Duck Dining: New Campus Restaurant Hot Mama’s Knows Every Duck Needs Wings

ATTENTION DUCKLINGS: Wings done right have arrived in Eugene. No more than a 10 minute walk from campus, Hot Mama’s Wings has landed on 13th Avenue and their purpose is clear: Every Duck Needs Wings. Owner Mike Marzano, a Duck alum and Eugene native, recently acted on his dream of bringing a staple food of football culture to a town in need.

No, he’s not selling his tasty wings out of a dilapidated former Muchas Gracias; he’s designed a totally-cool restaurant that incorporates modernity, sustainability, and decades of Eugene/UO history.  The coffee shop-sized interior features booths made from the wood of the old Nike store in Eugene. The walls are adorned with homages to Mac Court, Animal House, and the Grateful Dead. The acoustic panels on the ceiling will allow you to cheer for the Ducks as loud as you want and still hear the HDTV’s mounted at either end of the store.

Did I mention it’s also the newest full bar on 13th? They have early and late happy hours with drink and food specials (a la Agate Alley), and feature tons of local ingredients from the food to the beer–Ninkasi and Oar Head are on tap. The food is welcomingly cheap. Wings can be boneless and come in dozens of flavors. Not a wings guy? Burgers, salads, and sandwiches are all done as great as the wings and at great prices. All Ducks should come in and check this place out. Bring in the coupon on the very back page of your Winter ‘Survival Guide’ booklet for a food special, and soon student I.D.’s will be good for an occasional freebee. Be sure to follow @HotMamasWings on twitter for daily specials, discounts and promos! Hot Mama’s is located at 420 W 13th Avenue, across from Berg’s Ski and Snowboard in Eugene.

PR and Sports: Top 5 Reasons Why the Ducks are Innocent

A few days after whispers of a potential situation first surfaced, the University of Oregon has come under national fire over the past 24 hours for alleged football recruiting violations. The story, which has been featured on ESPN web and TV all morning, alleges the UO made illegal payments to a high school recruiting service in the neighborhood of $25,000. By every indication, this is a serious PR situation for the University.

Before we all get daffy over this, the UO Athletic Dept. brilliantly issued a statement yesterday before the story broke, calmly and succinctly explaining UO’s innocence. And even though you won’t be able to tell by watching mainstream media this weekend, there is very little reason to believe there have been any violations by the UO. Here are the top five reasons why.

5. Most, if not all, NCAA teams pay recruiting services–which is legal in the first place

Oregon AD spokesman Dave Williford said it best in today’s Oregonian, “Yeah, we made the payment, everybody does it. This has all been run through our compliance office. We have nothing to hide.” Williford also provided media with a copy of the actual check, made out for $25,000 to Complete Scouting Services of Houston.

4. This is America: We can spend what we want on recruiting services

So $25,000 is a huge jump from UO’s normal $8,250 per-year tab from the same service . So what? There are so many reasons that could explain why last year was three times as expensive. We’ve practically set up a recruiting station in east Texas, imagine the cost alone of flying each recruit and a companion  back and forth to the northwest.  Northwest-based athletes have to travel more than anywhere else because of our geography.

3. Oregon is obligated to invest in the best recruiters if it plans to continue to dominate college football

The idea here is simple; it’s not Alabama, it’s not Miami, it’s not Ohio State. It’s Oregon. It may not be a powerhouse school yet, but with the progress it’s making many areas, Oregon is poised to be a national powerhouse by the end of the decade. Accordingly, you have to pay the price if you want to get talent out here to the Northwest instead of one of the aforementioned ‘sexy’ schools. Do that by buying off recruits? No. Do that by paying the best recruiters in Texas to say Oregon’s got next? Absolutely.

2. RB Coach Gary Campbell runs a tighter ship than the Japanese Navy

Seriously, if you’ve ever met coach Campbell, you know he is nothing short of a living legend. He has coached Oregon football for 27 years and that alone should say something about this guy’s ethic. He is beyond honest and trustworthy. He is a mentor and a leader to his RB’s (which are the focus of the investigation) and demands the best of them. When LGB and LMJ were on the chopping block for their respective altercations, Campbell was their greatest advocate. Needless to say, Campbell knows a thing or two about recruiting, and not a single thing about Campbell’s history or character indicates he would take on recruits from less-than-honest practices.

