Drex Heikes

Love this idea. I put Taggart in a box on a shelf and forgot about him. You bring him back with fascinating questions and thoughts. Well said. I wonder what you make of this one other factor: he imploded quickly at Florida State. What problems that he had at FSU might have surfaced at Oregon if he stayed?

Looks like the six people living in Grand Canyon are Husky fans.... and Dawgs also popular on the Navajo Reservation. So they got that going for them.

Excellent uniforms. Bold, the Darth Vader flip side of Storm Trooper combo.

Seems to be a thing with new sportswriters in state of Oregon. I really like Canzano now but when he started out long ago he had similar attitude toward Oregon. New sportswriters come determined to show their stuff by picking on big bad Nike Oregon and leaning into OSU. That will pass—because in the end, a sportswriter’s survival depends on not alienating readers. Give us strong reporting when it’s required and especially if a program is up to bad things. But please, stop with the gratuitous digs and asides in everyday coverage that turn readers away—as this thread proves is happening with Oram. If he doesn’t figure it out soon, he will have people refusing to read him. I was among a big group of friends who refused to read Canzano for several years. Now we’re among his biggest fans.

Well argued and deftly written, Mr Heining. Much to think about. Bravo.

Fascinating. Here’s hoping it pays off. Thumbs up David Marsh. O-line is most important unit on a team (said an old old O-lineman).

Great perspective noting Smart’s first season, Desert Duck. Thank you.

MassDuck, I hear you in the slowly emerging realization that the Ducks might not ever get there. It’s been creeping into my thoughts for a few years: Kelly was an anomaly, not the next step toward a championship. Along those lines, it’s hard to square a 49-3 loss to an SEC opponent with the notion of progress when the Ducks have been competitive in every SEC game for the past two decades. Beat Tennessee twice, split with Miss State, stayed in games til the end with LSU and Auburn twice. Then a 49-3 loss with arguably the most talented team in Oregon history? Jester, I wrote those comments about Nix early Sunday morning (I’m on road with spotty connection) and in hindsight, they seem harsh. I meant to characterize the result not the person. I do not believe in insulting players.

Glad you tackled this head on. I agree with everything you said except for the conclusion. (Smile). Agree that fans give a ton of money in myriad ways that ends up in the pockets of everyone except the players. Agree that the powers that be should find a way for more of their billions to tickle down. But until that happens, the vast majority of players who aren't marketable as stars continue to struggle on middling stipends. When players started their contribution program, I decided: Instead of buying my typical bagful of the latest Duck gear this year, I'll forgo a couple and give the money to the players. I get so much joy from them...why not trade a new sweatshirt and cap for a chance to help out. It's a way to take the money from the clothing makers and hand it to the players directly. Also if I could add....many people say the players are already getting an education and they get stipends. All true. But the reality is, those stipends should be much higher. Not so many years ago a certain high profile Duck and a player destined to become even higher profile were pulled over by the cops. The players had two joints in the glove box. They wanted to sell them to get $20 to go out for beer. You can criticize the judgment of a couple of 20-year-olds. You can also say: maybe we should think about why they needed to do that.

Cardwell because he's got lateral hops to go with quickness and speed. La Mike could sidestep a defender with a lateral hop like no one before or since. But Cardwell's got a healthy dollop of that quick sidestep that makes him dangerous--and tons o fun to watch.

Well, first, it might be true and second, it's his new team. What would we expect him to say? Don't most transfers into the Oregon program to praise the Ducks? Of course they do--and that praise could be interpreted by fans at their old schools as an insult. Rather than inferring from snippets, I will wait until he offers direct criticism of the Ducks -- which he hasn't done. He and his brothers were class acts at Oregon. Maybe we respond in kind? It's not like he transferred to a contender!

Huge Wilner fan. For many years he's been the best reporter in conference on Pac 12 business and operation. Highly sourced and reliable. John C now rivals him on those fronts. As for Wilner's sports predictions, he leans a little into Bay Area teams but nothing like the starry eyed sportswriters in Los Angeles. Have we seen even one story yet tackling the immense displeasure among UCLA alumni about the team's attempted escape to blizzard country? I live here. Waiting.

Thanks to you all. This is such a great forum! I hadn't seen the Devon Allen TD through to his end zone gesture--the hurdle hop? Thanks fo the vid. If any sport tops football for me, it's Oregon track. I've loved that kid for many years. Someone needs to fix the false start ridiculosity that disqualified him from the world meet. Don't care what the computer/blocks system decided. The video replay showed not one iota of movement in the body or feet -- so chalk it up to computer error and go again. Instead, it became the worst possible AI moment: Don't care what the humans saw. Hal has ruled. Devon was hosed, which means we were all hosed.

This is a labor of love by everyone involved. We can share a little love by donating a few buck to help with the expenses incurred by Charles (who has no idea I'm writing this and would probably ask me not to.)

