Oregon Daily Emerald
October 20, 2005
“Why would anyone expect him to
come out smarter? He went to prison
for three years, not Princeton.’’
Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson rejoining promoter Don King
■ In my opinion
JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
THREE TO WIN
Blazers a
changed
team under
McMillan
Whether you loved them or despised them in
previous years, the latest reincarnation of the
Portland Trail Blazers is worth supporting.
Surprising, considering this sentiment comes
from a diehard Los Angeles Lakers fan.
The differences with this Blazers squad, guid
ed by new coach Nate McMillan, are commend
able. He brings a commitment to team discipline
and an idea to play “the right way. ”
McMillan stresses it daily, rookie Jarrett Jack
said in a pair of interviews with him and the Blaz
ers coach. At the NBA level, you’re always the
subject of attention and have to act responsibly,
Jack said.
“You are always in the public eye, ” Jack added.
“You are not allowed in some ways to do what
everyone else does. ”
McMillan’s message is something basketball
fans, team loyalties aside, can latch onto. Profes
sional sports are riddled with rich, spoiled ath
letes complaining about the most minuscule and
meaningless things. For years, the Blazers have
made daily headlines with fighting, arrests and
the temperamental play of Rasheed Wallace, Dar
ius Miles and the promising Zach Randolph.
Enter Coach McMillan, exit a more lenient
coach, Maurice Cheeks, and add players with
strong character including Jack, and former Uni
versity of Maryland teammates Steve Blake and
Juan Dixon, and you have a recipe for a success
ful, well-behaved franchise. The additions of
Martell Webster and Sebastian Telfair can make
“successful" and “winners” common adjectives
in the future.
It was hardly Cheeks tault, hut protessionai
athletes need a coach that won't back down from
athletes with large paychecks. At a recent prac
tice, McMillan kicked Randolph out after he
heard the fifth-year pro mutter something he did
n’t like after a drill.
When’s the last time you heard a pro coach
eject a player making more than $10 million? Not
recently, not in this coaching era, where replac
ing coaches is easier than trading players with
massive contracts.
“Every day, so many players with so much
talent ... feel they can control the game by
themselves,” McMillan said. “It’s a team game,
a team sport.”
And to think, there is hope in this hype-satu
rated sports-dominated society.
NBA commissioner David Stern recently
adopted an NBA dress code, something Jack said
the Blazers already had in place. Stem wants to
improve league image and get “the game back to
where it’s supposed to be.”
So don’t shy away today, go to the Portland
Trail Blazers game against the Utah Jazz at
McArthur Court tonight at 7 p.m. Tickets are
available through Ticketmaster.com or by calling
503-797-9600.
Students shouldn’t miss an opportunity to
see former college stars again within a college
atmosphere.
Jack is a smooth guard from Georgia Tech. T\vo
DRANSFELDT, page 14
M » I I « I M I
■ Club tennis
The Oregon club tennis
team is coming off a
year in which it won the
Pacific Northwest
Division of the USTA
Campus Championship.
The team placed 18th at
nationals.
Team ready to defend division title
Club hosts tournament kicking offseason, looks to improve
on 18th-place performance at national championships
BY WILL SEYMOUR
FREELANCE REPORTER
The University of Oregon Club tennis team
served up some fun and excitement Oct. 16
with its preseason on-campus tournament,
testing students’ skills in both singles and dou
bles competition. The tournament also al
lowed the club to prepare for the upcoming
season, when the team will defend its first
ever division championship.
Thirty athletes dusted off their rackets, laced
up their sneakers and took to the court for a
full day of tennis. The participants split into
teams of five, and then faced off in two men’s
singles matches, two women’s singles and a
mixed doubles match. At the end of the day,
Tina Snodgrass, Ben Pritchard, Patrick Wi
helm, Anthony Sparks and Courtney Whitfield
emerged victorious.
