To my fellow Oregon fans: I hear you. What we were watching, at times, made us all ill. First, 38 points was not enough to beat Oregon State, and this week, the defense held a weak Cal team to 21 points, and that wasn’t enough, either? The problems are too numerous to list, and I believe the superb community here has covered them all quite well in the comments recently. I am the one on the FishDuck team charged with writing a game recap … and who would want to do that after what we just witnessed?
Oregon is not a very good team right now, and in a normal year, I don’t think we crack the .500 win mark with this team. Sure, Cal is better now than a month ago, but so is Stanford, and we caught a break there. We will have a ton of time in the offseason to look at all the issues, and we will need that time to examine and ponder. But for most fans? They will not spend time pondering the issues with this team. They will just check out and focus on other things in their lives.
And I get it.
Sometimes Oregon fans can be a little scary …
I enjoy the community of people here who share their opinions and their feelings, even though our thoughts are not always pleasant ones. I don’t mind people expressing their frustrations — to a point. At some point, this site is not meant to be a therapist’s couch where you can come to vent your full blast of negative energy. Some of the over-the-top stuff I have already thought of, and really don’t need to read it.
I would say that 98% of the negative comments written on this site are fine, and I do understand that it does help each of us to “let-go,” but it is not healthy for us to read some of the stuff that’s written. I have been going back and forth with one reader this last week about his over-the-top posts and had him step away for a few days. However, upon his return, the dark stuff materialized again in his comments. I spent time writing emails and dealing with him to no avail and, finally, I deleted his account last night.
I am not here to babysit adults.
I put in enough hours and dollars into all of this providing a free website without having the extra burden of haggling with people about how far they went over the line. And regrettably, sometimes they simply cannot see what we see in their writing. This is not what I signed up for in providing this for the community, and do not like the trendline of what I see.
It is great fun to be a part of a bigger fan experience!
Before you get concerned — nearly all that I’ve read on the site is fine. We allow for, and want, player and coach assessments concerning the Ducks’ performance, and we do not allow it to get personal. But something I’ve dealt with before (No. 48 of the rules) is when people are getting excessively negative, and even appear to be enjoying spewing their venom. I don’t want that going on here. There is a difference between sharing negative feelings and commenting on what is happening on offense or defense that’s driving you crazy. The excessively negative or dark comments have no place here.
I want to encourage us to share our joint frustrations, as we are all Duck fans and we are going to need to flock together and remain loyal to Oregon no matter what. One thing I have admired about Beaver fans is that, no matter how bad the team is, a loyal core is behind them regardless. There is honor in sticking by your team during the tough times because anybody can when the times are great.
Will Oregon fans do that now? And how much venting is enough?
Charles Fischer (Mr. FishDuck)
Eugene, Oregon
Top Photo by John Giustina
Andrew Mueller, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in higher education in Chicago, Illinois.
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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…