Looking for soccer memories, women's soccer

The University of Portland has long been one of the nation's top women's soccer programs, sending numerous players onto the U.S. National team - two on this year's World Cup squad, and that's where we're going to start with the Oregonsports History Project, an independent effort to collect memories, memorabilia and contact info helpful to capturing the state's sports history.

Pre's run toward glory

Every once in a while, I like to revisit some of the more dramatic moments in the state's sports history, especially now that they're so available on the internet. Here's the 5,000 meters from the 1972 Munich Olympic Summer Games, where Steve Prefontaine - 21 and still in school at the University of Oregon - finished fourth. A column written two decades later quoted the runner who finished third and got the bronze, Ian Stewart of England, quoted him as saying he wished he hadn't finished ahead of Pre because he hadn't been part of the lead pack in the closing lap, making Prefontaine much more worthy of the medal that he was. Especially after Prefontaine died three years later and didn't get a chance for another Olympic run.
Here's the 5,000 final. A great race.

Chuck Kearney on Rick Sanders

Rick Sanders and Steve Prefontaine. Kind of a similar duo of guys, each at the 1972 Olympics. Sanders won a silver, Pre won a bronze ... almost. Dude from England dove across the line to capture the bronze as Pre was dead after trying to actually win.
The video of "Grizzly" Rick Sanders is just a short clip, but you get a sense of his look and his flexibility, which Chuck Kearney comments on. The online stories about Sanders and his weight loss/then gain abilities are fabulous. What a guy.
Kearney, an Oregon great and coach of the UO program until it got thrown on its back so the school could add baseball and women's stunting, got some personal coaching from Sanders as a youngster.
Sanders and Prefontaine.
They both went out early. In auto accidents.

Looking for Rick Sanders

The state wrestling championships are in Portland Friday and Saturday and that's always a time for some great photos. Wrestling is a great sport to photograph - lots of emotion. I'm going to try and track down some people who knew or remember Rick Sanders, an amazing wrestler at the international level who died in a car accident while hitch-hiking through Europe after the 1972 Olympics. I found a video of him winning a match in those games - he won the silver. Also won silver in the '68 Games.
And, he's from Lincoln High.
Very grainy, but love the beard. He looks like a 125-pound Grizzly Adams.

Anyone remember him?

Working the system

Here's the first of what should be many, many posts regarding the history of sports in Oregon. Currently, I'm working on short bios for the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame web site, and am having fun with that. It's a fun experience to discover how many different groups have a Hall of Fame, so, so many. I'll be working to integrate content from this blog into my home site, oregonsports.com, so please feel free to contribute everything you can relating to the sports history of the state.
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