Here we are in late January, and the football withdrawals are hitting hard. What do I do with my Saturdays? I live up here in the cold of eastern Washington, so I cannot just go outside and find a project in the yard to work on. That is still a couple months away. Thankfully, I do have my Seahawks to ...

Some Thoughts as the Football Withdrawals Kick In

3 hours ago, FishDuck Article said:

Here we are in late January, and the football withdrawals are hitting hard. What do I do with my Saturdays? I live up here in the cold of eastern Washington, so I cannot just go outside and find a project in the yard to work on. That is still a couple months away. Thankfully, I do have my Seahawks to ...

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Yes, sharing is caring, and, "Friends are better than ICE CREAM!"

That line comes from a twisted scu-fi shortstop I read about a cloned, purple dinosaur that runs amok in a shopping mall...

Sort of like Indiana did this season.

Thanks Darren for your entertaining article today! Amusing and full of memories and dreams for next season. I always look forward to reading your thoughts.

One of my friends was a walk on D lineman and back then rules prevented him from the training table. So we would go to the local Buffet on South Willamette and eat. He helped educate me on the fine art of layering my plate and multiple trips back to the buffet. Man, could he consume the food! Me being a middleweight wrestler could never keep up with him.

Thanks for the memory!

5 hours ago, woundedknees said:

Yes, sharing is caring, and, "Friends are better than ICE CREAM!"

That line comes from a twisted scu-fi shortstop I read about a cloned, purple dinosaur that runs amok in a shopping mall...

Sort of like Indiana did this season.

Edited 22 hours ago22 hr by Darren Perkins

This 8-month-long football drought really does suck. Can we have an abbreviated spring season or just start the season then and take a break in summer if needed? Long shot I know, but why not, since everyone likes it and there is more $$$ for E$PN and the players...

5 hours ago, Smith72 said:

Thanks Darren for your entertaining article today! Amusing and full of memories and dreams for next season. I always look forward to reading your thoughts.

One of my friends was a walk on D lineman and back then rules prevented him from the training table. So we would go to the local Buffet on South Willamette and eat. He helped educate me on the fine art of layering my plate and multiple trips back to the buffet. Man, could he consume the food! Me being a middleweight wrestler could never keep up with him.

Thanks for the memory!

Thanks!

It's amazing how much guys that age can put down. I remember when I was a student there in the mid-90s , I would load up every term on these coupon booklets that students could pick up at the EMU (the student center) .

They had buy 1 get 1 free coupons for McDonalds and Carl's Jr.. So, pretty much everyday I would scarf down 2 Big Macs OR 2 Western Bacon Cheeseburgers and a large fry, no problem. Just standard eating, didn't slow me down a bit, and never became overweight.

Ah, the benefits of youth.

Man, I could NOT eat that much today if I tried. Thank goodness I learned about healthy eating and nutrition in my mid-late 20s.

Thanks, Darren, for once again Perking Up my day. 😁

Sorry, Brother, but Go Pats!

6 hours ago, Smith72 said:

Thanks Darren for your entertaining article today! Amusing and full of memories and dreams for next season. I always look forward to reading your thoughts.

One of my friends was a walk on D lineman and back then rules prevented him from the training table. So we would go to the local Buffet on South Willamette and eat. He helped educate me on the fine art of layering my plate and multiple trips back to the buffet. Man, could he consume the food! Me being a middleweight wrestler could never keep up with him.

Thanks for the memory!

Darren, please forgive me for going OT.

Smitty, you can debate which conference is better in whatever sport, but there is no debating when it comes to Big Ten wrestling. The Big Ten is on top, and it isn't close. No other conference can take down 😁the B1G.

The Big Ten has won 17 NCAA titles in a row, and Penn State, 49-1 in its last 50 dual matches, is the prohibitive favorite to win the 18th straight this season.

Penn State sends 6 All-Americans in a row out on the mat. Good luck.

If you can do so, watch B1G wrestling expert Shane Sparks when he is interviewed on the B1G Today show by Dave Revsine. Or, catch him when announcing a Big Ten match.

Feeling down? Watch and listen to the High On Life Sparks. Enthusiasm personified.

Dave Revsine has been with the Big Ten Network since it opened shop in 2007, and there is no one Revsine enjoys interviewing more than Shane Sparks.

