Post by wrestlingpublicist on Feb 17, 2008 15:07:16 GMT -5
The following is the text of a handbill distributed by Oregon's wrestling team and its supporters from the Further bus in front of McArthur Court on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 16, 2008. See the front page of the web site for more details.
How do you suppose Ken Kesey would feel about this? Outraged? Disgusted? Heartsick?
Long before Ken Kesey penned One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Sometimes A Great Notion, he was a wrestler. He was an Oregon guy and wrestling is an Oregon sport. And he was one of Oregon’s best. A rugged individualist, he was drawn to the challenge, honor and purity of the sport. He believed it instilled valuable lifetime qualities such as courage, tenacity, and self-reliance. After Ken’s son Jed was killed in a van accident while traveling as a member of the UO wrestling team, he searched long and hard for meaning, wondering if all that hard work and punishment his son endured was worth it. Finally, he decided that there is a wonderful spirit uniquely revealed through the crucible of sports, and without this spirit, we fall short of our potential as individuals, and as teammates.
So, now here we are, invoking Ken’s name to save the sport that he cherished above all others.
“Hank Stamper and Randall McMurphy share most of Dad’s traits. They were tough, and they fought for the truth! He always fought for what he truly believed was correct, he fought for the little guy, and against injustice...HE WOULD FIGHT IN THIS BATTLE!”
We have to keep fighting. There is too much at stake. If we give up on wrestling there will be a reckoning. Maybe subtle at first, but if you look around at self-satisfied society and wonder what happened to our toughness, our willingness to sacrifice, our determination, and our stomach for standing up to bullies, well, maybe then you’ll wonder why they ever cut wrestling.
Kesey’s Hank Stamper advised us to “Take what you need and let the rest go by.“ Now our athletic administrators grab with both hands all they can to build huge sports palaces where they’ll charge usmore to see games that take us ever further away from the heart and soul of true sports competition.
This doesn’t have to be our legacy.
We can Save Oregon Wrestling. And we can save ourselves in the process.
It’s what Ken would want us to do.[/size]
On July 13, 2007, UO athletic director, Pat Kilkenny announced he was cutting Oregon’s storied wrestling program. Then he offered wrestling a chance to save itself if wrestling’s supporters could resolve the issues of funding, Title IX and facility. So we did. But now Kilkenny says he doesn’t care how much we raise or offer to build. He’d rather turn his back on our millions, our sons, the educational mission of the university, and kill the dreams of many future athletes while he plays a bigger money game to fund his arena with $200 million state \bonds.
How do you suppose Ken Kesey would feel about this? Outraged? Disgusted? Heartsick?
Long before Ken Kesey penned One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Sometimes A Great Notion, he was a wrestler. He was an Oregon guy and wrestling is an Oregon sport. And he was one of Oregon’s best. A rugged individualist, he was drawn to the challenge, honor and purity of the sport. He believed it instilled valuable lifetime qualities such as courage, tenacity, and self-reliance. After Ken’s son Jed was killed in a van accident while traveling as a member of the UO wrestling team, he searched long and hard for meaning, wondering if all that hard work and punishment his son endured was worth it. Finally, he decided that there is a wonderful spirit uniquely revealed through the crucible of sports, and without this spirit, we fall short of our potential as individuals, and as teammates.
So, now here we are, invoking Ken’s name to save the sport that he cherished above all others.
“Hank Stamper and Randall McMurphy share most of Dad’s traits. They were tough, and they fought for the truth! He always fought for what he truly believed was correct, he fought for the little guy, and against injustice...HE WOULD FIGHT IN THIS BATTLE!”
--Zane Kesey Ken’s oldest son, and like his father, a former UO wrestler.
We have to keep fighting. There is too much at stake. If we give up on wrestling there will be a reckoning. Maybe subtle at first, but if you look around at self-satisfied society and wonder what happened to our toughness, our willingness to sacrifice, our determination, and our stomach for standing up to bullies, well, maybe then you’ll wonder why they ever cut wrestling.
Kesey’s Hank Stamper advised us to “Take what you need and let the rest go by.“ Now our athletic administrators grab with both hands all they can to build huge sports palaces where they’ll charge usmore to see games that take us ever further away from the heart and soul of true sports competition.
This doesn’t have to be our legacy.
We can Save Oregon Wrestling. And we can save ourselves in the process.
It’s what Ken would want us to do.[/size]