Oregon daily emerald., August 01, 2000, Image 5

Scoreboard
Men’s basketball
schedule announced
Oregon head basketball coach
Ernie Kent likes to challenge his
troops early on in the season
with some big-name programs
on its non-conference slate.
The 2000-01 season will be no
exception as Oregon will take on
Louisville, Massachusetts and
Auburn among others before
opening its Pacific-10 Conference
season at home against Oregon
State on Jan. 6.
“ I’ve tried to put some things in
place with our schedule to en
sure that growth is there before
the conference season comes,
because we’re going to have to
really step up in some of those
games,” Kent said.
Oregon will open its season by
hosting Mississippi Valley State
on Nov. 17 and travel up to Port
land’s Rose Garden to play UMass
in the Portland Jam on Dec. 2.
Later that month, the Ducks will
get national television coverage
when they compete in the ESPN
Invitational in Las Vegas.
“I put this schedule together
for us to have some success as
well as to be tested severely in
the pre-season,” Kent said. “If we
have some success in those early
tests, it will certainly have us
ready for conference play. ”
Here is the full 2000-01 sched
ule with season tickets going on
sale in mid-August.
Nov. 10 B-ball Travelers (Ex.)
Nov. 14 Athletes in Action (Ex.)
Nov. 17 Mississippi Valley St.
Nov. 21 at Denver
Nov. 25 Portland St.
Nov. 28 Portland
Dec. 2 Massachusetts
Dec. 12 Illinois-Chicago
Dec. 16 Auburn
Dec. 18 at N. Arizona
Dec. 26 South Carolina St.
Dec. 30 at Louisville
Jan. 6 Oregon State
Jan. 11 at California
Jan. 14 at Stanford
Jan. 18 Washington
Jan. 20 Washington St.
Jan. 25 at USC
Jan. 27 at UCLA
Feb. 1 Arizona
Feb. 3 Arizona St.
Feb. 8 Stanford
Feb. 10 California
Feb. 15 at Washington St.
Feb. 17 at Washington
Feb. 22 UCLA
Feb. 24 USC
March 1 at Arizona St.
March 3 at Arizona
March 10 at Oregon State
Sports
Tuesday
August 1,2000
Volume 102, Issue 12
Emerald
of the dueling
QUARTERBACKS
Joey Harrington and A.J. Feeley, both strong Oregon QB contenders,
vie for the coveted starting position...again
Joey
Harrington
battles A.J.
Feeley (be
low) for
starting
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
One of the last times
Oregon quarter
back A.J. Feeley
was seen in the spring,
he had an ice bandage
around his right arm and
a solemn look on his
face.
The Ducks’ annual
Spring Game had just
ended and Feeley was not
very pleased with his 3
of-10 passing perform
ance for only 30 yards.
What couldn’t have
made matters any easier
was that his quarterback
counterpart Joey Harring
ton seemed to pick up
right where he left on in
the fall by completing 8 of
10 passes for 185 yards
and one touchdown to
help lead the Green team
to a dominating 31-0 vic
tory over the White team.
A couple of months
have passed since that
day, and Feeley again was
seen last week with a
wrapped ice pack around
his arm. This time, the
distraught look was gone.
Instead, there was an
engaging smile on his
face. Feeley was quick to
point out that the ice was
around his left arm —
^ his non-throwing one
* — just for precaution
ary reasons and that
his right arm was feeling
“10 times better” than it
did in the spring.
“I’m lifting every day
and it just keeps getting
stronger and stronger,”
said Feeley, who initially
won the starting QB job
over Harrington last fall
before relinquishing it
halfway through the year.
“Since that Spring Game
my body definitely feels
better and my elbow is
not as bruised as it once
was. Taking the time off
really helped.”
As Feeley talks, Har
rington strolls onto the
Kilkenny Practice Field
just outside of Autzen
Stadium and he too is
sporting a smile and has a
certain spring to his step.
Maybe it’s just the
serene Eugene-summer
sunshine, but the two
both seem to be feeling
pretty good about the up
coming season —.a sea
son in which they will be
competing every day to
earn the coveted No. 1
quarterback spot.
