Sports Editor:
Peter Hockaday
phockaday@dailyemerald.com
Oregon Daily Emerald
Best Bet
Detroit at Seattle
7 p.m., Fox Sports
Wednesday, August 22,2001
Ducks cover
country with
billboards
■The Oregon football team caps a
summer of hype with billboards in
San Francisco and Los Angeles
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Recently, the Oregon football team has
been blanketing the country like Rashad
Bauman covering a UCLA wide receiver.
Two days after it was announced that
Duck quarterback Joey Harrington would
be featured on the cover of Sports Illus
trated and ESPN the Magazine two weeks
ago, the Oregon Athletic Department con
firmed that billboards of cornerback Bau
man and running back Maurice Morris
would be erected in San Francisco and
Los Angeles, respectively.
Bauman’s billboard, which graces
the road next to an entrance to the
Bay Bridge, sums up the hype per
fectly. The picture is of the defender
with hands outstretched over
Autzen Stadium, and the text reads
“Covering the Country.” Morris’ bill
board, which sits along Interstate 405
in southern California, features blurry
photographs of the rusher and the word
“Momentum” in white letters, with the
“M” and “O” in green.
The billboards, unprecedented sim
ply because they aren’t in the team’s
hometown, are being funded by the
same group of donors that paid for a 100
foot billboard of Harrington in downtown
New York, according to Oregon Director
of Media Services Dave Williford.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said
he enjoyed finding out about the bill
boards.
“It’s great that [the boosters] think those
kids warrant the attention,” Bellotti said.
“Not that Joey doesn’t deserve it; it’s just
nice when other kids get a shot. ”
Both Sports Illustrated and ESPN
the Magazine feature Harrington on
Turn to Hype, page 12A
Emerald
Oregon wide receiver
Keenan Howry
(above, left) and
another Oregon
player block a UCLA
defender last season.
The Ducks will try to
overcome Wisconsin
in their first game this
year with their potent
offense, which
includes running back
Maurice Morris
(below, left) and
quarterback Joey
Harrington (below,
right).
Ducks will face first test
in rematch with Badgers
■ The Oregon football team will face a
Jjp major hurdle to its national title hopes in
■ the form of No. 22 Wisconsin on Sept. 1
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Toto, we’re not playing Nevada anymore.
In the world of the Bowl Championship
Series, you have to play tough to get re
spect, and the Oregon football team will
test itself as soon as possible this season.
Scary soon. Sept. 1 soon.
That’s when Wisconsin will roll into
town. The Badgers are ranked preseason No.
22 by The Associated Press and No. 23 in the
USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
Both the Ducks and Badgers will have dif
ferent factors working for them on Sept. 1. The
Ducks will have the fabled Autzen advantage
— a 20-game home win streak — a healthy
team and a little thing called revenge.
“It’s been on our minds all summer,” Oregon
tight end Justin Peelle said. “We let one get ^
away last year.”
Peelle referred to the Ducks’ 27-23 loss in
Madison last season. Oregon receivers
dropped several passes, and Wisconsin’s
Michael Bennett broke out for rushes of 83,75
and 59 yards in the Badger victory.
This season, Bennett is gone, as he is
now playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
Wisconsin has a trio of newcomers — none
of whom have ever carried a ball in a col
Turn to Wisconsin, page 12A
Oregon fall teams locking in on NCAA Championship berths
■The Ducks’fall lineup includes the
quests of the soccer, volleyball and
cross country teams for the NCAAs
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Soon, it will be time to kick-start, serve
up and run toward the starting line of
Oregon fall sports. While some Ducks, es
pecially on the soccer and volleyball
teams, will be looking to surge toward the
NCAA Tournament, the runners of the
cross country teams will try to better
themselves individually and qualify for
the NCAA Championships.
Without further time consumption,
a quick preview of Oregon’s fall
sports:
Soccer
For the Oregon women’s soccer team,
winning is as easy as B-A-Y-S-A. Senior
Chalise Baysa, the Ducks’ all-time lead
ing scorer, will now be a bona fide
leader and veteran on a team that is a
healthy mix of old and new.
Betysa anchors a midfield which
should be the strength for Oregon. Re
turning are Crystal David, the Ducks’
second-leading scorer last year, and
Julie McLellan, Oregon’s speediest,
feistiest player.
“By keeping [David and McLellan]
wide, it will give them more room to
run, which is their strength,” Oregon
head coach Bill Steffen said in a release.
In all, Oregon returns nine of 11
starters from last year’s team, and it has
added exciting recruits as well.
“We've got the best of both worlds this
year,” Steffen said. “Typically, you either
have strong veteran leadership or a tal
ented freshmen class. Here, we've got
both.”
The Ducks may feel a sense of ur
gency to make the NCAA Tournament
this year, after failing to make it there in
five seasons of existence. The Ducks
have a relatively easy preseason sched
ule, compared to the nine top-25 teams
they faced last season.
Oregon opens the season with an ex
hibition game against British Columbia
Turn to Sports, page 13A
Emerald
Oregon midfielder
Chalise Baysa.the
Ducks’ ail-time
leading scorer,
returns this season to
lead the team with
the goal of the NCAA
Tournament in mind.