MicroBurst61

The universe has spoken....Everything is turning up "ducky".

Fantastic article with just the "tip of the problematic iceberg" being exposed. This and many other issues were always going to crop up, moving from a (supposedly) pure amateur athlete status, to the quasi-worker/employee that these high profile athletes are becoming. Going to get even more complex if the push by a certain football conference to not even have to have your "employees" enrolled to participate in said programs. (Kinda like ignoring / manipulating admission standards back in the late 90's, early 2000's) with the reasoning that these young men are going to school to play Football and shouldn't be hampered by all that...education stuff. Same playbook will be applied here. I could write about all the billions of public funds (again, average layman has no real concept of that amount of money) that were used over the decades to create the venues and facilities of all these college athletics and they now "believe" those same departments "deserve" what was built for them at universities across the land. It can be frustrating and disheartening at times but the great equalizer is most likely positioning themselves, legally, to take on this new free-for-all college competition (threat?). That being the National Football League. NFL has far more resources and uses law firms containing hundreds of lawyers to protect their interests. And there are law firms attached to each owner and NFL team. There is NO WAY IN HELL that the NFL will allow college/NFL-lite football to challenge it for viewership numbers, quality players and coaches, or popularity. Believe me when I say that they will dig out EVERY obscure law or practice to ensure that NFL remains top dog. As college football crashes headlong into the "let's make as much money as possible" before saner heads prevail and start reapplying some sort of guardrails to the process; the true legal battles are just beginning. And many of those legal battles may actually end up being as entertaining as the product being litigated in those battles. Again, as fans, we are only along for the ride...whatever that ride may end up being is still to be determined. My advise...enjoy the ride as you can. Let the rest roll of your "Duck" back and continue to cheer on OBD! Ducks Rock! Rock.

I know it's niave and a minority position, but the two sayings/mantras that I Absolutely have despised most of my life: "If you ain't cheatin, you ain't tryin'." "It's just business." Normalizes leaning into our most negative basal instincts and, for me, is not how you "evolve" into a better person/species. Ok. (Stepping off of my high horse). Back to athletics done RIGHT. Oregon Duck Athletics! Go Ducks!

Yes. This. Dante is great down low and is the reason his FG% is so high. Inside bankshots and dunks tend to trend to a higher percentage. His hands have been questionable before and hoping it's just shaking off the rust, but we will see during these next eight games. Dante and Bittle Do Not compliment each other when on the floor together and seem to actually get in the way of each other. A rotation between the two of them, with the other talent off of the bench, seems like a better option at this point. Better figure it out because...Roadtrip! And Ducks BB has already blown their road split in the mountains, so need both these to get back to even. Go Ducks!

Well it's hard to keep a good "bad" dog down....NOT!!!!!

Nice! With one of the worlds BEST track and field facilities (and a fanbase that fills it!) I look forward to Oregon ascending back into the top of the sport, where they Rightfully belong. We ain't called TrackTown USA for nuthin! GO 's!

Welcome to NFL-Lite. In the current format a non-bye team will play 16-17 games (depending upon number of regular season games scheduled...yeah let's drop Hawaii next year!) to be playing in the championship game. Only teams that are DEEP in their rosters will be able to get there. Also prepare yourself for "roster management" with top players being "rested" for a week or two based on minor injuries. Gotta have your "studs" ready to go by "rivalry week" and into the conference championship games and playoffs. Oregon football is ahead of the curve regarding this and I see nothing but "stacking" quality players, who Will see playing time behind the starters, to help weather the grind that each college/NFL-lite season will present to the teams. A good example of this will be the Ducks inaugural season in the B1G. That stretch of 8 games between bye weeks IS going to be brutal and we should get a glimpse of how the coaching staff will adapt to it. Hopefully adapt to the point of a National Championship Game appearance (and first football Natty?). Go Ducksters!

