I knocked on one of the doors and a member of the security crew let me in.
“I just want to take a photo,” I said. “This may be the last time I ever see Mac Court.”

I walked out to the court as members of the cleanup crew grabbed brooms. In the seats above, someone was getting the job done fast with a blower. As I snapped the photo on cell phone, popcorn got blown into my hair.

We had planned to do a video this week about people’s memories of Mac Court. We were going to talk to West Albany and Crescent Valley fans attending the girls and boys tournaments. It didn’t happen. The three tournament games for which we shot videos were all late ones. We had to get in and out. And though it was the last high school tournament to be played in the 83-year-old gym, there are more games to come.

Before the end of 2010, the Ducks will play volleyball games and non-conference basketball games at Mac Court before moving to the new Matthew Knight Arena in January. Graduation ceremonies will be held there in June.

We’ll do our video farewell to Mac Court and hello to Matt Court in November or December.

During halftime Friday, I looked at drawings of the new place. It will have all the amenties that Mac Court doesn’t have, but it will carry on The Pit’s distinctive ambiance with its tight inlines and steep rows of seats.

Before leaving town, I stopped at the Wendy’s across Franklin Boulevard from the concrete shell of the new arena. The view of the rising Matt Court is a striking one for those of us who haven’t be to Eugene for a while.

Wendy’s had a fair crowd at 10:35 p.m. on a rainy Friday night. After the clerk took my order, I said, “You’re really going to be hopping after games next year.” She nodded and rolled her eyes.

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When I was in high school, Olsen was in the headlines a lot as a member of the Los Angeles Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” defensive line. Later, he used his great voice as a football commentator and television actor. One of his roles was that of a priest in the early ’80s TV series “Father Murphy.”

Around that time, in the summer of 1983, St. Mary’s Catholic Church opened a soup kitchen, which is still in operation today. I volunteered there for three years and served on its board of directors as secretary, meaning I took notes at the meetings.

Joining us for those meetings was St. Mary’s priest, the wonderful and witty Pat Walsh, now the priest at St. Michael’s Archangel parish in Sandy.

I took pretty good notes, but I always messed up when referring to Pat. Somehow in most of the minutes he became “Father Murphy.” I guess I watched too much of the TV show.

At the meetings, Pat and every other member of the board took great delight in my monthly mistake. When we’d get to the review of the previous month’s meeting, I’d hear a chorus of wise cracks. Pat would say things like, “Do I really look like a lineman for the L.A. Rams?”

Merlin Olsen and Pat Walsh did one thing in common, however. They were good guys, and I’m thinking about both of them today.

***
LA Times: ‘Merlin Olsen and a farewell to all that’

Merlin Olsen photos

****
Here’s a YouTube video of “Father Murphy Pilot 1″

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It was 25 years ago this week that the Bulldogs opened play in the 1985 girls state tournament at the Chiles Center in Portland. In the quarterfinal, No. 4 West Albany beat No. 10 McMinnville 42-40 for its first-ever state tournament win. The Bulldogs were knocked out of the tournament in the next game, losing 72-35 to St. Mary’s.

It’s funny how your memory can play tricks. I thought I covered the quarterfinal (I was the DH sports editor back then). Looking through the archives this afternoon, I realized the reporter that day was my colleague Tim Trower, a terrific sports writer who is now with the Medford Mail Tribune. Tim Finnigan, a part-time DH sports writer, covered the second game.

Maybe the memory stands out for me because the Bulldogs were so excited about being at state. I remember a few of the players from that team, including guard Jenny Martinez, who later attended the University of Oregon and worked in real estate in Albany.

I tried to locate Jenny this afternoon, so I called her parents’ home in Albany and reached her mother Bernice. She, too, had thought back to the team of 25 years ago. “The West Albany girls being in the playoffs (this year) reminded me of it,” Bernice said.

Bernice told me that Jenny is a student teacher at Liberty Elementary School, just a couple of dribbles away from her alma mater. I talked with Jenny briefly this afternoon and she came by the DH for a photo.

Jenny (Martinez) Scheele, now 43, lives in North Albany with her husband Brent, a fishing guide and insurance agent, son Ben, 13, and daughter Abby, 10.

“I stayed home with my kids for 12 years,” Jenny says;

She’s looking forward to a new career as a teacher. Next term she’ll be a student teacher at another Albany school she attended, Memorial Middle School. In June, she’ll complete the degree-plus program through Western Oregon University.

Basketball is still a big part of her life, and the hoop outside the Scheeles’ home is the place to play in their neighborhood. “We play all the time,” she says, noting that Ben can now beat her in one-on-one.

West had a cohesive and competitive team in 1985, Jenny says. The team was pumped going into the tournament, with all the players singing during the bus ride from their hotel to the Chiles Center.

“It was such a great memory,” she says.

In the quarter century since then, girls basketball has come long way. “All the girls are at a different level of play,” Jenny says. “They’re more competitive and have a lot more skills.”

She hasn’t seen the Bulldogs play this year, but she has followed them and will be rooting for West in the tournament.

“I’m excited for them,” she says.

*****
Below is a video I shot at the West Albany-Thurston game last Friday night. I found out later that the cheerleader who pops into view early in the video is freshman Riley Mikesell.

