Charles Fischer

Whereas Trojans have salty tears, 'Bama fans collect that salt in their mouth where it builds up to quite a bile...

Winner!

The first-ever college football game televised on ESPN? Oregon in Colorado in September of the 1979 season. The Ducks won the road game, 33-19, and Rich Brooks was the head coach in Eugene. It was the first game with Chuck Fairbanks as the coach at CU. Trivia Question: Who was that Oregon quarterback?

Defensive Coordinators: I cannot copy the whole articles, but I can tell you that on the defensive side--Tosh Lupoi does not make his top-ten. Three of his top ten defensive coordinators we face this season in No. 1 Phil Parker of Iowa, No. 2 is Jim Knowles of Penn State, (both on the road!) and surprisingly....No. 6 Bryant Haines of Indiana. Haines was highly sought after this last season, and they opened the checkbook at Bloomington, to give him a 2 million dollar contract. Offensive Coordinators: We face a couple of the best offensive coordinators this season in No. 6 Andy Kotelnicki of Penn State, and No. 4 Mike Shanahan of Indiana. Looks like the 'Lions and Hoosiers are building great staffs! The No. 1 OC in the nation? Will Stein. "Stein’s offense led the nation in points per drive (2.97) in 2024. The Ducks also led the nation in third-down conversion rate (50.7 percent). Last year, Stein helped Oregon move seamlessly from first-rounder Bo Nix to transfer Dillon Gabriel. Stein, who could be on a lot of head-coaching short lists after this season, isn’t the product of one tree. He played for then-OC Jeff Brohm at Louisville. He worked for Bobby Petrino. He experienced a variety of offenses working on Charlie Strong’s Texas staff. Then he became a playcaller under Jeff Traylor at UTSA. Stein took all these influences and cobbled together an offense that bewilders defenses. Stein understands exactly how to get the most out of his personnel."

If anyone does not like the military videos I post--just ignore them please. I do know we have a ton of vets, and family members of vets on this forum and thus do find these occasional posts interesting. I will not post them often, but when it is slow--it can add some interest. And no, I will not get into if we need them or why...as again that will turn political in a heartbeat, and we don't want that. Just enjoy, comment or ignore please. Some people decry the time and money wasted on a very violent game...

I heard about this new weapon a while back, and they are still testing it--but orders have been placed with the US manufacturer for the Army and Navy. A vital new weapon considering the amount of casualties due to drones in the Russia/Ukraine war, and I wish we could get some over there pronto. It is only a four minute video, but wow--pretty amazing! (It is summer, and for those who enjoy military stuff...)

They go to a ton of trouble to 'diss us! (But I guess I'm nobody to talk)

New quotes from June, when Oregon was lagging in recruiting and USC fans were loving it. "Are Nike’s sales down? Uncle Phil’s impact/clout seems to be diminishing." "Nike U never wins anything except changing uniforms combinations…." "Yes, other schools are upping their NIL to match what Oregon had been doing all along in recent years. If the Zeroes are not in position to up theirs even higher in response does possibly place it as NIL related. Just very unusual for them to have so many misses on bidding wars with USC, Ohio State, Texas, and Texas A&M to name a few recently." "I think Oregon has been slow to adapt to 2025's recruiting budget norms with so many schools now having large warchests, and it's possible they've been conservative due to the house settlement. Hard to say, but it's glorious to watch." "I think if Phil was pulling back on NIL, the zeroes wouldn’t have grabbed 3 of the top OL, top safety and one of the top RBs in the portal among others. I’m only speculating here but I think Oregon’s recruiting failures are more about a change in strategy around HS kids than a lack of funding. I’d love to be wrong." Trojans Feeling Their Feminine Energy....

Oregon is No. 6 in the nation currently with Rivals, and this class now has THREE edge rushers. It is hard to know "who" is really good, so Danno is recruiting them, and getting them here to find out. It helps to assure a great future pass rush!