1. Honestly, who do you trust more?

Behind the Stats: UO Contributes 1.97 Billion to State Economy According to Study

It’s my favorite time of year: financial report season. A new study examined by bizjournals.com reveals the University of Oregon contributes $1.97 billion annually to the state’s $166 billion-dollar total economy. This is nearly a three-fold increase from UO’s annual contribution of only $703 million just ten years ago. Who says the UO isn’t on the rise? Numbers don’t lie.

Walking the Waddle: Matt Knight Arena is Helping the Ducks Play Better

latimes.com

It’s big, it’s fancy, there are trees on the court. They shoot off fireworks. The video boards are in pristine HD. There are 18 bathrooms vs. 4 at Mac Court. We get it– Matthew Knight Arena is a crown jewel for the Oregon brand and has all the bells and whistles to back it up as such.

Problem is [or was, I should say], many of us were more than worried before MKA opened that we would have a basketball palace with an abysmal–maybe even embarassing– men’s basketball team to open it. Kind of like if Clark Griswold and family moved to Bel Air. But 75% of the way through the Pac-10 season and tied with Stanford for fourth place, it’s fair to say that men’s basketball has complemented its new digs far better than expected. With two big home games coming up against Cal and Stanford later this week, men’s basketball might have a shot at waddling its way to a a high seed in the Pac-10 tourney and [dare I say] beyond.

Here are a quick couple numbers that highlight how Oregon has been impressive since the opening of MKA:

MAC | Matt | % change

(w-l)                         7-16    7-10       –

win %                        43        70    +27

opp. ppg                   63         59    +6

Defensively, The Ducks lead the Pac 10 in steals and assist-to-turnover ratio, further implying that playing “Deep in the Woods” is no joke for opponents. Incidentally, the Ducks are also taking great care of the basketball, ranking 9th in the Pac-10 in turnovers. If men’s hoops stays on this course to finish the season and start the Pac 10 tourney, March may be a little more mad in Eugene than any of us ever imagined.

Fashions of the Pac: Cal Bears get New White Helmets

The Hippies in Berkeley have gone all Stormtrooper on us… What do you think of the new white colorway for Cal? Stanford will always be the antiquated keeper of the white helmet in the Pac-10, and the Ducks’ all-white threads of the past few seasons have been synonymous with UO football’s rise to fame.

Now Cal, entering a season in which they will play in downtown San Francisco on the Embarcadero, is trying to make a fashion statement of their own. Clean? or Crisis?

Walking the Waddle: Less Than Two Years Since “The Punch,” LeGarrette Blount’s Shine Can’t be Blocked

goducks.com

The day after the Natty was rougher than rough. The drive back from Stanford in ’09 spawned thoughts of barreling off the I-5 bridge into Lake Shasta. The morning of January 2nd, 2010 actually seemed fantastic compared to how hungover I was getting ready for the 1 p.m. Rose Bowl the day before. In ’07, I thought Colvin’s fumble vs. Cal was another nightmare induced by Walton Hall. But in recent memory, there is one morning that sticks out as the crown jewel of Duck Grief: The morning after Boise State.

When time expired at that repulsive junior college stadium from the 60’s, my buddy and I made a B-line for the parking lot without seeing LeGarrette Blount punch Byron Hout of BSU. The only awareness I had of the incident were a few cryptic texts later that night to the tune of “LGB should be expelled from Oregon” (“Theres no way his stats were THAT bad,” I thought to myself). It wasn’t until the crew piled back in my Jeep at 6 a.m. that we heard what happened.

The game was on a slow Thursday night at the beginning of September, and the media couldn’t have been more thirsty for an outright spectacle. Not only was the story on ESPN radio when we started the car, but CNN, and ABC… …I think we all know how out of hand it got. For weeks–not days–but weeks, Oregon was the butt of college football; people taking shots at our institution and our new, young coach for running a loose ship, hoodlum players, the list could go on. The scrutiny was huge and even some great Oregon fans were wary of the “new” Ducks.

Reputation of the team and school aside, the young man at the center of this firestorm could’ve easily folded under the pressure of his mistake. He could’ve quit football. He could’ve heard of his year-long punishment and transferred to a different school. But Legarrette Blount remained a Duck, and during his suspension earned back the respect of his coach, teammates, and [hopefully] the entire University.

Now, 17 months after “The Punch,” LeGarrette has gone from being the goat of America, to an Oregon success story, to a national success story. LeGarrette accumulated 1,007 yards in 12 appearances for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccanneers (He was only named the starter in Week 7). For those who don’t know, that made him the best rookie running back in the NFL this past season, and should give all us Ducks an awful big reason to be real proud–not just of his personal accomplishment, but of how he rebuilt himself to the level he’s at thanks to his commitment to the UO.

