Desert Duck

Without knowing who will be throwing the ball to him, this would be an especially big win. Which leads me to believe that this kid is rather confident regarding who will likely be throwing the ball his direction. Plus, the NIL opportunity Oregon presents is huge.

That @ Michigan 39-7 drubbing Oregon gave them was a game to remember, and watch again. Dixon was like Harry Houdini with a football in that game. I truly have never seen anything like it, and neither had the network camera-guys as they often couldn't find the ball either. For any Duck fan that would like to watch an old game for pure joy, this is one I'd definitely recommend putting on your list.

We all recognize and appreciate that it takes a village, but there's only one head coach. I doubt anybody does not give credit for the coaches and the system that had been handed off to Chip. Chip stepped into the right situation, at the perfect time and place. But Chip still drove the ship. And he absolutely changed and revolutionized the game of football. I don't know of anyone else who would have had the courage, or the ability, to pull that off. Is he a great head coach? Apparently not. However, what I do know is that from 2009 - 2012, he was a hell of a coach at Oregon, and I hope that anyone who witnessed it at the time, also appreciated it in the moment.

No doubt that Chip had/has his weaknesses -- and they were on display for all of us to see. But I also know that when Chip was deep into his 3rd year as head coach, for the first time in her life my friend's sister had held season tickets for those 3 years, and had been to every home game -- and had never witnessed them lose. As a kid whose first game was in 1973, it took a moment for that to compute. I looked at my friend and said something like, "We need to enjoy every second of this ride, because we may likely never witness anything like this again." Chip made magic happen for a small window in time, which I will forever be grateful for... flaws, weaknesses, and all.

Re MC: "Number one was game management. This became evident early on..." Early on, absolutely. As in the first play he called at Oregon was in that Las Vegas Bowl --- and it was a time out BEFORE the game ever started. I'll never forget that. I've never seen that happen before, and doubt I ever will again. Regarding Chip's "aloofness," l'd gladly roll with that everyday of the week, and twice on Sunday -- in exchange for that 87% winning record, 4 straight BCS bowls, and 1 NC game. Lanning? Well, hopefully he is wise and courageous enough at his young age to recognize and admit to himself what areas he is not gifted in -- and then bring in trusted people around him who will shore up those so-called weaknesses. To me, the ability for a leader to understand and embrace one's strengths, but especially their weaknesses, is arguably the greatest sign and strength of a successful leader.

And not only making the Pro Bowl, but selected as the AFC starting QB... over Super Bowl Champ Patrick Mahomes! So glad for this kid!

"... rumors that 5-7 Cal is heading to the Gator Bowl..." I can't get past the part about a 5-7 team going to any bowl game, for any reason. I'd hope embarrassment alone would keep a 5-7 program from accepting 😉 . But then again, I'm old.

Billy Beane: "There are rich teams, and there are poor teams. Then there's 50 feet of crap. And then there's us." In NO WAY am I suggesting that our program is crap. We have a fine program. However, in the world of winning, there's Alabama... and occasionally another team from the SEC, and then there's everybody else. Today, CFB is all about the Benjamin's -- and in reality, has been for quite sometime. The transfer portal, and the NIL, simply moved it into the stratosphere.

Regarding how did they miss him as a high school recruit, yes, he broke his leg early in his junior season at Sheldon and was gone for the season. However, he came back his senior season and put up exceptional numbers. But perhaps the even bigger impact is that he attended very few camps, etc, which is where most of the scouting is done these days. So, by midway through his senior year, he was on almost nobody's radar. I remember when Justin's name came up regarding Oregon. I then talked to a close friend who was a coach at Sheldon who gave me his take. He could not say enough positive things about him. He said that his teammates absolutely loved playing with/for him, that he was wicked intelligent, that he had all the physical gifts and tools... oh yeah -- and that this big 6'5" kid was actually fast too. From what I understand, at first Oregon was trying to get him as a walk-on... and nearly lost him to Montana. Oregon pretty much just lucked out, IMHO. Another 'local' kid who put up crazy numbers was the highly talented Eric Dungey from Lakeridge -- who went on to have a very impressive career at Syracuse. Eric was/is a great athlete, great kid, and held a 4.0+ GPA. From what I understand, Oregon didn't even give him a sniff. And at this Christmas time of the year, something about a prophet not being welcome in his home town comes to mind as well.

