Hey Duck fans, today we have a great article for you about senior WR Jeff Maehl from the Oregonian. As some fans may remember Maehl was originally recruited to be a defensive back but ended up being forced into the wide receiver position because of many injuries during his freshman year. Over the past couple of seasons Maehl has solidified himself as Oregon’s most reliable and go-to receiver. During the Ducks’ crucial 2 overtime win at Arizona last year Maehl made a name for himself in the national spotlight as ESPN’s college gameday covered the game. During that game Maehl caught 12 passes for 114 yards and 2 TD’s. He also had a 73 yard touchdown reception in the 2009 Civil War that propelled the Ducks to the Rose Bowl. To read the full story on Jeff Maehl’s improbable 4 year ride at wide receiver check out this link:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/08/oregon_ducks_football_jeff_mae.html

Jacquizz Rodgers has come on the scene at Oregon State and has completely changed the way that the running back position is looked at. In his freshman year he gained 1253 yards while scoring 11 TD’s. He followed that up by gaining 1440 yards and scoring 21 TD’s as a sophomore. He is now being hailed as a legitimate heisman trophy contender. It seems like he is not letting it get to his head though, which we all know is very important. Click the highlighted link to check out this video to see what Quizz thinks of winning the heisman. Jacquizz Rodgers: Heisman Trophy Candidate

As you may have heard by now the Pac-10 recently expanded and has added two new schools to effectively make the conference now the “Pac-12”. While the official name of the new conference has yet to be determined we will refer to it as the Pac-12 for simplicity. The University of Colorado and University of Utah have accepted invitations to join the conference and all signs point to them competing in the conference beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. This wasn’t the exact line up that commissioner Larry Scott was hoping for when he decided to pursue expansion but it seems that the expansion still does provide benefits for the current Pac-10. By adding two teams to bring the total to 12 the conference can now host a conference championship game in which the winner gets an automatic BCS berth. This is very good for the conference because it means that one conference loss does not mean that a schools chance of making a BCS game are hurt significantly as it is currently. For example, last year Nebraska went 6-2 against other Big 12 teams but those two losses were good enough to place them atop the Big 12 North division and consequently they were able to play in the conference championship game and have a chance for an automatic BCS berth. This is also great for the conference because it increases the chances of getting more than one team in the BCS, especially if there is an upset in the conference championship.

The biggest criticism coming from the expansion is the fact that there will now be two divisions with six teams in each and not every team will play each other as they do now. The Pac-10 is the only BCS conference that still uses the round robin format that requires every team play each other. While these divisions most definitely wouldn’t affect interstate rivalries such as OSU-UO or WSU-UW it is unclear what affect it will have on non-interstate rivalries such as UO-UW. Many fans believe that it will hurt the conference to not have games such as UO-UW played every single year.

Check out ESPN blogger Ted Miller’s take on the new “Pac-12”: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5299014

Also, be sure to check out Ted Miller’s possible options of how the new divisions will be split:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/10588/a-conference-divided-what-will-pac-10-divisions-look-like

The Pac-10 had a great 2009 season as a conference and proved to the rest of the nation that it was the deepest and most talented conference in the nation. Not only did the Pac-10 end up with 7 bowl eligible teams, meaning the team had at least 6 wins, all of the bowl eligible teams will be playing in bowl games. Last year the Pac-10 had 5 teams in bowl games and went undefeated as a conference. As I look at the Pac-10 bowl matchups for this year I don’t think there is any reason that the Pac-10 can repeat that feat and go 7-0 in bowl games. Here are all of the Pac-10 bowl matchups for this holiday season.

Las Vegas Bowl: #18 Oregon State vs. #14 BYU – Tuesday, December 22 @ 5 PM on ESPN

Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, CA): #23 Utah vs. California- Wednesday, December 23 @ 5 PM on ESPN

Emerald Bowl (San Francisco, CA): Boston College vs. #24 USC- Saturday, December 26 @ 5 PM on ESPN

Eagle Bank Bowl (Washington D.C.): UCLA vs. Temple- Tuesday, December 29 @ 1:30 PM on ESPN

Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA): #20 Arizona vs. #22 Nebraska- Wednesday, December 30 @ 5 PM on ESPN

Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX): Oklahoma vs. #21 Stanford- Thursday, December 31 @ 11 AM on CBS

Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA): #8 Ohio State vs. #7 Oregon- Friday, January 1 @ 1:30 PM on ABC

*Side Note- Future Washington Husky, RB Keanon Lowe who plays for Jesuit High School in Portland, rushed for 310 yards and 6 TD’s in the Oregon 6A State Championship game last weekend at Reser Stadium in Corvallis. Unfortunately for Lowe it came in a 50-43 losing effort to Sheldon High School.

