WARM
continued from page 5
during the last three games. On Satur
day the Ducks held a 33-32 advantage
over Arizona State, which has the best
rebounding margin in the conference.
Moving on
The first half of the conference
schedule came to a close Saturday
with the Ducks winning only two of
nine games.
Besides blowout road losses to
then-No. 9 Stanford and Washington,
Oregon had a chance to win every
game. The Ducks are confident they
can improve in the second half.
One reason to have confidence in
the Ducks is freshman Eleanor Har
ing. The 6-foot-1 forward is one of
Oregon's most athletic players and
has stepped up on both sides of
the ball.
"We went through some tough
spots and we've really rebounded
back," Haring said. "I think last week
end was a sign. Although we didn't get
the wins, we really played hard. We
know we're (really) close and it will
be interesting to see how the last half
of the season goes."
Oregon had an outside chance of
competing for the Pac-10 title until
Cathrine Kraayeveld was lost for the
season on Dec. 2 with an anterior cru
ciate ligament tear in her right knee.
Since then, Oregon has had to scratch
and daw for every basket and every re
bound. While the Ducks came out
strong in several games, not having
anything come easy usually took its
toll by game's end.
Oregon lost to California, UCLA,
Arizona and Arizona State by a com
bined 16 points.
Despite their struggles, Smith said
she's happy with the way the team has
stayed together.
"We went through some
tough spots and we've
really rebounded back. I
think last weekend was a
sign. Although we didn't
get the wins, we really
played hard."
Eleanor Haring
Oregon forward
"Given the rough road that we've
had, what we're really satisfied with
as a coaching staff is that (the play
ers) haven't given up," Smith said.
"We're looking uphill, but they've
got that grit and they've got that en
thusiasm to turn the second half
around."
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
Erik Bishoff Photographer
Eleanor Haring (54) and the Ducks are close to an elusive third Pac-10 win. They almost defeated Arizona and Arizona State last week.
HAGER
continued from page 5
I couldn't think of anything intelli
gent to say on Oregon's 24-point loss
to Arizona. There were some posi
tives, but mostly there were negatives.
The Ducks will move on. Arizona will
move on. They'll meet again and there
will be a different result.
Maybe.
The Oregon women's basketball
team is 2-7 in Pacific-10 Conference
play. That speaks for itself.
So, what did I do? Well, I did the
same thing any red-blooded Ameri
can male who can't think of a
column would do.
I turned on ESPN's "SportsCenter."
Ah, the last bastion of inspirational
television. It's a show like no other,
and it's on so often it doesn't matter if
you work the morning, afternoon or
late shift. You just can't miss it.
I've found myself inexplicably
drawn to it since I first got cable TV
when I was 11.1 know why I watch
— I just can't figure out why I do it
so often.
Lately, though, I've found myself
shying away from the big show. I still
watch, but not with the same gusto I
once had. I can't seem to keep the re
mote from clicking to Comedy
Central or Fox Sports Net.
It's almost beginning to seem as
though the show is becoming a cari
cature of itself, a cartoon that pushes
the limits of respectability. Even
though it's always been known for its
brash nature, the show seems to be
mimicking its reality show brethren
on the non-cable television channels.
The information is still fresh, and
the analysts know what they're talking
about, but the next laugh always
seems to be around the comer. The
problem is, it's becoming a
forced laugh.
I'm still waiting for the day when
Stuart Scott makes a sock puppet
because, well, ratings suggest that
males aged 8 to 15 prefer him to
make an ass of himself than to actu
ally present sports news in a clear
and informative fashion.
Maybe it's just that "SportsCenter"
considers itself dominant over Fox.
Maybe the show is trying to pull in
new viewers. Maybe after 25 years
there needs to be some things done to
keep it fresh.
There's a lot of maybes in there, and
only the executives of the show really
know what the answer is.
But in the meantime, give Dan
Patrick some more air time, kick Scott
off the show and bring back Keith
Olbermann.
I'll still be watching, but I am grow
ing skeptical of the so-called world
wide leader in sports.
Bring back CNN/SI. Now that was
a sports channel that had some gusto.
"SportsCenter," for all its newfound
issues, is still the best highlights show
on the air today.
As Homer Simpson would say,
"Ooh, 'SportsCenter.'"
Now if I can just find that damn
bag of pretzels.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemeratd.coni.
SPORTS BRIEF
Nets fire Scott, name Frank
interim head coach
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After
watching his uninspired New Jersey
Nets go through the motions of an em
barrassing 21-point loss to the Miami
Heat on Friday and hearing that Byron
Scott was unsure of whether the team
was listening, Nets president Rod Thom
began to realize a change was necessary.
Finally, at 10 Sunday night, hours af
ter a victory over the Celtics, Thom did
what he couldn't bring himself to do
last March, last summer and last month
he fired Byron Scott. The Nets terminat
ed ties with the winningest coach in
their NBA history on Monday morning,
less than a week after the team was sold
to Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner.
Scott coached the team to two
straight NBA Finals but could not sur
vive a 22-20 start, even though it was
good enough to lead the Atlantic Di
vision. The Nets promoted lead assis
tant Lawrence Frank to interim coach
for the remainder of the season. The
first-time head coach is now the
youngest in the league at 33.
Thom said he had made the decision
and new ownership had no input.
"This was a very, very difficult thing
to do on a personal level," said Thom,
who gave Scott his first head coaching
job in 2000. "Sometimes your team
needs a new voice. This is Byron's
fourth year here; it happens at differ
ent times to virtually every coach ...
that your message just isn't received
and taken on the court."
"The Miami game was the nadir, so
to speak, for us," added Thom, who
said he considered other coaching
candidates in and outside of the
i—
organization before deciding on
Frank. "We didn't compete at the nor
mal level I think this team competes."
Thorn was also adamant that no
player — especially Jason Kidd — had
any input on the decision. The rela
tionship between Scott and Kidd has
been speculated about since last sum
mer, when reports had the point
guard demanding Scott be fired or
else he would not re-sign as a
free agent.
Several sources have maintained
that Kidd never made such a demand
and they also denied an early
afternoon report Monday from The
Associated Press that Kidd had talked
to management on Saturday to dis
cuss a coaching change.
"I didn't talk to anybody about any
change," said an angry Kidd, who
played golf with Scott and Thom dur
ing an off day on Thursday in Miami.
"Far from it. Somebody made an er
ror. You can check my phone records.
I didn't call Rod. Why would I need to
tell Rod (to make a change)? That's
his job. I'm not doing his job."
— Ohm Youngmisuk
New York Daily News
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