By Jay Jones
One Click Sports News

How do you follow up the success of the hot-selling Grim Reaper “Welcome to Autzen: Where Teams Go to R.I.P,” black T-shirts and sweatshirts?

More t-shirts!

And a once-in-a-lifetime Civil War for the Rose Bowl helps, too.

Here is a sneak peak at the new t-shirt designs available tomorrow in-store only at Oregon Sports at the Gateway Mall (they sell both Ducks, and Beavers, gear).

These t-shirts will not be available online through Oregon Sports at the Gateway Mall. If you’re not in the Eugene/Springfield area , have a friend or family member in the area pick up one for you.

Oregon Sports at the Gateway Mall is located at 3000 Gateway St # 530, Springfield, OR.‎

[Disclaimer: Oregon Sports at the Gateway Mall is an advertiser on Duck Sports News and Beaver Sports News.]

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By Jay Jones, July 08, 2008

On Monday, The Oregonian’s John Canzano talked Oregon and Oregon State football on his sports talk radio show, The Bald Faced Truth.

Here’s the link to the audio. Canzano’s college football discussion starts right off the top.

Canzano has Oregon 2nd and Oregon State 5th in the Pac-10.

Get all your sports news on the Oregon Ducks at DuckSportsNews.com.
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By Jay Jones, June 23, 2008

Last week, ESPN.com concluded releasing their selections for the “Face of the Program” feature on college football.

As noted right here on Duck Sport News, Phil Knight was named Oregon’s “Face of the Program”. And noted on Beaver Sports News, Terry Baker was selected as the “Face of the Program” for Oregon State.

Since posting those entries,several DSN and BSN visitors requested that we put together a list of all of the Pac-10 “Face of the Program” selections.

So, here you go.

Arizona: John “Button” Salmon – Salmon’s “Bear Down” is Arizona’s “Win one for the Gipper.” This one goes back a ways. When I think of Arizona football, I think of “Desert Swarm”. And I also think of a season-ending injuries at the hands of that defense.

Arizona State: Pat Tillman – Pat Tillman has transcended the sport, and become an American hero.

Cal: “The Play” – An iconic play. The downside to this is that Cal has not had a player rise to that kind of transcended level.

Oregon: Phil Knight – So, who stands out on this list? Or should I say doesn’t belong? Phil Knight has done a lot of good things for the University of Oregon. But his selection as the “Face of the Program” is a swipe at Oregon’s history, its accomplishments on the field, and Autzen Stadium. Or were they saying that Oregon really doesn’t have anything emblematic enough to be considered the “Face of the Program”?

Oregon State: Terry Baker – Good choice. Heisman Trophy winner. Although, this selection is reaching back into history pretty far.

Stanford: Jim Plunkett – Won the Heisman Trophy in 1970 over Notre Dame’s Joe Theisman. That’s good enough for me (That orange man turned me down for an autograph.).

UCLA: The Rose Bowl – An iconic venue. But Bruins’ fans think that ESPN missed the boat on this one. And I agree. Again, what does this say about their play on the field? Even though Troy Aikman started off at Oklahoma, he did his damage at UCLA, and with America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys. How ’bout them ESPN boys!

USC: Tailback U – Five Heisman Trophy winners at the tailback position. USC was named the “Face of the Program” representing the decade of the 2000s.

UW: Don James – “Dawgfather” is about right, with all the good, and bad, that implies.

WSU: Mel Hein – Talk about the way-back machine. An All-American in 1930. 1930! The Great Depression. Speakeasies. Flappers. Call me a young whipper-snapper, but “Jumping Jehosaphat”! Couldn’t they have selected Drew Bledsoe and called it good?

Hmmm…So, what “Face of the Program” doesn’t belong? I’ll give you a hint: Barry Sanders was named the “Face of the Program” for Oklahoma State, not T. Boone Pickens.

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March 13, 2008

Jay, here.

On Tuesday, Eugene radio station KPNW-AM pulled “Sports Talk”, the long-running sports talk show hosted by Steve Tannen and Nate Gorman, and replaced it with Michael Savage’s “Savage Nation”. Considering that as of last week I was scheduled to appear as a regular guest on Thursdays to talk about the Ducks and the Beavers, I’ve got some thoughts on the matter.

