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UO athletic department finally striding toward perfection
OPINION
Mat
Mcfyre
The
building of
the new
indoor
training
facility is a
step in the
right
direction to
bolster
Oregon
athletics
It’s one small step for Oregon, one giant
leap for Duck-kind.
The Oregon Athletic Department has
finally found the road to glory with its
proposed plan for an indoor practice facility
that will go alongside the Casanova Center
and Autzen Stadium. The facility, if built,
will be the first of its kind among Pacific-10
Conference schools and will put the Ducks
on the map in the recruiting ranks.
During the past three-plus years, the
Ducks have gone from pretenders to con
tenders in all sports, while moves by the
Athletic Department to publicize each team
have been less than adequate. The mission
of such a department is to make its athletics
look as if they are the hottest thing going,
even if the teams aren’t. Until now, the Ore
gon Athletic Department has not fulfilled its
mission.
One example is the “Late Night with Jerry
Green” show the school puts on to publicize
the men’s basketball team before the open
ing of each season. While other schools, like
Cincinnati, have their version of “Late
Night” televised on national television, and
give away one year’s worth of tuition, Ore
gon serves to the younger and older audi
ence — not the student crowd. Instead, fans
in attendance — which have been few —
are given the opportunity to win free pizza
and T-shirts.
I understand the basketball team hasn’t
reached the prominence of a Kentucky or a
UCLA team, but when you’re trying to
achieve those heights, you must go all out.
Remember, it wasn’t too long ago when
Cincinnati was in the position Green’s Gang
is now.
With the planned facility, Oregon has
gone all out. The facility will include an
artificial grass football field, a four-lane
straight-away track, a giant net for golf and
tennis use and possibly long jump pits. And
outside there will be a soccer field for the
new Oregon women’s soccer team. The
facility has everyone excited.
“I think its outstanding,” said Oregon
football head coach Mike Bellotti. "To have
a climate controlled environment is great.
All the Big 10 schools have them, and now
we’ll be set apart from the rest of the Pac
10."
The biggest effect that will come from the
construction of the facility will be revealed
in Oregon’s recruiting. The main problem
V^\
coaches have faced during recruiting is
enticement. The geographic region Oregon
is part of doesn’t offer sunny skies all year,
unlike our foes to the south.
“It will help us a lot in the recruiting
area,” Bellotti said. “California has the best
population base in the country with about
65% of our team coming from there.”
Unlike most extravagant ideas, the cost of
this one will not gouge students or other
programs. The construction is going to be
completely funded by the private sector,
according to Jim Bartko of Duck Athletic
Funds.
All in all, the facility opens a door to the
future of Oregon athletics and Eugene. It
won’t erase the 18-point deficit the Ducks
suffered in the 1995 Rose Bowl, and it won’t
heal the wounds left by Colorado head
coach Rick Neuheisel’s fake punt call with
1:08 remaining in the 1996 Cotton Bowl.
But it will place the state Senator Bob Pack
wood made famous on the college athletics’
national map.
Mark McTyre is the sports editor for the
Emerald. His opinions do not necessarily
reflect those of the newspaper.
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
HISTORICAL
ft
b
In 1967, Autzen Stadium opened following former
Athletic Director Leo Harris’ drive to construct a
modern and economical theater for football. The
stadium, which replaced historic Hayward Field as the
home of Oregon football, was built at a cost of $2.5
million, close to $1 million of which was raised from
1,000 stadium sponsors.
In 1988, the Casanova Center, named after legendary
football coach and athletic director Len Casanova, was
as part of an overall updating project of Autzen
Stadium exceeding $16 million in costs.
In 1997, the proposed indoor practice facility will be
the first of its kind in the Pac-10 Conference. It will
contain an artificial grass football field, a four-lane
straight-away track, a giant-size net for tennis and golf
use and possibly long jump pits. The project will also
include an outdoor soccer field. The overall cost of the
project is unknown at this time.
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CONTACT US
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reserves the right to edit letters for length or style.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Rights threatened
I wasn’t going to honor this debate with a
response; when I’d first heard that city was
considering a ban on dogs and skateboards
on East 13th, I’d thought it was a joke. No
one could be that poorly informed, that
openly discriminative here in well-educat
ed, egalitarian Eugene. Legislation designed
specifically to single out and deprive one
social/cultural group of it’s civil rights?
Blaming a cluster of kids for the deteriora
tion of “the quality of life” in a neighbor
hood? Just imagine.
Just imagine that the University might not
be at fault, with it’s perpetual inability to
supply adequate and affordable housing for
it’s student population. Just imagine that
there wasn’t an unbelievable fortune to be
made from supplying overpriced but con
veniently located rental units to students
who have little choice but to avail them
selves of what’s offered, or spend hours on
the bus every day from Springfield. Just
imagine that anyone but a student could
afford to live in the district, and rent long
term. Or would want to. Just imagine that
the overpriced, rarely open police station
parked in the lot at the 7-11 actually insured
a world of goodness and niceness for every
one. And imagine that the only thing stand
ing between truly good and nice people like
us and the realized vision of a perfect world
in our University district was one little
social class: just some malcontents, really,
and a few puppies on clothesline leashes.
It takes quite an imagination. Or rather,
the lack of one, to come up with such a line
of thought.
Shame on everyone who thought this law
was a good idea.
I spend part of my day, five days a week,
right in the heart of the area that would be
affected by the proposed legislation. I’ve
had my turn at being aggressively panhan
dled, but only once or twice in the remem
bered past, and I’ve worked in the district
for nearly a decade. That’s nothing, just
what happens in the course of living one’s
life. No reason for me to discriminate
against an entire group of people, and cer
tainly nothing to he viewed as a menace.
I don’t feel a deep solidarity with the
"gutter tribes” who gather on the street. I
just believe that they have the same civil
rights that I have, that they’re not doing me
any harm by existing, and that they should
be left in peace.
And that if their rights are threatened,
then mine are surely next.
Beverly Effinger
Eugene
Expand Bottle Bill
This November there will be an initiative
on the ballot to expand Oregon’s Bottle Bill.
This new measure will cover all single-serv
ing, non-carbonated beverages with a five
cent deposit. It’s about time! It’s been 25
years since we passed the original bottle
bill, and since then we have been inundat
ed with huge numbers of new non-carbon
ated drinks. Many of these beverages such
as juices, iced teas, and bottled water are
not covered under the current deposit sys
tem, and are ending up in our roadsides,
parks and in our landfills.
Often, when I go to the store to return my
containers, I am confused by the physical
similarities of the deposit and non-deposit
containers and inevitably mix several non
deposit containers in with my retumables. I
am surprised that this issue has not come
up sooner; however, I am pleased to see that
the simple solution to this confusion has
been discovered, the expanded Bottle Bill.
I luge my fellow citizens to pass this Mea
sure, expand the Bottle Bill, and keep Ore
gon clean and green for generations to
come.
Michael Arthur
Eugene
Due to the number of written responses
regarding the proposed Bottle Bill, we were
unable to publish all the letters we received.