KCDuck1

All, Well, Doug Little was the ultimate smart and tough player who never quit. He was enjoyable, even fun to watch play. I did not know Doug personally, so I can only speak to my impressions from watching Doug play and compete, and those are almost 50 years old. If I recall correctly, Doug was nicknamed, "the Cowboy". If you have ever been to a rodeo or traveled through the Grand Ronde area of Eastern Oregon - cattle country, one has an opportunity to see, watch and observe some tough, dirty work among stock animals, cattle, bulls, and horses and calves. It is hard work and rewarding. I don't know from what region, city, town, or family Doug originated, and/or where he played his high school ball, but he played like a cowboy works: he played tough and smart, he was always thinking a couple of steps ahead, he never shirked his assignment or duty, and no matter how hot the competition, he was always right in there, mentally competing and out-playing his opponent. Noone ever believed Doug was as talented physically as his opponents, but noone bet against him. Doug had a knack for playing man-to-man defense, and he was just a tough player against whom to play, and his opponents always knew it. Even though Doug was usually several inches shorter than the players against whom he was playing, Doug could and usually did hit big shots; his opponents' heighth mattered, and yet, when the ball hit the court, it just didn't seem to matter to Doug. He knew he could out-think and/or out-ball his opponents. Interestingly, he was a darned good team player, too; he had to be. The crowd loved watching Doug play/perform, and especially the student section in Mac Court. The Ducks BB team at that time had a team full of tough players who backed down to no other team. Doug and the BB team didn't win all their games, but they were always in the game right until the buzzer sounded ending that game. I am a Ducks BB fan now because I respect and like their BB coaching and team. If this years' team plays with a similar amount of thinking, team and work ethic, and teamwork as those teams Doug played on, our Ducks BB team will go a long way in the NCAA championships. Doug, thanks for all the great games. No one can ever say you weren't a baller and an unforgettable Fightin' Duck! I remain very respectfully, KCDuck1

Dr. Hilarius and Haywardduck, You fellows are on the right track: Bruise Brothers - love it. Creating widespread panic AND havoc describes the desired effect perfectly! Still, we have not yet accomplished that, so don't get too far ahead of yourself and the desired conditions we want our Ducks defense to create. Great creativity and imagination! Now, our Ducks must do it on the field, OR, we will resemble a burned-out sparkler on the 4th of July. I believe this is all about our coaches (and players) figuring out how to set up drills by which our talented D-linemen work against and practice how to beat our talented O-linemen. For a linebacker, handball drills and playing that game facilitate lateral explosion and requisite quickness. So, just as with LBs, there must be drills (or thos drills can be created) that accentuate [the positive] the recognition of angles and the use and leverage of hands, arms and hips; and how to keep those feet moving in the direction the D-lineman wants to go. Now, we must use our Duck imagination to crush the initial attack, and to rapidly counter-attack (and create widespread panic)! Love that verbiage and the titles. Now, our D-Linemen have to earn those tactical victories on the line to receive the award of those titles. Coaches, Assts, and players, better get back to work; TT will be a handful, and then comes the PAC. Great work! I remain VR, KCDuck1

Log Haulin and Jon Joseph, Agree that DeBoer is probably not an afficionado of college football recruiting, but this coach beat us last year in Autzen. He knows offense! Remember what a tough out he and his Fresno State team were just 2-3 years ago? He was not a recruiting machine then, either. But, he still beat a lot of PAC12 teams and took us to the edge before we defeated them, and flew back to Columbus. Don't sleep on this guy or his team. I don't recall his pedigree exactly, but if memory serves me accurately, De Boer was HC of a Div III team in Iowa and won more than 60 games during his first HC stint; also, believe he might have won his conference and one or two Natl Champs at the Div III level. When a coach wins any Natl Championship, they have earned the benefit of the doubt. Recruiting? No, but they find players that want to win; he used them to beat us last year. You can take it to the bank they will be reay to play the Ducks! I don't want to lose to the Huskies or any PAC12 team this coming year. Coach Lanning is building the team as a coherent, cohesive team, a family; he must develop the players at all positions and position groups, and within all Special Teams to significantly increase the team's effectiveness this coming year. Texas Tech and Washington, really every PAC12 team, is primarily or in a secondary fashion gunning for the Ducks; we know Utah, ASU, Arizona, USC, Cal, Wazzoo, and the Beavs are thinking about us. USC and Uclans would love to beat us and rub our nose in the loss on their way out of the door. Let's decide to beat them all this year. We have the coaching, the support staff, and the players - yes, they are young, but they want to play for their family. Develop them, and this goes for the older players and/or the starters. Stay after practice and help our new guys with what they are stuggling. I would love to watch us win 14 games this year; after that, it's all gravy. Would like to beat TT, too; they are an up-and-coming team. Shough (Sp?) will always be a Duck, but I don't want us to give him anything to "crow" about. Best regards and VR, KCDuck1

