If you are wondering, the music is Moby’s “God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters” (as featured in “Heat”).

JJ

[Update 2/21/08: You can take a look at footage of the the Oregon plane being painted here, the Oregon State plane being painted and in use here, and the Washington plane being painted here.]

What does a PR move by Horizon have to do with sports? Let’s put it this way: Horizon did not decide to decorate their planes with these four school’s decals because of their Microbiology Departments (and Oregon has a very good Microbiology department).

As cool as they look, I have to confess that it will be difficult for me to fly on an OSU, UW, or WSU plane.

Would you be able to will yourself into flying on a Beaver, Husky, or Cougar plane?

JJ

Press Release
12/14/2007 6:01 am (PT)

SEATTLE – Horizon Air today unveiled plans to honor four of the largest public universities in Oregon and Washington by painting four 70-seat CRJ-700 jets in university colors and marks. The special themed planes will be created for Oregon State University, University of Oregon, University of Washington and Washington State University – at no cost to the universities.

The aircraft will be painted one at a time starting in late December in the following sequence: WSU, Oregon, OSU and Washington, reflecting the order in which agreements were reached for Horizon to use their trademarked logos and symbols. The painting will take about 10 days per aircraft. The date each freshly painted aircraft will be entered into service will be announced later, as soon as it’s determined.

The four jets were already scheduled to be repainted. They recently returned to Horizon’s fleet after flying under contract for nearly four years as Frontier JetExpress. Because of the timing, the new looks will involve no additional painting cost to Horizon.

Horizon has regularly accommodated passengers associated with the four universities. Seattle (home to Washington), Pullman (WSU) and Eugene (Oregon) were among the first seven cities Horizon served upon its founding in 1981. OSU is the only school of the four that isn’t located in a Horizon destination, but Corvallis is just a short drive from both Portland and Eugene.

“Like Horizon, these four state universities are deeply rooted in the Great Northwest. When we explored the possibility of creating special liveries that reflect our Northwest heritage, these venerable institutions easily rose to the top of the list,” said Dan Russo, Horizon’s director of marketing and communications. “By flying their colors – and the colors of their rivals – we’re aiming to add fun to the flying experience. We expect this will thrill fans of the school teams, and put a smile on the faces of graduates, current students and university staff.”

The aircraft will operate on routes normally designated for jet service in Horizon’s regular schedule. Those routes include service from Portland to Northern and Southern California, and from Seattle to Santa Barbara, Fresno, and Reno. Horizon uses all of its aircraft in its regular flight schedule (including backup aircraft), so the airline expects to have extremely limited opportunities to use these university-themed planes for charters or other special assignments.

Named 2007 Regional Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine, Horizon today serves 48 cities throughout California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and British Columbia and Alberta. Together, Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines serve 92 cities and are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK).

Artist renderings of the planned aircraft liveries are available in high-resolution format by visiting the Horizon Air Newsroom’s Image Gallery.

Press Release
Eugene, OR
December 14, 2007

KEZI 9 will provide college basketball fans in western Oregon the opportunity to watch the Oregon Ducks take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers live at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 15, 2007, station officials announced today. KEZI 9 will carry the basketball game as the Oregon Sports Network affiliate based in Eugene, Oregon.

“We’re always striving to serve local viewers and bring them coverage of our local teams,” said Mark Hatfield, KEZI 9 General Manager. “As the Oregon Sports Network affiliate, and the exclusive home of the Oregon Ducks, we’re extremely pleased and proud that we can bring this Duck basketball game to the fans.”

ABOUT CHAMBERS COMMUNICATIONS

Chambers Communications, headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, is the parent company of Oregon ABC affiliates KEZI 9 in Eugene, KDRV 12 in Medford, KDKF 31 in Klamath Falls and KOHD 51.1 in Bend; KEZI 9 has newsrooms in Corvallis, Eugene, Roseburg and Coos Bay; Chambers Sports, an Oregon-based regional sports company; Chambers Cable of Sunriver, Oregon; Chambers Productions, a full-service film and video production company based in Eugene, Oregon; and CMC.NET, an Oregon-based internet service provider. The 100,000-square-foot complex occupies 8 acres and provides creative production services for entertainment, industrial and advertising clients as well as production facilities for original specials, series and syndicated programming.

