Sports
Oregon Daily Emerald
Monday, Jane 6, 2005
“I looked over and Cordero grabbed himself
... there's no reason to come over and act
like an idiot in front of oar dugout. ”
Royals catcher John Buck on Texas pitcher Francisco Cordero’s actions after hitting
Shane Costa with a pitch in Sunday’s gameerback
■ In my opinion
CLAYTON JONES
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
Thanks to all
for an epic
era on the
sports desk
Taking this job, in the back of mind I thought I
was biting off more than I could chew.
But it has been one of the most rewarding ex
periences of my life.
Starting last summer, this job was a personal
baptism by fire for me. I took over a staff and
was responsible for not only five sports sections
per week, but also a Game Day supplement
every Friday. Add that to a full class load, and I
felt I was in a little over my head (which I tried
to hide most of the time, but bits of frustration
often seeped out).
At that point, I learned a valuable lesson:
When in charge, it is essential to surround your
self with trustworthy people who are profession
al and with whom you can get along — you end
up spending a lot of time together.
Honestly, I got better than I deserved.
I had three sports journalists who worked their
asses off to get their jobs done.
The editor in chief of our paper told me not
too long ago that I should be proud of having
the only desk on which no one left or got fired
all year.
i m not proua; i reel iucKy.
All year it’s been the four of us: Jon Roetman,
Brian “Dome” Smith, Stephen Miller and myself.
We’ve been blessed with the job of getting paid
to cover sports. I can safely speak for all of us
when I say we would probably do it for free con
sidering the experiences we’ve had.
Some of the many of the memories I will take
with me are the epic hips Roetman and I took to
cover the football and basketball teams. There
was the voyage to Pullman, Wash., where we not
only witnessed one of the best football games
we’ve ever seen in person but also managed to
get ourselves in a situation that Roetman called
an “11 out of 10 on the awkward scale,” and the
five-mile, Friday-night hike back from downtown
Palo Alto, Calif., culminating in a 4 a.m. walk
through the drive thru of Jack in the Box.
And hearing about Dome and Miller’s trip
around Redding, Calif., trying to find an
In-N-Out Burger.
While we’ve had the opportunity to cover and
be around the limelight of college athletics, im
portant things I will take away are the memories
off the “field.”
Our legendary night at Miller’s full of ping
pong, poker, booze and oversized sombreros.
Going to Rennie’s after a long night of putting
together a Game Day or covering a basketball
game (except Miller, as he was the only one
under 21).
Playing in a dodgeball league... something we
took way too seriously.
Participating in more poker games, where I of
ten donated much of my salary.
In all these ways we’ve bonded, much like a
sports team does, like a family.
We make fun of each other. We buy ridiculous
shots for each other on one another’s birthday to
inflict pain and suffering. In the end, though, we
stick up for each other.
Most importandy, we’ve been able to whet our
appetites in the world of journalism.
We’ve learned what it takes to be (and I
hope I’ve come closer to becoming) respected
JONES, page 12A
The year's best players and plays
The Emerald sports desk honors the brightest spots
in Oregon sports this year with its Emmie awards
BY CLAYTON JONES &
JON ROETMAN
SPORTS EDITOR AND
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
It has been the year of
the woman athlete at Oregon
this season.
With many men’s sports teams
not reaching their potentials, in
cluding a football team that had a
losing record for the first time in
10 years and an over-hyped men’s
basketball team that finished
ninth in the conference, women’s
athletics dominated the landscape
of Oregon sports.
The women’s basketball team
advanced to the NCAA Tourna
ment, the softball team almost
made it to the super regionals for
the third consecutive year, Sarah
Malone had a historic heave of the
javelin at Regionals and the
women’s lacrosse fared well in its
inaugural season.
Women’s athletics didn’t
disappoint.
The men had their shining mo
ments as well with Galen Rupp
living up to expectations in track,
Sven Swinnen achieving the high
est rank of any Oregon tennis
player in history and Scott Barker
dominating on the mat.
Now its time to recognize all
the athletes with the sixth
annual Emmies.
No, not the Emmys. These
are the sports awards given by
the Emerald sports staff to the
best athlete, team or perform
ance of the 2004-05 season in
Oregon athletics.
And the Emmies go to ...
