Charles Fischer

Well baby! The Ducks’ bats came alive in the second inning to score 5 runs with a two run bomb, and a solo home run. Ducks up 5-1 after two innings!

Omigosh GeotechDuck....the third one of yours looks like the raw version of.... Deathmobile!

An article in the local Register-Guard has Sewell as the No. 19 pick in the NFL Draft next year...

I often will post a Canzano article that is emailed to me, but it is a ton of work. I hate the way he writes, the tons of one-sentence paragraphs. When you move the article over--everything has to be fixed and often I will have to combine sentences together. Now keep in mind that yours truly will use one-sentence paragraphs, but not this this extent. One sentence paragraphs are good for occasional effect--that's it. But the rest of the time it is space-eating nonsense that appears to be writing as if it was the way you think. It is a popular form now and years back a writer left FishDuck because I took him to task for having eleven of these one-sentence paragraphs in his article. "Sloppy writing," is what I called it. Now he actually works for another site and guess what? He writes in full paragraphs now. Guess I was right?

NBA franchise promotes Joe Cronin amid uncertainty. The summer of 2006 was a busy time at One Center Court. The Trail Blazers secured Lamarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy on draft day. They also hired a swath of interns, dispatching them on a variety of tasks. Among them, young Joe Cronin. Cronin was named Portland’s general manager on Tuesday. His “interim” tag was removed and he’ll be the GM of record when the franchise’s Draft Lottery fate is settled next week. Before that, though, Cronin was a basketball operations intern. After that, he became a scout. Then, salary-cap analyst. Then, director of player personnel. Before all that Cronin was a 6-foot-6, moppy-haired former high school basketball player from Colorado. Tuesday was a wonderful day for Cronin and his career path, but he’s not the most influential person in the franchise right now. Neither is All-Star guard Damian Lillard or team president Dwayne Hankins. Unfortunately, it’s Bert Kolde. Paul Allen’s former college roommate is the vice chairman of the franchise. Jody Allen is the trustee of her late brother’s estate. But it’s the Kolde, per insiders, who is steering the organization right now. I fear none of this will end as it should. A few things: • Everyone believes the Trail Blazers are being positioned for a sale in the next 6-18 months. Insiders at Vulcan, Inc. tell me that Kolde has assumed the lead role on this and is carefully studying the ongoing sale of the Denver Broncos. • The Trail Blazers own Moda Center but the City of Portland owns the land beneath the arena. The NBA franchise pays the city $1 a year and operates and maintains Memorial Coliseum as part of the arrangement. The sides are currently engaged in discussions about renewing the lease. • The Blazers had the sixth-worst record in the NBA last season. They have a 9 percent chance of securing the No. 1 overall pick in the May 17 NBA draft lottery. They desperately need a big break. The sale of the franchise will be a significant pivot point for the Blazers. The prevailing hope is that Kolde and Jody Allen won’t just sell to the highest bidder, but to a select owner or group that would have local ties and continue Paul Allen’s legacy. Said one Vulcan, Inc. executive: “Bert doesn’t think like that. He will do whatever he can to get the most money to impress Jody. He’s a major wannabe. Both leagues — the NBA and NFL — view him as a problem. “The sales process should be more holistic than just who will pay the most. Paul would want the best owner for the city and state and he would take less to make that happen. Bert not so much.” The Broncos sale could complicate matters and raise expectations to an unrealistic level. The NFL team is currently owned by the Pat Bowlen Trust. Initial estimates were that the Broncos might sell for as much as $4 billion. That figure bloated to $5 billion this week. Cronin won’t have a say in a potential sale. Nor will the GM have input into the lease negotiations. I reviewed the document last week and ran it past several legal experts who agreed the lease should be a fairly easy re-negotiation. Both parties should be motivated to get it done. The complexities, however, are rooted in Memorial Coliseum and the master development plan for the area around Moda Center. Should Memorial Coliseum be there? Or not? Could it be replaced with a new memorial to honor veterans? Could the lease agreement spark a massive development of the surrounding area? It should. But given the likely franchise sale, I doubt Kolde and Jody Allen are interested in collaborating with the city on a bold development vision for the arena district. This should be a seminal moment for the city and NBA franchise. The neighborhood around Moda Center could finally be transformed into something amazing. But in order to do that, you need an invested and motivated brain trust. Kolde is neither. Bert Kolde, left, along with the late Paul Allen. There are several clauses in the current lease that allow the Trail Blazers to sign a short-term extension and punt the negotiation down the road. The hope here is that the Blazers do exactly that and let whoever buys the NBA franchise negotiate a longer-term agreement. Moda Center has good bones, a great location and decent aesthetic. It could be a special arena with some improvements. The fan base has been loyal, passionate and deserves it. The franchise is a goldmine with the right ownership. Cronin was promoted to the permanent GM job on Tuesday. It’s a great story, rising from intern to boss in 16 crazy years. I wasn’t impressed with his work around the NBA trade deadline, but I’m skeptical that Cronin made those moves without Kolde whispering in his ear. Portland landing No. 1 or No. 2 draft pick in the lottery? Yes, please. But more importantly, the Blazers need new ownership. The franchise also needs a new lease agreement that keeps it in Portland and ensures the development of the arena district. Which is only to say the sooner Bert Kolde is out of the way, the better.