Anyone who’s been at Oregon for the past few years and had a chance to meet LeGarrette would probably tell you about his smile, his unassuming demeanor, and an overall coolness that indicates whatever was said to him that night in Boise was plain bad. But in the words of Chip Kelly, “One game does not define you.”

It certainly didn’t define LeGarrette Blount, who hurdled a ridiculous amount of adversity to become one of the NFL’s top running backs, and who is truly an ambassador of the “O”.

Behind the Stats: New UO Study Proves Athletic Success Leads to Increased Donations–But What About Academics?

Oregon daily enerald

Data that I first read about a week ago on the

UO Matters blog was disseminated further in an  Oregon Daily Emerald article that ran today. The article explained findings from a New York City-based nonprofit that examined academic vs. athletic donations to the UO between 2000 and 2010 (The numbers do not include gifts in kind, like MKA or Jacqua). Based on the trends seen in the graphs, there is definitely a correlation between athletic success and increased donations to the UO. The troubling factor, clearly, is the stagnate nature of the academic donations over the last ten years versus the skyrocketing nature of athletic donations.

As it stands right now, UO athletics’ donations have increased threefold over the past ten years, while academic donations are declining to nearly a 10-year low–and the school seems like its more packed than ever. The ODE article also cites a UO study that found athletic success leads to more donations overall; however donors are more likely to donate generously or completely in favor of athletics after a successful year, leaving academics out to dry.

This problem is compounded essentially because of bribery, according to the study. That is, many people who “donate” to UO athletics aren’t actually donating out of the goodness of their hearts, they’re donating to get better seats at Autzen, or a parking pass, or their name on a placard in PK park, or… you get the idea. And as you can imagine, the demand for these perks only goes up after a good year of sports, further driving the surge in donations experienced by the AD.

What’s important to realize is that it’s an illusion to believe that the whole school benefits when the Ducks go to the BCS. Plenty of schools have systems (that work) that allow AD’s to share a fixed percentage of accumulated wealth with the academic side of the institution, but apparently tax laws in Oregon are allowing this to go on. Clearly, Oregon’s relatively quick rise to national prominence left this flaw in our system exposed. The State, University, and Athletic Department must explore new ideas for a better system. And with the way this school is growing, and as good as our teams are getting, they owe it to us to get it done soon.

PR and Sports: Wake Forest Athlete Receives $3,000 in Extra Benefits, NCAA Does Nothing

espn.com

Kevin Jordan, a scholarship baseball player at Wake Forest University, has received extra benefits valued at $3,000, which was confirmed by Wake Forest Baseball coach Tom Walter February 9th on ESPN. The benefits? One healthy human kidney, donated  to Jordan by coach Walter himself.

Ok, before you exit out of my blog for blaspheming in the church of political correctness, let me say I am personally elated for Kevin Jordan and his successful life-saving operation. Really, I am. Also, the $3,000 number is the street-value of a kidney according to wired.com. But the heart-fluttering story aired earlier this week by ESPN left an unanswered question in my head that I can’t believe no one’s really asked…so I’ll blurt it out: How in the WORLD has the NCAA not looked into this story as an illegal benefit for the scholarship athlete? I highly doubt any other student at Wake would have an equal chance of getting coach Walter’s kidney if in equal need.

The NCAA is completely discriminate and premeditated in how it investigates violations, and this story is telltale proof. If the $3,000 item was anything other than a life-saving kidney, and the media publicized the story the same way, the WF Athletics Department would be in a crisis right now. Instead, a twitter search (my favorite benchmark for american attitudes towards a topic) for “wake forest, kidney” revealed tweets such as:

@ctboleman “i think I have a new favorite coach! what a leader!”

@DJBaynham “Man of the year”

@Jazzysnothere “First story I saw this morning… I am in tears”

Athletics Departments everywhere have no hope when it comes to the NCAA’s double standards. Because of a positive spin, this story about [what I’m convinced are] extra, illegal benefits has won Wake Forest University a ton of reciprocated positive coverage. Until the NCAA decides to stop being such a dumpster fire when it comes to benefits, god help any athlete who has ever received $3,000 for life-saving shelter and groceries for a year of school.

