Washington Waddler

Chagrin is a tough pill to swallow. Thought she had more class than that. Guess I was wrong.

The flip-side for student athletes who keep one foot in the room, but the other from allowing the door to close, is that they fail to grasp the importance of ‘the here and now’ by always looking to where the grass might be greener. Learning to accept, and living up to the commitment you’ve made is a big part of reaching maturity, and the portal; sadly - for all its advantages - has the potential to work like a masking drug on many student athletes who never allow this priceless time in their lives to teach them anything more than avoidance, and that they want their cake, and eat it too. That’s why for me - at at least at this moment - Nate Bittles is a damn good example of what being a student athlete is really all about.

Good system, good cast, and MM should now have developed the thick skin from his previous NFL stops to deal with Philly fans. Carpe diem Marcus!

You just gotta love one-n-done play-off time. It changes everything, and anything can happen. The players don’t even know what they’re capable until that urgency hits them in the face. Hang on Dana, and let your team ride this wave for as long as it lasts!

True, at least for the time being. What we are seeing is the unavoidable domino effect forced on west coast public institutions by the choice of one private California university. I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar is brewing amongst salons in Washington as well. The freedom of choice clock is certainly ticking for certain west coast public universities.

Pro-conference pundits are a hopelessly provincial lot; as they should be. You look at the names, then at where they were born, live and went to school, and 99.9% of the time that will tell you all you need to know as to whether or not they are for or against PAC 12 survival. What provokes them is the same energy and passion they feel when their team is driving into an opponent’s side of the field: destroying your opponent with more yards + bigger score = winning. In a game, this makes perfect sense, but does this same logic hold when applied to the bigger picture of destroying conferences in order to grow your own? What fuels the passion for football is the over-coming of your enemies in order to have a chance at grasping the brass ring. But, when you can no longer tell friend from foe because you’ve absorbed your traditional enemy into your conference, you begin to resemble something like the Roman Empire (which was partially undone by those same folk they thought they’d conquered). Unlike real life, games don’t lead to the possible gain of your enemy’s territory. You win or lose, and still go home. But many of war’s destructive principles still apply, primarily survivalism’s faceless immorality of ‘business as usual’ for the purpose of financial gain. That’s what destroys the game. But, it is also what leads me to the understanding that money and getting bigger can’t hold a candle to the power of territorialism. That same provincial force that drives the pundits is what - in the end - will likely at some point bring the PAC 12 back together again, and better than ever. It’s only a matter of time.

Good thoughts. While I agree that the priority here is to keep a finger on the Lanning culture change pulse which is best revealed by the early buy-in of his own recruits, I would also recommend keeping an eye on the development of below the radar seniors - the guys who’ve been grinding it out their entire Duck careers, and now see the chance to realize their own potential. My model for that player will always be Michael Clay.

After you’ve rocketed to the very top on the coat tails of a once-in-a-life-time player, it’s almost impossible to go anywhere but down once that star is gone. Sabrina (and supporting cast) was both the best thing and the worst thing to ever happen to Kelly Graves. Her unapproachable skill set delivered not only wins, but immediate legitimacy and credibility to a pretty successful lower division coach’s move into the big time, leaving him with an afterglow of someone who could do no wrong. Talk about the perfect recipe for a train wreck. I think Kelly is still the coach we want, and one of the best in our league. But, success can sometimes breed failure when nothing is learned from the fortunate circumstances and luck that engendered that beginning. Sabrina’s success dug a deep hole for Kelly to crawl out from, and he’s been playing catch-up ever since. Trying to rekindle that magic while at the same time fighting off 11 other teams who want nothing more than to reduce you to ashes has been the steep challenge facing him. He may never find that recruiting formula again; but, then again he might. All I know is I like the guy.

Graves seems to be at his best when he has had reliable floor generals (Vandersloot at Gonzaga; Ionesco at Oregon), and Altman when he has an assistant with the ability to recruit and develop elite talent like Stubblefield. Without those, both appear to have lost traction and consistency.

