Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, February 12,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet -
NCAA men's basketball:
Virginia at North Carolina
4 p.m., ESPN
Rivalry signifies new
beginning, reflection
Oregon’s two seniors have
one final Civil War to play
Women’s notes
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
For freshman Carolyn Ganes,
Saturday’s Civil War game is the
start of a new beginning. But for
senior Kourtney Shreve, the rival
ry will be the beginning of an end.
With Ganes playing in her first
Civil War at McArthur Court and
Shreve competing in her 100th
game for Oregon in her senior
season, there is mixed emotion
on the team heading into the
70th meeting of the two squads.
“We are going to have huge en
ergy going into this game,” Ganes
said. “We lost to them already
once, so we kind of feel that we
owe them one and prove to them
that we can beat them.”
It is quite the experience for
the seniors, as the Civil War
matchups have become the epito
me of college basketball, and
Shreve said knowing it’s your last
one ismot easy to realize.
“It’s going to be real emotion
al,” Shreve said. “They got us
the first game and being at
home is going to be exciting for
both teams.”
Head coach Bev Smith relates
to her players on the experience,
as she took the time to reflect
back on her rivalry-playing days
when she suited up at Oregon
from 1978-82.
“It was always going to be a
hard-fought game,” Smith said.
“They were all really hard-fought,
and the outcome was never deter
mined until the last minute. You
just put your helmet on and went
out and played and hoped you
were on top after 40 minutes.”
And despite the Ducks’ early
season loss in Corvallis, the rival
ry has yielded many last-minute
thrillers that came down to the fi
nal seconds. Oregon has won 13
of the past 15 in the series.
With Shreve and fellow senior
Alissa Edwards playing in their fi
nal War, it has been both a time of
reflection on the memories of
past years and a time of excite
ment and looking forward.
Both spoke of each Civil War
having its own significance, yet
neither could forget last year’s
buzzer-beater by senior Edniesha
Curry in Corvallis as one of the
best memories.
“That’s the one that stands out,
but for me they all mean a lot and
I have memories from each
game,” Shreve said.
Defending The Pit
Coming off a last-second
thriller in California against the
Bears, the Ducks return to the
confines of McArthur Court to
start a three-game homestand.
It will be Oregon’s final three
regular-season games at
McArthur Court and, for some,
the last times they will compete
in the Pit.
“It’s going to be really emotion
al, because these will be the last
three games here that I will ever
play, but it’s really crucial that we
play hard and get the job done,”
Shreve said.
The Oregon players also recog
nize the importance of these
games at home, and hope to have
a strong finish heading into the
Pac-10 Tournament.
“Our destiny is in our hands, in
a sense that we could really do
ourselves a favor by being suc
cessful at home,” Smith said.
“Our focus has always been one
game at a time, one possession at
a time, and one half at a time.”
The Ducks have been much
more successful at home with an
overall record of 5-4 as opposed
to their road record of 3-7.
If things play themselves out
in their favor, Oregon could
Turn to Basketball, page 6
Adam Amato Emerald
Carolyn Ganes (with ball) will play her first-ever home Civil War on Saturday at McArthur Court
Why hire OSlf’s Erickson? Only the Niners seem to know
Rumor has it, the San Francisco
49ers had a list of six collegiate
coaches on the radar for the team’s
head coaching position, one that was
filled Tuesday by Oregon State’s
Dennis Erickson.
The list reportedly included Ore
gon’s Mike Bellotti, Oklahoma’s Bob
Stoops and Rick Neuheisel, of Wash
ington. The other two names, ac
cording to Sports Illustrated’s Peter
King, at least included Ohio State
mentor Jim Tressel. Other reports
have suggested Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz
turned down the job earlier this
week, adding his name to the list.
So why is it that Erickson was the
“lucky” one to get the job?
First off, seemingly every guy on
the list turned down the job, espe
cially Neuheisel
and Stoops,
who both made
it public they
were not inter
ested. Bellotti
did the same
last week in a
press confer
ence regarding
Oregon’s re
cruiting habits.
