Tag: Oregon Legends

Sabrina Ionescu narrowly loses to Steph Curry in inaugural WNBA-NBA three-point contest

Oregon Ducks legend Sabrina Ionescu competed in the first ever NBA vs. WNBA three point contest on Saturday night against Steph Curry.

In the first-ever competition between members of the WNBA and the NBA, former Oregon Ducks star Sabrina Ionescu was narrowly defeated by Steph Curry, the NBA’s all-time leading three-point scorer. Ionescu scored 26 and Curry scored 29 of 40 possible points.

Before Steph and Sabrina’s head-to-head showdown, eight NBA players competed in the NBA’s annual three-point contest. For the second year in a row, Damian Lillard took home the trophy, scoring 26 points in the final round. Other than Curry’s 29 points, 26 was the highest score of any shooter on Saturday night.

[lawrence-related id=57494]

The origin of this contest began after Ionescu set the all-time three-point contest record (37/40 possible points) in 2023. Minutes after her victory, she and Curry suggested a head-to-head competition between the two of them on Twitter. Then in January, the NBA announced that the competition would take place during the NBA’s All-Star weekend.

After the contest, during Ionescu and Curry’s on-court interviews, TNT’s Ernie Johnson highlighted Ionescu’s trailblazing impact on the WNBA and women in sports. This competition was the first time a member of the WNBA has competed against an NBA player in an official capacity.

“I think a night like tonight shows a lot of young girls and young boys that, if you can shoot, you can shoot,'” Ionescu said after the contest.

Sabrina Ionescu can certainly shoot, and although she couldn’t win Saturday night, she showed a lot of people that she is one of the best shooters and best basketball players in the world.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Top 15 Oregon Ducks to use in EA Sports NCAA Football who never got a game

A look at some of the best Oregon Ducks to use in the new EA Sports College Football 25 game who never got a chance to be in the video game.

It’s been over 10 years that we’ve had to find something to do with our free time while arguably the best video game of all time has been out of commission.

However, that time is no longer. Fans have been rejoicing this week as EA Sports announced that the beloved college football game — now called College Football 25 — will be returning to shelves this summer.  That’s welcomed news, considering that the game was discontinued after the 2014 version of the game was released in July of 2013.

Though it has been gone for so long, many avid fans still play the game today, loving it for the recruiting aspect that can’t be enjoyed in EA’s Madden.

It has been rumored that EA Sports already has 120 FBS schools on board with the game and have begun working with them to get realistic stadium noises, music, and even chants. These schools will be paid out on a tiered basis depending on their top-25 finishes.

All of that said, there was an era from 2014-2023 that saw no NCAA Football games released. There is a large group of big-time players that never saw themselves in a game. Joe Burrow from LSU’s title run in 2019, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray in Norman, Okla., Christian McCaffrey at Stanford, and many more.

The Oregon Ducks also had some guys who were like real-life video game characters, including a Heisman Trophy winner in that time. Who would be the 15 most fun Ducks to play with in NCAA Football that never got a game over the past decade? Let’s discuss.

Every Oregon Duck player to win at least one Super Bowl ring in the NFL

Looking to see which Oregon Duck players have ever won a Super Bowl ring? We’ve got you covered ahead of Sunday’s big game.

The final game of the NFL season is coming up in a matter of days, and there’s one thing that is on every Oregon fan’s mind as we get set for the big day.

Which former Ducks are in the Super Bowl?

This year, with a matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, a pair of Pro Ducks will be taking the field, with both Arik Armstead and Deommodore Lenoir acting as major difference makers on the San Francisco defense.

So if the 49ers come out on top, we will be able to add a pair of players to the list of Oregon Ducks with Super Bowl rings in their collection. While there are only a couple of Ducks in contention this season, the history of the NFL has seen a decoration of former Oregon players win the biggest game in all of sports. Many Oregon legends have one ring, some have a pair, and a select few have as many as three rings.

Here are all of the Oregon Ducks to win a Super Bowl in their career:

Sabrina Ionescu makes WNBA history again

To nobody’s surprise, Sabrina Ionescu made WNBA history this week yet again.

