Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2004)
Oregon Daily Emerald Wednesday, October 20, 2004 “He may still win a championship or two, but the boyish hero image has been replaced by that of a callous hired gun. ” Phil Jackson | about Kobe Bryant in his new book, “The Last Season” CLAYTON JONES SEVENTH INNING STRETCH It's high time writers leave early for the pros While sitting in a class one day dream ing away, 1 thought to myself: No wonder athletes leave school early for the pros. It stinks knowing what you want to do for a living and having to go through classes that don’t pertain to your career field. So I’ve made my decision. I’m giving up my final year of eligibility and entering the sportswriter’s draft. 1 think my talents will best be served on the next level. Though the Emerald has giv en me a great opportunity to showcase my skills and talent, the professional world is where I want to be. I can’t risk another year of possibly get ting carpal tunnel in the hands or tendinitis in the joints. There is the risk of suffering a lower back injury from twisting in my swivel chair or my eyes going bad from staring at computer screens. I have a fish to feed at home and am ashamed to say I have a severe Top Ramen habit to pay for, so I think this is what is best for me and Norm, my fish. I also want to buy my mom a ... well not a house, because writers don’t make that much, but how about a nice new lamp. Maybe I’ll even get her some new patio furniture. Anyway, word on the street is that my draft status has gone up after my stunning recap about the Oregon win over Arizona Monday. That, on top of my columns about Portland not getting a baseball team and Oregon’s missed opportunities against Washington State, has pushed me to this decision. 1 will be attending the pre-draft camp in Chicago to showcase my wicked puns, high-flying headlines and unstoppable recaps. “His ability to turn a four-inch press re lease into a 15-inch story is amazing,” one anonymous newspaper scout said. “You can’t teach that.” My column dash is under an hour and 1 can transcribe three quotes per minute. Some say my inexperience and raw skills may scare some newspapers away, but I think 1 have what they call in the business a major upside. Draft experts and editors have me going as a possible lottery pick if 1 have a good showing at the pre-draft camp. “Even though his raw talents haven’t had a chance to flourish because of his lack of experience,” one newspaper said, “1 think a paper would be foolish to pass him up. But he will definitely be tested un der fire.” I think once 1 go to the pre-draft camp 1 JONES, page 10 Erik R. Bishoff | Photographer Oregon outside hitter Erin Little, seen here against Oregon State, is receiving significant playing time as of late. She has landed 53 kills in 34 games this season. ■ Duck volleyball Pacific-10 volleyball filled with raw talent The undefeated Huskies plus five other conference teams are ranked among the top-25 BY STEPHEN MILLER SPORTS REPORTER The Pacific-10 Conference is overflowing with competition as nine of 10 teams have records at or above .500 coming into this week. Other than Washington, no program has col lected more than four consecutive wins against league foes this season. The Huskies (15-0 overall, 7-0 Pac-10) hold the No. 1 spot for the third straight week and are one of only three undefeated teams in the nation —- the other two are Hawaii (16-0) and Ohio State (18-0). USC and California held on to the No. 6 and No. 13 positions, respectively, while No. 23 Arizona dropped one spot. No. 11 Stanford and No. 12 UCLA swapped positions this week. Washington has seen a second player earn Pac-10 Player of the Week honors. Christal Morrison is the first freshman in the confer ence to be honored this season. Morrison is fourth in the league in kills per game with 4.37. She also leads the team with 203 kills. Her 40 block assists is second-best for the Huskies. Last week against the Arizona schools, Morrison hit .267 and landed a total of 38 kills. She hauled in 27 digs in the two matches and posted a double-double both nights. Morrison’s teammate Sanja Tomasevic has been out of the lineup since last Monday. The senior outside hitter collided with a wall and in jured her right hand during practice. She has undergone surgery and is expected to be out for four to five weeks. Washington faces Stanford (14-4, 6-1 Pac 10) and Cal (10-6, 5-2 Pac-10) this week at Bank of America Arena. The match against the Cardinal will be a replay of last year’s NCAA quarterfinal matchup, which the Huskies won, 3-1. VOLLEYBALL, page 10 ■ Duck cross country Men finish 11th at Indiana invitational Ryan Andrus leads the Ducks in 12 th place, while Laura Harmon places 16th in the women's division BY BEAU EASTES FREELANCE REPORTER Seniors Ryan Andrus and Laura Harmon continued to pace their Duck harrier squads at Saturday’s Pre-NCAA Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. More than 85 schools brought both men’s and women’s teams, so the meet was split into two evenly divided elite competitions, the white and the blue divisions. Running in the white division, Andrus again led the Ducks by plac ing 12th (24:11) overall. Eric Logs don, Oregon’s other All-American runner, finished 29th (24:35) to help the No. 24 Ducks to an llth-place finish. Rounding out the scoring for Oregon were sophomores Kyle Al corn (61st, 24:58), Patrick Werhane (109th, 25:22), and freshman Chris Winter (151st, 25:50). For the women, Harmon proved for the second meet in a row that she will be a factor to be reckoned with in the West Regional and NCAA Championship. At what is arguably the mos competitive regu lar season invitational in the coun try, Harmon placed 16th in the white division at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course. Following Harmon on the women’s squad were juniors Haripurkh Khalsa (136th, 22:32), Mandi Fitz Gustafson (164th, 22:53), Sara Schaaf (171st, 22:56), and freshman Maegan Kuntz (226th, 23:32). The Duck women finished 29th in the 36-team white division. Overall, No. 1 Stanford took top team honors in the men’s white di vision with 77 points. In the men’s blue division, 63 points by No. 6 Colorado were enough to hold off No. 11 Cal Poly (second, 165) and No. 7 George town (third, 172). Colorado and Stanford also dominated the women’s field, with the No. 4 Buffalos winning the white division with 94 points and the No. 1 Cardinal taking the crown in the blue competition with an amazing 49-point effort. No. 3 Michigan (second, 109) and No. 7 Arizona State (third, 187) followed the Colorado runners in the white division, while No. 6 Notre Dame (second, 111) and No. 8 North Carolina (third, 129) trailed the women of Palo Alto, Calif., in the blue division. The Ducks are ranked 28th with No. 2 Stanford and No. 9 Arizona being the other two teams selected in fifth poll of the season. Both harrier squads have the weekend off and then head to San Francisco for the Pacific-10 Champi onships on Oct. 30. The league championships, hosted by California, will be the last meet before the West Regional at Fresno, Calif., Nov. 13. ■ Beau Eastes is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald
