We’re launching “M-T Sports Chat” Friday

Dan Jones

Dan Jones

We are launching “Mail Tribune Sports Chat” at noon Friday. The format: One of our staffers visits with a local athlete each week, talking about them, their team, their sport, etc. There’s a little story in Friday’s paper about it. Log on at noon Friday to www.mailtribune.com/mtsportschat to watch or participate. We’ll take questions and comments live.

Dan Jones, our newest staffer, is the driving force behind the project, with much help from web editor Julie Wurth. Dan will be the point person for the interviews. He’s chatting with McKenna Storey of North Medford’s top-ranked softball team Friday. Before coming to the Mail Tribune in January, Dan did 70-some webcasts in the same format at the Roseburg News-Review. It proved to be a popular, interactive experience.

A little about Dan. He’s 24, grew up in La Grande and played varsity tennis in high school, graduating from La Grande High in 2003. He attended Oregon, majored in journalism and graduated in 2007. In addition to working as a full-time sports writer at the Roseburg paper, he interned at the La Grande Observer and the Idaho Falls Post Register. Dan is single and enjoys movies, hiking, reading books and trying new foods. An avid eater, he’s considered a second career in competitive eating.

In fact, as popular as his sports chat show was in Roseburg, it was rivaled by another video presentation in which he sampled a vareity of canned foods. Readers/viewers sent in suggestions for “Dan Try This.” It appeared to be a brave and riveting venture.

While there’s less risk involved in M-T Sports Chat, we think it will be equally entertaining and hope you join us.

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Sportsmanship or an afront to competitive nature?

Here’s an interesting story. A golfer who has qualified for NAIA nationals with his winning team, intentionally loses a playoff for the individual title so an opponent can go to nationals as well. The conference team and individual winners advance, so the one who lost wasn’t taking a spot away from another, only giving up one of his two spots to an individual he deemed worthy.

There’s been debate on whether this is right or wrong. I’m fine with the gesture. Athletes are competitive and try to win almost every single time. But if there’s an opportunity to shed the competitive side for a compassionate side without cost to yourself or your team, why note exhibit another quality. I think the player who made the gesture could have done so a little more subtly, by missing  a putt or hitting another bad shot along the way rather than driving the ball 40 yards out of bounds off the tee. But that’s being nitpicky.

Here’s the story.

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Barry second-team all-Pac-10

Mike Barry

Mike Barry

Former North Medford state-champion golfer Mike Barry has been named second-team all-Pac-10 Conference for his only season with the Beavers.

The senior transfer from San Diego, had five top-10 tournament finishes and the third-best single season scoring average in school history.

Barry won the 2005 Class 4A state title, becoming the first state titlist from Medford in 23 years.

Here’s more.

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Here’s how DeBenedetti won the big race

Here’s a recounting of Jon DeBenedetti’s win Saturday at Southern Oregon Speedway, courtesy of DirtonDirt.com:

Career highlights don’t come along too often for dirt track racers. And when Jon DeBenedetti was mowing his grass Saturday afternoon, the modified star from Rogue River certainly didn’t think one was coming his way that evening, especially because DeBenedetti didn’t plan on going to the racetrack either to drive or spectate.

At the urging of wife Valerie, DeBenedetti ended up at Southern Oregon Speedway, triggering a turn of events that culminated in the biggest night of his career. That’s saying a lot, because the 36-year-old DeBenedetti has been among the Northwest’s most successful touring modified racers, piling up scores of victories, $10,000 paydays and multiple titles in events such as the Northwest Modified Nationals and Cottage Grove Nationals.

But on this magic night, instead of relaxing on the couch, DeBenedetti was belatedly tapped to drive mentor Dane Smith’s Late Model in the mainevent. He started on the tail in the unfamiliar car, nearly getting lapped before figuring out how to turn his fastest laps on the rough third-mile oval where in ‘02 he won the modified championship as a rookie.

He rallied from the last row all the way into the top five, earning cheers from begrudging fans who might boo his car. And he swept into the lead on lap 47, completing a 50-lap victory that left Valerie crying with joy. Even DeBenedetti was still pinching himself a few days later talking about a race that paid $2,000, but seemed priceless.

