Charles Fischer

Football and BASEBALL!

Getting to Oklahoma? The MCWS is in Omaha...

"Can't Lose Games For Dan Lanning in 2025" Northwestern and Beavis? It's called "Desperate-Writers-for Topics" time...

Hoo-boy...if they want half of everything?

Throughout the baseball season--all you saw on the major sites was articles and drooling over SEC baseball. Yet the eight teams of the Mens College World Series is only made up of two SEC teams from an original 13 that began play in the Regionals. Top seeds of Vanderbilt, Texas, Auburn, Georgia, and Ole Miss went down with a stunning five of eight national seeds not even making it to the Super-Regionals. Either that is bad seeding, or massive overhype... While the SEC has more in the MCWS than any other conference, (two) it is a routine number, and not one that matches the over-the-top-stuff written about them through the season. Arkansas is considered the most talented team remaining, but as Oregon knows...it all depends upon how your pitchers are doing on a given day. The FORGOTTEN Group... Very quietly a group from the West Coast....where little respect is given, outperformed the SEC by the trio of Oregon State, UCLA and Arizona. Didn't they used to be in a good baseball conference that was routinely dismissed in RPI and rankings? These teams out west stunned everyone, and yet Our Beloved Ducks hold SIX wins over two of them...but not at the right time of the season. I salute these other teams because they peaked at the right time, while Oregon peaked just before season end and tailed off. Between these observations, and how two national regionals were hosted in the State of Oregon...I'd say that baseball out west is looking promising, and Oregon will have their say in future tournaments. The deepest group of top teams are not in the SEC or the ACC, but OUT WEST!

And there are pitfalls, costs and risks to that strategy too. What if you had a former 5-Star QB who you knew would be super when it was his turn...and it did not turn out that way? And it cost you a 'Natty? Naw...Georgia fans wouldn't know anything about that! 😉

As you all know...in the off-season we only have one article a week on FishDuck.com scheduled, although we sometimes get more when blessed with a guest article by Jon Joseph. Thus, I am grateful for the writers, and to Alex Heining for the fun read that gets you pondering... I was pondering the WR issue, and realized that I might have overlooked an important element with a couple of receivers. When you are a junior as Justius Lowe is, or a SENIOR as Malik Bennett or as Gary Bryant Jr. is... you have something to prove. Often we have seen players really emerge when in their final year--to where we hardly recognize the player we knew before. In particular--I have the gut-feel that Gary Bryant Jr. is going to have a B1G year!

I'm Calling it Now, Oregon State is Winning the Natty, AGAIN... Yeah, I'm good with it...

Wisconsin No. 3? The second most boring uniform in college football is Penn State, and he has them at No. 4? Traditional and iconic, yes, but only Alabama has more boring of uniforms. PSU is not No. 3 or even No. 18; there has to be a lower grade... I kinda thought the black and gold presented by Purdue was much cooler than most listed. How do you NOT love this...

Jon...the homework you do is just astounding. Nearly a full team returning who have experience winning? I did NOT know how weak their schedule was...whew! They HAVE to be the best "over" bet in CFB... You are not flying under Jon Joseph's radar!

They are handy for when Hyenas try to steal their kills...

If there was EVER a team that could get an elite portal transfer QB...it is Oregon, as has been proven the last three years. Nothing beats experience...

David, I'm looking for RS Freshman Jeremiah McClellan (below) to have a big "move-up" year, while I could see Justius Lowe having a "break-out" year like the examples you gave. Dak Moore will just break-out and beyond...

Austin Novosad has played some...looked good in the Fiesta Bowl in mop-up time versus Liberty at the end of the 2023 season, and I was impressed with his Spring Game.

Too many injuries? Q: "How often does your wife get tired of your antics?" A: "Every single day...." (Taken from an interview when he was at Oregon)

So you and everyone knows…I am not a “Chuck,”

Boy...what a blow to this year, and to the stacking of the classes. A ton of talent in the WR room, but mostly inexperienced, not what you want when it is late in the game and 3rd and 9 at Penn State. I cannot put my finger on it, (besides the big drop in the Spring Game) but I do not have a good vibe about the transfer Malik Benson.

Jon, as always you give us a good take-to-debate! I don't know about University of Minnesota being one of the top 32, as I'd imagine that Miami would want to be "in" and connected to the Dolphins. We might end up with quite a few matchups that are not geographically close to each other, although I like the matchup you have for Our Beloved Ducks. Arik Armstead, No. 91 for the 49ers...

Oh, that was a dandy, as is this one below... "Is Will Stein a genius or merely another coordinator with a flashy playbook?" Lovely. Another writer-hack who gives us a typical blah-blah article...

He makes my point why we should NOT have conference tournaments. So we play 30, that is THIRTY CONFERENCE GAMES, to have the season tarnished by one game in a silly tournament? Oregon State lost four games to us, had a similar record, SAT OUT THE TOURNAMENT WEEK, and did just fine in the seeding.

Not to mention that USC had a MAD exodus of players over the last year, and they are trying to replace them...

And they put USC at 19th?

I agree with you David, that a rule change in the middle of the season is not only odd--but I don't know if I've noticed that before. Thanks so much for all this research for our benefit!

How can this be? "While the exact number of deaths attributed to rhinoceros attacks each year is unknown globally, research suggests that such attacks are relatively rare." "However, it's important to remember that rhinos, especially the larger species like white rhinos (which can weigh around 5,000 pounds), are wild animals and can be dangerous, especially if provoked or if someone enters their territory. Their poor eyesight and tendency to charge when feeling threatened can lead to serious injuries or fatalities." "Hippos are considered a dangerous land animal, with estimates suggesting they kill around 500 people per year. While some sources claim a higher range (up to 3,000 deaths annually), the more widely cited figure is 500. This aggressive behavior is often attributed to their territorial nature and tendency to charge at boats, mistaking them for predators." Hippo Charging a Boat in Namibia...