Amid the chaos following their game, the two coaches ran toward each other for a common ritual of their profession: the post-game handshake. While this interaction is normally brief and emotionally distant, after this particular game one coach, Arizona State’s Todd Graham, chose this moment to voice his contempt for the coach he was facing, Washington State’s Mike Leach. Broadcast …
My friends, below is an editorial by a man (Jerry Thompson) who has quite a publishing history in the Willamette Valley, is an honorable man and someone who is my friend. I disagree with many of his conclusions, but recently I changed our editorial policy to allow “all” opinions to be published so long as they offer examples or proof …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out No doubt about it. Oregon football 2016 is a mess. Whether it’s football or anything else in life, there’s a point where you’re better off to just call it hopeless and start over. Unfortunately, many see Oregon football as being at that point. The good news is that these “many” with their pitchforks and torches aren’t the …
Mark Helfrich and Oregon football 2016: So much written, so much argued, so much uncertainty. Amidst the turmoil, one thing is clear: The program now stands at a critical crossroads and turns taken here … or not taken … will shape Ducks athletics for many years to come. In short, the Roman Empire is falling and we must decide: Have …
Some of our decisions in life are bad-or-bad such as the upcoming Presidential election. Yet some choices are similar to, “Who gives Royce Freeman a rest … is it Tony Brooks-James or Kani Benoit?” Now that is choosing from good-or-good, as both back-up running backs have done well for our beloved Ducks. Could many of you be in that decision mode when contemplating whether …
A two-and-a-half mile walk from the legendary loudness of Autzen Stadium will bring you to Matthew Knight Arena: a $200-million office for a $2-million-a-year coach. In a few weeks, Altman will be entering his 27th season as a college basketball head coach and his 7th as the coach of the Oregon Ducks. During his career he has won Coach of the Year awards …
For more than a decade, the Washington Huskies watched their hated rivals to the south rise to the upper echelon of college football. This rise was accompanied by the annual beating the Ducks put on the Huskies each fall for 12 straight years. As Ducks fans are painfully aware, the decade of domination over the Huskies has ended. The Ducks are 2-4 and licking …
Having just stepped out of a screening of the film “Denial” in my new home in Seattle, I realized the title sounds similar to a river in Egypt appropriately describes what this writer thinks has infected Oregon fandom. Right now, as I write this and you later read this, in its last performance, Oregon barfed on itself in Autzen Stadium and …
This was a very difficult article to write, as it runs contrary to my core beliefs about the Mark Helfrich/Oregon coaching situation. But like learning football and sharing it with you over the years, as I come into other opinions that make sense to me, I feel compelled to share them. We don’t know the truth, the inner happenings in …
Chip Kelly may be the next Pete Carroll. And by that I mean he will likely be fired soon from the pro ranks. Carroll failed to impress during his first at-bat (6-10, NY Jets, 1994) and boasted only slightly better success during his second attempt at the Patriot’s helm, which ended after his 8-8 finish in the 1999 season. Fourteen …
For those expecting an epic border clash, there was disappointment. For those that were hoping to see a resurgence to save the season, there was despair. For those that predicted a win, there was embarrassment. If you watched looking for discipline and effort, I imagine you turned the channel. On top of that, there was plenty of celebrating in Oregon …
There’s an old saying attributed to English historian and philosopher Thomas Fuller that goes, “The darkest hour is just before the dawn.” I’m sure you’ve heard this saying in one way or another. It’s intended to give hope to those who have none and to those who see no end in sight for their suffering. After this weekend, I think …