"How did all the great recruiters miss him?" Because the Oregon coaches kept Justin hidden, and reined in, all in plain sight. At least until the last 2 games of his career at Oregon when they recognized we wouldn't have a chance again Utah & Wisconsin unless they removed the reins from our stallion. By then, the scouts understandably didn't know what in the world to think.

Unless a guy is an absolute lock in the first 3 rounds of the draft, I would think that the NIL money grab opportunity would help to keep them around for another year or two. There's no question that many of these guys will have a much greater opportunity to make bank by staying in college and exploiting the ever-lovin' daylights out of the current Wild-West NIL. NIL controls will at some point in the next few years have to be implemented. But for college athletes out there right now, at this moment in time, the fields will likely never be greener.

Basically back to the pre-playoff days and an AP champion.

Exacty. My first thought: "Glass Houses."

Under today's FBS CFB, I'm not sure what's left to sanction? When a team can virtually purchase a recruit, and legally do it in plain view, I'm not sure what's left to sanction.

My first thought in today's FBS CFB is what "under the table recruiting" violations are there left to violate? I mean just this side of coaches doing something like directly hiring ladies of the evening for recruits and paying for it with a university check, there almost appears nothing left to violate.

"Losing hurts Oregon very little." Other than the fact that losing this game would likely instantly knock us out of the playoff chase. IMHO, the PAC12 simply doesn't have the conference strength to get us back into the hunt.

It will be interesting to see which of our young QBs stick around for another year.

"Barren Wasteland" Ouch... At least this guy doesn't beat around the bush. Sadly, in regards to college football, I'm afraid the facts and data say he's right. The last time the PAC had an outright national football champion, Nixon had just crushed McGovern in '72 (USC). Since then, USC shared the title in '74, and the UW in '91. The 2004 USC title doesn't exist. Of the 32 teams who have participated in the College Football Playoffs since 2014, only 2 have been from the PAC12. So, the PAC12 has a lot of work to do. One thing that I am particularly pleased with is that Mario showed us that Oregon can recruit star athletes. Hopefully that will continue under Lanning.

If your assessment proves to be sadly accurate, maybe we should mix things up just to confuse OU and consider punting on 3rd down now and then... you know, just to keep OU on their toes 😉 .

At the end of the day, for me the important question is, "Do the kids & recruits like it?"

"I'm glad you brought that up. It was green before!" The brown trees reminded me of the tree on the primary Oregon license plate when the state first came out with that plate design... that tree was also brown. The public rightfully objected and they changed it. No idea why anyone would have thought that representing Oregon with a burned out looking tree on our primary license plate could have ever seemed like a good idea. At the time, I thought that maybe next license plate option they might come out with would be the "Stump Plate" -- jk 😉. Anyway, the first time I saw the floor was on TV, and I couldn't stand it. Then, after seeing it in person, I liked it -- a lot. Unfortunately, about 98% of people who have watched Duck basketball, only see it on TV. And I don't think a design should have to "grow" on people. And, IMHO, at a minimum, the brown burned out looking trees have got to go. With all of this being said, I 100% love, appreciate, and respect the history and creative tribute behind the concept. Frankly, I think there's some impressive creative genius at work in there.

"You'll be starting. Guaranteed." Well... I suppose there is that 😉. But knowing that there's a strong likelihood that while you might be getting some significant PT, but getting in a losing team, I would hope would not appeal to most 4/5 star recruits. On the other hand, maybe he just drank really hard on the, "Your class is the year we turn the program around," kool-aid. Plus, the sunshine and almost year round summer fashion attire might have a draw for some 18 year old kids (I'm referring to the sunshine from October through May. Outside of that, it just hotter than hades). Anyway, onward and upward the Ducks go.

Charles - It's obvious and evident to anyone who comes to Fishduck.com that you have put a tremendous amount of work and effort into it. The fact that you provide a healthy environment for Duck fans to come and share, and all without ads, is a wonderful thing. As adults, we all know that nothing is free, and when we are using something of value, we all recognize that somebody is paying for it. In light of this, I would not be remotely shy about making the "Donate" button prominent. I think you have created something of significant value here. Now that I have been enjoying your site for about a month, I will be clicking on the donate button and sending a "thank-you" your direction.

I was laughing so hard at the "Just Like Little Brother" one --- so much so that I had to share it with my wife.

I certainly can appreciate that reasoning. But Arizona has such a terrible football program that it still surprises me he would flip to the Wildcats... even with 3 of his buddies going there.