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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1996)
TUESDAY October 29,1996 Oregon student no-shows are an embarrassment Well, fellow students, you have done it again. You have caused quite a little uproar over your ability to scarf up all the student tickets to last Saturday’s football game and your inabili ty to get into the game before kickoff and stay for its duration. Maybe it is because the game was on na tional television, or maybe it is because the athletic department was unable to accom modate everyone who wanted tickets, or maybe it is because the game was against the Ducks’ arch rival, the Washington Huskies. For whatever reason, people are pissed. Should they be? Yes and no. Yes, people should be pissed that the game was sold out for weeks and the student tickets were gone by Friday of last week and yet there were a bunch of empty seats on Saturday, particularly in the student section. Plenty of people, stu dents and otherwise, would have been more than happy to take those tickets off your hands if you weren’t going to go. There re ally is no reason why the stadium wasn’t completely full if there were no tickets left to be sold. Where were the 1000, or so, of you stu dents who failed to show up for the game? Home in bed nursing that hangover? Feel ing a little lazy? Or maybe when you stepped outside to leave you realized how cold it was and chose to watch the game at home in the warmth of your living room. Whatever. All good reasons I suppose, but next time, get rid of your ticket jackass. Look, it’s pretty logical. If you have a ticket to a sold-out game and decide that you are not going to go, what’s the point of holding on to the ticket? What are you go ing to do, frame the ticket and hang it on your wall? Now, on to the issue of the student sec tion emptying out at the end of the third quarter. Hey, I don’t blame you. The Ducks aren’t playing good football right now, let alone, entertaining football. That is not a shot at the team, it’s just a fact. So when everyone started to leave it didn’t bother me one bit. And why should it bother anybody? The Ducks were losing 33-7 when most of the Turn to HANSEN, Page 12 OUTDOORS COURTESY PHOTO The Eugene area offers many beautiful trails for the novice and experienced hiker. The Hiking Experience Local hiking offers spectacular views of old-growth forests and majestic waterfalls By Alex Pond Freelance Sports Reporter A favorite activity of many University students is hiking. As the summer has come and gone and we are now deep into the fall, many are thinking that the best hiking of the year is behind us. With all the rain and snow in the hills, it just isn’t possible to enjoy the wilderness as much as other times of the year, right? Wrong. The Eugene area offers a number of great trails at lower elevations that pro vide year-round enjoyment for the begin ning or experienced hiker. Dan Geiger, associate coordinator of the University Outdoor Program, says that lower elevation hikes featuring waterfalls and old growth are the most popular this time of the year. One area that Geiger says provides both of these features is a trail along Fall Creek, which is about a 45-minute drive east of Eugene. There are several scenic sections to the main trail, although this time of year the best bet for a hiker would be to take the trail up to Timber Creek to avoid running into snow. This 5.8-mile round-trip trail runs along Fall Creek occasionally wind ing down to the gravel beaches but mostly staying higher on the forested bank. Another great trail that is open year round is the McKenzie River Trail, which starts at the McKenzie Ranger Station parking lot 2.5 miles east of McKenzie Bridge on Highway 126. “It is probably one of the best trails year-round in the state, as far as I’m con cerned,” Geiger said. The highlights of the trail are towering ancient Douglas fir and red cedar trees that stand tall above the roaring Whitewa ter of the McKenzie. One of Geiger’s personal favorites is the trail at French Pete Mountain, which the Outdoor Program was instrumental in saving during the 1970s and getting added to the Sisters Wilderness Area. The trail is also located next to the Cougar Hot Springs, which Geiger says is a bonus for hikers. “People can go for a nice hike and then stop by the hot springs afterward,” he said. This is also an activity where the cooler Turn to OUTDOORS, Page 12 Minnesota plagued by late-game fumble ■ NFL: Several players returned from injuries to lead Chicago to the 15-13 win By Ron Lesko The Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — All season, the Chicago Bears have found ways to lose. On Monday night, they watched the Minnesota Vikings do the same. After losing Robert Smith and Warren Moon, the Vikings lost the game 15-13. Walt Harris blocked a field goal attempt with 3:47 to play, and Bryan Cox forced and recovered a fumble two minutes lat er as the Bears held on to beat slumping Minnesota. It was only the second win for the Bears (3-5) since a season-opening victo Turn to NFL, Page 12 Old, new Sonics could mean bright future ■ NBA: With Payton, Kemp, Schrempf and Hawkins, Seattle abounds with optimism By Jim Cour The Associated Press SEATTLE — First, there’s Gary Payton, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year last season who makes backcourt thievery an art form. Then there’s Shawn Kemp, who outplayed Utah’s Karl Malone in the Western Conference finals in May to establish himself as the best power forward in pro fessional basketball. Former All-Stars and seasoned veterans Detlef Schrempf and Hersey Hawkins are back to start again with Payton and Kemp. Next, add new starting center Jim Mcllvaine, a 7-foot 1 shotblocker who was Gheorghe Muresan’s caddy in Washington last season, and 14-year veteran Craig Ehlo to a bench that includes Sam Perkins and Nate McMil lan. Buoyed by the confidence of winning Games 4 and 5 against the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals last sea son, the Sonics think this is going to be their season. They expect to win the league championship — against the old champions and the old king, Michael Jordan, in the East and the new and improved Los An geles Lakers and Shaquille O’Neal in the West. “This team believes in itself,” said George Karl, who coached the Sonics to a franchise-record 64 regular-sea son wins last season. “This team has very little fear.” “This team potentially is a better team than last year’s team,” general manager Wally Walker said. The Sonics believe they will be better this season be cause Payton, 28, last season’s NBA steals champion who was a key member of the gold medal-winning Dream Team III in the Atlanta Olympics, and the won derfully gifted Kemp, a four-time All-Star at 26, are go ing to be even better. And both have been pretty good. Payton and Kemp Turn to NBA, Page 12
