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By Craig Degel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 18, 1996
Keith Smith will take the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl in 1998.Tiger Woods will win the Masters in 1998.
I will graduate in 1998.
What do these all have in common? As of now, it's all wishful thinking.
Yes, Keith Smith is a good quarterback. Yes, he is destined to have a great career here. But to expect a Rose Bowl berth from him after his first start as a redshirt freshman is premature and more pressure than anyone deserves.
After all, he's just 20 years old and still trying to define what he is. Is he a quarterback with tailback speed or a tailback with a good arm? I'd vote the former.
And besides, a lot of outstanding quarterbacks never went to the Rose Bowl.
Washington State's Drew Bledsoe? No. Stanford's John Elway? Sorry. Oregon's Dan Fouts? Think again. UCLA's Troy Aikiman? I think you see my point.
And while we're on the subject of the Rose Bowl, I think an interesting fact needs pointing out.
Everyone likes to harp about the UA having never been to the Rose Bowl. Yes, it is pretty embarrassing to be the only team eligible - Arizona joined the Pacific 10 Conference in 1978 - to never have gone. But is that as embarrassing as the fact that Washington State hasn't been since 1931?
Or that California hasn't gone since 1959? I don't think so.
Oh, Oregon State hasn't been since 1965, and I will guarantee you that Arizona will get there before the Beavers do again.
Smith is 20, give him some time.
As for Tiger Woods in 1998 - well, don't count on that either.
Tiger actually has a lot more time to win the Masters than Smith does to get to Pasadena, so the pressure on him is not as great.
Actually, after just three professional tournaments, Woods is doing a lot better than I thought. He has followed up his dismal 60th-place finish in his debut with 11th- and fifth-place finishes.
He has earned about $80,000. That's about $70,000 short of the number he probably will need to get his PGA Tour card for the 1997 season without having to go back to qualifying school.
Just think how much money he'd have if he could have held on to his three-stroke lead in the final round. He blew his lead and a $210,000 payday - not to mention the two-year tour exemption that goes to every tournament winner.
As for my graduation, well, Oregon State might win the Rose Bowl by the time I get out of here.
Sports editor Craig Degel shares his thoughts on sports and life every Wednesday in the Wildcat.
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