2002duck

No knocks on the Ducks. The writer described Oregon as having a well-oiled program. An odd time to come to Eugene to write a field mission story.

Ah, I see what you're saying. I'm a bit more selfish. I think of the Pac only in terms of the time we spend in it before Oregon and Washington go to the B1G. So, I'm hoping for the best payouts until we leave, with the lowest exit penalty fee tagged on. As for the Pac after Oregon leaves? That's not much of my concern.

It's good for the PAC as ESPN needs more content, and it probably helps Oregon's hopes to get into the B1G because they'll need more marquee games to fill the good slots.

Finally some good news for Oregon fans. It's been a long time since we've got anything positive to read about.

HS players like to commit to schools that already have a highly ranked class. They want to win championships. If you start to lose top recruits it becomes something like a disease, and other players start to drop. If you lose Dickey, then you could soon lose Dante Moore, and so on. Phil Knight could afford to be patient with Nike because Nike is on top, and every player wants to sign with them anyway. In college football, Oregon is not on top. We're not really even very close to the top. We can't be patient, and certainly can't bank on the transfer market. We need every 4 and 5 star player we can get.

Every four or five star player should have their hands out for NIL money, even if their parents are exceptionally wealthy already. The money goes straight into your pocket if you are 18 years-old. The big programs should all be offering a lot, so if they all came in with close bids it would simply revert back to where they actually want to go, what coaches they like, etc.. The Ducks can't afford to lose players to NIL, we're too small for that, and are in a lame duck conference. If a player takes a big payday it doesn't mean they don't want to hit people and work hard. That's just talk that teams like WSU and OSU tell recruits because they can't afford to pay. Oregon can afford to pay.

UCLA is definitely leaving, and good for them. If Oregon were approached about bailing with USC to the B1G, you'd better believe we would bolt in a split second. The California Regents are peons in the grand scheme of things. Also, UCLA Football is better now, and has a much brighter future than Nebraska, Purdue, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Rutgers. They probably have a better future ahead of them than Iowa as well. If Oregon were invited to the B1G soon, I'd say the top-5 would be 1) Ohio St. 2) Oregon 3) USC 4) Michigan 5) Penn St.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. I could see it happen in 8 years or so if we don't go to the B1G or make some sort of alignment with Atlantic Coast teams. You'd have to bring in UW at the very least. You couldn't have Oregon out on an island in the SEC. I bet it would get a bunch of resistance from Alabama and Auburn, though, because they'd proably get pushed to the SEC East if the SEC kept adding teams out West.

I have slight sun fatigue from playing golf at Laurelwood twice today, and glossed over the language in the poll. My brain read "Oregon should join the BIG-10" and I voted for the first option. I immediately realized my error. I would have voted for the third option- to wait for an invite to the B1G. If I had voted for option 3 it would be in the lead (as of the time of this writing). The irony is that option #1 is my very last choice. I'd rather Oregon be independent and get modest to meager TV payouts for their games than join the BIGXII. B1G > PAC 10 > PAC 6 > Independent > ACC > BIGX11

Are we not paying close to that?

The B1G doesn't care one little bit about California's regents, nor should they. The only reason UCLA got to go is because they wanted USC, and taking the whole LA market made much more sense, especially considering logistics and scheduling. I suppose having a blue blood basketball program also helped. If B1G were told up front that in order to take USC, they'd also have to take UCLA, Stanford, and Cal- they'd tell the entire state to kick rocks. The California regents and the California legislature... they simply do not matter. This little charade will be over soon.

I haven't been to any NFL Mock Draft sites lately, but I thought the assumption was that Flowe was projected to be a Round #1 pick or #2 at worst in the next draft.

"Talk" being betting lines at an online sports betting site! This is what it's come to for us! Basically it's a gambling site trying to make easy money off of the emotions of desperate fans. The betting line only pays out if one of the schools gets into the Big 10 or the SEC in the year 2022. Yikes!

What I got out of the article was that the writer recognizes that ND owed the ACC absolutely nothing when they joined the ACC for football for one year, yet he goes on to say it sure is darn unfortunate that the ACC couldn't convince ND to join in football (and hockey) permanently, and by doing so be on the same sinking ship the ACC finds itself in. I mean, yeah, obviously. That's why Notre Dame didn't do it. The article doesn't really dive into what Clemson might do, or how things will shake out for the ACC or the PAC- just that Notre Dame has good negotiators.

