jrw

Hate to say it, but I think OSU is just too good, not really close. No excuses. Bummer.

I guess Chip is not washed up yet.

Probably behind a pay wall at the WaPo, so I'll copy and paste. LOS ANGELES — A media day before a major college football game can double as a bulldozer shoveling clichés that threaten to demolish one’s soul even while those clichés remain forgivable for competitive purposes. It involves drifting around a hotel ballroom from player to player at dais to dais or at round table to round table, listening. It’s an odd turn of anthropology, all told. Still, it’s not quite atypical to wander across a player so listenable that you can’t seem to drift anywhere else for the rest of the hour-long session, maybe someone loaded with charisma and gratitude that flow from eyes uncommonly alive. This is crazy,” 22-year-old Alabamian Tez Johnson said Monday morning. “The Rose Bowl.” If you count growing up far from Oregon both geographically and culturally, then becoming an Oregon fan as a small child because of all the televised pizzazz, then residing with Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix’s family for the last two years of high school in Alabama on bunk beds with Nix’s younger brother Caleb, who now plays at Clemson, then playing three years at Troy in Alabama, then following Nix to Eugene in 2023 once Nix left Auburn for Oregon, then becoming the most valuable player in the Big Ten championship game with 11 catches for 181 whopping yards, then getting to this gaudy Rose Bowl set for Wednesday against Ohio State and having Nix tell him over the phone, “I’m so jealous,” then yes, that’s conceivably crazy. If you add harsher details about Johnson’s father’s suicide during his infancy and mother Shamika Johnson’s fret for his well-being during his teen years in Birmingham, then Johnson going over to the home of Pinson Valley High Coach Patrick Nix for what all the Nixes and Johnsons figured would be a few nights, then becoming such a part of the family that he readily refers to Bo and Caleb as brothers, and Shamika Johnson telling Bill Oram of the Oregonian in a definitive story of 2023, “I think what I did for my child [by allowing him to go], is I saved his life,” and also snaring a 2018 prep state title with 10 receptions for 71 yards from brother Bo in a 26-17 win over Saraland, and then Bo’s mother, Krista Nix, telling Oram about the Oregon part, “It’s almost not true, it’s so storybook,” then, sure, here’s a path to a Rose Bowl that at least comes close to gobsmacking. Here’s a player who never figured to be at Oregon yet who’s an apt spokesman for Oregon itself. “I was an Oregon Duck ever since I came out of the womb,” he said. “I’m one of those guys from Alabama, but I love Oregon, from one coach to the next, one corner to the next. That’s who I am. I’ve turned thousands of people to Oregon fans, from where I’m from. So my journey, I love. I don’t change it for the world. I live and learn, and every day I know that when I walk outside and I wear an ‘O’ on my chest, I’m representing not just Oregon but an entire organization. When I’m carrying that football, I’ve got the program in my hands, and I want to make it look the best that it’s ever been. So not just for the fan base, but [alumnus and benefactor and Nike founder] Phil Knight, Coach [Dan] Lanning, for people that pour so much into this organization, I don’t take that for granted, and I’m part of it. I’m just happy to be here, and I’m blessed. I’ll always come back to Oregon games, no matter what. You’ll always see me there, like, for real.” He marvels right on down to the detail of the jerseys, because the jerseys do matter famously at Oregon, where players each week select the game jerseys, those same jerseys that fueled his fandom from afar. “I never thought I was going to be picking a jersey for a Rose Bowl, like this, ever,” he said. “But like I said, I won’t take it for granted. It’s something I dream of, wearing the jerseys, but having to pick the jersey? It’s unbelievable. I can’t ask for anything more. Oregon is truly, like, what they’ve done is everything. Like, I can’t really explain everything. The love they show me, the fan base, they show me, it’s, I can’t ask for anything more. Like, I’m going to miss it, and it’s going to be something I never, ever experience again — from the uniform, the cleats, the everything. I don’t think any NFL team got more stuff than us. And honestly, I’ve never been so confused picking a jersey ever in my life … because you got so many combinations, like ‘Warp Speed,’ ‘Throwback,’ ‘Egg Shells,’ ‘Nightmare.’ Goodness, you don’t know what to choose! And then you come out, ‘Let’s wear this, but we’re going to hit ’em with the Kobe cleats, so . . .’” He’s about to play the Rose Bowl, maybe the foremost last bastion of tradition in a sport gone wild, in a Rose Bowl stadium about to half-fill with a once-distant group over whom he gushes: Oregon fans. “I knew when I committed to Oregon, I wanted to be the best that ever came to Oregon, receiver-wise,” Johnson said. “I wanted to be one of those guys, a receiver that everyone still talks about, what, 30, 40, 50 years from now. I wanted to be one of those guys. I wanted to be one of those, like, ‘Have you ever seen Tez Johnson play?’ Like, when I have grandkids, like that, ‘Granddad, have you ever played football?’ And just show them highlights. I want to be one of those. I’m very grateful for the opportunity I’ve got. I love the fans. The fans at Autzen [Stadium] are crazy. I can’t wait to see them in the Rose Bowl. I know they’re going to show out. It’s part of it. Oregon is a fan base of everyone. They love you, no matter who is the quarterback, no matter who is the receiver, I’ve never seen so many loving people in a stadium. You don’t come across a stadium like that, ever. Normally if you’re doing bad in one stadium they’re going to bash you until you can’t get enough. Oregon is not like that. Oregon is one of those that, you have a bad game, the next game they’re going to be cheering you on like you just committed there. And I love them for that.” Soon, the session time was up. Sometimes, that’s a shame.