By Ryan Monett
Special To Duck Sports News

It’s hard to describe, in a way that only Duck fans can know, the tremendous ups and downs, emotional roller coaster if you will, of this season.

Oregon was poised and in-control of their destiny, at No. 2 in the BCS (see National Championship), the Heisman front-runner at the helm, and with media converge unprecedented in the history of Oregon Football. ESPN GameDay visits Eugene, twice in one season. We finally were able to be Oregon Football again.

Then, stunned disbelief. . .

“Dixon Down”

Throw out the above description of Oregon; it’s almost a foreign, fairy-tale at this juncture.  Fast forward to now. Oregon wasn’t able to even score at UCLA. Lost to the pleasure of cocky, wanna-be-the-bad-boy Mike Stoops - a stab for sure to Oregon after his bro’s Oklahoma team was unable to win last season. Then a glimmer of hope on the first day of December.  So close to ending with a somewhat positive, respectable 9-3.

When Dixon went down, this team lost so much more than a great QB and leader.

Expired were confidence, belief, and faith.

Faith in themselves.  Belief in each other.  And confidence in both.

Those core elements of faith, belief and confidence, are the core that translates a team from pretty good, to a National Championship Title team.  And until Oregon finds a way to fix this, their worst enemy is themselves, and the medium between greatness and pretty good will linger.

Oregon can restore the glory and passion.  Find a way.  No excuses. Image is nothing without the action of doing.

Oregon, you just show ‘em.

Before the Sun sets on December 31st. Let twilight be glimmering with more than a win on that final day of the year.

Let it radiate with a silent statement to ourselves and all of college football.

We’re the Ducks.

Media Release

EUGENE, Ore. – USA Track & Field and the U.S. Olympic Committee on Wednesday announced their intent to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field in Eugene, Oregon, USATF CEO Craig Masback announced Wednesday. The announcement was made at an afternoon press conference on the University of Oregon campus.

Eugene, which next year will host the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field, also will host the 2009 and 2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Masback announced.

Site of the 1972, ‘76, ‘80 and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field and the 1999 and 2001 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field will be the site of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, where the roster for Team USA will be selected for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In 2009, Team USA will select its roster for the 2009 IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Berlin, Germany, and 2011 will see the selection of the American squad for the 2011 IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Heading back to Track Town

The Oregon Track Club, along with its partners the University of Oregon, local and state government, corporate sponsors and the local community, is the official host for the three championship meets. In its successful bid for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field, the Oregon Track Club and Eugene ’08 local organizing committee put their focus on enhancing the experience for athletes and coaches, while providing a celebratory atmosphere for fans and the community. It is that approach that helped convince USATF to return to Track Town, USA, for four of the next five years.

“The commitment of Eugene, its local organizers and the entire community to track and field is unprecedented,” Masback said. “Ticket packages for the 2008 Olympic Trials sold out months ago, and already you can feel a buzz in the air here about the event, from the banners at the airport to the construction going on at Hayward Field. There is no place quite like Track Town, USA, and we look forward to returning here as we move through the next Olympic Games cycle.”

“The magnitude of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for track and field deserves a host that is passionate about the sport and that can provide the best competitive environment,” said Steve Roush, USOC Chief of Sport Performance. “The U.S. Olympic Committee is confident that the city of Eugene is ready to demonstrate that next year and we look forward to a continued partnership with USA Track & Field and Eugene in making the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials even better.”

