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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2000)
Scoreboard Ducks face Portland The Oregon men’s tennis team (2-1 overall) plays its fourth straight, and fourth out of nine straight road matches today in Portland against the Pilots (2 2). The last time the two teams met, the Ducks beat Portland convincingly 8-4. Oregon is comingoff a 5-2 loss to No. 36 Boise State, 6-1. Senior Joaquin Hamdan posted the Ducks’ only win, beating Marcus Bernston in three sets. But the Ducks were more successful in their matches against Utah and Idaho, beating the Utes 5-2, and Ida ho 6-1. Kansas City linebacker dies MIAMI (AP) — Derrick Thomas, one of the most feared defenders in the NFL and a nine-time Pro Bowl player, died Tuesday less than a month after being paralyzed in a car crash on an icy road. He was 33. Thomas was beingTransferred from his hospital bed to a wheelchair on his way to therapy when he uttered something to his mother and his eyes rolled back, said Dr. Frank Eismont, a neurosurgeon at Jackson Memorial Hospital. “We were hoping that Derrick’s story would have been a happier ending,” he said. “This is very much unexpected.” The Kansas City linebacker, who held the NFL record of seven sacks in a game, went into cardio respiratory arrest, he said. Doctors have not determined an exact cause of death and might perform an autopsy. One of Thomas’ doctors, Dr. Barth Green, said a massive blood clot probably killed Thomas. “This is a total shock,” Green said. “Der rick was an extraordinary person and was breaking all the records while he was here.” A shaken Kansas uty coacn buntner Cunningham recalled telephoning Thomas at the Miami hospital from the Pro Bowl on Sunday in Hawaii, after seeing players and fans honoring Thomas by wearing his number. Thomas had not been selected for this year’s game. “Derrick said, ‘Coach, be strong.’ He never told me how strong I needed to be,” Cunningham said. After a game, Thomas would always walk across the field “with a smile on his face,” the coach said. “Not because [Kansas City] won, but because that’s the way he was. And that’s the way I’ll always remember him.” “Derrick Thomas was a true hero,” said Kenney, who urged lawmakers to sup port a bill for spinal cord research in. Missouri. Thomas was driving a car during a snowstorm on Jan. 23 as he and two friends headed to the Kansas City air port to fly to St. Louis for the NFC Cham pionship game. He lost control of the car, and it overturned at least three times, police said. Police said Thomas was speeding and weaving in traffic, but prosecutor Don Norris said there wasn’t enough evi dence to file charges. Thomas and passenger Michael Tellis, 49, were not wearing seat belts and were thrown from the car. Tellis was killed and Thomas' spine and neck were broken. The third person in the car, who was wearing his seat belt, sustained only minor injuries. Best Bet NCAA Men’s Hoops North Carolina vs. NC State ' 4 p.m., ESPN ' February 9,2000 Volume 101, Issue 93 Effigrakl ii He stays late and comes early, all the stuff he needs to do to win. yy Jeremy Ensrud assistant coach Hard work and a desire to win has propelled Tony Overstake to a successful freshman campaign By Matt O’Neill Oregon Daily Emerald t’s not always the athleticism that makes an athlete successful. Sometimes, it is the ||!§ drive and the will to win that puts an ath H lete over the top. Tony Overstake falls into the second cate gory According to Oregon wrestling coaches, what Overstake lacks in athleticism, he makes up with hustle and desire. “He’s had to work extremely hard for some lack of natural physical attributes,” head coach Chuck Kearney said. “He’s what you call a classic overachiever.” Whether Overstake is an overachiever or not is debatable, but one thing that cannot be debated is his recent success. The redshirt freshman is 18-7 this season and 2-0 on the team’s recent road swing. However, Kearney is not completely sur prised with how Overstake is performing at this point in his career. “It’s hard to make the jump from high school to college; it’s hard to tell when that transition is going to take place,” Kearney said. “Tony’s doing things right now that don’t surprise me. But if you asked me in De cember if he would be where he is, then I would have said [I’m surprised.]” As a senior at Central Point High, Overstake posted a 41-3 record and won the state title in the 125-pound weight class. Kearney saw that Overstake could be a great collegiate grappler when he saw him wrestle as part of a cul tural exchange team as a sophomore. “He was outworking eveiyone in the room,” Kearney said. “It was obvious to see him come back and win a match after being four and five points down, not quitting.” While that will to win often gener ates success, Overstake admitted it can sometimes hurt his perform ance. “It causes me to make mis takes sometimes,” he said. Turn to Overstake, page 8A Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald Words can’t prevent Bruins’ sinking After getting tripped up last weekend, UCLA’s NCAA Tournament expectations are growing increasingly bleak ■ Pac-10 Notes By Jeff Smith and Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald As the lone senior on the UCLA men’s basketball team, forward Sean Farn ham tried to light a fire un der his team following the Bruins’ 73-58 loss to Ore gon at McArthur Court Jan. 29. Behind closed doors — but with a herd of press waiting outside the thin walls — Farnham passion ately spoke to his team in a locker room tirade, scream ing, “I’m not going down like this! I’m not going to the NIT!” It was an admirable at tempt to right the ship of the sinking Bruins, but, as last week’s UCLA results indicated, it didn’t work. Five days after the Ore gon loss, the Bruins hardly put up a fight in its 78-63 defeat to Stanford at Pauley Pavilion. And then on Sat urday, UCLA — with its first three-game losing streak since the 1991-92 season — was swept at home for the first time since the Bay Area schools did it in 1990. With seven seconds re maining, the Bruins found themselves trailing Califor nia 73-70. Bruin guard Earl Watson had the ball, but be fore he could launch up a three-point try, he tripped and was called for travel ing. Game over, and yet an other dagger to the Bruins’ hopes of reaching their 13th straight NCAA ap pearance. And where was Farnham in all of this? Well, the sen ior contributed a combined nine minutes of action in which the only stats he ac quired were two rebounds and two personal fouls. In fact, in the past 16 games, Turn to Pac-10, page 8A FARNHAM
