August 31, 2008
By Jay Jones

Last year, DSN co-owner Ryan Welch and I got in the habit of text messaging each other during football and basketball games like a couple of nimble-fingered 15 year-old girls, minus the BFFL, LEMENO, IMO, and OTTOMH lingo.

Out of those incredibly juvenile, adolescent, snarky, reactionary, superficial, Tweet-like, and immediate exchanges, we managed to salvage something mildly entertaining (at least to us), “10 Quick Hits”.

Here’s our Washington edition:

Pre-Game Warmups:

- Talked to Josh Wilcox. Trying to get him to interview his brother, Boise State Defensive Coordinator, Justin Wilcox. Will a six-pack do it, Josh?

- Talked to Ron Finley, Oregon’s Wrestling Coach Emeritus, and his son, Mike. I have to hand it Coach Finley. Even though the university cut his wrestling program and he is part of a lawsuit against the university to reinstate the program (which he assured me is ready to go if they win their case), he’s there at the game cheering on his Ducks. Wrestlers never quit. And Ron Finley has never quit being a Duck fan.

- According to Duck Vision, a certain Assistant Women’s Golf Coach celebrated her 25th birthday on Saturday.

1. Looks like the Duck Vision screen got bigger as the cheerleaders’ outfits got smaller.
2. Jake Locker was at his most accurate when landing a kick to Patrick Chung’s “secondary”.
3. Terrance Scott is fast.
4. Last year’s game against the Huskies never really ended.
5. Six out of seven of the flag girls were in synch. Isn’t that a Meatloaf song?
6. Jake Locker is not Tim Tebow.
7. Ty Willingham is not making it through the season.
8. Pac-10 officials are bad.
9. Déjà vu. U of O students and administrators clearly didn’t learn any lessons from the Pit Crew vs. Kevin Love incident (George Schroeder is right.).
10. (Overheard) Justin Roper’s interception was the biggest floater since Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo.

Hey, it’s the Washington game. So, we’ll go to 11 on this one.

11. The Duck Vision screen looks just as good as the audio sounded bad.

Post-Game:

I want to apologize to the couple DSN almost broke up after the game. At my prompting, a DSN sales & marketing representative presented a gentleman with a DSN card. However, this particular representative is an attractive young woman and the gentleman’s girlfriend was none too happy…and promptly took the card and threw it away.

Get all your sports news on the Oregon Ducks at DuckSportsNews.com. Innappropriate comment? Let us know. Spam filters are set on high. Please be patient for your comments to be posted.

Be Jay’s Facebook friend. Join DSN’s Facebook group.

Media Services
August 31, 2008

EUGENE – University of Oregon senior offensive tackle Fenuki Tupou served a one game suspension in the Ducks’ 44-10 win over Washington Saturday night for receiving improper benefits from the representative of a professional sport management firm.

Tupou self-reported his actions to the athletics department’s Executive Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance Bill Clever Wednesday of last week, and turned the monetary benefit over to the department’s compliance office. Clever immediately notified the Pacific-10 Conference and the NCAA, who in turn notified the NFL Players Association, the labor union which oversees professional sports agents and financial advisors. The NFLPA does not permit its members to induce current student-athletes with cash or gift benefits.

Tupou reportedly met with Tim Norling of the Phoenix, Ariz., firm of LMM Sports Management at a local Eugene restaurant in July. Norling paid for the $10 meal and at the conclusion of the meeting handed Tupou five $20 bills in their parting handshake.

The NFLPA lists Ethan Lock, Eric Metz and Vance Malinovic as the top certified associates of the LMM Sports Management firm.

Tupou alleges that he tried to return the cash benefit to Norling several times but was refused. According to NCAA bylaws, it is permissible for student-athletes to meet with agents. However it is impermissible to accept any benefits or enter into any formal agreement until a student-athlete’s eligibility has expired.

The day after he self-reported the meeting, Tupou requested permission to address his teammates and admit his infraction. Late Friday afternoon, the NCAA handed down a one-game suspension and also ordered Tupou to donate the improper inducement and the cost of the $10 meal to charity.

“I’m sorry that I allowed myself to be put in this situation,” Tupou said. “I apologized to my teammates and coaches. It will not happen again.”