Holy Moly the (blue)chips keep falling our way. I really, really hope this is All because of what our program has to offer, the new NIL opportunities, and the Lanning staff recruiting "chops". Just don't want to find out years from now that it was done, via SEC style, through shady backdoor deals or practices. After all, that is what NIL and transfer portal was suppose to help eliminate, right? So until proven otherwise...GO DUCKS!

February "Ducks" basketball is upon us. Every year that OBD Basketball has made their move to solidify themselves as a conference contender and a tourney team, has always become apparent with Altman teams, in February. OBD's basketball currently has played itself into second place in the PAC by half a game behind Arizona. Arizona who BTW, Earned that win at Matt Knight shooting 50% from both the field and three point line and did what they HAD to do to keep their conference championship alive. No shame in a loss like that. Good news is we weathered a significant part of our conference schedule (part 1) with only 3 conference losses. With 6 of the games in February against teams currently in the bottom half of the conference (two against ORST). Five of those on the road with only Stanford as a possible road loss, and getting a surprising Washington St. here at Matt Knight, I can honestly see this team going 7-1 or 6-2 but entirely possible that the team could also go 8-0. Do this and we have twenty wins and single digit losses for the season. A damn near prerequisite for NCAA bidding conciderations. More than 3 losses and the season just might slip away for a Third year. But I doubt it. The loss of Bartholomew off the bench Will hurt a bit, but this team has worked around injuries all year and I don't expect too much of a drop off (with maybe the exception of 3pters), especially with the team beginning to work well together with our "bigs" being reincorporated into our "flow". If this team can continue to "gel", then by the end of February we could be at a place we need to be to claim a conference championship. This is still a young team and there is a whole lot of basketball left to be played and obviously I am somewhat optimistic about OBD's chances. Would love to hear how others are feeling about the traditional "February" shift into another gear for Oregon Ducks Basketball. As always going to love watching it unfold. Go Quackers!!!!

Football is King. Not only with OBD, but with the sports enthusiast in the Grand Ole USA, at large. It is truly our "National Game" (sorry baseball, you had a nice run!), and thats not changing anytime soon. So that being said. I do enjoy Oregon Athletics and find myself fortunate to have the plethora of sporting events to attend/follow through our outstanding Athletic Department. Definitely Not an afterthought at the University of Oregon. I am, and always will be primarily a football/basketball guy first but enjoy following and reading about the other successes by other sports at the UofO. Unfortunately college football and college basketball seem to be going in opposite directions. Football is "creating" a second NFL-lite, while college basketball has become more of a minor league to the "G-league" and NBA. Not only a problem for the overall quality of the college game but has been a problem for Coaches in college, with so much less continuity in teams that it's hard to create a "winner". Maybe with NIL, that's beginning to swing back, but there are a LOT of financial forces that want to keep it swinging the way it has the past ten years, or so. Main point is. PLEASE keep posting all there is about OBD. I know it will always be slanted towards football but I appreciate the other insights that are posted about the "secondary sports", and enjoy the forum readers observations and speculations on those topics. Not to "task" our host "Mr FishDuck" anymore than he already has on his plate but maybe there is a way to set up the forum, to not only reflect posts as they currently are, but to have a "search" or "sport specific" feature that can group post also by sports subject? Maybe then it would be easier for us casual reader/posters to follow up on information regarding the less followed sports at the UofO. Just a few rambling thoughts. Just happy to have a place to be able to discuss all things "Ducky"! Let's Go Ducks!

As noted in the AFC championship game thread I am hoping for a SF/BALT rematch. I am loving the Dan "bite em on the knees on the way up" Campbell and the rejuvenated Detroit Lions team and do believe they are a Superbowl caliber team. And Detroit definitely has the more experienced quarterback who has Actually played in a Superbowl. However, Christian McCaffrey, probably more than any other player on the field in this game, wants/Needs this win and he will put any and all of his SF teammates on his back (why not, he does it regularly with opposing defenders) and will Refuse to let SF lose this game. At least I hope so, cause he is my primary back in my playoff fantasy football league! San Fransisco VS Baltimore Super Duper Bowl!

