TUesday
April 13,1999
Best Bet
NBA Basketball
LA Lakers vs. Portland
5 p.m., TNT
Spring Football
Defense deadly under Aliotti’s guide
. 1 ,"M' 11 JJ ' ' 1 ■ ' 1
(( There
were things
here that I
liked, and
there's stuff
that I like
that I
brought with
me. So we’re
not really
keeping the
same system,
but a
similar
system. »
Nick Aliotti
Oregon defensive
coordinator
Nick Aliioti returns to
Oregon this year as
defensive coordina
tor after spending
three years with the
St. Louis Rams and
last year coaching
the UCLA defensive
squad. In 1994, Alii
oti’sGang Green de
fense led Oregon to
its first Rose Bowi
appearance in 37
years.
Gang Green jounder Ntck
Aliotti has returned to Oregon
as defensive coordinator
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
Four years ago, Nick Aliotti recruited
most of the seniors who make up Ore
gon’s current defense.
Now, this spring, Aliotti is coaching
them for the first time.
“He’s the guy who recruited me,” de
fensive back Michael Fletcher said, “so
it’s good to have him back. Everybody is
fired up about him. We’re excited to see
what we can get out of him. ”
After Aliotti had a successful 1994 sea
son — in which his memorable Gang
Green defense led Oregon to its first Rose
Bowl appearance in 37 years — he de
parted for a position with the NFL’s St.
Louis Rams.
Aliotti’s tenure in the professional ranks
lasted three years before he decided to re
turn to college football last season, when
he became UCLA’s defensive coordinator.
But while the Bruins made a run at the
national championship, their defense
struggled. UCLA allowed opponents to
gain 433 yards per game, 99th out of 112
Division I-A programs.
Aliotti was berated by the Los Angeles
media and fans, and then he was also
publicly criticized by UCLA’s head
coach, Bob Toledo.
Now, Aliotti is back in Eugene, ready to
put last season’s controversies behind him
and to help Oregon try to win another Pa
dfic-10 Conference tide. He inherits an ex
perienced defensive squad that has steadi
ly improved in the past few seasons.
Last season, Oregon finished sixth in
the Pac-10 in total defense, a marked im
provement from the season before when
the Ducks permitted more than 29 points
per game.
“We’re going to have eight or nine of
our starters back,” Fletcher said. “The se
niors, we all grew up together. It’s that co
hesiveness that will just bring everything
together.”
Aliotti plans to continue those im
provements by implementing a scheme
that might be somewhat more aggressive,
but shouldn’t stray too far from what the
Ducks have run recently.
“We’re keeping the terminology the
same,” Aliotti said. “But we’re kind of
marrying the two systems. There were
things here that I liked, and there’s stuff
Turn to FOOTBALL, Page 9A
Nick Medley/Emeruld
True confessions from a fan turned admitted sports fanatic
H
i, my name is Tim. And I’m a
sports nut.
It all began back in the third
JL. JL grade when I exchanged my Spi
derman comic books for a subscription to
Sports Illustrated.
Actually, maybe it began before that.
There was that dominant Chicago Bears
team that finished the 1985 regular season
15-1 and then blew out New England, 46-10,
in Super Bowl XX.
I can remember when they played Miami
on Monday Night Football that season,
which ended up being the Bears’ only loss. I
bet my dad something like $5 that the Dol
phins would win.
But after that game—because of the Bears’
Opinion
ferocious defense, or because of their in
triguing mix of personalities that included
Jim McMahon, Walter Pay
ton, Mike Ditka, and William
“The Refrigerator” Perry, I
don’t know—I became fasci
nated with Chicago, the NFL
and football in general.
Then, there was the 1986
World Series that pitted the
New York Mets against the
Boston Red Sox.
I can remember cheering
Pyle wholeheartedly as Mookie
—"■■■“— Wilson’s grounder trickled
through Bill Buckner’s wickets, and the Mets
went on to win the championship behind
young, seemingly eternal stars Darryl Straw
berry and Dwight Gooden, and the leader
ship of seasoned veterans Keith Hernandez
and Gary Carter.
Of course, there were the hometown
Blazers.
In countless hours of driveway practicing,
I tried to model my jumper on Kiki Van
deweghe’s sweet stroke and my finishes on
Clyde Drexler’s gliding finger roll. Drexler
became forever my favorite NBA player
when he obliged mine and about 300 other
kids’ autograph requests after a victory at
Memorial Coliseum.
And the Blazers took my love to new
heights when they clinched the 1990 West
ern Conference Finals to advance to the
NBA Finals. My leap for joy coincided with
Buck Williams’ underhanded launching of
the game ball into the Phoenix horizon at
the buzzer.
Despite Portland’s loss to Detroit in the fi
nals that season, Blazermania lasted on into
the 1992 NBA Finals against the Chicago
Bulls.
Finally, Drexler and Michael Jordan
would be paired in the finals’ matchup I
had long desired.
But it was almost over before it started as
Jordan stole the show in game one with a bar
rage of three-pointers and a knowing shrug
and sly smile at the NBC broadcasters.
At that point, I wanted to shoot Jordan.
Turn to PYLE, Page 12A
Tuesday, ADri 113.1999 Oreaon Dailv Emerald 7A