Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, April 17,2002
Best Bet
MLB: Seattle at Oakland
7 p.m., FSN
Looking
forward
to an April
in Oregon
So there’s caricatures of Shaquille
O’Neal everywhere, a battle be
tween Jason Fife and Kellen
Clemens for Oregon’s starting quar
terback, and Mel Kiper Jr. and his
hair have become accepted as an
American icon.
Well, at least for the time being.
All of these things mean one thing:
It’s April, the
most entertain
ing month of the
year in Ameri
can sports.
First off, the
National Hock
ey League play
offs start tonight.
The most in
tense two
months of the
season is ar
guably the
strongest playoff
system in all of
sports. When
the No. 8 seed
Vancouver Canucks are actually fa
vored by some to defeat the Detroit
Red Wings in the first round, there’s
definitely something right.
And the playoff MVP should already
go to Saku Koivu. What he did, to come
back after defeating a cancer that kills
50 percent of the people it infects with
in five years, is unfathomable. Just his
ability to step on the ice and play com
petitive hockey is an inspiration.
By the way, the Colorado
Avalanche defeat Boston in five
games. Just a guess...
So who’s the Oregon QB? That ques
tion marks the start of the second most
popular sport in the state of Oregon.
Spring football rivals basketball as
one of the most watched sports, just
behind fall football. With a No. 2
ranking in tow, the Ducks are getting
more attention than ever before. Add
the possibility of Joey Harrington,
Rashad Bauman and Co. becoming
personalities in this weekend’s draft,
and Oregon football has finally got
ten on the map.
Speaking of the draft, isn’t Mel
Kiper Jr. one of the most overrated
personalities on television today? If
it wasn’t for his signature haircut, he
wouldn’t even be recognizable.
I know he’s been doing his draft
stuff since before most of us were
born, but more often than not, his
predictions go for naught. Besides,
unless you’re an executive from one
of the NFL squads, predicting the
draft is purely hearsay anyway.
On the other end of the spectrum,
the most entertaining personality, on
radio or television, has got be Dan
Patrick. The “Dan Patrick Show,”
syndicated on ESPN radio nation
wide (KSCR radio in Eugene), is a
quasi-serious three-hour look every
weekday into the sporting world.
Coupled with former Cincinnati
Red Rob Dibble, the two have got
great chemistry and bolster a strong
ESPN radio lineup.
' Turn to Hager, page 10
u
Oregon’s quarterback duties
fall on the shoulders of Jason
Fife and Kellen Clemens
— but who will start?
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
There’s no Joey Harrington. That
much is clear.
Everything else, well — check back in
the fall.
After a school-record 11 wins, a Fiesta
Bowl victory and a season-ending No. 2
ranking, Oregon head coach Mike Bel
lotti is now charged with finding the one
guy to replace the irreplaceable.
The biggest question that looms like
a rain cloud over Oregon’s spring
drills: Who will replace Harrington
at quarterback?
The decision, so far, is not readily
available. Jason Fife, the backup this
past year who completed six of nine
passes for 71 yards, has not stood out
this spring like many thought — or
hoped— he would.
Kellen Clemens, a redshirt freshman,
has already jumped a spot in the depth
chart to No. 2. Is more movement to
come?
Scott Vossmeyer, the third-string last
year, sprained his left (non-throwing)
shoulder during a scrimmage Saturday.
He will likely miss the rest of spring drills.
“It’s a two-man rotation now,” said
Turn to Football, page 12
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Oregon quarterbacks Kellen Clemens (11) and Jason Fife (left) are battling for the starting job, but neither has been impressive
so far this spring. Fife, a junior, is the only quarterback with game experience.
Adam Jones Emerald
Billy Pappas, who finished eighth in the NCAA decathlon last season, hopes
;< to tto^ason.
Pappas, Slye trying to fill
Lorenzo’s decathlon shoes
■ Decathletes Billy Pappas
and Jason Slye head to Mt. SAC
without star Santiago Lorenzo
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
With the Pacific-10 Conference de
cathlon championships less than a
month away and star Santiago Lorenzo
still injured, the Oregon men’s track and
field team is scrambling for decathletes.
But that doesn’t mean the future is en
tirely dim.
Billy Pappas, who finished eighth at
last season’s NCAA decathlon champi
onships, will head to the Mt. San Anto
nio College relays in Walnut, Calif., this
week with another rising athlete, Jason
Slye, at his side. The two will compete
in different flights of the Mt. SAC de
cathlon, but both will have the same
goahpoints.
“It’s important to get in one (de
cathlon) before the Pac-lOs,” Slye said.
“It’s a huge meet to go to.”
Slye is an interesting story. The junior
from Keizer came to Oregon as a pole
vaulter but started pulling double-duty as
a decathlete last season by accident.
“We were fooling around after a meet,
and I ran a hurdles race,” Slye said. Field
coach Bill Lawson “saw me and said,
‘You’re doing the decathlon.’”
After being discovered, Slye made his
decathlon debut at the Baldy Castillo Invi
tational in late March and notched a ca
reer-best 6,677 points, then placed ninth
at the Pac-lOs with a score of 6,631 points.
“I enjoy pole vaulting, but decathlon
is more fun because it keeps you spread
out,” Slye said. “There’s always some
thing to work on.”
His goal now, he
said, is to break the
7,000-point barrier.
Pappas, the experi
enced Duck decath
lete, sees Slye slowly
improving.
“His speed’s really
come around,” Pappas said. “I’ve seen
him develop strength in track events like
the 400. Some of the technical field
events, like the discus, tend to be
tougher, but he works hard at them.”
Pappas is almost like a first-time de
cathlete heading to Mt. SAC, despite his
experience. The senior is still recover
ing from a preseason injury that kept
Turn to Men’s, page 12 -