For 2008, Eugene is expanding seating at Hayward Field, upgrading the competition and warm-up areas, upgrading media facilities and staging expansive new athlete programs. The site of the most prestigious invitational track meet in the country, the Nike Prefontaine Classic, Eugene has long been dubbed “Track Town, USA” for its rich track and field history and the community’s appreciation of the sport. The Nike Prefontaine Classic regularly draws standing-room-only crowds, while athletes consistently rate Hayward Field as having one of the most compelling atmospheres of any stadium in the world.

“We like to think that Eugene is the spiritual home for track and field in the United States, and we wanted to make it the physical home, as well,” said Vin Lananna, associate athletic director at the University of Oregon, which also will host the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships. “Bringing the USA Championships and U.S. Olympic Team Trials back to Hayward Field for multiple years was a huge priority for us. We are thrilled with the news announced today.”

The largest national championship track meet in the world, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field hosts more than 1,000 athletes as they compete for the right to represent Team USA at the Olympic Games. More than 350,000 fans attended the last two U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, and at each edition of the meet, more than 1,000 members of the media from around the world cover the event while thousands of volunteers and officials provide support.

If you were to reboot college football’s post-season, what would it look like? BCS? Bowls? Playoffs? “The Sports Idol” has an idea.

Justin advances his “Perfect Playoff System” with Round 1 results.  Take a listen here.

Check back next week for Round 2 results.

Join the “Virtual Playoff” - Vote on each game - see who the virtual national champion would be!

You can catch “The Sports Idol” with Justin Myers on ESPN Radio 1320 “The Score” Monday through Friday between 3:00pm and 6:00pm.

For all the latest Duck headlines, check out DuckSportsNews.com.

Oregon is like Shakespeare … it’s a hard read.

They average over 90 points a game. They are beating the teams they are supposed to (except a letdown at St. Mary’s where they were without Bryce Taylor). They even had a signature road win at Kansas State.

But the Ducks do not have a “Wow!” factor to them yet. They are business-like. For the past fifteen years, the Atlanta Braves have been known throughout baseball as a business-like team. They went out and won. And they usually won enough to clinch the division. They were supposed to win.

Oregon reminds me of that mindset. They come out without much flare and win quietly by 15-20 points. They defeat Sacramento St. 93-66, and do it so quietly. There’s no pizzazz to the Ducks. Joevan Catron went for a career-high 20 points tonight and it was hardly noticeable. Fans were not thinking, “Wow, Catron is dominating.” Catron did have some nice moves on the inside, but you wouldn’t consider him a dominate inside presence.

I was personally surprised to hear that Maarty Leunen had 18 points at halftime. He wound up with 23 points. But again, we were not all sitting there thinking, “Maarty is having a big game tonight.”

So I guess the main question is: “Are the Ducks for real?”

The road win at Kansas State was legit. The Wildcats should make the NCAA tournament. Michael Beasley makes that team that good. Oregon went into Manhattan, Kansas and won (something Cal attempts to do). Oregon goes to Michigan to take on Oakland, a homecoming of sorts for Malik Hairston and Tajuan Porter (It’s too bad to go all that way and not take on Michigan St.). The only well-known name left in the non-league schedule is Nebraska on Saturday (11 a.m., OSN).

But unfortunately, Ducks fans are going to have to wait until the start of the Pac-10, a league that is the toughest in the country from top to bottom. The non-league schedule has been weak. When Kansas St. is the marquee match-up on the schedule, let’s just say Oregon’s RPI won’t be through the roof. The Ducks open conference play Jan. 3 and 5 with the Arizona schools. The Sun Devils are first, followed by the Lute Olsen-less Wildcats. If Oregon gets through that trip 2-0, then we’ll all have a better gage on whether these Ducks are, indeed, for real.

Don Smalley
DSN Contributor

(No audio on video.)

For further reading on John Boyett, take a look at “Bee Player of the Year: Boyett not afraid to get dirty”.

First Round Game: (#1) Ohio State (#9) West Virginia

	Ohio State vs West Virginia
	Ohio State
	West Virginia