As I look back upon my brief career on the Oregon Daily Emerald sports staff, I am reminded of the many underrated sports at this school.
As the Oregon Commentator pointed out in its final issue of the year, we at the sports desk cover sports that “nobody gives a damn about” and we “pretend readers actually care about that crap.” Many of the sports they mentioned were my beats.
Yes, I covered all forms of track and field, wrestling, cross country, men’s and women’s tennis, and even soccer, golf and women’s basketball.
While our friends at the OC laugh it up, I would like to give some credit to all of the under-appreciated people in the small-time sports at Oregon.
Men’s and women’s tennis coaches Chris Russell and Jack Griffin have two of the toughest jobs in the athletic department. They are given meager funding and continue on even without a Chris Russell Show on 4:30 p.m. Sunday on KEZI. Even though they are busy guys, Russell and Griffin always made time for an interview.
Oregon tennis players put in just as much work as the football and basketball players, but they never get the credit.
Some even more underrated people in the biz are sports information directors. Not only do SIDs travel to and write a story about every single competition of the sport they are assigned to, but they never get any credit for it. They do a great job of compiling statistics and figures that reporters just eat up. Thanks for everything SIDs… even Geoff Thurner.
So the next time the football team is out of town, and the basketball teams are playing Australian touring teams, head on out to the Student Tennis Center and think about all the people that go into bringing you college athletics and, of course, the Oregon Daily Emerald.