Oregon daily emerald., July 13, 2004, Image 5

Sports Editor:
Alex Tam
alextam@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
75th MLB All-Star Game
5 p.m. Tuesday, FOX
ALEX TAM
HOLDING COURT
Sport or
not, poker
gains fans,
brings wins
Call or check.
Raise the bet, fold or go all-in.
Those are the choices facing the partici
pants in today's newest and growing
phenomenon, No Limit Texas Hold
'Em poker.
It's a cross between sports and reality tel
evision that has captivated both sports
fans and non-sports fans alike.
Poker has many things in common with
sports. It has suspense, strategy, colorful
personalities, a form of trash talking and
an eventual winner. I, for one, have been
fascinated by the anticipation of whether
a player will risk all of their chips and
money on the turn of the next card.
Any person can play the game, whether
it be in a casino, at home with friends or
on the Internet.
Any person can win, which probably is
one factor contributing to its growing
popularity. A majority of us aren't like
former Oregon forward Luke Jackson,
who earned a three-year contract worth
$6.37 million to play professional bas
ketball. But a majority of us do have the
ability to learn No Limit Texas Hold 'Em
and actually win money.
1 he several professional poker players
on the poker circuit simply look like the
average person, unlike actual sports
athletes who stand 6-foot-7 and weigh
220 pounds. Athletes, whose physiques
many of us cannot and will never
physically have.
This year's winner of the World Series
of Poker, which can be seen on ESPN to
day, earned a total of $5 million. Yes, $5
million dollars was made by the winner
for the poker tournament that lasted just
one week.
One week and $5 million dollars? No
wonder a lot of people are taking up this
game. A record 2,576 people entered this
year's World Series, up from 839 in 2003.
This year's second place finisher came
away with $3.5 million, while third place
earned $2.5 million.
Not bad for a week's worth of work.
In addition to the World Series of Pok
er, three other channels are broadcasting
this emerging game, including shows like
the World Poker Tour and the Celebrity
Poker Showdown.
The poker craze began last year at the
2003 World Series of Poker when account
ant Chris Moneymaker, who earned the
$10,000 buy-in to the tournament after
paying $40 and qualifying through an on
line tournament, won the grand prize of
$2.5 million dollars.
Viewers of last year's World Series saw
the amateur Moneymaker take out the
professionals like Johnny Chan and Phil
Ivey — who is also known as the Tiger
Please see TAM, page 6
Erik R. Bishoff Online & Photo Editor
Boise s Anthony Granato slides into third for a triple in the fourth inning during Eugene's 11-0 loss on Saturday. The Emeralds have lost three of their past five games.
Inconsistent offense hurts Emeralds
Eugene loses three games
in its five-game home
stand against Boise
ALEX TAM
SPORTS EDITOR
Inconsistency on offense has plagued the
Eugene Emeralds through the first quarter of
their season.
The Emeralds (10-14) have lost two straight
games at home, scoring only one run. As a result,
Eugene has fallen back into last place in the West
Division of the Northwest League and sits five
games behind first-place Everett (15-9).
On Sunday, Boise defeated Eugene 9-1 behind
four runs in both the fifth and ninth innings en
route to clinching the season series 6-4 in front
of a crowd of 3,026 at Civic Stadium.
" I hat's why it's baseball and you never know
what's going to happen," Eugene manager Roy
Howell said. "They got to go out there and swing
the bats well."
The Emeralds' only run came from first base
man Orlando Diaz's home run in the fourth in
ning — his first in the season.
"I've been waiting for that for awhile," Diaz
said. "I m still trying to get the hang of swinging
the wood. The last couple of days I've been work
ing on my swing and I've felt more comfortable
up there and 1 finally got one."
Eugene also produced eight hits, but failed to
capitalize after leaving ten runners on base,
which is unacceptable, Diaz said.
"Eight hits and one run is not going to cut it
and is not going to win a ballgame," said Diaz,
who is batting .271 with six RBIs. "With eight
hits, you got to have more runs. We need some
of those key hits with guys on second and third.
( hat's what's going to win the ball games for us."
Eugene starter Danny De La O (2-2) gave up
five runs in 4 1/3 innings and was replaced after
surrendering a three-run home run to Boise's
David Gresky.
I lowever, pitching has not been the problem
thus far with the team ERA sitting at 4.19, which
stands fourth in the league.
Eugene's main issue is attaining consistency in
offense and producing runs. The Emeralds cur
rently hold the league's worst team batting aver
age at .231. In ten victories this season, Eugene
has scored an average of 7.5 runs per game. In
their 14 losses, the Emeralds have scored an av
erage of 2.9 runs per game.
A glimpse of their offensive potential was put on
display Eriday after the team scored a season-high
Please see EMS, page 6
UO junior inches closer to Olympics
& tfc'sVlfcuOKW.
Erik R. Bishoff Online •& Photo Editor
Sarah Malone holds the UO record in the javelin.
She must meet the Olympic A’ qualifying standard
by Aug. 8 to compete in Athens, Greece.
Malone takes second in javelin
at the U.S. Olympic Trials while
Skipper falls short
ALEX TAM
SPORTS EDITOR
After claiming to have a slight chance of making
the ll.S. Olympic team, Oregon redshirt junior
Sarah Malone inched one step closer to fulfilling
the ultimate goal of a track and field athlete.
Malone, Oregon's school record holder in
the javelin, finished second in the javelin final at
the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Sacramento
on Sunday.
The Newberg native tossed 177 feet, 11 inches
on her sixth and final attempt, which was less than
five feet behind the winner and current American
record holder Kim Kreiner (182-7).
"My goal was to be in the top three, so it feels
really good, " Malone said. "1 looked over at Lance
(Deal, Oregon assistant coach) before my last
throw and we have our own sign language sys
tem. I le signed a few things and helped me com
pose and relax myself, and I was able to get a
good one off."
In order to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team
that will compete in Athens, Greece starting August
20, Malone needs to meet the Olympic 'A' qualify
ing standard of 198-5 by August 8.
According to the USA Track and field selection
procedures, the United Stales can take up to four
athletes from each track and field event to the
Olympics as long as they meet the Olympic 'A'
qualifying standard.
Despite never having thrown 180 feet, Malone
said she is proud of what she accomplished on the
nation's biggest stage.
"I may not have the 'A' standard, but that does
n't minimize how I did today," Malone said. "It's
been a long season with the collegiate meets
thrown in, I knew making the (II.S.) team was a
long a shot. "This past track season was very suc
cessful for the 22-year-old Malone. She finished
third (178-01) at the NCAA Championships, sec
ond (171-05) at the Pacific-10 Conference Cham
pionships and also broke her own school record
(179-7) at the Texas Relays in early April.
On Sunday, Malone made her second appear
ance at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. She compet
ed in 2000 as a high school senior. Back then, she
finished eighth in her flight (156-11).
Malone said that experience of knowing what to
expect helped her this year and is already eager
about her prospects of the 2008 Summer Olympic
Games in China.
"When I was here a high school senior in 2000,
I was much more nervous," Malone said. "(Sun
day) was more fun since 1 have more experience
throwing against these people. I'm looking for
ward to 2008 and trying to win a spot on the
team that goes to China."
Oregon's other representative at the U.S.
Olympic ream Trials, however, did not fare as well.
freshman Tommy Skipper missed advancing
to the men's pole vault final after finishing 14th
overall in the preliminaries and needing three
Please see OLYMPICS, page 8