Rose Bowl adds to UO\’s growing brand regognition

CONTACTS: Sundrop Media
Christy Caplan, 503-412-8850 or christyc@sundropmedia.com
UP-2-U, The Ultimate Game for Northwest Sports Fans, Joins the
Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Oregon ’s A Season of Wishes Campaign
Duck, Husky, Cougar and Beaver Fans Have a New Game to Play This Fall During the Apple Cup and Civil War Rivalry Games in Washington and Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (November 6, 2008) — There are at least two good reasons to pick up an UP-2-U game this holiday season: the purchase supports Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Oregon; and the Apple Cup and Civil War football games are a great time to gather with folks for friendly competition during traditional tailgate parties.

Up-2-U supports this year’s A Season of Wishes campaign, a six-week annual holiday campaign designed to raise awareness and funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon. For each game sold on the Web site, during November and December 2008, UP-2-U games will donate 10 percent of online sales to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, with a minimum guaranteed contribution of $1,000.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to give back to our community than granting wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, and UP-2-U is honored to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation,” said Karon Paul, founder of UP-2-U Games.

“We are excited to have UP-2-U as one of our partners for A Season of Wishes,” said Andrew Asato, executive director of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon. “People can help by buying an UP-2-U board game for their Northwest sports fan over the holidays. With their support, we will grant 31 wishes for local children with life-threatening medical conditions this holiday season.”

The 2008 Apple Cup at Washington State University and the Civil War at Oregon State University traditionally bring friends, families and communities together for tailgate parties where people socialize, play games and share food. By bringing UP-2-U into the mix, tailgate game play can be expanded to include a fun game for everyone from kids to adults. The outcome of the game may even predict the real winner! UP-2-U is available for Huskies, Cougars, Beavers and Ducks fans at up2ugames.com.

According to the National Institute for Play, as play is woven into the fabric of social practices, personal health and relationships dramatically transform. Karon Paul, creator of UP-2-U, always held at the forefront the importance of play, as the idea and concept for the board game was developed at a dinner party in late 2006.

About the UP-2-U games – Rules of Engagement:
“With a stack of UP-2-U playing cards, a roll of the customized dice and two shapes of wooden logo pieces – tailored for each university – fans make up some of their own wild rules and celebrate their team all year round as they strategize, form alliances with game participants, and compete to build the tallest tower,” said creator, Karon Paul.

Originally the name UP-2-U was to give a visual of the idea of building *UP* and the U focused on the fact that the game was created for universities. Since the original inception of the game, the concept evolved dramatically in rules and how the game was played. When the penalty play was created the UP-2-U wildcards gave an added dimension to the game – and the wild rules were born.
Each game includes 96 collectible quality wooden playing pieces fashioned as university stylized letters and logos, 4 logo playing bases, 12 standard penalty cards, 4 “wild cards” and 2 customized dice. Players need strategy, luck and a steady hand to master this exciting game. MSRP is $49.95, shipping is free. More information about rules can be found here: http://up2ugames.com/info/rules/index.php.

About UP-2-U: the ultimate game for northwest college sports fans
Armed with her big idea, Karon asked her partner in J-K Pursuits, John Kemp, to help her determine its viability and what their potential next steps would be. John, a respected business man with extensive marketing experience, thought the concept had strong legs to reach beyond the Duck fan base. After 15 months of rigorous development, testing cycles, trademarks and a patent, it was game time.

