Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Friday, October 3, 2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
College football:
Oregon at Utah
7 p.m., Friday, ESPN2
Jon Roetman
Roughing the passer
Purest
football
played
on Friday
Want to see the most talented football
players in the world?
Time into Fox or CBS Sunday afternoon.
Want to see talented collegiate athletes
with something to prove?
Tune into ABC Saturday afternoon.
If football in its purest form is desired,
however, then check out Friday night
where the place to be is under the lights.
With Oregon's game against Utah
moved up to Friday, thoughts of high
school football are stirring in my mind.
Even though it has been four years since I
was a skinny signal caller for Portland's
Marshall High School, the memories
haven't vanished.
Don't get me wrong: Pro and college
football games are very entertaining.
Watching the most talented athletes in the
world perform at the sport I love is noth
ing short of amazing.
But there's something different about
high school football.
There are no million-dollar cry babies,
no contract disputes, no discount shop
ping scandals and no recruiting violations
— just blood, sweat and tears coming
from players who want nothing more than
a chance to put on a helmet and shoulder
pads and then run out onto the field.
When attending a game, wasting time and
money on athletes who don't give maxi
mum effort is never a worry.
Playing or just being around football on
the high school level can teach lessons
about life. Many of the guys I grew up with
came from low-income families and had
plenty of other things to worry about.
With hundreds of possible distractions
surrounding them, they still found ways to
get their school work done and be out on
the practice field. It makes one wonder
why a guy making $5 million can't wake
up in time for a team meeting.
It also teaches the importance of team
work at a time in a life when learning to
mesh with others under pressure is im
portant. In an era when certain profes
sionals are concerned with statistics
rather than winning, high school foot
Turn to ROETMAN, page 13A
ON TAP
Friday:
Football: Oregon at Utah, 7 p.m.,
ESPN2
Soccer: Portland at Oregon, 7 p.m.
Saturday:
Women's cross country: Oregon
at Willamette Invitational (Salem),
11:30 a.m.
Sunday:
Soccer: Weber State at Oregon,
1 p.m.
Warren has choice words for Oregon
Utah head coach Urban Meyer
silenced Parris Warren after negative
words were spoken about the Ducks
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Parris Warren has given the Ducks something to
talk about.
The former Oregon receiver — now a junior at
Utah — made remarks about his time in Eugene
that were neither flattering of Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti nor the Ducks in general.
The Sacramento, Calif., native told the Salt Lake
Tribune on Monday he transferred from Oregon
after the 2001 season because he was not a large
enough piece of the offensive puzzle.
"It's going to be hard to keep my emotions
down," he said of tonight's game in Salt Lake City.
"But I'm going to be fired up for this game. I just
feel I have a lot to prove to them."
Warren played in ten games for the Ducks in
2001 — missing only the team's game against
USC — but was not a primary target of then-quar
terback Joey Harrington. He had six tackles on
special teams but failed to catch a pass that season.
Ironically, Warren threw a 50-yard touchdown
pass to Justin Peelle against Utah.
After hearing of Warren's comments, Utah head
coach Urban Meyer put a gag order on the wide
receiver.
"I'm a big believer of shutting your mouth and
playing football, * Meyer said. "1 wish I had gotten
to him (before he said anything). Young people
have a tendency to make remarks before they
think about it."
Warren has become a big piece of the Utah of
fensive pie this season. 1 le has caught 24 passes
this year, including a season-high nine against Cal
ifornia and head coach Jeff Tedford, formerly Ore
gon's offensive coordinator.
Turn to WARREN, page 16A
Shy at heart
Lindsey Werdell may come across as soft
spoken and shy, but there is more to her story
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Lindsey Werdell is easily embarrassed.
For Werdell, speaking in front of a group of people is like
standing in front of a firing squad.
"I'm pretty shy so 1 just get embarrassed by being put on
the spot, like talking in front of a group of people," the senior
captain of the Oregon women's soccer team said. "I get really
nervous and I start holding my breath
and then I turn bright red, and then 1 _
realize I'm red so 1 start getting more I
nervous."
Even bringing up the topic of how SOCCER
easily she becomes embarrassed leaves -
her blushing.
But there is more to the story of the Eugene native that
wears No. 18. Werdell may stick to the shy side more often
than not, but she's not afraid to try different things.
"I haven't done anything crazy, but I would," she said. "I
want to go skydiving and I would go bungee jumping or do
stuff like that."
Beyond the blushing
Werdell has long been an outdoor enthusiast. Every win
ter, she makes trips to Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort to snow
board and during the summers she enjoys backpacking at
places like Glacier National Park.
"1 just like the outdoors a lot and I like trying new things,"
she said.
Through four years of backpacking, Werdell has found her
self in situations where being shy is not an option. For in
stance, she was backpacking with friends near Mt. Jefferson
in Oregon and a rock slide blocked the trail, causing them to
be lost for an entire day.
"One guy almost fell off of a cliff and luckily he held onto a
tree," Werdell said of being trapped in a ravine. "We were all
freaking out. After that we got a GPS and made sure we let
people know where we were going before we went."
Back on the field
When Werdell is on the field, she remains composed and
likes to use her experience to slow the game down.
Turn to SOCCER, page 14A
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Captain Lindsey Werdell is one of two seniors on the women's soccer team this year.
Gill crowd pressures Oregon in 3-0 defeat
The Beavers prove to be too much
for Carl Ferreira's Ducks as Oregon
drops the match in three straight
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
CORVALLIS — Oftentimes in close games, the
home fans can make all the difference.
The Oregon State volleyball team used a raucous
Gill Coliseum crowd to help get past Oregon 3-0
(30-26,30-27,30-28) Thursday in Corvallis.
After dropping the first two games, the Ducks
came out smoking in game three, taking a 15-4
lead on the strength of nine consecutive points.
The Beavers pulled within eight at 20-12, then
proceeded on an 18-8 run to finish the match.
"We came out in the third
game a little pissed off from
the first two games and got
fired up ' Oregon sopho- VOLLEYBALL
more Kelly Russell said. We _
came out with a good
rhythm, got ahead, but the rhythm shifted."
Oregon State's surge in game three was led by
Allison Lawrence The junior outside hitter finished
with 23 points, including five kills in the final game.
"She's a little more patient than she's been in the
past," Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said, "rhat
comes with maturity and time in (the Pacific-10
Conference). We handled her well at times but she
just kept at it."
Russell led the Ducks with 19 points, while fresh
man Sarah Mason added 13.
The Ducks had opportunities to win each
game, but other than game three, they were un
able to string together a series of points when
they needed to.
"In the first two games, we were just not scoring
enough," Ferreira said. "Anytime you've got a sport
with a scoreboard like us and there's a point award
ed for play, scoring points is a big part of it. We're
not having the balanced scoring that we would
need on a consistent basis."
Turn to VOLLEYBALL, page 13A