Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Friday, April 18,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
MLB: Seattle at Anaheim
7 p.m., Fox Sports
How Cooley
is that new
arena? It’s
super Cooley
North Carolina has its Dean Dome,
named after legendary hoops coach
Dean Smith.
Let’s give Oregon The Luke Dome.
So the dream of a new basketball arena
became a reality Thursday. But with all
the shuffling among focus groups, site
choices and traffic
concerns, the new
arena committee
forgot about nam
ing rights. We know
now that the old
McArthur Court is
sticking around un
til it crumbles from
age (my only regret
upon graduation is
that I’ll never be
able to play intra
mural floor hockey
on the hallowed
floor of The Pit),
and two Mac Courts
would seem sillier than having a Duck as a
mascot. So what to call the new arena?
Phil, I love you like you were my own
uncle, but let’s not call the new place Nike
Arena. And even if we raze Williams Bak
ery to build the new arena, let’s not name
it after a local business like Williams
Pavilion or Romania Center.
Here’s the plan: Let’s use the naming
rights as a mafia-like bribe. Tell Luke and
Luke if they stay, we name the new place
The Luke Dome. If they go to the NBA,
fugheddaboutit. We name the new place
after someone who did stay, like Freddie
Jones Place. Or better yet, we name it for
someone who stayed and did well in aca
demics to, you know, send the message
to the nation that we’re an academics-ori
ented school.
Ladies and gents, welcome to The Ben
Lindquist Events Center! Otherwise
known as BLEC, as in, “Going to the
blech for the game?” Stay in school, kid
dies! It’s the Lindquist way!
Of course, if we don’t go corporate, we’ll
probably end up naming the building after
some old basketball player who nobody’s
heard of. So why not make it a cool player
like Larry Cooley (letterman from 1964
65). What recruit wouldn’t want to play in
the brand-new Cooley Center? Cool! Or
Chet Noe (letterman from 1951-53). I can
hear the chants now as opposing players
take their free throws: “Noe way in the Noe
Dome! Noe way Noe how!” Or we could
have a suitable moniker to replace “The
Pit” by naming the new arena after Greg
Trapp (letterman from 1984-85). Wel
come ... to The Trapp!
Let’s not make the unfortunate mis
take made by the folks at Ohio State, who
built a new basketball arena in 1998 and
named it Value City Arena. So are we go
ing to a basketball game or going bargain
hunting? And let’s certainly avoid follow
ing the footsteps of our Pacific-10 Confer
ence foes, the Washington Huskies. When
they remodeled Hec Edmundson Pavil
ion in 2000, the Huskies named the new
court Bank of America Arena. So can I
use my Wells Fargo check card there? Do
ATMs appear out of nowhere during
games, like in the commercials?
Seriously, a new arena is overdue like
most of my library books, so it’s good to
see the Athletic Department take action.
A good name should be at the top of the
Peter
Hockaday
Two minutes for
crosschecking
Turn to Hockaday, page 10
Pitcher perfect
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Amy Harris won three state titles at North Eugene before joining the Duck squad this year.
hresnman pitcher Amy Hams is making an early
impact as she leads the No. 20 Ducks’ pitching squad
with her low ERA and high number of strikeouts
Softball
Mindi Rice
Sports Reporter
Jealousy isn’t supposed to get you far in life.
For Amy Harris, jealousy started her pitching career—and
her pitching is how she is making a name for herself.
“One day — we lived out in Veneta — and Jennie Cook,
who pitched for the Ducks, her mom was holding pitching
lessons in the Elmira gym,” Harris said.
“So my sister for some reason got started up in that. I was
kind of jealous, and I thought it would be fun, so I went one
day and just got started. Just one day — one random week
end — I went with her to pitching lessons, and I realized
that’s what I wanted to do.”
The freshman from Eugene has already made a place for
herself on the Oregon squad — pitching 48 percent of Ore
gon’s innings with a 1.20 ERA — after four stellar years at
North Eugene High School.
As a Highlander, Harris led her
squad to three state 4A Champi
onship games—winning as a sopho
more in 2000 — and had a career
ERA of 0.31.
“There’s a lot less stress in high
school,” Harris said. “We had team
barbecues all the time and just kind of
goofed around a lot.”
North Eugene’s championship season in 2000 was the last
that Harris and her sister, Jennifer Harris, played together.
Jennifer Harris, now a junior at Oregon Institute of Technolo
gy, is also a pitcher. The two were teammates on three differ
ent teams—when they played 10-and-under, for a few years
in summer ball as well as two years at North Eugene.
“My sister’s the reason that I pitch,” Amy Harris said, refer
ring to the weekend in the Elmira gym. “I miss my sister a
lot. It was probably one of my best memories when we played
together. It’s real fun having her on the team.”
Harris has played softball “ever since I could,” and pitched
since the third grade — when she learned how to pitch from
Cook’s mom.
Now at Oregon, Harris leads a pitching staff that is perhaps
the strongest part of the Ducks’ squad.
Her statistics after 26 appearances — including nine
appearances against national-powerhouse Pacific-10
Turn to Harris, page 10
On tap
What: Softball vs.
Oregon State
When: Today and
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: Howe Field
Track finally begins
run-around at Mt. SAC
After some confusion, the track
teams will begin competition
today at the Pomona-Pitzer and
Mt. San Antonio College meets
Track and field
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
The Mt. San Antonio College Relays,
one of the biggest regular-season meets of
2003, began Thursday in Walnut, Calif.
But the Oregon men’s and women’s track
team did not begin with it.
Four of the Duck women and two
men were scheduled to compete in the
field events with one event on the oval.
Through confusion on an itinerary
sent out earlier this week, seniors
Amanda Brown, Georgette Moyle,
Mary Etter and junior Jill Hoxmeier
did not compete Thursday.
Rather, some of the Ducks will compete
at Mt. SAC and the Pomona Pitzer Invita
tional, which begins today at Robert
Strehle Track in Claremont, Calif.
Etter and Hoxmeier will compete in the
throwing events along witfi a group of oth
er Ducks at Pomona. Other Oregon ath
letes will be competing at Mt. SAG.
Etter, an All-American, improved her
season best by nearly seven feet at last
weekend’s Pepsi Team Invitational to
176 feet in the discus. Hoxmeier has a
season best of 143 feet thus far but is
looking to change that today.
“I’m hoping to hit a Pac-10 and regional
qualifying mark,” Hoxmeier said. “It’s go
ing to be nice to finally have some warm
weather and not be cold and wet.”
The Aloha native will have to throw
150 feet for a regional mark and 150-11
to qualify for the conference meet.
Senior Jordan Sauvage will join the
other two Ducks in the hammer event.
Sauvage owns Oregon’s best mark in
the hammer at 191-4, about 20 feet
more than the regional and Pac-10
qualifying marks.
Sophomore Hannah Moore will be Ore
gon’s only competitor at Pomona in to
day’s pole vault event and has a season
best of 12 feet. Senior Carrie Zografos and
junior Erinn Gulbrandsen will round out
the women’s competition in the 1,500
Turn to Track, page 12
Adam Amato Emerald
Amanda Brown is one Duck who will kick off competition today.