© r e goit#€ m eralti
TUESDAY
Oct. 27,1998
Best Bet
NHL
Buffalo atN.Y. Rangers
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Watching
the game from
a higher view
Sitting in the Autzen Stadium press
box for the first time during Satur
day’s Oregon-Southern California
football game, I could not help but
marvel at the fact that I was working.
When one generally thinks of work, fun
is nowhere in the vicinity. Especially if
that work occurs on a Saturday.
But covering my first Division-I college
football game definitely could be classified
as fun. Actually, it was a blast.
I got to watch my — rather, our — Ducks
battle the stoned Trojans
from one of the best seats in
the house, and I was getting
paid for it.
It did not really hit me
that I was doing something
that I had not done in my 20
1/2 previous years until I
had flashed my dull red
pass to a security guard and
passed through the media
personnel door. Whether
my nonchalance was be
Opinion
cause ot being engulted in a
cloud of detachment or a misty hangover,
I’ll let you decide.
As I ascended the concrete stairs to press
heaven, I half expected to find Harry Caray
and Jim Murray mingling at the top. In
stead, my colleague Rob Moseley was the
first person — no, I did not mistake him for
an angel — waiting for me on the other
side.
After helping ourselves to lasagna and
salad, Moseley escorted me to our seats on
press row.
The first thing I noticed was that the
press box was not enclosed. Instead of
plexiglass and controlled temperatures, I
could see the field without any obstruc
tion, hear the crowd clearly and feel the
crisp autumn air. The only thing artificial
was the patchwork turf a couple hundred
feet below.
The second thing I noticed was a glare to
my left. I turned to see a FoxSports crew
performing its pregame commentary amid
manufactured brightness.
I soaked in the atmosphere and glanced
at televisions displaying the UCLA-Cali
fornia and Tennessee-Alabama games on
either side of me for a few more minutes
Turn to PYLE, Page 12A
Oregon volleyball
Tobbagi shows her fearlessness
Matt Hayikins/Etneniki
Monique Tobbagi, who has started the last six games at outside hitter, slams a kill past Stanford Oct. 18.
The freshman outside hitter
brings shills honed in high
school to Oregon
By Allison Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
Monique Tobbagi can’t stand it any
longer. The volleyball season is more
than halfway over, and she hasn't said
anything yet. Today she is going to set
the record straight.
“That’s not how you spell my name,”
the 6-foot freshman says, referring to the
Oregon volleyball media guide.
“There’s supposed to be two b’s and
one g.”
Good thing she said something when
she did because the media won’t be able
to avoid this former junior Olympic star
any longer.
Tobbagi, a native of San Jose, Calif.,
has recently become one of the Oregon
volleyball team’s fearless freshmen. Af
ter a disappointing loss to Portland on
Oct. 6, Oregon head coach Cathy Nelson
felt a change was needed and inserted
Tobbagi into the starting line up.
“There are two things I really like
about Monique,” Nelson says. “Her ath
leticism and her attitude. She’s compet
itive and fiery but not out of control.”
Tobbagi knows about competition. As
a high school senior she helped Arch
bishop Mitty defeat rival St. Francis in
a five-game match that landed her
squad in the state finals.
“It was a three-and-a-half hour match
that kept going back and forth,” Tobbagi
says. “The place was packed and people
were going crazy. That was a big deal
for us.”
Tobbagi recorded 10 kills and nine
digs in the championship game against
Marina High and earned all-tournament
recognition. Her powerful jump serve
was also a force as she had a career high
12 service aces in the finals.
During her sophomore year, Tobbagi
began receiving letters from interested
colleges, including Stanford and Col
orado. But it was after a visit to Oregon
that she knew Eugene would become
her new home.
“I didn’t feel like I would fit in with
the team in Colorado,” Tobbagi says. “1
had to think about if I got injured and
Turn to TOBBAGI, Page 12A
Harrington receives rude welcome from USC’s Claiborne
Redshirt freshman Joey
Harrington had an inauspicious
debut against Southern
California Saturday
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
After Saturday’s 17-13 win over South
ern California, Oregon head coach Mike
Bellotti said he gave a formal welcome to
linebacker Matt Smith, who contributed six
tackles, one more than his season total en
tering the game.
“Matt Smith did a great job,” Bellotti
said. “I told him after the game, ‘Welcome,’
officially in a sense, because he truly got a
baptism under fire.”
Joey Harrington should have been so
lucky.
While Smith received his welcome in
the comfort of the Oregon locker room after
dolling out some punishing hits, Harring
ton was on the receiving end of a vicious
welcome by Trojan linebacker Chris Clai
borne.
With four minutes, 35 seconds remain
hitters.
“Joey should sue a couple of our lineman
for nonsupport on that one,” Bellotti joked.
“And his receiver fell down too, so it was a
rather ignominious debut. But the good
thing is it can only get better.”
Kicking woes cany over from '97’s Oregon-USC
game
For the second straight year, the winner
of the Ducks’ matchup with the Trojans
was the beneficiary of some questionable
kicking by the opposition.
On Saturday, USC’s Adam Abrams
missed three of his five field goal attempts,
including chip shots from 28 and 36 yards
out in the first quarter.
Seeing as how the Trojans lost by four
points, converting just two of those three
misses would have meant victory.
Last season, Oregon fell 24-22 in Los An
geles after its kicker left a 36-yard attempt
short with just three seconds remaining.
“The longer you coach, the more what
ever goes around comes around,” Bellotti
said. “I’m hoping that there are still some
out there that people owe me.”
Hartley’s TD looks familiar
Moments before Harrington was so rude
ly greeted by Claiborne, Oregon tied the
game on a 55-yard bullet from Akili Smith
to Hartley. The touchdown came on a play
that should be familiar to Duck fans.
‘Tve caught five touchdowns this year,
and I think three of them have come on
that play,” Hartley said. “I have a deep post
and on that play, [USC comerbackj Daylon
[McCutcheon] came up and tried to bust
me, and he fell. So our tight end was able to
get a push and clear the safety out, and I
came behind him on the post.”
ing in the third quar
ter and the game tied
10-10, Harrington, an
all-state quarterback
at Portland’s Central
Catholic in 1997, en
tered at tailback for
his first collegiate play
Akili Smith took the snap and pitched to
Harrington, who threw incomplete to Tony
Hartley.
Just after releasing the pass, Harrington
was flattened by the 6-foot-3, 250-pound
Claiborne, recognized recently by Sports Il
lustrated as one of the nation’s 10 hardest