Ellis leads UO to second-place finish in Seattle
■Transfer John Ellis won the individual title at the Husky
Invitational, leading the men’s golf team to their second top
five finish of the young season
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Who is John Ellis, and where did
he come from?
That was the question on the lips
of everyone at the Husky Invitation
al this week as Ellis, Oregon’s jun
ior college transfer, won the tourna
ment in a playoff with
Washington’s Joey Ramos Tuesday.
Ellis, a sophomore transfer from
Gavilian Community College in
Gilroy, Calif., shot a one-over-par
217 over the 54-hole tournament.
His individual crown was the sec
ond for the Ducks this year, adding
to Chris Carnahan’s victory at the
Northwest Classic two weeks ago.
Oregon finished second in the
10-team field — its second top-5
finish in two tournaments so far
this year. The Ducks finished fifth
at the Northwest Classic .
Junior co-captain Brandon Ham
den took fifth, his best-ever show
ing at Oregon, while sophomore
Carnahan finished 13th. Senior
Matt Genovese ended up in 20th,
while freshman Brad Mombert fin
ished 44th and junior Aaron Byers
finished 49th.
Carnahan came back from a poor
first day and missed the top-10 by
one stroke.
Oregon head coach Steve Nosier
had been disappointed with his
team after the first round but was
happy with Oregon’s final-round
performance.
“I’m proud of [the team]Nosier
said. “We made some adjustments
from yesterday and the end result
was a solid second-place finish.”
The Ducks proved once again
that they could compete with top
ranked teams. Pacific-10 Confer
ence foes Stanford, Washington,
UCLA and California all fell behind
Oregon at the Husky Invitational.
Washington finished seven
strokes behind Oregon, in third
place. UCLA finished fourth, 14
strokes behind the Ducks. Califor
nia ended up fifth, 19 strokes be
hind, and Stanford finished ninth
of 10 teams, 28 strokes behind the
Ducks. Other Pac-10 teams includ
ed Washington State, which fin
ished fifth with California, and Ore
gon State, which finished eighth.
Beating those Pac-10 schools,
Nosier said, “carries a lot of weight
when the NCAA selection commit
tee hands out its bids next spring.”
If the Ducks continue to play this
I’m proud of [the
team]. We made some ad
justments from yesterday
and the end result was a
solid second-place finish.
Steve Nosier
Oregon golf head coach
well, a trip to the NCAA West Re
gional in May will be inevitable.
That tournament is being held at
the Trysting Tree Golf Course in
Corvallis, where the Ducks played
so well at the Northwest Classic. If
the Ducks can place at the West Re
gional, they will accomplish a
prize that escaped them last season
— a trip to the NCAA Champi
onships.
Oregon star ted off its 1999-2000
campaign in almost the same fash
ion as this season. The Ducks fin
ished second at the Northwest Col
legiate, eighth at the Pacific
Invitational and second at the
Husky Invitational, all in Septem
ber of ‘99. The golfers went on to
eight more top-10 performances on
the season.
Oregon will square off with top
ranked teams again at the Pepper
dine Intercollegiate in Oxnard,
Calif., from October 9-10. Pepper
dine won the Husky Invitational by
five strokes over Oregon after lead
ing by ten strokes before the final
round. The Ducks beat the Waves
out for fifth place at the Northwest
Classic.
Pesznecker
continued from page 15
game when an unranked home
team destroys a highly-ranked op
ponent.
But those Bruins are people too,
probably no different than our
own Ducks when in their natural
habitat. Just think how much
tougher Ryan McCann’s sopho
more year got — why make it any
tougher on the poor kid?
And Freddie Mitchell, one of
the players the fans taunted.
Granted, he may be a jerk. Actual
ly, he all but proclaimed he is a
jerk when he started spouting
trash about Oregon’s Rashad Bau
man after the game.
Maybe Mitchell had a little
post-Bauman incentive when he
made all those remarks?
So that’s it, as far as the fans are
concerned.
For having to use these valuable
column inches to write about
something that seems so trivial, I
apologize to the more than 44,999
of you who cheered on your
Ducks, rightfully chanted “ov-er
ra-ted” until your throats went
dry, and then, at game’s end, left
the stadium without being disor
derly.
But to those few bad apples in
the barrel, remember that people
are watching. Last Saturday, when
a few rowdies took it upon them
selves to tarnish what otherwise
was a perfect day for Oregon foot
ball, the entire nation was watch
ing.