I whole heartedly agree. Not going to repeat my comments here from the post I made in MBB Thread by Penn Duck, but yeah, a tale of two halves and DEEP bench contributions. Developing into a very good team. Just need the consistency in all aspects of the game and we will be a tough out, regardless of who we are playing. Go Ducks!

Man o man what a tale of two halves. First ten minutes I was concerned at another sub 20% FG shooting and started to wonder if this was going to turn ugly, fast. But, as this team has done before all year, they refocused, rotated personnel, and actually Nailed their FREEthrows to make it a two possession game by halftime. Don't know what happened in that Duck locker room over the break but the second half was the best half of basketball this team has played all year. Ball movement, isolating the "hot hand", shot selection, tenacious defense, and great complimentary player rotation throughout. They seemed "Comfortable" and in control the entire second half. Now if this team can take that second half and apply it to all the remaining halves the rest of this season, then we will truly have a tourney team with Sweet Sixteen potential. But let me not get ahead of where we currently are. We have a HUGE game on Saturday afternoon for out right first place in the conference. And thanks to "lil bros" step back three as time expired last night that Arizona team now faces its own Must Win at Matt Knight arena on Saturday. Should be a freakin' war! Go Ducks!

With a schedule like that and a twelve team playoff next year; that is how you get into those playoffs with three losses vs two. (Not! that I'm saying OBD will lose that many) A "lighter" schedule would preclude that. Injuries to key personnel, especially down the stretch, is more of a concern for me running through that gauntlet. A major concern ten years ago but with the depth we have/are developing, hopefully will minimize any impacts of said injuries. Now if the selection committee will start rewarding conferences playing 9 conference games and penalize the "one" playing 8 conference games, then losses incurred, regardless of strength of schedule, will be on a more even playing field going into the post season selections. But WE all know that conference has had their "dirty lil thumbs" on the scale of college football since the beginning of the BCS era through today. So I won't be holding my breathe. Lanning and company are just going to have to "prove out" and show that they TRULY are elite and master roster builders. They do that and we are in for some outstanding football, year in and year out in the "new" B1G, regardless of each years strength of schedule. Can't wait to find out! Go Ducks!

Well here we go! Two must win games at home and a team that needs to play as a cohesive unit, tenacious on defense and smart open looks on offense. NOW is the time to put it all together and make a run at the final regular season PAC12 BB title. This Young team certainly has the talent and seem to be buying what Altman is selling but you have to put it out on the court, consistently, to become a champion. I feel these two home games will dictate how the course of the rest of the season will go and I so want to have competing at their highest level and be the chased, rather than the chaser. Either way it should be some interesting and entertaining games this week. Let's hope it goes the way the Ducks need it to go. It is All in their court. Let's go Ducks. Make that statement to the PAC and the tourney committee.

Baltimore. Elite Defense at home with Lamar Jackson doing well....Lamar Jackson. Really want to see a San Francisco/Baltimore SuperBowl Rematch. Besides Kansas City will be back in the SuperBowl next year (IF 's aren't reborn under a new coaching regime) with their new "superstar" rookie receiver and Mahones new Favorite target. Tony Franklin. Oh Yeah!

Probably more like three babies and an adolescent, soon to be a young adult!

