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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2000)
Tuesday Best Bet MLB Playoffs Seattle at N.V. Yankees, ALCS Game 1 NBC, 5:12 p.m. SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com Notjust fun: sports carry risks, too Hakuna Matata Jeff Smith It just seemed like another interview to me. But to my in terviewee it may become one of those crystal-clear images that will stay in his memory forever. It was a rainy Friday night in Roseburg on Sept. 2 and I was covering the Beaverton-Roseburg class 4A high school football game for another publication. The defending state champion Beavers had just beaten Roseburg 21-14 and since I was on a tight deadline, I rushed down to the field to scribble some quick quotes. I approached Beaverton quarterback Kris Tyacke, who was on cloud nine after leading his team to the huge road win in its season opener. Tyacke was surrounded by cheerleaders and proud par ents and talked of how united his team was this year. He spoke of his defense, his offense and how excited he was for the upcoming year. This was his time to shine. Little did anyone know at the time, but 20 days later, Ty acke’s life would change forever. Beaverton brought a 3-0 record into its Sept. 22 game at home against Metro League rival Glencoe. Tyacke had begun to click with his offense and was confident in his team’s ability to make another run at the state title. Then on one play, football lost all its importance. Tyacke took off on a quarterback sneak. He ran. He was tackled. He fell awkwardly on his face. He lay motionless on the ground for 40 minutes. The 17-year-old junior had broken the fourth vertebra down from the base of his skull as he collided with the ground. As he laid there on the field, it was reported that Tyacke looked up at his father, Darrell Tyacke, and asked, “Dad, what if I am paralyzed?” He was. That one play marked the final time he ever stood on his feet. Tyacke is currently in the intensive care unit at Doern Turn to Jeff Smith, page 8 : Dan Brunell Emerald Oregon sits atop the melee of Pacific-10 Conference teams among the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top-25 polls in the last two weeks. Pac-10 gets crazier in polls ■ me polls are more muddled than ever, while Washington and USC reload after a wild weekend By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald Polls can be crazy things. Check out this week’s Associ ated Press Top-25: Oregon does n’t move through the bye-week and remains at No. 9, YVashing ton beats Oregon State and rises to No. 11, UCLA wins and ad vances to No. 13, Arizona takes USC out of the polls and puts it self in at No. 22 and, after put ting up an impressive-but-los ing battle, the Beavers stay put at No. 23. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well check out the ESPN/USA poll. The Ducks moved up to 12th after sitting out for a week. While that may seem conceivable under some circumstances, the poll has — get this — Washington at No. 10. Say what? That’s pretty funny, but it gets even better. Despite losing to the Huskies, Oregon State is No. 20. Huh? Perhaps the pollsters forgot which Oregon school was which, and accidentally moved the wrong one further up in the rankings. It happens. But what are the Beavers do ing in any top-25 poll? Looking at Oregon State’s wins, it beat one overrated Pac-10 team at home, almost lost to two sorry nonconference teams (one that wasn’t even a Division CONFERENCE I-A opponent) and then beat up on another hapless opponent. Luckily, Beaver quarterback Jonathan Smith connected enough big plays to keep his team hanging with Washington. It should not have been so close. The AP poll is reasonable, with Oregon State’s No. 23 seeding arguable. The ESPN/USA Today poll, on the other hand, is completely ridiculous. Do they know something that we don’t? Maybe they don’t know something that we do, such as the difference between Oregon and Oregon State. Dropping the ball Speaking of the polls, South ern California was, not long ago, ranked No. 8 in the nation. Back-to-back losses to the Turn to Pac-10, page 9 / think we’re not going to know how this team responds to adversity until it plays Arizona. Paul Hackett USC coach yy Teig advances to finals as UO men's tennis starts season Sophomore Oded Teig reaches the finals in the Bulldog Classic to lead the Oregon tennis team By Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald Strong performances by vet eran and rookie tennis players made for a good showing in the men’s tennis team’s season opener. Five Ducks made the trip to Fresno, Calif., for the Wa then/Hancock Bulldog Classic, a three-day tournament. Sophomore Oded Teig had an outstanding tournament. Teig finished second overall at the 64-player tournament. “Oded had a very good tour nament,” men’s tennis coach Chris Russell said. "He played at a new level. He was solid from start to finish.” The native of Holon, Israel, won five matches in three days to reach the singles final, where he fell to the No. 2 seed, David Mullins of host Fresno State. Teig cruised through the first two rounds of play on Friday, easily defeating Sacramento State’s Joseph Gilbert 6-1, 7-5, and Alex Menichini of Fresno State 6-3, 6-2. Teig then moved himself into the finals round on Saturday by upsetting consecutive seeded players in the quarterfinals. Pa cific’s Claus Lindholm was his first victim, falling in straight sets to Teig by identical scores of 6-4. Teig defeated Andrez Biznak of Washington 6-4, 6-3, to move into the semifinal. On Sunday, Teig moved into the championship final with a defeat of tournament “Cinderel la” Alex Fiedler of Pacific. Fiedler lost the first set 6-1, be fore retiring. Teig battled Mullins through the first set, but fell by a narrow score of 7-6. Mullins then took the decisive set 6-3 for the championship. “Oded’s conditioning has helped him greatly,” Russell said. “His level of play didn’t fall off, neither did his quick ness.” Highly touted freshman Buck Mink was the only other Duck to make it out of the first round. The newcomer from Texas de feated Nevada’s Jay Stearly in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. Mink then fell to California’s Scott Kintz 6 4, 6-4. Oregon newcomer Chris King rebounded from a first-round loss with three consolation round wins. The freshman from Salinas, Calif., defeated Santa Clara’s Jack Fleming 6-1, 6-3 on Friday. On Saturday, using modified scoring, King defeated Sacra mento State’s Josh Prince 8-6 and Washington’s Matt Leon 8 4. King was eliminated by Cal’s Andrey Vinogradski 8-3. "The new guys showed what they’re capable of doing,” Rus sell said. “Chris really showed that he’s understanding the sys tem.” Senior David Becker and sophomore Jason Menke were eliminated in three matches. The Ducks were unsuccessful in doubles play, as both Oregon teams were eliminated on Sat Turn to Tennis, page 9 Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald Sophomore tennis player Oded Teig wasted no time in getting into mid season form as he advanced all the way to the championship match.
