This has been quite the season for Oregon football. Huge up and down swings in emotion, wins and loses. One word can be used to describe it: Tumultuous The Justin Herbert injury was catastrophic, as was the shoulder injury to the greatest running back in UO history, Royce Freeman. Losing players like Charles Nelson for several key games like ASU, UCLA and WSU, prevented …
This is a tale about three head football coaches. They lived and were raised in a state they loved. Energetic, intelligent and highly motivated, these coaches have demonstrated an ability to turn football programs from losers to winners. In a desire to return home and be head coaches in their favorite state, the roads they traveled to get there tells …
This site is all about “Our beloved Ducks,” to quote Charles Fischer, our long standing Zen Master. It’s true: web-foots we are. However, the past two seasons, the Ducks have struggled mightily, and many “die-hard” fans have jumped ship. The question to explore, for those of us who have stayed true, is: Why all the love for the Ducks? What draws us …
Yes, hoops season is finally here. Every team is undefeated, and optimism runs high. In basketball, the Ducks are a bonafide contender again for the BIG Dance under the tutelage and direction of Dana Altman and staff. In his eighth season at Oregon, a tradition of winning and excellence has been established. It wasn’t always that way. Time travel back to his first …
Are the Ducks are doing a “high-wire act,” or are we gonna be walking the plank? Either way, at the season’s midpoint, there is real danger below! We need at least one more victory before the Civil War game. Why Oregon Needs a Signature Win Over 60 players witnessed or played in last season’s debacle. Please, not again. Those verbal commits for …
No one in 1965 said Cassius Clay could beat Sonny Liston, the reigning World Heavyweight champion. The odds were eight to one against the challenger, but Clay trained and thought differently, knocking his opponent out with better boxing skills and tactics. He became one of the greatest fighters of all time, better known as Muhammad Ali. This Saturday our beloved Ducks play …
Fall is both football season and back-to-school time, so let’s grade head coaches in the Pac-12. They need most of the following for success: The late great Bum Phillips said it best about top football coaches: “He can take his’n and beat yourn and take yourn and beat his’n.” The best coaches adapt and mold players into cohesive units, finding …
Every conference touts their league as great: SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC. We will examine why the Pac-12 is far and away the most difficult, challenging league of them all. Coaching. Pac-12 coaches have impressive resumes. First-time California head coach Justin Wilcox (defensive coordinator at Boise St., Tennessee, Washington, USC, and Wisconsin), second-year USC head coach Clay Helton (Duke, Houston, and Memphis), UCLA’s Jim Mora (San Diego, New Orleans, …
Oregon football has a legacy of accomplished receivers. Let’s examine the attributes they have had in the past and what this year’s group needs to continue a fine tradition. We’ll look at the talent side first. Speed Fast is always good. Stretching defenses is critical, and breakaway speed does that in spades! Patrick Johnson and Sammie Parker were past burners …