And people were Actually buying into the narrative last year that the B1G wasn't interested in adding Oregon because of...."viewership numbers and demographics". Yeah Right! Oregon has successfully established itself as a National Brand with a huge following throughout the nation, and yes, even internationally, and the execs in the B1G...knew that! Oregon fans won't have to travel quite as well because you could probably find "Duck" fans throughout the geographic footprint of the new B1G to cheer on our team. I am not completely sure of how this came to be. Maybe it was the high octane offense that not only entertained but fundamentally changed the college game from "3downs and a cloud of dust". Maybe the atmosphere and sheer fan volume on gameday in the "biggest lil" stadium west of the Rockies. Perhaps the classic "underdog" story attempting to write it's final, destined, climax of a Natty? Or, maybe, it is the Duck, as a mascot and identifiable icon, that draws people from all over to follow and cheer for OBD'S. Whatever the reasons OBD will continue to be a huge viewership draw in the new college landscape. I can only see those numbers increasing with elimination of most "east coast bias" since OBD will soon become the talk of the B1G conference (arent they are already); as the Ducks, rudely, establish themselves as a "top duck" in the pecking order of the B1G. The Oregon Ducks...Rock!...Rock. That isn't changing anytime soon. Go Quackers!

A Man of Character. A Man of Class. A Man of Oregon. Nuff said. Thanks for the memories and good fortune in your life's pursuits. Go Nix!

Rough roadtrip. Colorado is well...Colorado. Oregon could roster Kobe', LeBron, Michael, Shaq, Steve, and would still go into Boulder and lose! The Utah game was a tougher pill to swallow. Looked better incorporating Dante, but our guards went cold, especially from 3pt range in the second half. And FREETHROWS finally came back to bite this team in the arse! So pretty much makes this coming weeks home stand a MUST WIN over the two Arizona schools. Win those and we remain in first place....lose those and we drop to 5th or 6th in the PAC, going into February. Probably the most important week of the season in determining the actual floor and ceiling of this year's Oregon team. Here's to hoping!

Four players that are getting some press but not a whole lotta love over other players of similar positions ARE going to be viewed as "steals" in the draft come next year's NFL season. Bo "dacious" Nix Bucky "Bruiser" Irving Tony "Touchdown" Franklin And of course ... Jackson "Power" Johnson I believe all four will be immediate starters and impact players that talking heads will be fawning over come mid season next year! Further solidifying Oregon Football as The perfect team to fine tune and develop your craft under. Can only help the program in the long run! Go 's!

I do believe that the conference championship games are going to be worked into the "playoffs", as the first round games, as soon as TV execs and money managers finish "trimming" the conferences down to 3...two Super conferences and the third "farm conference" to feed the two Super conferences with players and coaching staff. With the NCAA (a completely neutered association) unable or unwilling to bring some order to the changes in college football, then a NFL-lite league with a comparable number of games played similar to the NFL will happen, because each game played generates more TV money, thus feeding the beast. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate being able to watch every game of a full season of Duck Football (unlike the lean TV years of Root TV with occasionally an appearance on a major network), but having that reality means the "beast" dictates the terms of its feeding regardless of how it effects conferences, coaching staff, players health, fans, program continuity, and college football culture. This is nothing new in the larger system that all of our other systems operate under. We Love it when we perceive the systems benefiting us, but Hate it when those systems only truly benefit themselves in the end. We grudgingly adapt and accept what is fed to us, and as human nature dictates, completely forget what we hated about it in the first place. The Beast will Always get what it wants over all other concerns. So, I have (grudgingly) accepted that, but I Always remember that. I believe that Duck Inc. realizes this also. So, bring on the 12, 16, 24 team playoffs, and let's all watch the Ducks rise to the top of the heap and make a run at several B1G AND National championships over the next 10-15 years! Go Quackers, a NFL-Lite prepped football team!

And when the top tier linemen (both offensively and defensively) DO enter the portal you have Sr, Dan Lanning and company: "Hi, have you seen what we got going on here in Oregon...and we Ain't Going Nowhere!". Welcome to the family.

Lawyers and Billionaires. We, the Fans, only matter as a source of clicks or eyeballs.

Buzz saw. The (now 11-1 at home) Buffs continued their dominance at home. They definitely looked and played like the more cohesive team and won most of the metrics of the game. Well we weren't going to go undefeated in conference anyway, but HAVE TO HAVE the game in Utah on Sunday. Shake it off and learn from what went wrong and close out this road trip with a win. Go Ducks!