Haywarduck

It will be interesting to hear his after game comments. I imagine it will be very similar. This type of talk is brilliant, and something you hear from shrewd leaders, thinkers. You look good if you struggle against a good opponent, and look even better if you do well. I never understood how those who put down an opponent ever come away thinking they got the best of the situation, the trash talkers. If they do well, it is expected, and if they don't they look really bad. This mentality of complementing an opponent isn't innate with most players. I hope Lanning continues to try and get the players to play like gentleman when the trash talking starts. It seems like this is a focus of Lanning and it seems to be taking root, for that I applaud him. Admit, take the blame when you fail, learn and grow. Act like you have been there when you succeed, and work to get there again. I see these attributes being fostered, and taking hold.

I think there is little doubt the out front leader of this team is Bo Nix. On defense it is easy to see Evan Williams leads the team in statistics, as does Nix on offense. The quiet leaders are harder to pick, but equally important. I would put Jackson, our center, as the most important stealth offensive weapon on the team. Jeffrey Bass isn't as muted, but he leads that defense, and is the vocal leader needed on the field. There is energy given by the team MVP's which the first two will undoubtedly be the leaders for at the end of the season. There are then the leaders of the culture and just the way the team goes about its business. I would say that is the most valuable element to any team, and something to acknowledge! One rising star is Jestin Jacobs. He is turning into everything I think Lanning saw in him when he brought him into the program. He has been worth the wait, and should have a monster season next year, and help us to the next level this season.

Running a program is like pushing a rock up a hill. At sc they think the rock just needs somebody to keep up and it is all downhill to the finish line. At many programs, like Texas A&M, they have no idea how big the rock is or how high the hill is to get the program to the top. With Miami they figure MariØ has been there so he knows how to get the program back to the peak. The problem with MariØ is he is just pushing the rock, with juice, around the base of the mountain, but making progress everyday. At Oregon Lanning has a team working together as he knows how formidable the task it. He knows it won't be easy, but is enjoying the view as he ascends to heights we have never seen. This is where I would argue Lanning is going places, up the hill often filled with failure, but ultimately to the top.

Right now our only concern, if we want to worry, is his growth as leader of the Oregon Football Program, end of story. That isn't a worry of mine. Dan Lanning is Oregon Football and I am ok with that. I will take Dan Lanning and all his perceived mistakes, youthful exuberance, timely pontification, and scintillatingly bright future. As I have said, he makes me feel like the proud grandfather, probably more like crazy uncle, to a burgeoning genius. I am tuned in, and loving every minute.

You had me at the title, and then kept it up, beautiful article. You also made a great case for a reason why the trojans and few truly elite programs can pick their next great coach. Programs want perfect, and then expect perfection. Anything less and the program has been wronged, deserve better. At Oregon we have long turned losers into winners, and nobodies into legends. We revere our coaches, and although our programs culture must be respected, we accept, those without pedigree, want that over someone with pomposity. This is why we looked at Wilcox, and accepted Lanning with open arms. We want the guy who grows into being the Oregon coach, isn't the perfect guy already. While the sc fans already think they deserve better, you are right Mr. Marsh, they got just what they deserved. They destroyed the Pac-12, now they are living through further destruction of their delusional view of their once proud program. Pretty soon the trojan program, like the Trojan War, will become mythology and questioned. I suppose some already has with the Reggie Bush situation. The bigger news is it is time to move on, as history already has, Oregon is the new real deal. The spoiled children can keep looking for Troy, talking about Helen, and trying to hire, build the next great trojan horse, but that is in the past, and maybe never really was.

I do wonder how long DeBoer will stay at the dawg bowl feeding off scraps because he is recruiting to a supposed elite school. If he had the talent at Texas ATM has he could do wonders. If I was up in seattle I would be worried. Your last dream coach just up and quit. Oregon makes great coaches, Washington just destroys them. If I was DeBoer I would run to the highest bidder too. What says you are going to pick up another qb like Penix next year. Cash in and get that $78 million golden parachute if it goes wrong like Jimbo.

Another item to observe is how Dan handles all this talk. This is the first big job where he is seriously mentioned, how will he respond? The idea Lanning is a candidate for a major coaching position will happen again and again, we will see how he handles this one. We should be able to expect the same going forward, and will also be able to compare if something is amiss. Stein would be crazy to leave for Texas A&M, but I also thought Dilly was crazy to head to ASU. My Oregon centric glasses aren't flawless, but I do enjoy the view!

If they want an Oregon coach, the guy who filled the void from Jimbo's last job is available. I think they would have more luck getting that guy than trying for Lanning.

Forgot about that, a coach maker, and when they leave, breaker. One would actually be wise to only come to Oregon if you want to stay, this isn't so much a stepping stone program as a landing point. If you are wanting to move up, start else where. If you are just running through, it isn't going to end well. One might even say Bellotti went into a funk after flirting with sc back in 2000. Careful if you are playing the stepping stone game with Oregon.

All one has to do is look at the coaching history of the two schools and realize one is a coaching trap, and the other is a coach maker. Not to say Lanning isn't talented, but Oregon fosters coaches into greatness, TAM puts coaches into foster care. If he wants to win, raise a family in a stable atmosphere, and grow as a coach, there is no better place. My bet he is a man of his word, and word is he is staying.

Interesting observation college game day is a slap in the face for the whole conference, not just the rodents and the mutts. It is also an indicator the Ducks better win out and win handily or the voters will find a way to leave out our Ducks. We need an undefeated team to play and thoroughly trounce in Vegas. That may be the only way to get to the playoffs. We also need to get by the beavs, which we will see how easy that will be this weekend. For us I hope it is a stat padding weekend and some more playing time for Ty.

