Charles Fischer

My friends, I am a big Oregon Baseball fan and love to listen to the pre-game coverage, and watch on live-stream. In all the years I've been watching, (since they brought it back in 2009) I do not ever recall a game starting time being delayed because of a covering of snow on the field as we had today. Now they are in a rain delay at the bottom of the 5th inning with Oregon leading 3-1, but WOW is it coming down! It was blowing rain sideways, then hail, and even some snowflakes mixed in. Every home field has its own advantage, and we saw that already today as San Diego base runners slid into a base, but with our turf.....slid past the base and our alert infielders stuck them with the tag---twice! Gosh, the superb announcers for Oregon Baseball, Joey Mac and Jordan Brenner were promoting a line similar to what Don Essig says at Autzen, (It never rains in Autzen Stadium) but theirs appeared that much funnier today. "It is ALWAYS sunny and 75 degrees at PK Park!"

Uelmen is a stud pitcher--what a freshman!

Jackson was offered by some pretty good basketball schools....Texas Tech, Houston and Kansas. Jackson Shelstad | DuckSportsAuthority N.RIVALS.COM Jackson Shelstad - 4 Star Point guard for Oregon on DuckSportsAuthority

The damage by Larry upon us is so vast--unbelievable.

So....we are talking about 13 years old? Is it possible that he is peaking early in terms of athletic talent?

The KING of one-liners strikes again!

Repeating the same content does not convince people. We have separate opinions, no sweat and it will be fun to watch for.

Good gosh....I don't know which idea I like better--KC or SF, as both are great match-ups for Marcus. Play it out a few more years! Of course I'd love to see him being a backup at Philly as well; they do design a few running plays there for QBs!

Tom Osborne was not appreciated to the degree he should have, and those stats confirm it. The rules are being suggested to shorten the game by eight plays or so, which would be over 100 less over a season for the reduction of injuries. Not referring to the suggestion of the clock continuing after an incomplete pass, but the new one reported today--after a first down is made. With a shortened game and fewer drive opportunities....it means that the efficiency you researched above becomes that much more paramount. Dilly stated before the season that he did not have a point goal per game, but wanted to be as efficient as possible. And boy was he--wow. (THANKS so much for this!) Stein will need to adhere to that as well...

Good gosh....whether adjusted or unadjusted, it is "Good-or-Good." The offense really made up for special teams underperformance, and poor defense. But for one play where Bo got injured...

Another explanation for all the "click-bait" summary of the same stuff or complete conjecture comes from this writer's perspective. It is the off-season...what are you going to write about?

Fox Crader is moving up, but it is quite interesting that out of five commits--he is the only 3-Star (so far) on Rivals.com. Yet this staff has been great at identifying upside in players that eventually propels them to a higher rank by the time signing date comes around. To see the 2024 list on Rivals you can click here, and if you save the URL in bookmarks or favorites--you can always refer to it. AJ Pugliano, Rivals 4-Star Tight End from Medford who is verballed for 2024

This is great to see, and as time goes on--the reputation grows as high school coaches and players talk about it and trade notes. The Ducks signed the highest rated recruiting class in the Pac-12 earlier this month. The group was headlined by California defensive lineman Matayo Uiagalelei and cornerback Rodrick Pleasant, two prospects USC wanted but missed out on, which led to speculation that NIL played a role. The Athletics' Antonio Morales interviewed three Pac-12 assistant coaches, three Pac-12 recruiting staffers and one analyst from the conference asking about recruiting in the 2023 cycle and NIL. The group provided their answers anonymously. When Morales posed the question "who do you think has the best NIL setup in the league?" one Pac-12 assistant responded: "Oregon has the best NIL setup, and it’s not even close. Oregon is the only school in the Pac-12 that’s to be feared from a national standpoint because Oregon can go to whatever region it wants to and come out victorious. That’s the bogeyman in the league. That’s Pac-Man in the Pac-12 from an NIL standpoint. Everybody else is child’s play."