Tressel never
made any re
Hank
Hager
Behind the dish
marks about the position, and Fer
entz probably was not much of an
option anyway.
So that left Erickson, the coach
with the least prominent position,
the one with the lowest ranked re
cruiting class, and the guy who
won two national championships
with the Miami Hurricanes back in
1989 and ’91.
That’s a long time ago. And Erick
son hasn’t shown any kind of suc
cess since, except for the 2000 sea
son where he led Oregon State to a
Fiesta Bowl victory.
So why Erickson? Why the man
who once led Seattle to a 31-33
record in four seasons at the helm of
the Seahawks?
(This is where you notice a
little trend).
It’s an opportunity for Erickson to
show what he can do in the big time
and get back to the bright lights of
the NFL. 3Com Park, the 49ers’
home, isn’t exactly at the top of the
list of NFL stadiums, but it beats
coaching at Reser Stadium any day
of the week and twice on Sunday.
Then you have Erickson’s re
cruiting class that ranked 50th in
the nation — according to SI.com
— and at the bottom of the Pacific
10 Conference. That doesn’t bode
well for the Beavers, a team that
has talent, but not as much as USG
or California.
That leads into Erickson’s promi
nence at Oregon State. The Beavers,
despite adding seats to Reser and im
proving facilities in Corvallis, will
probably never catch up to USC, Ari
zona, or most of the Pac-10, for that
matter, in recruiting.
So those factors add up, and while
it still isn’t known why Erickson is
leaving—there have been no official
announcements — each probably
played a role in his decision. Know
ing that you’re in a program that is
Turn to Hager, page 6
Sophomore sensation Webster stars on Ducks mat
Adam Amato Emerald
Shane Webster (behind) is bigger and stronger this year, his coach says.
Shane Webster leads Oregon with
a 24-4 record this season, starting
at 174 for the second year
Wrestling
Mindi Rice
Freelance Sports Reporter
Oregon doesn’t get many recruits
ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Sophomore Shane Webster was ranked
as the No. 1 recruit nationally at his weight
class by Intermat two seasons ago.
After a successful freshman year
where he went 17-11, Webster’s work
during the offseason has shown in his 24
4 record and No. 11 ranking from Inter
mat this season.
“Last year, as a true freshman, Shane
had a very good season,” head coach
Chuck Kearney said. “He’s worked hard.
He’s gotten bigger and stronger. He’s tech
nically more sound.‘ .
Webster finished his high school ca
reer at Grater High School in Central
Point with a 160-6 record, three state ti
tles and was named a USA Scholastic All
American.
During his freshman year, Webster
earned third place in the Pacific-10
Conference Championships and a trip
to the NCAA Championships. Webster
went 1-2 at the national tournament to
end his season.
This year, Webster’s four losses have
come at the hands of ranked opponents
— one in a tournament and three in dual
meets. The 5-foot-9-inch sophomore has
five victories over ranked opponents to
counteract those losses.
In tournament play at the beginning of
the season, Webster won the Mat-Town
USA Invitational individual title at 174.
“I think this is going to be a break
through year for Shane,” Kearney said
before the season began.
It looks like he may have been right.
Individual Ducks
Webster, at No. 11, is the only Oregon
wrestler ranked in the top 20 by Inter
mat. Webster is also ranked No. 11 by
Amateur Wrestling News and W.I.N. Mag
azine, and No. 12 by the Wrestling Mall.
Senior Tony Overstake, redshirt
junior Jason Harless and sophomore
Martin Mitchell are all listed in the
“wrestlers to watch” sections for their
weight class by Intermat.
Overstake, at 149, is ranked No. 17
by Amateur Wrestling News and No.
18 by W.I.N. Magazine. He is also
ranked No. 20 by the Wrestling Mall.
Harless is ranked No. 19 by the
Amateur Wrestling News and No. 20
by the Wrestling Mall.
For the first time this season, Oregon
is not ranked in the top 25 or listed in
the “other teams” section of the
Intermat poll.
Mindi Rice is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.