After hours upon hours and being jealous of super cool blogs on wordpress and also wishing and kicking myself for not signing up with wordpress from the get go I have decided to switch sites and now go with wordpress.
You can find our new home at www.DucksAttack.com. But before you visit our new and improved site that AJ and I somewhat worked on go and ahead and read the history of Ducks Attack!
I am sure there are ton's of people out there who don't know the story of how and why this blog was created. So here is a short lesson on the history of Ducks Attack and also a glimpse into the future...
Around early March I(mops) was studying for a mid-term and I needed to get away from the books and get off some energy. So I hit the internet and just was wasting time away when I fell upon a blog that covers college football, Every Day Should Be Saturday, and I thought I could do what they do but just focus on Oregon sports since thats pretty much all I talk about with friends and family. I considered myself pretty in the know about all Oregon athletics.
So I started a blog called Ducks Illustrated and I only told a few people about my blog but as all blogs that become heavily visited word spreads. Someone I told told someone and that someone told someone and that someone told someone and well you get the point.
Well eventually that someone was Jay Jones over at Ducks Sports News and he got in touch with me about promoting my blog. He also brought me on to blog for his site which I have done a few but have become busy with school, work, an internship(which I got because of my visibility thanks to DSN), and this blog. But I plan on stepping my game up more this summer as I have gotten into my groove on how I need to handle my time.
From there word spread about my blog like no other and I truely owe my success to partially what DSN has been able to do for the promotion of my blog. I grew and grew and now I average over 700 hits a day with almost 400 people coming back that same day for more duck news. I kind of consider myself the "underground connection" to Duck news. Nothing official but also something thats one of its kind.
I then linked up with the hottest message board on the net for Duck News at Chat4Quacks and we combined forces although we were pretty much already.
Then just a few days ago I got in touch with some guys Jay over at DSN introduced me to that do podcasts on Duck Sports and we got to know each other and it struck me that we should just combine our forces because we both do the same thing and we both provide different venues of info.
So I brought on AJ and Cameron along with TK over at C4Qs as beat writers and things were all dandy.
Then after hours of talking with AJ on how we can improve Ducks Attack and get the ball rolling even faster we decided to make a financial plunge...a 25 dollar financial plunge...we got some hosting from a provider and have now switched platforms for our blogging. We are now apart of Wordpress and things couldn't be happier.
We have uploaded a podcasting ability to the site as well as links to our message board and DSN and to our own blog within our "blog".
You can now find us at www.ducksattack.com and as you can see theres no more .blogspot or .wordpress! We are now an official website because we own our domain and we control our own site now!
Theres work going on behind the scenes as we are building a newsletter that will be going out to all our readers who wish to sign up and are working on other exciting features as well.
We hope you guys will continue to visit our site and our blogs and help continue this amazing growth of what we like to call, the lil guy in the sports reporting world of Oregon Athletics.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Luke Jackson Striving For Another Chance
Luke Jackson left the Oregon basketball program as an All-American and recent lotto pick as he was heading to Cleveland to play alongside NBA superstar LeBron James and continue his success on the hardwood in the NBA.
A few back injuries and a career where he has played for seven different teams Jackson is just looking for a place to stick.
"I played two straight seasons with my back injury and never was healthy. Its what it is but there isn't much you can do about it," said Jackson.
Its clear his injuries were a factor into how Jackson hasn't been able to stick with an NBA team. He's found some success in Toronto for the Raptors in the spring of 2007 as he signed a long term contract but found himself cut before the season started.
The 2007-08 season was a wild and crazy ride for Jackson as he went from playing in the NBDL to the Miami Heat and back to the NBDL and playing for the Idaho Stampede in the finals.
This off-season Jackson has been very busy getting himself ready for tryouts with other teams.
"I have been training in Eugene, Portland, Las Vegas, and L.A., but mostly in Vegas."
When asked why in Las Vegas Jackson stated it's a place where he can play with pro's to get himself ready for the upcoming season.
"Right now it's hard to say what teams like me enough to sing because free agency doesn't start until July but I have been hearing good things from a few teams around the league," stated Jackson who went on to add, "I had a really good work out down in California with Golden State. They like what I can bring to the table and I like it down there."
Golden State isn't the only team thats go an eye on Jackson as he quickly points out, "I have been hearing from Portland a bit, and I'm in New York (City) right now as I just finished up a work out with them which went really well."
Jackson informed Ducks Attack he has another workout scheduled next week down in Dallas with the Mavericks and is looking forward to that workout as well.
"I'd like to stay on the west coast if I could, but it's all about finding a team that works for me personally and also works for the team and the rest of the roster. Both sides have to match for it to work," Jackson added.
The uncertainty of his pro career, non stop traveling, and the injured past haven't even phased Jackson as he keeps his head up and mind set on his goal to land a spot on an NBA roster.
