Charles Fischer

Oh baby....I have been trying to "Duck" this discussion for a long time, but here goes....and WE ALL must work at not getting political in this thread. Do keep in mind that I am not making a political commentary, but only my own assessment based upon what I've seen, read and experienced. In short, I believe the state of Oregon and Lane County Health Authority are incompetent on a number of different levels and we are seeing it in the distribution of the vaccines, and in how decisions are made concerning groups of people. Now with that said, Lane County is dropping to a level to where up to 150 people can assemble together, but that does not take place until Friday. Keep in mind that Oregon has been the 48th/49th state (among the best/slowest) in terms of the disease spreading for some time, yet massive measures have been in place for a long time. As of the other day...only a handful of people in Lane County were in Intensive Care with COVID, and only one was hooked up to a ventilator. To answer your question, I will relate my experiences as credentialed media who is trying to get photographers into UO Athletic events. In the past--no problem as I had two photographers on the field at Autzen for every home game, (One of my own, and another working for another media source, but shared his "sloppy-seconds" with me) and I assumed when COVID hit that everything would change. But not like this. I was not allowed to have a photographer on the field for games at Autzen, nor did the other sites and thus we had to use the "pool" photos of which were lame. But they were going to allow photographers up in the stands to take pictures, and I could live with that since my guys have telephoto lens and can still do well. Then UO AD reversed that position and stated that photographers could not even be up in the stands! When I asked for the science that shows COVID transmission taking place outside, (all the data shows transmission occurring inside) with people socially distanced, and wearing masks in the freezing cold....I was effectively told to pound-sand. Yet I could have two photographers shooting photos at the Washington State game! Are state guidelines on the same science that different? But the topper was how FishDuck was able to have two photographers in Reser Stadium for the Rivalry game. How is the COVID science different between Corvallis and Eugene? Recently we were told that the usual amount of photographers could not be on the field or in the stands at Baseball games, and the number allowed was quite small. What justification is there when everything is trending with the disease as it is? Crickets. So....different scientists have postulated that herd immunity will be reached by late April or late August, depending upon who you read. That would suggest that a full stadium could/should be possible; Alabama has announced that they will fill their 100,000 seat stadium this fall, and the NFL had over a million attendees to their games in total last fall. But the state of Oregon and Lane County may disregard pertinent data, as they have in this past year, thus my answer to you is that I am "less than 50/50" about fans being allowed in the stands. From a financial standpoint--they must get the fans back, but with the absurd way things with the Athletic Department have been handled....I am not optimistic. But I would buy a ticket anyway, as I have with my season tickets. My apologies.

If we play to the talent level on the team and with the coaches--yes, I believe we can win again. But the decisions made will determine how well the team plays, and this last year--your observation was quite true. Thus to me--it is all unknown. But I am spinning it in my mind that it is all "part of the drama and entertainment" of which is true.

This pitcher went to high school not far from where I live, and it was great to see him in his first start last weekend and being successful. Should Robert Ahlstrom be a starter over Nico Tellache of Canby versus Oregon State this weekend? Robert Ahlstrom Working way Back into Oregon Baseball Pitching Rotation by OregonLive

It is nice we have a small section in a national article, although it is devoted more to who they think can dethrone Our Beloved Ducks for the Pac-12 Title. I am not buying it--are you? Top College Football Storylines to Watch During 2021 Spring Practices by Bleacher Report

That's just crazy. Not what you wrote, (because it is true) but how MC has killed our tradition of high-scoring offenses that goes back to Mike Bellotti.

Actually the article made reference to a billion given to the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. But yes....he has given a boatload to Stanford as well.

Phil and Penny Knight have approached the "B" number...with two institutions? I know that WSJ article was linked in another thread, but this article below gives us much more information about the impact of these benefactors to so many. How cool would it be to be able to be so generous, and how lucky we fans of Our Beloved Ducks are! Phil Knight’s University of Oregon donations push $1 Billion Mark with new Hayward Field Project by OregonLive

In a period of just over three years from 2014 to 2017....Oregon won 11 National Championships and it would appear that over six of them were in Indoor Track. (Thanks RunningDuck!) The others were won in Outdoor Track, Cross Country and Mens Golf. Oregon won more National Championships in that three years than Washington has won (8) in over 130 years! Ouch!

I see him in a ton of ways at Oregon, including on Special Teams and getting a punt-fake pass, or blocking for field goals, (same concept) and in the backfield blocking as a fullback and on occasion for the big play on a key down...that pass out in the flat as a TE as you stated. He could be busy for us!

I know that some may not agree with that, but this is not me stating this. I do think he has made some great hires (along with a dud like Helfrich) the good ones like Coach Lombardi and Coach Graves are the majority. He may have also made a fantastic hire with Coach Abel for Soccer. MULLENS HONORED AS AD OF THE YEAR by GoDucks.com Oregon is the only school in the history of the conference to win Football and Mens Basketball (the only two profitable sports) league titles in back-to-back years as just completed. Well done!

Another great track fan in ChileDuck! Thanks so much...and perhaps I will stay in touch by text to post updates here? My thanks again to you both for such great information, as some of us really lap it up! Original Hayward Field... New Hayward Field... Think it might help recruiting?

I cannot get into the article, but the video at the beginning linked here gives me chills. Just wow....

I forgot about that....it is so weird in that they usually do NOT have a good team!

