WiseKwacker

A really nice piece of writing, Joshua. Thanks for your work. And, agreeing with Jon Joseph above, your comment, "...they won their first national title since before this writer was born," made this guy, currently celebrating his 70th birthday, do a double-take. As each day rolls by, I gain more and more confidence in Dan-Lan. I'm steadily gaining confidence that, when those inevitable mistakes and stumbles occur, this guy has the under-control-ego to learn from his mistakes and to show a bit of humility that will allow the team and its fans to move past the transgressions. We'll see...

And, the lure of needing to play in a major program to impress the NFL scouts is really a thing of the past as evidenced by guys like Josh Allen, Trey Lance, Malik Willis, Carson Strong and others. Thus, any of these three guys could likely identify a college team where he could transfer and become an instant starter, and, importantly, show his skillset to pro scouts.

This one kind of surprised me. This kid played a lot of minutes for the Buffs as a freshman. I consider Tad Boyle as one of the league's best coaches, although not one of the best recruiters. So, I wonder what motivated the change...especially with Harmon returning, Richardson undecided, Dior Johnson coming in, and guys like Tyrone Williams, Rivaldo Soares, and Brennan Rigsby all competing for minutes at guard. Could be a team with great depth that can come at teams in waves, or it could be a team with a small rotation of players Dana considers reliable with some discontented guys not getting much playing time.

He was quite the athlete. He also was really good at baseball, having gone pro as well. One of the first two-sport professional athletes. That 1976-77 basketball season for boys class AAA was, in my opinion, the greatest year ever. As the state tournament began, there were four teams who were undefeated, with each one led by a star player. Lake Oswego had Jeff Stoutt, Parkrose (a power back then) had Ray Blume, Grant had Mark Radford, and defending champion, North Eugene, had Danny Ainge. Lake Oswego lost to Parkrose in the quarterfinals. Parkrose lost to North Eugene (51-40) in the semifinals. And, North Eugene won their second consecutive state title in the final, beating Grant 56-45. North Eugene coach, Barney Holland, eventually became an assistant coach for the Ducks. And, of course, the Ducks fanned on keeping Danny Ainge in Eugene for college while the Beavers recruited the three other guys for their still-powerful basketball team.

It doesn't seem like it's commonly done this way, but, if I'm a coach who's evaluating a specific position, I'd want to see all the potential players performing under similar circumstances as much as possible. Although you can judge a player's mastery of the playbook by just watching them perform with a random group of teammates, it seems to me that the real eyeball comparison is best made when each one is playing alongside the same set of teammates and against the same set of teammates on the opposite side of the ball. Thus, rotating all three of the QB candidates through reps with the first team makes sense to me while the evaluation process is still underway. But what do I know?

Here's my latest "brilliant" idea for the next NIL offer to a high school star: "Hey, kid, if you sign with us, we'll make you a team captain for our week #5 game this year."

Sure. Remember it well. On offense, it was a guy named Mario. On defense, it was Cristobal. And, for special teams, it was Mario Cristobal. Yer welcome.

Great to hear the positive talk from one of the young receivers, but, as grandma used to say, "the proof is in the pudding." I hope he's right, but we'll have to see come next fall. I'm not really worried at all about the loss of the veteran group of receivers (Johnson, Redd, and Williams). They all developed into a pretty reliable group, and I can see why they were starters; However, I think the young guys we have now (Franklin, Thornton, Hutson, McGee and Lowe) have greater upside potential. And Franklin and Hutson got quite a bit of playing time last year, so it's not like they're unproven. Certainly, Thornton had some huge plays in his limited playing time. So, when you combine that (in your mind's eye, anyway) with improved quarterback play this year and a more wide-open playbook, there's plenty of room for optimism. In fact, I'm currently looking around for that "fast forward" button to get us quickly to September.

Yeah. Sometimes I read what a juror responded to a question and ask myself, "Hmmm, is this person really so naive as to believe that this response won't get them disqualified by one side or the other? Or, just maybe that was their intent in the first place..."

Jeez! Talk about retinal burn... I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to "un-see" that.

Franck was, by all accounts, a good teammate. He brought lots of energy if not ball skills. As much as I cringed when the ball would go inside to Dante and Kepnang this year, I can see why they were playing ahead of Bittle. I think Dana wanted defense and rebounding from the center position, and those two guys offered more of that than skinny Nate did. Ultimately, I think many of us would like to see Bittle playing as a "4" ala Chet Holmgren, who played alongside Timme. I hope Bittle sticks and works out with that in mind for next season. Just watching him move around, you can see the natural coordination he possesses. Nice long arms, too.

Great to see. Hope he stays healthy. Also, pleasantly surprised to see Cam McCormick listed on the TE depth chart. Would LOVE to see him get some on-field time this season. It's been a long road for that guy.

Thought-provoking post, Darren. (I guess that's the idea... ) Don't know whether or not your "hunch" is correct, but it makes sense to me. From my perspective, if Nix winds up as QB1 and plays well, I can be fine with that. What bothered me most last year was when Brown was QB1 and clearly struggled, we just didn't see Thompson get a chance as relief. And, the one time we did see Thompson during league play, he got yanked promptly after making a mistake. It just never had a good feel to the way the QB situation was handled last year. Again, like you, I didn't know any details about how each guy was performing in practices.