"My body is healthy and I feel great when it comes to my injuries in the past. I feel the best ever and I know my best years of basketball are still ahead of me," said Jackson.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Baseball Lands 2009 Commit
This is the first commitment to our knowledge here at Ducks Attack and hopefully the start of things to come for the baseball program.
Michael Becker of The Press-Enterprise newspaper has reported in their blog that the Ducks have landed Jake Marisnick of Riverside Poly High School in Riverside, CA.
Marisnick, a 6'4 200 pound center fielder is said to be one of the best baseball prospects in the state of California next spring as a senior.
Marisnick posted a .495 batting average with 22 RBIs and 5 homeruns to go with his .535 on base percentage according to MaxPreps.com's statics.
Michael Becker of The Press-Enterprise newspaper has reported in their blog that the Ducks have landed Jake Marisnick of Riverside Poly High School in Riverside, CA.
Marisnick, a 6'4 200 pound center fielder is said to be one of the best baseball prospects in the state of California next spring as a senior.
Marisnick posted a .495 batting average with 22 RBIs and 5 homeruns to go with his .535 on base percentage according to MaxPreps.com's statics.
Fox Becomes A Duck
When it comes to recruiting sometimes news about a commitment can come from nowhere and shock the average fan. You can now now another surprise commitment for the Oregon Duck football program as the Ducks have landed their newest commitment, Trevor Fox, a 3* OG out of Charparral high school in Temecula, CA.
Brandon Huffman of Scout.com broke the news and to read his story click here.
Fox is 6'4 270 pounds and was a key part to the Charparral season as he anchored down one of the guard positions.
According to the Scout.com bio Fox has offers from Oregon, Arizona, and Northern Arizona.
The Duck coaching staff have known about Fox for the past few years now as current sophomore to be Talmadge Jackson, a defensive back, came from the same high school in the 2007 class.
Here is a video of the Chaparral team this past season where you can watch the OL and see Fox in action.
Brandon Huffman of Scout.com broke the news and to read his story click here.
Fox is 6'4 270 pounds and was a key part to the Charparral season as he anchored down one of the guard positions.
According to the Scout.com bio Fox has offers from Oregon, Arizona, and Northern Arizona.
The Duck coaching staff have known about Fox for the past few years now as current sophomore to be Talmadge Jackson, a defensive back, came from the same high school in the 2007 class.
Here is a video of the Chaparral team this past season where you can watch the OL and see Fox in action.
Foundation to save Oregon wrestling speaks out.
With the lawsuit scheduled to be heard by Oregon judges in Salem during the second week in July, the question of the trial emerges why? Why is wrestling suing the University of Oregon? Why was the Program cut? What is the long-term effect of the removal or reinstatement of the program going to be?
Ron Finley from Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation was able to answer a few questions on the topic. When asked why wrestling ended up having to sue the UO he said, “It’s the only choice we’ve been given”.
“We are taking the UO to court using a law suit because of the wrongful processing of termination” explained Jeremy McLaughlin a current wrestler at UO.
Athletic Director Pat Killkenny has been getting most of the blame for the cutting of the wrestling program and rightly so to some fans and people close to the program.
If you look at it the first real influence he had as athletic director you would find it being on July 13, 2007 with the cutting of wrestling and the addition of baseball and completive cheer.
“It’s pure and simple… it’s the Athletic Director fault,” said Finley.
Now the reasoning that Pat Killkenny used for dropping wrestling is the Title IX which states that there needs to be a even balance of men’s and woman’s sports within each college’s athletic department.
However, after angry booster argued that title IX does not require Oregon to drop wrestling the UO came out in response saying that their title IX belief was flawed.
According to the press release from the Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation these are the four reasons Oregon’s athletic department is cutting the program:
“(1) UO lacks a wrestling facility;
(2) The Eugene area lacks a dedicated fan base;
(3) The opportunity to capitalize on an investment; and
(4) The lack of support in the Pac-10 and NCAA Division I.”
This information was released only after Pat Killkenny’s special assistant Neal Zoumboukos acknowledged that Title IX did not require UO to drop wrestling according to an article inside the latest issue of Ducks Illustrated magazine.
Finley said “Donors have offered to pay for a new facility instead of the UO having to pay for it.”
A student poll conducted by the foundation shows that the overwhelming majority of students at the university wanted wrestling to stay a at the UO.
So how can it be said that the area lacks a fan base if the numbers clearly state that they want wrestling back?
McLaughlin stated that “They(UO) keep switching reasons why we(Wrestling) were terminated. First with Title IX and then with funding.”
When asked if Phil Knight who is one of Oregon’s largest donors Finley stated Mr. Knight was no where to be seen.
“Phil Knight has been completely out of the picture when it comes to giving money to the program,” said Finley.
