Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Monday, March 17,2003
—■-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
NCAA men's tournament,
first round
Thursday and Friday, CBS
In the end,
hope beats
out youth’s
blunders
This is the hardest thing I’ve ever
had to write. I wish I was a poet.
Then this would be just another sad
sonnet, a piece to throw in the back
of the scrapbook.
But this is more than that. This is
a farewell to the memories of youth.
My slow-moving fingers trembling
and eyes tearing, I can’t seem to say
what I feel. I’m not ready to let go. I
can’t let go.
It’s like part of my soul has been
ripped away
from me,
thrown to the
ground and run
over by a Sumo
wrestler in a
Hummer.
But I will
gather the
pieces that re
main, clean up a
bit and move
on. And so will
the game. It just
won’t be the same.
Kirby Puckett is gone — forever.
And he took the best part of my
youth with him.
I have his "book, you know. Two
copies. “I Love This Game,” written
in 1993. I read it in a day. I have
nearly every one of his baseball
cards. Posters galore.
And some great memories.
As a kid, I was the biggest Kirby
Puckett fan. I even named my dog af
ter my boyhood idol. Sadly, after 84
dog years, the four-legged Kirby is al
most gone, too. I just hope my mom
doesn’t take that departure as badly
as I’ve taken this.
- I loved Kirby for his love of the
game, his love of life. His chubby
stature, his erratic, care-free swing.
His charitable work with children.
His smile.
Adam
Jude
Out in left field
Now, there’s nothing to smile about.
His secret life has been revealed.
Unlike Kirby’s book, it’s taken me
a while to read this week’s Sports Il
lustrated, which details the former
Minnesota Twins’ star’s “rise and fall”
from legend to legal woes.
Reading the article was like volun
tarily stabbing myself in the back, or
pulling a half-dozen teeth. It hurt.
Not that I didn’t know what it said.
I’d already heard about the allega
tions. It’s just finally hit me, I guess.
When nobody else gave Kirby and
the Twins a chance in the 1991
World Series, I was there, Homer
Hanky in hand. Where’s Kirby now,
when I need him? Yankin’ his homer
in a restaurant bathroom.
Kirby goes to court next week for
an allegedly dragging a woman into
a bathroom of a Minneapolis restau
rant and assaulting her. He’s also on
trial, in my courtroom, for breaking
a heart.
If convicted of fifth-degree assault,
he faces up to a year in jail; his
posters are already serving a lifetime
ban from my walls.
His lawyers claim the case is only
Turn to Jude, page 16A
Pac to Pac
The Oregon men follow up their regular-season Pac-10
title from 2002 with a win over USC, 74-66, in the
Pac-10 Tournament championship game Saturday
Men’s basketball
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
Just like last year, the Ducks stepped off the bus at the
Casanova Center and were greeted by a crowd of screaming fans.
Just like last year, the Ducks returned as heroes from Los
Angeles. Just like last year, the Ducks won the Pacific-10 Con
ference crown.
Sure, there was one major difference. Last year, the Oregon
men’s basketball team won the Pac-10 regular season champi
onship with two close wins at UCLA and USC at the end of the
season. This year, the Ducks beat those two teams again, in
the Pac-10 Tournament.
Oregon’s ride through the 2003 Pac-10 Tournament ended
Saturday as the Ducks (23-9, 10-8 Pac-10) beat USC (13-17,
6-12), 74-66, to win the Pac-10 Tournament title in front of a
national television audience and 17,485 fans at the Staples
Center in Los Angeles. Oregon, most likely headed to the
NCAA Tournament before the game started, erased any doubt
by securing the Pac-lO’s automatic bid with the win.
“To get these three wins means a lot, going into the tourna
ment,” Oregon’s Luke Ridnour told KUGN-AM after the game.
“Hopefully, we can build on this.”
Ridnour was named MVP of the Pac-10 Tournament after
scoring a team-high 18 points in the title game. Luke Jackson
added 17 points, and four Ducks scored in double figures. Rid
nour, Jackson and James Davis were named to the six-mem
ber All-Tournament team after the game.
Oregon, a No. 5 seed, became the lowest-seeded team to
ever win the Pac-10 Tournament. Previously, no team
ranked lower than No. 2 in the eight-team tournament had
won the title.
Ridnour said the team was the theme for the Ducks in
Los Angeles.
“After playing two tough games (Thursday and Friday), our
team really responded,” Ridnour said. “We played smart, real
hard. We did get tired at the end of the game, but we were able
to fight through that. That right there will get you ready to
Turn to Men's, page 18A
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Brian Helquist hoists the Pac-10Tournament trophy as the Ducks return to Eugene on Sunday.
UO vaults to success at NCAA indoors
Geoff lliumer Oregon Media Services
Samie Parker finished fourth in the 60-meters for his second All-American honor.
Three Duck men and women
earn All-American honors at the
NCAA Indoor Championships
Track and field
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Randal Tyson Track Center pro
vided the scene for records to be
broken and for All-Americans to
stake their claims on the weekend.
The Oregon men’s and women’s
track teams finished 41st and 15th
in the team standings, respectively,
at the NCAA Indoor Championships
in Fayetteville, Ark.
The women were led by redshirt
seniors Becky Holliday and Niki
McEwen, who combined for 13
points. The 15th-place finish was
the highest for the women since the
1996 NCAA indoor finale.
Holliday led the trio of Ducks, all
of whom finished in the top-10 in
the pole vault. She set a school
record of 14 feet, 3 1/4 inches. Sat
urday marked her third All-Ameri
ca honor for the Ducks after taking
second outdoors and seventh in
doors in 2002.
“I can’t be too disappointed,”
Holliday said. “I jumped well and
had good attempts at every height.
I guess it will make me hungrier
for outdoors.”
McEwen secured her highest-ever
NCAA place with her second-highest
clearance at 13-11 1/4. McEwen en
tered the tournament ranked third
and finished fourth, her third All
America honor in six indoor and
outdoor NCAA appearances.
McEwen was content with her
performance, considering she
missed two weeks of training in mid
February after being sidelined by a
case of shingles.
“I’m happy that I put together a
solid season, and I’m starting to take
advantage of my maturity and expe
rience,” McEwen said. “My confi
dence is improving and I’m having
better practices more often, which is
a sign of bigger heights to come.”
Bringing up the rear for the Ducks
was junior Kirsten Riley, who earned
a personal best of 13-3 1/2 in her
NCAA debut. Riley finished 10th af
ter missing her attempts at 13-7 3/4.
For the men, senior Sarnie Parker
improved his time by .02 seconds
from last year to earn his second All
America honor. Parker’s 6.64 sec
onds in the 60-meter dash placed
him fourth to gave the men’s team
five points and a 41st placing.
“I got out of the blocks slow, and
that really cost me,” Parker said. “I
came in really wanting to be in the
mix for the win, but all I can do now
is look ahead. It was an all-right race
and something I can build off.”
Senior Adam Kriz also competed
for the men on Friday in the weight
Turn to Track, page 18A