Charles Fischer

Yep, that word can be used to a point where I have to get involved and edit or delete the post. This automatic software is there to ease my workload, and frankly I cannot stand wasting time on being "Mr. Clean." It will mess up at times...

Wish we had prizes! They deserve it!

My Duck-Buddies, I was very uncomfortable with many of the threads about Colorado, and in particular about Deon Sanders. The more I learned from my friend, Mike West, about the truth of what was really happening--the more I was astounded at what I did not know or understand. So much of what was written was opinion, (which is fine) but very little came from knowledge-based, or an experience-based focus. It would be helpful to learn more about the cultural background and communication style, considering how we want the best for the young men of Our Beloved Ducks that we cheer for. I am asking everyone to tone it down about Coach Prime, and the spectacle that is the Buffaloes this year. I arrived at this for a variety of reasons, but the biggest was my own embarrassment of my ignorance. I-did-not-know-what-I-did-not-know. Let's remain respectful of the Colorado team and coach this week, because when we step in "it," a Buffalo chip is a whole lot bigger. Let's just steer clear of what can be problematic for so many of us, even if not meaning too be. Discuss the players, the game, the strategies, the events, but let's just ignore the hype and trash-talking that will probably take place. I've asked Mike to offer a "primer" for us to consider, and he graciously wrote the article below. My thanks to you all, Charles Is the Prime Effect a Show Me the Money Moment? by Mike West (Former FishDuck Analyst and Writer) Show me the money!!! Remember that scene in Jerry McGuire? If you didn’t see the movie (and even if you did), you won’t understand one of many dynamics going on in College Football with Deion Sanders. Let me start by saying the “heated” discussion I had Saturday night with someone I believe is brilliant (he might not know that given my responses that night), would-had he had the same argument with other black people- have prompted me to vigorously come to his defense. I know the difference between people that are not comfortable with others they are not familiar with, versus racists. I brought up race Saturday night, but not because I felt my people were being attacked. So why do I believe Sanders is Rod Tidwell? If you watched the movie, you saw the first time I had seen Hollywood correctly show a black man’s thought process. We think out loud, process it, then start to make sense. Not so for most Americans and other cultures. I won’t go into the dynamics of why that is, it is too complicated. Rod Tidwell stunned McGuire because he was so straightforward towards McGuire than McGuire was used to. That is black and white culture in a nutshell. Europeans don’t broach subjects head on. Black Americans (not necessarily Africans) do. That’s only one dynamic in this thunderstorm called Deion Sanders. But that is the one that offends people most. He is in your face. He is brash. Everything anathema to European based culture is shoved down our throats-thanks to the media. People see “Rod Tidwell”, but they aren’t listening necessarily to what he is saying. They don’t care, therefore to determine who he is. He is just Show me the Money. Racial dynamics are far more layered than this snippet. But when you see Deion Sanders, you are watching the marketing machine, not the man. Jon Joseph has written about this far better than I can explain it. But watch the movie. Rod Tidwell is so much more than that epic scene as well. And the dynamic of his relationship with McGuire is pretty authentic as far as the dynamics between black and white men that really get to know each other.

DUCati855! The final score was 55-10 and... DUCati855 predicted 59-10 for only a total of four points off. Krsman predicted 54-14 for a total of only five points off. Just Ducky predicted 56-14 for also only five points off. My Duck-Buddies...

I never thought I'd say it...."I agree with Mic on this one."

Amen, Duck-Brother. For a running back--it is hard to put moves on in "linebacker-land" where you are evading several at once. But in open field? Irving with just one or two to evade? That increases our odds of some extreme YAC on the play...

Talk about timing! I am working on an article with my thoughts about this very topic that will be published early tomorrow morning. My thoughts may not align with everyone's, but the great discussion now and Monday should be interesting to all. I promise you that I will offer a premise you did not see coming...

Great reminder Ryan and thanks...to appreciate what we have in coaching. No letting a Stony Brook or a poor Cal team hang around and have a shot at victory; take care of business early, and build the roster by giving playing time to the young-guns. So many things I like about this team, and boy...I love how the defensive backs answered the challenge and held the Hawaii QB to only 79 yards passing in the first half--while the game was still in play. I loved the crisp tackling, and very little YAC when catches are made. And I am becoming a very big Bryce Boettcher fan...