Behind The Stats: A Deeper Look into the 2010 Season by the Numbers

When you’re a winner, it’s surprising how fun stats can be. And unless you’ve been trapped in a Chilean mine for the past three months, you know that the 2010 Ducks peppered the score sheets with numbers, averages, and totals that perfectly underscored their image of being the fastest, highest-scoring team in college football.  Yeah, we all know about the forty-something points per game. The lightning-quick organization and execution between plays? Yawn. All us Duck faithful have been aware of these stats in some capacity since Jake Locker was the frontrunner for the Heisman. Don’t worry, I got some good stuff for ya. Here’s the first of several weekly posts to come on stats and facts that I’ll bet you didn’t know about your 2010 Ducks.

This week’s topic: Mileage

*The Ducks covered a nation-leading 8,793 yards (26,379 feet) on the football field this season, or 4.996 miles (21 feet, or 7 yards, short of exactly five miles).

*LaMichael James ran 1.1 mile of that himself, but Darron Thomas took the team on his back accounting for 1.9 miles of the Ducks’ season progress.

*Honorable mention to Cliff Harris, accounting for the hungriest .44 miles of team-total yardage I have ever seen.

*The Oregon defense allowed opponents only 2.55 miles, half of what Oregon’s “O” gained on the season. This earned Gang Green the ranking of 34th best defense in the nation -BUT- that stat is deceptive…

*…Because of the scoring and frenetic pace of the offense, the defense was on the field for an amazing 963 plays. Only 10 [mostly terrible] other teams’ defenses were on the field for more plays this season. TCU’s defense, which technically finished first with 1.68 miles allowed, actually played the least amount of plays (714) of any of the 120 D-1 teams . Fact is, if TCU’s defense would’ve played the extra 249 plays that Oregon’s defense did,  it would’ve only been 482 yards better than Oregon. That in mind, ponder how tough Oregon’s opponents were relative to TCU’s. Now you tell me who had the best defense in the Nation.

*Coincidentally, Auburn’s defense also played 963 plays; allowing a whopping 659 more yards than Oregon. Put that in your War Eagle and smoke it, SEC fans.

*Lastly, GET IT TOGETHER, CHIP! The Ducks lost an entire half-mile (800 yards) to penalties this season. This earned the Ducks 101st place in D-1 for following the rules. How can we expect to win a natty with that many penalties? Maybe Oregon really is the new “U”…

Walking the Waddle: The ‘Oregon’ Brand has Faced an Uphill Battle

espn.com, seattle times

The Pacific Northwest–not just the UO– has an agency problem when it comes to sports. By America’s definition, we are coffee drinkers over here. Kind of an aloof, yuppie-filled region where white collared people would rather go mountain biking on a Saturday  at 8 a.m. than be glued to College Gameday waiting for the morning slough of Big 10 games. Me? I ‘m an exception to the granola governing laws of the Northwest, and I think I represent of millions of other people from this corner who are also misunderstood in their sports passion because of our geography.

Pundits like ESPN’s Colin Cowherd will attest to you that the Northwest does not care about sports, thus the explanation for the lowly Huskies and Seahawks, No MLB in Portland and bye-bye Sonics in Seattle. What people like Cowherd don’t grasp is that the Northwest is the most literate and non-religious part of America too. But just because we are generally more sophisticated than the rest of the nation doesn’t mean that sports falls by the wayside. Luckily for Northwest, the University of Oregon has the ability to change the nation’s sports-perception of our region, thanks to our unorthodox (yet still *sophisticated*) pizzaz .

On November 6th of last year, the Ducks faced off against Washington at Autzen Stadium. Outside the stadium, being interviewed on a Seattle radio program, UW Athletic Director Scott Woodward (pictured above) best evidenced Oregon’s influence during a brief conniption on the air. When rhetorically asked by the radio host if he would like UW’s facilities and popularity to be on-par with Oregon’s in the near future, Woodward responded, “Well it’s an embarrassment what their academic institution has become.”

Without going too far into the outright mistruth propagated by Woodward (Oregon’s minimum acceptance requirements have soared in the past five years), the golden kernel to take away from his statement is that there is great excitement at the University of Oregon. And when people get excited, people start to care, and that’s really what sports is all about. Caring.

It’s good to care about something, to keep up and follow it religiously, even get your emotions involved. Thats what this Duck football team is doing here in the Northwest in almost a feverish sense. Whether it be the actual football they play, to the jerseys, to the facilities, to the mantras and messages of Chip Kelly that stretch far beyond the football field and motivate people to “Win The Day” in their personal lives.

It may not happen overnight, but I think its happening.

If theres one thing that Duck Football does slowly, it’s bringing a region together.