So he will pay for how many football jerseys? Pay for a new law building on campus, but not put anything down for wrestling? Not to take away from anything that Phil Knight has done but it just seems weird.
Now we can’t forget the same thing that happened at Arizona State where the wrestling program was cut but then reinstated after ASU wrestling fans and boosters pledged $8 million to save the program. But the situation in Eugene is that the athletic department is not behind the effort to raise money to reinstate Oregon wrestling.
In fact, according to Finley, they (UO) have told people to not waste their money on this and going so far as to not allow fundraising for the Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation at the state high school wrestling tournament.
McLaughlin said, “It is two different situations with us and ASU because they (ASU) gave the wrestling program a goal to reach but no such thing has happened at the UO.”
“If Killkenny set a money goal that had to be reached for the reinstatement of wrestling it would be reached very fast,” stated Finley.
Now only if the UO and Killkenny could have the same view on this that ASU did maybe things would have gone down a different path. Killkenny has been very reluctant to answer questions on the subject of wrestling to all the media as of now while Finley has been open to discuss this situation with anyone who will listen.
With the hearing approaching the wrestling program won’t settle for anything less than the reinstatement of the program at the UO.
“Money doesn’t help us, a program does. We just want to wrestle here at the UO because we love this place. Why transfer somewhere if we can have a great program here, all we need is a little help from the school,” said McLaughlin.
-AJ Untermeyer
Auntermeyer@gmail.com
Ron Finley from Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation was able to answer a few questions on the topic. When asked why wrestling ended up having to sue the UO he said, “It’s the only choice we’ve been given”.
“We are taking the UO to court using a law suit because of the wrongful processing of termination” explained Jeremy McLaughlin a current wrestler at UO.
Athletic Director Pat Killkenny has been getting most of the blame for the cutting of the wrestling program and rightly so to some fans and people close to the program.
If you look at it the first real influence he had as athletic director you would find it being on July 13, 2007 with the cutting of wrestling and the addition of baseball and completive cheer.
“It’s pure and simple… it’s the Athletic Director fault,” said Finley.
Now the reasoning that Pat Killkenny used for dropping wrestling is the Title IX which states that there needs to be a even balance of men’s and woman’s sports within each college’s athletic department.
However, after angry booster argued that title IX does not require Oregon to drop wrestling the UO came out in response saying that their title IX belief was flawed.
According to the press release from the Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation these are the four reasons Oregon’s athletic department is cutting the program:
“(1) UO lacks a wrestling facility;
(2) The Eugene area lacks a dedicated fan base;
(3) The opportunity to capitalize on an investment; and
(4) The lack of support in the Pac-10 and NCAA Division I.”
This information was released only after Pat Killkenny’s special assistant Neal Zoumboukos acknowledged that Title IX did not require UO to drop wrestling according to an article inside the latest issue of Ducks Illustrated magazine.
Finley said “Donors have offered to pay for a new facility instead of the UO having to pay for it.”
A student poll conducted by the foundation shows that the overwhelming majority of students at the university wanted wrestling to stay a at the UO.
So how can it be said that the area lacks a fan base if the numbers clearly state that they want wrestling back?
McLaughlin stated that “They(UO) keep switching reasons why we(Wrestling) were terminated. First with Title IX and then with funding.”
When asked if Phil Knight who is one of Oregon’s largest donors Finley stated Mr. Knight was no where to be seen.
“Phil Knight has been completely out of the picture when it comes to giving money to the program,” said Finley.
So he will pay for how many football jerseys? Pay for a new law building on campus, but not put anything down for wrestling? Not to take away from anything that Phil Knight has done but it just seems weird.
Now we can’t forget the same thing that happened at Arizona State where the wrestling program was cut but then reinstated after ASU wrestling fans and boosters pledged $8 million to save the program. But the situation in Eugene is that the athletic department is not behind the effort to raise money to reinstate Oregon wrestling.
In fact, according to Finley, they (UO) have told people to not waste their money on this and going so far as to not allow fundraising for the Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation at the state high school wrestling tournament.
McLaughlin said, “It is two different situations with us and ASU because they (ASU) gave the wrestling program a goal to reach but no such thing has happened at the UO.”
“If Killkenny set a money goal that had to be reached for the reinstatement of wrestling it would be reached very fast,” stated Finley.
Now only if the UO and Killkenny could have the same view on this that ASU did maybe things would have gone down a different path. Killkenny has been very reluctant to answer questions on the subject of wrestling to all the media as of now while Finley has been open to discuss this situation with anyone who will listen.
With the hearing approaching the wrestling program won’t settle for anything less than the reinstatement of the program at the UO.
“Money doesn’t help us, a program does. We just want to wrestle here at the UO because we love this place. Why transfer somewhere if we can have a great program here, all we need is a little help from the school,” said McLaughlin.
-AJ Untermeyer
Auntermeyer@gmail.com
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