SOUND OFF.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Ducks need big changes

The Oregon men's basketball team needs to be shaken up. Rather than always trying to play small, Oregon needs to go big.

Aaron Brooks and Bryce Taylor seem unhappy and uncomfortable. Malik Hairston and Maarty Leunen seem better-fitted at times at off guard and small forward, respectively. Ray Schafer has trouble being the only inside power presence, but might be better served playing on the opposite side of Ivan Johnson or going high-low with him.

The new lineup would require situational changes. PG - Aaron Brooks would share the spot with Brandon Lincoln. OG - Malik Hairston is here or at small forward. SF - Maarty Leunen would start here or at power forward. PF - Ivan Johnson is here or at center. C - Ray Schafer, when he is playing aggressively (for an advantage at scoring) or to focus on the stat line stuff like rebounds and blocked shots.

This lineup would be better at rebounding and half-court passing. There would be occasional problems on defense at OG and SF, but the team would be very intimidating in the middle with Johnson and Schafer. The bench would have speed and athletic talent in Bryce Taylor, Chamberlain Oguchi, Adam Zahn and Jordan Kent, who can all run the break very well, and the first two can hit threes with the best when they are on.

This team has the talent to compete nationally. Coach Ernie Kent needs to change his thinking to improve the half-court offense and defense, or someone else will come in next year and do it for him.

ADAM SCHNEIDER 

Milwaukie

The great outdoors

Curtis Anderson's excellent article on high school swimming teams practicing in an outdoor pool brought back memories to this former swimming coach.

Before 1969, no high school teams in Oregon were in outdoor pools.

Marshfield's swim team was sharing North Bend's indoor pool, and I asked the Coos Bay school board if they would support the use of the outdoor city facility, Mingus Park Pool. They did. Marshfield teams and the Gold Coast Swim Team, a USS age-group team, have been there ever since.

It is actually a lot of fun swimming outdoors. Fir needles get in the teeth and down suits. Swimmers get to make a snowcoach occasionally. Backstrokers navigate by the stars in the morning and by swaying trees when they can see them.

I was often asked, `How do the swimmers get from the bath house to the pool?' I would always answer, "Very fast."

Sometimes the underwater lights would both work in the original old pool, and we never worried about swimmers staying long after practice. There was no heat in the old locker rooms.

With the renovation of Mingus due to the generosity of Vera Richter, much of that "romance" is gone. The pool and bathhouse are much better now, but the weather has not changed.

That has not stopped kids and now adults from using Mingus all year around. Today, I was one of 11 adults at noon lap swim in a driving rainstorm. There is a group of adults that comes regularly every day of the week. Marshfield is still having outdoor daily doubles during winter vacation. Age-group kids from 6 to 14 swim in the afternoon.

Dan Cole is right. Eugene should open up the Amazon 50-meter pool all year. It would be used. Adults would do laps, and competitive swimmers from 6 to 80 could work out. Open it, and they will come.

RALPH MOHR 

Coos Bay

Woods proves deserving

There are a lot of ways to measure the success of this year's UO football team. Most of them have already been written about. Ten wins and winning one-half of the football game against the nation's best team are high on everyone's list.

To me, though, this team will be measured by the success of Rodney Woods. Many local writers and townspeople were highly critical of coach Mike Bellotti for recruiting Rodney. The critiques suggested that, in recruiting a player with a criminal history, coach Bellotti was placing "winning at all costs" ahead of running a good and decent program.

The coach was accused of giving preferential treatment to a potential "star."

The writers implied a double standard - good players are subject to certain rules, but the rules are bent for players who will help lead a team to victory.

In his three years at Oregon, Rodney Woods has not been in trouble with the law. He was not a star player who changed games. In his senior season he often didn't even start.

When defending his decision to recruit Rodney, coach Bellotti said his player was judged by the same standards that all players are judged. He said Rodney deserved a second chance and that he would be given one at Oregon. He expected Rodney to live by the rules that apply to all UO players. It turns out that coach Bellotti was right in his assessment of Woods.

Like most fans, I will remember this team because of its win-loss record and the controversy over whether they belong in the Fiesta Bowl. But for me, this team will be measured by the success of a player who was maligned before he ever played a football game, a player who stayed clear of the law, and a coach who believed in him.

RALPH BRADLEY

Eugene

TO CONTRIBUTE A LETTER

The Register-Guard sports department welcomes letters on all sporting topics. Our length limit is 250 words; all letters are subject to condensation. Writers are limited to one letter per calendar month. Because of the volume of mail, not all letters can be printed. Letters must be signed with the writer's full name. An address and daytime telephone number are needed for verification purposes; this information will not be published or released.

Mail letters to: Sound Off, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188

Fax: [phone]