UCLA is likely gone but if so but the wreck they have made of this will linger and not only with the Board of Regents and Gov. Newsom. Many UCLA fans are unhappy--and faculty is surprised to see an athletic department so divorced from the system that it believes it can make a unilateral exit without regents' approval. Newsom's spokesman fired a shot across the bow a couple of weeks ago by noting that the governor had just supported a big new spending initiative for UCLA. With Cal fans and Bay Area politicians up in arms, I expect UCLA will have to pay an exit fee, at minimum.

Fascinating, Charles. Great eye, as always. I expect to see Oregon's front seven tearing up a lot of backfields this season. Fingers crossed they stay healthy.

This seems like huge news for the Ducks and Pac 12, no? ESPN won't have a Power 5 team in the Pacific or Mountain time zones. Doesn't this open the door for the Pac 12? ESPN will have holes in its schedule. Let's see what the new Pac 12 commissioner can do. My hunch is that conference expansion possibilities were also on hold to see what happened with ESPN and Big 10. If ESPN wants Southern California back in the mix, San Diego State is definitely in play.

My favorite dig by a Husky still leaves me chuckling. He said Oregon fans have always been insufferable but once they got a dominant team, they're like a toddler with a chain saw. C'mon, it's funny.

David, this is a great take. Thank you.. I’ve been thinking similar thoughts but using a pro sports analogy. Does college football want to become like baseball, with a group of rich teams with unlimited resources dominating the sport? Or does it want to be like the NFL, NBA and NHL, where the league imposes salary caps and takes other steps to push teams toward parity. Baseball has been ruined by the squeeze on small market teams. The NFL, however, sees small and big market teams rise and fall all the time. I’m with you on the split in college football. I say: let those same 8-10 teams that compete every year for Natty have their own league. Be gone! Let the rest of the teams issue sensible rules on NIL and take other measures to push teams toward parity and let us have “traditionalist” football with a genuine national championship. With all the chaos in the game today, one way to impose at least a little more competition is to adopt a true playoff—a la FCS or March Madness. FCS has a 24-team tourney. FBS could easily do it. But watch the how the 8 or 10 who win it every year fight that. If they go to even 12 teams, they want their big teams to get a first round buy. Because, you know, none of those teams wants to risk an upset. Be gone! Anyway, great piece.

Sorry to swerve from football but Oregon fans who appreciated Sabrina in college but haven’t seen her in the pros have a chance to in season finale on ESPN+ tomorrow. Her team wins, they make the playoffs. IMO it’s worth tuning in just to see what she’s become. She’s quicker with the ball, has greater array of assists and is a rebounding beast. She leads her team in scoring, assists and rebounds and set WNBA record as first player with 500 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in a season. In the key, which she attacks relentlessly, she has a fade away jumper a la Kobe, a brilliant floater and back-to-basket moves that result in scores over much taller players. Watched all of her games this season (WNBA league pass costs whopping $30.) She flirts with triple double in maybe half of the games. No wonder her jersey is top seller in WNBA and is omnipresent at her road games—along with a sprinkling of her Duck No 20. Game at 11 am PDT Sunday.

Right on, Charles! Dillingham is breath of fresh air. I love that he answers questions directly and quickly and simply swats away those he thinks are a waste.. Remind you of any Kelly? As you indicated, the test will be continuing to be relentless with the creative plays when the team sputters for a couple of possessions. Cristobal’s teams would do the opposite. It was like a car stuck in a snowdrift. Instead of getting out with a shovel, the coaches sat there spinning tires, wondering why the snow didn’t remove itself from under the chassis. Hey, if the same 8 plays aren’t working, try number 9 or 10. The Auburn v Oregon game you cited was great example. Dillingham outfoxed Oregon in the end. He got out with a shovel.

Another HR DNC. Flowe is unlike anyone I’ve ever seen at LB at Oregon. Let’s hope he stays healthy. I wonder how NFL teams will evaluate his prospects if he manages to play a full season. Would they overlook his many earlier injuries and take a chance that he could play regularly at the next level or would they want to see him play another year in college without injury?

He’s the real deal, head coach who has proven he can build winners. I expect Huskies to rival USC as most improved Pac 12 team this year. Too bad they don’t play each other. Nicely done DNC.

Oops. Thanks HaywardDuck. That wasn’t ESPN app. Was The Athletic. My apologies. Still learning how to use this iPhone (after 10 years). If you don’t get The Athletic my link was useless. The four Ducks: 4. DJ Johnson 25. Christian Gonzalez 42. Noah Sewell 76. Justin Flowe And I’m with you HD, we haven’t seen Flowe yet and by accounts of his teammates, he’s maybe the best there is, period. Hoping he stays healthy so we can enjoy him for a season.

Great article. And as if The Athletic exists solely to serve your needs, DC, Bruce Feldman just posted his rundown of the top 100 “freaks” in college football. Four Ducks made the list, including ranked as nigh as No 4. All four are on defense. Bruce Feldman's 2022 college football Freaks List: Michigan's Mazi Smith is No. 1 THEATHLETIC.COM One hundred players who showcase jaw-dropping physical traits at their respective programs.