Sounds like the explanation of a person who dislikes the image he creates for himself whenever he changes his mind: don’t go away mad; just go away.

Jumping to conclusions before all the facts are in are often signs of inexperience and immaturity. When it’s more important to demonstrate decisiveness than patience, one can often be caught with their pants down.

Was at the game. If you didn’t have a stake in it, it was probably a really fun, exciting game to watch. The Husky fans surrounding me were obviously enthralled and energized by the game’s progress and outcome (puppies are so excitable). But the comments that really stood out were the amazement being voiced about how no one had seen their team play this well all year. We get (and deserve) the best the PAC 12 can offer. Dana’s past success doesn’t make it any easier on the latest edition of his flock, or on him.

You’re probably right, but the problem remains the actual incident(s) never making it past the coach’s desk, and into a written record that travels with the transfer’s transcripts. If enough ‘transfer dumping’ of this sort occurs (and can be verified via police records, etc), then some form of culpability on the part of the original program seems justified.

Dorothy dreamed of a world of OZ; football fans dream of a world of IF. Sometimes you can click your heels together, and you’re in the Emerald City; other times you’re back in Kansas. Either way, it’s a great trip!

Geographic position would most likely still play an important part in any lucrative independent media deal for the Ducks. What feeds Notre Dame’s contracts (and keeps them reasonably sane) are the attractive prime time match-ups with teams no more than one or two states away from Indiana. At this time, can the west coast provide the same attractive match-ups that the midwest, south and east can? Oregon would most likely end-up doing as an independent the same thing USC and UCLA will be doing as members of the B1G, and for the same reason: putting in a lot of air hours for the $$.

The most important ‘get’ on the other side of the line is who will be DL’s new OL coach. With the necessary adjustments to a new guy’s methods, and limited spring/fall practices to implement those changes, getting five veterans and new faces working together at the level they’ll need to in order to protect Bo, open holes and down field block will be a challenge.

And you can bet Bo can’t wait to sit out the 2023 season as the result of a 2nd transfer. Opportunity of a lifetime!

If the current curve to the recruiting war between Oregon and USC for cali’s elite is bothering this guy now, just wait until the bright shiny glow of being the new kid on the B1G block has worn-off, and the LA schools are reduced to resume-padding novelties who will never belong, and will always remain outsiders in a league that only wanted them for their TV audience. You think November in Wisconsin, Michigan or Minnesota is icy cold? Try warming yourself at the fire of people who will never see you as their equals. Recruits won’t miss noticing that cold shoulder. Garbage? That’s what we flush every time we out hustle the Troylets.

Certainly creates boatloads of anticipation, but part of me wonders how these 5* lottery picks deal with the derecruitment process if their heads aren’t screwed on properly.

Tend to agree. He seems to get flummoxed and a bit lost whenever his players are not playing with the same level of energy and commitment to the game that he has.

That fairly persistent look in his eyes of a young man feeling cornered by the demands being placed upon him unfortunately appears to play out in that all too familiar adolescent drama of feeling threatened, and refusing to comply. I feel for Dana. Not easy being coach and mentor and dad.

In ‘77 I was finishing a degree at Portland State, and living in an apt. building full of students I never saw. Schonz’s broadcasts of that epic run opened every door, and you could wander in to just about any place, have a beer and enjoy the game. Long before Portlandia, it was the Blazers and Bill Schonely who gave the city on the Willamette its real sense of identity. Thanks Bill

Because the Troylets have for so long been the consummate masters of the meaningless whine, it fades into the background, no longer qualifying as noise pollution, but simply as white noise.

Ever notice all the advocates for dismantling west coast football seem to have been born and continue to live east of the Mississippi?

I’d like to see all the individual traits translate into team traits: being good at developing trust, pushing one another to achieve, and helping each other with sound advice, among others.