Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1982)
HAIR CUTTING TO PLEASE YOU Donna s Ho-' ^a-'e M« '• ■</•'' 342 2165 1982 FARWEST CLASSIC STUDENT TICKETS AVAILABLE Session I December 26 7 pm Oregon vs. Montana State 9 p.m Portland vs Idaho Session II December 27 7 p.m Oregon State vs Tennessee State 9 p.m Drake vs. Lamar Session III December 28 1 p.m & 3 p m. Consolation Session IV December 28 7 p m & 9 p.m. Semi-finals Session V December 29 1 p.m. 7th and 8th place consolation 3 p.m. 4th and 6th place consolation Session VI December 29 7 p.m. 3rd and 5th place finals 9 p.m Championship Game Tickets available at Mac Court ticket office Hours 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 686-4461 Holidays bring tourney cheers By Paul Danzer Of th« Emerald The decorations are up The holidays are almost upon us, bringing with them a bevy of traditions. There're mistletoe and eggnog, trees and wreaths, Santa Claus and reindeer And — in Portland — there's basketball The traditional Far West Classic tournament will make its 27th run Dec 26-29, bringing men's college basketball to Memorial Coliseum one week after the women perform in the fast-growing Giusti Tournament of Champions Not wanting to balk at tradi tion, Oregon will again be represented in both tour naments In recent years, the Ducks have been well represented. The men have finished second in the eight-team Far West Classic for two years running, while the women followed a runner-up showing in 1980, with a Giusti championship a year ago 'We've been to the finals the last two years, so I think it's a hell of a tournament," says men's coach Jim Haney of the Classic. While many basketball aficionados might agree with Haney, the Classic faced ex tinction two years ago. Among the reasons cited for discontin uing the tournament were the expansion of the Pac-10 schedule, rising travel and ac commodation costs, and a lack of interest The key ingredient in saving the tournament has been the success of Oregon State's bas ketball program, which has been ranked in the top-10 in the nation during the past three seasons The Beavers won the tournament in 1979 and 1980 before falling to third last sea son It's appropriate that the Beavers would be the team to save the tournament. Oregon State began the Far West Clas sic in 1957 with a four team tournament at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis OSU won the first one, and nine more in a row before falling to last place in the 1966 tournament They won 27 Clas sic games before losing during their streak "The interest (in the Classic) has changed slightly in the past few years,” says Haney, citing OSU’s success He notes that in the past there were three kinds of fans: Oregon supporters, OSU supporters, and the un committed fans. Now with OSU's success, the uncommit ted fans have been replaced by Beaver rooters. "When OSU has a decline, it will be interesting to see what happens,” he says. It will also be interesting to see what happens this year. The field, overall, is less flashy than it has been in the recent past, probably because the tourney was on the chopping block not to long ago The Ducks kick off the tour nament with a 7 p.m. game against Montana State Dec. 26. Other first round matchups in clude the University of Portland against Idaho on the 26th, while OSU takes on Tennessee State and Drake challenges Lamar on the 27th "I don't think this field has the same glamor schools that it’s had in the past," says Haney. "But at the same time the field is strong.” Haney says the tournament is a good psycological test for his team because they play three games in four days, and Haney says the goal is to win at least two of those games "It’s also a good opportunity to check where you are. Then, once the Classic’s over, you can make any final adjustments ” Coach Elwin Heiny says the Giusti offers the women a similar opportunity ' You have to look at games like that as a building exper ience,” Heiny says of the Giusti. "Each team has to find its own identity, that's what preseason is for.” Heiny hopes his team will be pretty well settled by the time they tip-off the Giusti at 7 p m Dec 22 against highly regarded Colorado, and for good reason The fourth-annual Giusti boasts two-time defending NCAA national champion Loui siana Tech, along with AIAW runner-up Texas Also entered are Long Beach State, ranked as high as fifth in the nation in pre-season polls, Washington, Oregon State and host Portland State The Beavers have been in the top-20 in several pre-season rankings. ”1 would really like to play against Louisiana Tech,” says Heiny noting that playing the best teams gives them a chance to see where they stand "You need to play the best to be the best.” Two years ago the Ducks played the best when they bat tled defending national cham pion Old Dominion in the Giusti finals and lost by just one point "That gave us a real boost,” remembers Heiny. Betty Rankin, director of the Giusti Tournament, is hoping that the strong field combined with improved playing dates will give tournament attendance a real boost. For the past three years, the tourney has been held during finals week By holding the tournament a week later Rankin anticipates better student attendance But even if fans don't flock to the Giusti. teams from around the nation would love to "I have huge files full of letters from teams asking for a berth," says Rankin "We want to keep the best teams coming And we want to increase the awareness of the skill level of women’s basketball ” Tkdb the S**vtaict payee with ttoel ftofot 15 fec/MA, <v*xd& fax *150 placed 6y t p.tH. Dec. W at the u4uat (&catCoH6. NAME: ADDRESS: MESSAGE: DATE: T>Se &. WT2 PHONE: 15 **xd* fax *1.50. 15 cents. fax tad adddYaaal maxd *otx 15. COST NO. OF WORDS lfymiHf Tkc. t3 l* &*tvuUd @lcu4d£ucU
