Like it.  Only alteration? A yellow O on the helmet.

     Devil’s advocate is always a good position to take, and I applaud it, however it’s hard to make the case for extreme pressure on the Ducks (or the Bulldogs, although their image would suffer) simply because it is a first game. Pressure in football mounts with succeeding games - it’s development that counts in the eyes of judges. Lose the first, okay, how did you respond in your next game? Lose the last? You’re out.

On 5/26/2022 at 4:47 PM, tee duke said:

Vernon Adams was an amazing football player. He was a magician with the ball in his hands and always, always a threat. In my mind he personified the heart and soul of a leader.

     Agree. There was no quit in him - he never gave up on a play.

     Even without the benefit of a Heisman candidate, Adams is reeling them in. Amazing what a gifted recruiter can do once he has the chance to walk through the front door.

     Totally agree.  KB was the poster boy for the disciplined, patient back who understood the playbook and how to utilize his blocks, when to shift gears, and trust the system. He was so good he could make perfect look almost boring - almost.

     Love malaprops. Here’s one attributed to Joe Theisman, “The word genius isn’t applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.”

     Adams was just an ‘over’ kinda guy: untimely over-throws, over-achiever and unfortunately, over and out.  We’ve had our share of exciting QBs, but I don’t recall any - except maybe Joey - who kept me on the edge of my chair as much.

On 5/23/2022 at 10:28 PM, Nevada Dawg said:

Interestingly, I did not know this  before perusing this forum. I would probably have guessed that your most hated rival was USC just given USC's historic dominance of the conference.

     Great observation ND. I think the traditional lack of emotion regarding the Troylets has a lot to do with their unique status as having been the only west coast national power for so long, and the legendary quality (1920’s-30’s Knute Rockne-Howard Jones rivalry, Heisman trophies, etc) of that tradition. It’s hard to hate an institution.

 

     Add to that the Meh factor of how  - like fellow private school Stanford - they’ve never viewed themselves as properly part of any west coast, public tradition, but rather above that fray, with more in common with the likes of Notre Dame or Ivy League universities. 

 

     Failure on the gridiron has greatly deflated that hot air balloon, and we’re beginning to see a true rivalry emerging - whether they like it or not.

 

     Out of curiosity, you’ve read some of our more colorful descriptions of our hated rival to the north. How do Georgia fans refer to Gators?

 

     

On 5/23/2022 at 7:51 PM, Charles Fischer said:

This is the jewel of my Duck gear, as it is the season poster for 1990...32 years ago!  That is Bill Musgrave about to pass, and I loved the slogan with it that year.

     Still have my frig door schedule magnet from that season. Amazing - sometimes it feels like being an archeologist!  

 

     Does fantasy gear count? Often dreamed of having an ‘O’ branding iron as a permanent reminder for insufferable hydrant wetters.  

     My gut tells me nothing’s better than pulverizing the bow wow down clowns, until I think about an entire off-season of putting up with all those trash heap pick-ups and rusted-out Plymouth mini vans flying orange rodent rags belching their way up and down 6th, 7th and Franklin on expired tags and badly in need of a DUI.   It’s a push.

     Always good to see Royce Roll.

     Well, since we’re going down the home stretch of spring sports, headed for the doldrums of Summer, thought I’d toss a nice fat one over the plate for the amusement of all, or at least some.

 

     The backyard fence-feuding between Saban and Fisher got me thinking about one of my all-time favorite sports quote meisters, former Florida State HC Bill Peterson. Here’s a couple of his more legendary utterings:

 

     “You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle.”

 

     “You guys line up alphabetically by height.”

 

     And, can’t start this ball rolling without at least one Yogism:

 

     “I really didn’t say everything I said.”

 

     So, there you go. Balls in your court if you’ve got one to offer.

 

 

     The thing about Saban is he sees himself as the Warren Buffett of head coaches; a guy who thinks everyone else should simply defer to his superior understanding, and accept him as the de facto caretaker of college football.

 

     I’m surprised he hasn’t yet appealed to congress to legislate his wisdom into law.

     

     Yes, better for us that the wheels are coming off on Florida St Hwy 1 than I-5.

     It’s interesting to watch how coaches are starting to develop portal strategies that try to enhance rather than detract from a position group. Bringing in another vet like Chapman hopefully works in the same way  that Cota has to not only challenge the younger receivers, but offer them the advantage of his experience.

 

     You’re going to lose a certain percentage to the portal as the result of these moves, but then that could be all for the best.

     Culture change seems to be the given. Everything else relies on how fast that’s installed: good old cause and effect.

 

     In the meantime, push the envelope, but not to the point where you’re giving the game away. 

 

     At this time, discipline can’t be over emphasized - you do baby steps not because you want to, but because you have to.

     Gives me jet lag 72 just thinking about it.

     Darren, I know I’m not the first, and won’t be the last, but just wanted to extended a big high five for going the extra mile by responding to all the comments. Thanks!

     The majority of time-outs called by MC seemed to indicate brain-freeze, indecision and an inability to think or improvise on the go. Mario displayed all the characteristics of a textbook learner who became lost once things went past his pre-conceptions.

 

     While we’ve yet to experience HC Dan on the real stage, what some of his players reported about him from their Super Bowl party says to me he knows football, not just thinks he knows it.

     There have been some darn good RB coaches in the recent past, but something just seemed to be missing ever since the departure of Gary Campbell. Like GC, Locklyn appears to provide his boys with a father-figure as well as being their coach, and also like Gary, just another no name who just does it.

    In addition to losing the edge of being underdogs, the Utes will also have to deal with the missing emotional commitment that grew out of playing for fallen comrades. To my mind, Whittingham is the type of coach who understands the best way to deal with such situations is to play through them, which is the right and only way.

     Indeed, a race to the bottom. Sigh. When SCOTUS made the decision to side with just the ‘athlete’’ part of the ‘student-athlete’ equation, they put us all on a road that will just have to run it’s course. 

 

     Like Winston Churchill once said,  “If you are going through hell, keep going.”

     In addition to that, I think the football and track & field departments have barely scratched the surface at how to take advantage of this new facility as a mutual recruiting tool.

     If there is any true resemblance between a sports program and the nature of it’s mascot, then watching how ducks always stick together in order to accomplish their goal - of getting to where they want to get - is echoed in Oregon’s team-oriented drive to excellence. Go Ducks!

On 5/15/2022 at 6:36 PM, TexasDuck said:

I am optimistic.  However, anyone would be an upgrade over Tennis Larry.  

     Now, that’s setting the bar Chubby Checker low!