Oregon Daily Emerald
Friday, October 1, 2004
“This is so far right, Michael Moore is
going to do a documentary on him. ”
A CBS analyst, about a drive by Tiger Woods on Sunday
■ In my opinion
CLAVTON JONES
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
Selig took
away my
peanuts and
Crackerjacks
My baseball soul suffered a tragic blow
earlier this week.
No big league baseball in Portland.
The Montreal Expos are moving to
Washington, D.C.
Ahhh, nuts.
Maybe I wasn’t living in reality thinking
Portland had a shot at baseball, but as a per
son who has lived and breathed the game
since I could hold a baseball in my hand or
swing a bat, this is disparaging.
My parents even have pictures of me in
my Cincinnati Reds gear as a toddler throw
ing a ball before 1 could even walk.
Washington, D.C. — much like it does
with my money — stole my baseball team.
As a Portland native, I wanted a team so
badly I already had ferocious taunts ready to
shout at the visiting bullpen as long as they
didn’t have anything to throw back, e.g.
folding death chairs.
But I’m not naive. I know I’m the exception
rather than the rule. Portland couldn’t have
supported a baseball team. My 20-plus years
living there has told me it isn’t a baseball city.
Portland as a whole doesn’t seem to have
a passion for the game. The only time I saw
a decent sized crowd at a Portland Beavers
game was when it was Thirsty Thursday.
Translation — cheap beer.
Crowds of people would flood the beer gar
den at PGE Park and drunken insults could be
heard from the far reaches of the stadium.
Major League Baseball didn’t have any
thing to gain coming to Portland anyway,
but with another major league city only 40
miles away in Baltimore, what do they have
to gain in Washington, D.C.?
More importantly, why aren’t the Balti
more Orioles steaming mad about their
“baseball territory” being invaded?
Because one: Baseball is still going to pay
the difference if the Orioles don’t meet a
minimum revenue to be named later.
And two: Orioles owner Peter Angelos will
be guaranteed franchise value for his team if
he decides to sell his team. This means if he
tries to sell the Orioles and no one offers the
predetermined franchise value, Major League
Baseball will make up the difference.
This isn’t good.
What incentive does this give Angelos to
produce a winning, or at least a productive,
team?
While Portland may not have the passion,
Baltimore has a rich tradition with players like
Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken and
many more. This can’t make their fans happy.
Other cities could have just as easily taken
the Expos. How fun would it have been to
have a major league team in Las Vegas. It
was one of the finalists and is one of the
fastest growing cities in the nation.
Then again, having millionaire ball play
ers in Sin City may cause a few problems.
“Hey coach. Uhh ... 1 blew my paycheck
on gambling and strippers. Could I get an
advance?”
Or: “I hocked my glove for some dough so
JONES, page 13A
Home
again for
women's
soccer
Duclzs hope playing at home for
the first time in a month will
mean a second win for the season
BY BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s soccer team hosts its
first match in more than a month when
Wyoming comes to Pape Field tonight.
The last home match for Oregon came
against San Diego State on Aug. 29. Since then,
the Ducks have gone 1-5 with losses to the 2003
national runner-up Connecticut, 2002 national
champion Portland, and NCAA tournament
veterans Central Connecticut State and Utah.
Oregon’s last victory came on Sept. 3 against
Weber State.
Having lost five in a row, the Ducks are look
ing forward to the boost that playing at home
could give them.
“I definitely think (playing at home) will
be an advantage, especially since the season
we’ve been having so far,” Oregon junior
goalkeeper Domenique Lainez said. “It will
be a great thing to be around our fans. I defi
nitely think that we will be competitive
this weekend.”
Oregon (1-6-1)
vs. Wyoming (5-2-3)
Wyoming, like Oregon, is coming off of a
2003 campaign that saw the school set a record
in victories. The Cowgirls also had a very strong
spring season, in which they went 7-2-1. The
Cowgirls faced the likes of Air Force, Colorado
College, Northern Colorado and a pair of top 20
teams in Cal-Poly and San Diego.
Emerald
Junior midfielder Cristan Higa, seen here last season against UCLA, has started in 45 out of the Ducks’ last 46
games. She looks to continue the trend tonight against Wyoming.
“We had a very successful spring; we
won some games but more importantly we got
our younger kids some crucial experience,”
Wyoming head coach Anne Moore said. "1
think they really accepted the responsibility
and understand the direction everyone
wants to go.”
One of those young players, freshman goal
keeper Ashley Sheppard, has already stepped
up big for the Cowgirls. Sheppard was named
Mountain West Conference Defensive Player
of the Week with 14 saves and two shutouts
on Sept. 22 and Sept. 26 against Northern Col
orado and Cal State Fullerton, respectively.
Oregon head coach Bill Steffan also noted the
strong physical play of the Wyoming forwards
as a key to the match.
“They are going to be a very physical,
hard working team,” Steffan said. “They have
decent pace in the back and one or two dan
gerous players up top, so they will be a good
test for us.”
The play of defenders Kelly Baird and Chris
tine Mintz will be equally important for the
Ducks as they look to keep the Wyoming for
wards away from goalkeeper Lainez.
“Kelly is a key leader for us defensively and a
calming presence in the back,” Steffan said. “She
can play against anybody in the country and not
get rattled. The team will benefit from her on
field experience and her ability to keep a high
level of intensity through the whole season. ”
SOCCER, page 12A
Duck tennis opens first event of season
The men, led by Sven Swinnen, travel
to Tennessee while the women go to California
BY ALEX TAM
FREELANCE REPORTER
Before the regular season starts
up in late January, the Oregon ten
nis teams will first embark on their
fall preseason schedules begin
ning this weekend.
The Oregon men will travel
across the country to compete
in the 2004 Icy Hot/ITA Men’s
All-American Championships in
Chattanooga, Tenn., beginning
today and ending Oct. 10. It is
the first of three national champi
onship events this season.
The 25th edition of the annual
event will feature 350 players from
more than 70 NCAA Division I col
leges, making it the largest tourna
ment in collegiate tennis today in
terms of number of participants.
Several Ducks are scheduled to
compete, including top returning
seniors Sven Swinnen and
Manuel Kost.
Interim head coach Ross Dun
can, who took over the team
after former head coach Chris Rus
sell joined the University of
Washington as associate head
coach on Sept. 16, said he is ex
pecting great things from his top
two players this season.
“My expectations for them are
very high,” said Duncan, who is in
his second year at Oregon. “They
both made the NCAA Tournament
last year, but they both lost in the
first round. ... My expectations for
them are really, really high.”
Swinnen, who had a 22-8
record in singles last season, is
currently ranked the No. 12 sin
gles player in the nation, accord
ing to the Intercollegiate Tennis
Association preseason poll. The
No. 12 ranking is the highest sin
gles ranking ever in Oregon
men’s tennis history.
Swinnen, a native of Wurenlin
gen, Switzerland, said one of
his goals is to repeat last year’s
success.
“I hope we do it like last year,”
said Swinnen, who was an All
Pac-10 member and an All-Ameri
can last season. “We made it for
the first time to the NCAA’s. Now
our goal this year is to do it again
TENNIS, page 12A
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Oregon senior Manuel Kost, seen here during a match last season, will begin the
season ranked No. 30 in the country after an 18-10 record in 2004. ’