2B COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL July 8, 2015
G ROVER
Continued from 1B
was — he was Russian, and we were
still pissed at the Russians at the time
— and how high the bar was set for
him, I think that's what made me say,
‘Yeah, I think I’ll do this for a while.’”
Now, as the head offi cial for hori-
zontal jumps at the U of O, Grover has
grown fond of a new generation of ath-
letes, including local multi-event icons
Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Ea-
ton and blooming long jump star Mar-
quis Dendy — each of whom has cha-
risma and grace on par with Bubka.
“Some of the athletes who have been
doing this for quite a while aren’t so
nice; it’s their living and they’re not
very sociable. But a lot of them are. I
remember at a postseason barbecue for
offi cials, I asked Theisen (then a soph-
omore at U of O), ‘What can we do to
make you feel better?’ And she said,
‘You can smile, because when you’re
out there and you don’t smile it scares
us to death,” Grover said.
The sport of track and fi eld is largely
driven by its sponsors, and in Eugene
that means Nike. Over the past decade
policies about branding at Hayward
Field have become increasingly strin-
gent. Grover and the other offi cials are
required to dress alike, and more of-
ten than not that apparel is adorned by
The Swoosh; except at the 2014 World
Junior Championships, meet sponsor
Adidas made sure to cover any of its
rival’s many markings around the facil-
ity and outfi tted the offi cials in black
and orange Adidas gear. However, the
corporate agendas don’t make Grover
cynical.
“I think it's a good thing because we
all know that Uncle Phil Knight (Nike’s
founder and Oregon alumni) pays for
track. I think it's dear to his heart, and
he contributes a lot of money to the
program,” he said.
The support of Nike has helped pro-
duce the recent boom of Track Town,
USA. In addition to the success of the
men’s and women’s Oregon programs,
the community has had success draw-
ing larger events to Eugene. This past
spring it was announced that the 2021
World Championships will be staged at
Hayward Field — the fi rst time in the
33-year history of the competition that
it will be contested on U.S. soil.
“You get bigger meets, bigger crowds
,and it means a lot more to the organiz-
ers if you do a good job offi ciating; it
helps them when they bid on bigger
meets,” Grover said. “You have a lot of
personal pride to do the best you can,
and we’re all volunteers. But it's also
more responsibility. The language bar-
rier for the international meets can be a
challenge.”
For all of the major meets to come to
Hayward Field, however, Grover said
that his favorite may be the Oregon
high school state championships, and
in particular for the recent decision to
bring each classifi cation to Eugene.
“The fi rst year they did it (2014), we
thought it would be absolute chaos.
We thought, ‘1A-6A, we’ll be there all
day.’ And we do have some long, busy
days, but to see the looks on the faces
of the 1A, 2A and 3A kids when they
walk into Hayward… They come from
all over, and they deserve to be there
because they’re working hard too,” he
said.
Since Grover fi rst began offi ciating,
the technology used for judging a com-
petition has also evolved tremendously.
While the Hayward Field crew has for
some time benefi tted from plasticine, a
form of clay used on the boards to help
determine if a jump is fair or foul, more
recently — and especially in high-pro-
fi le competitions — the crew uses tech-
nology that includes a video review
system for take-off board accuracy and
a laser-based measuring device. While
this technology produces highly ac-
curate measurements, Grover calls it
a “giant pain in the ass.” At this year’s
Prefontaine Classic the electronic mea-
suring system went down and the of-
fi cials had to work by hand.
Even with the technology, however,
Grover said that the knowledgable fan
base of Hayward Field can’t appreciate
the margin between a fair and a foul
jump.
Week 2 SCORES Standings
Team
Dragon
Rally
Squirrels
Brad’s
House
Lions 1
Lions 2
Misfi tz
W
3
2
2
1
1
1
0
0
L
0
0
1
1
1
2
2
3
T
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
Middlefi eld Mens Golf
Date: June 29
Game: 1-2-3 Best Ball
photo by Matt Hollander
Civic Stadium, where the Eugene Emerald's played from 1969 to 2009, was destroyed
by fi re on June 29.
C IVIC ' S L ESSONS
Continued from 1B
Players fresh from a season of college heroics
sat wide-eyed but confi dent in the reserve seats
for pre-game interviews, and baseball scouts and
salty reporters fi lled the hours between with years
of well-worn stories, talk rife with statistical sal-
ads and the relentless ribbing of their grizzled col-
leagues.
But alas, photography was not part of that par-
ticular job description, and somehow I seem to
have escaped that magical summer without a sin-
gle shot of a play well made or a portrait of any-
one it was my fortune to connect with during the
2008 season. The Emeralds would play one more
season at Civic, taking their game to PK Park after
2009, and with the move came at least the feeling
that an era had ended.
