Mudslide

WR kind of fell apart at the end of last season. Nay...he imploded and looked terrible doing it. We have been told that he had some undiagnosed medical issue. I hope it wasn't just the yips...because that is what it looked like. My 72 year old wife could shoot better than he in his last 10 games. The team has much better quality of depth at SG this year which should cheer us all. WR is experienced in this league and has a world of potential. I hope he takes on SMITHRIVERDUCK's suggestion, plays with fire in his belly and assumes a demanding leadership role on the team.

Jerry Coleman, a former Padres announcer, had a slew of malaprops. In fact, he was almost as famous for them as Yogi. My favorite has always been.... "He slid into second base standing up!" And for those of you that have ever watched some thoroughbred racing, this from Michael Wrona at Golden Gate Fields (Bay Area)...speaking about the stretch run of the leader of a race.... "He's hanging on like granny's last tooth!"

I think it's actually "out of chaos comes order". It's a process, and one that doesn't end well in the physical world and perhaps collegiate sports, as well. In physics it's Big Bang (chaos - NIL) leading eventually to the coalescence of matter in galaxies, planets, etc. (order - gov't/NCAA rules)....which eventually leads to maximum, boring homogeneity and randomness (entropy - all teams are completely matched). Science has cogitated for decades on how to reverse entropy. And now college football gets its shot.

My bucket list is short and sweet. Catch a 40 lb. chinook in the morning, watch the Ducks win the Nattie in the afternoon, and hit a par 4 hole in one at sunset at Torrey Pines. Easy peasy.

Phoenix always reminded me of some sci-fi story where an alien craft picks up a HUGE hunk of concrete from the midwest and then dumps it in the middle of a desert...just to see what happens. The best thing about Phoenix is its proximity to the Grand Canyon....and that's many hours of driving away. I've lived a few places....including Oregon. Thanks That said, I wouldn't trade the Oregon coast for any area/town/city in the U.S. We have mountains (wonderful hunting), rivers and ocean (great fishing), proximity to large (ugly) cities, great surfing (the 'tow-in'), quiet, peaceful, and safe towns, etc. Sure, it rains a lot here (it's only water) but the temperatures are always mild. In fact it helps everything here grow like a plant nursery gone wild. Nope, I'm an unabashed fan of this area and wouldn't trade. In my book, coastal Oregon is paradise. (I'm allowed to change my mind if the Pacific Plate ever gives way, lol!!)

My handsomest car? Sometime ca. 1966 I had an opportunity to buy a 1957 M-B 300 SL Gullwing for...........$4,000. This was off of a new/used car dealer. $4,000. And it was in just this color....

I saw her once in Oregon. That drool never did wash out of my shirt.

In the memorable words of Frank the Budweiser lizard, "Let it go, Louie. Let it go!" MC is muddy water well under the bridge. I, for one, really don't care what he does at Miami. But of course...I hope he enjoys that $8 million dollar mansion and doesn't mind the bird sized mosquitos of western Florida.

Thanks for the fine article (again), Joshua. I'll say that a wide open game is more fun for the team and players than a grinding game. And thus...Lanning's approach to fun. I took a quick look at the winning percentages of CK and MC (full seasons only). Chip's teams won at 87%. Mario "The Mansion" had his teams...highly rated recruits and all...at 77%. Don't get me wrong, 77% is not bad...8 million bucks not bad. (At that, I cringe and mutter words that my mother would not approve.) But MC must have bored his players to tears. That gives new meaning to the standard phrase, "grind". Win, lose, or draw, I'm in Coach Lanning's corner. And I cheer the removal of 'pistol' stench too long in my nostrils

His Minnesota video looks like he can run a bit and with good determination. It appears that the Ducks have added a good one. I think ... (my wife always suggests I shouldn't do that) ... we have 87 scholarships now. So 2 to depart still?

Holy smokes. Almost the entire 1st team Georgia defense went in the draft...EIGHT players drafted. And 15 Georgia players were drafted overall. That's an incredible record. Good for them. And hopefully good for us. We can hope that the drafted players' replacements will have a few first-game-starter hiccups on Sept. 3.

