Emerald
Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz
Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O.Box3159,Eugene,OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon. uoregon.edu
On-line edition: www.dailyemerald.com
Ashot
^ on*
Goal
Oregon's women's soccer team may
not have the best record, but they
have enough appeal to bring a new
soccer fan to his feet
I should probably be embarrassed to ad
mit it, but after the Duck soccer team
beat Auburn on Oct. 11 crowded
among the second and third graders
along the railing at Pape Field to gather
some autographs on my new team poster. I
suppose I looked pretty ridiculous tower
ing over the little urchins, but those
women played an exciting game that kept
me jumping out of my seat every few sec
onds. Hey, I like watching people chase a
ball around while doing acrobatic tricks
with it. Besides, no one laughed out loud at
me -1 think.
Admittedly, I’m a brand new soccer fan.
Mieczyslaw Szmit, my friend from Poland,
has been turning down my invitations to
attend football games for years, claiming
.they’re too boring.
“Not enough action,” he said. “They
spend most of the time just standing
around. You should watch a soccer game
instead.”
Last summer I finally took him up on it
and joined him to watch the Women’s
World Cup on the tube.
It was an eye-opener, to say the least. I
was on the edge of my seat for the entire
game. Seeing Michelle Akers leap above
the crowd to send the ball back every time
it reached midfield, I couldn’t believe she
has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I know a
guy with it, and he spends half his days in
bed. And the action was almost nonstop,
just like Szmitty claimed. I'd never real
ized that a scoreless game could be so ex
citing. I was hooked.
So it’s not surpris
ing that when I
learned about the
Oregon soccer
team, I started
showing up at
their games.
I wasn’t disap
pointed. The
Duck women are
an impressive
group of athletes,
and their play is a thrill
to watch. Sure, I was a lit
tle puzzled about what was
going on the first game, but I found
Bryan Dixon Emerald
somebody who knew soccer and pestered
her with questions. And anyway, who
wouldn’t enjoy watching midfielder Sierra
Marsh steal the ball at midfield and sent it
shooting back at the opponent’s goal? Or
watching forward Erin Anderson outrace
two defenders while dribbling the ball
down the field before kicking it past the
goalie for a score? Or just watching forward
Julie McLellan doing backflips to throw
the ball inbounds? I got so excited about
soccer that I started looking for a bumper
sticker or something to let the world know.
But there I got a little stymied. The Uni
versity and the Athletic Department have
done a fairly good job of promoting the soc
cer team by printing out posters, schedule
cards and T-shirts. But I think it’s time
they started selling the soccer equivalent of
“Gang Green” and “Shaq Attack” bumper
stickers (’’Marsh Madness,” perhaps?) in
the Duck Shop and University Bookstore,
along with some green and gold soccer
balls or something. And maybe it’s just my
own optimistic opinion, but I also think
they should start thinking about how to ex
pand the stands at Pape Field. There isn’t a
lot of room available if the sport starts
catching on.
Of course, some people may disagree
with me - now. If you dare judge the team
by its record (5 wins, 8 losses), it doesn’t
look impressive. But the soccer team
seems to share the Mallard Malady with
the football team. They’ve had some terri
ble breaks and made some phenomenal
blunders that lost games for them, but
when they click, they caa play with any
body.
They played 20th ranked Stanford to a
standstill and only lost by a penalty kick
(phenomenal blunder) that was nearly
blocked by goalie Amanda Fox. They dom
inated Northridge for the entire game, 26
shots to 6, but - both blunders and breaks -
the California team managed to find the
net three times and the Ducks only once.
But against Auburn - whoa! Those poor
Auburn girls never had a chance, and
Chalise Baysa even scored with a header
while beating them 4 - 0.
This team is capable of - and plays - far
better than its record shows. But even
when the team loses, a couple of hours at
Pape Field are well spent. They play with
grace, heart and a whole lot of toughness.
Their teamwork is often as precise and
flawless as a Rolex. Whatever else they
may be, this team is never dull. The bottom
line is, win or lose, they’re just plain fun to
watch.
FredM. Collier is 3 columnist for the Emerald. His views do not
necessarily reflect those of the paper. He can be reached via
email at fmcollier@aol.com.
Letters to the editor
Hold athletes responsible
In response to the article about Peter
Warrick (ODE, Oct. 12) I question whether
we should hold athletes responsible for
anything. #
People who are star athletes should be
held to the same standard as a normal per
son. It is about time we hold star athletes to
the same standard as we hold everyone
else. When that happens we won't have
NFL or NBA players breaking every rule
imaginable and still playing in their sport.
A line needs to be set.
Warrick will still make the big bucks in
the NFL, so there is no need to feel sorry for
him. However, the NCAA should set a stan
dard that no matter who you are (or will be)
you will not be awarded special treatment.
Timothy Sweeney
Class of 1999
Demonstration effective
What an extraordinary, symbolic sight.
Members of Hillel holding up white sheets
to block an anti-abortion presentation. If
they had set out to graphically demonstrate
the state of denial that is complicit among
abortion supporters, they could not have
done so more effectively. It is obvious that
the only means by which abortion has con
tinued into the present day is the ability of
abortion supporters to hold up their own
white sheets and symbolically turn their
backs on the consequences of their actions.
To look their choice in the eye and give it a
name is to accept the wrenching conclu
sion that abortion is not a moral choice and
should not be any more legal or socially ac
ceptable than infanticide. Hillel members
called the comparison between abortion
and the Holocaust “disgusting,” but their
reaction demonstrated the power of the
comparison. Slavery, anti-Semitism and
abortion hold in common the demeaning of
one group of persons to sub-human status,
a pattern that any student of the history of
prejudice would recognize.
The logic of choice is distorted to reflect
the rights of those in power to remain in
power and the only question that matters -
“Is a fetus (or a slave, or a Jew) a person,
protected by the laws of government and of
morality” - is lost amidst an increasingly
violent and confused rhetoric of the rights
of the oppressors.
Colby Phillips
English