I think Oregon and UW go to the Big 10. Wilner has Tweeted that they’re not done expanding. Both teams basically give the Big 10 the entire West Coast TV market. If they can nab Stanford and ND then that gives them The Bay Area and Chicago. This would make two super conferences. ND has to see the writing on the wall. Join a conference or be left to rot. It would also put them in the same conference as two of their big West Coast rivals.

On 6/16/2022 at 8:02 PM, stormrider said:

I honestly don't understand this thing you guys have with Mario, he left your program set up for a very nice run. In my opinion Ithink you guys don't have the right frame of mind.

 

I have to agree with you here. He pulled Oregon out of a very dark place following the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He put a Rose Bowl trophy in the case and loaded the roster. There’s no good way to leave your former team for another school. It was disappointing, but at least he didn’t clean out the roster like a certain Oklahoma coach did.
 

That said, every coach who has left Oregon has failed at their next job (Belotti included). I think Miami will be nationally relevant again because they have made a financial commitment to football. However, I think the guy who follows Mario will be the one who takes them to a championship level.

On 6/16/2022 at 1:22 AM, Nevada Dawg said:

Well I guess I concur that Georgia may not be as good as last year. To say that they would be as good would imply that I an predicting another Natty and it has been a while since anyone repeated.

 

One thing I will predict is that the Georgia offense will be better than last year. They are now blessed with so many WRs and TEs that the passing game could be as good as anyone's. Last year's unit averaged  38.6 points a game, and that was with Smart slowing the offense in the 4th quarters of blowouts to avoid injuries. So my neck is out there but  I'm sticking with my offensive forecast.

UGA is a lot like Alabama in that they just re-load. They’ve been like that for a while, but they’ve been somewhat overshadowed. I think now that they’ve broken through we’ll see them put a few more trophies in the case. I think Kirby has done a good job of developing talent on his coaching staff as well as his players. The big thing UGA has going for them next year is Bennett. Not having to replace a championship QB and team leader is huge.

On 6/14/2022 at 1:27 PM, Charles Fischer said:

Look...I know it is low probability, but if Dillingham has the offense scoring points and drawing attention to Oregon--Bo will be considered one of the reasons why.  I love the off-season for conversations like this!

 

Sure. Bo winning the Heisman

sounds normal to us!

I’m not ready to give up on Butterfield just yet. He may not start the season, but I think we’ll see him at some point.

I was at the U.S. Women’s Open last week wearing an Oregon shirt. Some guy comes up to me and says “I hate your shirt”. I looked at him and said “You must be from Washington “.  He then lifts his foot up to show me his purple shoes with the big white W on them. I didn’t need to see his shoes. I could smell him. We had a good laugh about it, though.

Even if Hout didn’t say anything racist I still agree with the punch. For no other reason other than I am a sore loser.

The original mallard head helmets from 1999 season started it all. Every evolution after that was “copy cat”

On 6/10/2022 at 3:31 PM, Charles Fischer said:

He was a 3-Star with Rivals, and while Oregon offered a scholarship....my understanding is that he was a back-up alternative to the Ducks major targets.  Not a lot of big programs there in his offer list...

 

Aidan Chiles, 2023 Dual-threat quarterback - Rivals.com

N.RIVALS.COM

---

The definitive source for all Rivals news.

 

The Ducks have done more with less. I hope this young man fulfills his dreams of a 2nd place PAC 12 finish.

There are a ton of great points on this forum, but here’s another opinion from me:

 

I think the PGA’s tradition is right up there with the NCAA’s tradition. Meaning, the sports world has evolved and they had better catch up. 
 

I don’t see the majors immediately siding with the PGA tour. They’re smart to play the waiting game. It’s in their best interest to have ALL of the top players in the world at their tournaments. Anything less would be a watered down version of their past greatness. 
 

One thing that hasn’t been brought up is television revenue. I would look for a media company like Fox to jump on LIV. They have a history of taking chances, so this is right up their alley. If LIV gets a television deal then we’ll see the PGA start to make some changes. 

If you look at it from an economic standpoint LIV golf stands a good chance of competing pretty well with the PGA. I say this for a number of reasons listed below.

 

1. Money talks. LIV is guaranteeing contracts like every other pro sports league. No need to earn their way into the league. No need to keep their tour card. Right now they’re targeting established players, but they will attract a lot of youth with their guaranteed $$$. 

 

2. The PGA has been notoriously cheap with their payouts. No guaranteed money. Pay your own way to the event. I could go on. 

 

3. LIV can attract the youth. If they target hot, young up-and-comer’s (I.e. recruit the amateurs) with good money then they control the future of the game. They have the right guy with the right plan in Greg Norman. He may have missed on Tiger Woods, but everybody knows he offered him “high nine figures” to join. I promise you that number didn’t go un-noticed by other PGA tour members.
 

