Oregon daily emerald., November 06, 2000, Page 9, Image 9

All in all, he’s just another Oregon fan in the crowd
HAKUNA
MATATA
JEFF SMITH
PULLMAN, Wash.-The
sight was so familiar and
treated with such ease, that
it made you forget for a sec
ond how significant it was.
Walking through the press box
and into the visiting athletic direc
tor’s box at Martin Stadium was a
certain man decked out in Oregon
attire. At first glance, he looked
just like any other alumni with his
white “O” hat atop his head and a
hooded green jacket around his
body to help keep him warm in the
cold air.
But when you looked closer, you
noticed it was none other than
Nike CEO Phil Knight.
Knight was in Pullman, Wash.,
Saturday to cheer on the Ducks in
their 27-24 overtime victory over
Washington State. It was the first
Uregon game that Knight has at
tended since his fateful decision to
“cut ties” with his beloved alma
mater April 23 after it joined the
Worker Rights Consortium.
His presence came on the heels
of the strong rumors surrounding
the University that its arrangement
with the WRC was nearing an end.
He was rumored to be in atten
dance last week in Tempe, Ariz.,
but did not make the trip. There he
was Saturday, however, and you
had to believe that the whole
WRC-Knight fiasco was finally go
ing to be put behind us.
You know it had to be killing
him this season not to be able to
watch his Ducks play. After all,
this was a guy who regularly at
tended practices and flew to all of
the Oregon road games. He has a
personal relationship with many
of the Duck players, who all will
tell you how much they’ve missed
him.
But on this day, the family was
reunited. Knight was back as a fan.
And that’s all that matters to the
Ducks right now.
“I was just glad that he was back
to enjoy the program that he
loves,” Oregon athletic director
Bill Moos said. “He’s got such
tremendous passion for Oregon
and I know this has all been hard
on him. But he was here today, and
he was thrilled with the win.
“It was nice to see a good smile
on his face.”
Indeed, that was genuine emo
tion after the game as Knight was
following the Oregon players into
the locker room.
“Was that fun or what?” said
Knight, making up for his time lost
away from the team.
Knight hugged players. He
hugged fans. Heck, he even hugged
a reporter.
He was back in the mix.
“He’s a true fan,” fullback Josh
Line said. “You look at the guy and
say, ‘He’s a billionaire and he has
so much.’ But really, he’s just a true
Oregon fan who knows all these
things about every person on the
team — even me, and I’m no one
special. He’s out there congratulat
ing me.”
Line then pauses, collects his
thoughts and says:
I m just going to be real with
you. We rely on him. He’s a great
guy-”
Oregon quarterback Joey Har
rington also was excited to see
Knight and said that the team was
understanding of Knight’s actions
and that “he has to stand up for
what he believes.”
Harrington eluded to the fact
that he believes the “situation” is
coming to a close.
“Oh I’m sure things are being
taken care of away from our foot
ball team,” Harrington said.
“They’ll take care of it. But there
was no mending that needed to be
done between [the players and
Knight].”
Where all of this will go from
here is anybody’s guess. This does
n’t automatically mean that Knight
will fork over his $30 million dol
lars for the Autzen expansion, but
it is a huge step in that direction.
It also is another important step
for Oregon football in a year that
has survived so many close calls in
the Pacific-10 Conference to main
tain a top-10 ranking. Things just
seem to be clicking lately for these
Ducks, and Knight is the latest ex
ample of that.
“Well, it’s obviously great for
our program,” said Oregon head
coach Mike Bellotti, referring to
Knight. “Phil lends a presence that
gives us national recognition and
it’s nice to have him back. And
whether he ever pledges money or
not, it doesn’t matter. It’s nice that
he can indulge his passion and be
around our players.”
This was no cameo appearance
for Knight. He confirmed that he
will be at the California game next
Saturday at Autzen Stadium, with
the Civil War most likely to follow.
When stopped briefly and asked
his thoughts on the game, Knight
said: “Fabulous. Absolutely fabu
lous.”
He then scurried off into the sea
of green and yellow, where, after
his first couple of steps he was
tough to distinguish, as he was just
another celebrating duck fan in the
crowd.
Jeff Smith is the sports editor of the
Emerald. He can be reached at
Smittside@aol.com.
Reality Check
Why Vote Democratic?
Because You Care!
There are many reasons why we as young Americans should
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It’s simple. On November 7, you choose.
■ The Issues
Democrats Care about:
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EDUCATION
Support making higher education more
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CIVIL RIGHTS
Supports the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, successful af
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will fight to end workplace discrimination against gays and
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ECONOMY
Supports paying down the debt, so we can keep interest rates
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SUPREME COURT
We look to the Supreme Court justices who are strong pro
tectors of civil rights, reproductive freedom and individual
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