Imagine, just for a second, what
would have happened to the
Ducks’ national reputation had a
fight broken out. The media
would have had a field day, and
despite that 29-10 final score, Ore
gon fans would be losers for years
to come.
The athletic department also
needs to take some responsibility
for the taunting that took place.
According to Oregonian reporter
Ken Goe, who was on the scene,
Autzen Stadium’s security per
sonnel seemed more intent on
protecting the goal posts and the
Casanova Center than they did the
UCLA players.
Shame!
While fans need to not cause
trouble in the first place, the secu
rity officers’ first priority should
be to keep people out of danger,
not to mind the facilities.
When Washington comes to
town on Saturday, it is hoped that
everyone will be a little more
careful about what they say or do,
especially if Oregon wins.
So go out and be a rabid fan.
Scream your head off. Shout
“Huck the Fuskies” (or something
similar) when Washington runs
onto the field and keep getting
into the players’ heads after that.
Go crazy and make the noise level
displayed against the Bruins look
like nothing more than a child’s
tea party.
But when the game is done, it’s
done. Let the losing team escape
with some dignity.
Scott Pesznecker is the assistant sports edi
tor of the Emerald. He can be reached at
JFlak1@aol.com
American hoops team
fouls out with crowds
By Chris Sheridan
The Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia — The
crowds want to see an upset on the
basketball court, and they’re send
ing that message loud and clear
with boos and whistles for the
American teams and cheers of
support for their opponents.
“They want to see the underdog
take down Goliath. That’s been the
case all week,” U.S. basketball
player Ray Allen said Tuesday, a
day after preliminary round play
ended.
The medal round begins Thurs
day for the U.S. men with a quar
terfinal game against Russia. As
suming they win, their next
opponent will be Yugoslavia or
Lithuania.
No matter who the opponent is,
the American players won’t be get
ting much support. The folks in
. the stands want to see the unex
pected.
Same goes for the U.S. women,
who play Slovakia in the quarter
finals Wednesday.
“When we played against Ko
rea,” Chamique Holdsclaw said,
“they were going crazy for Korea.
They always cheer for the under
dog.”
Tuesday was a day off for the
American men, who closed out
preliminary play with a 12-point
victory over France. It was their
second closer-than-expected mar
gin of victory, coming four days af
ter a nine-point victory over
Lithuania.
Already in these Olympics, the
American men have trailed in the
second half and trailed by double
digits — two things that never hap
pened to the U.S. teams at the 1992
Olympics and the 1996 Olympics.
They also allowed France — not
exactly a world basketball power
house — to score 94 points. It was
the highest score by a U.S. oppo
nent at the Olympics since 1976.
The 1994 U.S. team, also com
posed of NBA players, allowed
Spain to score 100 points. But that
was at a world championships and
not the Olympics.
“People in the States don’t want
to believe there are teams that
could be better than some NBA
teams,” Allen said. “But with
teams like Lithuania, Yugoslavia
and France, those countries play
the game of basketball as a team
sport.”
The U.S. team has been together
for a little more than a month,
while several of their competitors
have been together for years.
Australia, which has never won
a medal in Olympic men’s basket
ball, is competing with basically
the same team that went to Atlanta
in 1996 and lost the bronze medal
game to Lithuania.
Several members of Canada’s
roster have been playing together
on national teams since they were
teenagers.
Same goes for Yugoslavia and
Russia, whose players have devel
oped a familiarity with each other
that often appears to be missing
from the U.S. team’s repertoire.
“When five guys play together
as a team, they can accomplish
anything. And these teams have
been together for a long time and
have been preparing for this all
year,” Allen said.
No one would ever argue against
the statement that the Americans
have the best players, best athletes
and deepest roster.
But they also have Goliath is
sues — distribution of playing
time, balancing of egos — that are
foreign to the rest of the world.
That could end up being the sin
gular underdog advantage that
makes the rest of the tournament
more interesting than expected.
Surprise, surprise, Atlanta seizes
yet another NL East division title
By Ben Walker
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Now, the real
work begins for Atlanta.
Atlanta clinched the NL East to
win its record ninth straight divi
sion title, beating the New York
Mets 7-1 Tuesday night behind
John Burkett’s pitching and Chip
per Jones’ home run.
