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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1997)
ON THETUBE Men's College Basketball Temple at Cincinnati, ESPN (34), 6:00p.m. DAILY TRIVIA What NFL franchise did Wellington Mara purchasefer $500 in 1925? See scoreboard for answer. Seifert retires from 49ers; Cal coach may be hired ■ COACH: After spending 10 years with San Francisco, Seifert decides to say goodbye By Dennis Georgatos The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — In eight years as the San Francisco 49ers coach, George Seifert won two Su per Bowls and built the best winning percentage in NFL history. On Wednesday, in a startling move, he retired. He was expected to be succeeded by Steve Mari ucci, who was 6-6 at California this year, his only season as a head coach. Carmen Policy, the 49ers president, said the team had not yet hired Seifert’s replacement — but that only one person was being considered. “We are presently negotiating with that one in dividual,” Policy said. “No offer has been made to anybody. Those negotiations are going to continue ■ | tomorrow.” Seifert said he made his decision to leave the job while vacationing in Mexico. “My wife first told me when I got this job, ‘Don’t screw it up.’ I don’t think I did,” Seifert said. “I’m proud of the things we accomplished during my watch.” Coaching changes have been rampant around the NFL. Seifert becomes the 10th coach to leave a team since the start of this season, meaning one-third of the teams have made changes. Seifert, who turns 57 next week, won Super Bowls in 1989 and 1994. With a record of 108-35, Seifert is the franchise’s winningest coach and has a winning percentage of .755. He reached 100 victo ries faster than any NFL coach. “It’s time for some new blood,” Seifert said. “I’m not saying my blood is stagnant. But I’m saying let’s just pass this on to someone else.” Mariucci was schooled in the 49ers system while working for Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren, a for mer offensive coordinator for San Francisco. He was an assistant for four years with the Packers, get ting much of the credit for turning quarterback Brett Favre into a two-time NFL MVP. Mariucci, 41, has been coaching for 18 years. His Cal team began the 1996 season with a 5-0 record, but lost six of its last seven games — including a de feat by Navy in the Aloha Bowl. Under Mariucci, Favre became the youngest Turn to COACH, Page 9 fl r 1 Yrl ~rj i -rJ YESTERDAY’S RESULTS NBA Philadelphia .111 > Golden State.128 Charlotte .104 ' New Jersey.116 Minnesota.102 Chicago.112 Oallas.66 Orlando .78 San Antonio.77 New York.94 Seattle .122 Toronto .78 Vancouver.79 Detroit .103 L.A. Clippers .82 Indiana.102 NHL Hartford .0 Pittsburgh .3 Ottawa ....5 Washington.1 N.Y. Islanders.1 Buffalo .2 Toronto Los Angeles .2 .3 Colorado.4 Tampa Bay.2 Phoenix .1 St. Louis.4 Calgary.2 Anaheim.1 Edmonton Florida... .4 .0 MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Virginia.54 (2) Wake Forest ....58 (11) Maryland.63 (3) Clemson.67 Houston.78 (10) Louisville.92 N.C.-Greensboro .. .29 (13) Duke.87 Northwestern .66 (17) Indiana.63 Fairfield .79 (19) Boston Col.81 Miss. State.75 (20)Mississippi ....64 N.C. State.56 (22) N. Carolina.59 Texas A&M .76 (23) Texas .86 Oklahoma .62 (25) Texas Tech ....67 WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Rutgers .45 (1) UConn .78 (5) Alabama.68 (4) Georgia .64 Michigan State .82 (7) Vanderbilt .51 Oklahoma .55 (14) Texas Tech ....67 (19) Duke.73 (15) N.C. State .86 Texas A&M .63 (16) Texas.100 Syracuse .45 (21) Notre Dame ... .72 NE Illinois.69 (25) DePaul.77 NCAA investigating possible violations by UConn basketball program HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)—The University of Con necticut said Wednesday it believes its men’s basket ball program violated NCAA regulations, and that an investigation is underway. A statement by Athletic Director Lew Perkins was issued after the abrupt cancellation of a news confer ence in Hartford involving players and coaches from both the men's and women's basketball programs. The event was to promote public safety posters. DAILY TRIVIA ANSWER The National Football League’s New York Giants were bought for $500 in 1925. Home game could prove vital for Oregon MATHEW STIFFLER/ Emerald Oregon’s Kenya Wilkins and Stanford’s Brevin Knight are two of the best point guards in the nation. They face one another tonight when their teams meet at McArthur Court. ■ MEN’S BASKETBALL: Focus will be on a matchup between point guards and centers tonight By Andrea DeYoung Assistant Sports Editor The Oregon men’s basketball team competes in its Pacific-10 Conference home opener tonight in what may be one of the most important games of the sea son. That’s not only because the Ducks (10 2 overall, 1-2 Pac-10) have lost two in a row and are 1-2 in the conierence, but also because their opponent is Stanford (10-2 overall, 3-1 Pac 10). Ranked No. 15 in the coun try in the last poll, the Cardi nal is coming off two impressive wins last week end. This in cluded a 109-61 drubbing of UCLA — the worst loss the Men’s Basketball ■ OPPONENT: Stanford Cardinal ■ WHEN: Tonight ■ WHERE: McArthur Court ■ TIP-OFF: 7:05 Bruins have ever suffered. Stanford went on to easily take the 85-70 win over USC. But the Cardinal had the luxury of playing at home — something they will not have tonight. Stanford knows all too well how loud the crowd at McArthur Court can be after it lost by two points last season on an off-balance shot from Kenya Wilkins. The fans erupted, stormed the courts and lifted Wilkins onto their shoulders. All that happened more than 11 months ago, and Stanford only returns one starter from that team — Brevin Knight. The team that will take the floor tonight includes center Tim Young, who redshirted the entire season, and three players who played in last season’s game Turn to MEN’S B-BALL, Page 8 Oregon tennis heads up to conference tourney ■ TENNIS: The indoor tourney hosts some of the nation’s top teams By Joel Hood Freelance Sports Reporter With temperatures in Seattle this weekend expected to drop below freezing, the Oregon women’s tennis team and head coach Jack Griffin are glad to be compet ing indoors. On Wednesday, Oregon sent its top five players north to compete in the Pacific-10 Conference Indoor Cham pionships. The tournament, which this year is host to three of the nation’s top five teams, begins today and will run through the weekend. “I’m really excited for our team," Griffin said. “This weekend’s tournament is a great opportunity for us. This will show us how we stack up in the Pac-10.” For Oregon this will be its first action since the Rolex Regional Championships in Palo Alto, Calif, in Novem ber. In that tournament, sophomore ace Ali Napier de feated Washington’s Annette Kristensen in straight sets to advance to the second round. She lost there to Flori da State’s Dora Dijilinova 7-5,6-1. Every year the Pac-10 is one the toughest conferences in the country to compete, and this year is no different with Stanford, UCLA, and Arizona all being ranked in the nation’s top five. “This is a very difficult conference,” Griffin said. “If Turn to TENNIS, Page 8
