Tales From The Oregon Ducks Sideline is a short history of football at the University of Oregon from its inception in 1894 through to present day (the 2006 season in this first edition). It’s also my first book.

Although I write principally about art and culture, specifically architecture, visual arts and film, the Oregon Ducks football team has been a great passion of mine since childhood. I attended my first game a Autzen Stadium with my dad in 1980, and have been a rabid fan ever since.

The book includes a host of interviews with the all-time greats of Duck gridiron history. There is Kenny Wheaton, the freshman cornerback whose 97-yard interception for a touchdown against Washington in 1994 not only propelled Oregon to its first Rose Bowl in 37 years, but arguably changed the course of the program from middle-of-the-pack team to perennial winner. There is Ahmad Rashad and Dan Fouts, a future NFL hall of famer and All-Pro in the same backfield, reminiscing about the tumultuous early 1970s in Eugene. Bill Musgrave remembers out-dueling a future Heisman Trophy winner in 1989 and 1990 while guiding the Ducks to their first bowls in a quarter-century. And of course no one can forget Joey Harrington, 25-3 as a starter and a virtuoso of the late-game comeback, which wasn’t needed on January 1, 2002 as the 11-1 Ducks destroyed Colorado for a Fiesta Bowl win and consensus #2 year-end ranking. Harrington wrote the forward to Tales From the Oregon Ducks Sideline.

The book is written so that you can read it either chronologically from cover to cover or flip to any individual moment or story from the team’s 112 years. I personally enjoy the idea of book-marking all my favorite victories over the Oregon State Beavers.

After its released on September 1, 2007, you can find Tales From the Oregon Ducks Sideline online at Amazon.com, Powells.com, and in bookstores throughout the Northwest. There will also be the following readings:

August 20: Borders Books, Eugene, 7PM
August 23: The Duck Shop, Portland, 6PM
August 25: Oregon Fan Day, Eugene, 10AM
August 28: Powells Books, Portland, 7:30PM
August 30: The Duck Shop, Bend, 6PM
September 13: Third Street Books, McMinnville, 7PM
October 4: Broadway Books, Portland, 7PM
November 29: 23rd Avenue Books, Portland, 7PM

In an August 30 McMinnville News-Register feature you can read here, writer Paul Daquilante profiles Brian and the book.