I love it when writers or critics roll their eyes and deride the most popular sporting league in the United States. I mostly root for the University of Oregon because I attended school there. And though I moved to Eugene near campus in high school (and enrolled at UO while still being in high school), I assign less allegiance to my home city's school than detractors of professional leagues seem to be beholden to. My allegiance is more tied to the actual spirit of studying in the same halls as my peers. I just like sports, and I like sports a lot. And as much as I like the college game for its tradition and good-natured regional rivalries, I don't think hating on the NFL for it's perceived lack of closeness is the greatest take to parrot.

That's how it works. It's like dating 101. The next-best thing often turns out to be the biggest jewel of them all.

That's really too bad. I think UCLA got massaged into all of this. At heart, they are a soft school athletically. A nicer term would be "finessed" or "elegant". These days they win in sports that don't matter, and their legacy is built upon winning in the important sports when nobody was really trying. Some professional athletes still got drunk playing in most major sports even in the 90's. UCLA is hapless. They got a break here. Don't blame them. Just my opinion. Also, I hope ever so dearly that Oregon bolts, and I'd hope people wouldn't begrudge us for doing so.

Well, my uncle was the Blazers beat writer for 20 years for the Oregonian, but they pulled a USC/BIG-10/FOX on him and gave him the slip. He helped get the Portland Tribune get started, and was the sports editor there for ten years or so, but we all know what happens to editor positions in print these days. Needless to say, I haven't had a good "source" in a long time. But I did grow up in Washington, D.C. in the 80's, so I've seen my share of both high-level scuttlebutt and low-life street life. Nowadays I just go to Reddit for up-to-the-minute news and discourse, and then on to fishduck.com for voices of reason.

What's "the PAC"? It rings a bell, but I don't really remember what it was. It's been too long. But seriously, in the worst case scenario where Oregon does not join the BIG-10, the Rose Bowl will most likely not feature the PAC vs. the BIG-10 because the BIG-10 stabbed the PAC in the back. There are hard feelings. The Rose Bowl will probably be rotated into the Playoff rotation, and it might also feature a PAC school (if the PAC exists, which it won't if Oregon and Washington leave) versus an at-large team or a team from any conference except for the BIG-10.

The last time I was roaming the streets the scuttlebutt was that FOX proposed the idea to the Big 10 and USC/UCLA simultaneously.

I don't really begrudge USC and UCLA for bolting. I'm just a bit miffed Oregon and Washington weren't included in the backroom deal. I'm holding out some small hope that the Big 10 made a safe bet thinking USC and UCLA would agree to secretly leave the PAC, and that by getting USC they can rope Notre Dame into the mix, and from there add Oregon and Washington to complete things. Essentially, I'm hoping we're part of the bait. If the Big 10 initially only asked us and USC to leave, I'd expect Rob Mullens to take that in a heartbeat or resign immediately.

Well, to me not going to the Big 10 is not an option. If it comes to it, and it takes $40M upfront to get in then I guess we'd just have to do it. I'd just rather defer or forgo $40M in TV revenue payments than pay an upfront fee. The media and the public would probably cause a stink if teams are "buying their way in" or if conferences are "playing God and taking advantage of schools". Taking $40M less in TV money sounds less scary.

I was thinking that Oregon (not sure UW would do it) should tell the Big 10 members that they will accept a much smaller payout for the first two, three, or four years that they are in the conference. We'd be paid maybe 25% less than the likes of Rutgers and Maryland. That's completely acceptable to me, and might appease Rutgers and UM as they're the ones who might vote against us getting in. I wouldn't suggest that Oregon promise paying a "franchise few", let alone a $40M one. It looks weak and pathetic. You don't want beggars in your conference, it's embarrassing.

Without USC and UCLA the Ducks will have to go undefeated to even be considered for a Playoff spot.

Jon Canzano is a champion for the little guy. He seems to be most interested in talking about anything remotely positive Oregon State does, non-mainstream college sports, and baseball. Every year on his radio/TV show he has his interns conduct a survey on the most popular sports in Portland Metro and in Oregon in general, and every year it is always the same: Oregon Football is #1 by a mile, the Blazers are #2, and then there is a gigantic drop off. Jon invariably sighs and rolls his eyes, and says "Well folks, that's not what this show is all about, I'm here for (insert something about a team or person overcoming adversity)...." Canzano doesn't want to write about the Ducks hypothetically going to the Big 10. He wants Oregon to be more blue collar, to earn it the hard way. He's not a friend of the Ducks.