Jay, here.

This past Thursday, Sports Illustrated opened the vault on all of their content.

Explore the 54 years of Sports Illustrated history including over 150000 stories, 2800 covers, 500000 photographs, a Wiki sports encyclopedia and links to …

Covers. Articles. Ads. Everything.

That got me to thinking: how many times has the University of Oregon been represented on the cover of Sports Illustrated? The answer? Four. (Unfortunately, I can’t count Eugene resident Brian Lanker’s 1985 Swimsuit Issue cover photograph of Paulina Porizkova.)

Then I was curious as to how that stack up against the rest of the Pac-10. Pretty well. But, as you will see, USC and UCLA are in a league of their own.

This is not an exhaustive list (because of USC and UCLA). And the cover count only represents the instances where a school is the primary focus on the cover. For example, USC’s Todd Marinovich made the cover throwing against Stanford. But Stanford really isn’t the focus (Actually, they’re kind of oblique and out of focus.). So, that doesn’t count. And SI.com’s search feature is OK, but sometimes returns inconsistent results.

Here are the Pac-10 covers of Sports Illustrated.

Sports Illustrated Covers: OREGON - 4

Cover Dates: 06.15.70, 02.25.74, 08.13.01, 09.29.03

The Ducks kind of have one more cover. Well, a lot of schools have at least one cover, sort of, with this year’s NCAA Tournament Preview edition. Kind of like “Where’s Waldo?”, where’s Malik Hairston?

Did you find him? Look right next to the “I” in “Illustrated. And, I think, that’s Malik.

UPDATE: In the comments section, Chris pointed out that Aaron Brooks was on the cover of the 2007 NCAA Tournament Preview edition (03.19.07). I kind of put this cover in the category with the above cover: it’s nice, but doesn’t count as Oregon having a cover. That’s Aaron on the basketball.

Sports Illustrated Covers: OREGON STATE - 5

Cover Dates: 10.16.61, 01.07.63, 03.05.90, 03.23.81, 09.29.03

Sports Illustrated Covers: WASHINGTON - 3

Cover Dates: 10.03.60, 10.04.71

Thanks to Alex, there is one more from 11.24.06 that did not come up in SI’s search feature.

Sports Illustrated Covers: WASHINGTON STATE - 0

Washington State joins Arizona State as the only Pac-10 schools not to have a Sports Illustrated cover. Although, I think there is a WSU player (Cowgill?) on the cover of the 2008 NCAATournament Preview edition.

Sports Illustrated Covers: CAL - 2

Cover Dates: 11.24.75, 03.29.93

Sports Illustrated Covers: STANFORD - 5

Cover Dates: 11.08.02, 03.17.97, 11.23.98, 10.07.02, 03.29.04

Sports Illustrated Covers: ARIZONA - 4

Cover Dates: 08.29.94, 04.07.97, 04.02.01, 11.25.02

Sports Illustrated Covers: ARIZONA STATE - 0

Like Washington State, Arizona State does not have a Sports Illustrated cover to its name. Unlike Washington State, though, I don’t even think they have a player on the cover of the 2008 NCAATournament Preview edition.

Sports Illustrated Covers: USC - 31

Cover Dates: Too many. First: 11.26.56 Most Recent: 11.19.07

Sports Illustrated Covers: UCLA - 35

Cover Dates: Too many. First: 01.05.59 Most Recent: 03.18.08

For more, visit the Sports Illustrated Vault.

For more on the Ducks, visit DuckSportsNews.com.

Mike Bellotti has confirmed talking to UCLA about their vacant coaching position. When Rob Moseley asked him the UCLA job, Bellotti brushed if off, saying: “I’m just working on what we’re doing here.” The question(s) is: Why doesn’t he nip this in the bud right off the bat?Does that worry you as a Duck fan?Does that excite you as a Bruin fan?Is he looking for financial leverage?Does he really want to leave? What’s your take? 

Good writing is like a woman’s skirt. It should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep guys interested. At least that’s what my high school freshman english teacher taught me, in between teachingTo Kill A Mockingbird and deconstructing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Axemen, you know who I’m talking about.).

And that’s exactly how I feel about tomorrow’s game against UCLA in the Rose Bowl.

The media surrounding the Oregon football program this past week has been the ugliest I have ever seen, read, or heard it. Interesting, no doubt. But ugly. So much so, that we here at Duck Sports News have had to explain/justify posting links to stories regarding the “Dennis Dixon Dilemma” because DSN fans were complaining of “Dennis Dixon Fatigue”. Again, interesting stories, commentary, and discussion. But you were clearly getting tired of it. And, frankly, so were we. (But we continued to post links to those stories because that’s what we do.)

That’s why I’d like to see the Ducks do enough for the win, but keep it close and interesting…uninteresting.

I’m not talking about the game. Although, the part of me that’s a fan wouldn’t mind seeing the Oregon offense get on track early and often, putting the game away before it even gets started. I’m talking about keeping it close in a win to make it uninteresting after the game. As co-creator of DSN, I know that a blowout will undoubtedly raise new questions regarding last week’s loss to Arizona:

“Would last week have been different if Brady had a full week to prepare?”

“Do you think the players would have responded this way last week if they would have known about Dixon’s injury?”

“Would another week have helped Chip Kelly’s play calling last week?”

And the questions could go on if the Ducks are long on success tomorrow. Instead, let’s hope they keep it short, and sweet.

JJ

Ducks fans, you know how you’re feeling right now.  But do you know how the rest of the Pac 10 feels about your team?  Do they feel your pain?  Not exactly.

Here’s a sampling from around the Pac 10 blogosphere.  Mind you, this is only a compilation, a very sour sampler.  This is not a compendium of forum and message board comments.  If want to get a glimpse into a fan’s online soul, go the message boards and forums to take a look at your own risk.

Arizona - Not available.

Arizona State - “Tucson, AZ: Where BCS Dreams Go To Die”

Cal - Not available.

OSU -”Oregon Ducks Suck Against Arizona”

Stanford - Not available.

UCLA -”No Dixon”

USC - “Dixon out with a Torn ACL”

Washington - “Wow….34-24 Arizona Over Oregon”

And we saved the worst for last…

Washington State - “WHAAAAAAA! WHAAA!”