Tim Pyle
Continued from Page 7 A
a difficult dilemma.
Should the fifth-year head coach forfeit a full sea
son’s worth of contribution from Bauman for the sake
of immediate success?
It’s a tough call, and Bellotti knows it.
“Would I like to have him out there? Absolutely,
yes,” Bellotti said. “But do I think it’s gonna happen?
Probably not.
“We have five games left right now, with the hope
of getting a sixth. If I thought Rashad could play this
weekend and we could get five games in, I’d be will
ing to say, ‘Yeah, let’s pass up a year later on.
“But I don’t think one or two games is gonna be
worth it.”
Senior defensive tackle Caleb Smith knows Bau
man would give the defense a considerable boost but
also realizes the delicacy of the situation.
“His confidence carries over onto us as a defense,
so getting him back, if we get him back for this game
or any game in the near future, will help us be able
to do some different things because of his coverage
ability,” Smith said. “But no one wants him to come
back before he’s ready.”
Smith added the team understands it’s Bauman’s
decision because “it’s his future.”
Skin and bones on the offensive line
The health of the offensive line — a season-long
problem — continues to plague Oregon heading into
the last of its three-straight road games Saturday
night.
Starting tackle Al Cotton, a sophomore, will not
play because of reoccurring concussions, the worst
of which happened during the Oct. 2 loss at Wash
ington. Backup guard Corey Chambers, a freshman,
is also out because of an injured shoulder suffered
during practice.
“Those guys are both questionable probably for the
remainder of this season,” Bellotti said. “That is a
major concern for our offense.”
On a brighter note, Bellotti said freshman center
Josh Jones is “healthy maybe for the first time since
fall camp.”
Reuben’s return
After missing the Washington game altogether and
being limited in his availability at UCLA because of a
rib injury, senior tailback Reuben Droughns is feel
ing as good as he felt before the Sept. 25 win over
Southern California, according to Bellotti.
That does not mean, however, that Droughns will
be playing pain-free Saturday.
“He’s a tough kid and wants to play,” Bellotti said.
“He certainly brings a spark and brings an attitude
onto the field with him that I think is infectious for
our team.”
Despite his ailments, Droughns has accounted for
45 percent of the Ducks’ rushing yardage, gaining a
total of 343 yards on 81 carries. He also leads the
team in touchdowns with five.
Out of sight, but not out of mind
Oregon has been in the rankings but once this sea
son, but that doesn’t mean the Ducks are completely
out of the national media’s collective conscious.
In ESPN.com’s array of midseason reports this
week, Oregon earned mention in two rankings of a
different sort.
Among his top-five “Surprising Players,”
ESPN.com’s John Crowley ranked Duck quarterback
A.J. Feeley third.
“A year ago he was the No. 3 quarterback on cam
pus,” Crowley wrote. “Today he’s the leading passer
in the Pac-10...”
And in Crowley’s list of “Top 10 Games,” Oregon
again received props.
The Ducks’ 33-30 triple-overtime win over USC is
ranked No. 7.
“Someone had to lose this demolition derby of a
football game,” Crowley wrote. “...Oregon walked,
or rather, limped off with the wildest win in a Pac
10 season characterized by unpredictability.”
Tim Pyle is the sports editor for the Emerald. He can be reached via e-mail at
tpyle@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Jeff Smith
Continued from Page 7A
baseball juices flowing. What a
classic way to end a great century
of baseball, I thought.
But alas, when game 1 of the
1999 World Series opens up Satur
day night, it will do so not at Shea
Stadium, but rather Tumer Field.
Yaawwwn! Snooze...
I’m sorry, I love baseball with all
my heart. But an Atlanta-New York
World Series just doesn’t excite me.
Sure, it makes for the great de
bate over who is truly the team of
the decade. In my mind, the win
>- ner takes that claim.
Based purely on their record
throughout the 1990s, Atlanta
(925-629, .595) holds a command
ing 73 1/2 game lead over the
Bronx Bombers (851-702, .548).
But where it all matters is the
number of giant rings you have on
your hand. And not those silly little
league championship rings either,
I’m talking about the real deal.
Atlanta will now appear in its fifth
World Series of the decade, a feat that
shouldn’t go unnoticed. But what
should be noted, however, is its num
ber of championships: one.
Along the way, it fell to the mighty
Minnesota Twins of 1991; the Toron
to Blue Jays of 1992; and a certain
team in pinstripes in 1996, the Yan
kees. Atlanta’s lone series victory
came in 1995 over Cleveland.
Then there are the Yankees. In
the first half of the decade, the
team’s nucleus was centered
around the likes of Mike Pagliaru
lo, Steve Sax and Don Mattingly.
But then Joe Torre came on board
as manager in 1996 and created the
present-day squad. New York has
been in the Series twice since and
has two championship rings to
show for it. In 1996, Atlanta took a
2-0 lead in the series, before the
Yankees reeled off four in a row for
the win. And then a year ago, in the
Yankees’ landmark 125-win sea
son, New Y ork swept the San Diego
Padres, who were outmatched and
simply happy to be there.
So the winner of this Series gets
to claim the decade and have its
franchise ego stroked some more.
But really, do you all care?
As a die-hard baseball fan, I was
loving the possibilities that the
league championships presented us.
Every possible combination of po
tential World Series combinations
made for an intriguing matchup.
Consider a New York Mets and
Boston Red Sox World Series. The
memory of the ball trickling
through Bill Buckner’s legs still
leaves Red Sox fans shrieking. This
would have been Boston’s chance
to gain some revenge from that 1986
Series and exorcise those demons.
Or how about an Atlanta versus
Boston matchup? Long before it
made a home in Georgia, the fran
chise was known as the Boston
Red Stockings in the 1870s before
taking on their present nickname
in 1912. The team shared the city
of Boston with the Red Sox until
1952 before moving onto Milwau
kee. And aside from all of the his
torical factors, seeing Pedro Mar
tinez go head-to-head with
Atlanta’s pitching staff would
have been fun to watch.
And lastly, the Series that would
have been an amazin’ spectacle:
the “Subway Series.” Words can’t
describe the intensity and emotion
that would have been associated
with this Series. We would be feel
ing the heat waves generated from
Shea and Yankee Stadium all the
way here in Eugene.
But it’s time to face reality.
Granted, Atlanta and the Yan
kees are the two best teams. Yes,
they both deserve to be here and
both are qualified to dtike it out for
decade champion.
But still... there’s that thought
in my mind that thinks about what
could have been.
All I know is that on Saturday
night, when these two teams grace
our television sets as they have
many times throughout the decade,
my attention will be elsewhere.
I will be following our Oregon
Duck football team as they battle
the Arizona Wildcats down in
Tucson. You can e-mail me the
baseball score if you wish, but to
tell you the truth, I don’t care.
Jeff Smith is a bitter San Diego Padres fan. He
can be reached via e-mail at smittside@aol.com.
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PEACE CORPS
How far are you willing to go to make a difference?
Attend Our Information Session
Thursday, October 21, 6:30 - 8 pm
EMU - Rogue Room
Stop by the Peace Corps Info Table
Wednesday, October 20, 9 am - 3 pm
Thursday, October 21, 9 am - 3 pm, In the EMU
For more info or to schedule an interview, contact U of 0
Campus Recruiter Fred Jarman at (541) 346-6026
www.peacecorps.gov • 1-800-424-8580