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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1982)
Page 10 Portland Observer, Septem ber 29, 1982 Sport Talk I f the United States Football League gels o ff to a successful start, the N F L may have some genuine competition. The new league has al ready forced the established NFL to start it's player draft in January in stead o f the customary June date. The University o f Georgia’s Her- schel W alker, the most celebrated collegian in the land, and rightfully so, says: “ I f they start talking to me, I owe it to myself to listen seriously.” And that folks is prob ably why Commissioner Pete Ro selle of the NFL decided to move up the d raft. Because when Herschel W alker talks, everybody listens. Walker, who is only a junior, could give the USFL instant respectability. The same kind of respectability one Joe Namath gave to the then fledg ling A F L . Walker has said repeat edly that the NFL doesn't hold any particular glamour edge in his world. Walker has said in the past that he considers himself a football player and if the USFL thinks enough of him to talk, than he will certainly listen. Although W alker admits that he hasn’ t yet been ap proached the guess here is that it won’t be long before some USFL representative comes knocking at M r. Walker’s door. And how about Frank R obin son’s San Francisco Giants? Robin son has his team only one game be hind the league-leading Los Angeles Dodgers after sweeping a three game series from the world cham pions and all this in the Dodgers’ own back yard. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a man of color directing a team fighting it out before millions of world series fans? And while we’re on the subject of men of color it was particularly nice to see Jackie Robinson commemo rated on a stamp by the U.S. gov ernment. It was some 35 years ago that Jackie brought the walls of dis crimination down by becoming the first black player ever to play in the major leagues. Jackie retired from the game 26 years ago and died ten years ago, but he will never be dead in the eyes o f most black Americans. Jackie was a hero o f tremendous magni tude. How do you spell relief? Well, TV has shown us one way, but for the University o f Oregon Ducks it ’ s spelled O-F-F-E-N-S-E. After going three games without a single T D by the offensive unit they fin ally accomplished the same against the Washington Huskies Not only did they score their first touchdown but went on to score three. It has always been a great rivalry between these two teams. Sure the Huskies, under Don James, have dominated the Northwest for the derdogs. And fo r sure they were ready on this cool, rainy September day. To see how ready these Ducks were yours truly left his warm com fortable seat in the press box to go visit the Duck bench. What I ob served was this: The mood of all the players was intense. Senior quarterback Kevin Lusk, from Seattle's Tyee High School, was the announced starter. But as the warm up drills took place it was Sophomore Mike Jorgenson, from Ontario, working with the first unit. Jorgy appeared nervous but ready as he barked instructions to his unit. His passes were on target and his spirals were as tight as a rope. In fact, as he worked out my mind kept going back two years ago seeing Reggie Ogburn going through the same drills, and I thought could this happen again. And Jorgy, on this day, did remind one of the ex-Duck QB, Ogburn, who was a master at running the option. Across the field a roar was heard as the flamboyant Husky pep band was getting their student body ready for the Oregon Ducks. Now, if you haven’t seen the Husky pep band then you’ve certainly missed a treat. And if the football team is rated number one in the nation, then their band can’t be too far behind. People laughed when Coach James talked of being worried about the Ducks. A fter all everyone knew that the boys from Eugene had no offense. Everyone knew about the lack of of fensive imagination the Ducks were afflicted with. And d id n 't we all know that this Husky defensive team had only given up one touch down in three games. And, for sure, they all kind of smiled when James spoke seriously of being worried. That smirk lasted about as long as it took the Oregon offense to move 80 yards with the opening kick-off to score on a 20-yard halfback pass from H arry Billups to flanker Os borne Thomas. Thomas made a brilliant leaping catch in the Husky end zone that touched off a near riot on the Oregon bench. It was celebration time, right on. This was a different Oregon team. The imagination that the offense lacked in the previous three losses was now back. This looked like the days of old when the Ducks could move the ball against anyone. On second and three Jorgenson shot o ff a shovel pass to Lataria Johnson that gained a good 11 yards. D eja-vu. Aha! Brooks was going at them, pulling all the stops. By halftim e the Huskies had stretched out a 10-7 lead, but re membering what happened two years ago, when the Ducks trailed 10-6 at halftime, kept the normally boisterous Husky fans a little quiet. They, too, had to be thinking deja vu. The Husky team has stated re peatedly that they pay little atten tion to their lofty ranking, number one by AP and number three by U P I, but that doesn't hold true with their fans. After Oregon took a 21- 17 lead into the fourth quarter the grumbling began. " I f this team [the Huskies] is number one I ’ll eat my hat," one disgruntled fan cried. Ev eryone within earshot seemingly voiced the same opinion o f their Huskies. " I f we play Oregon like this," shouted on fan, " I hate to see w hat’ ll happen when we take on U C L A .” The Ducks were up for this game. They opened up their offense and by Ron Sykes. Sports Editor were delightful to watch. Lusk, re placing the injured Jorgenson, went deep to the dependable split-end Greg Moser, and Moser responded by making a near impossible grab between two Husky defenders. In fact Moser was so good on this day that Don James had to switch strong safety Roger Tarver over to the right corner in place o f Bill Stapleton, who was being man-handled by Mo ser. Except for those 52 seconds in the fourth quarter where the Hus kies capitalized on two Lusk inter ceptions and one fumble that re sulted in three quick Washington scores, the 0-4 Ducks looked like a 4-0 team. This game, for sure, was much closer than the 37-21 score would in dicate. And who knows what would have happened had Mike Jorgenson not gone down in the second quarter. The way the 6-0, 185 pound Ontar ian ran the team on this day was magnificent. Perhaps Brooks just may have found the man he’s been searching for. Oregon fans had a lot to cheer about and when the Ducks took their brief 21-17 lead in the third quarter, suddenly lemon and green could be seen and heard throughout sections 26-30, where most loyal Ducks were seated. Just as Oregon may have found a quar terback .. .Coach Don James pos sibly has found a tailback. With the celebrated Jacque Rob inson bothered by injuries and Freshman sensation Mike Vindivich nursing a pinched nerve, the 5-11, 190 pound Sophomore Sterling Hinds came on to do a job. Hinds, from Mississauga, Ontario, gained 103 yards on 20 carries. And the young man can play. Perhaps this Husky team didn’t look like number one on this partic ular afternoon, but they are loaded and hurt. And when they are heal thy they will be good. Believe one thing and that is they are deep. Broadway Seafood Market Deli & Restaurant 1515 N.E. Broadway 287-1221 O pen 10 a .m . to 9 p .m . 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