The 6-6 330-pound Sacramento standout opened 12 of 13 games a year ago, including the last eight games in 2007, and was named the most outstanding lineman in Oregon’s 56-21 Sun Bowl win over South Florida last season.

Mike Bellotti was on ESPN Radio’s, The Herd, with Colin Cowherd this morning. Click here to listen.

By Jay Jones, August 24, 2008

Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend is full of mysteries.

Why does only one elevator go down to the parking level?

Will staff actually have to use Segways to get around?

Why does the lobby look like the Overlook Hotel from The Shining?

And why was this semi-trailer parked on the northeast side of the hospital on Saturday?

Friday night, I “acquired” (inherited might be more accurate) a new previously-owned non-3G iPhone (which are worth more than the new 3G models, by the way). Saturday morning, I happened to be at Riverbend waiting for someone and decided to take in the the impressive views, and noticed the markings on the side of one of the semi-trailers parked behind the hospital. Being kind of bored, I decided to take a few snapshots with my new/old iPhone.

The markings are a little difficult to make out. Here’s a tighter shot of the above photograph.

If you can’t make the markings out, they are Oregon and Cotton Bowl logos, along with the tag “The Duck Truck”.

Duck fans, I’m sure you’ve seen the semi-trailer the football team uses to transport their equipment for away games. It’s green with a big Duck on it. Kind of hard to miss. I’m going to guess that this was the original “Duck Truck”, last seeing action for the 1996 Cotton Bowl.

So, why is this version of “The Duck Truck” being set out to pasture (almost literally) behind RiverBend? Where has it been for all these years? Is it still in use? For what purposes? And those are not rhetorical questions. I actually would like to get some answers.

Conspiracy theorists/X-Filers/Art Bell Fans/Black Helicopter crowd, why do you think this semi-trailer is parked at RiverBend? Is RiverBend a non-profit healthcare front for Nike-funded experiments on University of Oregon athletes? Is this semi-trailer used in the transportation of the subjects?

I’m not Torchwood here, but I’d like to know…What’s up with “The Duck Truck” at Riverbend?

Bob Welch, where are you?!

Get all your sports news on the Oregon Ducks at DuckSportsNews.com. Innappropriate comment? Let us know. Spam filters are set on high. Please be patient for your comments to be posted.

Be Jay’s Facebook friend. Join DSN’s Facebook group.

By Jay Jones, August 22, 2008

Where can I find my Ducks on TV?

Ever since the relationship between the University of Oregon and Chambers/KEZI 9 fell apart in late July, that’s the question Duck fans have been asking themselves, getting few answers.

Earlier this week, University of Oregon Senior Associate Athletic Director Joe Giansante offered to answer just about any, and all, questions regarding the Ducks’ broadcast status, exclusively for Duck Sports News.

Over the course of Thursday and Friday this week, Duck Sports News solicited questions from Duck fans, and visitors to DSN, for Joe to answer.

Thank you for all the great questions. In an effort to distill the issues and questions surrounding such a complex issue as broadcast rights, I parsed down the list of questions to the most relevant questions, looking for bottom-line answers from Joe.

And Duck Sports News would also like to thank Joe for taking the time to answer these questions.

Much like RadioShack, Duck fans have questions and Duck Sports News gets answers.

Here’s our Q&A with Joe:

Will everyone who was able to view OSN programming last year be able to view that programming this year?

JG: That is unknown at this point depending on who the over-the-air carriers of the programming are. Different stations have different footprints. I can tell you that it is very likely that hundreds of thousands of fans who used to not be able to see anything at all will be able to view a huge amount of programming. (Seattle (48,000 alums), Spokane, and soon nationally on satellite providers. Any new deal will greatly enhance the national presence of Oregon sports, and will give Oregon the largest college sports footprint in the nation by far. The net result will be hundreds of thousands of more people seeing the programming, and we hope a greater expansion of the footprint in Oregon.

What games will be on OSN affiliates?

JG: Utah State and Boise State will be on OSN affiliates. It looks like the game at Washington State is also available and can be selected to compete against FSNNW’s presentation, which we will likely do. The Stanford game is the only other possibility, and if it does not get picked up by fox or ABC or FSN, it is likely OSN will televise that one too.

What are the OSN broadcast affiliates?

