It’s Breather Week for the Oregon Ducks, who are fresh off another easy win over Washington State. A never-in-doubt, always-in-the-bag, easy-peasy lemon-squeezy win over the Cougars — who were never in it.
But, since we at FishDuck.com/imaduckfanbornandaduckfanbredandillitalicizeduntilimdead aren’t just Duck fans, but college football fans as well, we wanted to preview some of the conference games on the slate this week. What to watch, when to watch it and some ideas about the thoughts of the Fish from the site of our annual company retreat.
UCLA @ Arizona State: Thursday, 7:00 p.m. This should be an interesting match-up and, initially, there doesn’t seem to be much special rooting interest for Oregon. Until you come to realize what a whiny complainer Jim Mora Jr. is becoming. Google “Jim Mora tantrum” and see what comes up. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Isn’t that amazing? That plus the chance to root against a next-generation Neuheisel makes this one an easy call. Go Devils!
Stanford at Washington: Saturday, 1:15 p.m. You know with the lack of success that Oregon has had against Stanford in the last few … OH, KNOCK IT OFF! We’re talking about WASHINGTON! Remember them?
You know – the fan-base who believes that the last decade of crummy football doesn’t exist because of their “tradition.” The school for which Don James bought a half-championship, and spent the rest of his sorry career teaching late hits. I don’t care how many times in a row the Ducks have lost to the Stanford. (It is only twice, you know.) Go Cardinal!
Oregon State @ USC: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. This is one that creates a little bit of consternation. If Oregon State University wins, the end of the Sarkisian era may start immediately. We don’t want that. If USC wins, Oregon State may not be a “quality win” when we take them down in the Civil War for the umpteenth time in a row. We don’t want that, either. Then too, we have to consider the tender feelings of these youngsters:
Colorado at California: Saturday, 1:00 p.m. It takes a real college football fan to tune into this one. Colorado is having another rough season. They lost their spring game. The Bears, on the other hand. are rallying behind their 2014 slogan: “Maybe Not as Miserable as You Think.” That’s what I call inspiring. I have a friend who is attending this game. His date is more likely to be … friendly if Cal wins.
Washington State at Utah: Saturday, 5:00 p.m. Whew! How is Washington State going to bounce back after the throttling they took at the hands of the Ducks? That is the big question coming into the action this week. While FishDuck.com doesn’t have a huge rooting interest, we would like for the Cougars to regain a measure of self-respect after being dominated. Toward that end we offer to Cougar fans a present, suitable for framing.
Go Ducks! Win the bye!
Top photo by NerdWallet.com
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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.”