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Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011
The Clackamas Print 7
regon Ducks fly by
ashington Huskies
Mixed martial
arts grows as
popular sport
By Robert Morrison
Sports Editor
All photos contributed by Cody Wilson
Jregon Ducks men’s basketball team tries to score in their game against the No. 20 Washington
es on Feb. 5 in the new Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.
ly Robert Morrison
I Sports Editor
¡Feb. 4 the Oregon Ducks
¡basketball team played host
I No. 20 ranked Washing-
jiiskies in the new Matthew
I Arena, defeating the
Is 81-76. The new arena has
[headlines with its unique
which has a tree pattern on
art, making it a real chal-
iwith the color changes. The
purt lines are also very light,
■ problems for referees to
I.the back and front court.
j Huskies came in 7-3 in
pc-10 and 15-6 overall on
Ison. The Ducks were quite
p behind, coming in with
nd of 4-6 in the Pac-10
11-11 overall this year. The
■ fans traveled well as they
ly do for sports, but in this
lie Washington fans weren’t
Bind.
fshington is a better team
■. They can’t lose to an
Bed team,” said die-hard
Is fan Sarah Everson before
the game.
Washington pulled ahead to a 4-
0 lead five minutes into the game.
Oregon would then go on to have
a 14-7 scoring run to take the lead
14-11 with 13:45 left in the first
half. The score at halftime was a
close 37-34, Oregon’s lead.
“The team did great in the first
half but missed a lot of chances
to gain a bigger lead,” said fan
Peter Seller. “I think they could
have done even better during the
game. They won though, so that’s
all that matters.”
Fans shouted and waved as
the team was beating a good
Washington team. The attendance
at the game was nearly 12,000,
which included Chip Kelly, the
head football coach for U of O.
It was all fun and games for
the Oregon Duck mascot during
intermission. Many fans cheered
him on as he got' physical with a
Husky fan and threw his hat and
later when he crowd surfed.
Both teams came out strong
after halftime, trading scores and
switching leads as the second half
went on. Oregon pulled ahead to
a slim lead and would fight to
keep it the rest of the game. After
p Williams gets blocked from behind by Terrence Ross
hay to the basket.
making multiple shots, each team
came out to a decent score for
the final, Oregon winning 81-76.
The Ducks pulled off a surprising
upset on the ranked Huskies for
just their fifth win in the Pac-10.
The arena erupted as the clock
expired.
“I’m very happy we won. The
team has been trying to improve
that last couple of seasons. It’s
a good start,” said John Carl. He
has been a fan of Oregon Duck
athletics for the last 10 years.
The Ducks beat a team that
many fans didn’t expect them
to beat. A ranked team came in
and got beat in a close game to
the much-improving Ducks team.
Joevan Catron would lead the
team with a game high of 20
points, nine rebounds and three
steals. He fell short of a double
double by a single rebound. E.J.
Singler ended up with 16 points,
four rebounds and five assists.
The Ducks made a splash but it
will not be enough to gain much
ground in the Pac-10 or in the
national rankings. The Ducks play
again on Feb. 10 as they travel to
Los Angeles to face UCLA.
The Oregon Duck hangs out on a railing
after he got in the face of a Husky fan.
ne of the most commonly used expres
sions in the up-and-coming sport
of mixed martial arts is “Tap out or
Blackout.” MMA is a sport and fitness
activity that mixes techniques such as Brazilian jiu-
jitsu, boxing, muay tai, kickboxing and karate into
one brutal form. MMA fighters try to either beat
their opponent to a pulp or to make their opponent
tap out The goal in MMA is similar enough to that
of wrestling that many MMA fighters are former
wrestlers, such as Bobby Lashley for Strikeforce and
Brock Lesner for Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Much like boxing, MMA has a number of rounds
at a set time for the fighters to win. If no winner
is determined in the fight, judges will decide the
winner. MMA is divided by weight classes just like
wrestling, and a fighter must meet his weight at each
weigh-in. Many fighters fight out of their weight
class but usually fighters stay in their comfort zone.
Fighters use padded gloves which come in many
different styles, depending on what a fighter’s
preferences are. These gloves come in about every
shape, color and purpose possible. Common types
of gloves are striking,grabbling and sparring. Each
type of glove is used for a different type of action.
Grappling gloves for example are used mainly for
practicing submissions. The top halves of die fingers
aren’t covered and the padding isn’t as thick as in a
boxing glove. Some gloves are used for grappling
practice while others are meant for practicing your
fights. I personally have a pair of multipurpose
gloves.
MMA is just as dangerous as boxing, if not more
so. The fighters do not wear headgear to protect
themselves from hits. Boxing matches are held in a
square ring while MMA fights are usually held in an
octagon shaped cage. The sport is often referred to
as cage fighting.
Depending on where a fighter is, there may be
many different MMA companies available to join.
The two main ones that many people hear about are
Strikeforce and the UFC. In both of these companies
each weight class has its own championship, which
fighters from around the world aim to win. Each
company runs pay-per-view events for their fans and
put together fights as often as they can.
MMA doesn’t discriminate against women as
there are many female MMA fighters around the
world. Like the male fighters, women have their
own weight classes and championships in those
classes.
MMA has become more and more popular
throughout the years and continues to grow as a
sport and as a workout If you are interested in learn
ing any of these techniques or just getting into the
sport in general, contact your local gym to see if they
offer these types of programs.
Are you a basketball fan?
Log on to
theclackamasprint.com to catch
up with the latest women’s
basketball game against
Chemeketa.