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Sports Editor
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, October 7,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
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Hank Hager
Behind the dish
Knight,
Oregon;
together a
perfect fit
The announcement by Oregon officials
on Saturday regarding Howe Field as the
site of the new arena came with a piece of
vital information.
At one point, officials thanked Phil and
Penny Knight for becoming principal
donors of the project. This is no surprise
and illustrates how vital Phil Knight's pres
ence is to Oregon athletics.
Uniforms, you might say, show how vi
tal Knight is to the Ducks. After all, the new
duds the Ducks sport were created by Nike.
Well, more than three years ago, the arena,
the new uniforms and the Autzen Stadium
expansion itself were all in danger.
Those new uniforms weren't even on
the table then, and the arena was just a fig
ment of imagination. Sure, McArthur
Court was more than 70 years old and its
replacement was becoming necessary, but
it wasn't realistic.
The Autzen remodeling was planned
and ready to go. But Phil Knight, who was
also a prindpal donor for that project, was
at odds with the University when Oregon
decided to join the Worker Rights Consor
. tium in April 2000.
Less than two years later, the University
jumped out of the group — it was even
Turn to HAGER, page 6
Pac-10 play awaits recharged Ducks
Mark McCambridge Senior Photographer
Redshirt sophomore Nicole Garbin is in her second active season as an offensive force.
Oregon begins a tough conference slate
with Oregon State on Saturday in Corvallis
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Now that the tune-up is over, Oregon and the rest of the Pa
cific-10 Conference must prepare for a full month of competi
tive battles when conference play begins this week.
The Pacific-10 Conference continues to be a national power.
Six teams are ranked in the Soccer America Top 25 as of Sept.
29. No. 3 UCIA leads the way, behind North Carolina and
Notre Dame, and Washington and USC hold down the No.
13 and No. 14 positions with Arizona State at 16th and Stan
ford at 18th. Cal sits in the 23rd spot.
"It's a tough conference to play," red- -
shirt freshman Andrea Valadez said. “1 £) (J ££
know that in the beginning we were
seeded last. We have a lot of things to
prove. We have to prove people wrong. —
I definitely think we can compete in the Pac-10 this year."
Oregon (6-5) was picked to finish last in the conference
with only 13 votes in the preseason Pac-10 coaches poll.
"Obviously you want to go into the conference on a good
note, and this is a good note," Oregon head coach Bill Steffen
said. "The kids are excited about their chances and being able
to start conference play."
Oregon's first conference test will be rival Oregon State (4
6-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Corvallis. The Beavers split the
weekend, losing 2-1 to Portland and defeating Weber State 4-0.
"It's a rivalry game; it's our first conference game; it's going
to have a lot of excitement on top of things," Steffen said.
Garbin climbing the career ladder
Redshirt sophomore Nicole Garbin is making her way to
the top of every offensive category in Oregon's career lists in
just her second season.
Garbin ranks in the top five of all offensive categories — five
overall. That includes goals — fifth with nine — and she is
third with eight assists. She is tied for second with six game
winning goals and fourth in points at 26.
Rounding out the list, she has 84 shots in 29 career games,
which ranks Garbin fifth.
"The coaches tiy and put it in my mind as a little motiva
tion," Garbin said. "I just want to come out every game and
contribute as much as I can. (I want) to play with the person
ality I have, and the coaches expea (that of) me as carrying this
team, and I very much enjoy that."
On the up side
The Ducks have been more streaky this season then ever in the
seven-year history of the program.
Turn to DUCKS, page 6
Cougars direct conference traffic through Pullman
Washington State is winning over
fans and dominating opposing
teams this season in defense
of its 2002 Pac-10 title
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
All roads — paved and dirt — lead to Pull
man, Wash., in the race for the Pacific-10 Con
ference football crown.
At least that's the case the Cougars are mak
ing six weeks and two conference victories into
their season.
"Oregon State and Washington State are both
undefeated (in the conference)," Oregon head
coach Mike Bellotti said on Sunday. "So I think
until those schools meet... I said before the be
ginning of the season, I think this is as wide open
(in the Pac-10) as I've seen since I've been here"
Preseason favorite Southern California is
down one game due to a Sept. 27 loss to Cali
fornia, leaving the Beavers and Cougars at the
top of the Pac-10 with a 2-0 conference record.
Both are 5-1 overall.
No. 12 Washington State is getting a lot
more national attention than No. 24 Oregon
State, helped by the Cougars' 55-16 drubbing
of Oregon one week after the Ducks squeaked
past Michigan.
However, Washington State managed to dis
appoint its fans on Saturday when it played
host to Arizona.
Conference teams expea a blowout when the
Wildcats come to town. Washington State,
ahead 13-0 at halftime, gave up a touchdown —
making it a six-point game — before adding 17
points for the 30-7 win.
The same way of thinking that may have
thrown Oregon off against the Cougars gave
Washington State a speedbump in its defeat of
the Pac-10 cellar-dwelling Wildcats.
"You could say it as much as you
want — Let s get over the
(Oregon) game' — but that was a
great win, and it's tough to
just get over it."
Jason David
WSU cornerback
"You could say it as much as you want —
'Let's get over the (Oregon) game' — but that
was a great win, and it's tough to just get over it"
cornerback Jason David said on Saturday. "1
don't think we played a great game, but we
played a good game."
David was the star of the Cougars' homecom
ing viaory, grabbing his 14th career interception
and returning it 34 yards for a touchdown. He is
the first Cougar in Washington State history to
return three interceptions for touchdowns in a
career.
"I don't think the quarterback really saw me,"
David said. "I hid behind the tight end really well,
and 1 knew he was going to throw because they
didn't need that many yards. I le threw it, and it
kind of hit my facemask. I was going to start cry
ing if 1 dropped it again."
The senior was pivotal in Washington State's
win against Oregon, and his teammates are count
ing on him to help them along the Pac-10 road.
Hankwitz debuts
At Washington State, Arizona continued its
losing sneak, picking up its fifth loss of the sea
son. It is now 0-1 with interim head coach Mike
Hankwitz.
Multiple Cougars said the Wildcats came out
and played tough for their new leader.
"It was a tough week because of all the
changes," Hankwitz said on Saturday. "But 1
think our players responded and tried to do
everything we asked of them. I am pleased over
all that we came up here and fought into the
fourth quarter."
UCLA scores... finally
In five games, the Bruins have scored 110
points this season, but they scored 42 percent of
those points in Saturday's game against Wash
ington, their first conference game of the season.
"We were able to do some things in the second
half of the Washington game that we knew as a
staff we had the potential of doing," UCLA head
Courtesy Washington State Media Services
Cougar cornerback Jason David picked up his 14th
career interception on Saturday.
coach Karl Dorrell said. "It was nice to finally get
where everything started to dick in all phases. *
After a slow first half against the Huskies,
UCLA found itself behind 16-7. The Bruins
found their rhythm from then on and dominat
ed Washington, 39-0, in the second half en route
to the 46-16 win.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.