Viking Duck

Having masticated this idea for a few days, I'd say that I'd love to see Mariota have a successful run as a starter, wherever it might be. But, I also think he's a smart and driven guy who will be able to take a career as a top backup QB and come out if it as a wealthy man. If nothing else, completing a touchdown pass to yourself will live on in my memory 😄

Thanks as well to Joshua for the article! As for Jon's obscure point, I feel like they have one of the real nationally-recognized leaders in the strength and conditioning field *still there in the athletic department* in Jim Radcliffe. We can read this older FishDuck article to remember this, and it's still true: Jim Radcliffe: the Man Who Makes Oregon Go | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM A look at the importance of the strength and conditioning coach at Oregon -- Jim Radcliffe I don't remember the precise details, but my feeling at the time was that he was somewhat cut off from football when Taggart came in and brought the S&C coach who put several players in the hospital, and that separation has remained. Perhaps he could have a bit more of a direct role again? Nothing against the Mustache or the current S&C coach for the ducks, but lean in on his expertise.

I think it would be a good place for him to land, if Seattle does pick him up. Join up with Ugo >.>

I think when millions of dollars and the evaluators/coaches/GMs jobs are on the line, it's easy to talk yourself out of choosing someone when you are faced with a group of players who have all been standouts in college football. It would probably make an interesting psychological study 😄

It seems like he's the one this year who is getting the buzz of 'why he should not be ranked so high' - not an uncommon thing for guys who are projected in the way too early drafts as being top 5. As to giving up on plays too easily, I have no idea about that to make a reasonable comment. From a purely selfish Duck fan perspective, this is my current fantasy: Tib falls all the way to 17, which puts a chip on his shoulder and inspires him to become a hall of fame edge rusher, playing for years on the same team as his former college teammate and fellow hall of famer Herbert.

I say yes, unless it will cost more to participate than they bring in. Even if it's break even, why not. I'm sure the players have worked very hard over the season and a post-season tourney is a chance for them to have some fun and go for some bragging rights, even if it's the lesser tournament.

I was around while he was with the Blazers but a little too young to remember any of it at this point. I think he's entertaining as a color commentator; I'm with @WiseKwacker on thinking that having a beer with him would be fun! I would take 10 games with Walton in the booth before one with Dick Vitale, for whatever that says about me.

My sympathies to him and his family.

I have a feeling that it will be imitated in some form by every major program soon, but it's really nice to see that 'cutting edge' of being the first. As for that cat, I am sure that it STILL managed to land on its feet.

My son is going to be a senior in high school and I discouraged him from playing football, for precisely this reason. He's a smart kid, and a better student than I was in high school TBH, and he's got a much better chance of getting a good job/bright future through academics than through trying to become a pro athlete. I do realize the inherent hypocrisy of this, since I still love watching college football, but that is just the truth of my decision. I still remember (amazingly) getting pinned between a couple blockers during a practice scrimmage play in high school, after which the blocking fullback gave me a wicked helmet to helmet hit as he was blocking that hole. Not only did the world spin around for a few minutes, but I literally saw black and white, no color, during that time. Very surreal! Knowing what we know now about concussions and long term brain damage, I shudder to think about that. Of course in those days (80's) I shook it off and was in on the next play. 😕

Thank you. I am very far from being a legal expert, but in 'water cooler' discussions I have got the feeling that some people still look at it as some NCAA regulation that can be changed or modified. A very decisive supreme court decision essentially means that NIL is, if not the law of the land, at least the yardstick that any changes to NCAA rules have to measure up to, and there is no getting around that fact.

Oh I missed that connection to your nickname. But in general I was just thinking it would be a common 'disinformation' campaign, aka fake news. Invented narrative: Obviously the only reason why UO is better than my team (insert PAC 12 team here) is because Knight is bankrolling them to buy a championship; evidence is that Wilcox would not agree to follow their corrupt bribery schemes (inferred by his declining the job) so they hired some disreputable YOUNG coaches from across the country. Then feed that to an audience inclined to be receptive to that narrative, hoping it will spread and be elaborated on. A technique practiced by corporations, governments, and political parties everywhere 😄

Do you mean that all of those quoted posts were from the same account/person?

