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
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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