Charles Fischer

So true. How I wish I could have given my friend a hug... Cherish our moments with each other.

One of the core and founding members of the Our Beloved Ducks forum was 30Duck, who up to about eight months ago--posted many times each day. He could not continue due to a variety of issues surrounding health and home-tech issues, but I spoke to him on the phone a couple of times a week. He was a passionate Oregon fan, and we had such fun discussing the current team, and so many teams of the past. 30Duck died recently at only age 66, and I can still hardly believe it. It was very sudden, thus why I sense it was probably related to his heart challenges over the years. He would call in his weekly score prediction to be listed among them all, although I had not heard much from him as the season wound down. There are a couple of items that are notable about him, and I wanted to share with you... 30Duck was a big fan of music in the 70s and 80s, and he would post a music video by Olivia Newton-John on a regular basis. We would laugh about changing the words in one of her songs to..."Hopelessly Devoted to....DUCKS." He would post many songs of that era during the off-season (like now) to lift the mood, and give us something to discuss and be entertained with. You may recall how he was a big fan of the US Navy, as he served for many years on the USS Nimitz Aircraft Carrier, and he had some dandy stories about all the people and experiences over the long time that he served. And boy...did he ever see the world with the way those carrier groups moved about after they left port. He had an impact with his own contributions to the forum, as it was he who began the term, "PREVENT-OFFENSE" to describe the drudging Cristobal time in Eugene. It was so accurate, and so perfect a moniker. He is also the one who came up with the unique slogan for this message board, as he was the first to call it the, "Forum-with-Decorum." So true, and he epitomized that label. In the beginning of the forum...we all were learning how to gradually pull our fangs/claws in, as we realized that we did not need to personally attack each other to make our points. It was he who put many of the ideas in my head about how to focus on hearing all opinions, and not allowing the venomous bluster that occurs on other boards. More than once in those early days--he would get viciously attacked, and I would deal with it in the background. But in public--he was all-class, and I admired him for handling those situations so well. As someone who has lost-his-head a few times--his example was just what I needed to model my forum conduct after, and hence the rules were shaped by his input. One of those rules concerned how we never discuss politics, and his internal strength was a great demonstration for all of us. I have lost many friends over just being politically different, as I did not want to press anything with them, but some could not endure the thought of the forum operated by someone so politically different. 30Duck and I were on opposite ends of the political spectrum--and once we realized that, we agreed to never discuss politics again. He taught me that the friendship was more important... Why was he called 30Duck? Because he loved Ronnie Lee back in his days at Oregon, and you can see in the photo above the number that Ronnie Lee wore. He found that cool picture of Lee laying the ball up over the late Bill Walton, and that photo was his avatar. He knew the teams of old so well, and I so enjoyed hearing the stories about Mac Court back-in-the-day from him. He was one of those who camped out at night for a student ticket prior to a big game, and no surprise. He was a great Oregon fan! The Duck-Angels wept as they lifted 30Duck from the earth, and took him to his final destination. They are not the only ones, as I loved and I miss this wonderful Duck-Buddy. Rest in Peace, my friend.

I'm going to have a FishDuck Photographer at both games! Dominic Hellman could give us another "Dom-Bomb."

Boy....I guess Waz is not as exceptional in bringing in so many pitchers as I thought by comparison. What I thought was a high number is actually over the average, but not by much. Thanks for the research, and bringing that to us! We'll see Collin Clarke this weekend!

I've got more information about pitchers I did not have room to cover in the article, as we have two pitchers from in-state who redshirted last year. Blake Crawford (West Linn) allowed only two runs in 51 innings pitched in 2024? Whew! Jonah Barkoff, (Lake Oswego) had a 2.05 ERA going until his injury in his senior years. Was listed as the No. 1 LHP for the state before the injury... As I said in the article...Waz is throwing mud-at-the-wall to see who can pitch at this level, and we have another small-college pitcher join the Ducks in Ryder Edwards, (George Fox) who had a 2.29 ERA at that level. Josh Hollis We have another freshman in Josh Hollis, who was listed as the 25th best incoming RH pitcher in the nation and has some good genetics. His brother plays at Cal, and his father played at Long Beach State.