“Yeah, me and Joey are
both doing well,” said
Feeley, who wore a cast
over the winter to heal
nerve damage in his el
bow. “We’re both in the
weight room every day
and we’re always out
here throwing every day.
We both respect each oth
er and we’re both going at
it. Same ol’ same ol’.”
Indeed, the competi
tion between the two is
nothing new. They’ve
been “going at it” since
the spring of 1998 when
then-redshirt freshman
Harrington joined Feeley,
Jason Maas and Akili
Smith in the quarterback
battle. When Maas and
Smith departed, the posi
tion was left to Feeley
and Harrington.
Oregon wide receiver
Keenan Howry said that
it really doesn’t matter to
him which quarterback is
out there because he
knows what to expect of
both of them.
“I think all of us wide
outs are definitely confi
dent in either one,”
Howry said. “This of
fense is geared to where
we are going to make big
plays and both of them
can get it done for us.
We’ll have to wait and see
how the offense starts
clicking once the fall
comes.”
The topics of their
competition are ones that
both players aren’t eager
to discuss so they choose
to slide by such talk and
focus on the actual team
as a whole.
Harrington has always
said that the summertime
is the perfect chance for
the team to get to know
one another and create a
bond that will be carried
on into the fall.
“Oh yeah, everybody is
doing really well,” Har
rington said. “We have a
lot of guys out here for the
summertime, definitely
more than last year. These
guys could take off and go
on vacation, but they
stayed here and they’re
working hard.”
Feeley also notes the
importance of these sum
mer months and how
much impact they could
have later on in the year.
“Everybody is dedicat
ed and willing
to do what
ever it takes
to get the
done,” he said.
“When you see an
other guy sweating
and working his bi
off out here on the
field, you kind of
get a sense of
pride that we’re
all in this
gether.
“It makes
you want to go
that extra mile
for somebody
else.”
While Harring
ton and Feeley both try to
put on a demeanor that
they are just going with
the flow, their competi
tive fire is evident even in
the simple unsupervised
seven-on-seven drills
they take part in.
Feeley, however, insists
that his thoughts are not
of his teammate, but of
himself only.
“I’m really just focus
ing on getting my arm
healthy and 100 percent
again and worrying about
only one thing, which is
Head coach Mike Bel
lotti has long been one to
compliment both quarter
backs when given the
chance. He doesn’t con
sider it a burden, but
rather a blessing to
have two athletes
who are start
ing Pac-10 ma
terial.
In his as
sessment
of both
players’
spring
seasons,
he men
tioned
how it
was
tough to
compare
them due to
Feeley’s arm
Solid play, timely hitting propel Emsto win
Azle Malinao-Alvaerez Emerald
Ryan Jorgensen lined an RBI double to left in the third to give the Ems a 2-1 lead.
■The Ems kick off a six game homestand on the right foot
with a win over division rival Portland
By Robbie McCallum
for the Emerald
The first four Eugene Emeralds
definitely earned their leadoff spots
Monday night. The top four batters
in the Ems lineup accounted for
five runs in a 6-1 romp over the
Southern Division rival Portland
Rockies.
The 2,639 fans on hand at Civic
Stadium enjoyed a mix of quality
hitting and pitching for a solid win
on a calm, summer evening.
Leadoff man Blake Blasi led the
way reaching base all five times he
was at the plate. The second base
man scored two runs and batted in
one while being walked three
times.
“It’s very key for me to find all
the pitches and work the count,” he
said. ‘‘That’s something I’ve been
doing work to improve on.”
Right fielder Nic Jackson also
reached first base on all five plate
appearances, going four-for-four
with two runs-batted-in.
“Nic has really settled into that
No. 2 spot,” Ems manager Danny
Sheaffer said. “Towards the begin
ning of the season he wasn’t as ag
gressive at the plate, but now he’s
doing just that.”
No. 3 hitter Mike Mallory and
cleanup hitter Brandon Sing also
fared well against the Rockies, each
scoring one run while batting in an
other.
Turn to Ems win, page 6