Haywarduck

Not that we need a huge amount of help in recruiting, but maybe Tim can recruit her for Cristobal? https://michigan.rivals.com/news/on-campus-recruiting-director-christina-deruyter-proving-to-be-great-hire

I want the Dawgs to lose every game, simple answer. I actually enjoy the beavs winning, just not against the Ducks. There is also something enjoyable about seeing beav fans hope get squelched when Oregon beats them at the end of the year. I know it is a character flaw, but I have to be honest.

The question I have is who are going to be the go to receivers this season. With, potentially a first time college level starter at qb, the receivers will be critical to the success of the offense. Many people have commented Justin was held back by the lack of quality receivers when he was at Oregon. From too many drops to guys just not getting open, Justin wasn't able to show what he could do while at Oregon. With a new starting qb this year, receiver play will be even more important. The new qb in green and yellow will need guys who can get separation and catch the ball. My top pick is Troy Franklin. This kid was the top receiver out of Cal and seems to have the magic which has been missing for us for a while. He is a top receiver recruit (#3 nationally) and a guy who Alabama badly wanted. At 6' 3" with wheels he seems to have it all. The other guy I think will step up is Kris Hutson. The guy may be only 5' 11" but he broke through last year as a freshman and I think we only saw the beginning of someone special. Basically the qb position is going to rely on who steps up at wide receiver. This story won't be covered like the qb battle, but may be equally important. By the way there are 23 guys, counting all the TE's, who are going to be wanting to be the top pass catcher, who is it going to be?

Interesting question, but Graves continues to recruit, and would seem to be having a season like Cristobal. Freshman make freshman mistakes, coaches look like they don't know what they are doing. Helfrich inherited success, and destroyed a proud program. Bottomline a coach has to recruit and Helfrich was lousy at this and managing players. Graves inherited a mess and won 3 straight Pac-12 titles and would have, arguably, won a national title. The women's program hadn't won the Pac-12 title in almost 20 years, completely different animal than what Helfrich inherited. If anything one can wonder if Graves is like Ernie Kent, only as good as his point guard. Does Graves need floor leadership to cover up his weakness at calling games. I doubt this too, as he is a great coach for the program and Oregon Women's Basketball wouldn't be the same without him.

Golf too has become a game where it is, many times, a game where those who can overpower the arena in which it is played win. The subtleties and complexity of the game is lost to what is almost a circus type event. In basketball it is too bad because some of the greatest athletes use to and do play the game. Watching a Dr. J, or MJ drive and acrobatically make shots is a thing of beauty. Seeing the game played by Pistol Pete or Magic Johnson was magical. The way Damian or Curry shoot a 3 is astounding. The problem is now we have guys who can basically only shoot 3's, stuff the basketball and little need for a guy who can distribute the ball well. With golf and basketball it almost needs a recalibration. In golf this is happening with Augusta adding length and complexity to their course, and many others doing the same. With basketball they should consider this concept. With Lilliard hitting 3's from almost half court, the court isn't big enough. With the height of the players in the league the rim isn't high enough either. When Wilt Chamberlain would stuff his free throws and the league changed the rules. Actually Wilt put in motion 5 rule changes, anyone know them? It is time for another set of rule changes like back then. Maybe I am just getting older and want the old days. I will say they were better, undoubtedly!

My bad, your right, I had the score mixed up, but the question stands. Is it a game where we are just entertained by players, just playing around? Much like a game show where people are having fun and we are entertained by the fun they are having. Or are sports watched to see the strategy, competition throughout the game. I remember feeling back in the 1990's most NBA games were just a fun time until the last few minutes, if it was close. If the game was close there would be a few attempts to win, but the game was probably already decided, sometimes before the game even started. This is where most football games differ. There is competition all over the field and it seldom is just for fun. It is also why I enjoy golf sometimes. With golf there are not guaranteed contracts. If you don't make the cut you get nothing and sometimes a putt is worth a lot of money and guys choke. The NBA seems like the worst example of professional sports being more like a game show than a competition. I hope NBA management can create a better game. I also hope other sports can stay away from the conundrum the NBA has put itself in, with superstar teams and little real competition.

It seems the NBA is all about the show, and not about playing the game. Is it acceptable to airball a technical foul shot and laugh it off when your team is down by 13? Another reason why I don't watch the NBA anymore. https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-lakers-kyle-kuzmas-hilariously-awful-free-throw-made-the-warriors-lose-their-minds-132134698.html

Compare what Noah Sewell needs to do, to most of the others, is an interesting exercise when thinking about what we need out of the players. Noah Sewell has all the talent in the world at the LB position. If anything he needs to slow down and mature mentally in how to play at the college level. He ran past and through too many situations. The talent is there, it will just take coaching and effort which seems pretty attainable. I am actually extremely excited to see what Noah and Justin bring this season, year two of college ball. What we have seen from the skill players on offense is effort, some skill and even some acumen, but the elite talent level just hasn't presented itself. What we need is continued development from that list, but we also need the young guys to break through and show us what Noah has shown on the defensive side of the ball his freshman year. Bottomline the playoffs will happen if most of the guys on that list make leaps in development. Either that, or the young guys start taking snaps, and lead the team to the playoffs with the magnitude of their supposed gifts.