Love Jack Ressler's attitude while growing up and throughout his career to date! Who knows what our future holds, but I believe we are going to remember this young man. Jack reminds me of "Rudy" Ruediger (UND), but with talent. This isn't an exact quote, but when one of his previous coaches warned him he might not get many [ball] touches if Jack selected the Oregon Ducks as his college/university team, Jack's reply was something to the effect, 'I want to play with the best to be the best'. Later, Jack stated he had great confidence in his ability, and he was betting on himself (similar to the walk-on RB this past year from Dripping Springs, TX) (if I recall correctly). I admire confident players who have many reasons to be confident, who are smart & hard workers, who never quit, and they think "family/team". Jack is reportedly a "glue" guy. He's a leader, an example at all times; he will help our entire team effort be more focused and effective (in practice and during games), Jack is a recruiter. Technically, Jack catches the ball with his hands. It rarely just drops into his hands; he reaches out for the ball to grasp it in his hands, and to then secure it. I enjoy watching football receivers (at all levels) catch the ball well and then secure it. Best regards, and Ducks always play to Win! KCDuck1

NCAA Vanderbilt All-Regional Team selections included the below listed players with their respective teams. Congratulations to the Oregon baseball team on winning the Regional Tourney championship and to the four All-Tourney selections & the MVP – Rikuu Nishida, that represented the Oregon Fightin' Ducks and the University of Oregon. C – Alan Espinal, Vanderbilt 1B – Matt McCormick, Xavier 2B – Jared Cushing, Xavier SS – Drew Cowley, Oregon 3B – Sabin Ceballos, Oregon OF – Rikuu Nishida, Oregon OF – Lincoln Riley, Eastern Illinois OF – Garrett Schultz, Xavier DH/UTIL – Jonathan Vastine, Vanderbilt P – Ethan Bosacker, Xavier P – Grayson Grinsell, Oregon VR, KCDuck1

Washington Waddler, You are correct! The Os have it over the Xs. Hard to believe the Ducks won, 5-4, and our six pitchers gave up 6 walks and struck out 9 batters. Xavier gave up 1 walk to us, and struck out 5 Ducks. Our Ducks had no errors in contrast to Xavier's 3rd Baseman who had 3. That last error was crucial! The Ducks had 9 hits and Xavier had 5 hits. Our Ducks hit four doubles and Xavier batters hit one double. Our Jr. RHP from Roseburg earned the win (4-0), and I believe Mollerus earned the Save. I am just glad we won. This gives us 38 wins on the season - improves over last years' win column by at least 2 wins. Now, let's see if the coaches can pull a Fightin' Duck out of their hat for Saturday when we play our next opponent. We need two very good pitching performances (and keen eyes/great batting to complement the pitching) and great defense and baserunning to walk away with one and perhaps two wins on Saturday. After all, the Ducks came to win! Win Ducks, Win! Go Ducks! KCDuck1

WRT Duckswire USAToday.com Article, Why would Austin Novosad not compete for the starting QB position in 2024, and perhaps 2023 (in the event of a QB injury)? I liked some of what Thompson showed us in the Spring game, but not enough yet. Why would the HC cede the position in 2024 to Thompson? Everyone that plays has to earn and deserve their time on the field. Ty may yet break out of his self-imposed mechanistic funk. WRT the QBs, didn't Nate Costa act as the 2-point QB when Chip wanted to get two points? Believe he did more than is depicted stats-wise, but perhaps I am wrong. Thanks and VR, KCDuck1

Sir, Charles, The key question is where is Mom? She appears to be the only family member that did not visit, and she has been the "bell cow". BTW, I mean no disrespect to Mom with that characterization. Mom is the power player on this decision. VR, KCDuck1

Agree. Coaches Taggart and MC were not skilled at building cohesive units and teams. MC came the closest with his Rose Bowl-winning team. Otherwise, no deals. Coach Lanning and his Coordinators/Asst coaches are working with the talented players they have, but they are still teaching them to play as units and as O, D, and STs. VR, KCDuck1

