The Ducks’ annual spring game was held under sun dappled skies, and in front of 35,000+ fans last Saturday in Autzen Stadium. Early returns on the 2013 iteration of Oregon football indicated continued success based on speed, precision, conditioning, and execution. News from spring games around the country were…mixed.
Texas A & M University: The Aggies of Texas A &M had a very successful inaugural run in the SEC. Quarterback Johnny Manziel (an Oregon commit until he saw a storm a-brewin’ in the Hawaiian Islands…at least that’s the way I like to think of it) showed off lightning quick feet, a strong arm, and a public relations machine that turned Johnny Manziel into Johnny Football into Johnny Heisman. Manziel wasn’t available for spring ball, however. His fame has become so overwhelming that, not only can he not go to class on campus, he has become a recluse in his room. A recent photograph of Manziel shows what can happen when the adulation gets to be too much.
Johnny Football
Auburn University: Spring ball is the least of concerns at the little school near Toomer’s Corner. The NCAA has been nosing around the school for awhile. Unlike some schools, though, Auburn’s fate with the law is always decided before lunch. No one expects that this is the last that the “Loveliest Village on the Plains” will hear from college sports’ governing board. In fact, in preparation for another visit from the NCAA Auburn has replaced spring football with
University of Southern California: Spring ball is being coached by assistants this year as Lane Kiffin is busy being extricated from where he was placed by Matt Barkley.
Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin
University of Washington: Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian has barked out an order that new equipment is to be given to his team just in time for spring ball this year. They’re young, you see, and with young comes a tendency to whine a bit. ”The final score wasn’t indicative of the difference between the two teams,” and “The gap is narrowing between the two teams,” are just a couple of the howlers that have come out of Sark’s kibble hole. So now they get new equipment.
Oh…I’m sorry…you thought I meant new equipment for THE TEAM. Nope. Just for the coach.
Binky
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Kim Hastings is a 1984 graduate of Northwest Christian College. He cut his journalistic teeth as sports editor of a paper in his home town of Fortuna, CA, and, later as a columnist for the Longview Daily News in Longview, WA.
He saw his first Oregon game in 1977 and never missed a home game from 1981 until a bout with pneumonia cut his streak short in 1997. He was one of the proud 3200 on a bitterly cold night in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1989 for the Independence Bowl, and continues to be big supporter of Oregon sports. He is an active participant on the various Oregon Ducks messageboards as “TacomaDuck.”