Blazers can’t beat Dallas, but still Rip his heart out
When it comes to the NBA, I’m a
fair-weather fan.
Wait! you say. Don’t admit that!
That’s stoopid!
Well, momma always said stoopid
is as stoopid does.
Yep, I’m so fair-weather I need
SPF-30 sun
block to watch
a pro basket
ball game.
That’s why, for
most of Sun
day afternoon,
I rooted for the
Blazers. And
even if the
Blazers lost,
tattoo “Rip
City” on my
bicep, because
I’m a Blazer
convert.
I grew up in Golden State Warriors
country, which means I grew up a
football fan. Warrior players hated or
simply choked their coaches, while
Peter
Hockaday
TWo minutes for
crosschecking
on the other side of the Bay, Joe
Montana lobbed passes through the
crisp Candlestick air to Jerry Rice
and won Super Bowl rings the size of
Mack trucks. The choice was easy.
Nowadays, I consider myself a
free-agent fan. I ignore the NBA for
most of the year, and come playoff
time, teams can bid for my loyalty
through a complicated system of
likeability, potential to win the big
one and underdog status. Last year
the Sacramento Kings were lucky
enough to win that honor, and I
cried with the rest of the Laker
hater club when the referees hand
ed the Big Yellow Machine the series
in game 7.
This year, I turned up my nose
and stuck my pinkie out with the
rest of the country with each new
Jail Blazer offense. I laughed at the
pure comedic image of Ruben Pat
terson chasing Zach Randolph
around a practice court after Ran
dolph sucker-punched Patterson like
Britney Spears in a bar fight.
When the Blazers went down 2-0
to Dallas, I had my agent call up
other teams and test the free-agent
fan market.
But then Maurice Cheeks put his
arm around a scared eighth-grader
and belted out the national anthem
like he was a finalist on “American
Idol.” The Blazers lost and seemed
destined for a sweep, but at least the
Rose Garden wasn’t completely filled
with inmates.
Then the Blazers won their first
playoff game since the 14-point col
lapse to Los Angeles in 2000. Then
Arvydas Sabonis, who’s older than
Father Time, tipped in a shot at the
buzzer and sent the series back to
Portland. Then, in game 6, the Blaz
ers owned the Mavs like Mark Cuban
never could.
By Sunday, like the self-respect
ing sports fan I am, I was hooked
on the idea of a comeback. But this
wouldn’t be just a comeback, it
would be the comeback. The scope
was enormous. In all the playoff se
ries in all the sports in America,
only a couple hockey teams from
the 40s had pulled off this feat —
from zero to hero. From 3-0 to 3-4.
From swept to sweep.
So I donned my red-and-black on
Sunday. I had some people over to
my house and yeah, I rooted for the
Blazers. I complained about the offi
ciating (the phantom sixth foul on
Sabas? Are you kidding me?). I
made fun of Cuban’s T-shirt that he
stole from a trailerpark laundromat.
And I found out there’s more to
love about this Portland team.
There’s Sabas, throwing a completed
pass over his head. There’s Damon
Stoudamire, pulling a Superman on
a ball that was clearly headed for the
lap of some random cameraman.
There’s Scottie Pippen, playing in
pain, still clutch in the end with a
three from the comer.
That three was Custer’s last stand
for the Blazers. Dallas’ duo of Dirk
“Ober-baller” Nowitzki and Steve
“Have a Labatt’s, eh?” Nash drained
the kind of shots that belong only in
video games on “easy” mode. The
Blazers couldn’t hang.
But after the game, I noticed
something. Even in the midst of the
Blazers’ we’ve-come-this-far-back
only-to-lose disappointment,
Rasheed Wallace and the rest of
team initiated the high-five fine with
the Mavs. In that moment, Dallas
players understood the magnitude of
the comeback, Portland players un
derstood the talent of the Mavs and
everybody shook on it.
It wasn’t quite as touching as Mo
Cheeks singing “O’er the ramparts
we’ve watched,” but it helped me
make an important decision. I think
I’m going to sign a long-term fan con
tract with the Blazers.
That is, at least until game 7 of the
Kings-Lakers conference final.
Go Sacto.
Contact the sports editor
atpeterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
His views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Heinonen
continued from page 11A
Seniors Heather Murtaugh and
Janette Davis took first and second,
respectively, in the 100 meters and
the 200 meters, while senior Aman
da Brown won the triple jump and
long jump.
