Sports Editor:
Peter Hockaday
phockaday@yahoo .com
Oregon Daily Emerald
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Small Autzen alterations ready for fall kickoff
■ Oregon football will get a slight
facelift this season, and fans should
see minor changes around the
stadium come September
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
When Oregon football fans set foot in
Autzen Stadium for the team’s first
game against Wisconsin Sept. 1, it’ll be
a whole new ballgame.
Not only will Brooks Field feature
brand-new NeXturf — a surface that
supposedly looks and plays like grass
— fans will also be treated to minor
changes around the stadium, according
to Oregon spokesman Dave Williford.
“Everything that had been targeted to
be done will be done by that first game,”
Williford said.
“Phase Two” of the multi-million dol
lar Autzen expansion project includes
many changes that will prepare the sta
dium for the addition of seats next year.
Fans driving down Centennial Boule
vard this summer may see the giant
concrete structure being built behind
the existing location of the scoreboard.
That structure will be the new home of
the giant scoreboard, as the expansion
includes the addition of seats to the
west end zone.
A second structure that fans will no
tice right away is a new ticket booth on
the north side of the stadium, on Cen
tennial Boulevard. The ticket booth will
serve as a will-call and information
booth as well.
The new ticket booth betrays another
Autzen change. The Lane Transit Dis
trict drop-off has been moved from the
north end of the stadium to the south
end. Buses will now drive up Leo Har
ris Parkway instead of clogging Centen
nial, which takes the brunt of traffic for
the games.
Finally, the expansion has shifted
some fences that should make getting
around Autzen easier next year. Fans
will no longer have to take a “pass
out” in order to pass out at the
Moshofsky Center. Autzen’s exterior
walkway will be surrounded by a per
manent fence that will make it part of
the stadium.
“The main stadium entrances will
now be on the north and south sides,”
Williford said. “People will find it
much easier to get around.”
While the changes to Autzen Stadi
um are minor and can’t help bring the
Ducks some wins, fans will still see dif
ferences in their beloved football
shrine. Ideally, that won’t mean too
many differences in Oregon’s winning
ways.
Autzen Stadiurn Expansion
Existing seating
More than 12,000 additional seats
(next year's phase)
Sideline preferred seating
32 additional luxury suites
Club at Autzen
Seating and
private club
amenities and
atrium
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Jessie Swimeley Emerald
Emeralds shortstop Jason Bartlett swings for the fences in a recent home game against Spokane. Bartlett and the Ems had little success on the road, going 1 -7 last week.
■The Emeralds return home after a
1 -7 road trip against two of the
league’s top teams
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Eugene Emeralds’ recent spate
of games conjures up memories of
that old McDonald’s commercial with
the little kid in the swing, who on the
upswing catches glimpses of the
golden arches.
Up. Laugh.
Down. Cry.
Up.
Well, you get the point. The Emer
alds followed a seven-game winning
streak with an eight-game losing streak
last week on the road at Everett, Wash.,
and Boise, Idaho. The Ems broke that
losing streak with a 5-4 victory Mon
day night over the Hawks of Boise.
The two streaks took the Ems from
worst to first, then back to worst again
in the Northwest League’s West divi
sion. Eugene is now 14-19 on the sea
son and at least 5 1/2 games behind the
league lead.
Before Monday’s game, Eugene man
ager Jeff Gardner was disappointed in
his team’s play, but he said he still
holds hope for the rest of the season.
“Coming off that seven-game win
streak, this road trip hasn't gone the
way we wanted,” Gardner told KPNW
radio. “But it’s a long season.”
The Ems’ recent losing streak came
against two of the Northwest League’s
Turn to Ems, page 8
Itching, scratching, generally waiting forfootball
Do you remember San Diego?
Can you recall the Ducks beating
up on Texas in the Holiday Bowl to
cap a near-perfect season?
Do you remember Corvallis? Those haunt
ing images of Joey Harrington throwing inter
ception after interception?
Reach back into your memory for last
year’s Rose Bowl. Do you remember Wash
ington? Can you see, in your mind’s eye,
the Huskies getting all the credit for the Pa
cific-10 Conference’s resurgence? Can you
remember Tempe, and the Beavers getting
even more credit (and bad press for being
bad boys) for beating up on Notre Dame?
Do you know why it won’t happen again
Peter
Hockaday
Two minutes for
cross-checking
this year?
Autzen Stadium, that’s
why. Twenty straight
home wins, that’s why.
Do you remember
Autzen with flowers in
her hair? Can you see the
Willamette flowing by,
and the Autzen decibel
level flowing higher? Do
you recall Washington
wilting under that pres
sure? Can you see UCLA
and Arizona and lowly
California also wilting?
Most teams would have
been disappointed about losing a trip to a ma
jor bowl in the regular season’s final game.
Most teams would have gone home with tails
between legs.
Oregon licked its chops.
Starting Sept. 1, the Ducks will get another
crack at the national scene. And thanks to
last year’s Oregon State loss, Oregon will
once again be the underdogs. Once again, the
Ducks will enter the season with an under
rated defense, a looked-over receiving corps
and a “weak” offensive line.
And, once again, Oregon will use that po
sition to prove all the doubters wrong.
This season, Oregon has an ace up its sleeve.
This time, the Ducks have the upper hand.
The Ducks have every major test, except
UCLA, at home. Wisconsin, Utah, Southern
California, Stanford, Arizona State and espe
cially Oregon State must earn victories in the
hostile confines of Autzen Stadium. Ore
gon’s road games include Utah State, Ari
zona, California and Washington State.
But how about ‘hat UCLA game? If the
Ducks are 9-0 hec '.ing into that game, or even
8-1, the Bruins will represent a major road
block to a successful season. If Oregon can
get over that hump, Oregon State could rep
resent the most important game in Oregon
football history.
The Ducks will have another strong cos
Turn to Hockaday,page 8