THRIFTWAY FAR WEST CLASSIC

From my days as an itinerant sports information director. – JDW

If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work. – Shakespeare.

There’s something special about the Far West Classic because there’s something special about college basketball.

Magic. Giant men with the grace of ballet dancers soaring through the air high above ten-foot goals.

Mayhem. These same giants fighting for all too little real estate under the backboard, trying to occupy the same space at the same time. Immovable objects, irresistible force: push comes to shove.

Mastery. A Lilliputian guard juggles the ball behind his back, launches himself into a forest of outstretched arms, hangs airborne longer than believable, then spins the ball of the glass, barely kissing the threads for an improbable score.

Better than radio. Better than television, even cable. No synchronized team disco gladiator roller fly fishing here. The Far West Classic is true sport, the way games are meant to be played.

Like a round of golf on a sunny day.

In its 37th year, the Classic is one of the nation’s oldest holiday tournaments. One of the most respected. The Classic has a tradition so rich, it should be ranked in Forbes or Fortune magazines. The only thing cheap about the Classic are ticket prices. A SEASON ticket for ALL four games is $ . In these days of soaring entertainment costs, that’s one of the greatest bargains in sports.

The Far West Classic is as much carnival as it is competition. Constant entertainment.

The fun doesn’t stop when the ball quits bouncing. There is something going on every single minute of the Far West Classic. (Your host golf tournament, itself more exciting than springtime at a pig farm, is hesitant to make a similar claim.)

Halftime entertainment often features high school drill and dance teams, youngsters as dedicated and as energetic as any bigtime scholarship athlete. These kids work hard and the hard work is obvious. The most jaded spectator will find his heart whelmed by the precisely executed performances. Good sequins, too.

The 1993 Thriftway Far West Classic shapes up as competitive as any in the past, a fan’s delight. Let’s take a look at the squads that will be banging the boards, crashing the glass, hoisting the rocks, tossing the bricks.

Let’s talk hoops. In alphabetical order…

The Beavers from Oregon State are the backbone of the Classic. Coach Jim Anderson knows best. In the entire history of this man’s life, the Classic has only missed a year or two. When Anderson’s body had an out-of-state experience. Coach was an all-star performer back when the Classic still used peach baskets for rims. Before the swish was born. Way back. Back, back, back.

After a rebuilding year, the Beavers are rebuilding still, because Anderson is a great leader. Look forward to seeing a healthy Brent Barry, a string-puppet of a point guard who makes his dad, NBA Hall Of Fame gunner, Rick, seem positively shy when attacking the twine. Barry, Jr. is a wonderment. And Anderson will have a battle-tested core of hardened lettermen returning to accompany their main man. As we go to press, OSU scouts still comb the Siskiyou Mountains looking for Bigfoot.

The Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama. Did somebody mention Bigfoot? Has anyone thought to look in Birmingham? Montgomery? Notice the second and third picks in the National Football league draft were defensive linemen for the Tide?

That’s right. The toughest, fastest, most agile, nastiest guys in college football come from the University of Alabama. The only reason they are not on the school’s basketball team is because they’re too short.

That’s right. The Crimson Tide is gifted with some of the finest talent to grace the hardwood. Playing these guys, in fact, gives new meaning to the term, hardwood.

The Ducks of the University of Oregon. Year in, year out, the Ducks are one of the favorites to win the championship. Great cheerleaders, awesomely fun pep band, talented mascot – that dynamic duck will do anything the law allows for a laugh.

Despite their frolicsome, herbivorous image, the Ducks traditionally play some hard ball of their own. Coach Jerry Green is anxious to make a winning impression and a prestigious Classic championship would advance the program’s already accelerating turnaround. This could be the year of the Ducks.

If we had predicted an earthquake in last year’s program, you wouldn’t have believed us then either.

The Pilots of the University of Portland are welcomed back into the Classic this year. Coach Larry Steele’s troops fill every minute played. There is no letting up. “The opportunity to participate in one of the finest tournaments in the country, with Oregon State and Oregon is very exciting,” says Steele, a collegiate star at Kentucky. “What makes the Classic even more exciting is it’s in our hometown.”

With Steele’s retired Trail Blazer jersey, No. 15, hanging overhead in the Coliseum rafters, the Pilots’ Classic appearance holds special meaning for the team. In his seventh year on the Bluff, Steele is no longer considered the best player on the squad. It’s not just that he’s lost a step, step and a half, the kids are better, too.

A fine collegiate field, perhaps most noteworthy for its parity, this year’s Far West Classic promises another scintillating shootout. Suitable for the whole family.

With the possible exceptions of church, a Christmas tree farm, and your nearest Thriftway, there’s no better way to get into the holiday spirit.