Sports Editor:
Jesse Thomas
jessethomas@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
Seattle Mariners
at Minnesota Twins
5:05 p.m. Tuesday, FSN
Jesse Thomas
Go the distance
Trailblazers
leave fans
yearning
for 'Rip City7
Ah, the good old days. The days when
life was easy and work wasn't so long. The
days when life moved slower and cell
phones weren't a necessity.
Your grandfather tells you of the good
old days and you listen, wondering how
life could exist in such simplicity. For this
generation it's the good old days of the
'80s, when parachute pants were a hit
and playing dodgeball at recess was too
much fun.
Ana wnen rerlecting on Oregon s only
professional sports team, the Portland
Trail Blazers, the good old days bring the
fondest memories.
For the flower children, the '70s brought
the introduction of a team soon bound for
greatness. From the team's entrance in
1970 to Bill Walton's 1974 arrival and the
start of jack Ramsay's reign two years later,
the bell-bottom era had many beginnings
for the new team. Most noteworthy, the
Blazers won their first and only NBA
Championship in 1976-77, a feat that
would strike up Blazermania.
The early '80s provided the red carpet
arrival of one of Portland's greatest players
ever, Clyde Drexler. In 1983, when the
Blazers racked up 156 points against Den
ver and turned around to throw 155
points at Chicago, it was a good time to be
a Blazers fan.
The offensive powerhouse never slowed
down as Portland managed 117.9 points
per game in 1986-87, leading the league.
In the 2002-03 season, the Blazers only
broke that average only seven times.
Like the team of today, the beginning
of the '90s was the turning of a page for a
team in need of restructuring. With a new
owner and a new coach, the Blazers made
it to the NBA Finals before losing to De
troit. In the next two seasons the Blazers
recorded a franchise record 63 wins and
returned to the NBA Finals, where
Michael Jordan successfully defended his
title in 1992.
I’he rest of the '90s are a blur for a team
that saw its greats depart with the en
trance of two new coaches. It wasn't until
1999 that Portland seemed to be the
team of a decade.
The 1999-2000 season can be con
densed to 11 minutes. With a guaranteed
chance for their second NBA Champi
onship, Portland gave up a 15-point lead
in the fourth quarter against the Los Ange
les Lakers to lose the conference finals.
The next two seasons would see Port
land go 0-6 against their nemesis, the Lak
ers, in the first round of both playoffs. And
after Portland made its fans again believe
it could win a Game 7 against Dallas in
early May, its clear to see the Blazers are a
team in need of a transition.
What once was Blazermania and Rip
City is no more. What once were the
Turn to Thomas, page 6
Mac to the future
The Oregon Athletic Department is
expected to soon make an announcement
regarding the new basketball arena location
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Editor
Once upon a time in 1926, a basketball
arena was built. It was called McArthur
Court. Now, 77 years later, it still stands,
known notoriously as "The Pit," and is con
sidered one of collegiate basketball's most
feared venues.
And as soon as next summer, the construc
tion of a new basketball arena could begin,
and by 2006-07 Mac Court will no longer be
home to Oregon's basketball teams. A deci
sion from the University regarding the loca
tion for the new arena is expected soon.
"Once the president gives us the green light,
which I'm hoping will be fairly soon, we want
to go forward and design a facility that will ac
commodate our students, will accommodate
our fans, will be an attraction for prospective
student athletes and will continue to give us
a home court edge," Athletic Director Bill
Moos said. "We feel at this point that would
include copying as many of the features (of
the current Mac Court as possible)."
Seven sites have been identified by consult
ing firm CSL International: the Autzen Stadi
um vicinity, the new Federal Courthouse site,
Howe Field, Franklin Boulevard (Glenwood),
Franklin Boulevard (Springfield), North Cam
pus (Riverfront Parkway between Franklin
Boulevard and Millrace Drive), and the
Williams' Bakery site.
University officials aren't saying whether
any have moved to the top of the list, instead
choosing to speak on features sought in the
site selection.
"It's my understanding that they're interest
ed in allowing students to easily get to it," said
Jessica Waters Emerald
Of the seven sites chosen for the new arena Howe Field (upper left), Autzen Stadium vicinity (upper right),
Franklin Boulevard in Glenwood (lower left) and Williams’ Bakery (lower right) are four possibilities.
Chris Ramey, Director of University Planning.
Howe Field, home to the Oregon
women's softball team, would provide a lo
cation adjacent to the original arena but
would force the Athletic Department to
erect a new softball field.
Regardless of whether the softball field is
chosen, softball head coach Kathy Arendsen
isn't concerned.
"We have pretty much left it up to them
(Athletic Department) because we believe
we're going to be just fine," Arendsen said. "If
we had a choice, we would prefer to stay
where we're established."
The other site already on land owned by
the University is located next to Autzen Stadi
um. The east parking lot located off of Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard would allow Ore
gon's two largest sports teams to play in the
same area.
The other five sites chosen as possibilities
are not owned by the University and, as Vice
President of Administration Dan Williams
noted, this adds the criterion of acquisition.
The other criteria used to identify and
hopefully narrow the site list include prox
imity to campus, affordability, use of trans
portation, availability in terms of time
scheduling and the size to accommodate
14,000-plus people.
Two of the sites that pose a problem in
Turn to Mac Court, page 6
Jessica waters Emerald
The renovations include a mezzanine level and raised ceiling among others.
New locker room gets
high-caliber makeover
The renovations to the new football
locker room include structural alterations
and many technological advancements
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Editor
It's not a Club Med. It's not even a
Gold's Gym. But it could be.
New renovations to the Oregon football
team locker room are so advanced in ar
chitecture and technology that it rivals
even the best NFL locker rooms.
"We've had several of our people ob
serve other locker rooms, both collegiate
and professionally around the country,
(which is) the case with a lot of our facility
enhancements," Athletic Director Bill
Moos said. "We have taken what we felt is
the best features of several of those and in
corporated them into ours."
The ceiling was raised 7 feet 5 inches
with a mezzanine level added to create
more space, allowing coaches to stand in
the center of the room and see all of
their players.
The facility boasts a total of 120 lockers,
with 39 upstairs. The lockers, which in
clude specific locations to accommodate
injured athletes, have increased in size, are
fully ventilated and come with Ethernet
connections, allowing for easier studying.
Even the doors have been revamped.
What was once a standard door only al
lowing single-file traffic has been re
modeled to a large panel vertical lift
door that opens in three seconds. The
new door now allows the football team
to rush onto the field faster and more
energetically.
"It's going to increase performance and
be more functional," said Tim Canfield,
principal designer and owner of Concept
2 Reality.
Among the many other technological
renovations, a thumb scanner functions as
a lock for die room.
Athletes will also never suffer a lack of
information, as three 16-inch plasma
screens are being built into the upper wall
opposite the lockers.
The plasma screens will have satellite
functionality, DVD and VCR access and
video-game capabilities. The athletic de
partment is also positioning a camera in
side Autzen Stadium that will focus solely
on the scoreboard and transmit the image
to one of the screens.
'Those plasma panels will have multi
ple sources from watching game film to
highlight film, and diere will always be in
formation about game time available,"
said Canfield, who graduated from the
University in 1987 and was a pole vaulter
for three years on the Oregon track and
field team.
Turn to Locker room, page 8