Sports Editor:
Jesse Thomas
jessethomas@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, July 8, 2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
Los Angeles Dodgers
at St. Louis Cardinals
4 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN
Jesse Thomas
Go the distance
Armstrong
will wear
yellow in
Tour finish
When musdes scream and the body
cries for mercy. When your heart won't let
you stop and your soul yearns for more.
When pain is not an option and the finish
line is out of sight. When there is no pack
and it's just you and the mountain.
That makes a champion, and Lance
Armstrong epitomizes such a word.
Although only the second stage of the
Tour de France has ended, and names
like Bradley McGee, Alessandro
Petacchi and Baden Cooke have stood
on top of them all, Armstrong resounds
in the head of every cyclist on the 2,130
mile monster.
After the first stage, Armstrong stood
only 11 seconds behind the leaders. And
with a crash among 35 riders, it doesn't
seem uncommon that the 31-year-old Tex
an knows how to stare into the face of ad
versity. From surviving testicular cancer to
evolving into a sports deity, Armstrong un
derstands the meaning of "been to hell
and back."
After four straight wins — last year's by
more than seven minutes — America's
greatest cyclist doesn't look to be off-pace
to tie the record of five.
French riders Jacques Anqueti and
Bernard Hinault, Belgian Eddy Merckx
and Spaniard Miguel Indurain are the only
riders in the 100th year of the Tour de
France who can say they have won the cov
eted fifth title.
Among them, only Indurain has won
five straight, from 1991 to 1995.
If Armstrong can again find the heart
and soul to drive him through Champs
Elysees wearing the yellow jersey, to which
he has become so accustomed, he could
place himself in a chance to win an un
godly six. But of course, he must get
through five first.
"Call me a favorite, but don't say it's as
if I've already won the Tour," Armstrong
said after arriving in Paris Wednesday, ac
cording to ESPN.com. "It's not that simple.
It will be three really hard weeks."
"Simple" would be the last word to de
scribe an event like the Tour de France.
Twenty-three days, more than 2,000 miles
and the most grueling course in the history
of man are what stand between Paris and
the cobblestones of the finish line.
In weeks leading up to cycling's most
renowned race, Armstrong has been said
to have barely a handful of competitors
who could stand between him and his
quest for number five.
Ian Ullirch, the 1997 Tour Champion,
is the only other racer besides Armstrong
to have crossed the finish line wearing the
yellow jersey. But with two knee surgeries
in past years, it is doubtful he is at his peak
performance to challenge Armstrong.
A list of others include 2002 mnner-up
Turn to Thomas, page 6
Marketing mastermind
Jim Bartko is one of the main forces behind Oregon’s recent
marketing successes, including 'Joey Heisman’ and ‘Luke2Luke’
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Editor
Jim Bartko loves sports. Football, basketball, tennis or baseball —
you name it, he played it.
After being an all-around athlete in high school and having a short
stint in collegiate athletics, Bartko soon realized he would not be the
next Barry Bonds or Jerry Rice.
"I wasn't going to play in the NFL, so 1 took the next best route,"
he said.
Regardless of where life led him, Bartko knew he had to be involved
with sports.
"I wanted to be an agent when I was growing up," he said. "I wanted
to be the Jerry Maguire, that was my deal."
And although dreams change, Bartko has been with Oregon's
athletic department for nearly 15 years and helped put Oregon on
the map.
Bartko, now assistant athletic director at Oregon, is one of the mas
terminds behind "Joey Heisman," "Luke2Luke" and the other recent
successes in Oregon marketing.
Bartko has always felt that Oregon needs to lead the way in the mar
keting world, and that the 1 Jarrington campaign was the perfect op
portunity to put Oregon on the map.
"We always feel from our standpoint we need to be out in front,
cutting edge and push the envelope on marketing," said Bartko, a
1988 Washington State business sports management graduate.
"You always need to try and do something different, and who
knows what we'll do next, but it won't be a billboard in New York
this year."
The principal guy
The marketing spree all started when alumnus Ken O'Neil, Presi
dent of Farwest Golf, was in New York a few years back.
