North, fans put their best feet forward

By Tim Trower | Published: February 20, 2010 | 0 Comments

Samaritan’s Feet Night got off on the right foot — I couldn’t resist — Friday at North Medford High. The school’s boys basketball program helped raise more than $600 and collected about 30 pairs of shoes for children in need. The Black Tornado varsity and sub-varsity coaches were barefoot as they worked the games to drive home the point that shoes are considered a luxury by some who are less privileged.

If you didn’t get a chance to help out and would like to, the team is doing the same thing Thursday night for the regular-season finale against South Eugene. There’s also the option of dropping donations of shoes or money by the Activities Office between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

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Tiger speaks

By Tim Trower | Published: February 19, 2010 | 0 Comments

I watched Tiger and tried to imagine myself in that situation, apologizing for flaws in front of the world. He’s not a guy who’s had to say he’s sorry for a very long time, I’m guessing, so I can overlook the awkward, scripted nature of it at times. And I thought the prolonged stares into the camera as he emphasized a couple points were a bit dramatic, as if it was the way he was coached. But it sounds like he wrote most of his statement and maybe that’s just how he thought he should do it. The hugging at the end was also awkward. It wasn’t as animated and real as I might have liked, but that really isn’t the Tiger we’ve come to expect, anyway. 

There were tangents about Buddhism and the paparazzi hounding his family. Those seemed off-topic, but they also provided a glimpse into his very private life and mind-set we’ve seldom seen. Having been cooped up for a while, he had a few things to get off his chest and went down the list.

He was protective of his family, remorseful of his transgressions and respectful to his fans, staff, PGA and business partners. It was a first step. Was it a good one? That’s for debate because of the controlled nature. But we got what we wanted, a Tiger appearance. Now we’ll wait for the next step, and who knows what that will be.

Most telling was that he isn’t ruling out returning to golf this year, meaning he might not. That statement seemed pretty genuine, so the waiting game begins anew.

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If you choose, you can give shoes

By Tim Trower | Published: February 18, 2010 | 0 Comments

North Medford’s boys basketball team is doing a cool thing, raising shoes and money — as well as awareness — for those in need with a Samaritan’s Foot night Friday. A story in Thursday’s M-T outlined it. The coaches will go barefoot at all levels when the Black Tornado teams host Sheldon. If you can go, take a new pair of shoes for kids or make a monetary donation.

If you can’t make it to the game, you can still give by delivering said items to the North Medford High athletic office from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on school days.

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Prep hoops ramblings

By Tim Trower | Published: February 18, 2010 | 0 Comments

Random thoughts on prep basketball:

North Medford’s Karissa Dixon has left little doubt she’s a go-to girl. Early this month, she made a 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to force overtime at Sheldon in a game the Black Tornado eventually won. Wednesday, her 3 from the top of the key in the final two minutes gave North the lead for good in a 50-45 win over rival South Medford. She had five 3s in the game.

Cascade Christian’s Brian Morse knows what it takes to win in the postseason. The coach of the Class 3A boys defending state champion leaves a couple open dates on the schedule for late in the season, then tries to fill them with quality opponents to toughen his own club for tournament play. It’s not easy finding good teams with open dates — winter cancellations help — but he was able to do so this season. The late additions were top-ranked Dayton, a 72-61 loss, and Ashland, ranked sixth in 5A, a 55-52 win this week. The Challengers are ranked fourth in 3A.

I’m not a big fan of extended league playoffs, and I don’t pretend to understand how they all work. But the Sunset and Mountain Valley leagues have it set up, I think, where No. 5 plays No. 4 and No. 3  plays No. 2. Then the 4-5 winner plays the 3-2 loser for a state berth, and the 3-2 winner plays No. 1 for state seeding. What further complicates things are regular-season ties that must be broken before the league playoffs can start. For instance, Cascade Christian’s girls have four games in six days this week because of the league tiebreaker-league playoff-state seeding situation.