Aw....better luck next time.

Wow! almost half the first team Georgia defense was taken in the first round of the NFL draft. McDawg, I know that the quality of the Dawg defense is unknown/suspect for next season. But how were the backups to these 5 gems that left for the bigs ... Travon Walker (no. 1 overall), Jordon Davis, Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt, and Lewis Cine? That's a huge loss of talent.

Let's see your favorite Duck photos. I'll start with the one that I dearly enjoy. Apologies to the photographer/publisher as they are unknown to me.

Perhaps this is a hint that Emoni Bates is coming the Ducks way. Wouldn't THAT be nice?!

Nor is mine...ultra grey beard, here. Uh...what were we talking about?

Wasn't Allioti all about the bend-don't-break D? I thought he advocated the style.

I'm SO in love with this approach to defense. If I have to watch one more coach aspire to play prevent defense, I might have to become a rugby fan. As published today in Footballscoops.com .... Tosh Lupoi Uses "Dictator" and "Confrontational" to Describe the Vision for his Oregon Defense Tosh Lupoi doesn't want the Ducks secondary walking any kind of fine line. Doug Samuels Dan Lanning filled out his Oregon staff with a handful of really impressive coaches, one of which was his defensive coordinator - Tosh Lupoi. With stops at Cal, Washington, and Alabama, Lupoi established himself as one of college football's best recruiters before jumping to the NFL where he spent the past few seasons working with the Browns, Falcons and Jaguars. The opportunity to step back into a defensive coordinator role at Oregon with Lanning brought Lupoi back to college football, and he shared a bit of his outlook on what the vision for the Ducks defense is. "Confrontational" and "dictator" were two interesting words he chose to use to describe what he wants to build in Eugene. When asked about his secondary "walking the fine line" between being being aggressive in press and giving some space to speedy receivers, Tosh shared they're actually not interested in walking that fine line at all. "We probably don't walk that fine line. We want to be extremely aggressive and confrontational." "We want to play press coverage and operate out of man-match and quarters and Rip / Liz match system in cover three and then compliment that with some zone and do our best to mix up things and offer disguises and pressures out of those looks as well." "We want to be really aggressive. That's the system that I come from and that I believe in, and coach Lanning as well and we really want to be the dictator at the end of the day. So we are going to constantly challenge our players to embrace that."

I wonder if the good will expressed by the Georgia fans will diminish a bit should the Ducks trip up the Bulldogs in Atlanta.

It's always great to see another article from you, Coach. Thank you.

Welcome to the new college sports dystopia. I wonder when personal greed in college sports will outreach team loyalty. Not long, I suppose. But then I'm just a grumpy old man who is getting grumpier while dealing with a dry socket ex-tooth. Ouch.

Thanks for the fine article, Alex. 18 year olds making more money than the school's president. More power in the hands of these 18 year olds. What could possibly go wrong? I'm totally with Santa Rosa Duck's opine. Greed and lack of commitment to the team, the game, and their contracts (by players AND coaches) has driven me from my love of all professional sports. These elements are now entering college athletics. I see things changing much more rapidly than in three or four years. And along with that I include my own attitude toward collegiate sports. College football and basketball will suffer the same downturn in attendance (and concomitant interest) as the NBA and NFL, with the exception that without the help of the Chinese the downturn will be much sharper. Hmmm...maybe college athletics can gin up more interest by crossing country barriers to play teams from ... say ... Columbia or El Salvador. (Are there colleges in Columbia and El Salvador?) Nope, all the major agents for change are in place. Times are already changing. Social events are occurring at a much faster rate than we old grey beards want or even recognize. Me? I detest what my beloved sports have become.

There are currently 5 QBs on the team. The new guy, Sanders, (second year with the team) AJ Abbott (from Houston, TX), Ty, Bo, and Jay. Ty Bo and Jay sounds like a boy band. Or an MMA style.

Fine article, David. Many thanks. How about a 25 yard penalty for targeting with no suspension unless OBVIOUSLY malicious?