Emerging Sports of Portland and Oregon

Baseball is in the news again. The Portland Tribune published a special news report on "ReThinking Portland," on how sports is changing and evolving. Quite true. They seem to think that Portland is due for a major league baseball, soccer or hockey team. This may be the case, but our focus is elsewhere.

If cheerleading is a sport at the University of Oregon, and let's say it is, then they'll probably need some sports writers. Not traditional sports writers, but emerging sports writers - those that would be willing to spend hours watching and reporting on cheerleading. If there's enough beer involved, it could be more exciting than wrestlng, and certainly better than watching baseball. It would be interesting, at least, to see where this is headed.

If the Oregon wrestling team finds a way to save their program, that's great. But, the mere fact that the Athletic Department, backed by the entire University, already decided to cut loose the wrestling program a year ago, well that says a lot. Perhaps it is time to start keeping closer tabs on mixed martial arts. Specifically, my friends over at Team Quest and Sportfight, which is yet another emerging sport sensation. Ironically, many local mma fighters got their start as wrestlers in Oregon and Oregon State.

And, if we're going to cover cheerleading, you know we would also have to cover dodgeball. The truth is, there are three dodgeball leagues in Portland, which is the second-largest field in the country, and the fastest-growing. One leage alone reports to have over 4,000 members, which is slightly more than the highest membership of the Oregon Road Runners Club during the peak of the running boom.

Once we say yes to dodgeball, beach volleyball isn't far off. Volleyball is certainly not an emerging sport, but beach volleyball is - at least in Portland. The tricky thing about volleyball is that it was originally a male sport, founded by the YMCA, then accepted into the Olympics with both male and female competition, while as a high school and collegiate sport, it's usually women-only. On the one hand, you have USA Volleyball, the National Governing Body of the sport and the official liason to the Olympics, and then you have the AVP, professionals playing in the sand. Outdoor - sand and grass, is always better for playing than indoor, and better to watch. Also, I like the fact that the official AVP uniform for women are bikinis, while the men wear board shorts. Although we have few places to play close to the city and not a plethora of sunny days, there is a growing beach volleyball contingency in Portland, which is worth looking into.

And talk about the fastest-growing sport in the nation: lacrosse has seen a huge lift in the past few years. Still, there's a large difference between outdoor or field lacrosse which is played by high school and collegiate teams and the professional style of indoor box lacrosse, which is played on a rug atop an ice rink. Yes, the Portland LumberJax might be Portland's fastest-growing professional team. Can baseball, soccer, hockey or even basketbal keep up?

But wait - there's more. Emerging sports in Portland, specifically those that got their start two to four years ago, includes Roller Derby. The Rose City Rollers have a leage of their own here in Portland, including four sparring teams and one all-star team that competes with other cities in the national Women's Flat Track Derby Association.

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And this leaves us with our seventh and last emerging sport, which is MUT, mountain / ultra / trail running. The ultramarathon has been around a while, and has a rich history here in Oregon and the Portland area. But, only recently has USATF started a MUT division, combining support for mountain, ultra and trail running. This segment of the sport will be one of the fastest-growing, and the race courses are usually the most interesting. First, the marathon was the thing everyone wanted to do, and then it was the triathlon. Now, weekend warriors are trying ultramarathons in increasing numbers, and both trail and mountain races are doing what they can to keep up. Watch or participate in the first ever NW Mountain Running Championships this September on Mt Hood, along with the 100K Championships at Where's Waldo in August.

Image courtesy of Montrail & Portland Running Company's Run Like a Girl 10K

History, and a New Era

An alumnus of the University of Oregon, I not only enjoyed the Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene the past two weeks, but also the carnival atmosphere of the Eugene '08 celebration. It is interesting to see how the campus has grown over the years, and heartwarming to find more people able to share in the wonder of Oregon's legacy. But aside from all this, I found something strangely newsworthy.

The University of Oregon's wrestling team has been cut from the athletic roster, a decision the athletic director made in the summer of 2007 in order to make room for the new baseball program. At first, the athletic department explained it was a Title IX necessity, that in order to bring in a new male sport, a smaller, less popular male sport would have to be cut in order to meet federal gender equity regulations. As it turns out, that is not the case at all, and so a mystery hangs in the air, along with a lawsuit.

The Oregon wrestling team and their supporters have been working the past year to do everything they can to save their program. Af first, they gave the athletic department time to reconsider, and raised $3 million under the Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation. After the university refused to reinstate the sport, they formed the non-profit corporation Equity in Athletics in Oregon, from which they could file suit. The county judge agreed that Title IX was not a factor, and the athletic department contended that cutting wrestling was merely a management decision. The wrestlers' preliminary injunction to keep the program was denied, but a hearing is scheduled later this fall on the merits of the athletic department's decision.

Track and Field is safe, as it will always be a part of Oregon's legacy. But, wrestling is also an Olympic sport that has a strong history in Eugene, and it has seemingly been pushed out of the arena by baseball, which could bring in a large amount of money to the university: a popular pasttime, but not an athletic sport. Or, it could be that wrestling, itself, is a dying sport. Has mixed martial arts made that much of an impact that the sport of wrestling, (Greco-Roman, freestyle and United States College) has become void? Is Pac 10 wrestling truly in jeopardy?

And, there is more. In addition to announcing the reinstatement of a baseball program, the U of O has added a new female sport to their roster: cheerleading. The Ducks' cheerleaders are apparently still cheerleaders. They still peform at football games, basketball games, and any other qualifying campus event, in addition to non-campus events that are willing to pay by the hour. Also, they compete with other schools, as in the movie Dodgeball, in the emerging sport known as cheerleading or "cheer". This new cheerleading sport will now be known at the UO as Team Stunts and Gymnastics. (As far as I can tell, they won't be doing actual gymnastics, nor any actual stunts, but the name sounds impressive.) How will this affect gymnastics as we know it, and how will it affect cheerleading?

The Link of the Week is our very own Pac 10: Conference of Champions. Team Stunts and Gymnastics (cheerleading) is not recognized by the NCAA, so who will cheer the cheerleaders?

Running For a Cause

It is common for other participants in the London Marathon to walk up and ask why you are running - meaning not what motivates you, but what cause you are running for. There, all but the fastest runners run for one cause or another - a charity, a foundation, or perhaps a sick friend. And the elite runners are running for their country. Here in Portland and Oregon, where running and athletics is commonplace, you don't need a cause in order to participate. Yet, many races, if not most, have a charity.
There's a race to stop global warming, and a race against global warming. There are runs for dogs, cheetahs, seals, soldiers, children, parks, zoos, and oppressed peoples in distant countries. And, there are several runs for research, conservation, and for curing just about every disease imaginable.
Politics, it seems, is omnipresent, as pretty much any race with a cause may have political implications. Not that these races don't do a lot of good for science, world peace, and the community, but what is most important for us, as runners and walkers? Do we hold races for causes, or do we develop cause-related events so we can race? In the long run, it's probably a little of both. I think it's also important to remember that, structurally, some events are presented by race organizations that may be promoting a cause, while other events are presented by the cause, itself.
Three events locally presented by a cause:
Run for the Cheetah Koman Race For the Cure Run for Congo Women

[photo courtesy of Pine Hollow Tri, a benefit for the Pine Hollow Fire Department]