“I was doing yardwork and my wife talks me into watching the Late Models, and four hours later, I’m standing there on the front straightaway with the microphone in my hands as the winner,” said DeBenedetti, who made just his second Late Model start. “It was real exciting. The whole thing was like a dream. I keep thinking to myself, ‘Is that real? Did that just happen?’ ”

It happened, but DeBenedetti couldn’t have imagined it when Smithclimbed out of the car following the heat race — “this track is too rough for a 61-year-old,” Smith said — and asked DeBenedetti to pilot the Joe Davison-prepared Swartz car in th e feature.

“This one has just got such crazy circumstances around it,” DeBenedetti said. “For me, that race was the highlight of my career, and I’ve got a lot of races and a lot of wins. I’m probably in the 160 or 170 win category now — probably not a lot to some, but it’s a lot to me — and the circumstances around the whole thing and the lack of experience in that type of car, and no time behind the wheel of that car at all. The outcome, still it just blows me away.

“The expressions on Dane’s face and Joe’s face and both of their wives — my wife — she was crying, bawling in the stands it was so emotional.”

Definitely a surprising outcome on a night when DeBenedetti didn’t plan on making the drive from Rogue River to Medford. But once he got to the track that night, he left Valerie and 14-month-old son Vinny in the grandstands and decided to take a stroll through the pits to chat with friends. DeBenedetti’s only previous Late Model start came last season in home-state driver Rob Mayea’s backup car at Southern Oregon, and that lasted just a few laps before a broken rod disabled the engine and cut short his attempt to complete a Northwest I-5 DIRTcar Late Model Tour main. He’s made other overtures to run in the division with Smith, who has raced modifieds against DeBenedetti for years.

“I’ve actually hinted around several times before about driving his Late Model, but he’s never really taken me seriously, or never wanted to do that,” DeBenedetti said. “I think Saturday night was the first night I didn’t have to say anything.”

Before thinking twice, DeBenedetti slipped into Smith’s firesuit, pulled on Smith’s helmet and jumped into the car. Davison, the team’s crew chief, reassured DeBenedetti.

“His words were: ‘Don’t worry about the car. It’s ready.’ And it sure was, he had a nice setup under it. The racetrack was quite rough. Early in the year here, it’s usually rough due to Mother Nature,” DeBenedetti said. “I almost went a lap down at one point. I was having trouble getting by guys.”

But a few cautions and a few breaks — and increasing seat time in an unfamiliar car — helped DeBenedetti hit his stride in the No. 55.

“I found a few lines on the racetrack, and I was still getting familiar with the car and making the cockpit adjustments I could with brake bias and driver input, and I was still adjusting,” DeBenedetti said. “All the way up to lap 40, I was still figuring out what the car wanted for input to make it fast, as fast as it could be.”

Concentrating on driving, and unfamiliar with many of the cars he was racing against, DeBenedetti wasn’t even sure where he stood most of the race. He’d seen the polesitting Mayea, who had led the entire race, in a pack far ahead of him, and when a caution reset the field, DeBenedetti was surprised when he lined up fifth.

“Once I got to fifth, that’s when the game changed,” he said. “That’s when it clicked in my head, ‘Hey, you can win this thing.’ Up until then, I was just driving the car, and to be honest with you, I didn’t know where I was. … I didn’t know if I was third or 13th.”

DeBenedetti picked up two more spots and stalked front-runners Mayea and Trevor Glaser, overtaking both in the final laps and taking the checkered flag in worst-to-first fashion. The surreal victory lane ceremonies began, and Mayea shook his head when congratulating DeBenedetti.

“He looked at me and said, ‘How’d you go through those bumps like that?’ ” DeBenedetti recalled. “Hanging on for dear life, I can tell you that much.”

Smith, Davison and the rest of the team celebrated the unlikely victory that seemed impossible just an hour earlier.

“It was emotional for everybody,” DeBenedetti said. “Joe Davison was ecstatic. He felt like he was preparing a car that could win, and it did just that. I did my part, but without the car set up right and prepared properly, it wouldn’t have been possible. Dane just said: ‘I knew you could do it, or I wouldn’t have put you in it.’

“It was a shock to me. Most races — I’d say every race I start — I start it to win it. That race, everything happened so fast, I never gave winning much thought. With no hot laps and no laps in the car at all, my intentions were to feel the car out for the first five or 10 laps and see what happened.

“I can’t thank Dane enough for making the decision that he did, and providing me the opportunity to go out there and show what I’ve got, and to Joe for doing such a great job preparing the race car. It was a fairy tale, it really was.”