Sabrina Ionescu, the point guard for the New York Liberty and former Oregon Ducks basketball star, has made history once again in her young professional career. On Thursday, Ionescu hit six threes, which is the 11th time she has hit 5+ threes in a game this season, which is more than any other player in the league’s history.

Despite the exquisite performance from Ionescu in Thursday’s game, the Liberty still fell to the Las Vegas Aces, 88-75. Ionescu was her team’s leading scorer with 22 points on the night, but the rest of the team couldn’t hit shots, and the Aces took the game.

With less than a month left in the WNBA season, the Liberty are set up well for the playoffs. They have the best record in the Eastern Conference by 2.5 games and are second only to Las Vegas for the best record in the league by 4 games.

New York is one of the best teams in the league on paper, but they — along with Ionescu — are still searching for their first WNBA title. If Sabrina can keep shooting like she is, the Liberty is in good shape for the postseason, because in late-season basketball the outcomes of games often are determined by who shoots the best from deep.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Stephen Curry accepts Sabrina Ionescu’s challenge to 3-point shootout

“We’ve got to settle that one for sure — who’s the best three-point competition shooter.”

Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry will likely always be known as the greatest 3-point shooter in the world of basketball, but over the past few days, there’s been some company on his corner.

Once Sabrina Ionescu set the WNBA world on fire over All-Star weekend with an historic performance in the 3-point competition, knocking down 25-of-27 shots and scoring an NBA and WNBA record of 37 points in a single round, it started to be asked whether she is as good a shooter as Curry.

That question is a bit tongue-in-cheek, obviously, but the suggestion of a shooting contest between the Oregon legend and the four-time NBA champion is certainly entertaining to consider.

Curry has apparently been considering it as well since watching Sabrina go wild on Thursday.

“We’ve got to settle that one for sure — who’s the best 3-point competition shooter,” Curry said on NBA Today over the weekend.

Tell me who wouldn’t tune in to watch that event, will you? Do we smell a pay-per-view event coming so that we can get to the bottom of this? I sure hope so.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Ducks Legend LaMichael James is among the 2023 Oregon athletics Hall of Fame inductees

Ducks Legend LaMichael James is among the 2023 Oregon athletics Hall of Fame inductees

On Tuesday afternoon The University of Oregon athletic department announced its 2023 Hall of Fame class, and it includes former Oregon RB LaMichael James. James played 3 seasons for the Ducks racking up 5668 all-purpose yards and 56 TDs. James was a member of the 2010 Oregon team which advanced to the national championship game against Auburn.

James was a large part of the Ducks’ success that season, rushing for 1731 yards and scoring 24 total TDs. His efforts in 2010 put him in the running for numerous awards including the Heisman Trophy, which he placed third in voting for, and the Doak Walker Award (Nation’s best RB) which he won.

James was equally dominant in 2011, even though Oregon was unable to make it back to the national championship. That season, James rushed for 1805 yards and scored 19 TDs. After the 2011 season, James declared for the NFL draft where he was taken in the second round by the San Francisco 49ers.

James wasn’t just a football star with the Ducks. In 2010 and 2011, James competed in the 100-meter dash and the 4×100 relay for the Oregon Track and Field team. In 2010, James placed fifth at the Pac-10 championships and first at the Oregon Twilight meet in the 100-meter.

While he didn’t have the same success in the NFL that he did as a Duck, James has been quite successful off the field since his days at Oregon. Currently, James owns three Killer Burger restaurants —one of which is in Eugene — and could open more.

Second only to Royce Freeman in career rushing yards, and the holder of three of the top six rushing seasons, James is a Ducks legend, and arguably one of the greatest Ducks ever. He was a member of the greatest Ducks’ team ever, and his induction to the Oregon Hall of Fame is well-earned.

The Greatest Oregon Duck of All Time Bracket: Crowning the Ultimate Champion

We’re down to a final 4, and we are ready to crown the greatest Oregon Duck of all time. And the winner is….

It’s been a long road to get here, but we’ve done it. Over the past few days, we’ve made great progress when it comes to naming the greatest Oregon Duck of all time.

It started with a bracket of 32 of the most legendary figures in Oregon sports. One by one, we went through on the Sco-ing Long Podcast and eliminated on, as hard as that was until we got down to the Elite 8. It’s been a fun process, and I’ve greatly enjoyed the participation from those on Twitter who have voted each and every day as we see who the public thinks is the GOAT Duck.

