7057,
urn's mm
Restaurant and Lounge
Authentic Chinese Cuisine
Fresh, Quality Ingredients
947 Franklin Blvd. (near UO) • 343-4480
Individual, Family Style, Banquets to 100, Take Out
Tues.-Thurs. 11-10:30, Fri. 11-11 Sat. 12-11, Sun. 11:30-10
PIZZA
Better ingredients. Better Pizza.
South Eugene
and u of 0
30 w 29th Ave (@ Willamette)
484-PAPA
• (7272)
Papa's Perfect
Springfield, Duck's Village,
Chase Village and
University Commons
1402 Mohawk (@ Centennial)
746-PAPA
(7272)
Pan & Coca cola
Large Pan Pizza with 2 toppings
& two 20oz. Coca-Cola
products for only
EXPIRES 12/31/05
Limited delivery area. Charges may apply. Drivers carry less than $20.
OREGON’S ON-AIR ATTACK
Joe Giansante and Jerry
Allen, the voices of the
Ducks, are Eugene icons
BY SHAWN MILLER
SPORTS EDITOR
One could argue that televi
sion should be left to beauti
ful people, while radio is
filled with ... well, whatever you
think of either media, I’m sure of
one thing: The University of Oregon
is represented beyond the normal
realm of collegiate athletics.
Oregon graduate Joe Giansante
and Jerry Allen have worked their
way to the top of the Eugene media
— Giansante by sight and Allen
by sound.
Giansante has gone from stomping
around as the Duck mascot to man
ning the Oregon Sports Network,
guiding football and basketball
broadcasts as well as three coaches’
shows — bigger and better than any
other university in the nation.
“We do more TV than any other
college in the country,” Giansante
said. “We have more shows for Ore
gon sports than any other university
in the nation. We are very proud of
that. I think it is fun to be able to
have a position where you are able
to do that, because in a lot of places
you aren’t.”
Allen has perhaps the most
renowned sports call in the northwest.
“Kenny Wheaton’s gonna score ...
Kenny Wheaton’s gonna score,”
Allen exclaimed during Oregon foot
ball’s most famous play — a 1994
Kenny Wheaton interception to seal
a Duck victory over rival Washing
ton, which was ranked in the top 10.
Both Giansante and Allen play an
intricate but different role in broadcast
ing Oregon football and men’s basket
ball games and both have played their
part in broadening the knowledge of
Oregon athletics nationwide (and it
doesn’t have anything to do with the
Ducks’ uniforms).
Fighting the misperception
One of the biggest misperceptions
that Giansante struggles with is that
he can’t separate his current job from
his former job.
Giansante spent two years as the
Duck mascot nearly two decades
ago; however, that doesn’t change
many viewers’ ideas that he is
continuously biased toward Oregon.
“I think the biggest misperception
about me is that I’m just a duck, and
that no matter what I’m all-Duck,”
said Giansante, who is in his sixth
year with OSN. “I actually spend
more time studying the other team
than I do studying Oregon. And I
don’t emotionally get attached, feel
differently over a win or a loss.”
That time is approximately 70
hours per week during football sea
son and 50-55during basketball and
Giansante believes it pays off.
“It is a function of how much time
Tim Bobosky | Photo Editor
Jerry Allen has been broadcasting Oregon football and men’s basketball games over the
radio since 1987. He also hosts a morning talk show on KUGN.
and effort and money somebody is
willing to put into it,” Giansante said.
“If you have a company that is will
ing to spend the time, the money and
the effort, then it will look good.
That’s one thing 1 am very pleased
about is that our company has al
lowed us to have the resources to be
able to do high-level programming.”
Giansante produces and hosts sev
en separate shows, including coach
es’ shows for football and men’s and
women’s basketball, as well as sever
al other special topic shows relating
to other Oregon sports. The coaches
shows run each week during their
season, while there is a separate foot
ball and basketball show that relate
to the season.
“We work hard at our jobs, but I
don’t view it as work,” Giansante
said. “I view it as a chance to practice
your passion, which is what is great
about it. When I get up and go, I
don’t feel like I’m going to work.”
And the best part of going to work
is calling the game play-by-play, Gi
ansante said.
“Of all the things, that is what
you do this job for,” he added. “It’s
like taking a test, really, I mean how
prepared are you when you sit
down and take that test?”
Just a fan
Oregon’s football games at Stanford
and Arizona meant Duck fans unable
to travel south had a chance to let their
imagination combine with Allen’s de
scription to picture the games live. For
fans wanting instant play-by-play of
those two games, they had to tune into
Allen’s call since both games weren’t
on television.
Allen has what he calls the privi
lege of broadcasting for over 30 years,
which began in an odd way.
“It was sort of a fluke because I
really hadn’t intended on getting
into broadcasting,” Allen said. “I
was working in a soda shop across
the street from a music shop and
one of their (disc jockeys) came in
one day and I was going through
some music and he said, ‘Hey, do
you think you’d ever like to be on
the radio?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to
be a DJ. Who wouldn’t?!”’
The then-junior at Grants Pass
High School took the invitation to be
MEDIA, page 7C
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MOHAWK C/e
COIN
LAUNDRY
ATTENDANT ON DUTY
100 Machines Means No Wait!
Environmentally Friendly / OSHA Approved
All Front Load Washers, some 75 lb.
• Full Laundry
Services
Available
• Children's
Play Area
• Mending and
Alterations
• 7 a m. - 10 p.m., last load 9 p.m.
988-1640
2152 Marcola Rd. Springfield
§ in Mohawk Shopping Ctr, by
si Albertson's & Rite Aid