“We’ve got to start preparing for
the playoffs,” Atlanta manager
Bobby Cox said. “We’ve got to start
reading the scouting reports and
start getting ready.”
After the final out, Atlanta shook
hands on the field, keeping the
high-fives to a minimum. The only
sign this victory meant more came
when Atlanta relievers ran out of
the bullpen to join their teammates.
Inside the clubhouse, however,
Atlanta players sprayed cham
pagne and put on T-shirts pro
claiming themselves champions.
“We didn’t want to show any
body up out there,” Cox said. “It’s
not the World Series; it’s the play
offs, the division. But you absolute
ly should celebrate. ”
20-game winner Tom Glavine
added, “Division titles don’t come
easy, but it’s still all about winning
the World Series.”
With John Rocker back at Shea
Stadium — and dodging a beer bot
tle on the mound — Atlanta pre
vented the Mets from wrapping up
the wildcard spot.
New York would have been as
sured of that berth if both Arizona
and Los Angeles had lost later in
the evening. The Diamondbacks
eventually fell 7-6 to Colorado, but
the Dodgers beat San Francisco 9
0.
“I’ll probably be awake, I don’t
know,” New York manager Bobby
Valentine said. “We might have to
come out and win one tomorrow. ”
• The crowd of 48,270 had little to
i ‘ t % l k. 11 * ’ 4 t >, t i %1 i ■» * i * < t
cheer about on a damp, chilly night
other than Edgardo Alfonzo’s home
run. The fans started booing the
home team during a sloppy seventh
inning.
“There is disappointment, but
you still realize there’s a very good
chance of your going to the play
offs, and it’s the same playoffs,”
Mets third baseman Robin Ventura
said. “It’s not like they go to a dif
ferent tournament.”
Rocker drew loud jeers when he
left the Atlanta bullpen to relieve in
the eighth. A beer bottle landed
about 10 feet from him as he pre
pared to warm up, and police
quickly appeared to have the man
who threw it in custody in the first
base box seats.
Rocker retired Ventura on a rou
tine fly to end the inning, looked at
the crowd without emotion as he
walked off and smiled for his team
mates in the dugout. Rocker fin
ished up in the ninth.
Atlanta begins the playoffs on ei
ther Oct. 3 or Oct. 4 against either
St. Louis or San Francisco.
“We feel good at this point in the
season. All facets are falling into
place,” Jones said.
Atlanta won the NL West from
1991-93 and, after a strike wiped
out the end of the 1994 season, has
won six consecutive NL East cham
pionships.
Atlanta began the night with a
magic number of three over New
York. Several Atlanta players won
dered about their standing, asking
aloud in the clubhouse whether
they could clinch and dubious that
it could be done.
Closer to the first pitch, though,
they seemed clued in — but that
came only after Atlanta called the
commissioner’s office to clear up
the confusion.
“We’re absolutely aware of it,”
Atlanta general manager John
Schuerholz said at game time. “If
we win tonight, we win it. ”
According to baseball’s new
math in the wild-card era, here’s
why Atlanta clinched: At 94-63
with five games left, Atlanta is as
sured of at least a tie with the Mets
(89-68).
If they finish even and both are
in the playoffs, the division winner
is determined by head-to-head
record. Atlanta is 7-4 against New
York with only two games left.
Atlanta won its fourth in a row
and stopped the Mets’ three-game
winning streak.
Burkett (10-6) improved to 3-0
against the Mets this season, allow
ing three hits in six innings. He also
hit an RBI single off A1 Leiter (16-8)
in the fifth for the game’s first run.
“With Atlanta, you figure you’re
going to be in the playoffs unless
something goofy happens,” said
Burkett, who joined the team in
March.
Leiter, who won at Atlanta last
Wednesday, lasted 5 1-3 innings
and gave up four runs and seven
hits.
Reggie Sanders doubled in the
fifth and scored with two outs
when Burkett, batting .132, singled
for his third RBI of the season.
Jones, a perennial New York
nemesis, hit his 35th homer lead
ing off the sixth. That made him 15
for-32 (.469) against the Mets this
year.
Ventura made an ill-advised
throw home with the bases loaded
later in the sixth, allowing two
more runs to score.
Atlanta added three runs in the
seventh. Andres Galarraga hit a ^
two-run double — right after catch
er Mike Piazza threw to second
base when no one was stealing —
and an error by shortstop Mike Bor
dick set up Brian Jordan’s sacrifice
fly