Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, May 5, 2005
“We have a short list of names, which I
won’t reveal... Phil is on the short list. ”
Lakers owner Jerry Buss to reporters about the team’s coaching vacancy
■ In my opinion
BRIAN SMITH
LEFTY SPECIALIST
With some
extra dough,
you can he a
baseball pro
Have you ever wanted to play professional
baseball but were a step too slow, unable to hit
or field even when a ball was hit off a tee, or
generally have never possessed an ounce of
athletic talent?
Were you always the last kid picked on the
playground?
Are you of the entrepreneurial vein, looking
for something different?
Well, fear not; your day of redemption is
here. As long as your pockets are deep and
filled with money.
The River City Rascals of the independent
league are auctioning off the chance to play in a
minor league game against the Gateway Griz
zles in a preseason contest at T.R. Hughes Ball
park in O’Fallon, Mo.
The highest bidder of the eBay auction will
be guaranteed a half inning in the outfield and
at least one trip in the batter’s box.
Here are the rules: You have to be at least
18 and ready to pay out. That, and you need
to bring your own glove, pay your own way
and get your own shoes, transportation,
meals and housing.
But hey, you have the chance to experience
a fastball buzzing past your chin, and believe
me, that’s the best pitch you’re are going to
have a chance to hit, so good luck with that.
Also, the winner gets 20 tickets to the game
and gets to keep the uniform.
This is one of the rare opportunities to further
distinguish the abilities between yourself and
professional athletes, realizing that even though
your coach in the sixth grade claimed you had
talent, you really don’t.
With that said, this short, bald sports writer
probably has a good of chance as any to make
a fool of himself in a professional uniform.
(Provided I had enough money.)
I played baseball in high school; I even
played in the outfield. However, I have never
swung a wooden bat in a competitive game.
I have faced live pitching before — my last
at-bat was more than six years ago.
I have a small strike zone, and I am patient
at the plate. (Except in slow-pitch softball. Have
to work on that.)
I have recently been playing intramural
dodgeball and the aforementioned slow-pitch
softball to help keep those critical fast-twitch
muscles in top shape.
Watching baseball on television in large
amounts has kept my knowledge of the game
fresh, and I have perfected the Sosa sprint out
to right field just for this occasion.
I was always a good hitter to the other way,
and I’m sure for half an inning, the team
wouldn’t care that my shoulder is being held
together by duct tape and some yarn.
So now, even though I am-a 5-foot-nothing,
100-nothing-pound, soft-tossing lefty that
would be laughed out of an open tryout, I final
ly have my chance to live a professional base
ball dream...if only I had $1,200 dollars (the last
bid as of 1:54 PDT.)
briansmith@dailyernerald.com
■ Duck lacrosse
Oregon
attacker Jana
Bradley, left,
and midfielder
Jen May
prepare for
today’s
rematch
against UC
Davis in the
first round
of the
Mountain
Pacific Sports
Federation
Tournament.
Emerald
Ducks tackle first postseason game
Oregon looks to avenge an 11-9 loss when it faces
UC Davis in round one of the MPSF tournament
BY STEFANIE LOH
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Sixty-four.
That’s the number of goals twin
terrors Jen May and Jana Bradley
have combined to scored for the
Oregon women’s lacrosse team
this season.
This week May, Bradley and
the rest of the Ducks take their
firepower down to Moraga,
Calif., to play in the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation Cham
pionship Tournament.
Oregon (5-10 overall, 1-4 MPSF)
is seeded fifth in the six-team tour
nament and will first face number
four seed UC Davis on Thursday.
“We’re really excited to play UC
Davis again,” May said. “We only
lost by two the last time we played
them, and we’ve learned so much
since the beginning. The team is
excited to go off and show every
one what we’re capable of now. ”
Oregon last played the Aggies
in March, losing a close battle,
11-9. At the time, the Ducks were
mired in the middle of a five
game losing streak.
Things have changed since then.
The Ducks finally found their
rhythm toward the tail end of
their inaugural season, finishing
with three wins in their final
four games.
Oregon scored 57 goals in its last
five games, increasing production
by 50 percent from the 38 goals
scored in its first five contests.
With almost a full season of play
under their belts, the 22 freshmen
on the Ducks’ 24-player roster have
finally adjusted to the rigors of the
collegiate game.
“It’s (lacrosse at the collegiate
level) definitely a lot different from
the high school game. The pace is
a lot faster," Bradley said.
May agreed with her teammate.
“The pace is really different,”
she said. “And everyone is so
much more conditioned. In high
school, you’d have maybe a couple
of girls who stood out as the star
players, and who could really play.
“On the collegiate level, every
one on the field is good, every
one on the field can catch and
throw, everyone can switch left
and right. You have to get used
to that level of competition. ”
Both May and Bradley have had
to make adjustments to their
games this year to perform better
at the collegiate level.
“I’m a lot more composed now,”
Bradley said. “1 can see the field
better as a player instead of just
running down and scoring.”
May agreed that the increased
competition has stretched her
abilities to make her a more
all-around player.
“I’m a lot more involved on the
LACROSSE, page 14
■ Outdoor recreaction
Extreme climber hosts 'Retum2Sender'
Timmy O'Neill, who is featured in the movie,
presents a collection of six climbing shorts today
BY AIMEE FURBER
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
“Dangling from a hand jam
500 feet in the air, the blood
courses through your ears as you
realize that this could be your last
move, and then you pull through,
and it’s all right,” Timmy O’Neill,
extreme rock climber and come
dian, said while describing free
solo rock climbing.
O’Neill is hosting the University
screening of “Return2Sender,” a
90-minute collection of six climb
ing films, today at 7 p.m. in
177 Lawrence Hall. The showing
is part of a West Coast tour travel
ing through Colorado, Utah, Wash
ington, Oregon, California and
British Columbia.
O’Neill, 35, is known in the
climbing community for his record
ascent of three-and-a-half hours up
Yosemite’s El Capitan. He is
currently starring as the infiltration
specialist in the Discovery Chan
nel’s new series “Urban Explor
ers,” which highlights climbing, or
“buildering,” on urban structures.
“Return2Sender” is director
Peter Mortimer’s second collabora
tion with O’Neill. His first, the
award-winning “Front Range
Freaks,” featured O’Neill in the
“Urban Ape” segment, where the
climber demonstrated his urban
climbing abilities.
“I love climbing sculpture,”
O’Neill said. “I think the sculptor
would be elated if he knew I was
climbing his work.”
As a child, O’Neill climbed trees,
tombstones and buildings in his
hometown of Philadelphia until he
i !■ I ii_..rusmzr:::_c_ .
Jay Epstein | Courtesy
Timmy O’Neill, left, seen here base jumping at the Cave of the Swallows in Mexico,
will preview his 90-minute movie, “Return2Sender,'’ in Lawrence Hall.
took a five-day bus ride to Yellow- “Climbing is an incredibly fun,
stone National Park and found his extremely engaging method to
true calling as a rock climber. FILM, page 14