Ducks welcome dose of reality.

Byline: Ron Bellamy and Bob Clark The Register-Guard

EL PASO, Texas - An upbeat contingent of 31 Oregon football players, including kicker Jared Siegel, defensive end Quinn Dorsey and quarterback Jason Fife, spent an hour Monday morning visiting children on the pediatric floor at Providence Memorial Hospital.

The Ducks, led by strength and conditioning coach Jim Radcliffe, brought Oregon souvenirs to the young patients, including some being treated for cancer; those noise-making Duck lips were heard being tooted in several rooms after visits ended.

"Just to see the little kids and the little babies, it really touches your heart and makes you realize what you have," Oregon rover Marley Tucker said. "To see some of the little kids who are unable to do some of the things that we take for granted really opened my eyes.

"I was aware of things like cancers, but to see it firsthand it puts it into another perspective, football and life in general."

Tucker said he was touched most by a little boy named Aaron, who had just turned 1 and already had had four major surgeries. "His mom told me he was a real strong little man," he said.

Hospital appearances are a bowl tradition, and this year, Radcliffe said, he had so many volunteers to fill out the group that he'd had to turn some Ducks down. Tucker said it was his first hospital tour, and that he'd do it again, and be willing to visit hospitalized kids in Eugene and Springfield.

"Everyone should realize what life is really about," he said. "We're lucky to be out here playing football. Those little kids fighting for their lives, not knowing what the outcome is going to be - and their parents being strong - it takes more for them to do that than what we do out here. It takes more."

Perspective, Part II

A decorated U.S. Army sergeant from Salem who is stationed at the nearby Fort Bliss military base met Oregon coach Mike Bellotti after Monday's practice and will, with his wife and some of his five children, be a guest of the Ducks at Wednesday's game.

Sgt. Matthew Rose earned a bronze star with valor for his actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom in March. Attached to the 507th Maintenance Company, Rose give preliminary medical care to four soldiers who had suffered gunshot wounds, all while his position was under attack by small arms fire and mortar shells.

According to a military release, "Sgt. Rose never hesitated in providing care to his fallen comrades. His actions enabled them to stay alive. His confidence and reliability provided them with a sense of security and hope that all was not lost."

Rose, 38, is a graduate of Cascade High School in Turner who attended Western Oregon. This morning, Bellotti is visiting Fort Bliss to present 1,000 Sun Bowl tickets to soldiers who are slated for a tour of duty in Iraq. The tickets are from Oregon's required allotment of 8,000; the Ducks have sold 3,000, with another 4,000 being purchased by the Pac-10.

Fife to the rescue

Jason Fife was taking more snaps as a quarterback in Monday's workout after extensive duty as the third receiver in the past couple of practices.

`We want to make sure he's sharp at both positions,' Bellotti said.

Starting quarterback Kellen Clemens offered praise of Fife as a receiver, explaining `I've been impressed as a quarterback at how well he's adjusted, and he's a huge target out there.'

Fife has, Clemens acknowledged, sometimes turned into the typical receiver who proclaims himself always open.

`He says, `It was this coverage, and I was open because this happened,' ' Clemens joked with reporters. But there may be some actual advantages to having two quarterbacks in the huddle.

`He'll have some input on the field that isn't usually there,' Clemens said. `It'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.'

Fife's role as a receiver depends greatly on the sore hamstring of freshman Kyle Weatherspoon. Bellotti termed Weatherspoon `questionable' to play Wednesday but said `if he continues to make progress, we hope he might be available.'

There was much the same prognosis for starting middle linebacker Jerry Matson, who has a strained calf muscle. He might play, but his starting position has been taken over by Justin Andrews.

The Ducks are so thin at linebacker due to injuries that Bellotti said redshirt freshman Reggie Kerney may be the primary backup at all three linebacker positions.

At the Sun Bowl itself

After three days at a high school facility with a natural grass playing surface, the Ducks moved their Monday workout to the Sun Bowl, where Minnesota has held all of its practices.

Bellotti said the Ducks had the option `of coming here the entire time' but felt they needed only a couple of practices (with a walk-through today) to acclimate themselves to the AstroPlay surface, similar to the FieldTurf in Autzen Stadium.

A change of numbers

It was impossible to sort out the Ducks even with a program at Monday's practice as several of the players swapped jerseys, which has been done previously for the final practice in which numbered tops are worn.

`I don't know why, we're just doing it,' said Clemens, who wore the No. 72 that usually belongs to offensive lineman Adam Snyder, who Monday was wearing the No. 11 of Clemens.

Some trades worked better than others. Kicker Jared Siegel was covered to the knees in the No. 77 of 350-pound lineman Michael DeLaGrange, while the No. 25 Siegel traded over was a tight stretch on DeLaGrange's upper body ... or what was covered by Siegel's jersey.

Odds at the end

Fife, receiver Samie Parker, safety Keith Lewis and defensive tackle Junior Siavii have been invited to the NFL Combine where top prospects are evaluated by NFL teams ... Lewis has also been invited to play in the East-West Shrine game on Jan. 10 in San Francisco, and Fife was selected to play in the All-American Classic in Las Vegas on Jan. 17 ... Bellotti termed the focus of the Ducks good. `We haven't had anybody miss curfew, and I like that, it's always a positive sign,' the coach said.