The Pac-12 Network ran a ”Mariotathon” on Friday as tribute to Oregon’s All American quarterback Marcus Mariota and a prologue for the Heisman Trophy Award ceremony tonight on ESPN. The Heisman candidate has enjoyed an all-you-can eat awards buffet, becoming Oregon’s first ever Walter Camp Award, Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award winner. Mariota also received the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award and the Johnny …
Defense Wins Championships?
Is this statement a little dated? Let’s be honest — when you watch the Oregon Ducks, what is the first thing you see? An up-tempo offense that gets the job done, or which uniform they will be wearing this week? The Ducks are peaking at just the right time this season thanks to the exceptional effort on all sides of …
Two Reasons Why the Cardinal Defeated the Ducks in ’12 and ’13
It’s game day Duck fans, is anyone as excited and anxious as I? As I read through some of the news articles regarding today’s game I am finding so many different views and so many different opinions of what should be looked for in this Duck/Cardinal match-up. In an article on ESPN’s Pac-12 blog, Five Things to Watch: Oregon-Stanford, the …
Why the ESPN-SEC Conspiracy is Nonsense
The release of the first playoff rankings for 2014 saw three of the top four spots being taken — not surprisingly — by SEC West teams, and the other by the unbeaten defending national champion Florida State Seminoles. It also saw its fair share of fan conspiracy theories, especially from those fan bases whose team is currently on the outside …
Stanford Is Oregon’s Kryptonite? Five Reasons Why ESPN’s Ted Miller Got It Wrong, and Why the Ducks Will Win
If I hear ESPN’s Ted Miller (God bless him) refer to Stanford as “Oregon’s kryptonite” one more time, my head may explode – you know, like the planet Krypton. The problem here is that Miller’s analysis is distressingly superficial – disappointing in a writer normally given to scrupulous accuracy, so much so that I’m normally prepared to ignore his annoying …
Follow the Money: The Heisman, SEC and ESPN
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out Television as we know it today exists only because major corporations are willing to pay for the privilege of telling people how and what to think. From the Buick ads with the annoying music to the AFLAC Heisman Award to the Amway Coaches’ Poll to the Rose Bowl Presented by Northwestern Mutual, college football carries no exemption …
Moving up the Leaderboard in College Fantasy Football
Well, it was my best week yet. Not by much, only three points actually, but it was enough to vault me to the very top (No. 1, baby!) of the Fans of Oregon Ducks group. Out of 2,658 people, through four weeks, I’m the cream of the crop. Out of the millions of people that play ESPN’s College Football Challenge, I’m …
Three Predictions Kirk Herbstreit Wants Back
It would be quite a mixed bag to be a nationally recognized TV analyst. Private flights, shocking paychecks, and tailored suits would often be overshadowed by ignorant twitter fights, unfair accusations of homer-ism, and those pesky “expert” picks gone wrong. It isn’t easy to have your opinions be so publically on the record, and you and I should be grateful …
Ayele Forde: The Hidden Gem
The Duck offense is one of the greatest in the nation, and their defense continuously backs it up year after year. But, there’s another part of the game that many of us either tend to forget or take for granted. You know it — special teams, baby! Special teams are just as important to a team’s success as the offense and defense. …
2014 Predictions — Part One
Boys and girls, fall camp has begun in the world of college football. This starts the official countdown until footballs are kicked off of tees and soccer is kicked back to Telemundo. Your friends at FishDuck.com have been hard at work consulting with the finest and the most brilliant minds in college football … We are here to bring you predictions …
A Letter to the Assumers Out There: Assumptions Lead to Misconceptions
As a student who has been here for four years coming up on his fifth, you wouldn’t believe the amount of horrible rumors and nonsense that I’ve heard — not just about the football players that we value so highly on the field, but any other student-athlete who walks around this campus. Let me give you a little background before …
Ted Miller, Einstein, Receivers and Relativity
In a June 27 analysis, ESPN’s Ted Miller rated Oregon’s receivers as “We’ll see.” Ted awarded “Great shape” to receivers for Stanford, Arizona, WSU, USC, ASU and the Berkeley Bears. UCLA, Utah, Washington, OSU and even Colorado got “Good shape.” That left only Oregon to receive the dreaded “We’ll see.” Einstein and I disagree. Just as the theory of special …