Thursday
Best Bet
NBA Playoffs: Milwaukee at Philadelphia
5:30 p.m.,TNT
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
Ichiro-mania
is hard to avoid
HAKUNA
MATATA
JEFF SMITH
EEEEE-CHIIII-ROOO!”
The deafening screams pierce my ears as the Seat
tle Mariners’ newest sensation steps to the plate for
the first time.
In the upper deck, along the third-base line, a sign reads:
“A-Rod + Junior = Ichiro.”
In the center-field bleachers, three Japanese men franti
cally wave their home country’s flag, while another group
of supporters flashes signs with Japanese lettering that
probably mean something like: “Ichiro is God’s cousin.”
And over the loudspeakers, instead of some new-age
rock or rap music that most hitters choose to play when
they bat, some funky rap song with only one word blasts
out to the sold-out Safeco Field crowd of Mariners support
ers.
That one word, of course, is Ichiro. Except it’s sung like
some early 1990s M.C. Hammer song. “I-I-I-chi-ro!” (It re
minded me of, “Too-too-tootsie Roll!”)
I was beginning to have an Ichiro headache, and it was
only the bottom of the first inning.
The sports staff here at the Emerald decided to take a lit
tle baseball road trip this past weekend and went up to
Seattle to catch Friday’s and Saturday’s Mariners-Yankees
games. Now, since my traveling companions are all Seattle
fans, I knew I could poke a little fun at their newfound hero
and predict failure for the invincible Ichiro.
“He’s going O-for-4, guys. No question.”
“Shut up, Jeff. Ichiro’s the man. He never misses a pitch.”
At the time, Ichiro was riding a 22-game hitting streak
that had swept over Seattle like Starbucks shops and had
people fantasizing about his breaking the great Joe Dimag
gio’s mark of 56 games.
I had nothing against Ichiro, whose last name, Suzuki, is
practically non-existent. He’d been more than impressive
on the occasions I’d seen him on television, but I was get
ting a little Ichiro-ed out. ESPN would always devote more
than its share of coverage to the guy and Sports Illustrated
made sure to jump on the Ichiro bandwagon and blow him
up as much as possible.
Ichiro’s first at-bat Friday was a ground-out. But then he
came up again in the second and laced a single to center
that continued his hit streak and ignited Ichiro-mania.
He tacked on a fifth-inning single and an RBI double in
the seventh for his seventh straight multi-hit game at the
time, pushing his major league leading hit total to 72.
That’s not even to mention his two blink-and-you’ll
miss-them steals (he leads the league with 15) and his can
non of an arm that he displayed on numerous occasions.
Even though the Mariners and Yankees combined to
score 24 runs — the most ever in Safeco Field — in New
York’s 14-10 victory , the play of Ichiro had caught my eye.
But I wouldn’t admit it to my fellow staffers.
“He’s got to prove he can play in back-to-back games.
He’s going 0-for-4 tomorrow.”
But you know what? As I sat in Safeco on Saturday, I no
ticed something weird. When Ichiro came to the plate, my
head began bobbing to the tune of the Ichiro rap.
But Ichiro popped up.
Then he grounded out.
Then he struck out (gasp!).
Then he got beaned in the back.
Then, in the bottom of the 10th, with the Yankees lead
ing 2-1 and the crowd roaring for Ichiro to extend his
streak, he grounded out to Derek Jeter to end the streak at
23.
My companions glared at me and asked, “Are you happy
now, Jeff?”
I should have said yes. I should have relished the disap
pointment in their faces and shot back an evil smile.
Turn to Smith, page 10
Ducks hope to make the cut
Tom Patterson Emerald
Oregon’s John Bello is hoping to make the NCAAs in the shot put, where he is ranked 23rd.
■ Oregon’s seven NCAA
hopefuls anxiously await word
of their postseason fate, which
will be announced today
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
If there’s one thing about Oregon
athletics that’s guaranteed, it’s that
they always make it exciting. The
Oregon men’s track and field team
is no different.
