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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2002)
Sports Editor: Brad Schmidt bradschmidt@dailyemerald. com Tuesday, August 6,2002 Best Bet Jason Fife, Oregon’s projected starting quarterback, spent Monday chatting with college football fans on espn.com’s “Campus Chats.” Visit http://dynamic.espn.go.com/espn/chat/chatESPN? event_id=2111 for a copy of the transcript. College football equals business ‘‘Money, it’s a gas. Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash. New car, caviar, four-star daydream, think I’ll buy me a football team. ” — Pink Floyd College football is about excite ment, national prominence and the love of the game, there’s no denying it. But when the bottom line becomes top dollar, college football is about one thing and one thing only — money. As students, it’s easy to get caught up in all the fanfare and hoopla surround ing college football. We’d like to be lieve it’s being played for our enjoy ment, for the enrichment of the community and for the development of players’ dreams and aspirations. But it’s not, and that’s the reality. College football is a business. A twofold mon ey maker, college football is the No. 1 source of revenue for most collegiate athletic programs. The big money, of course, comes from overzealous alum ni who enjoy ath letic success. Here at Oregon, football success landed the gargantuan check book of Nike mogul Phil Knight. And football suc cess fills Autzen Stadium, too, at ticket prices of more than $20. This past week, news spread about six former or ineligible Duck football players who reportedly gave away their complementary game tickets for breaks in rent. Apparently, these players decid ed to do a little business of their own by profiting off their team’s success. For a long time now, student-athletes — many of whom receive University compensation — claim they’re getting the short end of the stick. Brad Schmidt Sports editor “How,” they say, “are we suppose to live on the measly income the Univer sity gives us?” “We,” they acknowledge, “bring in millions of dollars of revenue for our University, and we don’t get enough in return.” “So,” they figure, “we’ll skim a little off the top here and there. We aren’t paid fairly, we bring in the money, so we’ll equal the playing field a bit.” The only thing, though, is that col lege football is a business. Businesses make agreements and, in theory, those arrangements should be honored. At times, it may not seem equitable. But the business world is rarely fair. Upon entering school, these student athletes agree to the terms of the busi ness. They know what they’re getting and when they’re getting it. When a student-athlete steps foot on campus, they are getting their education paid for. In full. Free. Free. Free. Further more, these student-athletes get more Turn to Schmidt, page 6 Emeralds notch fourth win in a row Eugene is playing well of late, leaving players and coaches optimistic about the season By Brad Schmidt Oregon Daily Emerald As rain began to fall on Civic Stadi um midway through the fifth inning Monday night, fans began to leave their box seats for drier pastures. Very few left the ballpark, however. Many of the 3,116 fans in atten dance braved chilly weather and a little precipitation to watch the Eu gene Emeralds — the hottest team in the Northwest League — add to their longest winning streak of the season with a 4-1 victory over the Vancou ver Canadians. Prior to Monday’s victory over Vancouver (25-22), Eugene couldn’t put together more than occasional back-to-back wins. But after notch ing their fourth victory in a row and the seventh in their past nine games, the Ems (20-27) find themselves only seven games under .500 and peaking at just the right time. “We finally got to where we’ve gone out and played solid baseball for a week,” Ems manager Jeff Gard ner said. “It’s nothing special. It’s just making plays, getting hits when you have to, running the bases smart and being aggressive. That’s how this game works.” The Ems’ winning streak was in Turn to Baseball, page 6 Adam Jones Emerald Center fielder Carlos Millan had one hit and scored one run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a teammate’s double. Ticket negotiations delay distribution of sports pamphlet A brochure listing Oregon’s sporting events and the corresponding ticket release dates is still being produced, which may inconvenience some students By Brad Schmidt Oregon Daily Emerald With Duck fever only a meager 25 days away, fan fo cus has turned toward autumn’s hottest commodity — football tickets. Students hoping to watch Oregon open its season Aug. 31 against Mississippi State or see the Ducks battle Fres no State on Sept. 7 can pick up tickets at the EMU or the Casanova Center beginning Aug. 19, the University Ticket Office announced last week. This year’s announcement comes later than usual, how ever. While student tickets are typically distributed 12 days prior to a sporting event, a pamphlet stating the dates of sporting events and the ticket distribution dates for the events was made available to students in early July 2001. This year’s pamphlet has not yet been finished and, once completed, it still needs ASUO approval. Ticket ne gotiations between the Athletic Department and ASUO were a major factor in the delay of the brochure, Director of Athletic Media Services Dave Williford said. The student-ticket contract — which guarantees stu dents 2,550 tickets for non-conference games and 6,150 tickets for Pacific-10 Conference games — was not signed by both parties until July 16, Williford said. “(The pamphlet) is still being worked on,” said Angie Sit, assistant director of marketing and promotions for the Athletic Department. “We can’t do much until (negotiations are) set.” ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiw ert said the process is a little behind the typical timeline, but noted that the deadline for completion “is getting close.” Last year, students were able to pick up the brochure earlier in the summer because of an Athletic Department error, Turn to Tickets, page 6 . Preseason polls pick Ducks as third-ranked Pac-10 team Oregon, the 2001 national runner up, is ranked No. 15 by coaches but is predicted to finish behind both Washington Schools By Brad Schmidt Oregon Daily Emerald Over the past year, the Ducks worked the Big Apple for all its worth. First it was Joey Harrington’s Heisman campaign, followed most recently by a giant poster of Keenan Howry. But now, it seems, the red fruit is getting the best of Oregon. The Ducks are picked to finish no higher than No. 3 in the Pacific-10 Conference by national coaches and selected media, and the preseason con sensus is that the conference champi on lies north of the Columbia River, in the state known for its apples. Washington, the only Pac-10 team to receive a top-10 national billing, en tered the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll at No. 9. Washington State ranked No. 14. The Pac-10 Media Poll, however, selected the Cougars as the confer ence favorite while picking the Huskies to finish second. Turn to Football, page 6 ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll 1. Miami 2. Texas 3. Oklahoma 4. Florida State 5. Tennessee 6. Colorado 7. Florida 8. Nebraska 9. Washington 10. Michigan 11. Georgia 12. Ohio State 13. LSII 14. Washington State 15. Oregon ' 16. Virginia Tech 17. Louisville ' ' 18. Michigan State 19. Southern California 20. Maryland 21. Marshal! 22. South Carolina 23. Wisconsin 24. Penn State ■ 25. N.C. State 2002 Pac-10 Media Poll 1. Washington State 2. Washington 3. Oregon 4. Southern California 5. Oregon State 6. UCLA 7. Stanford 8. Arizona 9. Arizona State 10. California