I did appreciate the old Corvettes…

Lots of people DO care, and we want to encourage all discussion. If you don’t care? No sweat—just ignore it!

Who is going to stop him on 4th and 1? It would take three....

Don't blame you as I've thought many Utah uniforms were sharp, but the Bruins? Geez.... UCLAs are not bad, but are not superb either, IMHO.

Completely agree. Some are excited about 6'5" Kyle Kasper joining us, but Thornton is 6'5" as well and experienced. I'm thinking that he could be the downfield threat that scores some, but opens up all the other passing routes for others.

During the off-season, I especially welcome off-topic discussions so the community has a bit more fun. I will admit that I'm not a "car" guy, so I have no input here! NOT the beautiful car...

That girl has a lot of confidence....

He forced a lot of early/bad throws last year--can't wait to see him this year!

The usual article box that appears would not this time, but it is only one click as before.... Analysis: UW loses Four-Star In-State QB Gabarri Johnson to Missouri (and Bush Hamdan). What now? I'm so sorry Huskies!

Not a good time for a slump....let's turn it around NOW Ducks!

I am really surprised at the other Pac-12 pick, and surprised where they placed the Trojans. Oh yeah....the Huskies were not even in the top 50!

A solution for those parents....

What would you say to some of the parents? In particular the first and third?

No announcement yet for how much, but the original holder of the number, a kicker, had five kids (No. 5) and wanted a quarter-million for it. Whew!

I believe Oregon will finish in the Top-Ten in 2023 with this staff, and for the rest of the Pac-12? They will think they're doing fine until...

One of our kind moderators fixed it...

While that would never happen...I would be quite happy with a tiny fraction of the Oregon audience, the reasonable ones, to join us!

And we really appreciate not only Utah fans and the fans of other schools' input, but the attitude you exemplify in offering your thoughts. Now, when it comes to Miami fans... Here is their welcome!

I think this is a FANTASTIC topic to discuss in the long off-season, and if any of you would start a thread with a great topic like this? It would be most welcome! (My apologies to Utah and Georgia fans both reading this thread and prior ones about their teams. Remember that what you read is NOT representative of all Oregon fans, especially the good people that comprise this forum.)

This is not a joke to me, as finding a way to pay website expenses without pulling any more from family assets impacts whether the sites can remain up. I will pin this up on a regular basis as newbies wonder why those casino references are in nearly every one of my articles. And it takes a boatload of my time creating extra articles to fill backlink article orders. I spent most of my weekend writing articles for upcoming orders. All so I, and everyone else has FishDuck and the OBD forum to enjoy.