Golfers want to get back into swing
All-American Shell Joyner wants return to early-season form
By Mark Johnaon
Of lh» Emarmkt
On paper, the Oregon golf team seems
as if it's in a rebuilding stage with two
juniors, five sophomores and a freshman
coming off a team that was 14 members
strong in 1981
In a sense, that perception is both right
and wrong
A good word to describe coach Jim
Ferguson s program would be "build
ing " Ferguson himself has admitted that
the graduation of three experienced
seniors last year has had little effect on
the team
Contributing to the strength of this
year's team was last year's biggest
freshman story since Peter Jacobsen,
Shell Joyner
As a freshman in 1981, Joyner was
named an NCAA honorable mention all
American and also an honorable men
tion to the all-Pacific 10 Conference
team He finished his first collegiate year
tying for 10th place at the Pac-10
tournament and tied for 50th at the NCAA
tournament as the only Oregon golfer to
make the final cut
“Getting the honorable mention last
year has probably been my greatest
achievement at this point,” Joyner says.
I w£nt to improve — and I think I can go
up to the first, second or third team.”
Ferguson also believes Joyner can
continue to improve and says the Oregon
standout has the potential to parallel
Jacobsen’s collegiate career as a Duck.
With such praise in his ears, Joyner
says there is more pressure to achieve
than last year, but that it has not been too
overwhelming
“I just want to go out and play one
tournament at a time, play really well and
try not to let it (the pressure) get to me,"
Joyner says
But the Ducks have been in a slump
during the past few weeks, and Joyner is
more concerned about the team qualify
ing for the NCAA tournament in May than
he is about getting individual honors
“The bottom line right now is that our
full concentration is on qualifying for
nationals,” Joyner said "Everything we
do between now and the Pac-10s will be
for trying to qualify.”
At the beginning of the spring season,
it seemed the Ducks would have no
problem qualifying They led the
Stanford Invitational for two days before
finishing sixth, won the University of
Portland Invitational and came in second
at the Northern California Collegiate
tournament in Stockton, Calif. Ferguson
had noted the Ducks were now not mer
ely competing in the major tournaments
as in the years before, but had become
contenders to fight for the lead.
But in the last two tournaments Fergu
son has described the play of his athletes
as “rotten” and "disappointing,” as the
Ducks failed to finish in the top 10 in
either tournament.
Joyner is also feeling the frustration of
the slump, and has not been as consis
tent this year.
This weekend Joyner and his
teammates will host the Pacific
Northwest Intercollegiate tournament
Saturday through Monday on three area
courses Joyner says the tournament is a
tune-up that should allow the Ducks to
test themselves on some Northwest
talent.
It's a chance for him to try and regain
some of that lost consistency and for the
team to get back in the swing of things.
Shell Joyner
Jeff dickerson/sportcuts
The other things in life
I stood around the other day taking
swings at an imaginary baseball
I admired how my form had retained
most of the original quality that helped
me make the all-league team in high
school in 1978
"I miss baseball," I told my roomates
later that evening
When I came to the University in fall
1979 after more than a year's layoff from
playing the national pastime, I quickly
learned two things: You can 't just pick up
where you left off and expect to be at par
with the other guys, and I didn't want to
play the game anymore as badly as I
thought I did
I tried out for the team that fall and was
able to stick around as a "tail-ender"
who might be able to help the team
someday — if I could recapture the
coordination it takes to be a collegiate
ballplayer But after I sustained a back
injury while lifting weights, I took
advantage of the somewhat flimsy ex
cuse to hang up the spikes and any
hopes I may have had at making a career
at playing baseball.
"There are other things in life than just
playing baseball,” I told myself Therein
lies a large chunk of why I never made it
Those guys, even at Oregon, ate, drank,
slept and even partied baseball I always
liked to leave it on the field when I went
home from practice
Many people cannot understand why
anyone would want to be on the field at
all “It’s too boring," they say
But they have never understood the
intracacies of the game, the difficulty in
hitting a screwball, or the strategy in
volved in pulling a pitcher They don't
understand the history of the sport — the
facts as well as the fancy
Expectedly then, fan turnouts at
Oregon baseball games were relatively
low It wasn't a revenue-producer, and
therefore leaned heavily on the income
from football and basketball.
It rained too much in Oregon, large
crowds rarely showed up, and the Ducks
were experiencing their fifth straight
losing season. Three strikes and you’re
out. There is no sound of cracking bats
and no calls of "C’mon, blue!” coming
from Howe Field this spring.