You made reference to Colorado being a clown show, which is effectively, calling Deon a clown. This discussion has dissolved into a cluster between character, personal style, race, and what anyone else wants to pin upon it. I am locking the thread.

That was 1967, at Parker Stadium in Corvallis. It was a mountain of mud and the USC coach donated the first dollar for an artificial turf field. Personal note: I grew up in Corvallis, my father was a professor at Oregon State and I loved to hate Oregon at that time. But ended up going to Oregon.... I was a new tenderfoot in Boy Scout Troop 170 in north Corvallis, and I was at that game ushering people at 11 years old.

The good news about Sanders? He is the Big-12’s problem after this season!

I am really looking forward to better play from the secondary this week, despite how they are going to be barraged. It will be fun to watch how they handle it and respond... Going to need more of this...

Here we are my Duck-Buddies, the thread for pondering the actual game as it happens. Let's discuss before, and during the game! The vast majority of you are GREAT in this thread, but you must remember that this forum is different, as we require civilized discourse. 1. Do NOT get personal about OBD, such as "that coach/player is an idiot." Discussion of negative about bad coaching decisions or poor player performance is fine, and encouraged. 2. Discussion of negative is fine, but don't vent on us! If you are going over-the-top? It is painful to read, and both you and the post will be removed. Be a good sport to your fellow members! Rule No. 31d covers GameDay Thread Conduct, and it is not hard for the vast majority of us--just a tiny few who need to reign it in when things don't go well for Our Beloved Ducks. It is a shame I have to harp on something that applies to so few of you, but GameDay threads really bring the worst out of a small number. Now with that, lets DO discuss and enjoy the game together, including all the elements. (Including the negative!) Let's Have Fun Posting During the Game!

I think Popo could have fun with that, if it is true also for next week... Popo drove the Texas Tech center seven yards back and owned him...

Wrong. You did not read my post at the beginning of this thread where I clarify this.

I am referring to the 2022 game in Pullman where we supposed to win routinely, and yet pulled off a miracle to win. Didn't you have some serious questions about the team after that game? I know I did. The similarities of that game and the 2023 Texas Tech are interesting; intense crowd, getting behind, miraculous comeback and a save at the end by the defense on a pick-six by a defender in the front seven.

Precisely.

Oh brother. I see all the stuff about OSU and WSU wanting to reconstruct the Pac-2 into a PAC-8 or more? Doesn’t that seem weird to you? The Mountain West Conference teams were paid much less on their media contract for a reason. Nobody cares. The remaining two teams of the PAC were rejected by EVERY Power-5 conference, even at a massive discount. Beyond being brutal, it tells them their actual value. Nada. Do they think they are going to combine with proven similarly low value schools, and expect to do better? I think the media companies have shown that not only can you not fool them, but they have thrashed the PAC at every turn. This is harsh, but has anyone else thought about the folly of their upcoming endeavor?

So this is why he was so highly rated? I look forward to seeing him rounding into form, and I'll bet we see some big tackles and plays from him this year. That's going to leave a mark!

As a FishDuck writer over the last dozen years--a nightmare is remembering how to spell some player's names, and since I often can't...with my old-fart brain, I will usually have the roster open in another tab/page when I'm writing an article. Even tougher are pronouncing many of the Hawaiian/Samoan names that are often on our team, and this year--we have a bunch of them. Already I am having difficulty in discussions with Duck-Buddies when referring to Matayo Uiagalelei. And I better figure it out, because this guy is good, and has shown more in two games than Burch. I receive a massive PDF each week as credentialed media which contains a page that has pronunciations listed, and I thought I would share some with you. Matayo Uiagalelei: muh-tay-oh / ooh-ee-ahn-guh-luh-lay Teitum Tuioti: Tay-tum / TOO-ee-oh-tee Faaope Laloulu: fa-oh-pay / la-low-ooh-loo Iapani Laloulu: ee-uh-pawn-ee / la-low-ooh-loo (Yes, they are brothers and you can call him Pancho) I am going to the game with Our Beloved Ducks Forum Moderator, Kamikaze Kid, and at our seats on the 34 yard line--we will practice these names out loud several times to set the memory templates in my beer-starved brain. It is my final game in person this year, and great fun to attend with a Duck-Buddy from the sites. You have to admit--seeing the names written out like that make it a ton easier? Now practice with me....