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Tiger doesn’t owe me anything

By Tim Trower | Published: February 17, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tiger Woods is coming out of hiding on Friday, and he apparently hasn’t lost all control of his life. His press conference (8 a.m., ESPN) will be a statement, not a question-and-answer session, and it’ll be at PGA headquarters. Folks dependent on his well being will be there to have his back and run the proceedings as tightly as he wants.

I’m hearing some say he must apologize to the world, that he owes us and we deserve it. I don’t think he owes me anything. If he chooses to apologize for his actions, which I’m sure he will, that’s up to him. If he doesn’t, I won’t feel betrayed. If my neighbor Joe Schmo goes through something similar, he doesn’t owe me anything.

Granted, if he doesn’t show remorse and come across as genuine, the issue will linger longer. But I suspect most of us have bigger things to worry about than Tiger and his what spin he puts on it Friday. I like the notion his first event back likely will be the annual club-type match, the Tavistock, which is basically a neighborhood game in his swanky Florida digs.

We’ll see.

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Carcelen finishes well back in Games’ XC skiing

By Tim Trower | Published: February 15, 2010 | 0 Comments

Roberto Carcelen of Peru places 94th out of 95 cross-country skiers in the 15K event. His time was 45 minutes, 53.6 seconds, or 12:17.3 behind gold-medal winner Dario Cologna of Switzerland. Carcelen is coached by 1979 Medford High graduate Kent Murdoch.

Italy’s Pietro Piller Cottrer was second and the Czech Republic’s Lukas Bauer was third. Carcelen had hoped to be the best finisher among 18 developing nations with cross-country skiers entered, but it appears he came up short. There were 54 countries represented, the most of any Olympic event.

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Race within a race for Peruvian

By Tim Trower | Published: February 15, 2010 | 0 Comments

I just came across an e-mail from Kent Murdoch, the Medford native coaching Peruvian cross-country skier Roberto Carcelen. They are to compete soon, I believe, in the 15-kilometer race. Murdoch writes:

“Roberto is aiming to win among the developing nations. There are skiers from 54 nations in cross country, the most of any sport in the Olympics. Eighteen are developing nations. The 18 nations have only one or two skiers. The more established ski nations will enter up to their max of four. So he has a race within the race.
 
“Conditions have been very challenging on the course with all the rain and fresh, wet snow. I’ve never seen so many World Cup skiers crashing. Roberto took a bad fall on Friday and is really sore today. But I think that will disappear come race time with all the adrenalin.”

He added an aside about his brother, Paul, who lives in Medford and was quoted in a story in Sunday’s paper indicating Kent was the better high school skier while they were growing up. ”I would actually describe Paul as the more gifted athlete. but he’s right, I worked harder,” Kent wrote.

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Tiger didn’t make it to MPCC after all

By Tim Trower | Published: February 12, 2010 | 0 Comments

I couldn’t help but think of the folks at Monterey Peninsula Country Club this morning as I caught a bit of Golf Channel. The magnificent course is back in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for the first time since 1985, when Bing Crosby’s widow refused to let her husband’s Clambake be turned over to the corporate sponsor. We had the great fortune of playing the course last June, and folks were really looking forward to the tournament and having the star of stars on its grounds. Yep, Tiger Woods.

Woods had steered clear of the AT&T because of horrendously long rounds with amateur groups. But he had recently signed a sponsorship deal with the telecommunications giant, and part of the agreement was he’d play in the AT&T. It also didn’t hurt that Pebble Beach, site of this year’s U.S. Open, is in the rotation. Well, as we all know, that didn’t work out too well. Tiger’s on hiatus and AT&Tcut him loose for his transgressions.

Still, by the looks of things on TV, things are going OK for the gang at MPCC. The course is playing the hardest of the three, relative to par — it was changed to a par 70 from a 72 for this event — and the views are absolutely breathtaking.

Here are June’s blogs on the aforementioned excursions.

Monterey Peninsula

Pebble Beach

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OSU will finally send out men tracksters

By Tim Trower | Published: February 11, 2010 | 0 Comments

And you thought Oregon State didn’t have a track team. Well, it doesn’t, really. But for the first time in 22 years, the Beavers will be represented on the track by male athletes when six football players enter the Husky Indoor Classic at Washington this weekend in Seattle. It’s not a sign that the return of track is a sure thing, but there is a move to bring it back.