“I liked the way our people com
peted today,” Heinonen said. “The
1,500 was a great way to finish the
meet. The fashion show (4x400 re
lay) was fun, the kids really wanted
to do that.”
The Ducks’“B” ___
squad in the
4x400 relay hon
ored Heinonen by
each wearing a dif
ferent Duck jersey
from Heinonen’s
27 years.
“Tom’s totally
creative,” former
Duck heptathlete
Jenny Kenyon
said. It s a track environment that,
not only can you improve as an ath
lete, but you can enjoy track. The
reputation of Oregon track and it hav
ing crowds and really engaging the
community, I think he’s really main
tained that reputation.”
Heinonen won’t be fully retired af
ter this season ends. He plans to
coach the Oregon club distance run
ning team starting next fall as well as
spending time volunteering.
“I think it will be fun: no adminis
tration, no recruiting, no parents,”
Heinonen said.
Beginning next fall, men’s head
coach Martin Smith will take on the
women’s squads as well as director
of men’s and women’s track and
field and cross country.
“You don’t replace Tom,” Smith
said. “This program has been a labor
of love for him; the women’s team,
he’s been their only coach. They’re
__going to be diffi
euu ana impossi
ble shoes not to fill
but just to try to
make sure you’re
able to build on.”
While he was
honored on Satur
day, Heinonen isn’t
done quite yet.
Heptathletes com
pete on Saturday
and Sunday in Los Angeles, while ath
letes still seeking Pacific-10 Confer
ence or NCAA Regional qualifying
marks have one last opportunity to
achieve those marks. Heinonen’s last
time to coach begins May 18 at the
Pac-10 Championships.
Contact the sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.
"You don't replace
Tom. This program has
been a labor of love
for him..."
Martin Smith
Men's track head coach
Mary Etter throws the discus amid Saturday's rain. Etter said the discus was 'horrible' and that nobody did well in the event
Charles Favroth
(11) makes an
interception
overTony
Salazer (29) at
the spring
game.
Mark
McCambridge
Emerald
Spring game
continued from page 11A
of the game without significant injury is a
plus. That and the starting quarterback spot
may have gotten a little bit clearer.
Clemens finished the afternoon 12-of-16,
and threw touchdown strikes to Sarnie
Parker, Ryan Loftin and Demetrius
Williams. The most impressive of the three
came in the second quarter when Clemens
threw a home run pass to Parker for 68
yards. Safety Keith Lewis called the play a
broken assignment on behalf of the defense,
but whatever you want to call it, it was an
efficient strike on just the third play of the
drive.
“Sarnie Parker gave (Clemens) some great
support in catching some balls,” Bellotti
said. “I thought Demetrius Williams came
up with some big plays.”
Parker finished the first half, and the game,
with 135 yards on seven catches. Williams
finished with just two catches for 25 yards,
but those were two intricate catches.
Starting at the defensive 23, Clemens
rolled to his left and lofted the ball over
cornerback Aaron Gipson along the side
line with Williams catching it at the 6-yard
line. A play later, Clemens fired one over
the middle, a pass first tipped by Parker
and then caught by Williams along the
back of the end zone, barely inbounds.
Fife, meanwhile, didn’t show the same
quality of play he had put forth in Oregon’s
earlier spring scrimmages. The fifth-year
senior failed to complete a pass in four
attempts and was sacked twice.
“Then again, I didn’t really have much of
an opportunity to do much either,” Fife said.
“I didn’t get as many series as I thought I was
going to get. I got frustrated all spring about
not getting the opportunities to do what I
wanted to do.”
Defensively, the Ducks didn’t get burned,
nor did they show marked improvement. The
group allowed 202 yards through the air and
144 yards on 36 carries on the ground.
Lewis had the first interception of the day,
stepping in front of a Johnny DuRocher pass
early in the third quarter. DuRocher was
picked off again, this time by Charles
Favroth, in the waning minutes of the fourth
quarter.
Chris Dearmon and Kevin Mitchell both got
full sacks while Haloti Ngata and Darius
Sanders teamed up for one as well.
“There are a lot of things we need to get
better at in the secondary,” Lewis said. “A
couple of blown coverages, but all in all, you
can be happy. The secondary has made
tremendous progress (this spring).”
The game ended Oregon’s spring work
outs. It was the 15th of the spring — the
most allowable by the NCAA — and Oregon
will be back on the field in early August in