Five Football Reflections From Epic Songwriters

Josh Hall FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck 1. “The world is a vampire, sent to drain.” — Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins. My feelings this past weekend after the Oregon vs Stanford tilt on Thursday night are as close a Duck fan could get to having the life blood drained from its body.  I ate and slept less, couldn’t turn on the TV to watch but …

These Ducks Ain’t Dead Yet

Josh White FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck “Was It Over When Stanford Bombed Pearl Harbor?”   Cheer up, Duck fans. Don’t write off the 2013 season just yet. Sure, just like 120 or so of the 123 other FBS teams, those of us perpetually clad in green and yellow have to again come to grips with the prospects of another imperfect season.  A BCS bowl game …

Too Little, Too Late: Stanford 26, Oregon 20

Mike Merrell FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck Despite a gallant 4th-quarter comeback, for the third straight year the wheels came off on the drive for a national championship, in a November game that the Ducks were favored to win.  Much like the USC game of 2011, Oregon was dominated for the first three quarters, finally pulled it together in the fourth but just plain came up …

Oregon’s Elite Defense: Ready or Not, Here They Come

Joey Holland FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline “Oregon only wins because of its offense.”  Everyone knows that, even though it’s not true.  In fact, it is so deeply ingrained in everyone’s mind, that outside of the state, people rarely even bother to consider the Ducks’ D. Regardless of how this season finishes, the 2013 college football campaign has a clear-cut top tier consisting of Alabama, …

Brooks, Musgrave, and the Exuberance of 1989: What Would Duck Fans say Now?

Sean Goodbody History

John Giustina I received the Mighty Oregon DVD as a Christmas gift from my fiance, who knew as well as I, that I would need some Ducks football material to get through the dog days of summer (and neverending baseball broadcasts).  I am just about halfway through the 4-DVD, 7-hour set, and just watched the summary of the 1989 season.  …

Troll Week: Presented by Stanford

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Wikimedia Commons In the modern lexicon, there isn’t a word that reveals one’s level of online presence better than the word “troll.”  (For those unfamiliar with the term, check out Wikipedia’s page on the subject.  If you are still unclear on the definition, find the person in your life that spends the most time on Reddit and have them explain …

Recruiting Analysis: What to Expect Going Forward

Chris Charbonnier FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline The next three months should be an exciting time for fans of Oregon football recruiting.  With national signing day approaching, the Ducks are looking to round out their class with some elite players.  While smart money is on Helfrich and company to put together a group that can rival the 2012 and 2013 classes, there is still a …

Bye Week Viewing Guide for the Discerning Duck

Kim Hastings FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

fantasyfootballwire.com For the player, there is nothing like a bye week to get the aches and pains healed.  For the fan, there is nothing like a bye week to reintroduce your children to Daddy and find out if you’re still married. But you know as well as I that you aren’t going to spend the weekend working on Honey Do’s …

What Oregon Did For the First Time in Six Years, and Other Thoughts From Saturday’s Game

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Craig Strobeck Thoughts from Oregon’s game against UCLA last Saturday: Saturday’s Win Was Much Bigger than People Realize The Ducks had 21 points going in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game.  Since Oregon beat Cal 15-13 in 2010, the following have been the results of games when the Ducks had 21 points or fewer to start the fourth quarter: L, …

Visitors’ Locker Room: UCLA “Not There Yet”

Mike Merrell FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline If you’re expecting UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora to be happy about being tied with Oregon at halftime, forget it! “This was a very disappointing loss,” Mora declared.  ”We didn’t come up here to play close.  We didn’t come up here to lose.  We came up here to win and we didn’t get it done.”  When asked if …

The Fishwrap Pregame Analysis — Brawlin’ with the Bruin — UCLA vs Oregon

Bob Laws FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

This Saturday at 4 pm, UCLA comes to town, licking their wounds after being manhandled by Stanford, and, as they say, there’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded bear.  On paper it would seem that the Ducks are way over-matched on the lines, with the DBs and that UCLA should win the war of the trenches. But that’s on paper. …

The Oregon Ducks, America’s favorite team?

Bob Laws FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

from video In 2012, I had the honor of watching the football season with about 50 US Military Veterans.  As the calendar flipped from August to September, the ratio of fans in that little group was about ten-to-one in favor of NFL ball over college.  These were simply not college football fans, and to them, college was just not as much fun to watch as the more polished NFL. By the …