Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Friday, November 30,2001
Best Bet
College Hoops:
Oklahoma at Arkansas
5:00 pm, ESPN
Oregon stadium
announcer Don
Essig (left) chats
with student
Jennifer Price
(right) at a
luncheon in 2000.
Essig speaks at
many events
around Eugene.
Emerald
The VOICE of Reason
■Oregon stadium announcer
Don Essig lives a life rooted
in Eugene, even if he is a Beaver
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Like a wounded gladiator, Don Es
sig forced himself to sit in front of the
microphone.
As his voice cracked and splin
tered, he fought the invisible enemy.
With 46,000 fans waiting breathless
ly, he struggled through the words
that have become a mantra for the
Duck faithful.
“We all know... it never rains at
Autzen Stadium!”
Essig, the stadium voice of Oregon
football and men’s basketball, would
not back down from his enemy — a
nasty cold — as the Ducks hosted
Arizona State on Nov. 3.
“One of the guys came into the
restroom at halftime when I was in
there, and he said, ‘We’ve got a pool
going down there on when you’re go
ing to die,”’ Essig said with a deep,
hearty chuckle Wednesday. “I said,
‘Well, put five bucks in for me.’”
Essig is a faceless voice during
football season, a visible presence in
the winter for basketball games. Al
ways quick with statistics and even
quicker with a verbal jab, Essig has
sat behind the Oregon microphone
for more than 32 years. In that span,
he has missed only one game, in
1984, when he had neck surgery and
couldn’t hold his own head up.
The irony is that the Duck an
nouncer is a Beaver.
Essig graduated from Oregon
State in 1960 with an elementary
education degree. In Corvallis, Es
sig used his booming voice to lead
the Beaver faithful in chants during
football games as the Oregon State
“rally king.”
After his college days, Essig
moved on to teaching and announc
ing. He spent 30 years in the Eugene
Turn to Essig, page 12A
Road challenge will test Oregon women
■ On their first road trip, the Ducks
hope to make up for Monday’s loss
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Civil War is not the only Oregon
athletic event happening this weekend.
Hoping to come back strong after a
72-65 loss to Texas Tech at McArthur
Court on Monday, Oregon women’s
basketball takes to the
road for the first time
this season, traveling
to Lawrence, Kan., to
compete in the Holi
day Inn Jayhawk Clas
sic. In the opening
game, the Ducks (2-3
overall) will take on
St. John’s (1-4) today at 3 p.m.
Against the No. 9 Raiders, Oregon
surrendered 48 rebounds and shot just
3-of-14 from beyond the three-point
line. With a new coach and four new
starters, the team is still learning how
to play with each other.
“We were disappointed that we
lost,” sophomore forward Cathrine
Kraayeveld said. “But we know we’ve
come a long way, and we’re starting to
really pick it up and play well with
each other.”
Oregon’s opponent tonight, St.
John’s, defeated St. Francis on Wednes
day for its first win of the season. In its
previous four games, the team had lost
each by at least 13 points.
But the Ducks are not overlooking
anybody. Against Texas Tech, the team
was void of its ability to shoot from be
yond the three-point line and was
pushed around inside the paint by the
more active Raiders offense.
“If we allow them to get 20 offensive
rebounds, it’s tough to win,” head
coach Bev Smith said. “But I thought
we played very good defense.”
Because the Ducks have never
played St. John’s, they really don’t
know what to expect. For that reason,
Oregon needs to enter Kansas Field
house and give it everything it has.
“We have to go in and play hard,”
Kraayeveld said. “We have to get the
little things done, especially on the
road.”
Key to the Ducks’ offense this week
end will be the play of their guards,
junior Shaquala Williams and senior
Edniesha Curry. Curry is averaging
13.6 points per game, while Williams
leads the team with 17.6.
The duo combined for a below-aver
age 27 points against the Lady Raiders,
but each played for more than 30 min
utes in the loss.
“Regardless of whether they score 40
points a game between them, we still
need to get some balanced scoring from
the inside,” Smith said.
The Ducks will need to establish
their inside early and often, mostly be
cause the team is not as big in the past.
But forcing the Red Storm to focus on
the paint will give Williams, Curry and
senior Jamie Craighead some open
looks.
“We have some team goals, and it is
not only important to reach those
goals, but also in how we strive for
them,” Smith said.
The Ducks will play against either
Kansas or Alabama State Saturday, de
pending on Friday’s results.
Emerald Sports reporter Hank Hager can be
reached at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
After first loss,
Ducks look for
win at Portland
■Aftera loss at Massachusetts, the men’s hoopsters
are back on the West Coast ready to face the Pilots
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Saturday’s football Civil War betvveen the Ducks and
Beavers is anticipated by many — Oregon men’s basketball
coach Ernie Kent included.
Kent expects a few of his players to attend the game and
cheer on their fellow athletes. But once Sunday rolls around,
the focus will be back to basketball as Oregon (4-1 overall)
travels to Portland’s Chiles Center to take on the Pilots at 3
p.m. Oregon has won the last 20 meetings
with Portland; their last loss came in 1964.
Kent said he hopes the excitement gener
ated by the football team this fall will roll
over into the basketball team.
“Football’s done their part, and now it’s
our turn,” Kent said. “They’ll still have the
bowl game after Saturday, but we’ll have a
lot of big games in between, especially with
our Pac-10 season starting earlier this year.”
Indeed, on Dec. 20 and 22, the Arizona schools will visit
McArthur Court to open up the always-tough Pacific-10 Con
ference. But Kent has made the point of emphasizing the chal
lenging non-league games that Oregon has on its schedule.
For example, remember that Western Michigan team that
the Ducks beat 91-48 on Nov. 16? Well, that same team turned
around and beat the Michigan Wolverines, 79-73, a week later.
And Kent took notice of Pepperdine’s upset win at
UCLA on Wednesday, as Pepperdine will be visiting The
Pit on Dec. 14.
“It shows people that we put together a tough schedule,”
Kent said.
The Ducks looked impressive over Rick Pitino-coached
Louisville in a 90-63 victory, but then stumbled on the road
Tuesday against Massachusetts.
The game was close throughout, but the Minutemen
made all the right plays in the end to come away with the
four-point win.
“We needed a game like U. Mass,” Kent said. “We learned
from it and we know there’s a lot of basketball left. We’re a
little fatigued from all the travel.”
Because of the East Coast trip and the impending finals
next week, the Ducks took Wednesday and Thursday off
Turn to Men’s, page12A
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Senior guard Edniesha Curry, seen here against Texas Christian,
is Oregon’s second-leading scorer with 13.6 points per game.