Here’s more from a school release:

“This is an opportunity for several individuals to participate as part of offseason conditioning,” athletic director Bob De Carolis said in a release. “This should not be considered a sign that a men’s track program at OSU is imminent; it merely is an opportunity for several of our current student-athletes to maximize their experiences as a student-athlete.”

Women’s track/cross country coach Kelly Sullivan has been organizing the workouts for the football players. The entrants are wide receivers Jordan Bishop and Obum Gwacham in the high jump, and James Rodgers, Markus Wheaton, Keynan Parker and Rashaad Reynolds in the 60 meters.

“(Football) coach (Mike) Riley and I have discussed this possibility for a couple of years now, but it really has materialized this winter,” Sullivan said. “It is amazing just how gifted these athletes are and it’s going to be a special moment to see OSU men back in action representing the sport of track.”

Bishop was a premier track athlete at West Salem High School, and as a senior in 2008 was the state’s long jump champion and placed second in the high jump and 400 meters. Gwacham was among California’s best in the high jump, triple jump and long jump in 2009.

“I can’t wait to compete in a meet again,” said Bishop, who just completed his redshirt-freshman season. “I’m truly excited about the opportunity; it’s been too long away from the sport.”

Rodgers was Texas’ highest scoring athlete at the 2007 state meet, Wheaton was part of the Arizona state 4×100 record relay team at Chandler High School, Parker holds several Canadian records in sprints, and Reynolds was a three-sport athlete at San Fernando High School in Los Angeles.

Saturday will mark the first time a male student-athlete has represented Oregon State University in a men’s track event since Karl Van Calcar (steeplechase) and John Thomas (hammer) earned All-America status at the 1988 NCAA Championships. Oregon State has fielded a women’s cross country and track team since 2004, after both programs were discontinued following the ’88 spring season.

Sullivan expects to have the same group, with possible additions, to compete in future indoor events. The football team returns to the field for spring practice on March 29.

“These guys like the competition, it’s good training and I wholeheartedly support it,” said Riley. “This will not interfere in any way on how they participate in spring practice; in fact it will help them be in better shape when we start next month.”

For those interested in supporting the revival of track and field at OSU, please follow this link to learn more about how you can help fund the program.

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A cyrstal ball would come in handy

By Tim Trower | Published: February 10, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tuesday was one of those tough scheduling days. What would you do? You have one person to send out to cover a high school basketball game, and you have two primary options.

The No. 1 and 2 teams in the Southwest Conference girls standings, South Eugene and South Medford, are playing a few blocks away. Also in town is a boys game between North Medford and Roseburg, two teams in the tightly contested SWC race, where the top four teams are now within two games of each other.

The girls game had the higher-profile teams but was the most likely of the two to be a blowout, as South Eugene is ranked No. 2 and is one of the best teams on the West Coast. We could opt for the more competitive boys game, but given the makeup of teams and conferences we cover, we could say that nearly every night when weighing boys and girls games.

I elected to cover the girls game, and South Eugene won in a rout, 63-32. North Medford, meanwhile, knocked off second-place Roseburg, 62-57,  in the boys game to move into a tie for third place with the Indians. North followers likely opened the paper today and wondered why the South girls had a nice big photo and story, and I can’t blame them.

Ultimately, I’d have to justify my decision, if only in my own mind. I could not have justified not being at the South girls game if they had the outing of their lives and upset South Eugene. Unlikely? Very. But we’ve all seen some pretty surprising results over the years. It was a roll of the dice that didn’t work out.

This basketball season is unlike any in recent years. There are no marquee teams that command coverage each time they step on the court. I’m not trying to slight Cascade Christian’s boys team, which again is one of the best in the state. But the smaller the school, the smaller the following. The upside to this kind of season? We’ve spread our coverage around more than in previous years. The downside? We have to make more difficult calls that don’t always pan out.

What I wouldn’t give for a crystal ball.

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