Please see my article about all the pitching additions..... I just received the game notes this afternoon, and they have not listed starting pitchers. But they did confirm many of my picks in the article as starters in Burke-Lee Mabeus at catcher, Ryan Cooney at second, Maddox Molony at shortstop, Drew Smith at third and now let's look at some of the surprises. Gabe Miranda began at TCU... At Designated Hitter...they list Hellman again, and not a starter at first base? Instead they list a transfer Gabe Miranda from Northern Kentucky, who hit .338 (Hellman hit .326) blasted a dozen HRs to Hellman's 13 dingers. Miranda is a stout fellow at 6'3" and 230 pounds, but he stole 11 bases, so he's got some speed. Interesting to watch! At left field they list Jax Gimenez, who is fast, and did some at-bats and pinch-running last year. (.231) In center field they list Jack Brooks, (.162) or the transfer speedster I referred to in the article, Elijah Cook. (.345, 15 HRs and Rawlings Gold Glove) At right field they have listed the guy who ate up the West Coast League last summer, Josh Schleichardt, or stud freshman Angel Laya at 6'3", & 206 who turned down a big MLB contract to play in Eugene. (.326) He was listed as the No. 12 player out of the top-100 ranked by Perfect Game.

Keep in mind that winning the Big-10 is going to be a task because UCLA returned a great team, (all healthy for once) and got some portal transfers that were among the best available out there. The Bruins have been preseason ranked at No. 2 in one poll, and No. 1 in the nation in another. For once it is not an ACC or SEC team at the top? The West Coast teams are adding a ton to our new conference, and the only teams in the B1G ranked preseason are UCLA and Oregon. (They tied for the conference championship last year) But if some great pitchers emerge from all that was brought in....and with Waz throwing mud-on-the-wall with 23 pitchers...we will find some and make a run for the championship!

I don't know how to feel about that, and the many other predictions about Oregon getting their first 'Natty. The respect and exposure is great, but we have not yet proven to respond to the big moments yet. But eventually we can break through and...

I hope so as well, but.... There will be a massive "construction" fee per seat on the north side in the future to upgrade the stadium and add 10-12,000 more seats some day.

Oregon competes in 18 sports, and football pays for nearly all of them. With that being said--Oregon won the most Big-10 Championships last year out of the 28 sports the conference participates in. We don't have Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Mens Soccer or Mens Volleyball, Wrestling, etc. So for as expensive as it is--the Athletic Department pays for itself and does not go to the university for more money, as 92% of all other Athletic Departments do. We are self-sufficient, which is pretty darn rare these days. (8%) Winning the most championships in the conference with one arm tied behind our back...says a ton about Mullens managing it.

The final score was 29-13, and the winning predicted score of 31-13 was only TWO total points off by HappyToBeADuck! He has one of the great handle names on the forum, and he has entered so many of the contests--it was his turn to be the winner, although--for fewer entrants--I'd thought the winning score would be a much greater margin. Nope! Our own HappyToBeADuck nailed it. Thanks again to all who took part in the fun, and congrats again to HappyToBeADuck! You did better than I did...

Any reactions thus far?

Nope. I thought he was gone, but he returned, thus I edited my post.

The 20 million NIL cost was just added to the budget, which impacts everything. It is no surprise to me.

Out: Tionne Gray, DT, as he is 330 lbs., and incredibly agile. In: Iverson Hooks at WR puts a ton of pressure on Evan Stewart and the newbies to out-perform. We all win, and with an experienced QB returning--the passing game looks explosive. Iverson Hooks

We used to have opening series in warmer places like Hawaii for many years, but I think Waz wants focus on our home field advantage. Well that, and he has a ton of questions to answer with his starting lineup, and doesn't want to risk losses quite-so-much? But I hear ya...and Oregon will be Las Vegas for a big tournament before long...

Whoops! Final Score: Clemson tops Ducks 6-5...

Top of the 6th inning versus No. 12 Clemson: Ducks lead 5-3!

Big Tournament to start the season! Great to start with such a pitching win. Playing No. 12 Clemson right now...

"Heavy on the Mister." Yes, Jon and other guest writers submit the articles in an email, and then I take it from there. I load it into WordPress, add the formatting, and sometimes tweak a few sentences for clarity and then go search for pictures. So yeah...I serve as a copy editor-light. As I recall...you are a writer/editor, and anytime you or ANYONE has something to say...write it up and email it to me. I'll publish it!

Great article Jon, and more proof that regardless of performance on the field...that the National Champion is from the Big-10 for the third year in a row, and B1G teams beat SEC teams, and showed our new depth-- yet none of it matters when the polls come out.

Shane Lemieux is on the practice squad for the Seahawks.

OK...I do not follow the NFL much, but I HAD to post this...

