Augduck

Pat Kilkenny is 100% right about Phil changing the trajectory but what Nick Daschel fails to realize is that while Phil was changing the trajectory OS sat and watched. That's called being stupid. In the business world if your competitor offers a particular set of goods or services and you sit and watch him/her, chances are you will be out of business pretty quickly. Daschel is a beaver homer 100%. I get that but he is also a big time whiner.

I have to admit and I may be swatted down here, but hear me out. I was sort of glad when Lanning curtailed the dancing during Shout. I get that it's a spirit thing and a way to get the crowd fired up but as DL said, during that time they are trying to coach the guys up and they should be paying attention. Not in anyway trying to take the fun away but the team needs to be focused. We saw what lack of focus did in 2016 and at times under the previous coach. My two cents.

A few months ago I started growing tired of Deion and his act. Now this. He needs to grow up NOW! He positions himself as a mentor to these young men. Encouraging fighting is not what a mentor does.

I like this! I suspect our brethren in Corvallis, Seattle and Trojan land are gnashing their teeth and muttering about Phil buying 'them' anything they want. There are RUMORS that there is one going up in Dallas as well.

There's a whole lot of humor here. I mean are these people (SC fans) that self absorbed???? They seem to have a very short memory, i.e. Varsity Blues, Reggie Bush etc. I guess the old axiom applies: “Jealous persons are always in search of imaginary slights, which they magnify into crimes.”

This is a tough one for sure BUT everyone in the conference knew (or should have known) this could happen. It's not like this hasn't been an issue that's been discussed and analyzed a million ways to Sunday for a long time. I understand the disappointment for sure but at the same time these people, ADs and Univ Presidents are getting paid big bucks and with the exception of a few who were not in place, they let Larry Scott run amok and turned their noses up when Texas and Oklahoma wanted to join the P12. They knew all the cards were on the table and when Kliavkoff could not come up with a deal other than the less than optimal Apple streaming thing, the writing was on the wall. I get that OS is upset and frankly Scott Barnes ranting about travel to the east coast is a bit shallow. Did he really think that the Apple deal was going to hold the conference together???? If he did then he is not in the right job. Say what you will about Colorado (and they have made their fair share of bad decisions) but they saw the writing on the wall. And Barnes can whine all he wants, but if it were OS they would have jumped too and not given one iota about Oregon. I honestly hope OS lands in the B12. I think that would be a great fit for them. I agree that Smith is a decent coach and they are on the upside now and hopefully they have some options other than the MW.

Can we just call them the most aggrieved fan base in all of college football??????

That beaverblitz poster gives new meaning to 'I have no clue about this whole thing and my hatred of the Ducks is more important than caring about my own school/teams.'

Meeting of P9 presidents and ADs is slated to start at 8am according to all the twitter 'sources'.

David Marsh- you are 100% correct in your assessment about DL's pay increase. It was donor funded by a 'pool' of donors. Again, (please don't take this as me beating up on the former coach) while DL did not share any great revelations regarding the team yesterday and yes, he hedged on Ferguson's status (he should be good to do based on what I have heard) it was just refreshing to listen to Dan yesterday. He does have energy and a spirit about him that is infectious. Yes, he speaks 'coach talk' but he comes across as happy. I know Mario did not like the press and especially Crepea, but he just never came across well when dealing with the media. Maybe he is better at it in Miami . I sensed Dan really meant it when he said he wanted to be at Oregon for the long haul and it truly does sound like anchoring his family at this point in his life is very important. Will he have more growing pains, sure he will and I am sure (unlike his predecessor) he will own them and learn from them like he did last year.

I was told the players grew very weary of Mario the last year. They saw the game plans that exhibited no creativity and they also saw the chasm that developed between the coaches. Mario had his buddies and the others were left out. Case in point, very few went to Miami with him. Other than Salavea, Mirabal, Feld and Woodiel none of the others went with him. Yes, some got head coaching jobs but none took the big money to go with him. Mario and Moorehead were barely speaking at the end of the year. I raised a point in another thread that also stood out for me which is the culture. Mario talked about culture and family but I don't think ever really knew how to cultivate culture and impart a family vibe. Mario was always the smartest man in the room and I think the players picked up on that. I THINK Dan has developed culture and knows how to create the vibe. A lot has been made over the fact that Nix babysits for Lanning but Dan also has his home open 24x7 for any player anytime. Mario never did that and never had the players to his home. Seems pretty obvious there is a whole different vibe around the team.

