[Update: USC fans and "Inside USC with Scott Wolf" visitors, welcome to the Duck Sports News blog!]

[Update: Sports Illustrated visitors, welcome to the Ducks Sports News blog!]

By Jay Jones, July 7, 2008

USC fans are not real happy with their “Song Girls”. But they seem to really, really like Oregon’s cheerleaders.

The Daily News’ Scott Wolf runs the Inside USC blog, where there has been an ongoing discussion regarding the quality, and qualities, of the USC “Song Girls” (cheerleaders).

Just to confirm USC’s fans’ displeasure, I called my sister, a USC graduate (shameless plug - she will be a guest star on an episode of NBC’s “Life” next season), and asked her about the situation.

“They’re hideous and not blonde enough,” was her response.

This discussion has not always been very “pretty” and recently forced Mr. Wolf’s to make this proclamation:

The topic of the Song Girls seems to have taken on a life of its own in the comments section. With that in mind, if you have a comment, please refrain from negative adjectives about physical appearance, etc., that can easily be avoided while still discussing the subject.
I refuse to practice censorship when it comes to the topics discussed. And believe me, there are some trying to force that right now. So if you want to discuss the Song Girls, football or anything else, feel free to do so. Just try to keep it constructive.

In Mr. Wolf’s defense, he has kept it constructive, and positive…about Oregon’s cheerleaders! And that seems to have taken on a life of its own, as well.

Here’s a sampling of comments from a USC fans demonstrating their addiction to the topic of the “Song Girls” and admiration for the Oregon cheerleaders:

“Yay! Always a happy day with the great Oregon cheerleaders. I was getting withdrawal symptoms from the two days or so without anything from our good friends up north.”

“Whatever they’re doing up there in Oregon these days, we really need to start copying with the Song Girls, because the gap between the two is growing larger and larger every year. I am definitely giving the Oregon cheerleaders a standing ovation when they enter the Coliseum this fall.”

“Fabulous! Best cheerleaders in the country.”

“Peter, I’m going to need that TPS report…and this poster of the Oregon Cheerleaders.”

And here is a sampling of Mr. Wolf’s blog entries over the last couple of weeks touching on this topic:

Picture of the Day - June 26, 2008 Answer Friday! - June 27, 2008

Answer Friday, Part II - June 27, 2008 Weekend Forum - June 28, 2008

Back To Oregon - June 29, 2008 Picture of the Day - June 30, 2008

Answer Tuesday! - July 1, 2008 Answer Tuesday, Part 2 - July 1, 2008

Answer Tuesday, Part 3 - July 1, 2008 Answer Tuesday, Part 6 - July 1, 2008

Open Forum - July 2, 2008 Picture Of The Day - July 2, 200

[Update: Again, this topic of discussion dominates the comments today at Inside USC.]

These entries just represent the last couple of weeks because this discussion has been going on for a while.

Um…you’re cheering for the wrong team.

Somehow, I feel like Duck fans feel USC fan’s pain.

But I think the appeal is different.

Because I’m not expecting to see this headline on a Trojan website any time soon.

“Register-Guard, Oregon Blogger Obsessed With USC’s Marching Band”

Worst. Marching. Band. Uniforms. Ever.

Oregon’s cheerleaders & marching band for USC’s “Song Girls” & marching band?

Hmmm…I think we’re good.

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[Update: Listen to my segment on The Writer's Block here.]

By Jay Jones, June 4, 2008

O.J. Mayo, you think you’re untouchable?

Think again.

From today’s Los Angeles Times:

The FBI, IRS and U.S. attorney’s office have begun a joint investigation into potential income tax evasion and fraud stemming from the alleged misuse of charitable organization funds by basketball star O.J. Mayo’s former advisor, an attorney familiar with the investigation said Tuesday night.

And that got me to thinking about a question that has dogged local, regional, and national media-types: what can prevent one-and-done collegiate athletes from taking the money?

The school they’re leaving can’t penalize them.

The NCAA can’t penalize them.