"What was absolutely freakish when watching Tuimoloau was his feet. I am not sure that I’ve ever seen a player who is 6-foot-5 and around 280 pounds have better feet on a basketball court than him," This offer could be the tipping point? I have to admit that this player has a much better chance of playing two sports than Arik Armstead did... (Could Dana use a board-banger right now?)

Bruce...this is incredible information that we are very grateful for! I knew we were favored, but not like that--wow. It would be so cool to win NC No. 34, and yes Washington....(and the Powells) the Ducks will continue winning. Thanks again Bruce, and we would love an occasional update here. Speaking of Raevyn Rogers....

It is much easier to recruit to Oregon now when you sit No. 5 in the nation....but when she began? THAT, to me was the test of her recruiting. Could she see the upside of players that other coaches could not, and could she convince them to come to Eugene when...we are not looking good at that time? Boy has she answered that...

“Mario Cristobal did it again, reaching across the country for a talented prospect and this time beating out lots of SEC interest for the four-star quarterback,” The thing is....this QB is not the big, tall Herbert-like presence, yet in the end...it is what is between Justin's ears that made him the NFL Rookie MVP. We have seen a number of smaller quarterbacks in the NFL where their play-making ability is the key, not their physical attributes. Could Tanner Bailey have the "it" factor that made Cristobal want him so badly to beat out Alabama and Georgia for his early verbal commitment? Oregon Ducks Recruiting: How Tanner Bailey Compares to Recent Quarterback Pledges by OregonLive

The pride of Beaverton Oregon is making us all proud, and is vaulting this Baseball team in the rankings! Eugene, Ore. – Kenyon Yovan has added more award to his resume following his dominant performance over the weekend in a sweep of nationally ranked UC Santa Barbara. A day after being named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball, Yovan claimed National Player of the Week honors from Perfect Game, national hitter of the week recognition from the NCBWA and Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week accolades. Yovan, who is a Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-America pick, batted .467 (7-for-15) with four home runs and 11 RBI, while finishing the weekend with a blistering 1.267 slugging percentage and .591 on-base percentage.

Oregon's top two pitchers are transfers, (Brooke Yanez and Samaria Diaz) from New Mexico and UC Davis. Don't you think that if the conference realized how good these players were that as many as ten Pac-12 teams would have lined up to recruit these aces? We are now seeing it with the freshmen; everyone knows about national recruit Ariel Carlson, but it was seeing the upside with two other freshmen that might have quite an impact on the Softball team for years to come. Hanna Delgado won Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards after batting .500 over five games with eight RBIs and a clutch RBI single with two outs that clinched the Saturday win against Portland State. She had only started three of the 10 games coming into the weekend, and now is flourishing. She was not a top-ten recruit, but listed at No. 17 or No. 32 depending upon the ranking service ... yet Coach Lombardi saw upside that is now emerging. This is similar to what has happened at shortstop where everyone was wondering about a good replacement at that position, and freshman Alyssa Brito has exploded in run production for the Ducks. She too has been a Pac-12 Freshman of the Week and it got me thinking about how between seeing the upside with these freshmen and the transfers....Coach Lombardi's greatness is certainly emerging too!

Yes, but if Dante' had not been hurt....would this be a Final Four team as designed? A dominant big man is what we lack...

The Indoor Track Championships are taking place this week with the events beginning tomorrow. The Men are ranked currently at No. 1, but you and I know that means nothing--only that talent is there. The Ducks have not won a National Championship in any sports for a number of years now, and I wondering if any of you know Track can chime in. What are our chances? The national leader of the 60 yard dash is right out of Oregon (the pride of Benson High!) in Micah Williams and was a big recruit for Coach Robert Johnson. Can they do it?

Coach Nordy--I always learn something new in your articles, and today there were a couple of gems. I had no idea that Figueroa had heated up so much and your comment about ball rotation is one that most of us saw, but did not realize the impact until you supplied the stats. That explanation of short rests for the players--I never realized that and will be watching for it. Thanks so much!

Yesterday it was announced in the Eugene paper that Southwest Airlines, the great discount airline, is going to begin flights to and from Eugene in the second half of this year. To me, this could be a huge development for Oregon athletics on a number of fronts. Whoa! --It will become cheaper for Oregon fans to come to not just football games, but other sporting events, or combine several sports in their visit at once? --It will enable parents and family of players to come to games and visit their son or daughter student-athlete at Oregon more often. Could this be a game changer with some distant recruits? --This could destroy the traffic for other airlines coming to Eugene, and limit the number of flights from other carriers? The new American Airlines flight that is direct from Dallas, Texas to Eugene is important for Texas recruiting--and could it be jeopardized? I have been hoping for YEARS for SW to come to Eugene, and I feel this could really open the floodgates of more Oregon fans visiting, of which could have a big impact on the community. What other ramifications have I missed? Am I exaggerating the impact? (Calm down Charles)

To me the "juice" or the raw material is there in terms of coaches and players, but there are so many components that are unknown right now--I just don't know. You must have a great offense in college football today, and I do not know if Cristobal will swallow hard and do what needs to be done--when it is not what his base instinct is. Some coaches can "see the light" and adjust--even when they don't like it. Will Mario do that? Unknown.

Agreed. Will Oregon play to it's potential? Or will we lose to teams we should not? So many questions and that drama is part of great entertainment that is fun to watch...