AnotherOD, Those are excellent questions; those are excellent points you make as you lead into those questions. Flaps2 adds "styles make fights", that starts to address your question as to whether this defensive scheme and "style" - stopping the run first, does not incur a greater amount of risk than say another similar style that defends the pass, and tries to stop the run, second. Perhaps that style would be more effective and incur less risk. You have used Georgia as your comparative yard-stick - well done. I will use the NFL for a brief comparative. The NFL has [probably] as much three star-rated talent playing as the many five and four star talents playing (or a close equivalence numbers-wise). But wait, they are three stars, and not five stars. Perhaps they were mis-rated, or their coaches developed them (3 stars), or they studied, learned and developed themselves, or most likely , a combination of the above. The point is they are playing. How could they? Someone or a combination of people developed them and they proved themselves. I don't believe our previous staff were effective developers; the current Duck coaching staff is very development-oriented, and they tell recruits and their families they are so. They must prove it every season/year, or the coaches (against whom they recruit and coach) and current players will show them to be liars. If one compares heighth, weights of players, and the stars by which they are rated, how do we measure the difference? If could be by a schools' name; or it could be by the players' heart, dedication and determination, willingness to learn and apply, and their undeveloped athleticism/quickness, and quick-twitch fiber (that the coaches recognize). I believe that's what fans are generally describing and talking about. However, perhaps they are just snookered and have repeated a story (like W/our previous staff). The current coaching staff on defense have a ways to go, but are getting there. Our HC will coach them up, and they will learn from him. What about our recruits? Perhaps we will sign a phenomenal class of players! We very possibly might, but even the five-star rated players must show up ready to learn and apply (and be in great physical condition). I like our coaches' attitudes, our players' attitudes and our recruits. They have made learning and hard teamwork fun. Although I like the "stop the run" scheme, the coaches must address the "air-raid" attack counters. If Coach Lanning is HC, I believe he will, and more (such as risk). He doesn't seem to let much grass grow between his toes. You are on-track with your thinking and questions. Don't stop now! None of us want to be lemmings running mindlessly off the cliff. Success is all about thinking!

McDuck, Have you seen Trech's (WR recruit) film yet? If he doesn't remind you of Jaden Waddle (Sp?) of Alabama fame a lot, or of DeAnthony Thomas, but taller, more athletic, and quicker, then you are not concentrating on the film. This young HS player is fast with exceptional balance and a stop-and-go/change directions capability like you have not seen before. He would be an incredible slot receiver, and a punt returner extraordinaire. Watch the film. After watching his film, then you can answer the "recruiting hype" question. McDuck inquired about the O-Line recruit from Utah, Fano. You asked about his intent to take his mission. He was reported to have stated he intended to play his freshman year and then take his two year mission. Still, when people play as team members, intent can change. We'll see. VR, KCDuck1

Did not Johnson have two sacks? The game statistics state he did; not just tackles for loss, but Johnson had two sacks. VR, KCDuck1

David, You should recall the 12-0 year Coach Chip Kelly had at Oregon, the first year the Ducks played Auburn in the Natl Championship. One of the Ducks' toughest games was Cal (at Cal), and were it not for Cliff Harris' punt return TD, well, it was a close run game. It's been a decade since that all took place, but I believe I have recalled it correctly. It was not a high scoring win, IIRC. I recall few if any fans thought the Golden Bears would give the Ducks a game (and I suspect many of the Duck players may have thought so, also). Well, Cal did not provide an overwhelming team effort against which to compete, but they gave the less than fully-prepared Ducks a game. You should know the Ducks can never look past any team in the PAC 12. The other PAC 12 teams will be waiting to knock the Ducks off. Everyone in the PAC-12 dreams of beating the Ducks. But, let's not let them have any hope of that taking place this year, or ever. Thanks, and VR, KCDuck1

McDuck, Has Brandon Baker really committed to the Ducks? Or, is this your reaction to Baker's note confirming his unofficial visit, and you are so happy that you took one step too many? If Brandon has committed, it's very early, but no one is turning such a commit down. It's a long time before the 2023-24 LOI signing days, but it would be a nice leg up to have. Thanks, and VR, KCDuck1

It's an Indian Summer, of course. The Northwest and Midlands experience these and love them. VR, KCDuck1