Read your article, Charles. My reaction? Yeah, but... Yeah, but... Yeah, but... Okay, got that out of my system. I'm all in, baby. Thanks for the opportunity, Charles.

Absolutely! Charles, please get in contact with Steve Kornacki to diagram all the possibilities for us on who could/will get 1st team snaps at quarterback for the Ducks.

Although I always want to kick their a$$e$ (or trip their cheerleaders) when we play them in basketball, I've got no personal animosity towards the Beavs otherwise. Hey, my son and daughter-in-law are OSU alums. I actually rooted for them in that amazing run they had during last year's March Madness. So, when they hired Tinkle, I first thought he would be a solid hire after the Craig Robinson disaster. And, Tinkle started out with a gangbuster recruiting bang, bringing in his kid and Stephen Thompson's two kids. But, then, he never has recruited any other high school kids who are at that same level. Yes, he's had a few high school recruits (Lucas, Eubanks, Reichle, etc.) who've played solid basketball for the Beavs. But, those guys weren't recruited by any of the major basketball schools. Since those first 3 guys, he's mainly pulled in high school kids who had to be developed along with transfers. Tinkle, in my view, is not a bad bench coach. He just can't recruit. And, to fire Thompson, his longtime sidekick, says that either he's panicking or he's under orders from the OSU Athletic Department admin to clean house because they can't fire him. Either way, I'll be really surprised if they do any better next season than they did this season. Let's just hope they don't go all crazy and talk Gary Payton into becoming their next head coach. I've seen enough of that guy over the years...

Looking back, the Ducks have had several exceptional defensive linemen over the past 20 years. The problem has always been that we have never had a continuous flow of DL stalwarts into the program. Let's hope Dan-Lan can break that pattern...in a positive way.

Well, of course Phil supports the John McKay Courtyard at USC. McKay was a Duck.

Interesting idea, David. I like it.

Really great topic, Alex. I think you and the other writers in Charles' stable of talented contributors are doing a consistently great job of effectively presenting topics that lend themselves to lively discussions. Keep up the good work! Now, on to my reaction. Trying--as always--to look at myself in the mirror as I reply, this will be another "old coot" response, I'm afraid. I mention that not as an apology, but rather with the feeling that the changes in college football are just harder for us seniors (at least those of us with most of our memory cells still intact) to accept. When I look at the current situation in college football, my mind goes back to the root of the problem IMO: the NBA. It's been quite awhile since the NBA and the networks carrying them sold out to STAR POWER. Fabulous TEAMS like the Pistons of Ben Wallace and the Spurs of Tim Duncan were "boring," and team basketball with strong defense was not appealing to the masses. (Not saying they were wrong.) So, the focus of games promoted shifted to LeBron, Harden, Russell (Triple Double) Westbrook, Durant, and Steph. And, of course, the salary structure of the league has grown to support that notion. Today, LeBron basically runs the NBA. The NFL, with their different collective bargaining agreement, has avoided some of that problem, but not entirely. With so many more players involved in the game, it's inherently more of a team sport than basketball. Even so, the league has slowly, steadily evolved into one that features star players to try to attract fans. The salary disparity between the star players and the marginal talent in the league has never been greater. I think we're now seeing a trickle-down effect from those two pro sports to their college counterparts. A couple of college athletes will make a bunch of money; a lot of other college athletes will make a little bit of money. I don't see NIL really solving anything. I think the ones who make a lot of money in college will generally have shortened college careers, turn pro as soon as they can, and then make a whole bunch more money. The transfer portal, I think, is entirely different. Players want to play. High school kids (and college coaching staffs) don't really know how well a kid's performance at the high school level will translate to the college level. A lot of factors contribute to a pretty substantial "miss" rate. The transfer portal just allows for a course correction in that process. As a fan, it's usually tough to lose a kid from your program, but it's often equally good to gain a kid from another program. While most of us old-timers long for the days of kids sticking with the program through thick and thin, those days are gone. The best ones leave early; the worst ones transfer out. Oh, well. I'll still watch college football. What else am I gonna do on a Saturday?

No personal hatred here for Mario. I appreciate the good things he brought to the program during his time here, as I think the good far outweighed the bad. HOWEVER, it definitely stings to be jilted for a second time in just a few years. In the case of Taggart, the outrage was greater because of the unique circumstances of the hasty exit. The beauty of passing time, though, is that we can now see that we dodged a bullet in that exit. Now, there's a real possibility that, when you mention the name, Willie Taggart, to an acquaintance, the response is, "Who? Oh, THAT guy. Whatever happened to him?" Maybe in a couple of years, we'll get a similar response when Cristobal's name crops up in a conversation.

Yeah, Charles, I heard a beautiful girl in a bar say that same thing one time while looking in my direction. Then, I realized she was looking a some dude behind me.

Ducks played 'Zona pretty tough this season, and only lost by a couple of points. Seeing the Ducks playing Houston earlier in the season, it was clear the Cougars played tenacious defense as they absolutely crushed the Ducks. While I was hoping for a Wildcat win, I was fearful of Houston going in. Wouldn't be surprised to see Houston go a long way in the tourney this year.

QB discussion aside, Jon, you've moved from The Guess Who to...Jimi Hendrix? Bob Dylan? Back to the topic, may the best man win. And, may the other two have some patience. ("Dude, injuries happen...")

Those benches in the student section were kinda hard...unless you "numbed" yourself up a bit beforehand.