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | FEBRUARY 4, 2026 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL | @OregonWBB Fourth-Quarter Dramatics Give Ducks Fourth Straight EUGENE, Ore. – Wednesday night's Oregon women's basketball game had a bit of everything: A dominant first half, a demoralizing third-quarter collapse, then a dramatic comeback by the Ducks, who've come to be known by their coach as the "cardiac kids." Up 21 points at halftime, the UO women gave up all of that lead and more to Illinois at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks trailed by eight midway through the fourth quarter, but rallied back to take the lead on a Katie Fiso drive with eight seconds left before hanging on to win, 76-73. The Ducks won their fourth game in a row, and completed their second fourth-quarter comeback in five days after Saturday's win at then-No. 16 Maryland. "In the end, we got the win, and that's what's most important," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "We showed some poise when we fell behind by eight. I know it wasn't looking good, but that's kind of when we start to make things happen. It's crazy." Mia Jacobs had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Ducks, Ehis Etute added 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting with nine boards, and Fiso finished with 16 points plus nine assists. The newest "Big Three" for the UO women not only combined for 59 of the team's 76 points in the game, they scored 22 of 25 in the fourth quarter. "It's a good, tough win," Jacobs said. "It's gonna help us in the long run. So it's good to have that under our belt." How It Happened: After making two-thirds of their shots in the first half, 18-of-27, the Ducks opened the second half by going 2-of-16. The Ducks led 45-24 at half, and Fiso got the lead back to 21 at 49-28 with a layup early in the third quarter. But the UO women would miss their next 13 shots — the last eight of the third as Illinois rallied to tie it at 51-51 entering the fourth, and then five more to open the fourth. Jacobs finally ended that cold streak with a couple of layups early in the fourth quarter, but Illinois matched them and more to lead 66-58 with 4:25 left. That's when the "cardiac kids" found their footing. First, Etute made a bucket. Illinois missed at the other end, and Fiso hit a turnaround jumper. Then, after another Illinois miss, Sofia Bell — whose trio of threes Saturday at Maryland gave Oregon the lead for good — was fouled on a three-pointer that dropped; she missed the and-one, but the Ducks were back within 66-65. "It felt like we were back in the game at that point," Etute said. "It was our game again." Etute answered an Illinois basket with a layup for the Ducks, and it was 68-67 with 2:04 to go. Jacobs then hit from three to put Oregon up, but the Illini answered in kind. It remained a one-point lead for Illinois at 73-72 in the final seconds when Fiso missed a jumper, but Etute collected the rebound. The Ducks called time out with 12 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play, the ball found its way to Fiso again. This time, she drove across the lane; Etute was camped out in the post, and Jacobs was set up on the arc for an outlet pass. But Fiso saw a path to the basket, lofted a high-arcing bank shot with her left hand, and it fell to put Oregon up 74-73 with eight seconds left. "When I'm driving downhill, I see, like, a straight line," said Fiso, who followed that bucket with two game-clinching free throws after an Illinois turnover. "If I see that straight line, I'm committed, and I'm going. If I didn't see that, Ehis was right there to get the clean-up. But I trusted my work. I put a lot of work in, and I ended up making a shot." The dramatic finish took the sting out of an equally dramatic collapse by the Ducks coming out of halftime. There was little indication at the time it was looming — Oregon led 23-14 after the first quarter and 45-24 at the half, having shot 66.7 percent in the first half while holding Illinois to 34.6 percent. "We had (a few) goals coming in, and one was to limit transition points; that's how they won the other night at Washington," Graves said. "They had zero transition points at the half. The other was blocking out; no second chances. They had zero second-chance points for the first half. So we had done what we wanted to do, and that's why we had the lead we did. And then we suddenly kind of forgot about that." Illinois shot 9-of-19 while outscoring the Ducks 27-6 in the third quarter. The UO women made two of their first three field goals in the half but then went ice cold, as Illinois put together a 21-0 run to tie the game. "They just came out, they were more physical, they wanted it more, and they executed better," Graves said. After an Etute free throw to open the fourth, Illinois scored to take its first lead of the entire night, 53-52. Etute followed with two more free throws to put Oregon back in front, but the Illini countered with an 11-2 run to go up by eight. That run was capped by a bucket for a 64-56 lead with exactly 5 minutes left in the game. Graves took a 30-second timeout to stop the momentum, and huddled his team to deliver a message. "We've been there before," Graves recounted later. "We've been there, done that. You know, there's no quit in them." They proved that over the final five minutes of Wednesday's game. The "cardiac kids" may have caused a few palpitations in the process, but in the end the Ducks got it done. Up Next: The Ducks host Ohio State on Sunday (noon, B1G+).