Games are available for UW Huskies, WSU Cougars, U of O Ducks and OSU Beavers fans. Based in Portland, Oregon, UP-2-U games are sold at up2ugames.com, participating University stores and specialty retailers.

christyc@sundropmedia.com •  UP-2-U Board Games

CONTACTS: Sundrop Media
Christy Caplan, 503-412-8850 or   christyc@sundropmedia.com
Spencer Crandall, 503-735-4038 or   spencerc@sundropmedia.com

UP-2-U -The ultimate game for northwest sports fans – Wins Northwest Fans; Prepares to Launch New Games for UW Huskies, WSU Cougars and OSU Beavers

Based on the successful introduction of UP-2-U for the University of Oregon Ducks in Spring 2008 – three new university games are unveiled just in time for the gift giving season

PORTLAND, Ore. (September 22, 2008) – Game nights with friends and family are a favorite pastime, especially when playing games associated with their favorite sports team. And while game nights are the latest trend, people are also choosing to stay at home for entertainment.  This fall, UP-2-U, the ultimate game for northwest sports fans, expands on the success of the  University of Oregon Ducks game for students and alumni by adding new games for avid fans of the University of Washington Huskies, the Washington State University Cougars, and the Oregon State University Beavers. More players have the opportunity to go head to head in trying to stack the tallest tower. The first edition customized for the inspirational team – The University of Oregon Ducks – provided the successful framework to add these new games, available this fall at specialty retailers and online at  up2ugames.com.

According to the National Institute for Play, as play is woven into the fabric of social practices, personal health and relationships dramatically transform. Karon Paul, creator of UP-2-U, always held at the forefront the importance of play, as the idea and concept for the board game was developed at a dinner party in late 2006. After 15 months of rigorous product development, testing cycles, trademarks and a provisional patent, the UP-2-U board game for U of O Ducks was born in early 2008 and it was game time.

“With a stack of UP-2-U playing cards, a roll of the customized dice and two shapes of wooden logo pieces – tailored for each university – fans make up some of their own wild rules and celebrate their team all year round as they strategize, form alliances with game participants, and compete to build the tallest tower,” said creator, Karon Paul. “Our vision was to take the fun even farther after introducing UP-2-U to the U of O Ducks in spring 2008 and bring UP-2-U to other universities across the country, branded with their own customized logo pieces and school colors. We’re excited about launching new games for the UW Huskies, WSU Cougars and OSU Beavers, and hope to create more school partnerships in the future.”

Up-2-U is a proud participant of this year’s “A Season of Wishes” campaign, a six-week annual holiday campaign designed to raise awareness and funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Oregon. For each game sold on the Web site, during November and December 2008, UP2U games will donate 10 percent to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, with a minimum guaranteed contribution of $1,000.

About the new UP-2-U games -Rules of Engagement:
Originally the name UP-2-U was to give a visual of the idea of building *UP* and the U focused on the fact that the game was created for universities. Since the original inception of the game, the concept evolved dramatically in rules and how the game was played. When the penalty play was created the UP-2-U wildcards gave an added dimension to the game – and the wild rules were born.

Each game includes 96 collectible quality wooden playing pieces fashioned as university stylized letters and logos, 4 logo playing bases, 12 standard penalty cards, 4 “wild cards” and 2 customized dice. Players need strategy, luck and a steady hand to master this exciting game. MSRP is $49.95, shipping is free. More information about rules can be found here:  up2ugames.com/press-and-news/rules.

The key rules of engagement are:
Compete against family and friends to be the last player remaining with the tallest tower.
With each roll of the dice, fate can hand players a penalty that can either raise hopes – or crush dreams!
For a heightened creative challenge, players can even create penalties and play “UP-2-U” rules they made up!
The objective of the game is to have the tallest tower standing at games end.

About UP-2-U: the ultimate game for northwest college sports fans
Armed with her big idea, Karon asked her partner in J-K Pursuits, John Kemp, to help her determine if the idea was viable and what their potential next steps would be. John, a respected business man with extensive marketing experience, thought the concept had strong legs to reach beyond the Duck fan base. After 15 months of rigorous development, testing cycles, trademarks and a provisional patent, it was game time. 

Games are available for UW Huskies, WSU Cougars, U of O Ducks and OSU Beavers fans. Based in Portland, Oregon, UP-2-U games are sold at participating University stores.

***

For university graduates here in the Northwest, there are three things that are essential to have. The first is a diploma, the second is at least one marketable skill, and the third is a way to show off your school pride.

We can’t help you with the first two, but for the third, nothing beats a fun and functional way to stick it to your other-educated friends or your campus rival with this College Board game. Alternate drinking rules encouraged.