Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
MLB: Florida at San Francisco
1 p.m. ESPN
Hank Hager
Behind the dish
Arizona's
vacancy:
The Price
isn't right
The temptation is there. Oh, is it ever.
If you've read anything about John
Mackovic's firing on Sunday as head
coach of Arizona, then the seeds have
probably been planted in your mind that
Mike Price has already moved into an
apartment in Tucson.
That's getting a little too far ahead of
yourself.
And it's a shame that the former Wash
ington State head coach has been so
prominently mentioned. It's a shame that
someone in his position could be named
as the head of a program not even a year
after a scandal in which his (dis)honor
broke out.
Price never coached a game with Alaba
ma; instead he lost his job after he was al
legedly caught cavorting — and I say that
loosely — with strippers in his spare time.
He did nothing illegal, at least in the
eyes of the law. But I'm sure his wife did
n't appreciate his actions and obviously
neither did the Crimson Tide. The pro
gram decided to cast him aside after
his indiscretions.
It is natural for Price to be mentioned as
Mackovic's successor, especially since he
had so much success with Washington
State in the last few years he was in Pull
man. After all, if a coach can get any kind
of recmits to the lonely Northwest city,
that's something to write home about.
And there's no doubt in my mind he
would have had some kind of success
with Alabama. The school plays in the
Southeastern Conference, a much
tougher league annually than the Pacific
10 Conference.
Regardless, he's an excellent on-the
field coach.
And yet, he would do no good for the
Arizona program or the face of colle
giate athletics.
To fire Mackovic at this point in the
season is just plain bad timing. Granted,
it's not surprising that he was let go, but
a struggling team usually doesn't get
much better because the general on the
sidelines is removed during the season.
Mike Hankwitz has tons of experience as
an assistant, but is entering his first head
coaching job.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti — the
dean of Pac-10 coaches, in his ninth sea
son — questioned the timing as well.
"I don't think it's a positive day when
anybody gets fired at any time, and 1 also
think it was a little interesting that the (ath
letic director, Jim Livengood) said up until
last week he would evaluate him at the end
of the season, and that he had never fired
anybody mid-season in 19 years, and then
he changed his mind," Bellotti said.
Price could fill the vacant spot until the
season is over, but the team would not be
Turn to HAGER, Page 9
Offense shines in Ducks' early wins
A doubleheader and tryouts
headline a busy week for Oregon
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
With a combined 28-1 rout of Western
Baptist in a rare September doubleheader,
Oregon softball returned to Howe Field
last Friday.
The Ducks took the first game against
the Warriors, 17-1, in five innings. The sec
ond game was also called after five with an
11-0 final.
"This team is a really exciting group to be
around," Oregon head coach Kathy Arend
sen said. "It's ener- _
gized with six new __ ^
players, yet we're feel- Er El Cr IV
ing the loss of five very §Q pTB ALI
experienced and excel- _
lent players. But it's al
ways fun to get a new start."
Junior Lindsey Kontra pitched three in
nings between the two games, earning the
win after starting the second game. Kontra
and senior Anissa Meashintubby each gave
up two hits, while sophomore Amy Harris
pitched three hitless innings.
"They've been working hard," Arendsen
said. "We're all getting to know each other, kind
of find out what we can do, what our depth is
and who's going to play what position."
Offensively, each player who had an at
bat in the first game got at least one hit.
The Ducks had 22 hits in thfc first game, in
cluding two home runs by senior catcher
Jenn Poore.
Junior Ashley Richards went a combined 6
for 7 in the two games, while sophomore
Beth Boskovich went 3 for 3, including a
home run in the second contest.
The Ducks, ranked 11th in the nation in
the final poll of the 2003 season, had six
home runs in the doubleheader.
The two games marked the first in Western
Baptist's history.
"It's an opportunity to get out and allow
Mark McCambridge Senior Photographer
Jenn Poore hit two home runs in Oregon’s first game on Friday; a 17-1 win over Western Baptist.
the girls to play together in a game situation
rather than always practicing," Western Bap
tist coach Todd Bradley said. "It's also an op
portunity to see some great talent against us
and to kind of put them on the measuring
stick to see where we need to go."
The Warriors, an NAIA school, will be
members of the Cascade Collegiate Confer
ence, joining Southern Oregon, Eastern Ore
gon, Oregon Tech, Concordia and Albertson.
Turn to SOFTBALL, page 9
Mackovic ousted as Arizona head coach
John Mackovic posted a 10-18
record in less than three seasons
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Jim Livengood decided not to wait after all.
The Arizona athletic director removed head
coach John Mackovic on Sunday, just days after
saying he would evaluate the embattled coach's
status after the season.
"John Mackovic is a good man and a good
football coach, but for whatever reason has not
been a good fit for the University of Arizona
football program, and that is as much my re
sponsibility as it is his,"
Livengood said in a press
conference. "This is not
about fan unrest, it's not
about Internet chat rooms
and it is not about message
boards. It is about players
and doing everything we can to help them ma
ture and have the experience at the UA that we
need to have and they need to have going
through a collegiate experience."
Mackovic's firing comes after three turbulent
years at the helm of the Arizona program.
In November 2002, approximately 50 players
went to university president Peter Likins to com
plain about Mackovic's methods as head coach.
And just last Friday, 20 players were banned from
a team dinner because they failed to appear for
personal meetings with him.
PAC
io
Mackovic was 10-18 in three seasons with the
Wildcats, including a 1-4 ledger this season.
Arizona narrowly lost to TCU on Saturday, 13
10, in overtime.
"1 think just a lot of things built up over time,"
Arizona safety Darrell Brooks told the Arizona
Daily Star. "1 don't think you place it on one indi
vidual incident. It's bad that it happened, but it's
something that you know in this business. It's
something we have to use as a motivating factor."
"John Mackovic is a good man
and a good football coach, but
for whatever reason has not been
a good fit for the University
of Arizona football program,
and that is as much my
responsibility as it is his."
Jim Livengood
Arizona athletic director
Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz was
named the interim head coach on Sunday, and
it will be his first head coaching experience. This
season is Hankwitz' first with the Wildcats after
serving as defensive coordinator at Texas A&M
for six seasons.
Hankwitz was unavailable for comment with
the Arizona media on Sunday, but Livengood told
the Arizona Daily Star: "He is very well respected
by our players and by our coaches. 1 don't want to
infer that any of the others could not have done a
good job. But in my opinion, Mike fits this posi
tion probably the best right now."
Livengood did not deny he would be looking
to fill the head coaching position full-time. For
mer Washington State head coach Mike Price has
been mentioned as a possibility, as has current
Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins.
I lowever, Hawkins is under contract and it
would be extremely unlikely for him to leave his
position during the season.
Cal knocks off USC... finally
There are no more unbeatens in the Pacific
10 Conference.
In addition to Oregon's loss to Washington
State, both USC and Stanford fell to California
and Washington, respectively. The Golden Bears'
34-31 victory was perhaps the sweetest, especially
after losing to the Trojans last season, 30-28.
"Anytime you can have success against a team
like USC (it's a great accomplishment)," Califor
nia head coach Jeff Tedford said. "They're a
tremendous football team and it means a lot to
this football program to have that kind of victory
in our home stadium on national television. It's
a tremendous feather in our kids' cap."
California fans stormed the field after kicker
Tyler Fredrickson split the uprights in the third
overtime. It even inspired a "Bedlam in
Turn to PAC-10, page 8