Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Thursday,. October 31,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
NBA: Portland at Sacramento
7 p.m., TNT
What the
Duck is
going on?
Nobody asked me, but...
Until Saturday, the rally monkey was
the worst mascot in sports. Then the
new Duck was unveiled. Enough said...
Fred Litzenberger. He resurrected
Ernie Kent’s defense. Maybe Mike
Bellotti should ask Litz if he knows
anything about football...
Speaking of
hoops, the Ducks
open the exhibition
season Wednesday
at McArthur Court.
Credible sources
from the sidewalk
report that Pit Crew
“President” Nate
Jolly has already
been camping out
for more than a
week. (You know,
Kent promises him
doughnuts)...
Is it just me, or do we see more of
Joey Harrington now than we did a
year ago? I don’t care who the quar
terback is, I’m just sick of watching
the hapless Lions every Sunday. Can
we please get some real NFL games in
this more-hapless-than-the-Lions
Eugene TV market?...
Shameless plug: Listen to Emerald
sports editor Peter Hockaday talk
some “Quack Smack” on campus
radio KWVA 88.1 FM at 6:30 p.m.
Friday. It should be insightful, and
good for a few laughs...
Adam
Jude
Out in left field
OK, there’s more to say about the
Deviled Duck. Sources close to the
yet-to-be named new mascot say it’s
close to a reaching a multi-million-dol
lar agreement to star as the blood
sucking villain in the next “Spider
Man” movie. If that falls through, look
for the mutant Duck to make an
appearance as Shredder’s sidekick in
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4:
Attack of the Malicious Mallard”...
Speaking of box office hits, “Little Big
League” is one of the most underesti
mated sports movies of all time. I’m se
rious. The film writer, in 1994, brilliant
ly forecasted the Seattle Mariners’ rise
as a perennial baseball power (well, at
least for a couple years). With “Sweet
Lou” Piniella now gone, someone needs
to make a screenplay about the Devil
Rays. Hmmm...
Which will come first: the Lukes get
a haircut or the Oregon volleyball
team wins a conference match?...
The Duce is loose. Duce Staley.
Deuce McAllister. Good NFL running
backs. Better names...
Does anyone really believe that
fencing or bowling are legitimate
choices to be Oregon’s next women’s
sport, if it’s really ever created? Why
not add fishing and the Ouija board
game to the list of possibilities?...
What’s wrong with spending
Christmas in Vegas?...
Tevo Johnson. The Stanford power
receiver, er, power forward and wide
receiver burned former Oregon cor
nerback Rashad Bauman, now of the
Washington of the NFL, for five catch
es for 95 yards and a big third-quarter
touchdown in the Cardinal’s upset
win at Autzen last year. What hap
pens when Teyo lines up against a
-- - Turn to Jude, page 14
Fleet Feest
Freshman Nicole Feest is the most exciting
addition to the Ducks’ running community
Cross country
Mindi Rice
Freelance Sports Reporter
In eighth grade, Nicole Feest had never run a school
sponsored race.
Feest was a student assistant to the track coach. It was
her job to sign the members of the track team up for the
events they would be competing in at each meet.
Each event needed a certain number of people to par
ticipate. Sometimes she had to just sign people up
because they needed someone to run a certain event.
Feest says the mile was the event no one wanted to run.
So she figured she’d give it a try. After all, how hard
could it be?
In her first race, she finished sixth in the conference
for the mile and received a ribbon.
“I remember I hated it, but I just wanted a ribbon,”
Feest said.
These days, Feest is a runner by nature.
“It’s a passion,” Feest said.
Feest has made a name for herself in her freshman
season at Oregon. At the first meet of her collegiate
career, she earned a spot on the Ducks’ traveling squad
and ran in the Sept. 28 Roy Griak Invitational. Feest
placed 83rd overall and fifth for the Ducks, scoring in
her first college meet.
“She has a ways to go to be a major contributor, but
making our traveling group was the first step,” women’s
cross country head coach Tom Heinonen said.
Feest has run four meets for Oregon this season,
including the Griak. She traveled to Salem on Oct. 5 for
the Willamette Invitational, where she scored as the
third-place runner for the Ducks and was 26th overall.
Feest joined six upperclassmen in Terre Haute, Ind.,
for the Oct. 19 Pre-National meet. Feest placed 219th
overall and seventh for the Ducks in a challenging meet.
Turn to Fees!, page 14
Geoff Thurner Oregon Media Services
Nicole Feest has made a name for herself in Oregon cross country in her freshman season.
Feest will join teammates in Pasadena, Calif., at the Pac-10 Championships on Saturday.
‘Last’ senior is close to final match
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Senior Sydney Chute (21) has not won a Pac-10 match since 2000 but is
optimistic she can end her career on a positive note.
Senior Sydney Chute looks
for her last Pac-10 victory
before ending her Duck career
Volleyball notes
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
She is Oregon’s only true four-year
senior.
She has 2,057 career assists to her
name and has almost perfected the art
of the “dump kill,” which has helped
her total 349 kills.
Basically, the last thing for Sydney
Chute to do is earn one last Pacific-10
Conference victory, a win that has
eluded her since 2000. Since she came
to the program in 1999, Chute has
been on the winning side of a Pac-10
contest three times — against Oregon
State and Washington in 2000 and
Oregon State in 1999.
“I feel like this year is better than
last year in terms of the team and our
mentality and how we’re so close,
whereas last year was definitely more
of a struggle,” Chute said. “So, it’s
going on the up and up, and if I have
the chance to help this program
improve, then that’s enough for me.”
Of active players in the Pac-10,
Chute is sixth in assists, just behind
USC’s Toni Anderson.
This season, however, has not been
a typical year for Chute.
A starter for much of her sopho
more and junior seasons, Chute has
given way to freshman Jodi Bell.
Now, Chute, who hails from Santa
Rosa, Calif., has a prominent role off
the bench.
She has still played in just 15 fewer
games than Bell, but her 234 assists
this season are far below Bell’s 691.
But Bell’s future is that much
brighter because Chute is there as a
stabilizing influence.
“I can’t even talk about how much
she has helped me out this season
with everything I’ve been doing, just
like the mental (game), and all the
techniques,” Bell said. “She has
helped me out so much.”
Chute is the last player at Oregon to
have played under the Cathy Nelson
regime while with the Ducks. This is
her third season playing for current
head coach Carl Ferreira and she has
seemingly loved every minute of it.
“1 just have to say that Carl has
turned this team around 180 degrees,
no question,” Chute said. “He’s really
made us aware of how important it is
to be a student-athlete, to really focus
on every little aspect that goes into
what we do and our purpose.”
Around the Pac-10
It has become no surprise to see six
Pac-10 squads in the USA Today/AVCA
top 25 poll. However, to see eight
teams from the conference receive at
least one vote is definitely impressive.
USC sits atop the nation for the
sixth-straight week, while Stanford —
which was ranked No. 1 for the first two
weeks of the season — is currently
Turn to Volleyball; page 16 - - -