The Ducks’ fi
nal marks are in
and their postsea
son hopes rest
solely on the
NCAA selection
committee’s deci
sion today at 4 p.m., when the com
mittee announces who is in and
who is out of the NCAA Champi
onships, being held next Wednes
day through Saturday at Hayward
Field.
Ten Ducks have posted NCAA
qualifying marks this season, but
only three of those are automatic.
The remaining Oregon athletes lie
on the NCAA “bubble.” The selec
tion committee will accept the top
16 athletes in each event, plus
some additional at-large bids. A to
tal of 388 athletes are selected,
which boils down to about 19 per
event.
Junior Santiago Lorenzo, sopho
Turn to Men’s, page 10
Track dreams become reality today
■Some Oregon athletes will
find out today whether or not
they’re going to the NCAA
Championships next week
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
There are three dreams being
played out in the heads of the Ore
gon women’s track and field team
right now.
The first dream is shared by those
Ducks who have no shot at making it
to the NCAA Championships at Hay
ward Field next week. These athletes
dream of next season.
Then there are the stars, the Ducks
who will have legitimate shots at win
ning NCAA titles next week. These
athletes dream of throwing long, run
ning hard and beating their fields.
The last group is the “bubble” ath
letes, those Ducks who may or may
not compete in the NCAAs. There
are a handful of Oregon athletes on
the NCAA provisional list, who did
n’t know whether
or not to practice
this week. Today,
they’ll know.
Today, the NCAA
committee will de
cide how large each
event will be, de
pending on how tough the marks are
in each event. For some Oregon ath
letes, the announcement will end their
season. For some, it will extend their
season One more week.
Some of the Oregon athletes who
will hold their collective breath this
afternoon are senior Maureen Morri
son (36th in the hammer), sopho
more Charyl Weingarten (21st in the
javelin), senior Hanna Smedstad
(30th in the 10,000) and sophomore
Eri Macdonald (33rd in the 800).
Pole vaulters Georgette Moyle (44th),
Kirsten Riley (45th) and Holly
Speight (46th) will also wait with
bated breath.
As for the stars, freshman Sarah
Malone (2nd in the javelin), sopho
more Mary Etter (10th in the discus)
and junior Niki Reed (10th in the
pole vault) already know they will
compete next week.
The NCAA selection committee
will announce its decisions at 4
p.m. today.
Runyan ready to run Pre Classic 3,000
■ Eugene resident Marla Runyan, who discovered her distance
ability at the Pre Classic, wants a record this time around
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Marla Runyan has a lot invested in
the Prefontaine Classic.
The Eugene resident Olympian, who
announced that she would race in the
Pre 3,000 meters this year, got her big
break at the 1999 Pre Classic.
It was there that Runyan raced in the
1,500 meters for the first time, when
the field was too crowded in the 800.
She had originally been a heptathlete
and a middle-distance runner.
Shortly after that race, Runyan made
the 1999 World Championships team
in the 1,500, then raced in last sum
mer’s Sydney Olympics, where she fin
ished eighth.
Now, Runyan says, she might be
even better than she was last summer.
“I’m really in great shape right now,”
Runyan said. “I think I can come close
to the record.”
The Pre Classic meet record in the
3,000 is 8:39.33, set by Ireland’s Sonia
O’Sullivan in 1996.
Runyan will face stiff competition
for the record as well as for the title of
hometown favorite.
Former Duck and ex-Olympian An
nette Peters will square off with Run
yan Sunday, as will Eugene native
Clare Taylor, who won this year’s 5,000
at the Oregon Twilight. Taylor’s time in
that event was the fastest American
time this year.
Also entered in the Pre 3,000 are two
more 2000 U.S. Olympians, Elva Dryer
and Jen Rhines. Dryer raced in the 5,000
in Sydney, while Rhines competed in
the 10,000. Collette Liss, who raced in
the Twilight 5,000, will make another
appearance at the Pre. British runner
Kathy Butler, who won the 3,000 at Hay
ward Field in the 1996 NCAA Champi
onships, rounds out the field.
The Prefontaine Classic starts at 11:45
a.m. Sunday, and the women’s 3,000 is
tentatively scheduled for 1:10 p.m.