Oregon Daily Emerald
Monday, April 11, 2005
“Tests showed there was a brain. ”
Yankee’s pitcher Carlos Pavano after his head
was x-rayed when he was hit by a line drive Sunday
■ In my opinion
CLAYTON JONES
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
Baseball is
more than
just a game
to spectators
There may be nothing better for a true
baseball fan than attending a major league
baseball game.
And I’m talking about a true fan.
The fan who can watch and enjoy a 1-0
pitcher’s dual on television for the entire
nine innings.
The fan who can appreciate the sacrifice
fly, the hit-and-run, the squeeze, a good
pick-off move, bringing in a lefty to face a
lefty, the 6-4-3 double play and the good
old-fashioned brush back pitch.
But even a moderate fan, or someone
who doesn’t understand the game, can en
joy ballpark entertainment.
As I sat in the stands at Safeco Field on
Friday evening to watch the Seattle
Mariners face the Texas Rangers, the at
mosphere at the ballpark reminded me of
all the other reasons I love this game.
Walking into the stadium and seeing the
thick, dark green grass and taking in the
smell of the food makes something inside
me tingle. There is a buzz that surrounds
every ballpark before a game.
Of course, it’s not just the game on the
field that has everyone going, especially
early in the season. I’m not a die-hard
Mariners fan, but most of the 30,000 peo
ple at the game were. I heard talk of how
this Seattle offense is better than those of
the past with the addition of Richie Sexson
and Adrian Beltre. How Jeremy Reed, the
Mariner’s new opening-day centerfielder,
is more than adequate to fill the spot de
spite not having a hit in his first four
games of the season. But he did get a
clutch hit by the end of the night, and I
had to listen to a vocal fan seated behind
me yell “Jeeerrrr-mmmyyyyyyy” at least a
dozen times.
Between innings, fans are entertained by
an assortment of tidbits. The Mariners’
moose rode around the field on an ATV,
but what might have gotten the biggest
roar of the night was a short videogame
style boat race displayed on the field’s big
screen TV, which had the crowd betting on
which boat would win.
A mandatory purchase at a ball game is
a beer accompanied by a sausage or hot
dog with all the toppings — onions, pep
pers, relish, mustard, ketchup or anything
else you kind can find to squeeze inside
the bun. If there aren’t toppings all over
me by the time 1 finish, then I didn’t put
enough on.
Then there are the warm peanuts. On
this particular night they were a must, be
cause it was chilly and the tinfoil bag kept
my hands warm. Much like the hot-dog
toppings, peanut shells should cover you
when you reach the bottom of the bag or
else you just didn’t do it right.
Then there are the sways of boos and
cheers from the crowd that depend upon how
the home team is faring. And of course,
drunken fans contribute enthusiastically to
JONES, page 12
Zane Rite | Photographer
Oregon redshirt sophomore Jordan Kent runs to victory in the 100 meters during the Pepsi Team Invitational
at Hayward Field on Saturday. Kent competed in his first event for the Ducks since 2003.
■ Men's track and field
Ducks nab
their 10th
team title
in tourney
Oregon's track and field team
took home six individual titles
at the Pepsi Team Invitational
BY BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon men’s track team used the return
of a star and a budding rivalry to capture its 10th
team title in 16 tries at the Pepsi Team Invitational
at Hayward Field on Saturday.
Oregon (180 1/2 team points) took home six
individual titles en route to an 11-point victory
over second-place Washington (169 1/2). In addi
tion, the Ducks took home 12 regional qualifying
marks. The event was highlighted by the dual be
tween Oregon senior Leonidas Watson and Indi
ana’s Aarik Wilson in the men’s second event of
the day, the long jump.
Watson and Wilson ignited the crowd of 2,667
as both took to the runway for the start of the
long jump competition. Wilson, the reigning
NCAA Indoor champion in both the long jump
and triple jump, took little time to show the
crowd how he captured those titles. His first jump
on Saturday was marked at 25-4 1/2, good for the
MEN, page 10
■ Women’s track and field
Seven event titles can't
secure a win for Oregon
The Ducks fell half a point shy of first-place Missouri's 171.5 points
and had to settle for the second spot at the Pepsi Team Invitational
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Oregon’s Bree Fuqua knew she had the ability
to close out the Pepsi Team Invitational with first
place finishes in the discus and shotput events.