JG: Still being negotiated. You might have read that Chambers broke off ongoing negotiations to carry the live games this year, and had previously refused to carry the coaches shows in a decision that was made about 4 months ago. I have been told by IMG that one of the major sticking points was that Chambers wanted the Oregon Football Replays to be free of charge for them, while still getting to sell half of the commercials. IMG places value on replays (which Oregon is the only team in the Pac-10 to produce them) and the rights to carry a football game are not free.

Where will the coaches’ shows be broadcast?

JG: See above… We are also trying to produce a better show with greatly enhanced access, while reducing the coaches time commitment while he’s trying to recruit football players. It looks like Sunday night at 6:pm, followed by a live show at 6:30, followed by the replay at 7, followed by the re-air of the 6 and 6:30 shows at 10 is what the entire programming block will look like.

Where will game replays be broadcast?

JG: Again, I hope the previous two answers covered this…

Where will special OSN programming be broadcast?

JG: See above. Part of the deal OSN is putting together includes more coaches shows, specials, highlight video’s, basketball games, track and field, and 15 baseball games this year. It also includes new productions for on-line, mobile, and in stadium replay boards for football, track and baseball.

Is there going to be a football pre-season special this year?

JG: There will likely be a few of them.. I know KVAL is working on one.

Why did the relationship between Chambers/KEZI 9 and the University of Oregon come to an end?

JG: See above. There were some serious errors in the reporting of this story. For example, based on the previous OSN agreement, the rights fees being paid for all of Eugene, Medford, Bend totaled in the 300k range (not the $1 million that was reported).

Each entity, IMG and Chambers, have different business models. It is much cheaper for IMG to produce programming than it would appear to be for Chambers, who I assume is in business to make a profit on production and it would seem must apply a mark-up percentage to be profitable.

The current negotiation, if finalized, just in Portland will result in an amount 50 times more than what Chambers paid the UO for Portland. As we indicated in the newspaper story, we wish Chambers nothing but the best in the future, including in their new agreement to provide production services for Oregon State.

Who will be producing OSN’s programming?

JG: OSN - they have been producing live Oregon sports for 20 years.

Does OSN have a deal in place with Comcast and Comcast SportsNet?

JG: No, but talks are ongoing and have been productive.

Does OSN still have its relationship with ESPN Gameplan?

JG: Yes, live games should be available on ESPN Gameplan.

Will OSN be on over-the-air broadcast channels or on cable? Or both?

JG: Depends where you live. In Portland they will likely not be over the air, although negotiations are ongoing, just as last year, although we forecast that through near future deals the programming will be available to 83 percent of the Portland market, with the only people not able to see it being the ones that have no cable or satellite.

Is Comcast going to have deals in place with the satellite companies before the season starts?

JG: Don’t have the answer to that, but if they did this all gets a lot easier. It you are worried about it, don’t hesitate to call your satellite provider.

Will OSN programming be available on the Dish Network?

JG: See above. We are optimistic.

Will OSN programming be available on DirectTV?

JG: Same as previous.

Will OSN programming be available on Charter Communications?

JG: Being negotiated. I would hope that high demand and competitive forces will drive that question to the affirmative.

If OSN programming is available on Comcast, will Comcast subscribers in markets outside of Oregon have access to that programming?

JG: Yes, throughout the northwest. If programming is on Comcast SportsNet, and on satellite providers nationwide once Comcast SportsNet is on DirecTV and Dish. However, these deals are not in place as I write this.

How many games will be available on Comcast?

JG: Any and all that are not selected by the conference agreements (FOX and ABC/ESPN) and that we are allowed to televise, IF an agreement is reached.

Will OSN be producing games not picked up by other carriers, or will IMG do any producing of live games? If so, will those games be available nationally through satellite?

JG: OSN/IMG is one in the same.

Will OSN programming be on an over-the-air broadcast channel in Central Oregon? Eastern Oregon? Southern Oregon? Coastal areas?

JG: Southern Oregon is possible, but more likely on cable and satellite in the other three. It is likely a supply/demand issue that will be negotiated by rights holders.

Will OSN programming be available sooner on GoDucks.com than it has in the past?

JG: Yes…Goducks.com will soon launch a new OSN Online…and OSN Mobile service much like you see with NBCOlympics.com.

Will Portland’s CW channel be an OSN affiliate?

