outside
the playing floor. He was looking glum and shaking his head in
desperation. Then he said, “Well, do you want to suit up? I can
^ use anything tonight.”
The reason, of course, for his sorrow was the absence of
both Sowers and Urban. Both men are worth 15 points apiece
in the average game, John says. Anyway, we asked him who he
would put against Azary, the Columbia scoring ace that night.
He said he was going to start Vranizan, which came as a shock
to us. Jim was completely untried, except in practice.
That gamble has payed off, at least in part, for Vranizan,
while he did not stop Azary, has put in some very good work on
the boards in the two games since his^ debut. This, of course, was
a gamble in desperation, for Warren had absolutely no one else
to play on Azary.
Ducks Will See Farm Wars
Now, how about Vranizan? He is big, rough to the degree of
not being pushed around under the basket, and consistent, or
looks to be consistent so far. He will not be a tremendous point
getter this season, but he will be good for a 10 point average
next season. We have faith in the boy.
Now that Oregon State has its huge Gill Coliseum, we can
expect to have a few Oregon fans at the OSC-Duck frays
played in Corvallis. That may develop into making more of a
civil war out of the basketball games, but that too will be inter
esting. The capacity of McArthur Court has been increased
slightly, also, so there may be more Aggie fans at the local
wars.
Anyway, the Aggies have some tickets over here for Webfoot
fans to buy for Friday night. We advise everyone who can to
buy a ticket and attend the battle in Aggie land Friday night. It
will be worth it. And it won't be a run-away for OSC by any
count. You can figure on that.
Balance Secret
Of State Team
There will be no “big” man
for Oregon to point against as
they go through their prepara
tions for Friday’s game against
Oregon State. Beaver scoring
for the first nine pre-conference
games showed four men lead
ing the team with four points
difference between the first and
the fourth man.
Bob Payne, the 6’ 3” stringbean
forward from San Francisco paced
the Beavers with 72 points. He was
followed by three veterans of
Northern Division competition, as
Len Rinearson, Ray Snyder, and
Dick Ballentine followed with 69,
69, and 68 points respectively.
Later games saw the scoring lead
maintained by the same group,
with Ballantyne and Payne at
tempting to take up the offensive
gap left by the departure of Cliff
Crandall. Bill Harper, who’s set
shot artistry brought him respect
through the Northwest, has started
slow, but is capable of ruining any
opponent’s evening.
Payne, who did his playing last
year with San Francisco Junior
College, is the boy counted on by
Slats Gill to spearhead the Oregon
State attack. Lacking the sly
knack of Cliff Crandall to maneu
ver for position, big Bob relies on
speed and a good eye to counter his
baskets. lake most of Gill’s top for
wards, he is a good ball handler and
a sharp passer.
Upholding the name of Crandall
on the 1950 State team will be 6’ 2”
George, the younger brother of
Cliff. Held out of competition last
year, George is possessed of erratic
ability, and is hopefully being
brought along by the Beaver board
of strategy. His chief forte this
year seems to lie along defensive
lines, and he has frequently been
assigned the task of holding down
one of the opposition’s big points
getters. He displayed some fine
guarding in the game against Min
nesota when he checked the Goph
er’s top point getter, Whitey
Skoog.
Another boy the Ducks will be
watching is Tommy Holman. Al
though used sparingly against
Washington State, Tom will be
ready to go in Corvallis over the
weeeknd. His scoring of five points
in the last 10 seconds o fthe third
Civil War game last year will be
something both coaches will prob
ably consider.
One fact that will lighten the
practice load for John Warren’s
charges is the knowledge that they
will not have to worry about the
likes of Washington State’s Gene
Conley for at least a little while.
By DOUG HAYES
The “ski team” is looking for a
sponsor. When I say “ski team” I
mean the many interested univer
sity skiers—some with racing ex
perience, and many more without
who would jump at the chance to
be a member of this schools’ skiers.
And for years and years it seems
that Jim Pop kept up the unofficial
team with plenty of support from
his skiers but none from Educa
tional Activities.
This year, despite several efforts,
no good has been done toward our
objective and the future is ques
tionable. What is our objective ? To
complete the elements of a ski
team. It seems that the talent
would be the stumbling block but
actually we’ve got a surplus of
that. All it takes to complete the
plan is a sparg-plug with skiing ex
perience—not an expert—and a
flock of spare Sundays plu3 the
authorization and financial aid
from the school.
Intramural Basketball
Competition Is Heavy
Tuesday Intramural Schedule
BASKETBALL
3:50
McChesney A vs. YMCA A
Nestor A vs. Tuu Kappa Epsilon A
4:35
Phi Sigma Kappa A vs. French
Hall A
Phi Delta Theta vs. Yeomen A
5:15
Omega Hall A vs. Sigma Phi
Epsilon A
Lambda Chi Alpha A vs. Merrick
, Hall A
HANDBALL
4:00
Tau Kappa Epsilon vs. Theta Chi
The IM winter season athletics
opened last night and while it was
precipitating on the outside there
was no sign of “all wet” play on
the maples as the west basketball
court and the “44” handball court
brimmed with vehement action.
Delta Tau Delta, Minturn Hall,
and Phi Kappa Sigma emerged
victors in “A” basketball sessions
while Alpha Tau Omega won the
only handball match.
In the initial hoop debut of the
season, the Delts toppled Philadel
phia House 28-20. The victors led
16-8 at halftime although the
Christian co-op led 8-5 at the end
of the initial quarter. Kerns, Delt
forward was high point man with
nine points. Teammate Guldager
racked up seven points. DeBell and
Dunham scored six each for the
Philadelphia crew.
Minturn Hall stemmed Camp
bell Club S3-15. Johansen, Barnes,
Tom, and Kinney hit consistently
for the dormitory casaba coddlers
although there was no accurate
record kept on individual scoring.
Center Coenenberg starred for the
Campbell Club crew.
Phi Kappa Sigma had a little
rougher time in spilling the Agates
but the housemen finally came
through with a 25-19 win. Setti
case scored thirteen points for the
Phi Kaps. Charleton was high for
the losers with eight points.
PHILIP MORRIS
Announces
GRAND PRIZE WINNERS
OF THE 1949
THANKS A MILLION, FRIENDS! THE
SCORECAST CONTEST WAS THE BIGGEST YET WITH MORE
WINNERS THAN EVER BEFORE! SO UNTIL NETT YEAR,
WHEN WE HOPE TO BE BACK AGAIN-SMOKE THE ONE
CIGARETTE PROVED DEFINITELY LESS IRRITATING,
DEFINITELY MILDER THAN ANY OTHER LEADING BRANDI
SMOKE PHILIP MORRIS!
!ST GRAND P*lZE
PHI GAMMA DELTA
1337i/2 ALDER
2ND GRAND PR**
SIGMA ALPHA MU
1761 ALDER
3RD GRAND PRI«
ALPHA XI DELTA
1316 ALDER
You’ll bo glad tomorrow
you smoked Philip Morris today!