Desert Duck

Great Duck news!

The fact that this guy has had five major back surgeries and can still walk is amazing. The fact that the guy then somehow came back after all of that and won another green jacket in 2019, kind of makes him Superman as far as I'm concerned. Anyone who has had a single back surgery knows what I'm talking about, let alone five. Oh yeah, not to mention the car accident that nearly killed him less than 14 months ago and potentially could have cost him his leg. The Masters story for me is that Woods is walking, let alone golfing and competing against the greatest players in the world.

This, in Columbia, SC, a city roughly the size of Eugene. In all fairness, the Eugene-Springfield metro area has a population of about 180,000. The Columbia SC metro area has a population of about 850,000.

For the great majority of these guys, the NFL is the equivalent of winning the ultimate lottery, and the lottery leads many to financial ruin within a few years. And like the lottery, the NFL checks all of their dream boxes: money, fame, etc, and obviously very few of them can handle it. And considering only about 0.005% of the US population is under contract on an NFL roster at any given time (about 1,700 NFL players on rosters under contract), the odds of playing NFL football are not much better than winning the lottery. However, in all fairness, the odds of a college football player making an NFL roster are a bit higher at 0.64% (there are about 80,000 US college football players x 0.64% = 512 new NFL players per year added to rosters). And let’s remember, the average NFL career lasts 2.75 years. When I look at the data, and when considering that 99.4+% of college football players will never see a single NFL dollar in their lives, the Wild-West-like NIL lottery-esque cash grab makes even more sense. But sadly, I’d comfortably wager that 80+% of these kids will see their NIL money disappear before their eyes within 2 to 3 very short years. By the time they finish playing college ball, they’ll be lucky to have a car left in their possession with their name on it. And sadly, the greatest asset they will need for the rest of their lives, a college degree, will way more than likely be lost as well.

Notre Dame #5. When will they ever learn.

Top-level coaching is always a huge part of a successful CFB program, but I’m afraid that in today’s world, that’s just barely the price of admission. Anyone who didn’t realize that the “Texas A&M NIL Recruiting System®” of buying recruits is the future of CFB, simply was not paying attention. Any CFB program without a serious and well-funded NIL Athlete Purchasing Program is quickly going to find that Level-1 CFB football has passed them by. And frankly, I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing. Given NIL, CFB free agency, and essentially no scholarship limitations, in my humble opinion, CFB is now effectively the NFL-L… aka. NFL-Lite.

I think Saban figured that if he didn't win it, at least they kept it in the SEC family, and among Alabama 'relatives.'

Isn't the limit ten on field assistants? I'm not certain there are any limits to anything in CFB anymore 😉

Free agency for everyone in CFB.

In today's world of CFB with no such thing as a salary cap, we are living in the realm of no holds barred -- the sky is the limit, NIL, free agency, and effectively no scholarship limitations.

"I think the court ruling never imagined these kind of consequences to their decision." The job of the SCOTUS is to rule on the constitutionality of a case. The end.

I like it!

NIL has completely changed the landscape in regards to recruiting 5 & 4 star athletes.

They're also 0-10 in their last 10 major bowls. Ouch... that's gotta hurt. Every time I remotely think about getting a bit down on the Oregon program, all I have to do is remember where we came from when I first became a fan about a lifetime ago in the early 70s, and where we are today. Not to mention that we are 4-4 in BCS bowls, and 5-5 in our last 10 major bowls. I'm just exceptionally thankful to a Duck fan and to not be a Notre Dame fan -- or for that matter, a Husky fan. What a Groundhog Day-esque existence of drudgery that would be. It will be a lot of fun to see what Coach Lanning & Company bring to the table. I'm certainly very optimistic.

I welcome your article. Admittedly, I've even been wrong once... maybe twice, before. But let's keep that between us. I look truly forward to reading your well reasoned article.

When it comes to college football,, the SEC actually is that much better than every other conference out there. And especially our beloved PAC12.

"Only Dean Smith could hold down Michael Jordon and only Mario could hold down Justin" LOL. And isn't that the truth. It's quite special when the best lock-down defensive guy on your team is your coach.

Yeah... I'd have to say that Lanning had a decent weekend on the field. Holding a very good Michigan team to 11 points -- who up until yesterday had averaged nearly 40 points per game this season, kind of impresses the daylights out of me.

I bet nobody is more grateful than Justin I can't think of a better situation and coach for the kid in the entire NFL. I'm certainly not arguing that it hasn't worked out spectacularly for him -- and I couldn't be happier for the kid. I'm just trying to figure out how Oregon made this 2nd year NFL All Pro QB look so dog-gone mediocre his senior season. This is a kid who, at this rate anyway, has all the potential to go on and be one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks in history. And there's absolutely no hyperbole in that statement. Making a once-in-a-generation kid of his caliber look at best average, obviously took some serious and special coaching to accomplish. But thankfully, I'm thinking that in order to solve this mystery, we'd have to look about 3,000 miles south to a school that goes by the name, "University of Miami."

- Consensus All-American at Oregon. - Led the nation with six interceptions - Second among all Oregon players with 77 tackles. Yes, Mr. McKinley will be missed. All the best to him in the NFL.

2021-22 Season... so far: 4,631 yards / 67% completion rate / 35 TDs (best in Charger history) I sure am glad he got really-really good just after graduation. The Oregon coaches did a good job disguising him as an average QB his senior year 😉.

I'm still trying to figure out how we went into Columbus and took out Ohio State. What a mystery.

Maybe go with saying the Covid protocol got us and we have to go home.

Maybe go with saying the Covid protocol got us and we have to go home.

Well... We did hang in there for about a quarter. So that might be something to build on 😏