This "us-against-them" mentality will work for a while with the team, but not after this season. Maybe even not the entire 2023 season?

Oh, my friend DazeNconfused! I love how we chop up the games, but this is one time that I am in significant disagreement with you--which is rare. First...our recollection of the Cristobal rushing era is quite different. I will not pull up ALL the articles I wrote during that time, but the bottom line is that rushing yardage dropped significantly from the Chip Kelly/Helfrich/Taggart years to Cristobal. He changed the offense, and the blocking schemes in a big way. He wasted an offensive line that sent four to the NFL, (recruited by Steve Greatwood) but again--that discussion is for another time. Please look at the rushing yards cited in this article... Has Cristobal's "Physical" Offense Worked? Will It? FISHDUCK.COM ve never heard as much about "a tough culture" or "being physical" from any coach at Oregon as I have from Coach Mario Cristobal. There was a feeling of… Second...it was reported by another analyst that some of the "Toss" plays were recorded as passes by the TT stats guy. So, since I am media credentialed--I looked up the official play transcript the AD sent me to see. There are three plays recorded as passes that were clearly under-handed tosses to the running back when I went back and looked at every single 'pass' to a running back. We all know the difference between an overhand flair pass to a running back, versus an underhanded toss where you also have offensive linemen pulling. Those three plays totaled an additional 39 yards, which brought the rushing total from 113 to 152 yards rushing for the game. Still not great, as I look at 200 yards as the measuring stick of a "good" rushing game. But still--it was not quite as bad as it initially appeared, and it was adequate as a balance to keep the passing attack working. Their interior defense was MUCH better than I anticipated....they were STOUT. Third...Lanning acknowledged in an interview that, "I thought our efficiency in some runs was really good, and our efficiency in other runs was really bad. And I thought they (Texas Tech) had a great game plan for a lot of our primary runs. (Plays) You know, we've had a lot of success in the past with our counter plays. I thought they had some good schematic answers for that." So, our opponent had a ton to do with it as well, I have to salute their big defensive tackles, and their plan to stop our favorite run plays. Perfect practice for us to prepare for later in the season... Fourth...Oregon anticipated trouble with their defensive line and our game plan was to run outside often with the toss plays, the wheel routes and the flair passes to wear them out. We did not run inside much by design, IMHO. Fifth...this is a completely different group of players that Adrian Klemm would have had to deal with as well. We cannot be certain that he would not have had the same first-real-game mistakes and jitters that Coach Terry dealt with. The O-Line players last year too, are a reason for last year's success, and that 2022 group was super, and they are GONE. I think it is unreasonable to expect even Coach Klemm to duplicate last year's success in just the second game for this new group, IMHO. Oregon scored on this inside running play... Sixth...Oregon averaged 38 points per game last year--and we equaled that in Lubbock, thus not a step down on offense as you predicted, thus far. While a TD came from the defense--last year's scoring included defensive TDs as well. This was pretty good considering how difficult that environment was, and again...perfect practice before going to Seattle and Salt Lake City. Seventh...this is really a one game window, and I believe it is too early to draw conclusions yet. I do believe very strongly that this group will improve, and both Lanning and Terry have voiced that confidence as well. Fun to watch for in upcoming games!

Some good things to ponder from this...an article from DazeNconfused! Ducks Offense: Klemm's Entire Line Gone and Lost Forever? FISHDUCK.COM Oregon escaped Lubbock, Texas with a hard fought 38-30 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders, but the unit that was the heart and soul of the Ducks last year was… ...but the unit that was the heart and soul of the Ducks last year was MIA. Oregon’s offensive line that was one of the best in the nation last year, is now a major concern and possibly a limiting factor to their success this season. What happened to cause this collapse of performance you might ask?

Naw....Coach Lanning just made a mistake is all. Like the rest of us--he could not possibly have known what would happen in football season a few months later.