There has been talk of bringing
baseball back someday, and I suppose it
would be nice to have the baseball field
used for something more than fall
football practice and ultimate frisbee, but
that doesn't do much for someone like
me. Someone who would like to take in a
game of baseball on a sunny afternoon
(there are still a few of them left in
Oregon) at Howe Field this spring.
I didn’t think it would be this way.
First, I didn't think the athletic depart
ment would actually cut the national
pastime from the sports program.
Second I didn’t think I would miss it. But I
do.
The Emerald gets all kinds of media
releases from West Coast schools, and
included with those releases are media
guides for baseball. I look at some of
Oregon’s former opponents’ schedules
for 1982 and am reminded that no one
will be playing the Ducks this year.
Last year, cries of protest came from
those who would seek to save Oregon
baseball. But this spring the Howe field
bleachers have just a few less seats
occupied than last year.
So I watch the pros play on television
in front of 50,000 people who know the
attraction to the sport, and I read in the
paper about how tiny Western Oregon
State College’s baseball team played
Oregon State.
I think about my “glory days" in high
school. And I tell my roommates how
much I miss baseball.
AWARDS
The University English dspsrtmsnl is accepting
entries lor a variety ol poetry and short story competi
lions open to University undergraduate and graduate
students The Julia Burgess Award ot S15 is lor the best
original poem or poems submitted by an undergraduate
the Alicia Wood Poetry Award of $50 is lor the most
outstanding original poem, emphasizing traditional
verse form submitted by an undergraduate the Walter
and Nancy Kidd Short Story Award of $75 is for the best
short story submitted by an undergraduate the Walter
and Nancy Kidd Poetry Award of $75 is lor the best poem
submitted by an undergraduate student a graduate
program award of $50 in fiction for the best short story by
a graduate student, and a graduate program award of
$50 in poetry for the best group of poems (up to five) by a
graduate student For more information, contact the
University English department Deadline for all submis
sion is May 3
MEETINGS
The Political Science Student Union will hold a
meeting today at 3:30 p m in Room 908, PLC By-laws
will be discussed
The University sailing team is meeting tonight at 8 30
in the EMU (room number to be posted) Bring money tor
T-shirts
The Student University Affairs Board will meet today at
3:30 p m in Room M109. EMU
The EMU Budget Committee will meet today at 4 p m
In Room 319. Allen Hall The outdoor program and the
craft center will be discussed
The Coalition Opposing Registration and the Draff will
hold a meeting lor the general public lo discuss
non-reglstratlon, prosecutions, and what we can do,
today at 8 p m in Room 104. City Hall. Seventh Avenue
and Pearl Street Call 485-4611 for more information
WORKSHOPS
Want to know mote about the wide world of public
relations? Come to a workshop today at 3:30 p m in the
Academic Resource Area. Room 164. Oregon Hall
Stephen Unwin, journalism school: Li* Mann, journalism
peer adviser and Mike Moskovitz, broadcast manager
for the University News Bureau, will discuss course
otterings, student activities and organizations, intern
ships. and career opportunities Sponsored by the Office
of Academic Advising & Student Services
CLASSES
"Healthy Eating In the Senior Years” is the topic of a
six-week course beginning today at 2 p m at the
Campbell Center The course will be taught by a
registered dietitian from Sacred Heart Hospital, in
cooperation with the Campbell Senior Center The cost
is $3 For more information on registration call 686-7074
“The Way, The Truth, and The Right" is the topic of
a class, which will examine various interpretations
of the Bible and apply the message to the current
world, today at 12:30 p m at the Wesley Center, 1236
Kincaid St
SPEAKERS
"Elite Culture and Society In Rio da Janeiro In
the Nineteenth Century” is the topic of a lecture by
Jeffrey Needell, Stanford University, today at 4 p m
in Room 189. PLC. The lecture is sponsored by
the history department
“Jewish Religious Practices" is the topic of a lecture
by Rabbi Myron Kinberg, Temple Beth Israel, Friday at
9:30 a m in Room 341, Gilbert Hall
"Electronic Animation" is the topic ot a lecture by
artist Larry Cuba today at 8 p m in Room 123. Science I
Cuba, who produced a number of the computer
sequences in the film "Star Wars," will offer a presenta
tion on computer graphics
MISCELLANEOUS
It you're curious about how your tederal tax dollars
are being spent or Interested In learning about military
tax resistance, drop by the main post office between 9
a m and midnight today Information will be offered by
First Step and the Coalition Opposing Registration and
the Draft. Call 484-7222 or 485-4611 for more informa
tion
A ben fit dinner for the April 24th Coalition will be held
today from 5:30-9 p m at the Keystone Cafe. 591 W Fifth
Ave Proceeds will go toward a march and rally opposing
United States intervention in El Salvador Come join in
the Polish feast
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