Jester

Currently 52 with light drizzle in York, PA.

MaiTai, I’m a little bit of a traditionalist so I believe in honoring agreements, committing to a cause and seeing it through, and being true to my word. I understand where you’re coming from. When people leave us it’s natural to immediately go on the defensive and asked, “What did I/we do?” I think to some degree most of us felt that way when Mario left. Heck, we were all like the Havanna Huckster’s faithful and quasi-attractive girlfriend. Huckster took us dinner, told us we were beautiful, and even said to someone that he would be with us until someone would drag him “kicking and screaming” away from us. Then just like that, BAM! Two weeks before the prom Huckster dumped us for the once attractive slut from the wrong side of the tracks. Thing is, if you look around the college landscape you see this happening everywhere. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of folks at Auburn who are upset with Bo Nix coming to Eugene. What about the Cowing kid from UTEP. Bet the good people of El Paso aren’t thrilled with hearing his name linked to Oregon. Rest assured there will be more. We don’t have to like this part of the game but it’s going to continue to be played. We just have to play it better than others. That’s why we dissect the backgrounds of the guys coming on-board Lanning’s staff. Take a look at the California ties with the coaches he’s bringing in. He understands the need to keep a foothold in this region. The staff that's being assembled will do damage in the future. Let’s see how this plays out and tally the scores at the end of this upcoming and the following seasons. I think we’ll find that we’re doing just fine. Hang in there MaiTai.

Quick review for you. Doesn't appear to be afraid of the middle of the field for his stature.

Bag man super team? Yall got to take a serious peek inside your own house before you concern yourself with others. This is awesome. Let's Go!

Sounds as if our dope of a coach found a way to shunt our players brains from releasing dopamine. This is an outstanding topic. The reason it is so for me is that throughout this past season I wondered why our team (OSU game aside) had so much trouble maintaining it (momentum) for any length of time. I should have opened by answering the primary question. Yes, I believe momentum is real. I’ve played multiple sports (team & individual) and have felt momentum, felt in-the-zone, that feeling of complete confidence that permits your body to re-act freely without hesitation. It is contagious. I bet we can all think of an occasion, perhaps not even an athletic endeavor, where we’ve been with a group of peers and maybe you’re bouncing ideas of one another and before you know it the whole group (even the guy that typically has zero contribution) is just feeding of one another. It’s essentially a pack mentality and everyone is in the mix. But…momentum certainly is fleeting. I don’t know, maybe that’s why “moment” is part of the word. Now let’s circle back to how this ties into my frustration with this team. How many times this year did it feel as if Uncle Mo was completely parked in our corner? Travis Dye just scored to push the lead to 14 points. The Duck just pumped-out push-ups and Autzen is hoppin’. Even announcers would start introducing topics to keep things interesting as the game’s conclusion appears well in-hand. HOLD EVERYTHING! Our fired-up kick coverage team has just taken the field. Maybe they weren’t so fired-up as the other team just ran it back to the 35. 3rd down now. Woops! There’s an interference call because we weren’t taught to locate the ball. There’s a 12 yard run. What do you mean 12 men on the field and can someone tell DeRuyter the TE IS an eligible receiver. Seven play scoring drive that the announcer will refer to as “well-orchestrated”. Now it’s a game again. Just like that we let Uncle Mo sprint from our corner. This happened repeatedly this year and I questioned who to blame. I mean, we have studs at all three levels of our defense! Do they not raise the level of those around them? Is this crew just really not that tightly knit? I hate to think that. Perhaps momentum is something that could have been better filtered from the top down? I could puke my views on this for a while but this teams inability to put their foot on the other teams throat this year just boggled my mind. Key moments when you wanted to see them "step-up" just didn't happen that often. Good teams seize the moment when presented with momentum. If momentum can be fostered from the top down, I hope Lanning & Co. find a way to do it.

Thanks for your comments. It's great to be part of the OBD community. I am enjoying the up-to-date Duck news and reading the opinions of this enthusiastic fan base. I wish. Unfortunately, the only thing Michael Ironside & I have in common is that we are both at least "somewhat" follicly challenged. Apparently, during a parent teacher conference in my early years I was dubbed the class "court jester". The family cut it down to Jester and I often heard them saying "The Jester" when referring to me. Well...that admission may cost me some time in therapy next week. Honesty kicked-in with me in my early 30's and it's been a bloody nuisance.

Georgia players, fans, and public officials (even Congressman Hank Johnson, who still believes the island of Guam may capsize) can throw all the shade they want. It's not going to stop me from shaking my red & black pom-poms for two more boring, Stetson Bennett led, Bulldog games this year. I'm in it to see these perennial underachievers hoist the trophy. After Lanning & Co. make their adjustments from the Conference Championship debacle and stop Bama on the last drive of the game to finally savor the ultimate victory, I want to see & hear the following: 1) I want a close-up of that visor wearing ding-dong embracing our guy while Chris Fowler details Lanning's upcoming new gig as the Field General of the Oregon Ducks. 2). I want to hear words like, "mastermind, architect, and leader" in reference to Lanning being spoken through the tiny pie-hole of the smug ex-Buckeye, Herbstreit. 3.) Last but not least, I want to see Molly McGrath interview Lanning about his (and o.k., the team's) defensive accomplishments and 180 degree turn-around from their last meeting with the Tide. Just one mention of Oregon, please. At the conclusion of this nonsense, Lanning will be coming home a champion. Doesn't hurt to have a National Championship winning coach in-house, does it?

Bullet-point 3 (Recruiting Rankings) was a nice “off-the-ledge” take that is something I personally need to keep in mind. Following the Havana Huckster’s dangling of the Peter Dinklage honorary Hurricane jersey at his introductory press conference, I was pretty bummed. The next kick to the groin was losing a top-tier recruit (TMc) in Jerry McGuire “night before the draft” fashion after having this kid in our back pocket for months. To add insult to injury we lost him to…Arizona! Really? Of course this prompted an immediate check of 247 Sports to confirm my suspicions of a precipitous drop in rankings. I had to keep scrolling and scrolling and SCROLLING until I final saw the green “O” sandwiched between UCLA (45) and Northwestern (47) at number 46. Now I’m into the Christmas cookies, frequent Google ganders for hopeful Duck news, and checking OBD religiously every 30 minutes for a glimmer of hope from you guys. I practically accosted my 65 year old neighbor railing on-and-on about how “it’s all over” and “why would I even want watch football this year?” BTW –my neighbor wouldn’t know the difference between a football and a kookaburra ball. I would pinch myself but I’m old enough to know that the past few weeks happened and what’s transpiring with the program is REAL. So what’s next? What’s next is digesting information such as select material being posted on the ODB board. Those of you who look forward to the future of this team with the understanding that the new regime may actually put our talented cast in the best positions to succeed (for example: NOT dropping KT into coverage on 3rd and long) are spot on. Admittedly, my expectations will be somewhat tempered the next year or two given the transition of the coaching staff, expected shift in X’s & O’s philosophies, and the introduction of our young players. I believe we’re still going to be privileged to watching winning football and perhaps a return to a more exciting style of football that was previously synonymous with the Oregon brand. So, I thank all of you who have been diligent in raising the spirits of doubting Thomas’ such as myself. My feet are once again solidly planted on the ground. Final note – I’ve never been to Autzen Stadium. I think the upcoming season may be the appropriate time to put a check in that box. This group of players deserve appreciation and thanks for hanging in there through what’s transpired recently. The least I can do is show up, have a few cold ones, and stretch my vocal cords with 50,000 plus new friends. Take Care.