JG: Ongoing negotiations.

If OSN partners with Comcast, is the future of Comcast SportsNet secure?

JG: Great question…Yes…much more so than any other regional sports network and they are growing by leaps and bounds, and they have excellent, accomplished , top notch leadership, and people who really understand this business. The parent company of Comcast SportsNet now is also the parent company of FSN regionals. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Fox Sports Net Bay Area recently was eaten up by Comcast Sports Net Bay Area, where you can now see Giants and A’s games. There is a great lesson here. Imagine a scenario where all of the current programming FSNNW has goes to Comcast SportsNet…Would it be better to be first… or last in that scenario?

What’s the bottom-line for Duck fans in terms of whatever broadcast deals are made?

JG: Tough question because it will be different for people depending if they live in Seattle or Chicago or Gold Beach. That being said, the department completely understands who gets what, where, and our goal is to have as many duck fans as possible see as much programming as possible… and that the world is getting smaller, meaning our reach needs to expand to people who are as passionate about Oregon as you and I are who are sitting in Clearwater, Florida… or wherever…(not to mention reaching all of those students around the country who may want to attend our institution). It is important to remember we are discussing programming that very few, if any colleges provide. Oregon is the only school in the Pac-10 to have a traditional coaches show, the only one to have a basketball coaches show, a women’s basketball coaches show, game replays, etc.

Get all your sports news on the Oregon Ducks at DuckSportsNews.com. Innappropriate comment? Let us know. Spam filters are set on high. Please be patient for your comments to be posted.

Be Jay’s Facebook friend. Join DSN’s Facebook group.

FRIDAY UPDATE: Thanks for the great questions! Just a few minutes ago, I sent all of those questions (plus a few of our own) on to the representative in University of Oregon’s Athletic Department who is going to answer those questions. So, you had questions…We’ll get the answers. Check back soon. Thanks again!

A University of Oregon official has been kind enough to answer questions regarding the status of the Ducks’ broadcast deal. We’ll have them posted here soon. If you have a question, post it below or click here.

By Jay Jones, August 19, 2008

This arrived in my inbox just a little over an hour ago.

I’m not going to make any comments here.  I think people will get the point.  And it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

But given the recent history of Chambers/KEZI 9, this press release from Oregon State University makes things pretty clear if there is any doubt:

OSU Enters Marketing and Production Agreement with Chambers/KEZI 9

Corvallis – The Oregon State University Department of Athletics and Chambers Communications/KEZI 9 of Eugene have entered into a new marketing and production partnership for the 2008-09 academic year, it was announced Tuesday.

The new deal does not include live coverage of shows or games, but will provide cutting edge video production and presentation. FSN Northwest, the Beavers’ regional television partner on cable and satellite systems, will continue with its current contract.

“Four years ago, KEZI 9 established a Corvallis news bureau to better cover the amazing advancements we’ve had on campus,” Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis said. “Chambers has been a forward-thinking media entity and powerful partner for the university as a whole — now we’ll take advantage of that in athletics.”

KEZI 9 and Chambers Productions will produce recruiting videos, coaches’ interview shows (to air on FSN NW), highlights, special projects, and assist with enhanced videoboard features including acting as a consultant for all video production marketing efforts.

“With Oregon State University in our viewing area, we are pleased that the athletic department approached KEZI 9 and Chambers with such a great partnership plan,” Chambers Communications Chief Operating Officer Dana Siebert said. “We look forward to the opportunity for enhanced coverage of the Beavers in our newscasts, as well as utilizing our production resources to assist OSU with both in-stadium and cable programming.”

The announcement comes just over a week before the 2008 football season opens, in which the Beavers travel to Stanford on Aug. 28. KEZI 9 and other Chambers stations throughout the state have already increased news and programming coverage, and will travel to Stanford Stadium for pre and post-game reports.

By Jay Jones, August 16, 2008

Today’s scrimmage at Autzen Stadium was the last open scrimmage of Fall Camp.

Here are few photos from that scrimmage before my camera melted.

Get all your sports news on the Oregon Ducks at DuckSportsNews.com. Innappropriate comment? Let us know. Spam filters are set on high. Please be patient for your comments to be posted.

Be Jay’s Facebook friend. Join DSN’s Facebook group.