4. The PGA Tour doesn’t own the majors, so they can’t stop these golfers from competing in them. There is still a chance for glory among the LIV golfers. That is, unless the USGA prohibits them. Very unlikely.

 

5. The PGA looks churlish with their hard line stance against these player. It’s not a good look for them and being greedy doesn’t help them. They look like the NFL owners. Just imagine if a new pro football league started and offered guaranteed contracts to the NFL players to jump ship and join them. There would be a mass exodus. Unlike the USFL, the KSA has the money to sustain their salary and operations as long as the oil still flows.

 

Hopefully, this new LIV tournament opens the eyes of the PGA tour because their “loyal” players also have one eye on LIV. You can bet on that. If you think loyalty is still a thing you need only look at college football.

Beware of Sofa King. As in “Those refs were Sofa King terrible. 

On 5/27/2022 at 12:24 PM, Drake said:

I like the combination.
 

Some uniforms are more appealing to me than others. I have never been one that needs to see green and yellow every game day. I know which team on the field or court is the Ducks ; )

 

However, after some losses while wearing non-typical colors, I would like to unceremoniously burn a few combos. 
 

 

This uniform never needs to see the light of day again. Can anyone name the team that beat us that day, and significance of the game?
 

 

Fuskies won 21-70. This was Herbert‘s first start and the game that sealed Helfrich’s fate as “former” head coach.

Let’s say Oregon wins the Rose Bowl or loses in the playoffs if VA isn’t injured. My guess is 2016 would’ve been a little better. Even with Pellum still coaching the defense. However, I think Pellum would’ve been the sacrificial lamb and Helfrich would’ve stayed around to coach in 2017. 

 

Pellum’s defense would’ve still been familiar to the team. Even though the defense would’ve still been pretty bad, I think they might have squeaked out a win over Nebraska, Colorado or beavis. Maybe all three. The loss to the fuskies may have also not been as brutal. However, 6-6 or 7-5 would’ve still gotten him fired, but Helfrich would’ve survived.
 

As it was, Hoke’s new 4-3 scheme was horrific and ultimately led to the 70-21 debacle in Autzen. That game alone was the nail in Helfrich’s coffin. It was an unforgivable result. He was a lame Duck (pun intended) coach after that game. 
 

Now, had Helfrich ultimately coached in 2017, we may have never seen the likes of Taggart or Cristobal. However, Oregon would’ve had a new head coach in 2018. I always wonder who it might have been.

 

 

 

A loss to UGA can be overcome. Utah is pretty late in the year and before the Civil War. It could hurt the team before a visit to Corvallis.

Currently, my goals are to see the Daytona 500, the U.S. Open and the Masters. The U.S. Open is in my hometown in 2 years, so that should happen barring any sudden changes.
 

Other than that, I’ve been to Autzen and Texas Stadium. I saw the Zags play in Chapel Hill, NC a couple of years ago and have been to a few of their games at the MAC in Spokane. I also saw the Midnight Sun baseball game up in Fairbanks, AK back in 2011 and I highly recommend it. I’m pretty satisfied so far, but if I ever visit Boston in the Fall then I would like to visit Fenway..

 

 

I can’t find a team on this list who hasn’t “jumped the shark” at least once by copying Oregon’s style of wearing alternate uniforms. It’s a proven formula for getting the kids’ attention, so why not do it.

I like the idea of the occasional throwback uniform. My only question is why haven’t the Ducks gone back to the uniforms that started the insanity? I also want to know what happened to the “mallard head” helmets that were specially painted. They were the talk of college football back in the day and I haven’t seen them in over a decade. Word on the street is there was a “disagreement” with the company that painted them. 

On 4/1/2022 at 6:44 PM, Steven A said:

So Charles, now we know Putin's game plan is to rob you of sponsorships.

I always suspected he was a husky fan.

On 5/7/2022 at 3:18 PM, David Marsh said:

I know it sounds silly... But think of how subtle something like the house these coaches live in tells their recruits? 

 

Lanning is showing family and something relatable in terms of home and family life. Not many football recruit out there come from crazy rich backgrounds. 

 

Lanning still makes far more money than any of us... But it doesn't mean he has to flaunt it. 

 

Even if he does get a bigger house a Eugene mansion is still a far cry from an LA or Miami mansion. 

 

 

I think it depends on the city/town where they coach. Mario, Chip, etc. live in places where crime is migratory. They can’t just pick a nice neighborhood and expect that crime will stay in the bad areas. It comes looking for them, so they have to pick neighborhoods with extra security. 
 