It is great to have your voice of reason Darren, but something has always bothered me about the decision-making process of the conference. University Presidents know very little about athletics, and yet they must make good decisions about them? To decide media contracts? It seems to me that the Athletic Directors would be much more suited to doing this, as they are bean counters who matter at each school. Much more qualified for such decisions, IMHO.

My FishDuck Friends, You would be surprised at the number of Drive-By Trolls that show up to join long enough to fire a sickening salvo at us, and Our Beloved Ducks. I regard it as routine, but it happens about once a week even now in the off-season as we discuss conference realignment, media contracts, etc. Since I've done this for five and a half years, I recognize and react to it immediately. Our wonderful Moderators have caught a number of them, hide the posts and save us all the time of reading the Trolls' nonsense. It would appear that when we discuss the ACC conference at all--we get Miami and in particular Florida State fans show up to rage-and-run. Yesterday it was a Seminole fan, but if anyone really thinks they can join, Troll, and expect to remain here--they clearly don't know Mr. FishDuck. Not for long at the OBD forum...

I will not be at the USC game this year. For the past couple of years--I have had a severe issue with lower back pain and arthritis, and have not been able to walk it all like I used to. Thus I sold my tickets to a Duck-Buddy, and frankly--with all that I have to do on GameDay--it is a ton with charting the game, conversion to MP4, coordinating with the Sunday writer, loading pictures from the photographers, etc. Especially with the night games, as I would not get to bed until 2:00 AM if I went to the game. (And that is TOO LATE for this old fart) But I am improving. I will be going to the first two games at Autzen in September, and then my buddy has bought the remainder of the tickets. It is a big goal of mine to walk like normal again...I do walk now, but it looks less like a Duck, and more like...

It makes you wonder if this was not a factor in his hiring, because as young as he is--he would need to string together a number of good years to be in line for a HC job somewhere. If he was doing well here, and well compensated--I would doubt a lateral move to being OC elsewhere--with the exception of his Alma Mater. (But that looks good for a few years)

I stand by my original contention, that I believe within four years of the move to the Big Ten, the athletes of sports other than football will rue this move. Jet lag or not, it does not move the money-needle, as the players are again being used to make more money for the athletic program, and they will see very little in return for the additional hassle.

That is a really good observation about Louisville football, and it bodes well for keeping stayed him here a couple of years… And build something GREAT!

It is a good thing this is the off-season, and I have nothing else to read. Because if it was during the season with all of the interesting things happening, I would skip all this conference, realignment nonsense, because it is just an ongoing drama that gets old. It is the college football equivalent of “Game of Thrones”…

How good is Cavanaugh? When he was at Oregon State, I cursed his name, as he was a GOOD offensive line coach. He is perfect for the newbie Coach Terry.

The most important part of the article is near the end detailing the offensive line injuries he dealt with last year. It was an impossible mission to me, and makes me wonder....how good would he do with OUR experienced offensive line that we will start this year?

This is a really great point because this team is so young--it will take a year for those leaders to emerge, IMHO.

While most of the 2023 roster has been brought in by Lanning--the mind set and culture is still not built, or even close to what Georgia has, IMHO. It will take three years to fully replace the culture, and to create the west-coast version of the Bulldog defense, thus in that sense we have two years to go...to me. Yet you cannot blame or attribute things to the prior coach at some point. So there are really two questions here; when is it Lanning's team, and when will it be built to his vision? I think it is Lanning's team now, but will not be fully developed to his vision until the end of 2024--between the culture built, and the young-guns on defense in his system long enough to be masters of it. Great topic Haywarduck! No mention of offense because I believe we have a "Miracle-Maker" as a new OC. More on that tomorrow, as you-know-who is working on a FishDuck article to be published in the early morning. (I know, a Shameless plug from a Shameless Beggar)

