FishDuck
Oregon Sports Community
Football Recruiting News Oregon’s marquee pre-season commitment is undoubtedly running back Royce Freeman (4-Star/Imperial, CA/Rivals250). Nonetheless, Head Coach Mark Helfrich & Co. remain vigilant and are hot on the trail of another 2014 speedster; all-purpose back Tony James (4-Star/Gainesville, FL/Rivals250). A master of motion plays, James models his game after another player with his namesake; former Oregon tailback LaMichael James. …
feature photo courtesy of Amazing Moments What is it about sports? What is this drive humans have to want to cheer on a team? Few fans personally know any of the players on their favorite team, so it isn’t as if there is a personal connection to cheer for. So why? Why do fans invest so much time, money, effort …
Sanctions. You either love them or hate them. We love them when the teams we hate get leveled by them, and hate them when teams we love get the same treatment. Ironic, isn’t it? But there is something inherently unfair about the way sanctions are carried out, no matter what team we are rooting for. I began thinking of this …
Have you heard the great expression about winning the late rounds of a prizefight? In the post-fight interview you’ll often hear a boxer talk about how he took the “opponent into deep waters and drowned him.” No-huddle offenses want to do the exact same thing, combine speed and conditioning to push a defense past its breaking point. The elite level …
“Recruiting rankings don’t matter”. Typically, this is said by fans after their favorite team picks up a commitment from a two or three-star player who is “underrated”. So, is it true? Do recruiting rankings act as a good predictor of on-field success? I defer to Matt Hinton, who wrote a great five-part series called “Star Power.” A part of the …
When someone mentions the Oregon Ducks, most people think of a fast-paced explosive offense that leaves defenders in a whirlwind searching for their own jock straps as the band strikes up “Mighty Oregon” and the Duck starts doing pushups. Lost in the offensive storm is a secret scarcely ever uttered east of the Oregon-Idaho state line: Oregon has a nationally prominent defense as well. While there are some …
What a week for college football. I saw so many football highlights of hard hits this week on television that I thought the season was already here. The biggest debate this week was who should be ejected for certain big hits over the last few seasons? Of course the controversy was South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney from last year’s Outback Bowl. …
The names of the top Oregon offensive players since 2010 are easy for even casual Ducks fans to rattle off: James, Barner, Mariota, De’Anthony, Darron Thomas, Maehl, Tuinei, Paulson, Lyerla. Others can certainly be put on that list, but those nine are probably the most recognizable. Receiver Josh Huff doesn’t get quite as much hype as those guys, and while …
We as football fans like to have things laid out neatly in front of us. In order to predict what will occur in the coming season, we like to be able to know what we are going to see before we see it. We want to conceptualize what will happen on the field and who will do it. We like …
Three days of good weather in a row has brought the smell of barbecue into my yard. And that’s a good thing. Eating is more than something that I do to fuel the body and stay alive. It’s an art form and a never-ending quest. In 1998 I made a discovery on a drive to San Diego. On the way …
Practices are about to start at Oregon, and the season is just over a month away. I have been driving myself crazy with anticipation for this year. It got me thinking about which games I am most excited for. Which games are the “must watch” games for me this season. So of course, Fishduck.com happens to be the perfect outlet …
Chip Kelly’s first training camp hits full stride today, which is exciting, but it started Monday for rookies and selected veterans like center Jason Kelce, new tight end James Casey, and the quarterbacks. If you want a sense of whether veterans are buying in to Kelly’s system, Kelce and Casey showed up early, which is allowed under league rules only …