Before I go any further, however, I want to thank Steve and Nate for having me on the show. Opportunities to regularly appear in traditional media (radio, television, newspaper) are hard to come by. They had a good show and gave me a chance. And it was fun and I really appreciated the opportunity. Hopefully, we can do it again. But if I do get another chance at local media, I now need to avoid falling into the Ted McGinley-Jump The Shark category.

While KPNW-AM and Bicoastal Media jumped even further to the right with Michael Savage, I don’t think it was the right move for local news talk, local sports talk, and local civics. Unfortunately, media companies don’t operate with those priorities in mind. They are concerned about the bottom-line. But even from a bottom-line perspective (and I don’t pretend to know what they knew when making their decision), this choice doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

I’m not going to get political here, but I don’t think Michael Savage was the best choice in this case. Regardless of your political affiliation, Michael Savage is embarrassing. And I don’t think he’s going to play well in Eugene. Yes, I understand how he adds to the conservative synergy KPNW has going on the air. But I don’t think you make that choice in Eugene. If Bicoastal felt that they needed to make a change, they probably should have kept it conservative and local, instead of right of the Attila the Hun and national. Not only would that have been different, I think that would have made the jump easier for Steve and Nate. Still painful, but easier. And I think it would have been an easier sell to the public for Bicoastal. Replacing Steve with Savage was a real barbaric act here.

Now, there’s a sports talk monarchy in the Eugene-Springfield area. While that’s good for KSCR, it’s not good for local sports fans. Look, Duck Sports News has a good relationship with everyone in local sports talk radio. George Schroeder. Justin Myers. T-Bone. Steve. Nate. And we would like to keep it that way. But just like in sports, competition is a good thing. The more quality sports talk programming the better for local sports fans. And Justin and Steve are a good example of what happens when you have programs in competition. Both competed with each other for an audience between 3p.m. and 5p.m. Instead of two shows talking about the same things, sports fans got two shows talking about sports, appealing to two different audiences. And that meant more people were talking sports. Regardless of what you might think of sports talk radio, it is the last refuge for a type of local civic (not necessarily civil) discourse. And that is a good thing.

So, where do Steve, Nate, and “Sports Talk” go from here? I haven’t talked to either Steve or Nate about what I’m going to suggest. And I don’t think they’ve asked for my opinion either. But I’m going to throw it there. Has anyone noticed what The Register-Guard has been doing over the last few months? They are changing. And they will tell you that they are changing. What are they changing into? A media company. They are no longer just a newspaper company. Look at the sports videos that they are producing (Hello, KEZI, KVAL, & KMTR.). Look at their online presence (blogs and podcasts). Look at the placement of their talent in other media (“Writer’s Block”). If I were to talk to Steve and Nate, I would suggest that they talk to the Register-Guard about getting a Register-Guard sports talk online podcast up and running as quickly as possible. The RG has the sales team needed to come up with a sponsorship. They have a stable of writers as potential regular guests (Moseley, Schroeder, Clark, Bellamy). And they have the online distribution in their website. If I were them, the end of Chad Drive is the place I would go first.

KPNW and Bicoastal “jumped the shark” in replacing “Sports Talk” with “Savage Nation”. And right about now, I’m sure Steve and Nate feel like a shark took a bite out of them. But I think there’s a chance they can bite back. They just need to get on board a bigger boat.

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[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.

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OSU’s Kyle DeVan made some pointed remarks about the class differences between Oregon and Oregon State on OregonLive.com.

“It’s white collar-blue collar. it’s like, ‘oh, look how nice their facilities are!’ ..

“It seems like they get babied. They got some crazy stuff over there, and it’s neat to see all that stuff, but you don’t need all that fancy stuff to have a good, winning program. All you need is a pair of cleats, helmet, shoulder pads and great coaches. And I think that’s what we have (at OSU).”

Here are a couple of questions that come to mind:

• Does he have a point? Is Oregon white collar? Is Oregon State blue collar? Why?

• Have the Oregon football players done anything to deserve the “fancy stuff”?

• How would the perception of the schools differ if a donor gave OSU $100 million dollars? Would they still be “blue collar”?

JJ

Here’s the discussion at BeaverSportsNews.com. 

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