J anuary 18, 1995 « T he P ortland O bserver P age B2 OREGON WINS CIVIL WAR BASKETBALL All-star Voting David Robinson o f the San Antonio Spurs leads all Western Conference players in the voting o f NBA all-stars. Robinson has 402,477 votes, 8,030 votes ahead o f Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwun. C harles Barkeley o f Phoenix leads among forwards, with 7,442 votes ahead o f Seattle’s Shawn Kemp. Golden State posts two to p v o te g e tte rs w ith Tim Hardaway and Latrell Sprewell. Undefeated Behind the play o f Rebecca Lobo, who scored 13 points, pul led down 14 rebounds and had 9 blocked shots, Connecticut w as able to maintain their undefeated record and number 2 ranking, in beating No. 19 Seton Hall in a Big Eight w om en's game last weekend at Connecticut. UNLV Coach Leaves Hospital U niversity o f Las V egas Coach Tim Gruguvich was re leased form the hospital after spending a week o f treatment for symptoms o f exhaustion. Doc tors found nothing significantly wrong in tests, but recommended that the coach continue to rest. HOCKEY NHL Players Ratify Contract Partial returns show N ation al Hockey League players have ratified the ow ner’s last proposal by 85 percent. The vote opens the way to a 48-game season with the playoffs beginning May 6. BASEBALL Owners Consider Replacements Baseball ow ners are p re pared to use replacement players in the 1995 season and World Series On the other hand, strik ing major league players, are con sidering a city-by-city bam storm ing o f all-star team games this spring. “As difficult as it would be to conduct a World Series with replacement players, it would be something we would do,” said John Harrington. Boston Red Sox chief executive officer and head o f the m anagem ent’s operating com m ittee. Spring training is scheduled to begin Feb 16 with minor-leaguers and replacement players. Join In Celebrating (© bseruer’s UHIVERSARÏ by COMMUNITY EFFORTS TO BE RECOGNIZED BY BUDWEISER D anny B ell So far this has been a Cinderella year for the University o f Oregon athletic department. After surprising most o f the nation by winning the PAC 10 and going to the Rose Bowl, the basketball program gets o ff to a whirlwind start and sits atop the PAC 10 with an 11 -1 record overall and 3- 0 in conference. Saturday night, Oregon met Or egon State for their 300th meeting. The Ducks went into the game at Corvallis rated 25 in the country af ter beating No. 2 UCLA. The Ducks took it to the Beavers in front o f 10,258 fans and came away with a 96-83 victory. Oregon forced the usually sure handed Beavers into 18 turnovers in the first half. Oregon State’s season high had been 17 turnovers for a whole game. The Ducks got points from 10 players, and 41 points off the bench. Orlando Williams gave the Beavers headaches as he scored 25 points and was 4 for 8 from three-point range. Henry Madden contributed 13 and Aaron Johnson 12. “You never expect an in-state rivalry to get out o f hand that way,” said O regon’s Jeff Potter. Oregon Sate got 31 points from Brent Barry , 19 from Mustafa Hoff and 13 from Vladimir Heredia, but the Beavers committed too many er rors to come away with a win. Standout shooter Williams com mented, “We showed we cannot only win on the road we can do it, con vincingly.” The Beavers were able to keep it close and make a game o f it during the first half. They were within 30-27 with 4:16 left when Hoff hit two free throws. But 22 seconds later, forward Barry was hit with a foul, his third. Coach Jimmy Anderson had to bench him and suddenly the Beavers fell apart. The Ducks went on a 7-0 run to make it 45-35 and the Beavers were never able to get within single digits for the rest o f the game. “I was a little frustrated that I had to sit out those minutes and see Oregon stretch out to a 10 point lead,” said Barry, who tied his career high with 31 points. by 01211781 AND BLAZERS F o r th e f o u r th c o n s e c u tiv e y e a r , B u d w e is e r a n d th e T r a il B la z e rs a r e t a k ing tim e o u t to re c o g n iz e som e o f th e o u t s t a n d i n g c o m m u n ity a c tiv is ts , c o n c e rn e d c itiz e n s a n d v o lu n te e rs w ho h e lp m a k e a d if fe re n c e th r o u g h o u t O re g o n an d so u th w e st W a sh in g to n . N o m in a tio n fo rm s fo r th e “ B u d w e is e r B la z e r s C o m m u n ity S u p e r s t a r s ” team a r e a v a ila b le a t all- C h a m b e r o f C o m m e rc e o f fices in O re g o n a n d s o u th w est W a s h in g to n , T r a il B la z e rs ra d io a f f ilia te s a n d th ro u g h th e T r a il B la z e rs o ffic e , 700 NE M u ltn