12 years ago today. Let's have a repeat.

Earth calling Finebaum, come in Finebaum…

Great post Duckpop22, but it's messing with my strategy of keeping the highs low and the lows high. Just play the damn game already!

Well, Mario has found the problem, and it's not him. Miami firing defensive coordinator Lance Guidry - On3 WWW.ON3.COM .

I say it's well past time for us to stop looking for validation from the "experts" and for pats on the head from ESPN and other blathering heads: the Ducks program is 100% legit and here to stay. I know it, you know it, and the chattering classes know it, but just can't bring themselves to say it. We don't need their stinkin' approval. Instead, look at the numbers that matter, 13-0, and ranked #1. And, look at what the recruits say and do; they know what's going on at Oregon and they want in. So, win or lose tomorrow, we know what we have here, and so do the people who matter now, not the geezer gatekeepers who think they still decide what's what in college football.

…”lowly paid football obsessives…” Sounds like the army of dudes with web shows on Youtube.

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics".

These are encouraging words, for what they're worth. “Heisman finalist next year, a hundred percent. It’s something you ain’t seen yet. That guy can throw a ball like no other. I ain’t never seen nothing like it. He’s so ready. He’s so ready to play."

Dan Lanning is Coach Taylor.

I don't know, those two look entirely normal to me.

Too many things going on: green, yellow, white, chrome…confusing hodge-podge of old school and new wave. Meh.

Okay, gotta respect a strong, well-reasoned opinion. Hope it ages well.

I would want to know, for sure, but only after I found out this weekend’s winning lottery numbers.

Thanks for that, Charles. The play designs on the passing downs are incredible; Gabriel had multiple open targets available on most of the plays shown. Now, I need to watch the defensive plays.

Totally agree, Charles, this wait is crazy-making, the worst ever. I can't read another article analyzing, predicting, or whatever-ing about the coming game; everything has been said a hundred times, ad nauseum. Just play the freakin' game and put us out of the misery of waiting!

Oldie, but a goody. VIDEO: James Franklin calls Nick Saban 'Nicky Satan' - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The Vanderbilt coach has a nickname for Nick Saban that Nick probably won't be a fan of.

How Oregon’s ‘rising star’ offensive coordinator makes football simple, flexible and fun WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM Will Stein has emerged as one of the catalysts behind the Ducks’ rise into a national championship...

Recency bias.

Well, howdy Ohio fans. Why is your team named after a toxic tree?

Let me quote the master motivator who doesn't believe in motivation. That would be Dan Lanning. I think he means what he says, and I think this is why this team is successful. Yes, he smashes helmets and invokes Gladiator, but it's really about execution and technique, not getting all fired up; teaching your players all season how to play the game to an impossibly high standard in all ways, not just playing with emotion. I mean, Tennessee was probably really fired up, right? It's like Mike Tyson said, "Everybody has a plan, until...". These are pre-Huskies' game quotes. “It’s always about performance, right?” Lanning asked the media members. “It’s always about what we’re able to do on the field. I’ve said it several times—motivation is overrated.” “Our guys have to want to go out there and execute at a really high level. Since the beginning of the season, we’ve talked about playing our best football at the end of November. Well, we’re there, right? So this is our opportunity to go play our best football against a good team.” “It means a lot to us, certainly. But ultimately, it is another game, right? It’s the next game. You don’t play with emotion—it’s about execution over emotion. These games are going to have emotion; that’s how they’re played. But that’s not what leads to success on the field.”

You gotta understand SEC whining: it just means more.