SPORTS MAIL.

Byline: The Register-Guard

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 An address and daytime telephone number are needed for verification purposes; this information will not be published or released.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:

Sports Mail,

P.O. Box 10188,

Eugene, OR 97440-2188

Fax:

687-6674

E-mail:

[e-mail]

Living a baseball dream

I praise athletic director Pat Kilkenny for his decision to bring Pac-10 intercollegiate baseball back to the University of Oregon. U of O baseball has had a long and historic tradition that was followed by my family.

My grandparents settled in the Eugene area in the late 1890s and became associated with the U of O and its athletic and academic programs. They continued to live in the Eugene area throughout their lives, as did my parents. Although they followed the development of football, basketball, and track and field, baseball was their favorite sport.

During my youth, my parents and grandfather told me many stories of famous performances by Duck athleties. Their favorite athlete was a baseball infielder named Joe Gordon. As a result, I followed Joe Gordon in his Hall of Fame career with the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians. I became an intense participant and student of baseball.

I got to live a dream by getting a baseball grant-in-aid scholarship to play for the Ducks. I was fortunate to play on championship teams from my freshman year in 1954 to my senior year in 1957 under Don Kirsch. Terry Maddox and George Shaw were featured all-American players. After graduating from college, my teaching and coaching career spanned 37 years.

In conclusion, I can't thank Pat Kilkenny enough for bringing baseball back to the U of O. He has exhibited an ability to make a tough decision under extraordinary circumstances.

I have a great amount of empathy for the coaches, participants and followers of the wrestling program. I feel their pain and frustration, as I had the same feelings in 1981 when the U of O dropped baseball.

TOM BOWEN

Eugene

Thrown into turmoil

Many years ago I had the good fortune to play baseball at and graduate from a major Division I university in the Midwest. Since moving to Eugene, I have adopted the U of O as my "second university." However, with much dismay, I am now forced to watch the new soap opera "As the U of O Turns: Baseball and Competitive Cheerleading In, Wrestling Out." Very sad.

For the last few years I have assisted several U of O student athletes (male and female, and yes, some wrestlers) in securing summer employment. These are legitimate, NCAA-approved jobs. We are not Oklahoma. We are proud to be the University of Oregon.

This summer, my two young wrestler friends work a 40-hour week, attend summer classes, and lift and work out five days a week at the Casanova Center. True student athletes.

And now their lives, their family's lives and the lives of the entire coaching staff and their families are in utter turmoil. Coaches Kearney and Stewart have developed a terrific wrestling program. The U of O now pulls the plug as if to say: "You served our needs, but see you later." A thank you to the coaching staff? Yes, provide them with a "golden parachute" of millions of dollars as was secured by Bill Moos upon his departure. Fair? Absolutely.

Honestly, my affection for the U of O is definitely tarnished. I invite everyone, pro or con, to visit www. savoregonwrestling.com.

THOMAS KENNEDY 

Eugene

Daisies support all sports

I must take exception to the section in the article on the addition of competitive cheer to the UO athletics program (Sunday, July 29), in which Jeanne Havercroft of the Daisy Ducks states `most Daisy Ducks feel the same way' as she does (i.e. `why shouldn't they have it as a sport?').

While Jeanne was the driving force behind the formation of the Daisy Ducks 35 years ago, she is not the spokesperson for the group as a whole. Nor did she take a poll among all members to get an accurate assessment of the individual positions on competitive cheer.

For my part, the Daisies who I have spoken to have taken the opposite position and expressed disappointment that the UO did not add a sport that does not require short skirts and firm busts. That, however, is my own experience; the Daisy Ducks as a group would not take an `official' position one way or the other.

A more accurate statement is that as a booster organization that has supported all UO sports for over 35 years, the Daisies will certainly welcome competitive cheer into our family of love and support. Each of those women will depart for an away `game' with a goody bag full of home-baked cookies, just as all UO athletes do.

VICTORIA WILLIAMS 

Eugene

Save Oregon wrestling

It was with great disappointment that I learned on July 13 that the U of O was cutting its wrestling program. Having wrestled for the U of O (1989-93), I feel a strong emotional attachment to Oregon wrestling and, having wrestled since the age of 12, I feel a strong emotional attachment to the sport.

I have thought for the last week about what I wanted to write in this letter, but the reality is that I could go on and on about the positive qualities that this sport instills in its participants, its long history (one of the oldest sports known to mankind), and its accessibility (when it's not getting cut) to all segments of a student population.

Wrestling is a sport in which the participants rely on teammates and coaches to help them prepare for competition. However, during the competition it is only you and your opponent on the mat, and you do not have the luxury of having your teammates out there with you to distract from your performance (good or bad) as one might in many of our mainstream sports.

I have read in the newspaper and heard on the news that the U of O athletic department did not even consider other sports to be cut when considering baseball's return. I have heard and read that there is no chance that wrestling can be saved at Oregon. I am not advocating for cutting other sports and I congratulate the true fans (as opposed to the "fairweather, bandwagon" fans) of Oregon baseball on their sport's return.

In closing, I would like to encourage Pat Kilkenny and the Oregon athletic department to do the right thing and save Oregon wrestling.

KEVIN LIST

Eugene