In a small town, this Kamikaze Kid lived large
The day that Bruce Coldren took down UCLA 48 years ago, there were 10,000 maniacal fans turning Oregon’s old McArthur Court into a prison riot. Saturday, when they had a memorial for Coldren in the high school gym in Lowell, Ore., there were maybe 250 in attendance....
A paper, and a sports editor, who left their marks
On the night of Sept. 18, 1971, Blaine Newnham had an idea. At 29 then, only a week into a long stint as the sports editor of the Eugene Register-Guard, Newnham herded his troops together in the old press box at Autzen Stadium, and we did the stuff...
For a night, the Kamikaze Kids ride again
The stories flowed, as did a beer or two. The occasion was an impromptu reunion of the Kamikaze Kids last Thursday night in conjunction with the Oregon-UCLA basketball game at Matt Knight Arena in Eugene. Though their presence went unremarked, and maybe a majority in the house...
The SI cover boy confronts a physical nightmare
As faithful readers of the “Mad Hoops” website may have known, we did a book signing Dec. 18 at Matt Knight Arena – Freudian slip there; I began typing “McArthur Court” (old habits die hard). We had a distinguished foursome of players from the Kamikaze Kids era of...
The night Dick Harter launched a tape-measure shot
Fifty years. Fifty years, plenty of time to mull the hair-trigger personality of Dick Harter, and how any little perceived affront could send him over the ledge, tumbling to places one would never think possible of the human species. At least that segment of it to which a...
They called it a Classic, and it was
Winter has tightened unrelenting claws on the Northwest, and if you’re ancient enough to recall the glory days of the Far West Classic in Portland, it’s all very fitting. The tournament – in its glorious, eight-team iteration – would take place between Christmas and the New Year,...
A warm night with the Kamikazes
“Are you Ronnie Lee?” a 40-something Oregon basketball fan asked, with a mixture of certitude, wonder and excitement in his voice. Yes, it was Ronnie Lee, Oregon’s career scoring leader still. And it was also Doug Little — the Cowboy — and Ken Stringer and Burt Fredrickson,...
50 years ago tonight, it began to get crazy in Eugene
Yep. If you weren’t already feeling a little long in the tooth, this might do it: Exactly 50 years ago tonight, on Dec. 1, 1971, the Kamikaze Kids basketball era of Coach Dick Harter launched at the University of Oregon. The Ducks met Montana at McArthur Court...
Mike Drummond: Teaching an old Bulldog new tricks
The kids Mike Drummond teaches occasionally find out he played college basketball. Their world is LeBron and Steph and Giannis. “How come you didn’t play in the NBA?” they’ll ask. Well, for starters, he’s 5-foot-8. As it was, it was fairly remarkable that he carved out such...
Ernie Kent: Never a dull moment
Ernie Kent is in Scottsdale, Ariz., now, able to reflect on where he’s been, and where he still wants to go. “It’s almost identical,” he said, comparing the desert weather to his seven-year fling in the ‘80s as a coach in Saudi Arabia. “You’re able to have...