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 ”
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