After mastering the modified division, DeBenedetti relished the chance to race, and succeed, in the Late Models.

“I’m always open to new adventures, and if the opportunity arose to get in a Late Model more often, I would surely entertain the idea,” he said.

“They’re great race cars. I’m more impressed now that I’ve driven one — not because of the success– but I’m impressed with the geometry the front ends offer. It’s very noticeable. I’ve got sensitive hands and a sensitive foot, and if you put a complete race car in front of the steering wheel, it’s a good feeling. The car reacted really well.”

After maneuvering a Late Model in rough conditions, he’d like to try it in smooth and slick conditions. Or any conditions. And next time he’d even bring his own firesuit, helmet and steering wheel.

“That steering wheel will fit any race car,” DeBenedetti said. “It ain’t picky.”

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Crater sprinter Beck is headed to Oregon

Crater sprinter Kelley Beck is headed to the University of Oregon on a track scholarship. He’s making an announcement today at the school. Beck’s strengths for the Comets have been in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, but he’ll likely be asked to use that speed at slightly longer distances in college. I’m not sure of the plans, but I have calls into him and coach Justin Loftus for a story in Thursday’s paper.

Beck’s best 400 time of 49.64 seconds ranks fifth for all classifications in Oregon and No. 1 in Class 5A. His 200 time of 22.54 is second only to teammate Jack Galpin’s 22.31 in 5A. Beck hasn’t run the 100 this spring, but he did recently run the first 800 of his prep career. He clocked an impressive 2:02.40 time in a dual meet against Ashland last week.

“That was fun,” Loftus said at the time.

Perhaps it was done to give the Ducks a glimpse of what Beck can do as a middle distance competitor.

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Great Southern Oregon champ passes away

Atkinson

Atkinson

Bob Atkinson, one of the great competitors in the storied history of the Southern Oregon Golf Championships, passed away on April 22 in Portland. Atkinson captured three men’s division titles in a five-year period (1951, ‘52 and ‘55). Only Eddie Simmons (six) and Dick Hanen (four) have won more in the event’s 80 years. Others with three men’s crowns are Doug Olson, Tony Joyner, Mark Binegar and Brooks Newsom,

I chatted with Atkinson in 2004 for a story about the good old days of the tournament. Here’s an excerpt:

Bob Atkinson had drama, too, but it was off the course. A Portlander who played on the University of Oregon golf team and enjoyed a fine amateur career, Atkinson is one of a half-dozen players to have won three Southern Oregon men’s titles, doing so in 1951, ‘52 and ‘55. During the latter, he was an Air Force ROTC lieutenant stationed in Reno, Nev., and believed he had time to play in the tournament.

“I didn’t expect to go very far and thought I’d be back well in advance,” says Atkinson, 73, who had to report on Labor Day. “As it turned out, I made it to the finals. Geez, here I am in Medford, and I’m supposed to be on the base the next morning.”

He called his superior, explained the situation and got a one-day reprieve. He then defeated Dick Bailey of Redding, Calif., for the crown. Atkinson fondly recalls the Southern Oregon.

“I was always impressed with the number of people that watched,” he says. “They were all over the countryside.”

Then there was this blurb about the tournament that appeared in the Mail Tribune’s “Today in History” five years ago. It’s from 1955, the same year Atkinson wrestled with the aforementioned dilemma:

50 years ago: Two Washington youths, Art Abrahamson, 20, and Larry Wersen, 22, are amateur golfers who have been making the amateur circuit the last two summers on a very limited budget. At the recent Southern Oregon Golf Tournament, the two slept one night on a Rogue Valley Country Club fairway and two other nights in their car. They slept in a motel the final two nights here, thanks to a couple of RVCC members. Abrahamson reached the championship semifinals, losing to Bob Atkinson, Portland, who went on to take the crown. Wersen played in the sixth flight (1955).

Here’s Atkinson’s obituary that appeared Sunday in the Oregonian.

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Catch the Duck spring game on ESPN2 Saturday

If you’re a Duck fan — or just a college football fan — but can’t make it to Eugene Saturday for the annual spring game, you can tune to it on TV. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 2 p.m.

According to Andy McNamara of the Oregon sports info office, the spring game will be a rubber-match game. The defense got the best of the offense in the team’s first scrimmage, then the offense turned the tables in the second and final scrimmage.

