Drake

I respected Dye for his effort on the field. Guy played hard. However, Our RB room has reloaded and has some guys that will probably shine brighter. Speaking of getting a party started…it is one day late…but….Happy Birthday Coach Dan Lanning!

Thanks for the posting. This offense has the ability to put up some serious points with what should be above average play from our QB. A veteran laden OL, receivers and TE’s that could be among the best in the PAC 12 , and running backs that will put up solid numbers. This team oozes potential. I am optimistic about what these guys will achieve.

Step one to being a great coach….Recruit great players. Congrats to all involved.

Nobody is asking for money. Simply information. I am not aware of an organized effort to collect these types of donations for Oregon athletics.

You obviously can try to buy one. However, what happens if you don’t win? Will the big money boosters spend more, or fire the coach?

With a new coaching staff everyone is excited to see what they are getting on both sides of the ball. I am anxious to see this unfold as well. However, I can’t really say that a game against someone that you can beat by 50 points is a big learning experience. I have season tickets, but drive down from Portland. In a few years, after the coaching staff is settled in, I can’t really see myself getting that excited about battling traffic for a few hours to watch a game with a known outcome. I give some of my tickets away for those types of games during the season. What I want to know is how they match up against much better opponents. In my opinion, the team’s second string is a much better match up to watch, and more players get an opportunity to show their stuff.

Well…he looks good without any defenders harassing him. The Ducks need three solid QBs. Unfortunately, we probably have 3 QBs that would start at a lot of programs. I would fully understand if one decides to transfer this year. While I would wish them well, it would be aggravating to see that person light it up with another team. Mainly from the standpoint of having to watch so many balls thrown into the turf last year.

Ducks were winning under Mario. Apparently that wasn’t much fun. You always shoot for the perfect season, but there are many obstacles in any given year. Schedule, injuries, and bad coaching are a few reasons a season can go sideways. We’ve seen it happen first hand. However, even if the there are loses it is easy to tell if you have a good team, and good coach.

Justin has made me a Charger fan. Very fun to watch him play. His long ball accuracy is uncanny. Btw…The TD and total passing yard record that he broke were the Chargers single season records. Ironic that it was another Duck that finally surpassed Dan Fouts long standing record for total passing yards in a season.

Shareholders will want a return on the monies the company spends. It will be interesting to see if this idea generates more sales. Ultimately, it is the fans purchasing power that they are hoping to influence. Nike generates revenues that are probably double that of Adidas. Therefore, it is safe to say that they would be a big player if they can move the revenue needle sufficiently to make this work.

Thibodeaux should probably be a top ten pick. Some probably question his ability to play hard for an entire game. Injuries at LB really hurt our defense last year, and our sputtering offense altered the best part of Thibodeaux’s game. Our offense didn’t help because lesser teams were allowed to stay close and didn’t force opponents to switch to a passing attack to try to catch up. Thibodeaux could have had a much better year playing behind a better offense. I am willing to bet that MC’s refusal to change QB’s may have cost Thibodeaux $$$$$. At least for his initial contract. Time will tell.

At least a few of them seem to have some common sense. They should be more angry at whomever hired Lake as HC. That was a crazy bad decision. Their AD should be rather uncomfortable about future job stability. I think they need to spend some time analyzing their recent 95th ranked recruiting class, and figure out how to give in-state rival Wazzu a hard fought game. I will be rooting for the Cougs to keep that Apple Cup secure for several more years.

I want to believe that generating a steady stream of NIL money for a team overrides a one time large lump sum to one player. Especially if your one time lump sum player is injured, or doesn’t pan out as expected. Raiding other teams rosters may become a full time job for many teams. Won’t be a shocker to see starting players leave for better financial opportunities. This may get much worse before it gets better.

The culture of a team, or business, can elevate production. It also can have the opposite effect. Therefore, culture is, and always will be important to the level of success a team can achieve.

Teenagers with more money than their parents could ever make. What could go wrong?

Aloha…lol.

Charles, I agree with you that Phil Knight’s generous donations can’t buy everything. If the man never donated another dollar the impact he has made on U of O is enormous. I always have optimistic expectations of our various teams. However, not all teams and players mesh together well. To me, Altman sounds frustrated with his teams work ethic. It sounds to me that the hard work and discipline required to play consistently at a high level as a team under his coaching style was amiss. Change will be necessary. What that entails is a big question.

There are over 500,000 “student-athletes according to the NCAA video played between games at the NCAA BB tourney that I attended yesterday. Not all of those athletes receive scholarships, but NIL will substantially change the financial landscape. University’s may potentially make decisions to eliminate some sports because of their ability to fund programs. The long term ramifications will go one of two ways…left unchecked it may eliminate many scholarship opportunities, or it will be managed sensibly so that sports can flourish and scholarship opportunities continue to be abundant. I am not overly optimistic at this moment.

The physical and mental demands of being pushed beyond barriers is not for everyone. However, most players will survive and many will thrive. The lessons young people can learn from pushing themselves to an elite level is invaluable. Most of our players will never play in the NFL. However, the lessons that they can learn about themselves will become part of the foundation they can use towards success beyond football.

Professional sports has a long history of good and bad decisions on draft day. So the guys that rank HS talent are in good company with good and bad evaluations. The NFL is a demanding place to work. Every team has highly ranked players. A 5 star player just out of HS has a long way to go to be physically, and mentally prepared to play professional football. Attrition from those highly ranked players is inevitable as they face stiffer competition in college. If 60% of 5 star players get drafted then that indicates that the rankings are far from perfect. So, that simply means that we need a whole lot more 5 star ranked players.

MC was pretty good at telling everyone what they want to hear. My impression is that Lanning knows that every introductory coach’s speech is filled with promises of a brighter tomorrow. He knows that he is willing to put in the time and effort to be successful, and is confident that it will show up on game day. He relates well to his players, and I think they will play hard for this coach.

No on the NIT. But, I am going to the NCAA tourney games in Portland.

Targeting rules in many cases will always be somewhat difficult. Safety and concussions are a real problem. Targeting just scratches the surface with player safety. The problem with concussion protocol in football is that most concussions are not diagnosed. Many players have a team first mentality and will continue to play through a concussion. It’s only a headache, or I only blacked out a short time is “just part of the game.” Perhaps when sensors are installed in helmets and then properly monitored will concussions be properly diagnosed. It may end up being rather alarming the number of players that sit out games under those circumstances.

Oregon is a dangerous team to play when one loss may keep you out of the CFP. I bet they won’t be calling us on the phone anytime soon asking for a rematch.

I don’t have enough knowledge to comment intelligently about NIL. However, it seems to me that a college education is still going to be more important to the largest percentage of “student athletes” in the long run. This subject reflects just one problem with the current structure of NIL payments. There are certainly many more scenarios that can potentially derail a “team” that has highly paid vs. non-paid athletes. Currently NIL is in it’s infancy and money is going to be thrown around haphazardly. Sustainability of NIL cash flows is probably going to be much more important than a one time lump sum payment to an individual. As it stands now, only a few teams are competitive for a National title. That is not going to change. However, some of the contenders might.