Most Valuable Female
Athlete: Cathrine
Kraayeveld
After losing her first senior
season to a torn ACL in 2003
04, “Cat” came back to help
lead the Ducks to a second
place finish in the Pacific-10
Conference, a berth to the
NCAA Tournament and upset
victories over No. 5 Stanford
(the Cardinal’s only loss of the
conference season) and TCU
in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament.
Kraayeveld led the team in
scoring and rebounding, aver
aging 14.7 points per game and
8.3 rebounds per game for the
Ducks while garnering All-Pac
10 honors.
Most Valuable Male
Athlete: Kellen Clemens
While the football team under
achieved in 2004, the junior
quarterback was anything but
sub-par. Clemens completed 60
percent of his passes for 2,548
yards and 22 touchdowns even
as two of his biggest receiving
threats, Demetrius Williams and
Tim Day, battled nagging injuries
for most of the season. The
Burns native left his heart and
soul on the field of every game
and was the main reason the
Ducks won even five games.
Coach of the Year:
Bev Smith
In her fourth year as head
coach of the women’s basketball
program, she turned around a dis
appointing 14-15 team in 2003-04
to a 21-10 team this year. She led
the team to the NCAA Tourna
ment for the first time in her
tenure as coach and guided the
Ducks to a perfect 9-0 home
conference record.
With the recruitment of Kris
ten Forristall last season, the
first big recruit Oregon has been
able to keep in the state, and
with her recruitment overseas,
particularly Australia, Smith
looks to be reloading talent to
keep the women’s program
strong for years to come.
Best Individual
Performance: Clemens
vs. Washington State
Facing a 13-point deficit and
the possibility of a 1-4 start,
Emi-rauj
Oregon’s Cathrine Kraayeveld helped lead the Ducks to their most successful season
under fourth-year coach Bev Smith. The Ducks made it to the second round of the
NCAA Tournament before being bounced by eventual champ Baylor.
Clemens rescued the Oregon foot
ball team with one of the greatest
performances in school history.
The junior completed 16 of 21
passes for 200 yards and account
ed for four touchdowns — all just
in the fourth quarter — to lead the
Ducks to a 41-38 victory against
the Cougars. In all, Clemens com
pleted 36 of 55 passes for 437
yards and three touchdowns,
while rushing for 36 yards and
three more scores. His 473 total
yards rank second behind former
Oregon quarterback Bill Mus
grave’s 498-yard performance
against BYU in 1989.
Best Game: Oregon
upsets Texas Christian
in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament
Trailing 46-38 late in the sec
ond half, the lOth-seeded Oregon
women’s basketball team rallied
to outscore TCU, 20-9, to upset
seventh-seeded TCU and move
on to the second round of the
NCAA Tournament for the first
time since 1999.
Oregon cut tkWAftiS&.WWA
Mutola, Kipchoge shine
at Prefontaine Classic
Maria Mutola earned her 13th consecutive win in the 800,
and Eliude Kipchoge ran a record-breaking two miles race
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Mozambique’s Maria Mutola is already look
ing forward to a 14-peat.
The 2000 Olympic gold medalist glided to
her 13th consecutive victory in the 800 at the
Prefontaine Classic in front of 12,885 fans who
packed into Hayward Field.
Mutola avoided a collision 550 meters into
the race and finished in one minute, 59.95 sec
onds, just ahead of Jamaica’s Kenia Sinclair.
“This is my first outdoor race and to ran un
der two minutes felt very good,” said Mutola,
who ran her first Prefontaine race as a Spring
field High School senior in 1991. “Anything un
der two is a good start.”
In Saturday’s race, Mutola recorded her
slowest time since 1999, when she ran it in
2:00.30 — and still won. However, her time
was the second fastest 800-meter time record
ed worldwide this year.
“I’m just glad I can come back year after year
and win races. And winning 13 times, it’s in
credible,” said Mutola, who set the Prefontaine
Classic and Hayward Field records at 1:57.57 in
1997. “If I can come back and win next year, I
will be even happier.”
Mutola extended her streak amidst other
world-class-athlete records being set.
Kenya’s Eliude Kipchoge closed the Pre
fontaine Classic appropriately, as he recorded
the fastest two-mile run ever on American soil
in a time of 8:07.68. American Bob Kennedy,
PRL CLASSIC, page 12A
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Mozambique’s Maria Mutola claimed her 13th
consecutive Prefontaine Classic victory in the 800 with
a time of 1:59.95 at Hayward Field on Saturday.