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I got about 10 feet from the door when I looked inside and saw that the place had been emptied out. Another guy walked right to the locked door before looking inside. “Wow!” he exclaimed.

I called back to the office to ask if we’d done a story about the closure. I was told there had been a story awhile back about Hollywood closing stores, but Albany apparently wasn’t on the list. On Thursday, Steve Lathrop wrote the front page story, “Hollywood closes its Albany store.”

A reason for the closure was not given in the story, but we can make a safe guess that competition from Netflix, Redbox, On Demand and other download services has taken a major toll on Hollywood Video.

The video store was open 365 days a year. It’s taken a few days for me to get used to seeing an empty Hollywood Video and nearby parking places. The last time that building sat empty was in the late ’80s when Firestone closed its doors.

I’m sorry to see the Hollywood employees lose their jobs, and I’ll miss their good customer service. The manager was a friendly and helpful guy. Whenever I asked for an opinion about a movie, he and his staff weren’t afraid to tell me if it was lousy.

I’ll also miss the sense of community about the store. I’d often bump into someone I knew there. Sometimes I spent as much time yakking as I did perusing the videos.

I love movies, and I won’t waste any time finding another video service. For this week at least, I’m feeling a loss.

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We knew it wasn’t a big box office blockbuster, but we left Darkside that night with the feeling that we had seen the most powerful movie of 2009. “The Hurt Locker” deserved all six Oscars, including Best Picture, that it received tonight at the Academy Awards.

Thanks to brilliant director Kathryn Bigelow and script writer Mark Boal and a great cast and crew for reminding us that the war continues in Iraq and for dedicating their Oscars to our troops.

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I always hate to see the Winter Games competition end, but the closing ceremonies are another story. By the time they showed the video link of the people performing in Red Square, I’d had enough Sunday night. (Russia has a tough act to follow).

For me, the Games really ended about an hour ago when I deleted AP’s Vancouver 2010 Olympics widgets from our websites. There was nothing new on the Winter Games site, but I took a final look at results of the polls that rotated during the Games. Here’s a sampling of those results:

Which is your favorite Canadian city?
Vancouver (45 percent)
Toronto (38 percent)
Montreal (23 percent)

Which sport has the best fashion sense?
Figure skating (49 percent)
Snowboarding (33 percent)
Ice hockey (16 percent)

Which is your favorite sport to do?
Skiing (38 percent)
Ice skating (37 percent)
Snowboarding (25 percent)

Who’s your favorite Canadian singer?
Shania Twain (28 percent)
Neil Young (27 percent)
Celine Dion (22 percent)
Bryan Adams (12 percent)
Avril Lavigne (8 percent)

One problem with this last one: How could they possibly leave Sarah McLachlan and Joni Mitchell off the list?

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I’ll turn on the Olympics in about 30 minutes, then fall asleep by 9:30. Tomorrow morning, I’ll log onto democratherald.com or gazettetimes.com, click on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games icon and find out about everything I missed.

The Associated Press produced the site, which also has loads of photos and videos and a good medals table.

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It’s Feb. 21 and spring is a month away, but it sure felt like it arrived this weekend. We’re not used to seeing the best signs of spring this early, but nobody’s complaining.

Unfortunately, this pre-spring tease is expected to end Monday night. Clouds are supposed to return, and a chance of rain is in the forecast for Tuesday through Sunday.

Well, the sunshine was nice while it lasted. Spring, we’re looking forward to seeing you again next month.

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I heard a lot of that in the newsroom yesterday, and I agree with all of it. But the guy still got up and spoke for 13 1/2 minutes, explaining the hurt and the mess he had caused for his wife, his family and friends, his fans, his sponsors and business associates and the golf world. He took the blame and responsibility for all of it. He didn’t make excuses. He apologized many times.

Millions of people saw the talk, and the reaction to it runs the spectrum. I thought Woods’ words sounded genuine and sincere.

If he really meant what he said — and I think he did — about dedicating himself to becoming the kind of husband, father and role model that he should be, then yesterday’s speech was an important one despite the drawbacks for the media.

For Woods and his family, I hope the speech is part of a path leading to reconciliation and forgiveness.

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We saw the next-to-last performance of “Beauty and the Beast” on Friday night. I entered the theater tired and fully expecting the onslaught of a first-act bob. But it never happened. Turns out, this was one of the best musicals I’ve seen in 26 years of going to productions at ACT. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Community theater doesn’t get better than what we saw on Friday night. The acting, the singing, the dancing, the costumes, the set and the orchestra were all top notch.

There was only one problem: We didn’t give the cast the standing ovation it deserved.

We applauded and laughed enthusiastically throughout the production, but somehow we could not get off our butts when the cast took its bows. Maybe people did in the back rows, but those of us near the front stayed seated. For this, I went away feeling somewhat guilty.

I’m sure if one person had stood, all of us would have jumped to our feet. I’ve initiated standing ovations in the past, but on Friday I was waiting to take my cue from someone else and that someone never stood up. I hope I never repeat that mistake again after an excellent performance.

Today, the cast and crew probably struck the set of “Beauty and the Beauty.” To all of them I want to offer one word: Bravo!

And though you couldn’t see it here, I just stood up by my computer, turned toward Albany Civic Theater about a mile away — and applauded.

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