DUCKED

In addition to the aforementioned, the RG sports section of the early 70’s also featured sports editor Blaine Newnham and Bud Withers, excellent writers who eventually moved on to the Seattle Times. John Conrad was also on that staff and eventually became the section’s editor. The coverage of the Ducks in those was clearly the best in the conference.

According to a front page story in today’s LA Times, Bohn got fired because he is creepy. Condescending to women, handsy, disrespectful and made inappropriate comments about their weight, hair and the way they dressed. Any of the above would have been grounds for termination, but according to the Times several people in the athletic department raised concerns about his management of the department. He reportedly missed meetings he was expected to attend and was often absent from key events, including USC national championship victories. (Huh ?) Two former USC coaches told the Times that Bohn’s leadership of the department was a primary reason they left. Even at Cincinnati he was a creep, according to the school’s head trainer Robb Williams, who told theTimes that he saw Bohn make unwanted physical contact with women on several occasions. Another staffer said Bohn’s interaction with women made her skin crawl. Makes you wonder how much vetting USC actually did before they hired this guy….. Carol Folt was the ultimate decision maker.

That scenario would require the Ducks to avoid the all too frequent toe stub that seems to plague them at least once every season. And winning road games against Washington and Utah will be a huge challenge, but doable. I see Oregon handling USC at Autzen. So, if the Ducks do go 11-1, yes, see them making the playoff.

Nix proved to be an excellent college quarterback last season, but the jump to the NFL is huge, especially for someone with average arm strength. I see him as a late round pick at best and likely becoming a career backup. But then again, Brock Purdy was Mr. Irrelevant last year and now he appears to be the 49ers’ QB of the future.

Doing his job? He's getting schooled by LeBron.

Ty’s playing time has been so limited that he’s never really had adequate time to “get comfortable.” In fact, he looks like a dear in the headlights. But the only way to work through that is to put him out there. It might hurt Bo’s Heisman numbers, but it might increase the Ducks’ chance for success should Bo go down. When the Ducks, hopefully, are pounding Portland State in the fall, why not put him in for a few series? Or in any other game when the outcome is not in doubt. I am not at TT fan. I’m simply saying throw him to the wolves, and give him a chance. We need a larger sample.

It’s a shame what has happened to Dillon Brooks. Always known as a physical, super aggressive defender, he has now parlayed that skill set into becoming an NBA goon. Seeing video of his recent post game comments where he called out LeBron, calling him “old,” among other things, made me roll my eyes. I was actually sickened……and embarrassed for him at the same time. What was he thinking? It was a stupid thing to say, especially in the middle of an elimination series. Brooks says he likes to “Poke the Bear.” Well, he seems to have done that, and the strategy thus far is not working out so well. I pretty much always root for the Ducks, and have rooted in the past for Brooks, but my cheering days for him are over.

The court is atrocious. It looks bad in person and just silly on TV. Some ideas seem good at the time, and turn out to be terrible. The mistake now is not doing anything about it.

Losing Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA will decimate them Pac-12. I don’t believe the conference can survive being gutted to that extent. It will be very difficult for me to root for the Ducks if they choose to bolt. Maybe I could get over it…..maybe not. It’s a money grab….I get it. But it still stinks.

I like Jaquez, helluva player, but just can’t root for UCLA. Go Zags.

Excellent take. Several valid points. Student-Athlete? C’mon. Maybe Athlete-Student. Maybe. If you’re in the band are you a Student-Trombone player? Ridiculous.

Coaches sometimes have blinders on when it comes to guns and athletes. Just yesterday it was revealed that Alabama star basketball player Brandon Miller, a projected top five NBA draft pick, supplied the gun that was used in a murder in January. The gun belonged to a teammate, Darius Miles, who asked Miller to bring it to him. Miles and another person, the actual shooter, have been charged with capital murder. Miller has not been charged....because he just responded to his friend's request to bring the gun. Perhaps the most disturbing reaction to the murder was the comment of Alabama coach Nate Oats, who said, "A team can't control what anybody does outside of practice," and that "Miller was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Wrong place, wrong time? Tone deaf comments. Guns and college athletes......not a good combination.

Charges were dropped. That is fortunate for Holden My understanding is that he was in possession of a gun. And, if so, and despite what the law allows, does Oregon allow its players to carry guns? I’m sure all programs, including Oregon, have team rules. Wouldn’t that be near the top of the list? If he was, in fact, in possession of a gun, the Ducks should wish him well and be done with him.

Oregon can’t shoot, especially from deep where the Ducks make 31 percent of their attempts. And they are sloppy and careless with the ball, turning it over on average once every three minutes. Not a winning scenario. And yet they dominated Arizona, a game in which I’m guessing that none of the aforementioned stats applied. Unfortunately, that game was an outlier, not at all indicative of their typical performance.

Oops…..2026

“Maybe it is too much to ask.” I agree. I would shocked, in a good way, if Lanning is still coaching the Ducks after 2006.

Great to see you back here, Jon.

Bittle gave the Ducks a spark early and played with a lot of energy, which had been missing by for much of the season. It’s nice to see him healthy. Playing Bittle and Dante, and sittIng Ware, makes sense going into the season’s final month. And playing Will at the 2, and giving him more opportunities to shoot the three, also makes sense……as long as Barthelemy can handle the point and distribute.

That was Belko’s last year. Things really got crazy when Harter showed up.

Carrington was an outstanding receiver who unfortunately listened to his agent and prematurely opted for the NFL draft, never to be heard of again……as far as the NFL was concerned. But I recall Carrington giving a shout-out to Justin Herbert, when he was the third and least heralded QB his freshman class. Carrington was asked what he thought about the first two recruits, and how their competition was shaping up, but he wasn’t asked about Herbert. His reply, and I’m paraphrasing based on a memory that admittedly continues to wane: ”Those guys are doing great, but Herbert is the guy who throws the best ball.” He was right.

I watched the Ducks beat undefeated No.1 UCLA in 2007 at The Pit. A great game, with an unbelievably raucous crowd, that came down to Aaron Brooks’ winning jumper with a few seconds to go, sealing a 68-66 win. Only downside was a forgot to bring my umbrella……heavy rains that day and the roof leaked throughout game. I spent most of the afternoon dodging raindrops.

Most of the sites I’ve seen have Williams projected to be the Number One pick in the 2024 draft. The talent evaluators could not care less about hype.

I certainly hope the Ducks, and Nix, contribute to their misery.

Caleb Williams, of course, is the easy pick, not really even close. Penix, Nix, Rising…all very good, but not in Williams’ league.

Larry Scott “played” everybody, and apparently has gotten away with it with no repercussions. So far……