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but the boyish hero image has been
replaced by that of a callous hired gun.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