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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1995)
HATAU? MOM30Mgm7m«i« Pat Johnson is all smiles these days as he is |ust now beginning to realize his full potential on the track and off. WILLING ABLE After realizing his full cajmhilittes, freshman Pat Johnson lobbied to forgo Spring footfxill practice in favor of concentrating on track Trevor Kearney Oregon f rrmrskf Having already shown potential to become one of the Oregon fcxithall team's most potettt offensive weapons, freshman Pat lohnson, who doubles as one of the Onrgon trie k and field team's fastest sprinters ever, could have easily chosen to focus first and foremost on football this spring Hut after Johnson realized what he was < apahle of doing oil the trot k. he also realized that taking on football full time would jeopardize ins track duties And for Johnson, that just wouldn't do When I'm out for football. I'm too portent dedi cated to football," Johnson said, adding that it was the same way for anything he does That's the typo of person I am So instead of participating in spring football drills. Johnson practices with the track team five days a week while taking l‘i t rwdits and balancing football meetings and catching SO to 100 footballs a day in his spare time, That kind of schedule, however, doesn't over whelm the fresliniim from Kedlands. Calif. It has to l>e done, I don't have a choice,” he said, adding that he likes being active Hint's just pari of being a dual sport athlete I'd rather be busy than not busy." Johnson's di* ision has turned into what Oregon sprint coach George Walcott, who was the last Oregon sprinter to go to the NCAA Championships and the school'* only Pacific 10 Conference sprint title holder, des< riln-s as a gift from God "He is o godsend athlete to os right now." Walcott said "I've been around here a long tune and he is protwbly one of the most special truck athletes I've Turn to JOHNSON, Page 10 How Tom Browning drove up the price of beer ure baseball s bat k But it's not exactly better than IwJever, espet tally for those free agents who, for all intents and purposes, aren't in tint prime of their careers. Never mind the fact that bast* Iwll undoubtedly has lost some of its fans due to the ridiculous ly long strike The thing that intrigues me ts the mass trans formation of once grossly over paid marginal veteran players into grossly underpaid marginal veteran players. All I van say is it's about time. I've never really had a prob lem with owners paying guys like Barry Bonds. Ken Griffey jr and Roger Clemens the big bucks (although when we start talking eight figure salaries for these guys, that's a whole differ ent story). These guys fill ball parks. These guys are impact players that make or break teams. Hut when guys like Tom Browning, Bud Black and Dave Stewart are making more than $3 million a year, that's where Chris Mu/ my tolerance and charily end People have been bitching for years about baseball players making too much money The problem is that they never real ly had anyone specific to point their fingers at — they were (ust convinced that ballplayers made too much dough Like in any other business, some baseball players make way too much money for their skill and their worth. Some •make wav too bttlf for their skill and their worth. The key to making a lot of money is to put In your time That's the American way: 1. Get job with bad pay. 2 Put up with trad pay for a few years 3, Get good and rich when five years is up. no mailer what you've done to war rant Mich a now This is the sickness that has plagued baseball for the hist decade, Tom Browning, who is slated to make only $300,000 this season, deserves $ ) million like Jeffrey Dahmer deserves a Notie! Peace Prize It's Ixs-ause of iffy veteran players like Browning that I pay for a King Dog at the King Dome and Sf) for a King Beer for my King Thirst after I've parkin) my King l‘)7g Subaru in a $10 lot, worth roughly twice as much us said car. So it was with great joy over the past couple of weeks that ! have watched literally dozens of veteran* get their paychecks not only cut. hut slashed beyond recognition. The casualties? Pat Borders, who provided the Toronto Blue jays with superb catching for the better part of a decade, was perhaps the biggest loser, getting his $2 5 million contrai l chopped in tiny pieces with Borders grabbing a small chunk at $310,000 j«ir year with Kansas City Terry Pendleton. who seemed so indispensable as the loader of the Drove*, took « nice $w! mil lion slash As a Yankee fan, 1 can < nr tatnly laugh at Terry Mulhollaml receiving a full S~ million dollars loss than last season These are the guy* that were laughing as the freo-agent hug tickled liieir pocket books Hut now that it has stung them in the ass. it's a whole different story. "I tiKjk a (with — a big bath." pitcher Erik Hanson said after signing with Boston to the tune of a $1.5 million cut in pay. “This is the market now, and it's quite different." 1 think Hanson sums up the current situation rather well. Hanson is a victim of injuries and unreached potential, which Turn to METZ, Page 10 April 13. ! 995 Volume *#*. Issue IJ1 NSC A/US A Today softball poll I UClA ____ ? At 3 C# S&tfo ■< f ^eyo Su?o_ 5 IAS V«^!» 6 iou-shya * Cm Suso Sacf&rsyto_ 8 1'4i Su&> ’•' . __. tp Cdftftyma II CdfO*#^_ *2 _ ^..iSfasLOsgis_ \ f Pfcffiflti'S S?A?4> _ Qfcfaftyr^ SUM#_ *9 -ftjy/’tpffir __ *M ‘Da "■<; 22 c# Pt^y $ao l ias Ofcxpo _ 24 l€N>A ?5 *<mM Women sign guard t isa Oliveira, a S-foot-7 guard from f ootruiis Jr Co) lege Signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play basket baii for the Oregon women s program A two-time an Coast Con ference selection and two time team MVP, Oliveira is a shoo! i g guard who win have two years of eligibility left when she joins the Ducks Oliveira averaged is points 7 4 rebounds 4 3 assists and 4 1 steals per contest lasl year Rams granted move DAUAS(AP). NFL own ers voted today to allow the Hams to leave Southern Cali fornia and move to St Louis At a special meeting, own ers reversed a decision last month (fiat barred the move ON THE TUBE April 13 \ / ■ ' p.m ESPN Sailing, Amer ica's wup. Challenger and Defender (mate, at San Diego ■ 1 p.m. USA — Senior PGA Got). Seniors' Championship, first round, at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. ■ 5 p.m TBS-NBA Basketball. Golden State at Utah ( Ml tl»( t