But she didn’t know how fierce a competi
tor Missouri’s Melanie Uher would be, and
Fuqua couldn’t prevent Uher from slinging a
disc 165 feet and one inch on her final throw at
tempt to edge Fuqua by five inches for the win.
“I wasn’t actually sure what the competition
would be like,” said Fuqua, who admitted she
wasn’t expecting many challengers. “But I’m glad
we had some.”
A narrow difference in distances rewarded the
Missouri women’s team with two points more
than Oregon in the event. Even that small scor
ing gap was greater than the Tigers’ final margin
of victory against the Ducks for the Invitational
team crown — half a point — in the 18-event
meet at Hayward Field on Saturday.
With 171 points, the Ducks lost by a hair to
Missouri (171.5) but still finished ahead of Wash
ington (164.5) and Indiana (107). Oregon missed
its chance to claim a third straight victory at the
Pepsi Invitational, even though the Ducks
claimed seven individual victories — more than
any other opponent.
Oregon throws coach Lance Deal said at the
conclusion of the meet that he was unsure of the
final results but was aware that the point distri
bution was scattered and positions were continu
ally being shuffled.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t,”
he said, adding that he knew his athletes did
about all they could by winning three of the four
throwing events.
Fuqua nearly threw a personal best in the dis
cus (164-8) in her second-place finish.
“I was kind of upset about the discus,” Fuqua
said. “I had one throw left after (Uher) threw far
ther than me, and 1 didn’t really respond that
well, but it gave me a little more motivation for
the shotput.”
The senior achieved more success in the
shotput, rewriting the school record for the
second time in less than three weeks with a
53-11 1/4 heave that secured her first in the event.
Redshirt junior Brittany Hinchcliffe started the
Ducks off strong by setting a new school record
in her second attempt at the hammer throw, the
first women’s event to take place Saturday after
noon. She then bested that mark in her next
attempt with a 199-2 hurl, good for first at a dis
tance almost 24 feet farther than teammate Katie
Kersh’s top throw, who finished second.
“I’m really happy with today’s mark,” said
Hinchcliffe. “I was struggling a little bit in the be
ginning of the season, but today all that hard
training paid off.
“I really wanted the school record today — I
wanted it two weeks ago.”
Oregon’s All-American duo of Roslyn Lundeen
and Elisa Crumley competed together in the
javelin for the first time since late 2003. Lundeen
threw her spear 156-5 to win the event, and
Crumley followed with a 144-9 toss to beat Wash
ington’s Tiffany Zahn by two inches for second.
Senior Sarah Malone received a two-week
WOMEN, page 10
■ Duck football
Team's prep
showcases
new strategy
for offense
As in the past few seasons, the
Ducks showed ups and downs
in their first spring scrimmage
BY JON ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
Dennis Dixon gave spectators a glimpse of
Oregon’s new wide-open offense capabilities
during the team’s first spring scrimmage Fri
day in the Ed Moshofsky Sports Center.
The rising sophomore quarterback kept
the ball on an option to his left and scam
pered for a 25-yard touchdown, leaving a
group of defenders in his wake.
The San Leandro, Calif., native also
showed off his arm, completing 4 of 6
passes for 36 yards, including a 2-yard
touchdown to redshirt freshman tight end
Casey McKillip.
With the good, however, came the expect
ed miscues of an offensive work-in-progress.
Oregon running backs twice turned the
ball over on fumbles. Senior quarterback
Kellen Clemens was forced to backtrack
30 yards to recover an errant shotgun snap
during the scrimmage’s first offensive se
ries. And head coach Mike Bellotti said
he didn’t see enough big plays from his
wide receivers.
Despite mistakes, Dixon said the offense
FOOTBALL, page 12