You know your getting older when......... the music of the young pisses you off, and so does the clothes they wear.

Oregon has had the perfect athlete. The competition for the perfect athlete is the decathlon, and Ashton won with the metrics which were created to show who was the best. As far as the perfect coach I'm not sure what the metrics are, or should be. One metric, most would agree on, is winning a NCAA National Title, and Mario hasn't reached that one yet. I will agree he may be the perfect coach for our program. The title, like the one for Altman, will come, if the stars align. For now all we can do is to continue to illuminate all we love, and question about our coaches, programs as we discuss our Beloved Ducks. Great article with lots of work put into the research and thought!

That is what the NCAA Tournament is all about, now. The little guy has a chance to make a run. This is why the NCAA Tournament is so popular. Back in the day the Kamikaze kids didn't even get a chance, when the tournament was just for the few. Now if the dawgs had been able to get in at 10 I would be singing a different song. The beavs getting in at 5 and the trojans, buffs and bruins falling to the wayside was fun to watch. Iron strengthens iron, and having a decent beaver program can only help the Oregon program. I think the Ducks may have even benefited by, again, seeing that if they don't bring it, every game, anybody can beat them.

The other element of the levels concept is to allow anyone in the green level to edit. Instead of one person being responsible, you have a growing number of people who are responsible edit, and like Wiki it is a live document to those who edit. The difference is you have only those who qualify able to edit. I know I work short to long stretches, and it would be easy for me to edit on the go, without a time period I have to be responsible for. The small group of editors doesn't seem like a viable option, maybe look at creating, which you might already have, a group of individuals who know what is right and wrong. You would be trying something completely new, but what you have isn't working. Also the definition of insanity is trying to do the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, food for thought.

I suppose I am somewhat in Santa Rosa's boat. As a small business owner I don't answer to very many people, my clientele, and if I don't want to they're gone. The method I go by is I only sign up for what is a spelled out, closed ended commitment. Maybe you could spell out exactly the parameters of what you need? There may be more people like me who may be willing to help, but don't want to open up a door which will become a Pandora's Box of issues which aren't there now. This has definitely happened before where the best intentions on both sides added up to a negative sum total. What you have done is an amazing accomplishment. I think the limitations can be overcome, but may need to be spelled out a little more explicitly what you need, or maybe even a more creative way of filtering the posters? Is the job of moderator to pull anything suspect and let you rule on Friday, Saturday when you have time. This may alleviate even more potentially questionable posts as people won't want to even be questioned. This could definitely be a way for newbies to learn. I think most people who have been here for a year or more have seen and experienced your process. Maybe there can even be 'levels of posters'. Those who have been posting for over 1-2? years without a post being edited get freedom to post, the 'green level', and won't get edited until Saturday, when you can review posts. If their posts proves to be political then they go back to potentially having post banned until Saturday when you review all questionable posts, go back to the 'yellow level'. This may be wishful thinking, but it seems it is the newbies who don't get the rules. I do tend to think most people work well with the carrot and stick type of discipline. The carrot is if you post nicely you get to partake in an ongoing forum unlike any other. If you make a mistake you earn your way back on or go away. There might even be a way to have new posters post what they would like to post and earn their way onto the free forum. Just brainstorming, but what you have is worth saving and too many are posting in an enlightening forthright way to punish them for the sins of the few which could earn the right, the 'grey level'.

It does seem the focus fades as too many topics are brought up. Everybody wants to discuss the hot item, that happens every once an a while. The problem is there aren't that many hot topics people want to discuss without the well put together prose. Maybe have a topic the day after a new recruit signs, even if it isn't on the schedule. Seems like people are itching to discuss the very good and the very bad news, but interest wanes when the topic falls in between those parameters. The old format definitely seemed to work. You knew one topic was going to be brought up and many points to ponder were worth responding too. Without the hot topic interest drops when you don't have the magic Fishduck article.

Top NFL passing team used the TE on 40% of their completed passes. The TE caught 25% of the TD's. Oregon the TE caught 25% of their completed passes. The TE caught 40% of the TD's. Travis Dye led all players on TD catches, by the way. Seems to me when Oregon needs a catch, for touchdown, they look to the tight end. Oregon ranked 41st on 3rd down conversion, and might want to look to the TE. The leader in 3rd down conversion Alabama at 59%, Oregon at 43%, a critical stat! LSU went from 6th in 3rd down conversion to 100th, last season. I do think most Oregon fans would trade a couple of the runs up the gut on critical 3rd downs, for a short pass to DJ .

