Sports
Oregon Daily Emerald
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
“I am the most loyal player
money can buy. ”
Former MLB pitcher Don Sutton, who played for the
Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers,
Oakland Athletics and California Angels.
■ In my opinion
SCOTTJ. ADAMS
INTENTIONAL GROUNDING
Above all,
thou shalt
be loyal to
your team
Today’s Hump Day special is for the fans —
sports fans that is. One of the strongest relation
ships around is the love between a fan and his
or her team. But what gives people the right to
root for a certain team? I’d like to share the rea
sons why loyalty goes a long way, as well as my
six-and-half-point protocol for weighing the va
lidity of a fan’s love. Hit the lights.
For starters, there’s a reason why profes
sional teams are either created in or re-located
to certain cities and states: They represent the
people in the community. I’m all for staying
true to a team that hails from a region you
used to call home, but don’t you hate it when
you come across Atlanta Braves or Dallas
Cowboys fans who have never been farther
east than Las Vegas or even close to crossing
the Mason-Dixon Line? It doesn’t make any
sense to me. Those bandwagoners are what
give fans a bad name and there are far too
many of them.
Fans should embrace backing a team that
has the same state abbreviation that graces
their mail. Being able to relate to fans around
you creates a sense of identity . Most impor
tantly, you have next-door neighbors you can
turn to when you feel like letting off some
steam about your favorite college football
team, which hasn’t won a Rose Bowl since
the Wilson Administration. To make a long
winded point short, you do a great service for
your team in strengthening its local commu
nity, and you can carry your loyalty with you
should von relocate.
Speaking of relocating, let me tell you about
a young man who spent all but one single
year of his life living what seemed like light
years away from his team’s home town. That
single year was his first on earth and was
spent in Palo Alto, Calif., where the San Fran
cisco Giants and 49ers reign supreme on tele
vision. He moved south to Orange County
shortly after his first birthday where he grew
up sporting black and orange and red and
gold. He may have been laughed at by his
friends who felt cool wearing their Jim Everett
and “Flipper” Anderson jerseys of the then
Los Angeles Rams, but he had the last laugh.
Scott wa ... I mean, this boy has been loyal to
his team since birth; he never forgot where he
took his first step. You know what was most
rewarding for him? Rubbing five Super Bowl
wins into the faces of his school-yard pals.
What a guy.
One thing guaranteed to up your passion
for sports is your loyalty to a single team. As
much as politicians are ridiculed for changing
their standpoints and policies, so too are fans
who flip-flop to the team with the shinier win
column. Don’t let a one-win season discour
age you from being faithful. Come home to
youYteam every night and stand up for it, be
cause no two seasons are alike and even dy
nasties don’t last forever.
A fair-weather fan is not a fan at all,
ADAMS, page 8A
Club water polo
--muifm
Jon Ashford, a member of Oregon’s water polo club, scores in a recent tournament held at Amazon Pool in Eugene. Oregon won the tournament after wins against Oregon
State, Portland and Central Washington and a Washington State forfeit.
Oregon washes out its first foes
Oregon's water polo club starts its Northwest Division crown
defense with a bang, ripping its opponents by 37 in four games
BY WILL SEYMOUR
FREELANCE REPORTER
The Oregon men’s water polo club started
its season with a splash, sweeping the
opening league tournament Oct. 8-9 at the
Amazon Pool in Eugene by a combined score
of 54-17.
This season also marks the first title defense
in the club’s history, and spirits are high because
the squad is virtually unchanged horn last year’s
winning combination.
“We think we can play with the No. 1 team in
the country and give them a run for their
money,” graduate student George Slavich said.
After winning four out of six matches at a
warm-up tournament at UC Davis, the Ducks
returned home for a rematch of last year’s
Northwest Division title game against Ore
gon State University. The previous contest
against the Beavers ended in a 10-9 thriller,
but Oregon put any chance of another close
match away early, jumping out to a 9-2 lead
and cruising to a 18-7 victory. The first match
set the tone for the rest of the tournament, as
the Ducks smashed the University of
Portland and Central Washington by tallies of
17-5 and 14-5 respectively. Oregon was
also scheduled to face Washington State,
but because of time constraints, the
Cougars forfeited.
With more than half of the short water
polo season already complete, the experi
enced Duck team can be forgiven for looking
ahead to the postseason. Oregon returns all
but one member of the squad that placed
eighth in last year’s national tournament,
and that lone loss to the roster, Stephen Im
periale-Hagerman, returns for his second
year of coaching the squad.
“A national championship is not out of the
question,” Imperiale-Hagerman said.
Leading the Ducks in the water will be first
team All-American and Northwest Division
MVP Mark Welch.
“He’s the most talented player on our team,”
WATER POLO, page 8A
■ Duck football
Duck seniors look for big bowl bid
No. 20 Oregon, coming off
an upset of the Sun Devils, goes
for the kill against the Huskies
BY LUKE ANDREWS
SPORTS REPORTER
A lack of senior leadership on the Oregon ros
ter a year ago may have been a major factor be
hind the Ducks’ first losing season in 11 years.
But inexperience no longer pervades the Ore
gon roster as the Ducks’ 2005 senior class looks
to reverse the fortune of last season’s disap
pointing 5-6 record and restore Oregon’s
bowl tradition.
Led by quarterback Kellen Clemens, a three
year starter from Bums, the Ducks (5-1 overall,
2-1 Pacific-10 Conference) are one win from
bowl eligibility after a road victory against Ari
zona State, a game in which Oregon fell behind
10-0 early before rallying.
“Instead of hanging their heads or going into
a pouting mode, our seniors stepped up and
spoke up and said, ‘Hey we’re not going to let
this happen,”’ Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti
said. “We did everything necessary to prove that
we are a good football team in a hostile environ
ment on the road.”
The Ducks hope the crucial road victory will
spark the march to another major bowl game
— one similar to the Fiesta Bowl in 2002, the
year the current seniors arrived at Oregon
as freshmen.
“Last year was disappointing. We under
achieved, and it was tough,” senior defensive
end Devan Long said. “But I came in with these
guys and I’m leaving with these guys and we
want to leave the way we came in — with a nice
Oregon
running
back
Terrence
Whitehead
accounted
for 222 total
yards
Saturday
during a
31-17 victory
at Arizona
State.
Whitehead
also scored
two
bowl game.”
The distinguished bunch includes, in addi
tion to Clemens and Long, running back Ter
rence Whitehead, tight end Tim Day, wide re
ceiver Demetrius Williams, comerback Aaron
Gipson, strong safety Anthony Thicks, comer
back Justin Phinisee and offensive guard
Ian Reynoso.
“We have to go out with a bang,” said
Phinisee, who recorded his second interception
of the season last Saturday. “All these seniors,
we are hungry for it. ”
Whitehead’s play against Arizona State may
Bernml touchdowns.
URTESY
best reflect the sense of urgency felt by the
senior class.
The Los Angeles native finished with 222 yards
of total offense and two touchdowns to help the
Ducks upset the previously 17th-ranked Sun Dev
ils 31-17. The total yardage helped Whitehead
move to seventh, passing Don Reynolds and Ter
ry Obee, on the school’s career all-purpose run
ning list. He now has 3,679 all-purpose running
yards in his career.
“I think Terrence has had some games that are
fairly remarkable, but that was one of the best I
have ever seen,” Bellotti said. “I was very
FOOTBALL, page 6A