Olson put value of players and integrity of program above all else

By JOE ZAVALA
for the Mail Tribune

I guess I'm just too old, or out of touch or both because I just don't get the affection kids have these days for alcohol.

It doesn't taste good, it makes you do stupid things and it lowers your reaction time to that of the Detroit Lions' defense. Yet, the cycle continues: boy graduates from high school; boy moves into dorm room; boy drops suitcase by bed and proceeds directly to nearest bar.

Take the Southern Oregon football team. The Raiders had just picked up their third straight victory Nov. 8 over Western New Mexico when 14 seniors decided to put the reputations of both themselves and the university at risk in order to score some booze. They scored all right — 14 suspensions and a boatload of grief, not to mention some embarrassing phone calls back home to Mom and Dad about why their son will be missing his final collegiate football game.

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I can't imagine the thought process that led up to those fateful decisions.

Raider No. 1: "Man, was that a great win. Finally, we're back to .500 after that 1-4 start. Now, let's just get back to our motel and catch up on homework."

Raider No. 2: "No, we should take it easy, maybe watch the Beavers on TV."

Raider No. 3: "I got it, why don't we drive across the border into Mexico and …"

Bad as it was, things could have turned out much worse for SOU. Raider head coach Jeff Olson could have turned a blind eye. Some of those players could have lied about their involvement. The remaining players could have phoned it in against Eastern Oregon. Thankfully, none of those things happened.

Olson doled out the punishments fairly, players were willing to accept responsibility when the time came and the team went on to beat Eastern convincingly to finish above .500 for the fifth straight year.

Imagine that: An embarrassing chapter in SOU history that could have left a stain upon its reputation for years to come somehow ended up reaffirming the program's strength.

It could have been a defining moment in a Portland Trail Blazers sort of way. Instead, it was a defining moment in a Jeff Olson sort of way.

"This was a huge test for our coaches, our program and the kids," Olson said Sunday, a day after his suspension-depleted squad dumped Eastern 35-12 in La Grande, "and I was very, very pleased with how we responded."

So pleased, in fact, that after the game Olson said during a radio interview that the win over Eastern was his biggest since taking over the program eight years ago — this from a man who led the Raiders to the NAIA national championship series the previous two years.

Above all, the team's unflinching response defused a potentially disastrous situation and helped put it all back into perspective. No, the suspensions are not a reflection of where the program is, nor where it is going. They simply prove once again that people — even Academic All-Americans like Garret Gelker — make mistakes, and that those mistakes are usually followed in direct proportion by consequences. As legendary Oakland Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown said of his performance Sunday, during which a spat with coaches preceded a dropped pass in the end zone, "God don't like ugly."

Olson hopes next year's team takes that example to heart.

"What happened is over," he said. "It's a lesson the guys who are returning, they've made some comments that, 'We've learned, and this isn't going to happen again,' and they're anxious to get going already."

If only those 14 seniors could have that same kind of redemption to look forward to.

Gelker was planning to call it quits after the 2002 season, but he changed his mind because the last-minute playoff loss to Carroll left a bad taste in his mouth. Sedric Ashley donates his time and energy to teaching physical education at a local grade school. Dan Woodward was nearing the end of a great comeback story, during which he dropped out of school, returned and proceeded to lead the Raiders to the 2002 national quarterfinals.

All three gave their blood, sweat and tears to the program throughout their college lives. And all three played their final collegiate games without even realizing it.

It's almost enough to drive a guy to drinking.

Almost.

Joe Zavala is sports editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 482-3456.