Actually they ruled it cardiac arrest. There is a difference: A heart attack is when one of the coronary arteries becomes blocked. The heart muscle is robbed of its vital blood supply and, if left untreated, will begin to die because it is not getting enough oxygen. A cardiac arrest is when a person's heart stops pumping blood around their body and they stop breathing normally.

Unfortunately a lot of things about TFC (the former coach) seem to be coming to light. I know a lot of folks loved Joe Salavea and he of course was a very good person, but his lack of ability to close the deal with recruits on the defensive side of the ball really became obvious last year thus leading to Dan's need to overhaul things. Just my two cents.

This is very old school but I can't help myself- Nix and Bassa both had suits on. Ties and all. Thus far they were the only ones. Not saying the others looked bad, they had on their school logo polos but Nix and Bassa turned it up a notch.

In the famoous words of Albert Einstein: Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.”

Something struck me this past weekend as I saw the Instagram and Twitter posts from various players and Lanning about the volunteer thing they did on Saturday. If you did not see it or hear about it, in conjunction with the Home Depot, the team gathered at Autzen and built beds for kids living in shelters and homes without beds. The charity is called Sleep in Heavenly Peace and the premise is no kid sleeps on a floor. After the volunteer activity the players gathered at Lanning's home for what appeared to be a BBQ lunch and activities such as swimming, basketball etc. It struck me that Mario always talked about 'family' and 'culture' and how the team needed to be a family but I never saw him do anything that fostered those things. One of the things I know Lanning specifically wanted when he came to Eugene was a home that would allow him to have the entire team there for events,meals etc. When he first got here he moved to a temporary place in south Eugene and would have the team over on a regular basis based on position groups. He was waiting to find a home that was larger. The point here is I do think Dan is building a culture. It's not just talk. He talks about his Get Real team events which are weekly and the discussions CANNOT be about football. They use the sessions as not only an opportunity to gather for a meal but discuss issues outside of sports and football. Obviously I am not an insider but there seems to be some substance here that was lacking previously. Just my observation.

I'll join the fray here. I don't think you do these kinds of thing 'in public'. You call the player into a private meeting and you tell him what is happening and why. No one deserves to be humiliated. Many years ago I had a manager who did this same sort of thing. He would berate, belittle, and demean people in meetings in which the entire staff was in attendance. It was horrible. Luckily I was never on the other end of one of his rants but I can honestly say that those of us who had to witness it were extremely uncomfortable and it created a very hostile work environment. Doing it privately then gives you the opportunity to turn it into a teaching moment for the others. Let's be honest the other guys on the team probably knew the deal. After all is said and done privately, you simply tell the team that said person is no longer on the team due to violation of multiple team rules, multiple times etc.

Have seen the same Nevada Dawg.

Ugh. I would not call UW in Seattle, Utah in SLC and TT in Lubbock easy. USC at Autzen will be a tough one. Yes the vibe will be crazy and if it's a 5PM game the crowd should be well hydrated so it will make for a fun game and on top of that it's in November. This is what I mean about these pre-season drivel, expose's etc. Just a bunch of people sitting in front of a computer and cranking out click bait. Sure there are some that are well done but there are fewer of them than the click bait specials.

Totally agree with your assessment Charles and agree about the defense. And apologies for my typing faster than I am thinking grammar error, they're nor their.

I honestly try not to get too wrapped up in these preseason predictions. Their fun to read and ruminate on for sure but as we know the twist of one ankle can change the whole trajectory.

Very tough situation. I find it difficult to believe that Fitzgerald did not know what was going on. If he truly did not, then he is out of touch with his team and should not be coaching. This type of thing has no place in the game and Fitzgerald knows that. Not attempting to lecture here but the "i didn't know' story just doesn't add up in this situation.

Some 'scuttlebutt' in the twittersphere that he might be flipping to UW.

There seems to be some rumblings out there that the talk of Williams trending away was started by some mods on and MSU board. They seemed to change their tone later because they were wishing death upon the founder of Nike and suggesting that MSU fans stop buying Nike. Not sure how much credence we can put in any of this but when we start wishing death upon our opponents maybe it's time to turn in our 'fan' cards.

I like coming here because I feel there is a reasonable balance. There's good and bad to everything and sometimes in the heat of the moment we lose perspective but I never feel it gets crazy here. In 'some places' the Lanning bashing and the player bashing is beyond bad. This is a place where the conversation is honest and real and yes, we disagree sometimes but I appreciate that it rarely focuses and the poster but on the topic.