Wow! "In an effort to keep teams from using their collectives to circumvent the $20.5 million spending cap, the terms of the House settlement state that all deals with "associated entities" (essentially collectives and boosters) have to be for a "valid business purpose" and fall within a reasonable range of compensation. A $1 million deal for a player to make a few social media posts, for example, won't be allowed. "Pay-for-play will not be permitted, and every NIL deal done with a student-athlete must be a legitimate deal, not pay-for-play in disguise," CSC CEO Bryan Seeley said Thursday."

He is a Rivals 4-Star, and had offers from Oregon, Alabama, Penn State, Georgia, Miami, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Clemson, USC, LSU, etc. etc. I admit to being very surprised at this, as he is from Mobile Alabama, and followed the 'Tide as a fan. Cool!

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You are incredibly consistent with your request on this, and as Jon suggests--if we move to four teams from the B1G and SEC each...then the losses in nonconference will not harm Oregon making the Playoff, since it is dependent upon making the top four in the B1G. So cheer for the new format to be approved in the next year, because if it does--your dream could happen. Without automatic qualifiers--we don't dare lose a non-conference game, as it will hurt the overall record and lose the respect of the crazy committee deciding "on the data." But if we believe we can make the B1G top four--we can schedule a home-and-home with the 'Tide, and it won't hurt us. Blockbuster games...huge eyes on it, fun atmosphere, big money for the programs... How about a home-and-home with Miami? How lit-up would Autzen get?

I agree with the first four you mention, with Illinois being in the top 16 last year, and with good prospects for this year. I agree about Washington within three years challenging to be in the top B1G group. A sleeper we cannot overlook is Michigan State with Jonathan Smith there--he coaches teams up superbly.

Ducks added ANOTHER pitcher from a JUCO in Christian Bobzin with a 2.94 ERA.

Cooper Strawn, a 6’6 RHP from a JUCO in Texas, committed to Oregon on the 28th.

Baseball America just came out with their top 50 prospects who will enroll in college. Braden Jaksa (Oregon) was No. 9 on their list and the No. 76 prospect pre draft going in as a catcher/OF.

Incoming transfer Josh Schleichardt set the WCL single season HR and RBI records on this dinger recently in a Portland Pickles game.

And it appears that the bombastic Indiana HC chimed in--as he can do.... Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, known for making splashes with a microphone in his face, leaned into the controversy at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday. Asked why cancelling the home-and-home with Virginia is good for Indiana, Cignetti took it as an invitation to fire off a shot at a rival conference. “We figured we would just adopt the SEC scheduling philosophy, you know,” Cignetti said. “Some people don’t like it. I’m more focused on those nine conference games. Not only do we want to play nine conference games and have the 4-4 Playoff format. We want to have play-in games to decide who plays in those playoffs.” Curt Cignetti

They surprised everyone at the B1G Media days with their agreement about conference scheduling.... (From a John Canzano article) Rob Mullens: “The hard thing about college football is there’s a whole difference in that some leagues play eight (conference games), some leagues play nine. There is not a ton of head-to-head. You’re left at the end to try to figure out seeding. Those last few spots with 6-7 (teams) in the end, it’s really difficult.” Mullens continued, “There was one year when I was chair, we had Georgia, Oklahoma, and Ohio State, and one spot. We went ALL… NIGHT… LONG. It was really hard to differentiate.” James Franklin: “Everybody has to play the same number of conference games,” Franklin said. “This ain’t this hard. Everybody should be playing eight, or everybody should be playing nine.” “You’re asking a group of people to get into a room and give us the best 12 or 16 teams, and you’re not comparing apples to apples,” Franklin said. “… then you get these media members that we know are not true national media members, they’re homers to certain conferences, we have them in the Big Ten, other people have them as well. And then they get on and pound the table about people’s schedules, you’re not comparing the same thing.” It is great to see the conference commissioner, a major AD, and a HC in the conference coming out strong about this, and it is crucial that we are united with this issue. James Franklin

Which game will be tougher for Our Beloved Ducks, and why? At Autzen: versus Indiana, or USC? and... Away Games: at Iowa or at Washington? Why?

I have two reactions...