DUCKED

Any word on UCLA receiver Chase Cota? Oregon would be a nice place to close out his collegiate career. His dad played for the Ducks in the early 90’s, and his cousin Brady Breeze did very well his senior year when Cristobal finally put him at safety for the Pac-12 championship game, followed by the Rose Bowl where he was named defensive player of the game. Cota has been in the portal for a month??

Rules are rules. Once you make an exception, especially for someone like Stockton, the rules have no teeth and become problematic to enforce. Just because he is capable of writing a big check …. that should allow him to break rules that everyone else has to follow? I could care less if Stockton wears a mask. That is entirely his choice. But until he agrees to do so the university has made it clear that he is unwelcome to attend games at McCarthey Center.

You gotta love what Meylissa Lombardy is doing with this program. It was a tough start for her, with many of Ducks’ best players following White to Texas and others transferring as well. She has turned it around in a fairly short time, and the Ducks once again are one of the best teams in the Pac-12, perhaps the strongest conference in the country.

I could not disagree more. This hire is a homerun for USC, and exactly the type of hire their big pocket boosters wanted to see. You’ve got Rick Caruso, the multi-billionaire real estate developer and newly announced candidate for LA mayor, on the podium for the announcement. Money will soon be flooding in from USC’s well healed boosters, and the days of the Ducks stealing elite talent from SoCal will soon be much more difficult. Do we lose Travis Dye to USC without Riley taking the job? Probably not. Would Caleb Williams be there? Would any of the elite recruits who had committed to Oklahoma, but switched to USC, be there, except for Riley? Of course not. This is a power shift in the Pac-12, no question. And, seriously, would those of us on this board be taking shots at Riley if Oregon had hired him?

I think Tucson will be the toughest, by far. Wildcats and Mathurin are on top of their game right now.

If you were counting Cal it’s down to four wins. I’m seeing losses to both Arizona schools, hopefully a split at home against UCLA-USC, a win at home against Wazoo, and, hopefully a split with Wazoo and UDub on the road. So….best case, 3 wins. That would put them at 19-12…...and in the NIT. I hope I’m wrong.

Dismal performance for the Ducks. Richardson was a liability, especially in the first half. He ended up with 20 something points, but stats are misleading. Richardson’s sporadic play, which included bad shots, careless passes, and woeful free throw shooting, doomed the Ducks in the first half (when Cal took control after falling behind early) putting them in a deep hole with no shovel. Oregon was throwing up one brick after another from the arc, which prevented the Ducks from making a sustained run, until late when it was TOO late. And Oregon’s big men were a non-factor. Neither Nfale or Franck have any offensive game. Neither can shoot and both seem to have trouble holding onto the ball. We’ve got 5-star recruit in 7-foot Nate Bittle, a top ten player coming out of high school, who can shoot from 20 feet and in, riding the pine the entire game when the Ducks clearly needed a spark. Maybe he wouldn’t have done anything, but why not mix things up? I am a Cal guy, went to Cal, in fact grew up with the Bears and started selling programs at Memorial Stadium when I was 8 years old. But I’ve been an avid Oregon fan since I moving to Ashland decades ago. So when Cal plays Oregon, I root for the team that has the most to gain. In other words, I root for Oregon most of the time. I rooted for the Ducks today, and frankly was shocked, not only with their performance but with their effort. Cal played like a team that just wanted it more. I am a huge Altman fan. In my mind he’s the best coach in the Pac-12. I think the next game we’ll see a different team. He will not settle another fiasco like today’s.

More likely the second loss came in the playoff…..

It’s right up there with Student-Athlete…

“Win the Natty or nothing else counts.” Ridiculous, but that seems to be what’s occurring out there.

“I want to see the love.” There is something disturbing about that. He’ll see the love when does something on the field.

Well, there is a recent book called Mad Hoops, written by former Register-Guard columnist Bud Withers, all about the Harter years and the Kamikaze Kids. It is a great read.

Regarding Bru McCoy, I think it was more a case of Bru McCoy not living up to USC’s fantasy. Kid had some pretty serious off field issues.

Draft Day Great cast: Kevin Costner, Chadwick Boseman, Jennifer Garner, Ellen Burstyn, Frank Langella, Sam Elliott, Dennis Leary. Loved the manipulation, bluffing, horse trading, posturing…..and the ending we were all rooting for.

Great win after blowing a 6 point lead with 37 seconds to go. Altman’s teams always get better as the season progresses.

Another outstanding post by Jon Joseph, filled with interesting information and opinions, good opinions, that Jon has voiced many times before. Jon, you are a great resource for this site, and I always look forward to what you have to say. But how on earth are you going to lower your handicap if you spend so much time at your computer?

Why stay at Arizona? Good question. But why choose to transfer to Arizona (over Oregon) as Cowing did?

Utah does have virtually everyone coming back next season. They will be the clear favorite.

I think expectations, while high, should be tempered. We're all excited about the possibilities for next season, but lets not forget than Dan Lanning has never been a head coach, and is attacking a job that he is totally unfamiliar with. He's made his reputation as a defensive coordinator, but now he's the CEO of the entire organization. He needs to manage, and delegate, all the while monitoring everything to insure the culture and performance meet the lofty standards that the Oregon fan base feels has been lacking the last couple of years under Cristobal. The jury really is out on this guy....and the staff he has assembled. I wish him the best. But let's wait and see.

Good riddance to him!

I think the chances of the Utes’ maintaining their high level of play looks very promising for next season. In his post game presser Whittingham mentioned that 72 of the 85 scholarship players on the team will return in 2022.

Chargers are actually at home today and the crowd is fired up. A win puts them in the driver’s seat.

Nice description…..his throwing mechanics are abysmal.

Nicely stated. Of course the Ducks were vastly overrated. That became abundantly clear against Stony Brook and continued for the rest of the season. And, I agree, Brown did not underperform. Based on his average skill level, he lived up to his potential. And he never made excuses, never pointed fingers. Class guy.

Nice take Steven A. I totally agree. Will Thibs, Wright and Williams be on the sideline? And will they fly on the Ducks’ charter?