Some days a deadline looms and nothing in particular comes to mind. Creative writing isn’t something that can be forced, so when it doesn’t come, I just have to wait it out. As I go through my day, something will organically grow…I hope. Meanwhile: 12:17 p.m. Who knew how much fun compressed air cans can be? As I was pondering …
Measuring Up: Ducks vs. the SEC and other BCS powers
As the 2013 off-season grinds along, it’s high-time to take a look at how the Ducks spring roster stacks up against 24 other programs in the country. After all, the 2012 Fiesta Bowl champion Oregon Ducks were among the very largest in the country a season ago, but has that changed? For reference, this list is assembled using roster data from ESPN.com, …
Jimmie Sherfy has Eliminated His Only Weakness
Ducks’ closer Jimmie Sherfy got the nickname “Wild Thing” because of his long blond hair, his animated demeanor, his follow-throughs on pitches … heck, maybe he howls at full moons. I don’t know the guy. But I think one of the biggest reasons he shares Ricky Vaughn’s nickname from Major League is because his pitches last year were often as unpredictable as …
Comparing Marcus Mariota to One of Oregon’s All-Time Greats
“Johnny Football” may have received the most media hype among an emerging class of elite freshman quarterbacks in 2012 (deservedly so), but Marcus Mariota is arguably the most complete of the batch. The Flyin’ Hawaiian gave the Ducks a seamless transition from Darron Thomas, who had departed early for the 2012 NFL draft. Only the third quarterback in Oregon football …
Remember This Spring Game?
How deep do your memories of Oregon football go? Would you remember anyone from the 1983 season? What about the 1983 Spring Game? If we looked back, who would we recognize? Let’s play Where’s Waldo? with this photo and see if you can guess who the participants are: Likely, you recognize the subject of the red arrow. That’s Rich Brooks. …
Recruiting Update: Helfrich Outdueling SEC for Prime Preps
Football Recruiting Visits With anticipation for Oregon’s annual spring game reaching a fevered pitch, safety Mattrell McGraw (3-Star/River Ridge, LA) quietly made his way into Eugene this past week. “It was beautiful, it was more than I could have thought of,” said McGraw. “I can’t even describe how at home I felt with this whole visit… I felt like I …
Ducks Crank The Offense Back Up In Win Over Portland
So much for cold bats! After struggling to score runs against UCLA last weekend, the Ducks turned their offensive fortunes back around in an 11-7 road victory over Portland. The eleven runs scored on Tuesday more than doubled the runs scored over the weekend against the strong Bruin pitching staff, but the Ducks were able to find a bit of …
Pac-12 Conference Race Update: UCLA Enters the Picture
Over the past few weeks, Oregon and Oregon State have been the two teams atop of the PAC-12 baseball standings, but as the season goes on teams and players get more competitive with one another, and the hunger to win a championship grows more and more with every series. Oregon State is still considered the top team in the conference …
Another Reason to Appreciate “I Love My Ducks”
10 days ago, somebody on YouTube by the name of K Marko released a — how should I phrase it? — entertaining video called “Dawg Bite (VIVA LA STOOL)” about the Georgia Bulldogs football team. Here it is: Just incredible. I first heard about this video while listening to The Solid Verbal’s podcast from last week. TSV co-host Ty Hildebrandt brings …
Spring Game: Things I am Looking Forward To
Courtesy of Kevin Cline Photography It is almost upon us, folks. Finally, we get to experience a little dose of what we all love so much, to get us through the next 4 months. The Oregon Ducks spring football game is this Saturday at 11 am. I will most definitely be in attendance to show my love and to check …
The Oregon Classic: The Inside Zone Read
It makes sense in our offseason to look again at the play that the entire Oregon offense is centered around, and the video that has been seen by so many coaches and fans worldwide over the last year and a half. Has it been awhile? Watch again and remember the fine points that make the Inside Zone Read so important to Oregon, …
Oregon Recruiting Manifesto Part 7: Recruiting Blueprint – The Social Demands
This multi-week series will attempt to take a reasonable, logical and unbiased look at Oregon’s recent recruiting successes and failures while analyzing the program’s recruiting philosophy under Chip Kelly. The series will then look at how that philosophy already has and may continue to evolve under Mark Helfrich before ending with a detailed breakdown of the author’s ideal recruiting blueprint. …