This is so unique and special that I felt it should be featured on its own, as well as in the Softball Thread. CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Turns out Oregon’s 2-1 win over No. 19 Northwestern on Friday was merely the opening act. The 22nd ranked Ducks saw three different players hit a pair of home runs and Stevie Hansen won both ends of a doubleheader as Oregon defeated No. 3 Florida, 8-0, and No. 24 Missouri, 6-4, Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. It was the first time on record that the Ducks (11-3) have defeated three different ranked opponents in a row. “We never doubted it at all coming in,” said Raegan Breedlove, who started and went five innings against Missouri. “We were prepared and ready to do it for each other.” How it Happened Game 1: Hansen was masterful in winning her sixth decision in a row by throwing a complete-game, one-hit shutout. She didn’t allow a hit until a two-out single in the sixth inning, and faced just two batters over the minimum. Neither runner advanced past first base. Hansen struck out one batter and did not walk any. The Duck offense jumped on Florida starter Elizabeth Hightower early. Hanna Delgado led the game off with a triple and scored on Allee Bunker’s two-run home run. KK Humphreys homered in the third inning to make it 3-0 Oregon. In the fifth inning, Delgado doubled and scored on Terra McGowan’s two-run shot that made it 5-0. The Ducks tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh. McGowan singled to score Kyla Morris from second and then Bunker followed with her second home run of the game. The third-ranked Gators (11-2) were the highest ranked team the Ducks have defeated since beating No. 1 UCLA, 3-1, on Feb. 28, 2021. How it Happened Game 2: Breedlove allowed just two runs in the top of the third inning, but the Ducks could only muster McGowan’s second home run of the day in the bottom of the third inning. The Tigers led 2-1 into the fifth and threatened to score more before Hansen relieved Breedlove and shut down the Tigers. After Alex Honnold led the fifth off with a single and went to second on a passed ball, Hansen was called in from the pen. She recorded the first out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt that moved Honnold to third. Hansen got Julia Crenshaw to foul out to Humphreys at first for the second out. The inning ended when Katie Chester flied out to Carlson in right. Humphreys led the bottom of the sixth off with a home run to tie the game at 2-2 and Vallery Wong followed with a pinch-hit home run that gave the Ducks the lead for good, 3-2. The Ducks then added some insurance runs in the sixth that would prove essential later in the game. Ariel Carlson singled and went to second on a passed ball. Paige Sinicki bunted for a base hit and Carlson moved to third. After an out. Kyla Morris hit a grounder to third, but the throw home to try to cut down Carlson was high and got away from the catcher as both Carlson and Sinicki scored on the play for a 5-2 lead. Bunker then singled through the left side to score Morris. The Ducks took a 6-2 lead to the seventh, but Missouri (11-4) would not go down quietly. Riley Frizell led off with a home run that made it 6-3 Oregon. Hansen got Maddie Gallagher to strike out for the first out of the inning, but then Megan Moll doubled. With runners on first and second following a walk, Jenna Laird singled to left to score Moll and cut Oregon’s lead to 6-4. Morgan Scott came on in relief and after walking Honnold to load the bases, struck out Crenshaw and retired Chester on a fly to right to earn her second save of the season. Noteworthy: Hansen (7-2) has won seven decisions in a row … The top of Oregon’s order – Delgado, McGowan, Bunker and Humphreys – went 13-for 31 with two doubles, six home runs and 11 RBI … Bunker had four hits on Saturday to move into a tie for fifth in UO career hits at 234 with Julie Cavanaugh (1998-91). Bunker had five RBI on Saturday – four against Florida – and has 10 RBI in her last four games … It was Oregon’s first win against Florida since Feb. 11, 2006 (7-2) … Overall, this was the first time the Ducks won three consecutive games vs. ranked teams since defeating No. 19 Kentucky twice and No. 8 Arizona in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Quotable: Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi “They’re making big-time plays for each other. They’re coming up clutch for each other, for Oregon softball.” Pitcher Raegan Breedlove “We all get so hyped for each other. We never had a doubt in our minds. Running out there is like the best feeling just getting excited for each other.” On Deck: Sunday’s final game of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic against UC San Diego has been pushed back to 10 a.m. PT on Sunday.