From a waffle iron and the trunk of a car, Nike is one of Oregon’s – and America’s – most inspirational business success stories. The company began in 1964 when former University of Oregon runner Phil Knight and Oregon track and field coach Bill Bowerman put in $500 each to form Blue Ribbon Sports. Knight,..Read More
Founded in 1891, “The MAC” has become Oregon’s and one of the nation’s most storied athletic clubs, and has shaped the course of the state’s sports world for more than a century. The club was incorporated on February 28, 1891 through the efforts of 26 amateur sports athletes and enthusiasts, led by photographer Arthur B…Read More
(Jul. 27, 1887 – Sep. 4, 1974) Robert Hudson used his business skill and drive to support golf to the benefit of not only the state, but also the golf world during the era surrounding World War II. Born in 1887, Hudson began working in a grocery at age 14 and became the store’s sales..Read More
John Eggers (Jul. 18, 1922 – Jul. 31, 1992) served as sports information director at Oregon State University for more than 31 years, and helped create a pattern for how to represent and market college athletics through in-house news writing. His efforts helped significantly with Terry Baker receiving the Heisman Trophy in 1962. Eggers grew..Read More
(May 13, 1924 – Jun 10, 2020) Among the Oregonians who’ve been involved with the promotion and development of professional events and teams in Oregon, Harry Glickman stands alone for his work in founding, developing and then maintaining the state’s most successful events and teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers. He is regarded as “The..Read More
It takes a tough mother to run a thriving business these days. Fortunately, Columbia Sportswear has one of those, with a son who is a pretty good wing man himself. Gert (March 6, 1924 – November 3, 2019) and Tim Boyle (born 1949) have made civic engagement and giving a huge part of the Columbia..Read More
(Jun 20, 1931 – Jul. 13, 2012) Margaret Dobson earned a spot in Oregon’s sports heritage as an elite-level softball player, an administrator at Portland State and even played a role in the development of the Special Olympics. Dobson joined the Erv Lind Florists team as a teenager and, at age 18, finished the 1950..Read More
(Oct. 9, 1925 – Jul. 9, 1979) Betty Evans Grayson reached the highest level of competitive softball while still in high school and had a Hall of Fame career that included pitching for a national champion team and even spending time in a professional league. Although Evans, who took the name Grayson after marriage to..Read More
(Oct. 10, 1935 – May 3, 2014) Carolyn Fitzwater played her way into the state’s sports landscape as an infield with the Erv Lind Florists, and continued to a memorable teaching and coaching career. Born in 1935, Fitzwater graduated from Portland’s Washington High School in 1953, but had already reached the top of the softball..Read More
(1906 – 1964) Born in Chicago, in 1906, Erv Lind made a name for himself in the sports world as a sponsor and coach of one of the state’s great amateur teams: softball’s Erv Lind Florists. A rec-league baseball player into middle age, Lind moved into sponsorship of a softball team in 1937 and quickly..Read More