The professional league they are headed to doesn’t want to penalize them.

Ahhh…but the federal government can. More specifically, the IRS can. And will. Just ask former University of Michigan “Fab 5″ member Chris Webber.

And that might be the solution to this one-and-done question: follow the money. And make sure they pay taxes on it.

While I would like to think I’m the only one that has come up with this obviously brilliant solution, alas, I am not.

Here’s NBA Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban on his blog:

Bring in the IRS. I think I can say with certainty that there were not any contracts signed between the parties giving and receiving money on the behalf of High School students. Agree ?

I think I can also say with certainty that those who gave more than 10k dollars in gifts did not pay any gift taxes on amounts given to individuals. If the amounts were given to charities, I’m guessing some, if not most of those charities were either not qualified or did not live up to their certification requirements.

Get the IRS involved, and I bet not only would the investigation pay for itself with untold millions coming back to the US Treasury in taxes and penalties, but the agents would clean up their acts very , very quickly. It would also clean up much of what ails “amateur” basketball. Its a world that has become dependent on a thriving underground economy. its a cash business. Just the kind the IRS should and could step in to clean up.

Up until this point, one-and-done athletes have been concerned about…well, not much. Do you think they’re really scared of their school or the NCAA? No. There’s no reason for them to be.

But the federal government is a different matter, as the Conquest Chronicles notes:

Having almost gone through my interview with the DOJ on a business matter I can tell you that these guys need to buckle up because it’s going to be a bumpy ride. They deserve it!

Who has the most to risk in this situation? The person with nothing or the person with everything? It’s going to be the person with everything, all the time.

That’s why O.J. Mayo is going to become the poster boy for “One-and-Done Athletes Gone Bad”. Do I really think he’s going to be cellmates with Wesley Snipes’ Sidney Dean? I doubt it. But he’s muckin’ with the G’s now. And as the Conquest Chronicles observes, he’ll probably be facing some tough questions:

I have seen elsewhere where the thought process is that with the Feds now involved that SC will finally get hammered. People need to understand one thing here; SC is not implicated in this. I am sure Mayo will have to answer some questions and he should. That’s a good thing, as it will either clear him or it won’t.

One-and-done athlete, Kevin Costner, and Robert Stack, got Capone. That means they can get you, too. And if they can’t get you, they can get the people around you. Agents. Go-betweens. Runners. Friends. Maybe even family.

So, what are you prepared to do? One-and-done? Or 5 to 10?

Here endeth the lesson.

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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.

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!”

[UPDATE 5:45 p.m.] This broadcast issue has been resolved. The UO-ASU game will be broadcast on FSN Northwest with FSN Arizona commentators at it’s scheduled time of 3:30 p.m. The OSU-USC game will air on ABC at 5:00 p.m.

It’s a Land of Confusion out there.

So, let’s make this as clear as possible right now.

Everything that you’ve heard or read up until this point about the broadcast of the Oregon and Oregon State games is in flux and subject to change.

Hopefully, we will have a definitive word by the end of today.

If you would like to follow what is currently being said, here you go:

Got the Oregon-ASU-Oregon State TV thing figured out? Good. It’s changing again (sort of)

Bernard in doubt but TV back on for Beavers

Pac-10 TV Schedule | November 3

Local TV update

Check back at DuckSportsNews.com for updates.

There’s no denying the numbers. USC’s defense in one of the best in the land. They rank in the top-5 nationally in rushing defense and total defense and the top-10 in both pass efficiency defense and scoring defense. Their pass defense ranks 21st.

But after looking closer, you’ll notice that USC’s schedule has not been full of offensive powers. As you can see on the in the UO-USC GameDay in a Box, USC’s schedule ranks 107th in the nation. Their past opponents have a 14-32 record. It’s easy to shut down JV teams.

The graph below breaks it down. Just look at Notre Dame…no wonder the Irish went scoreless, they rank near the bottom of the NCAA in every offensive category.

Download PDF: GameDay in a Box | Oregon vs USC