We have more TE's than any other position. It seems to be a priority, look at the numbers, but we don't use them. Kind of a quandary if you ask me. DJ Johnson looked like an absolute matchup nightmare, but then wasn't used. If there is a competition for the biggest unanswered question on offense, it would be why don't we use the TE more as an offensive threat? If we want to break in a qb there is no better way than giving him a big body to throw to. This is the way I feel when I see the TE get a ball thrown his way.

Great question on developing a supporting cast to help our qb's. I think this question can be moved onto the RB and TE positions too. My big question is why is the use of the TE so spotty. If you watch an NFL game the TE is a critical position as an offensive threat. At Oregon we look at the TE as primarily a blocking position. Every once in a while the TE is a threat with the ball, but too often he isn't part of the play. This needs to change with the talent level of our TE's rising and the need for offensive fire power. The TE creates a unique match up nightmare. The TE overpower a DB and should be able to get separation from a LB. My question, why don't we use out TE's more?! This would also lead into what Cristobal loves, a power game and the use of an offensive lineman.

I just want to see a DT from the transfer portal to the Duck roster, please!

A couple people have mentioned Don Pellum. The great thing about Don, as seen in the picture above, is he was a Duck player. That was one of the items which made Ernie Kent so enduring. Having a True Duck on staff is priceless. I applaud Cristobal for putting two Ducks on the staff as analysts and the recent hire of Tony Washington. There is nothing like having staff that has lived the dream, especially Tony, who had one of the classic Duck moments. A true duck isn't made, he is born!

Nothing to see here, not like their head coach just up and left, so he could do nothing. The problem with the dawgs isn't the ship sinking, nor something being broken, the foundation is gone. All signs point to the dawgs being much like when James just up and left, nothing is holding the program together. They went with an assistant as head coach and now lost their best assistant. If history is any guide they will see mediocrity, they'll fire Lake and mediocrity will continue. My prediction, for what it is worth, we hang another 12 on them!

Greatwood and Campbell are the guys who are much better at what they did then given credit for. Most assistant rise up to their level of incompetence, while the great assistant just do their job. Greatwood is one of, if not the greatest when looking through that lens.

Interesting we have Helfrich who was a great assistant, but seems to have pushed beyond his abilities. He would seem to be the perfect guy to step back, and again become a great assistant. The other guy is DeRuyter who also seemed to have stepped beyond his ability level and may stick around a while. I have a tremendous amount of respect for DeRuyter for continuing to give back to the game. I guess you can't fault a guy for wanting to give the head coaching job a shot. It would seem to be a smart move for Helfrich to step back into the game and again use his, quite considerable skills. I do wonder what his thinking is, maybe he just has the bank account, and can stick around for his kids? I also have a lot of respect for the Campbell's and Mirabal's who just do their jobs and do it well. These are the guys who are the backbones of a program.

Who is the best assistant coach at Oregon. I am not talking about how Chip Kelly would arguably be judged as our greatest assistant coach. He was just moving on, up and out. I am talking about the workhorse assistants who do their jobs, without ever angling to become more than what they love to do, and are extremely good at. In the past it could be argued Gary Campbell, my choice, was the greatest assistant of all-time. Some may argue Steve Greatwood was the greatest. He did more with less and allowed all those qb’s and rb’s to thrive. Some may see Nic Aliotti as the ultimate assistant. I wasn’t a big fan during his tenure, but have come to appreciate all he did at Oregon more, and more. This became true as I read and discussed Aliotti on Fishduck. The big question is who is the guy within Cristobal’s staff? Is it Mirabal, or maybe Big Joe? Maybe it is a guy who we really don't appreciate yet, like Nate Costa? The old head coaches like Moorhead and DeRuyter get all the big press. They also have a very large impact, but it is the everyday assistants which really are the foundation of any staff. Who are they and why are they the best? One note is Dana Altman would still be one of the best coaches in college basketball, but Tony Stubblefield is his rock. The greatest basketball assistant coach is without a doubt Tony Stubblefield.

Great article, which highlighted the amount of variables in play throughout college football. Alabama loses a tremendous amount of players so it is really anybody's to win this year. The Heisman race could actually be the subplot for who is the best in college football. Somebody is going to have to lead their team to a championship that isn't a complete frontrunner at the start of the season. I would say DJ has the best chance to win, but it is anyone's trophy, and any programs opportunity to create the next great college football player. Might that program be Oregon, who knows!

His MBA, and business plan was written at Stanford, but the dream started at Hayward, and the U of O.