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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1994)
Fashion with an Ethnic Flair t i .Jin «vi noxt to itw E*oei'»tor 343 8667 r)!tl StriKl! Public M.irVc! downstairs FOLKU/AVS IMPORTS CLOTHING JfWURY • FOLK ABT FROM ABOUND THC WORLD SPRING FLING SALE A FRIDAY, MARCH 25 - SATURDAY, APRIL 2 • ALL 93 BICYCLES S20-S130 OFF • INTRODUCTORY PRICES ON 94 BICYCLES SAVE $15-S50 • WE NOW CARRY KHS COMP BIKE OF THE YEAR only $709 • ALL ACCESSORIES 20% OFF • ALL CLOTHING 30% OFF J • ALL PARTS & TOOLS 10% OFF^J REPAIRS A CYCLES ( 1340 WILLAMETTE • 687-0288 I ove *A' \o*\ *\ X' - vwe c Q^ - OregonDaiiyEmersAd Sports Tate elects to find new passion ii i) short three-paragraph statement released In the _i_Oregmi Sports Information Department Wednesday the three month 'ordeal of Willy I .lie < amc to .in end lost when 1 ate tiegnn to estate lish himself .IS one of tile best tight ends in Oregon history he t ailed it tputs, leaving Oregon after his junior year I he n foot i. 2.!5 lb tight end was cnniing off-a breakthrough season m whit h lie i might t.I passes for . 11 yards and four tmichdowns Oregon football coach Ku h ttrooks began talking op I'ate game near the end of tile Id'll' e.tson and looked almost prophetu when l ate i.aine on this year I verythmg •t-emefl to he going 1 ate s win luil lie didn't want it Questions have been swirling sint e the annoont ement ol late s tlepartnre with everyone wondering why the senior to lie wooltl give it all lip Idle brief, sudden anniniin'.(intent asked more ipiestmiis than it answered date left behind > i loud of i ontrov ersy with pen pie wondering about personal problems, tlist ipline problems a ademii problems ett Idle reason W ills I ate left Oregon is much simpler than anyone < oultl imagine, he lost his passion for the game After almost a (let atle til i onsuming himself in football, a game he truly loved l ate lost that love When I first heard rumors ol this ths ision three months ago I Was slim ked W illy has been a friend of mine suit e we lived near eat h other in the dorms three years ago As the visits have gone by we've remained friends, hut I still didn't quite belies e the new s Id understand the news, one has to know I ate. a fun-lov mg gtiv with a deep side as well late who s about 40 credits short of a degree 11i f.nglish. was Sim Mims always bothered bv !ti>* dumb joe k image that often goes along with ,i sc holarship I ended up in the same hug lish i lass with Tate last \ ear and found out he had reason to hate this label Ills was not the storv of all athlete pist trying to take enough interest in sc houl to remain eligible in fact, even more surprising to tile than the fac I l ate gave1 up football is the fac t he'd leave'.si lined, although there's no doubt he wiII finish up somewhere I ate was respet ted bv almost evervone who knew him and that was proven when the team named him c o < aptain last vear as a junior, an honor rarely put upon .m unden lassmun. When 1 asked a c lose friend of late s why he would leave. I was look mg for something concrete; maybe lie was upset will) the couc h feuding with teammates, anvthing definite This friend told me simply, the thing people don’t realize about Willy is he's a great foot ball player, hut lie's even a bel ter person At first I didn't understand exactly what this meant, hut now I realize it savs there was muc h more to late than football l ate s dec ision was not a split sei ond one that he had not thought out Tate lust began thinking about his future after the football season and original ly dec ided to leave Oregon in late 1 )ec ember l ate did not make this dec ision known to many people, so when a team mat*’ of his (old mi' about Tati1 s decision in January. 1 was sliOC ked. 1 immediately thought bat k to a si ene in the interview room after Oregon's loss to Oregon Stale in the season finale I asked Willy about next year and he gave the usual "we ll be alright speei h Then after a moment of silent e. he looked at me and said with e\us[>eration. "I don't know. Mims I don't know Che Civil War loss was espe < iallv tough on l ate The Out ks didn’t put up min h of an effort over the end of the season, cul minating in the loss at home to the Beavers when it was appar ent some of the players had git ell up. Seeing the team apathy was as tough as thtt lpss to the op captain A current Oregon player told me a few weeks ago that tills is the reason Tate left. l ate is a hard worker, who played hurt almost the entire l’ltt t season, and he i ouldn't stand to see some of the guys around him not work as hard as he did It vs .isn't worth it lor him to give everything he had while others slai ked off. After first learning of Tate's plans I looked lor confirmation from Tate himself, hut was unable to get a hold of him As a friend. I genuinely c ared about what he was planning to do. and the spurts editor in me began to smell a story Many times 1 con templated running a story about sources reporting Tate yvas It-av mg. but 1 knew the dec ision he yvas making yvas difficult tor him and attention would make it worse So I c ontinued my searc h to get a hold of Tate, and when I final ly saw him on ccimpus two weeks later, he surprised me again 111 l ebruary he had dec ided to return to Oregon for his senior year after all I asked the people Turn to TATE. Page 16 COMES TO EUGENE! ENJOY n IN THE PRIVACY OF YOUR OWN GROUP. Adult because there’s no organ music, no kids, no little league pi:za parties. Just adults enjoying pi::a made with fresh ingredients such as Canadian Bacon, pepperoni, Italian sausage, tomatoes, he Ass and more. I’lus, fresh award winning micro-brewed beer. INTRODUCTORY OFFER /X FREE HLFll.LABl l BOX! 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