UO finishes year in rebuilding mode
TAM
continued from page 7 A
The youth movement led the way for
the Ducks this year, and it is expected
to continue producing in 2004-2005
when two prized recruits hit campus
By Brian Smith
Freelance Reporter
record back-to-back top-10 finishes.
Itie season result was four top-10 finishes in 11
events, with the Ducks finishing in the top five
twice — the Northwest Collegiate Classic which
included senior Jimmy White's school-record 63,
in the fall and the Duck Invitational this spring —
culminating in a seventh place finish at the Pacif
ic- 10 Conference Championships.
The Ducks were denied their fifth-straight
NCAA West Regional bid, finishing the year with a
focus on the future.
"To make something positive out of the neg
ative, 1 hope it is a bittersweet incentive that
they didn't make it," Nosier said. "I don't think
that regionals would of helped us. I think that
the experience they got will make them better
players next year."
Much of the hype that followed the Ducks into
the spring season was not necessarily about what
would happen on the course, but who had been
signed off of it. A Southern California duo, Derek
Sipe and Joey Benedetti, will be expected to join
the team and contribute immediately.
"I've seen them both play and they are both re
ally good golfers, " Nosier said. "They both have
chance to come here and play right away."
Sipe, a senior at Psperanza High School in
Anaheim, Calif., has 25 tournament wins on
the Southern California PGA Junior Tour, along
with being the 2003 California boys state ama
teur tournament runner-up. I le is ranked third
among junior players in the state of California
and No. 9 nationally according to the National
Junior Golf Scoreboard.
"Derek has a very impressive resume and un
derstands how to win a tournament," Nosier said.
Benedetti, who competes against Sipe in the
Sunset League, is a three-time all-league first team
member and helped lead Huntington Beach
Union High School to the 2003 CIF state cham
pionship by finishing fifth individually.
"loey doesn't have quite the tournament ex
perience, but I think that he has a chance to be
just as good," Nosier said. "I'm really excited
because I think the two of them together
should provide a solid base for our team for
the next several years."
Nosier — who attended the OSAA 4A State
Boys Championship last week in Corvallis — said
he wouldn't trade Sipe or Benedetti for any of the
high school prospects in the field.
"All the guys here (at Oregon) will have to play
well next year to be ahead of these two coming
in," Nosier said.
Brian Smith is a freelance reporter for the Emerald.
ror the Oregon men s golf team, the 2003
2004 season was full of disappointing finishes,
moments of brilliance and the promise of better
With only two seniors
on the roster — the rest
being redshirt freshmen
and sophomores who
had less than a year of
tournament experience — it could have been said
that this season was one for rebuilding.
"We were an extremely young team," Ore
gon head coach Steve Nosier said. "We didn't
have the hard-core upperclassmen that we
have had in the past."
And indeed, the Ducks struggled because of
it; Oregon was never able to string together solid
events in order to build any kind of
momentum. Only once were they able to
things to come.
Cubs and Dodgers provide fun
for a couple of longtime fans
Jon Roetman
Roughing the passer
From the moment that Major
League Baseball released its 2004
schedule late last year, we knew it
had to happen.
For my buddy Brandon and me,
noticing that a series between the
Cubs and Dodgers was scheduled
for mid-May in Los Angeles sig
naled a golden opportunity for
fun: I'm a lifelong Cubs fan, he's a
die-hard Dodgers fan, and road
trips are a blast.
The clincher, however, came
months later, when we failed to do
anything fun during spring break.
After sitting on our butts in
Portland for most of the break, we
decided a mid-week baseball road
trip to Los Angeles was the only
true redemption.
We ordered the tickets and made
hotel reservations online and
MRRMnraHHDBHBHl
targeted the early morning hours of
May 12 for our departure.
Last Wednesday finally arrived
and we hit the road at 12:30 a.m.
While I was excited for the events to
come, I was already upset because
Chicago had dropped the opening
game of the series Tuesday night, 7
3. While the Cubbies had two more
shots at redemption, 1 had to listen
to Brandon run his mouth during
the entire 858-mile trip.
The drive was long, but we man
aged to survive with Mountain
Dew, 7-11 hot dogs and a heated
baseball trivia battle.
After 12 hours, the sky turned fog
gy with pollution, the air started to
stink and fellow drivers abandoned
the use of their turn signals. 1 ley, I
guess we made it to Los Angeles in
pretty good time.
