Give thanks for what?
My friends, on Thanksgiving Week, I have a lot to be thankful for concerning FishDuck.com and all of you! I did not anticipate the comments below the article to become as much fun as they have. We are the only Oregon website that is guaranteed “TROLL-FREE” because I enjoy ruthlessly deleting offending comments that violate our rules.
The result has become quite a high-brow discussion in the comments, which are often are as interesting as the articles themselves due to the high quality of readers that come to FishDuck.com. Something else I am thankful for is all the Oregon fans around the nation who are or have been writers or editors that have become a “Greybeard Duck-Buddy” to me, and I have a blast bantering with them. I just got a call from Greybeard/Writer/Duck-Buddy Mike Ostrom in Dallas Texas last night to discuss the upcoming 2018 Civil War Game …
Thoughts before the game?
I am very uneasy about this game, and should not be. Oregon State has made terrific progress on offense, as shown in coming from down 31-3 against Colorado and winning. If they can do that in Boulder …
The Beavers do, however, have one of the nation’s worst defenses. Once they repair that? They will be a formidable conference opponent for everyone. For now, Oregon should win by a 48-31 type of score. But the question is — will the coaches allow it to happen?
If the Beavers are within 14 points going into the fourth quarter? They can score a bunch of points and win this Civil War Game and deflate much of the progress made by first year coach Mario Cristobal. I worry about a number of aspects of the game, but something that has been demonstrated to me often this season is the inexperience of this coaching staff and how they have navigated the conference games. They have to learn everything for themselves the hard way, instead of learning from the prior experiences of recent Oregon coaching staffs.
Will they truly understand the importance of this game and have our young warriors ready for 60 minutes of spirited play?
I was offered tickets to the game — good ones — but turned them down as the taste of the 1998 Civil War still resides in a corner of my mouth, and I can’t get it out no matter how times I spit. I still replay the horrors of seeing long-time Duck hero Michael Fletcher muff a punt, or Dietrich Moore drop a sure pick-six, or screaming about the Beavers’ defensive holding that the officials called often, but would not on the key third down play in overtime. And then Ken Simonton running down the sideline in front of me …
Just writing that is making me ill.
So — give fellow fans your thoughts before, during and after the game on Friday, and GO DUCKS!
Charles Fischer (FishDuck)
Eugene, Oregon
Top Photo from Video
Bob Rodes, the FishDuck.com Volunteer editor for this article, is an IT analyst, software developer and amateur classical pianist in Manchester Tennessee.
Below is my favorite Civil War Video, and let’s hope it turns out this way!
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Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 38 years and has written reports on football boards for over 26 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports, and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He is single, has a daughter Christine, and resides in Eugene Oregon where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years.
He now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations in addition to managing his two Oregon Football Websites, of FishDuck.com and the Our Beloved Ducks forum. He is a busy man!
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…