Washington Waddler

Yes, nice to know this Fisch will remain catch and release.

Just another hockey novice glued to the tube, but it looked like the OT format of removing one man from each team worked in our favor because Canada’s strength looked like its ability to keep us off balance by controlling the puck with well placed passes between their five, while we seemed to excel at one-on-one match-ups. Less men on the ice seemed to loosen things up a bit, and give better spacing for head to head battles. But just another opinion from a hockey ignoramus. One opinion there’s no questioning is Jon’s. We don’t win without Hellebuyck guarding the goal.

Challenging start to the season for Lombardi. On paper, her roster suggests superiority over last year’s, but clearly lacks the early focus that characterized 2025’s senior-led group’s motivation from being in her program for three years, and ready to break out. Day in, day out team consistency is not easy to achieve, and has to develop over time, if it does at all. But, that’s where I’m beginning to trust Melissa and her staff. They’ve shown a similarity to Dana Altman’s season long approach (this year being the exception) that has players team ready at the right time. This team has the determination. Game time experience together appears all that is lacking.

Columbus would’ve turned back if that’s all he found.

Financially, what made Oregon competitive in the first place was not fans in the seats, but the ambitious $$ of big time donors driven by love of school and the desire to succeed. Perhaps the Athletic Dept. is looking in the wrong place?

Not surprised he’s back in Eugene. In 2011 (his Freshman year) I was living pretty close to Autzen, and would regularly walk through the passage between the stadium and the Moshofsky Center to get to Alton Baker for walks. On sunny days, he’d sometimes be sitting by himself on the curved curb next to the reserved athletic parking area just relaxing and soaking it in. You can kinda tell when someone has found something for the first time that really works.

Silence is golden.

Good points, keep on dumping! There are always going to be exceptions to any rule. Oregon reached outside to get Chip Kelly after the 2006 season ended in four straight losses, and when the anxiety caused by the Helfrich melt-down incited a national search in order to right the ship and regain fan and media confidence. When head coaches replace coordinators, I think they have to take into consideration the current group of players they’ll inherit and their needs. Is the group primarily young, requiring an experienced, guiding hand, or focused veterans just needing fresh ideas? I can’t think of a time when I wasn’t concerned with any new appointment - young or old - until games got played. Wait and see is always tums time. While our recent success has offered that national platform mindset you speak of, it remains as much a gamble as hiring from within. Do you get a Chip Kelly or a Willie Taggart? Free-forming is a good descriptor for this sort of thing. As I wander around this, I keep ending up on the word ‘family’ as the best concept to hold onto when attempting to discern what, or what not makes the engine run smoothly at Oregon. From within or out, you’ll know soon enough whether or not the new guy is a part of what makes us - us.

Just as a gentle reminder to this conversation, much of what is being discussed here has been in place at Oregon long before Dan Lanning was born. Beginning with the program’s emergence during the Brooks/Bellotti era, it became increasingly apparent that much of our new success had its roots in the almost unheard of reliable longevity of its coaching staff, part of which was due to hiring from within. Not only recruits, but their coaches valued that they could rely upon the guy(s) making the pitch not going anywhere. From that perspective, Lanning is just beginning to tap into that part of Oregon’s DNA, and building upon something long in place, the value of which he is beginning to realize is a core element of the program’s foundation and success. What other way could he interpret the consistent, overriding message from both recruits and transfers that what they’ve found of value above all else at Oregon is a sense of family they’ve seen no where else? Our national recognition certainly makes for higher visibility than in those earlier days, and it’s to be expected and applauded that Lanning expects and encourages his coordinators to move on to head coaching positions. But, the media/fan driven hoopla of believing “Big Name” replacement hires is the only way to go is just that: razzle-dazzle. It’s from the consistency and trust that Oregon is built upon that makes us who we are today. Dan gets that.

Love how this group is learning what it takes, and evolving into the team they know they have the pieces to be.

Huskies have a premier brand alright; a ‘Duck’ seared and singed into their mutt butts.

While it’s not the real thing, any time I just need a Duck hit, my go to is the 5 minute ‘More Than A Feeling’ video of the 2008 C*v*l War game at Reser. Brightens my day every time.

How about a new regulation that inspectors who fail to be on site within 24 hours of the completed work are to be used as tackling dummies on the opening day of fall practice? Might hurry things up.

Good thoughts David. The attempt to redefine the psychology of post-season college football through the lens of basketball’s bracketed play-off system is going to run into some big walls on the road to any satisfying conclusion. Assuming some form of an expanded CFP is only a matter of time, BB’s focus on using the excitement of regular season games to build towards the highest possible tournament seed seems almost inevitable. The problem is football will never have the luxury of a 35 game season to overcome slumps. One or two bad games and you’re likely out of it. But, the challenge remains. Football - for both teams and fans - is going to have to adopt some form of basketball’s realistic attitude towards the post season in order to feel success at the end - win or lose. If you see yourself there, and the odds are you won’t get past the 2nd round - and that’s what happens - having BB’s mindset that already accepts that reality creates a sense of success and becomes a positive building block towards the next year. The over-riding-psychology is it has very little to do with the present moment, and more about always building towards tomorrow. That’s going to be a tough pill for football to swallow, but what other option is there if you want to feel good about yourself at the end, and you’re not the one left standing?

Right now, it’s good to be west of the Rockies