o m a h , P o r tla n d , O re g o n 9 7232. All n o m in a tio n s m u st be s u b m itte d by no la te r th a n F e b r u a r y 2 8 th . A p a n el o f ju d g e s w ill th e n r e view all n o m in a tio n s a n d se le c t th e ten C o m m u n ity S u p e r s ta r s w ho w ill be r e c o g n iz e d d u r in g a s p e c ia l h a lf-tim e p r e s e n ta tio n a t th e T r a i l B la z e r s h o m e gam e a g a in s t th e D e n v e r N u g g ets on S u n d a y , M a rc h 26. E a c h m e m b e r o f th e C o m m u n ity S u p e r - s t a r s te a m w ill a lso r e c e iv e a p la q u e a n d a c h e c k f o r $500 th a t w ill be d o n a te d to th e c h a r i t y o f t h e i r choice. Oregon State's Vladimir Heredia looks for a play around Oregon’s tight defense in a civil war game Saturday at Corvallis. (Photo by Brent Wojahn) “I couldn’t believe I picked up three fouls in the first half,” Barry added. “The one charging foul that they called was awful. But you have to expect that in a civil war game. It's always going to be a physical game and it always tends to be ugly. In the first half for us, it certain ly w as that.” As always, it was the defense and in this case early turnovers that led to Oregon State’s early demise. Inefficient ball handling also account ed for lost opportunities which O re gon capitalized on. Oregon State, which had been averaging 52 percent from the field, fell to 29-68 shooting, while Oregon managed to score at a 36-75 clip. Maybe last w eek’s announce ment o f A nderson's early retirement effected the play o f his team. But in the final analysis it was execution, hustle and defense that won the game for the Ducks. SPORTS AS A METAPHOR FOR LIFE A d v e rtis e In Jo u rn e y O f T h e H e ro Wltc D anny B ell W hat is it that enthralls sports fans? W hat is it about sports that causes such intense emotion? Could it be that sports and the athletes that play represent to the fan something noble, something heroic that we all would aspire to if we had the skills? In many ways sports fulfills the same need in sports fans as some soap operas do for their followers. Sports represents a microcosm o f the universe - the journey o f the hero who may very well have his or her flaws, but who in the sports arena pursues excellence with reckless abandon. Every sports hero is somehow clothed in vulnerability, from lapses o f character as in the case o f Magic Johnson or physical obstacles as in the case o f Bo Jackson to even falling victim to fate like Michael Jordan All athletes embody what hu mankind can rise to, at the same time as humans they are subject to forces beyond their control. The wealth and prestige that successful athletes command has el evated them to a class o f new nobil ity. And as the new nobility, we have heightened expectations ofthem. We expect them to be loyal, morally up right, courageous, to endure pain, play hurt and to a certain extent be role models for our children. But where does the journey be gin? Many times it starts in grade school, if not then high school or college, especially in the sports of baseball, basketball and football. Those who excel are given spe cial attention by teachers, coaches and their peers. They are taught the rituals o f sports as they are groomed to move from one level to the next in their respective sport for what are more often than not brief careers. What happens during these ca reers in which, in reality, the athlete serves as an entertainer? Sometimes a performer plays in unscripted dramas - like making the winning basket as Larry Bird did on so many occasions with time running out on the game clock - or overcom ing everyone’s nemesis “age” as George Foreman did when he re gained two heavyweight champion ship belts. There is a little piece o f us that every athlete carries when he or she enters the arena and that piece is hope. When the underdog faces the favorite, there’s hope they will over come and be victorious in the field o f battle. That regardless o f the odds, that the heart, spirit and skill o f the hero-athlete can surmount any chal lenge. Therein, it may be that the jour ney is not one man or one team. rather it is with the passing o f each generation, a new horizon is to arrive at and a higher standard o f excel lence is accomplished The journey continues for every sports fan everytime he or she sees his or her team play.The journey is to capture the imagination and to turn it into poetry in motion. ^ jJ n rtla ttb (Obstruer Call: 503-288-9933 L- WORLD GYM - ST. JOHNS 7522 N. Lombard Portland, OR 97230 283-5404 OPEN 24 HOURS - DAYS A WEEK Give The Gift o f Health J