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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 2000)
Tuesday Best Bet NBA: Seattle vs. Portland 7 p.m., TBS SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com Prominent sports agent Leigh Steinberg has achieved success through a rare combination of business savvy and personal affection for his athletes By Jeff Smith Oregon Daily Emerald ‘The secret to this job is personal rela tionships.” Those were the words of Dicky Fox, The Original Sports Agent, in the movie “Jerry Maguire.” Fox is shown sporadically throughout the ac claimed film as Tom Cruise’s character’s mentor. Well, the mentor for the creation of Jerry Maguire was mega sports agent Leigh Steinberg. Di STEINBERG rector Cameron Crowe traveled with Steinberg and witnessed first hand how he dealt with his clients. Steinberg has been in the sports repre sentation business for 26 years and is the premier agent in the sports industry. He has negotiated over $2 billion in contracts for the athletes that he repre sents. His most notable sport is football where is known for his representation of well known quarterbacks such as Trov Aikman, Drew Bledsoe, Warren Moon. Kordell Stewart, Steve Young, Ryan Leaf and Oregon graduate Akili Smith. What separates him from other agents is not just who he represents, but rather his code of ethics that he strictly lives by. Steinberg has been one of the few to ex cel in the money driven business of sports while still keeping his personal values intact and connecting with all of his athletes in a real and personal way. As Crowe said on the inside cover of Steinberg’s book, “Winning with Integri ty-” , “It’s fashionable now, after the movie, for a lot of agents to talk about heart, but Leigh was the only one talking like that in 1993, when I began research.” Steinberg recently found time in his busy schedule to share some of his thoughts with the Emerald and discuss everything from actress Cameron Diaz to how college graduates can break into the sports agency business. 0 + First offLeigh, thanks a lot for tak ♦ ing the time and speaking with me. Of course, you have a prominent former Oregon Duck on your client list in Akili Smith, and we here at Oregon have been closely following his progress. How’s he handling such a , # . Lounesypnoto Who s that in the middle? It’s Leigh Steinberg, between actors Cuba Gooding Jr. and Tom Cruise. rougn year with the Cincinnati Ben gals? A ♦It’s a tough situation. Cincinnati ♦ has not been good for many years. Akili’s been tough and he is on the learn ing curve. He was injured most of last year and this is really his rookie year in a sense. Fortunately, he’s young and he’s emotionally resilient. We try to give him Turn to Steinberg, page 8 Ducks not looking ahead, concentrating on Portland Oregon guard Freddie Jones slams home two of his nine points Saturday night. Jones and the rest of the Ducks will face Portland tonight. ■The Oregon men's basketball team takes on the Vikings tonight at McArthur Court in its final tune-up before facing Massachusetts Saturday By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald Think of the Oregon men’s basketball team as a complicated mixing board, with coach Ernie Kent tweaking knobs and fiddling switches to get the team to work in perfect harmony. By Saturday, when the Ducks face Massachusetts in the Pape Jam at the Rose Garden, the team will have to be fully tweaked. But first, Oregon will face an upset-minded Portland team at McArthur Court tonight at 7 p.m. “This will be our last chance to tune up everything before we play UMass,” senior forward Bryan Bracey said. “This is an important game for us.” Kent said Portland is a thinking team, akin to Athletes in Action, the team that beat the Ducks in their final exhibition game. “We’re going to see a different team than what we’ve seen before,” Kent said. “The last three teams have been athletic, have run up and down and shot the ball. [Portland] is going to be more deliberate and hold the tempo of the game with smart play in the half court.” Portland is 2-1 on the season and has Turn to Basketball, page 8 This will be our last chance to tune up everything before we play UMass. This is an important game for us. Bryan Bracey Oregon senior forward Cross country teams faced an uphill battle this season i ne uregon cross country teams wrap up a season that was, for the most part, a success By Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald In a season of highs and lows, the 2000 Ore gon cross country team didn’t end out on top. Troubles for the Oregon women’s team be gan even before the end of last track season. Freshman Tara Struyk, who was Oregon’s sec ond runner and big scorer for the Ducks in 1999, was lost for the season due to a stress fracture. On the flip side of the coin, Tom Heinonen learned that senior Hanna Smedstad, a two time All-American from Oklahoma State, was transferring to Oregon for graduate studies. The pick-up of Smedstad, a Sundsvall, Swe den native, essentially replaced Struyk. But more bad news came over the summer. Oregon’s top returner — sophomore Amy Nickerson — left the team, and stayed in her home town of Coquille. It is rumored that Nickerson may join the Arizona or Arizona State teams, both of whom she was heavily re cruited by. The veteran squad — now left with three seniors, three sophomores and a freshman — regrouped for the season, eager to succeed. But success didn’t come easy for Oregon. After beginning the season with a No. 12 ranking, the Ducks struggled, falling all the way out of the national polls. It looked as if Oregon might miss the NCAA meet for the first time since 1996. Fortunately, the Ducks performed when it counted, placing fourth at the NCAA Western Regional Meet. Oregon received an at-large Turn to Cross country, page 8
