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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2001)
Sports Editor: Peter Hockaday phockaday@yahoo.com Best Bet MLS: Seattle at Texas 5:30 p. m., Fox Sports Net Bracey chosen by Spurs with last pick of NBA draft ■ Former Oregon forward Bryan Bracey was tabbed the ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ of the 2001 draft when he was chosen with the last overall pick By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald Former Oregon basketball player Bryan Bracey has turned in his green and yellow jersey for the black and sil ver of the San Antonio Spurs. Bracey was chosen 58th overall by the Spurs, who made him the last pick of the 2001 NBA Draft Wednesday night. That tagged him “Mr. Irrelevant” of this year’s draft. Bracey was the first Oregon player drafted since Terrell Brandon was cho sen in the first round in 1991. Bracey was the eighth Oregon player ever to be drafted in the first two rounds. The forward from Chicago had indi vidual workouts with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors, among other teams, but he was never contacted by the Spurs. Oregon’s offensive star last year, Bracey led the team in many offensive categories. He led the team in points and rebounding, and was named the team’s MVP at its awards banquet in April. Bracey also made his presence felt around the Pacific-10 Conference last season. He was named an All-Pac-10 Team first selection, finished second in the league in scoring and seventh in re bounding. He led the league in presea son scoring but was overtaken by even tual scoring champion Sean Lampley of California early in the Pac-10 slate of games. San Antonio currently has five for wards on its roster, including superstar Sean Elliot. The other Spurs forwards are Danny Ferry, Malik Rose, Samaki Walker and Ira Newbie. Bracey was drafted before Gonzaga for ward Casey Calvary, Michigan State guard Charlie Bell and George Washing ton’s SirValiant Brown, who all made big impacts at this year’s NCAA Tournament. Bracey was one of several Pac-10 players selected in the draft. The high est Pac-10 player drafted was Arizona’s Richard Jefferson, by Houston. The Rockets also selected Stanford’s Jason Collins with the 18th pick. Jefferson and Collins were the only Pac-10 play ers drafted in the first round. Jason Collins’ brother, Jarron, was chosen in the second round by Utah. Other Pac-10 second-round picks in cluded Arizona’s Gilbert Arenas (31st overall), Southern California’s Brian Scalabrine (35th) and Jeff Trepagnier (36th), Arizona’s Michael Wright (39th), UCLA’s Earl Watson (40th), Lampley (45th) and Arizona’s Loren Woods (46th). JUI ■LJ BRACEY Go ahead. TAKE A HIKE ■Anyone looking to spend time outside can find numerous hiking, biking and climbing opportunities both locally and farther afield By Inge Scheve for the Emerald Ahhhh, summer. Stuck in classes? Well, you can sim ply burn your books and head for the hills, The Eugene area has much to of fer to outdoor enthusiasts. Eugene Inside the city limits are several parks and trails for mountain bikers, runners and hikers. Alton Baker Park, next to Autzen Stadium, offers miles of bark dust running trails with little ele vation gain. But if you happen to like challeng ing elevations, the Ridgeline Trail system surrounding Spencer Butte on South Willamette Street has opportu nities for all sorts of up-and-down outdoor activities. The easternmost trail portion — with sections steep enough to put all of a bike’s gears to good use — is almost exclusively used by mountain bikers, who are banned from the middle and longer portions of the trail. The middle portion of the trail, from Fox Hollow to Willamette, is a decent option for trail runners looking for a hilly challenge, while short enough for speed work and intervals. The far west portion of the trail is not heavily traveled and offers a quiet and shaded hiking experience. Steeper terrain faces those who scale Spencer Butte. The trailhead is just half a mile from the Ridgeline Trail parking area on South Willamette. The trail itself climbs steeply and provides a four-mile round-trip hike. This trail is off-limits to mountain bikers. Outside Eugene If you’re looking for somewhere to hike but need to get out of Eugene, Dexter Reservoir on Highway 58 is a relatively flat park with about three miles of trails. However, this park can be crowded in the summer as it also serves as a day-camp area. Farther east on Highway 58, about 30 to 40 minutes from Eugene, the Goodman Creek Trail offers two pos sibilities. Hikers can jaunt 7.5 miles to Eagle’s Rest or take a steep climb Turn to Hiking, page 8 Inge Scheve for the Emerald The woodlands around Eugene offer many tantalizing hiking, biking and fishing opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts. Emeralds use defense, clutch hitting to secure 13-0 home win Eugene ends a two-game skid with a big win against Yakima at Civic Stadium Monday night By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald When a baseball team’s offense is clicking, defense tends to fade into the early-evening shadows. Nonetheless, it was the Eugene Emeralds’ defense that most im pressed manager }eff Gardner fol lowing the Ems’ 13-0 victory over Yakima Monday night. “We made some great plays,” Gardner said. “It hasn’t really come together for us yet, but we played really well tonight.” The Emeralds, now 4-9 on the season, entered Monday’s game riding a two-game losing streak to Yakima. Both those losses — Sat urday’s 4-0 setback and Sunday’s 4-3 defeat — came, in part, be cause of the Ems’ eight combined errors in the games. Monday night’s game was a different story. Although the Ems’ bats heated up as well, the most impressive statistic was the zero at the end of the scoreboard — for zero errors. The Ems even got some “web gems” from sec ond baseman John DiBetta and first baseman Jonathan Benick. In the top of the fourth inning, DiBetta snagged a line drive off the bat of the Bears’ Kyle Nichols and doubled off Reinal do Barrera at first. In the sixth, Benick made an over-the-back catch in foul territory to end Yakima’s chances in that inning. On the offensive side of the ball, the Emeralds used an ava lanche of runs in the third and fifth innings to bury the Bears. In the bottom of the third, lead off hitter Matt Heilman singled to center field for the Ems’ sec ond hit of the game. Shortstop Jason Bartlett reached on an in field hit, and then third baseman Jake Gautreau scored the game’s first run in an odd fashion after a wild pitch advanced the run ners. Gautreau sent a slow roller back to the pitcher’s mound, which just trickled underneath the glove of Yakima pitcher Tan ner Ericksen. The Bears committed one more error in the inning when catcher Bryan Loeb mishandled a throw home by the third base man, and the Ems got hits from DiBetta and designated hitter Greg Sain en route to a fi e-run inning. Eugene got a two-run home run from Sain in the fifth inning and never looked back at Yakima. “We’ve swung the bats OK for most of the season,” Gardner said. “It’s just been a matter of Turn to Ems, page 6 “It’s just been a matterof putting it all togetherfor one game.” Jeff Gardner manager, Eugene Ems
