Oregon Daily ElXICFJllcl iSpOftS
Trip to Pasadena rough road for smaller schools
gPffW??:
From the
Sidelines
Etck Sludemcka
Visiting Eugene for the first
llmo last week, my brother
had all the usual ques
tions.
‘‘Whore's the host
bar?","Where's the Ixwt moxl
can food?” and "What compa
nies are hiring?" wore all ques
tions I had an answor for (ex
cept for that hiring one), but as
we Joggod by Autzen Stadium
one afternoon, he hit me with a
aueition that caused mo to
raw a blank.
“When was the last time the
Ducks won the Koae Bowl?," he
asked.
As a sports reporter, I try to
have at least a vague history of
Oregon sports. I knew the
Ducks had appeared In the
Rose Bowl In 1»SB under coach
Lon Casanova hut had lost to
Ohio Stale. But for all I knew,
maybo my brother's question
should have boon, "Have the
Ducks ever won a Rose Bowl?"
A quick survey outside the
EMU quickly relieved my no
tion that I might bo the only
Rose Bowl-ignorant student on
campus. Guesses on the year of
Oregon’s Iasi Rose Bowl victory
ranged from several "nevers,"
to a very optimistic "two years
ago.”
l-'alrly certain that the Ducks
did not win the 1990 Rose
Bowl, I checked the media
guide to lie sure The guide was
very helpful, telling me that
USC was the Pac-10 representa
tive In tho 1890 Rose Bowl But
perhaps more Importantly, It
gave me. In full-page detail, the
answer to my brother’s trou
bling trivia quostion.
On Jan 1, 1917. tho Ducks
trounced the University of
Pennsylvania 14-0 for tholr
only Rose Bowl win. Oregon
has also lost the Rose Bowl
twice. 7-6 to Harvard in 1920
and 10-7 to Ohio State In 195B.
Now. “In which year did Or
ogon last win the Komi Bowl?"
might mako for a good "Trivial
Pursuit" quostion. But in my
opinion, tho quostion raises a
bigger issue.
Has the Pac-10 become such
a tiered conference that It is
now impossible for some of tho
smaller conference schools
such us Washington Stale, Ore
gon Statu, and Oregon to roalis
tically expect to over make a fu
ture trip to tho Rose Bowl?
Should Oregon coaches, play
ers and fans give up the Idea of
making it to tho Rose Bow! and
be satisfied with other bowl ap
pearances, or should the small
er schools lettve the Pac-10 and
join a conference where they
might lie more competitive?
Indeed, generations tan pass
without seeing the Ducks, Bea
vers or Cougars in the Rose
Bowl The last appearance in a
Rose Bowl by one of the small
er Pacific Northwest schools
was Oregon State in 1965 The
lost victory by one of the
schools came In 1942 during
World War II when Oregon
State defeated Duke 20-16.
Washington Stato is currently
experiencing even a worse Roae
Bowl drought than the Ducks
or Beavers, having last ap
peared In 1932 and lust win
ning in 1916.
Oregon head coach Kich
Brooks, himself a former Ore
gon Stale football player, says
that although the odds are long,
fans shouldn't give up the hope
of seeing the Ducks play in the
Rose Bowl.
"It's not at all unreasonable
to hope to see loams like Ore
gon and Oregon State and
Washington State In the Rose
Bowl," Brooks said. "But I do
think It Is unreasonable to ex
pect those teams In the game
year In and year out.
"Every team In the Pae-10 is
striving to lie at the level of the
Washingtons and Ut'LAs. No
one is conceding anylhlng."
Brooks uxplainod that t«!ams
like UCLA, USC: and Washing
ton have remained consistent
winners over the years for basi
cally simple reasons All have
largo population bases from
which to rocruit within and
strong football traditions,
which translates to more boost
er dollars and an easier '‘sell''
for the program.
Former football coach Lon
Casanova soys it was no easior
to rocruit in the 1950s than it Is
today.
“Evon then it was hard to ro
cruit against the bigger schools,
especially USC," Casanova
said. “They had proven football
rocords, and it was easy for
them to tell a recruit that if he
wanted to play in the Rose
Bowl, he should go there."
Casanova said his 1958 Rose
Bowl squad was an exceptional
group.
"They wore fighters — very
tough But they wore also very
conscientious." ho said. "To
make the Rose Bowl we had to
havo a certain amount of good
fortune, and that’s what it will
take for Oregon or a smaller
school to make the Rose Bowl,
some luck and good fortune.
But it’s still possible to do —
very difficult, but still possi
ble.”
Casanova also made the ob
UNIVERSITY
Prictstflectivt
thru Oct 10th
sorvatlon that i( was somewhat
easier for a small school to be
successful in the past bocausc
not as many players were re
quired.
"Back then pluyors played
both defense and offonse, so the
teams wore quite a bit smaller
in number," Casanova ex
plained “A coach wouldn't
have to recruit as many players
to have a good team.”
Brooks fools the smaller
schools may oven be regaining
a recruiting edge that may lure
some top players to schools
like Oregon.
"A lot of kids coming out of
high school are tired of large
city life," Brooks said. “A lot
want to go to a quiet collego
town like Eugene nowadays."
As for dropping out of the
I’ac-10. think only of the Uni
versity of Idaho and the Uni
versity of Montana. These
schools used to be members of
the conference, but dropped
out While Washington arrives
in Eugene next week, Idaho
and Montana will be playing
some no name school in a
snowstorm.
So does it really matter that
Oregon may not appear In the
Rose Bowl for another 50
years? No, It doesn't. Just like
trying to get a date with that
pretty girl, the excitement is in
the chase. The important thing
is that, come every fall, the po
tential exists for the Ducks to
make the trip to the Rose Bowl.
1 moan, what do they say ut
Idaho? "This year we have the
potential to go to the Raisin
Bowl.”
Anywuys, my brother took
off for his homo today. His des
tination was sort of ironic,
somewhere 1 hope the Ducks
end up at least once before 1
die.
Ho was driving down to Pasa
dena.
trick Studanlcka Is a sports
reporter for the* Emerald.
Associated Press
College Football Top 23
First-place votes In paren
theses, Pac-10 teams in bold.
1 Washington (42)
2. Miami (16)
3. Michigan (1)
4. Tonnossoe (2)
5. Toxas A&M
6. Alabama (1)
7. Penn St.
8. Florida St.
9. Colorado
10. Virginia
11. Stanford
12. Georgia
13. Notre Dome
14. Nebraska
15. Syracuse
16. Oklahoma
17. Georgia Tech
IB. Mississippi St.
19. UCLA
20. Southern Cel
21. Boston College
tie. Ohio St.
23. Florida
24. California
25. Clomson
tie. N. Carolina St.
Others receiving votes:
West Virginia 90, Wisconsin
74, Washington State 72, Ar
izona 57. Auburn 43, Hawaii
37. San Diego St. 27. Missis
sippi 14, North Carolina 13.
Kansas 12. Kansas St 5. Air
Force 1, Oregon 1.