As an aspiring sports journalist, Emerald sports editor Lucas Clark is used to seeing his name in newsprint, but as only a University of Oregon junior, he never imagined his work would be featured in a book about the Duck football team.
“The things I’ve gotten to do and be a part of due to the success of the football program are simply incredible,” Clark said.
In honor of the Oregon football team’s historic season, the Oregon Daily Emerald, the student newspaper at the University of Oregon, is publishing a commemorative book that will be released after the BCS National Championship Game in January. University President Richard Lariviere will write the book’s foreword.
The book, titled “Duck Season: Oregon’s Magical Flight to the National Title Game,” will be the first Emerald-produced hard-bound commemorative volume. Fans can also submit their own photos to be considered in the book.
Emerald publisher Mike Thoele, a former Eugene Register-Guard editor and reporter, Oregon author and long-time instructor at the University’s School of Journalism and Communication , said the student content gives valuable perspective on the season.
“Readers are going to be treated to the viewpoint of student journalists covering their contemporaries,” Thoele said. “No other set of writers and photographers is so uniquely positioned to depict the campus impact of a historic season.”
“Duck Season: Oregon’s Magical Flight to the National Title Game,” will be off the press two weeks after the title game. It will include entirely student-produced Emerald football game coverage, feature stories and photographs. Every game of the season will receive its own chapter, including the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.
The Emerald is also teaming up with Operation Homefront, a support organization for soldiers and their families, to provide free copies to Oregon military personnel serving in the Middle East and elsewhere around the globe.
In addition to promoting the book to all Oregon fans, the Emerald is encouraging book buyers to spring for additional copies to go without charge — via Operation Homefront — to fans in the armed services. And the early responses are positive.
“We’re producing this book for Oregon fans everywhere,” said Nora Simon, the Emerald’s editor in chief. “It’s exciting that we as student journalists get to help raise the spirits of Oregon troops who weren’t here to see the season unfold.”
Thoele said having students directly involved with producing the book expands the Emerald’s education beyond practical journalism experience in print, online and multimedia.
“Through the serendipity of this magical football year, we have students dealing with a publishing firm of national stature, meeting pressure-cooker deadlines and putting a finished book on store shelves within days of the championship game,” Thoele said.
For student journalists at the Emerald, covering one of the top college football teams in the country will continue to be a learning experience, particularly with a trip to Glendale in the near future and the chance to work alongside national media to cover college football’s biggest competition.
Five members of the Emerald’s staff will spend four days in Glendale producing stories, photos and blogs about the National Championship experience each day.
Clark said the quality of both the writing and photography in this student-produced book should get it noticed.
“We are all still growing as writers, and I believe that will be a unique aspect as readers work their way through this book,” Clark said.
Submit your fan photos by January 10 for a chance to end up in “Duck Season”  
http://ducksbook.com