Then last Monday, June 29, what appears to be
a careless act by four young people made quick
work of Civic Stadium, reducing the historic struc-
ture to ashes within an early-summer afternoon
and seemingly crushing the hopes of those who
sought to resurrect the stadium for the next chap-
ter of its storied life. Their actions robbed all of us
of the chance to see Civic rise again and touched
off an outpouring of grief from those who, like
me, found solace, beauty and hope between the
white chalk lines and sturdy blue boards of one of
the greatest homes to ever host America’s game.
Like many of you, I’ve spent much of the last
week reliving my best memories at the stadium,
and after the initial shock of its loss wore off, it
was easy to see the proverbial silver lining:
There is news that the former stadium site may
still play host to youth sports, that those who have
harbored a new dream for Civic still intend to see
that dream realized. There is the news that a rash
act of mischief, not one of evil intent, probably
spelled the end of a structure that has enhanced
so many lives.
And of course, there are those all-important
memories. For in truth, no photograph could have
possibly captured the electric feel of an extra-
innings walk-off win or the giddiness of a child
winning a contest during a campy mid-inning
promotion. Nor could a camera do justice to the
stadium’s pre-game wakeup ritual, with volunteer
ushers inspecting and wiping down every reserve
seat as they began to welcome early-arriving fans,
and young boys and girls hung over the railing vy-
ing for autographs of the game’s future stars.
Pictures of the line of fans waiting outside the
Emeralds offi ce on a gray, drizzly March morn-
ing to secure season tickets are likely few and far
between, as are shots of the team in transit, board-
ing buses for road trips in scenes that could have
come straight from the script of “Bull Durham.”
Baseball and nostalgia are an inseparable pair,
and while the loss of Civic Stadium may have
struck a blow to the future of sports in south Eu-
gene, those of us who loved the old ball yard now
have a responsibility as the caretakers of its sto-
ried past to share our recollections, our lessons
and — if we can fi nd them, of course — our pho-
tographs of the stadium with future generations.
For now at least, it’s so long, Civic, and thanks for
the many memories.
1, Smith, Perkins, Aren-
dell, Gowing BD (-30). 2,
Cooney, Gowing, Wams-
ley, Winters, (-29). 3,
Lee, Nellermoe, Penning-
ton, Wilson (-22).
Low Gross: 1, Pearson
68. 2t, Emery 69. 2t,
Kinkade 69.
Low Net: 1, Wilson 56.
2, Pearson 59. 3t, Culp
60. 3t, Gowing 60.
Closest to the Pin: No.
5, NA. No. 7, Cunning-
ham. No. 14, Hack.
Longest Putt: No. 1,
England.
Date: July 2
Game: 3-2-1 Points
1, Cunningham, Bryce,
Arendell, Cox 99. 2t,
Helms, La Cosse, Lev-
ings, Beckett 91. 2t, Dor-
man, Dreiling, Sparks,
Hamilton 91. 2t, Cooney,
Ingram, Rhodes, Ryan.
2t, England, Nellermoe,
Smith, Rowling 91.
Low Gross: 1, Emery 69.
2t, Helms 72. 2t, Sparks
72/
Low Net: 1, Bryce 56. 2,
Beckett 61. 3t, Ryan 62.
3t, LaCosse 62.
Closest to the Pin: No.
5, Cox. No. 7, McCarty.
No. 14, Bryce.
Longest Putt: No. 2,
Sparks.
Pts.
9
7
6
4
4
3
1
0
“The fans see the fi nal attempt. And
if it’s a big jump and scream, ‘ooh.’ But
they don’t see how close their feet are to
the foul board, and a foul is a foul. The
fans raise hell because they don’t know
the rules. You don’t get (an argument)
from the athletes because they know.
The really good ones can adjust their
strides by quarters of an inch —they’re
that fi nely tuned,” said Grover.
At this point, Grover said he plans to
continue offi ciating until he can no lon-
ger do it or loses the enjoyment for it.
Which would be fi ne, he said, because
he would then have a chance to actually
watch the meets. But Grover recogniz-
es a looming issue for Track Town.
“Our group is getting older and old-
er, and it’s getting hard to recruit young
people to do it,” he said. “They don’t
want to spend their Saturdays there
for a hamburger and a bag of potato
chips.
“I think you’re doing a public ser-
vice, and as long as the university still
appreciates us, we’ll still be there.”
Results for July 1
House 4, Misfi tz 3
Rally 0, Brad's Big Time 0
Blind Squirrels 3, Lions One 2
Dragon Ocean 9, Lions Two 0
GD
+15
+9
+4
+7
-3
0
-15
-17
Schedule for July 8:
6 p.m. — Brad’s Big Time vs. Lions Two
7 p.m. — Dragon Ocean vs. Rally
8 p.m. — Misfi tz vs. Lions One
9 p.m. — Blind Squirrels vs. House
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