Washington Waddler

His personality hits pretty close to home for what this is mostly about. Anyone who doesn’t recall CK’s barbed hook wit that would land and gut anyone or thing in his sights has a selective memory. Just like his approach to football, he took no prisoners. It’s just that we weren’t on the receiving end in those days. Expecting fealty from anyone no longer associated with your team is just kidding yourself, especially when it’s a coach who - unlike players - is expected to be a voice for the program. No one likes being on the receiving end of Chip’s one liners, but that’s life. Water off a Duck’s back.

Who’d of thunk there were that many Carolinas, and that they all hate one another enough to vote that many times?

Good assement, but pretty much leaves me where I was before: what are the Ducks’ “shortcomings”, and how do we learn to handle such situations, “largely specific to that moment and that matchup”?

They kept talking about how they wanted to replicate Mac in building a new arena. Maybe that’s all they had in mind?

Always felt that to be a top O (or D) coordinator requires the personality traits of a chess player. Knowing your opposite’s play book and response tendencies is fundamental homework. That’s why George Patton is a good example of a great coordinator (“I read your book Rommel!”). That said, it’s the players that still have to execute it. Because the two quarterbacks through which we view much of Stein’s performance were such polar opposites, it’s hard at this time to judge him fairly. Nix’s ‘go for it’ impulse as opposed to Gabriel’s more cerebral ‘play the %’ approach (not to mention size difference) made for very different approaches to the game. And, that doesn’t take into consideration RBs and receivers, and the playbook/tendencies of their counterparts. Maybe with Moore we’ll get a better feel for his abilities. Right now, for me, the jury is still out.

Ref bias aside, I think you just have to accept that the first stop of any two game B1G east swing is likely going to be affected by jet lag. Players are just not going to be ‘on’ in the same way they’ll be in the 2nd game. 1st game jet lag is going to make it harder to shift gears and pressure opponents without fouling. Might be more what happened to Cronin’s team when they dug themselves into that hole with the Terps. It’s just a fact of life that basketball scheduling doesn’t allow for cushion days to get players adjusted.

Plus, he’d also get to add an eye patch to his wardrobe.

I’m not one for excuse making, but I can’t quite get past the feeling that duhOSU was motivated not only by two losses in a row to us, plus the twin Rose Bowl trophies of CFP quarterfinal & (for them) the ‘real’ B1G championship, but by being the default representative of the traditional Big Ten members looking to see this west coast upstart put in its place for having made a mockery of their long, proud tradition in only one season.

The thing I like best about this coming championship is how Ohio State has worked themselves into the unquestionable role of favorite. They are now like Oregon sitting at 13-0 with nothing but themselves to look at in the mirror. No more Ducks or SEC losses to churn the bile. Norte Dame, on the other hand, is an underdog wild card, a team and program that is truly feeling it for the first time in 37 years. That sort of pent-up and unleashed motivation can make for a very unpredictable game. On paper, the Irish probably have no case for being on the same field with the Buckeyes. On paper.

Presser? Maybe the guy meant Sark couldn’t handle the media. Looked to me like the game came down to two plays decided by a quarterback that could run, and a quarterback that couldn’t.

Have to agree with all the outrage. All the spurious logic and questionable legality that allows the Beavers to get something for nothing has gotten so bad the only comparison I can think of is Colin Firth’s description of his singing voice as, “somewhere between a drunken apology and a plumbing problem.”

It’s no secret that one of the hardest things for coaching staffs (let alone fans) to detect is the emotional, psychological readiness of 80+ college athletes just before they step onto the field for real. But, once it starts, nothing determines the outcome of a game more than that team will and determination generated by those mind/body forces. There are just too many past bowl game examples where huge underdogs were victorious to question that. The mental focus prep tool box of coaching is bottomless: self-focus; grow each day; a painful loss; disrespect; backs against the wall; legacy; the faceless enemy of you against you - whatever it takes to motivate, and keep from sliding into whatever state of unreadiness is out there waiting. But, try as they may, there are no guarantees that preparation will lead to outcome. Oregon-Ohio State #2? Ohio State-Michigan? It’s what drives people crazy. But, also makes college ball one of the best things out there.

The most important part of this observation is not found in fan reaction or the differing results, but in the fact that it occurred. I think it was Pele who said something to the effect that success isn’t measured by how many wins you get, but by how you respond the week after a loss. If you could say there’s a tragedy (and there really isn’t) in the Ducks loss to Ohio State, it is that there is no opportunity to rectify and redeem when it’s the final game to the season. If there was a subtext to this game (and those are always just excuses), it was that - for the Buckeyes - the title of the game as a CFP Quarter Final was just a smoke screen. For them, the game was for the real B1G Championship, and redemption of a proud team and league tradition.

I tend to take the long view when it comes to in-state ‘anything’, because you can never really make those things go away; if ignored, they just tend to go dormant until the time is right to reappear. It really doesn’t matter whether you want in-state things to go away. They can’t.

I’m emerald green with envy!