After lunch and a short nap at a
Ramada Inn, we left for Dodger
Stadium two hours prior to game
time, despite being only 10 miles
away. I've been a victim of rush
hour traffic in Southern California
before, and arriving to the game
late — even though we would
have blended in with most of the
"arrive late, leave early" Los Ange
les fans — was not an option.
Traffic turned out to be mild
and finding a place to park was
fairly cheap and easy — I expect
ed stadium parking to be a lot
steeper than $10.
As we walked to the stadium, the
intensity picked up. Each sporting
our respective team's apparel, Bran
don and 1 weren't shy about re
minding each other whose team
was going to win. The night's pitch
ing matchup: Matt Clement — who
at the time sported a 5-1 record for
the Cubs with one of the best sliders
in baseball — against the Dodgers'
Wilson Alvarez — a chubby, jour
neyman left-hander, whose fastball
tops out at 88 mph.
The first 2 1/2 innings breezed
by as both pitchers were dealing.
The bottom of the third inning,
however, turned out to be one of
the most frustrating events I've
ever been a part of.
The Dodgers scored two runs
on five hits against Clement, with
only one ball reaching the out
field. 1 was forced to sit back and
listen to Los Angeles fans scream
and shout — especially Brandon
— while their Dodgers grabbed a
two-run lead on a plethora of T
ball style infield rollers.
The game continued as a pitchers'
duel until the bottom of the
seventh, when Dodger second base
man Alex Cora had one of the great
est at bats in MLB history. After
working a two ball, one strike count,
Cora fouled off 14 consecutive
pitches before sending pitch no. 18
from Clement — a slider that didn't
slide — into the Cubs bullpen in
right field for a 4-0 lead.
Tilings got even worse moments
later when a Cubs fan backed down
from a fight with a Dodgers fan. Talk
about a complete loss of pride.
The Cubs failed to pose a threat
during the final two innings and
lost 4-0.
Even though the Cubs avoided
a sweep by winning the Thursday
afternoon game, 7-3, the damage
had been done.
Even though Chicago's superior
pitching rotation and lineup will
likely carry it much further than Los
Angeles by season's end, I'll likely
have to wait until the Cubs sweep
the Dodgers during their next meet
ing in August before lie'll shut up.
See ya at Wrigley Field, buddy.
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
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satisfying enough for them. Playing on the
same court was an honor in itself .
In fact, back in 1992, it was customary that
the opposing team would be seen taking pho
tos with their American basketball idols min
utes before tip-off.
However, today, that fear of playing the
United States in basketball has vanished.
Some players are leaving the team in droves
due to personal agendas.
New jersey forward Kenyon Martin declined
an invitation because he said he was more wor
ried about signing a new contract this summer.
Martin told the New York Daily News a week
ago that getting a multimillion dollar deal is
"the most important thing" to him right now.
Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Los Angeles'
Karl Malone and Shaquille O'Neal both have
expressed disinterest as their teams are currently
in the midst of the playoffs.
This comes two years after the United
States was embarrassed at the World Cham
pionships, finishing in sixth place and losing
three of their last four games.
NBA players vowed to return with their
best representatives at the 2004 Olympic
Games in Athens. They vowed to bring back
the United States to prominence and back
on top of the world.
And now, what happened?
Why are they leaving?
Did they get over what occurred two years
ago and already forget the embarrassment that
was felt afterward?
Sure, the threat of terrorism is a big issue at
the moment, and many of the athletes are
avoiding traveling overseas as long as they can
help it. You cannot fault them for valuing
their own safety.
Houston's Yao Ming of China, though, told
The Associated Press that he believes his safety
will not be an issue.
Rack to basketball: You can't forget,
though, that the level of competition has sig
nificantly been more equal year after year
since 1992. An influx of foreigners are show
casing their skills and are quickly becoming
noticed as not only the best of their country,
but the best in the world.
Ming and Sacramento's Peja Stojakovic of
Serbia-Montenegro are two examples of for
eign players who are taking the NBA game by
storm. They were two of the four foreigners
who received votes for the league's Most Valu
able Player award this year.
During the 2003-04 season, more than 45
foreigners earned a spot on NBA squads with
that number expected to continue to grow. And
only six of the league's 29 teams failed to have a
non-American on their roster.
Nevertheless, if th^best of the United States
played against the best from any country, many
would agree that the Americans would come
out on top for the majority of the time.
It's just too bad many of them won't be
competing.
Contact the sports reporter
at alextam@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
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