Rhetorical question: Does Shane look like a wrestler?

WIN Magazine

Shane Sparks more than lives up to his broadcasting name...

By Katie Finn For many wrestling fans, the voice and face of wrestling is Shane Sparks.  What makes this wrestling broadcaster so good and what makes it so interesting are his enthusiasm and apparent

Thanks Darren, they have definitely kicked in. I read your article and then went to the gym where I was promptly asked, hey Frank, when does spring football start in Eugene? I had no idea but when I got home, I used Google Gemini to find out the following: These dates have not been announced yet for the start of practice and the date of the spring game.

I used to find some relief from the pigskin withdrawal season by watching Dana's boys fight their way into the Pac 12 Tournament Championship game and at least win a game or two in the Big Dance. Alas, in what seems like Dana's last season with OBD cagers, not even that tepid form of relief is available. Guess I'll have to dig out the clubs and start working on my golf swing. Spring is just around the corner, ain't it?

Edited 20 hours ago20 hr by Chas Man

I am going to pack the camper and head to Arizona for 6 weeks, the heck with basketball.

Withdrawals from football means a couple Cactus League games, coupled with golf next month. I will then pay attention to spring football practices, and follow that with a fly fishing trip to Cabo for some Rooster fish in May.

Anybody here that enjoys fly fishing, I recommend going after Roosters at least once. Nice weather, and they are a fierce fish to land on a fly rod.

I use Baja Anglers out of Cabo for fly fishing, and have quality rods available if you don’t want to hassle with taking your own gear.

Not a paid advertisement for them, but Cabo does have a small casino downtown, a sports book on site is doubtful, and overall seems pretty shady. Not highly recommended.

Just as August rolls around I will be restless for the football season to begin with high hopes for the season.

While it’s not the real thing, any time I just need a Duck hit, my go to is the 5 minute ‘More Than A Feeling’ video of the 2008 C*v*l War game at Reser. Brightens my day every time.

Ah, remember last year when Deion Sanders proposed that spring practices allow a "controlled scrimmage" with an opponent. Syracuse's Fran Brown said he would be up for it. Then the NCAA awoke from slumber and said no-can-do. Aside from all the logistics of coordinated dates for spring practices, paying for a team to travel, etc., that would fuel the juices of fans a bit.

I wonder, in the never ending search for $$$ from attendance, TV, if that rule may be revisited at some point? On the other hand, seems like spring game formats are becoming unpopular with head coaches who just have a final "practice" instead of inviting fans to a scrimmage.

And, seems a distant memory now, but prior to the 2020 COVID season, the Big Ten at one time proposed playing the 2020 season in Spring of 2021. Really. Ultimately the B1G played conference games only starting October 24.

The Pac12 ultimately decided to play some football starting November 7 with a shortened number of conference opponents.

3 hours ago, Chas Man said:

I used to find some relief from the pigskin withdrawal season by watching Dana's boys fight their way into the Pac 12 Tournament Championship game and at least win a game or two in the Big Dance. Alas, in what seems like Dana's last season with OBD cagers, not even that tepid form of relief is available. Guess I'll have to dig out the clubs and start working on my golf swing. Spring is just around the corner, ain't it?

Yeah, the poor oregon hoops might get me dusting off the clubs as well...

16 hours ago, HDuck said:

And, seems a distant memory now, but prior to the 2020 COVID season, the Big Ten at one time proposed playing the 2020 season in Spring of 2021.

The B10 Commissioner at the time had the mentality of a rock. He is now the Chicago Bears President and threatening the city of Chicago that he will build a new stadium in Northwest Indiana if they don't agree to terms for a new Bears stadium.

That 2020 year the B10 Commissioner said prior to the season, teams had to play at least 6 games to qualify to be champs and possibly a playoff spot. Canceled games did not count. MID SEASON when it looked like OSU would NOT play 6 games, he changed it to 5 games. So when undefeated IU lost at OSU as their 5th game, they qualified. Beat Northwestern (west division champ) in the B1G, beat Clemson and lost to Bama in the playoffs. At the time IU was undefeated when they went to Columbus and lost 42-35 with Michael Penix throwing for 491 yards and 5 TDs.

As far as your hoops team ... too many key injuries have killed your season.