The club capped off the evening with the
presentation of the trophy it received for win
ning the Pacific Northwest Division of the Unit
ed States Tennis Association Campus Champi
onships. The club is optimistic about the
chances for a repeat performance, largely be
cause the squad returns with half of its members
from last year’s successful campaign.
“We think we could do a lot better this year,”
club coordinator Erin Small said.
The Ducks’ season was up in the air until the
final tournament in 2004; Oregon entered that
competition tied with Portland State. Oregon
fought off challenges from the Vikings and the
defending champion Western Washington Uni
versity to take the tide in only the team’s third
year of existence.
“The first year it was just finding other teams
that were interested in having a match,” Small
said. “(The club was) a great way to stay in
volved in tennis and to meet a lot of people. ”
After the regional tournament, Oregon ad
vanced to the national competition, where they
contended with a large field and a strange tour
nament format.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” Small said.
What the Ducks found was unlike anything
that had seen before. Matches at the national
tournament featured a substitution policy that
allowed teams to remove a player at any junc
ture in the match, even between a first and
second serve.
In addition, the winner of the match was
determined by the number of games won as
opposed to the number of sets won as in tra
ditional tennis.
“If a team needed to come from behind, they
could keep playing the last match even after it
was over, as long as they didn’t lose a game,”
Small said.
Despite the unorthodox formula, Oregon
placed 18th out of 52 teams.
The Ducks will bring that postseason experi
ence to bear this year as they defend their divi
sion title. Singles specialists and twin sisters Erin
Miller and Beth Miller look to lead the way on
the women’s side of the club, while veterans
Ricky Huynh and Ryan Wahl are two of a solid
group of men on the team. Coach Greg Smith is
also returning to the club, albeit after a hiatus,
which left the squad without a coach last year.
“It’ll be nice to have someone to help us im
prove our skills,” Small said.
The club tennis season consists of two multi
team tournaments and around 10 one-on-one
matches with other schools both in and out the
division. Oregon will take part in a tournament
Nov. 5-6 in Portland to kick off its title defense.
Fred Jones represents youth program
The former Duck star and current NBA player was selected after
kids identified him as an Oregonian they admire and respect
BY SCOTT J. ADAMS
SPORTS REPORTER
Former Oregon basketball standout Fred
Jones became a spokesman for the Oregon Na
tional Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program on
Monday. The OYCP is a voluntary 17-month
program providing at-risk youth a second
chance for success as the only alternative school
for high school dropouts in Oregon.
Jones agreed to be an OYCP spokesman in
light of the organization’s worthwhile contribu
tions made toward helping dropouts attain nec
essary training for adulthood.
“The Oregon National Guard Youth Chal
leNGe Program provides education and life
skills training for high-school dropouts who
want to become productive and responsible
adults,” Jones said.
Prior to being the first-round choice of the In
diana Pacers in the 2002 draft, Jones averaged
18.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in his
senior season with the Ducks. He helped lead
Oregon to a 26-9 record, which was good
enough for its first outright Pacific-10 Conference
title in 63 years.
Since then, Jones has made a name for him
self playing in the NBA with the Pacers. He was
the 2004 NBA Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk
Champion and hopes that he can help families
statewide learn more about the OYCP.
“I am pleased to represent the program be
cause it provides the structure and educational
opportunity for at-risk youth to succeed,” Jones
said. “I look forward to helping raise awareness
about the program as well as working with the
cadets and cadre.”
Jones was first asked to be a spokesman for
the program after he was recognized by OYCP
students as an Oregonian who OYCP and its
peers both admire and respect. Upon consider
ing this and his achievements on the court and
in the classroom (Jones earned a bachelor’s de
gree in sociology), Col. Mike Caldwell of the
Oregon National Guard saw Jones as a formida
ble candidate for spokesman. Caldwell is a
Deputy Director for State Affairs with the Na
tional Guard.
“Freddy Jones is an excellent role model who
values hard work and education, which are at
the core of our program,” Caldwell said. “We are
delighted to be associated with Freddy and very
JONES, page 14