Here’s a look at the most recent scrimmage.

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Duke likely to face Ducks in Rose Garden

The Singler brothers will likely be on the basketball court together again this year, but they’ll be on different sides. As is a habit of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, the reigning NCAA champion Blue Devils are expected to come to Oregon again to face the Ducks in the Rose Garden in Portland. The Singlers, Kyle for Duke and E.J. for Oregon, are former South Medford stars.

The game is expected to be Nov. 27.

The last time Duke came west to play Oregon was in 2000. Mike Dunleavy of Portland helped Coach K’s team to a 94-67 win at the Rose Garden.

Here’s a story by Bob Clark of the Eugene Register-Guard.

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Schnugg, teammates end quite a run at Georgia

Medford product Nate Schnugg.

Medford product Nate Schnugg.

Nate Schnugg’s tennis career at Georgia is winding down. The senior from Medford is featured with three other seniors — they are al team captains — who made up the the nation’s strongest recruiting class four years ago. They are fast friends and roommates. Said Schnugg in an article on the Bulldogs’ website:

“I hear a lot of other people on sports teams say they don’t like to live with their teammates because they see each other all the time, and they get sick of each other. I’ve never felt that way with these guys. Four hours a day with these guys is not nearly enough, it’s weird.”

Schnugg is hailed for his competitive spirit, among other things.

Read the story here.

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Singler talks with Dan Patrick about his decision

Kyle Singler will stay at Duke.

Kyle Singler will stay at Duke.

Kyle Singler just appeared on the Dan Patrick radio show, which is televised on DirecTV. He called the show between classes and after a press conference this morning in Durham, N.C. He sat outside the building in his girlfriend’s Honda — he drives it because it’s much nicer than his ’98 Nissan Sentra — and fielded a variety of questions.

 
The first was, which class is he about to attend. It was Wolof, a language class. Wolof is spoken in Senegal. When prodded by Patrick to say something like “take a charge” in Wolof, Singler declined.

“We haven’t learned a lot of basketball terms, yet,” he said.

They talked about his reasons for returning to Duke rather than declaring for the NBA draft. He made his announcement Monday.

“The main ones,” said Singler, “I just really like it here. I felt like if I left I’d kind of miss out on a senior year. Just coming back, I’ll improve as a basketball player and be around people I like. I don’t feel like I want to leave and don’t feel like I’m being pushed out. Just looking at who we have back, I think we have a great chance of repeating what we did this year.”

Of course, what Duke did was win the NCAA championship over Butler, 61-59.

Singler was asked who’s more ready for the NBA, him or Butler star Gordon Hayward.

“I don’t know, Gordon is a great player,” he said. “We kind of play similar. We both bring kind of the same things to the game. I guess you have to ask someone else on that.”

Patrick then asked if Singler thought he wasn’t ready for the pro game.

“Not at all,” said the 6-foot-8 forward. “I do feel I’m ready for the next level. What it was for me, I just really like it here. Being a senior, there are some things I still need to improve on, and one of those things is being more of a leader. Being a senior on this team will help me in that area.”

When Singler told coach Mike Krzyzewski of his decision, he said Coach K didn’t seem surprised, seemed very happy and gave him a hug.

“I think Coach and I share a very unique relationship,” said Singler, “and he did play part in my decision.”

They’ve discussed recently Singler’s game and how it would translate to the NBA.

“I feel that I still have things to prove at the collegiate level,” said Singler. “As a player, I’m very confident and hardly ever afraid. There are still things I want to accomplish. I plan to work hard in the offseason and accomplish those things this coming year.”

Of Butler’s near-miss final shot from half court, on which Singler was decked by a vicious screen, he said: “It hurt a little bit but not that much. I was worried about the shot. I actually had a great view (lying on the court). It was a great shot. I’m still surprised it didn’t go in. That’s how crazy March Madness is. Any moment can change in a second, and that’s just living proof. If that shot goes in, we’re telling a different story.”

Before signing off, Patrick returned to the subject Singler was about to study.

Singler offered a phrase for “hello” and “goodbye” in Wolof. It sounded something like “za luma ligm,” but I’m sure that’s not right. Patrick then asked, “Can you say, ‘I hate North Carolina.’”

“Uh,” said Singler, “no I can’t.”

Then he went to class.

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