Wyoming Man Gets 70 Months For Bank Robbery

Act 1 Appeals Ruling That Prevents Group Home 
Appeal Calls Interpretation Of City's Zoning Laws Invalid

Thursday, December 22, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





OK men, let's win it for Tonya &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As he has been preparing his team for the daunting task of facing Penn
State in the Rose Bowl in 11 days, University of Oregon coach Rich Brooks has
been talking about what a great reaction the Ducks have received upon winning
the &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pac-10 Conference titleHe's talked about not being able to walk down the
street in Eugene, the university's hometown, without seeing people wearing
"Gang Green" shirts (symbolic of the Oregon defense) or shirts proclaiming the
Ducks' trip to the Rose Bowl. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's a far cry from the days when one of Brooks' assistants wanted to give
a nickname to his defense, to which the head coach said, "We just better play
well enough to have a nickname." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's also a far cry from the concept most Pennsylvanians have of Oregon,
especially the vast majority of Pennsylvanians who, like myself, have never
been to that state. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Until this year, the only two sports images of Oregon that stood out for me
were of Steve Prefontaine and the Portland Trail Blazers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Trail Blazers, of course, won an NBA title with Bill Walton, Maurice
Lucas and Dave Twardzik 17 years ago. They have also sold out virtually every
home game they've ever played. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Steve Prefontaine, for those of you younger than 25, was an outstanding
distance runner in the early 1970s. And for many years, Eugene has been one of
the leading hot spots for the sport of track and field in the United States. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A star at Oregon, Prefontaine was a hard-charging, intense runner who
seemed to break the clean-cut mold established in the 1960s by Jim Ryun and
Marty Liquori. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the 1972 Olympics, he finished fourth by a matter of inches in the 5,000
meters. He was expected to do well in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, but a
year or two before those Games, he was killed in a car crash in Oregon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So, except for the Trail Blazers, there wasn't much to say about Oregon for
a long time. Then, earlier this year, came the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan
fiasco. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And every day, when we turned on the television, we saw this little blond
girl running in and out of a mobile home, or screaming at people to stay away
from her truck, or being carried around piggyback by some guy. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And, occasionally, we saw her skating in Portland. Finally, the Winter
Olympics came, Harding flopped in her attempt at a medal, and since then we've
all retained our sanity a bit. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In fact, Tonya recently appeared in a Christmas show in Oregon, playing
Mrs. Santa Claus or something like that as a way to pay back the people of
that state for supporting her during her crisis. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Don't you just love happy endings? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And what would be a happier ending for Oregon, the state that suffered
through what happened to Steve Prefontaine and Tonya Harding, than to beat
Penn State in the Rose Bowl? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 People in our fine commonwealth are making wisecracks, saying their local
high school league has produced more pro football players than a university
that has sent Mel Renfro, Dan Fouts, Ahmad Rashad (formerly known as Bobby
Moore) and dozens of other lesser-known active players such as J.J. Birden and
Gary Zimmerman to the NFL. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Remember, though, it was a super-confident Pennsylvania team, the
Philadelphia 76ers of 1977, who carried the slogan "We owe you one," into
their NBA Championship Series against a team from Oregon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They won the first two games and appeared ready to sweep. They never won
again after that, as Portland swept the next four and won the NBA title. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This isn't to suggest Penn State's going to lose to Oregon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But it is to say that you shouldn't underestimate a team from a state that
has had more than its share of bad times when it comes to its sports heroes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If you had gone to Las Vegas before the season and looked at the odds of
Oregon going to the Rose Bowl or winning the Pac-10, you'd be pretty wealthy
right now," Brooks said recently. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nothing indicates that Rich Brooks is planning to address his team minutes
before the Rose Bowl, and to tell his Ducks to go out and win one for Steve
Prefontaine, or even for Tonya Harding. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But it probably wouldn't hurt to try. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bill Savage is a Times Leader sports writer. His column appears Tuesday and
Thursday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ok Men, Let's Win It For Tonya 
As He Has Been Preparing His Team For The Daunting Task Of Facing Penn State 
In The Rose Bowl In 11 Days, University Of Oregon Coach Rich Brooks Has Been 
Talking About What A Great Reaction The Ducks Have Received Upon Winning The 
Pac-10 Conference Title.

Ok Men, Let's Win It For Tonya As He Has Been Preparing His Team For The Daunting Task Of Facing Penn State In The Rose Bowl In 11 Days, University Of Oregon Coach Rich Brooks Has Been Talking About What A Great Reaction The Ducks Have Received Upon Winning The Pac-10 Conference Title.