The public bracket is down to a championship matchup. In order to catch up, I wanted to show how we advanced the bracket on the Sco-ing Long Podcast with JD Pluid and Shane Potter.

Here is what our bracket looks like after the Elite 8 (Note: Our bracket is different than the outcome of the voting on Twitter).

If you want to listen to the full podcast where we break down every matchup, you can do so here.

And now onto the Final 4, and the GOAT Duck Championship. Here’s who we advanced through to the championship matchup, and ultimately who we crowned the Greatest Duck of All Time.

The Greatest Oregon Duck of All Time Bracket: Sweet 16 and Elite 8

We’re rolling on in our ‘Greatest Duck of All Time’ bracket. Here are our picks for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.

The past couple of days have been incredibly entertaining in Oregon Duck Twitter circles.

When we set out earlier this week to crown the Greatest Duck of All Time, we didn’t quite expect that it would catch on so much among the fan base. It’s a topic of conversation that spans generations and gives everyone a chance to weigh in on who they think is the best Duck to ever live.

While some focus has been spent on complaining about the players who didn’t make the cut to get into the 32-person bracket, for the most part, it has been an awesome experience to see everyone weigh in and vote on who they think should advance.

On Monday morning, we put out the first round of the bracket and had fans vote on Twitter to advance who they saw fit, with thousands of votes pouring in. That public bracket is down to an Elite 8 now. In order to catch up, I wanted to show how we advanced the bracket on the Sco-ing Long Podcast with JD Pluid and Shane Potter.

Here is what our bracket looks like after the first round (Note: Our bracket is different than the outcome of the voting on Twitter).

If you want to listen to the full podcast where we break down every matchup, you can do so here.

And now onto the Sweet 16, and the Elite 8 Here’s who we advanced through the next two rounds on the podcast. To find out who moves on from the Final 4 and is ultimately crowned the Greatest Duck of All Time, check back in on Friday at Ducks Wire.

Oregon men’s basketball all-time roster: Duck Legends

Some legendary players have come through Eugene over the years. We cobbled together our all-time roster of Ducks.

We are gearing up for one of the most electric and entertaining times of the year in the world of sports, with the annual NCAA Tournament just around the corner.

While the Oregon Ducks are unlikely to be in the mix this year after a disappointing 2023 season has left the team with a path to the NIT instead, Duck fans are familiar with March Madness after a handful of deep runs over the past couple of decades.

So what would an all-time Oregon Ducks roster look like? Here at Ducks Wire, we decided to find out, choosing one coach, two assistants, and 10 players to make up the all-time roster.

The Greatest Oregon Duck of All Time Bracket: Round One

Who is the greatest Oregon Duck of all time? Here is the 1st round of our 32-person bracket, working towards the crowning of a GOAT.

Who is the greatest Oregon Duck of all time?

It’s a loaded question and one that has a handful of different answers that are all respectable, and hold a lot of truth. It’s a question that spans the sporting landscape, not just touching on football players inside Autzen Stadium, but traverses over to the hardwood at Mac Court and Matthew Knight Arena, and finds a home at the track at Hayward Field as well.

It’s a question that has stirred up a debate for decades in Eugene, and likely will go on for years into the future as the Ducks continue to see massive success across all of the major sports.

It’s a question that we are trying to find an answer to here at Ducks Wire and on the Sco-ing Long Podcast. 

In honor of the start of March, I sat down with JD Pluid and Shane Potter, co-hosts of The Flock Pod, and we went through a 32-person bracket of who I deemed worthy of the title ‘Greatest Duck of All Time.” Cutting the bracket down to just 32 was incredibly tough, and it left a long list of honorable mentions. Seeding the bracket was even tougher, pitting some of the most beloved figures in Oregon sports up against one another in the first and second rounds.

Here is a look at the seeded bracket:

In the end, we boiled down the bracket of 32 to a single winner, crowning one Oregon legend as the Greatest Duck of All Time. To hear the entire conversation, you can listen to the Sco-ing Long Podcast.

If you’re more of a reading fan, here is the first round of the bracket: