emerald
sports
Oregon crew
buys new boat
Ducks ‘own’ racing shell
By Brenda Thornton
Oftfw EmtraU
Oregon’s crew squad recently picked up a brand
new member And boy, is she pretty
But a race isn't won on looks alone At a light 145
pounds, she runs through the water with an easy grace
that s the mark of a winner She s a Pocock ’ C-series",
fiberglass four-man racing shell, and the team calls her
the D B McCarty '
And she’s all theirs.
Never before has Oregon crew owned a racing
shell Since the birth of Oregon crew in 1969, the team
has practiced in rented boats, which couid not be
transported to races The team was forced to borrow
boats from competing teams at every regatta Often the
team raced boats that they had never rowed in before
which hurt their performance Although they will still
have to borrow eight-man shells, the crew looks forward
to racing the D B McCarty in their upcoming season.
Lori Huseth, 1982 crew coordinator, says the shell
represents a positive happening’’ for Oregon crew
"A lot of hard work and enthusiasm has gone into
reaching our goals this year," Huseth says
And they set their sights high Before purchasing
the $4000 shell, the crew ordered eight new Dreissv
gacker fiber-graphite oars for $189 a piece According
to Huseth. the team paid for the sorely needed equip
ment with money earned from cleaning MacArthur
Court after concerts and sporting events, and by
pledges from the 100 mile Row-A-Thon Huseth
stresses that "no club sport money went towards the
purchases ”
And no allocated money will fund the crew s spring
training in Southern California The team plans to spend
spring break rowing daily doubles with the University of
Southern California crew Huseth sees the California
training as a chance to improve rowing techniques and
“develop as a team ”
The crew has only three rowers returning from last
year s crew, and Huseth says that “the trip to California
will give the novices (first year rowers) a chance to gain
experience rowing against another crew .”
With only about ten women and twenty men (plus
two coxswains), Huseth says that working out with large
teams will be "valuable experience" for Oregon's
Photo by Brian Bubak
Oregon crew members test the D.B. McCarty on a recent workout at Dexter Resevoir.
relatively small crew
For Tim Meier, crew commodore, the trip will
provide him with the chance to "scope out the Califor
nia competition ”
Meier expects an optimistic season, adding that the
crew has exhibited "tremendous potential ” Meier,
along with return rower Scott Chesnut, hopes to see
that potential peak in early May at the 1982 Region
al Regatta in Seattle for the Annual LaFromboise
Race
Only teams that operate independently from their
school's varsity sports programs participate in the race,
competing for the prestigious first-place silver trophy
Meier foresees a "good chance to place in the La
Fromboise "
The crew has a long way to row before Regionals.
however Their first regatta is April 3 against the major
Northwest universities and rowing clubs in the Husky
Invitational in Seattle
Five more regattas round out their season, includ
ing one that will oe another Oregon crew first In April,
the crew hopes to invite several Oregon schools to the
First Annual Oregon Regatta at Dexter Resevoir
Huseth predicts an optimistic season, even with
all the re-building we've had to do
"I'm really proud of our crew's enthusiasm and
dedication,” she says "We have rowers who love the
sport and have given their all. even through the rough
winter workouts "
Oregon crew kicks off its racing season this Satur
day with an intrasquad-alumni regatta Races begin at
9:00 a m and will conclude with the christening of the
D B McCarty, named for Don McCarty, founder of
Oregon crew
Huseth extends an invitation to anyone who wishes
to come out and watch the races on Saturday
She smiles and adds, We'd love to race for a
crowd."
1
jeff dickerson
sportcuts
The high cost of winning... and losing
Fred Cofieid dribbled the ball on a
fast break early in the second half
of Oregon's 88-66 loss to UCLA Satur
day.
As the sophomore point guard
crossed the half court stripe and John
Greig cruised beneath the basket, one
man stood between Cofield and the 6-8
senior forward
Suddenly, Cofield pulled up at the top
of the key and let one fly toward the
basket.
A groan arose from the Mac Court
‘■faithful” just before Cofield s shot
swished the net for two points, and the
crowd reversed and roared with ap
proval
A wire service writer sitting next to
me observed how fickle the average
sports fan is. If Cofield misses the shot,
its a stupid shot. But he makes it and
he’s a hero, he said
Oregon basketball coach Jim Haney
has gambled on several "shots” this
year and come out on the other end
Instead of the crowd slapping hands in
victorious celebration, they've been left
to second-guess the decisions of the
coach. More recently, they've second
guessed the decision by the athletic
department to retain Haney for one
more year
Letters have appeared in both of
Eugene s daily newspapers criticizing
Haney and Oregon athletic director
Rick Bay Placards calling for Haney's
firing and childish songs of dissent
were directed toward the coach in Mac
Court last weekend
As a couple of people walked the
length of the basketball court Saturday
displaying a poster which read: “Our
pride isn’t showing. Fire Jim Haney,” I
wondered if the real sentiment of the
majority of people, reflected this atti
tude, or if all the noise, being made by a
few, was amplified by the silence of the
rest of us.
I thought back to last year when the
football team was in the thick of its
scandal and how I’d wondered the
same thing about those who were
calling for football coach Rich Brooks
to be fired
Brooks allowed too much cheating,
they said “All he wants to do is win "
Whether Brooks really was running a
program that sacrificed everything in
tangible for the tangible fruits of victory
is beside the point There seemed to be
a great number of people, especially in
the student population, ready to con
vict Brooks on the spot and have him
thrown out of Oregon football
“I think the image of our program is a
sound one,” Haney says, “I think each
year we are getting closer to players
coming to a comprehension that they
better get their academic act in order
and they better accept responsibility
academically
“The general attitude of our kids —
just them growing as human beings and
becoming more responsible adults — I
think is happening as well ”
So here is a coach, in the form of Jim
Haney, who definitely does have more
compassion for the individual and more
interest in preserving a player s integri
ty than he has concerns with how many
wins he has under his belt — there's
more to life than winning basketball
games he would say
Never mind that, his critics say, Han
ey hasn’t won the required number
of games. Haney has been backed
into a corner by a slow-to-succeed
program, and I don't see anyone from
the student community jumping
to his defense
Where now are all the defenders of
the so-called "scrupulous'' way of run-1
ning an athletic program? Where
are ail the people who wanted a
coach who would stop short of win
ning at all costs?
Was their tirade against possible
moral infractions by the football team a
noble cause, or do they really believe
that the success of a program in any
one season can only be measured by
looking at the low number in the loss
column?
The wire service writer sitting next to
me watched and listened to the crowd
at the UCLA game and wondered at the
rude comments coming from the peo
ple in it.
"Jim Haney may be a good coach,
and he may be a bad coach," he said,
"but I wonder how many in this crowd
know why — either way.”
I, too, wonder how many people
know what they are talking about when
they criticize either Haney or Brooks for
the way they run their programs