On the other hand, when Mike Leach coached in Pullman he would walk 2 miles to work every day. He lived in a nice neighborhood with newer homes, but they were far from lavish. He’s kind of a different guy, though. I would imagine most head coaches live in some sort of gated community. Many of them probably live in a golf community or on a lake somewhere. 
 

If I was Dan Lanning I would buy or build a place out near Walterville or Leaburg with McKenzie River access. However, Oregon would probably lose a lot of games because I would spend my spare time slinging my rod.

On 5/6/2022 at 10:31 PM, stormrider said:

Howdy, I am a fan of the U. I am almost 50 and saw all the national champion teams, and I have been lurking for a while on your forum. With that said don't take this as trolling but I think you guys are off on somethings especially the U. You guys like most fan bases talk about how Miami doesn't have their own stadium, well without our own stadium we came out of nowhere dominated college football. We won 5 championships and played for many more. think of all the teams that have their own stadiums and haven't even sniffed a title.

 

Another thing is the talk of facilities, the U dominated with facilities that were some of the worst in all of division 1 college football. the average division 2 programs had better facilities than us. I am not saying that these things don't help but they are not as important as most people think.

 

People think Miami has no money , again that isn't true the U has plenty of money and very wealthy supporters. we actually have some good facilities but they are not top notch. That is changing big time. the people that controlled the board have always been the problem along with the ex university president Donna Shalala. They never wanted to spend funds on the athletic dept. including football. As a matter of fact they use to take funds from football and the athletic dept. to fund expansion of the other parts of the university.

 

That has all changed now. I think barring something that destroys college football like a nuclear war Mario will win at least 2 championships at the U. I think Lanning is a very good coach and you guys are in good hands. I see what Mario is building at the U and I believe that is what he was building at Oregon so you guys should do very well in the coming years. 

Back when The U was winning championships the players weren’t concerned with having nice facilities. They came from nothing and busted their tails just to get the chance to play college football. Kids in general had a pretty good work ethic back then, but those players from S. Florida were especially hard core. To them, playing in the Orange Bowl on Saturday was a big deal. I used to love watching the Canes back then. They were like the Dallas Cowboys. People either loved them or they despised them. I liked their style because, as a high school kid, I thought they were 😎 cool.

 

These days, the kids are different. They want to be catered to and they love shiny objects. They also come from high school programs that have pretty nice facilities. Mario will get the players because he’s an outstanding recruiter. If he can get the facilities then Miami will be a top destination once again. Like you, I think they win a couple of national championships again. However, I don’t the Mario will be the guy that gets it done.

 

Here’s why. The new boosters/investors aren’t going to be patient with him. If he doesn’t at least win a national  championship in his first 4 years he’s going to get the Manny treatment. Mario has no excuses. He has a top staff and his roster will be loaded. It’s not that he’s a bad coach, it’s that he has unrealistic expectations placed upon him. He’s an average game manager who will have to beat the likes of Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, etc. to win it all. 
 

College football is becoming more and more like the NFL. There is basically free agency for players and they get paid now. Also, coaches are on a short leash. Big contracts are for championships not 10-2 seasons. Canes fans/boosters won’t expect anything less. If I had to predict the future I would say the guy who follows Mario will win a national championship. By then, the AD will find a guy who can do it all and Miami will have the facilities in place (except for maybe the stadium) to attract a top coach.

 

 

On 5/5/2022 at 7:24 PM, DUCati855 said:

Enjoyed your well thought out post and agree for the most part.

 

I believe overall talentwise it is a wash. But, we have collected many players with specific coach ties. This will help the communication/comprehension of the new staff and players. This will be huge in how fast the new system develops and manifests itself on the field. 

 

This staff continues to impress me with their foretaught and purposeful moves.   

This is a great post. How many NFL free agents have you seen who left their teams for more money but didn’t produce. This was likely due to them having to adapt to a different system.

 

Some players thrive in a certain system, but are average performers in other systems. It all comes down to fit. I think that’s why we’re seeing so much movement. 

There aren’t very many homes in the upper-middle class price range in S. Florida. The market for those homes is pretty cut-throat. There is probably more inventory available for folks who are worth eight figures. With his salary he should probably live in a community with a heavy security posture anyway. Homes with that cost and size are typically located in neighborhoods with controlled access. I can understand why he bought that home.

On 4/30/2022 at 6:52 PM, Duck 1972 said:

Shame guess all American status doesn't count for s**t

You’re only as good as your last performance. The scouts probably saw something that concerned them in the Utah game(s).

AB got signed by Baltimore. I must say I was surprised by that news.

I know Lewis was 1-3, but he wasn’t as wild as he used to be. His first Miss was just outside the upright. His Miss from 53 was accurate, but short. He’s  just not a deep threat. I heard Boyle, the WSU transfer has a strong leg, but he isn’t on the roster. Is he supposed to be coming in the Fall?