"He was walking (in) Manhattan, saw some big billboards and he
goes, You know what, wouldn't it be cool to have Joey 1 larrington here
in New York,"' Bartko said.
The athletic department also considered everything from sending
footballs with Joey's hand print to media outlets across the nation to
bobbleheads or a full page ad in one issue of Sports Illustrated.
An advertisement in one issue of Sports Illustrated would have cost
about $250,000, the same amount it cost the university to put up the
I larrington billboard.
"It was a magical ride," Bartko said. "That thing worked, and it
caused a lot of controversy nationally. The first week here we had The
Boston Globe, The Washington Post, USA TODAY, Sports Illustrated
and ESPN all here in Eugene saying, 'Who the heck is )oey and who
the heck is Oregon?"'
Along with Bartko, Athletic Director Bill Moos, Director of Media
Services Dave Williford, Oregon football head coach Mike Bellotti and
Director of Marketing Greg Graziano all took part in the process of
putting a "Joey I leisman" together.
wnosU *. \*
Jessica Waters Emerald
Assistant Athletic Director Jim Bartko is one of the directors behind Oregon’s
recent marketing success including the "Luke Woodenour" campaign.
"Jim has the access to the innovative minds at Nike," Moos said. "1 Ie
is the principal guy on my staff who works with the folks that create
the billboards."
Bartko's successes have come from behind the scenes as well. 1 le
was placed in charge of the Duck Athletic Fund in 1994 after five years
Turn to Magic, page 6
Kent looks to take USA Juniors to gold
Oregon’s coach will lead the USA Men’s
Junior Championship Team for the third time
in three years — this time in Thessaloniki, Greece
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Editor
Oregon men's basketball coach Ernie Kent will
resume head coaching duties Thursday, but it
won't be with the Ducks.
Kent will coach the 2003 USA Basketball Men's
luniorWorld Championship Team in Thessaloni
ki, Greece, July 10-20.
The Oregon coach of six years, who earned the
U.S. men a qualifying berth for the 2003 FIBA Ju
nior World Championship by leading the junior
qualifying team to a bronze medal in Venezuela
last summer, was named head coach May 7.
Coaching selections were made by the USA Bas
ketball Men's Collegiate Committee and approved
by USA Basketball's Executive Committee. Chair
man Terry Holland of the Men's Collegiate Com
mittee said Kent was highly qualified.
"Head coach Ernie Kent's background as a highly
successful college coach and
the fact that he played and
coached overseas using the in
ternational rules makes him
uniquely qualified to coach
this team," Holland said.
Kent is making his third
appearance in as many sum
mers on a USA Basketball
team's sideline. He was head
coach of the 2002 USA ju
nior World Championship
Qualifying Team and led the
Americans to a 4-1 record
and a bronze medal in Isla de Margarita,
Venezuela.
Prior to that he was an assistant coach at the
2001 USA Basketball World Championship for
the Young Men Team that won the gold medal in
Saitama, Japan, and finished 8-0.
Kent said he is just as excited to be back again
this season.
"I'm looking forward to an excellent tourna
ment," he said. "Having coached the qualifying
team last year, 1 know the group that we assemble
for the USA Junior World Championship Team is
in for an outstanding experience."
Kent will lead a 12-man squad overseas to com
pete against some of the world's best competition.
Included on Kent's team are collegiate standouts
J.J. Redick of Duke, UCLA's Ryan Hollins and
Michigan State's Maurice Ager.
Illinois' Deron Williams and Dee Brown hold
the experience on the squad after playing together
on the 2002 qualifying team.
The team begins play Thursday, facing off
against Slovenia. All 16 teams in the tournament
are placed in preliminary round groupings and
play teams within their group the first three
days. The United States is in Group C with Chi
na, Nigeria and Slovenia.
"The competition will be extremely tough as we
will see the best that the world has to offer," Kent
said. "But I look forward to going to Malaysia and
representing the USA extremely well."
Contact the sports editor
at jessethomas@dailyemerald.com.