You can't spell schadenfreude without sc, priceless!

Gatlin Bair is a dream recruit in my view of the new Ducks, or the rebuilding of what was almost destroyed. We need to continue to pursue speed, and more speed. Signing Gatlin, a 6' 2" speedster would be huge! Also sad to hear Andy Avalos lost his job, a good guy!

Bernard Langer only came back from the yips with a putter that is now illegal, without it he probably would still be missing short puts and announcing at best. Unless we are working towards making Lewis ready for the draft, we should look at next year and get one of the guys behind him kicking during games. Lanning signed this kid off the transfer portal and he looks like he is the real deal. I say see how he does in games because Lewis is kicking one out of bounds just about every game and missing makable field goals. Time to see if we have somebody ready for next year, the yips are real. I would like to see who is the next guy up before next season.

Lanning is man of integrity, some say Alabama would be his dream job, but I tend to believe he wants to raise his family in Eugene and win a title. If he can't win a title, or his family doesn't develop in the way he expects in the culture of Eugene then we may have to worry. I just don't believe he is talking about the next shiny thing as appealing. Some say following Saban, or going to A@M would be an incredible challenge a truly competitive guy would want. It wouldn't be competition, it would be about the money for most of these positions, and that will be what we see, and probably failure again. There have been two guys recently who moved on to their dream jobs from Oregon, both found out dreams aren't always what we expect. I think Lanning's dream job is where he is, he knows it and the dream is alive and well.

I am right sometimes, but never waver in my predictions. At this point I am like the grandparent to the grandchild, my Ducks can do little wrong. I always think they will do what is right, I defend them to no end, and sometimes have some sage advice. I do know this grandchild will make me extremely proud someday, but for now they bring me great joy everyday, good or bad.

MariØ is the gift that keeps giving, so you never know. He was able to beat the nuts on their field so crazier things have happened. Go MariØ Go, I have no problem saying that! Bring on the chaos, on defense for Oregon, and within the top 10 football rankings.

'Cold hard truth, you're not going to start, and if you want a recommendation, don't want to sit in the portal like a lot of guys, you better keep working hard and I'll tell anyone who asks exactly what you have done if you transfer at the end of the season, your choice.' One could question Tuioti's and Martin's son's getting scholarships, but they have been studly on the field. Same question could have been posed about Tez getting a scholarship, but he has been an effort guy. Kudos to the coaches for dancing a tough line with scholarship choices, and playing time. The culture at Oregon is remarkable, and the effort awesome by all. We have a bunch of very talented individuals playing like a team, well done!

Fortunately for the spoiled children they haven't been in any game where there was even close to a take no prisoners order. They may feel like that is happening tomorrow. They have been in some offensive races, but the sc children don't know how to do much other than take cover on defense, and a black flag will give them the save room they need. If anything we will be seeing SOS, which means Save Our Ship and I have a feeling the captain won't be going down with the ship. That isn't a character trait seen at sc in some time, just punch the SOS button, and whine.

Can't decide which flag they should be waving, but maybe a few. As the game begins they should probably be waving the green flag, the race has begun, and it will be a show. For team meetings they may want to hold the yellow flag up because their offense, defense and special teams should keep caution in mind when entering the field. They may want to bring the blue with the yellow stripe flag out on the field for our running plays so Bucky doesn't just run them over, move to the side, or get hurt. I have a feeling they will want to wave the red flag, STOP!, quite often, but I am afraid it won't have the intended effect with Stein and Tosh calling the plays. Even the white flag, one lap to go, may not be accurate as the Ducks will be scoring often and sometimes quicker than the white flag will be showing hope that only one more lap is coming. I am also certain the checkered flag, finished, will come out a bit too early, as the spoiled children will be finished before the end of the game. At the end of the game they will all want their own black flag, to 'leave the field' and feel emotionally safe.

Not quite as pathetic as the UCLA handicapped parking scam Cade McNown and others were involved in, but the entitlement, and irresponsibility are similar. Makes me wonder how many papers they have been able to turn in, or even are aware about the academic requirements. If I was a parent of an elite athlete I wouldn't want my child learning under leadership where either of these kinds of things were happening. Educating the person, the student is number one, the athlete is second and a developing a strong character with integrity is above it all.

There are injury tents, there should be emotional support tents, at least for sc, especially this weekend!

Unfortunately not a workable weekend for me, but sounds like the live Fishduck experience will be worth the effort for anyone able. Thanks for putting this together. I know the effort is larger than anyone knows. As always with Mr. Charles Fischer, one of, if not the greatest Duck fan out there, giving more than anyone!

Brock Thomas, Sheldon High grad playing qb, hmmmm something about that rings a bell. You want to talk about rumblings about a freshman qb on the scout team from Sheldon High School, that should wake you up and make you pay attention! Brock may not be the next guy up, but agree love hearing about the scout team. At the same time he is a legacy, like Justin, and a multi-sport guy, has wheels and ran track, so maybe, just maybe......

I think the best term to describe the coming games is throttle. We will be going into the games with the pedal to the metal, full throttle. We will also throttle each of the coming opponents like a boa constrictor. A boa doesn't suffocate as much as constricts the blood supply, and then the opponent drops. The way this team is playing the term throttle should scare the living daylights out of each team. A top defense and a top offense while improving each week. Once they are within striking distance, it is going to be over!