Oregon State = FishPlaytypus I think! Or FishRodent (added)

It's always going to be a tug between the (admirable) desire to make the game safer and the fact that it's an inherently violent game. If the administrators REALLY wanted to put student-athlete safety above all else, there is a game called flag football. I think they are torn between the idea of more safety, trying to keep the game true to its roots/what is popular among the public, and the fact that they can't afford to kill the cash cow. As... Jon Joseph has supposed (if memory serves?) if CFB moves towards collective bargaining and a more businesslike model regarding player compensation and perhaps transfers, then the ones actually playing the game will have more of a voice in this conversation. I also think that NIL is a genie that is not going back in the bottle, due to stare decisis.

One of those moments when you have to thank your lucky stars you are not posting a story on FishDog about how you became a Husky fan 😛 For the die-hard fans who have stuck with them through thick and thin, I would be unhappy about how things have been going and worried about the future.

The photo that @30Duck included is absolutely fabulous!

I honestly don't follow UCLA closely enough to have much of an opinion about the roster so I rely on your analysis for that, but I think Chip is obviously the type of coach who will usually get the most out of what he's got. With a very easy OOC schedule, all they have to do is get one game over .500 in conference to match last-year's record, so that seems like it would be a good bet to me.

I think almost all of us would love to see MM have a mid-career resurgence - I know I would! Unfortunately I think he fits the old stereotype of a 'running QB' that he will get too banged up playing with NFL players. Maybe just from bad luck, but hopefully if he gets in the right scheme that keeps him healthier, he will find success.

"The Transfer Portal is the new normal in college football." - That says it right there, Joshua. Excellent article!

Born in Eugene at Sacred Heart Med Center (parents were poor grad students who made the trip to the hospital in a freak snowstorm with an almost broken down car, according to legend, and were convinced the birth was going to happen on the side of the road in a snowdrift.) I grew up in Portland but they are die hard Duck fans to this day, and the first game I can actually remember as a youngster is sitting and freezing to death during the Toilet Bowl, and I probably only remember it because of how much suffering was involved. How could I be anything less than a life long Duck fan with that background?

Until the pandemic rolled through, I was working for an UC (not in the Pac 12) in a program that pulled in exclusively international students. One thing that would have swelled the ranks of students and ensured that we had a leg up on other universities around the country is if the UC I was working for would give students who successfully completed that program a fast track into being accepted as admitted students, assuming they met the other academic requirements. It seemed like a no-brainer; The UC system is always struggling for money and wanting to expand enrollment and money; international students pay through the nose and no doubt fund a lot of things that domestic students do not, since they are not sucking up scholarship and state money. It's a net income gain for UC, and UC is well-known around the world, and in high demand. It was proposed repeatedly to the president of that university and the leadership group. However, politics got in the way. 'Our mission is only to serve as many California residents as possible... ' even though adding one of our students would infuse money into the system and take none away, allowing more California residents to be admitted. Still, no go. The Cal State university system has no problem doing it, and their programs are still pulling in international money through that type of program, whereas the UC program I was in got shuttered in 2020, laying off over 50 people. The whole point of this rant is: do not expect that logic and financial sense will sway the UC system, and by extension I think we are seeing this play out in the Pac 12.

I will join in the chorus of 'great post!' I don't feel I have enough expertise to speak to a lot of that, but it does match my general impressions. I think I've made that point before on this forum regarding the 'miss' rate of NFL quarterbacks. When real experts whose entire well-paid jobs (the people evaluating talent for the NFL) miss on their predictions for so many quarterbacks, all of whom have many hours of tape in college to evaluate in addition to the combine and physical tests... ... it's not surprising that the high school rating 'racket' has a lot of misses too. One reason I felt that 'wait and see' was good advice for TT, rather than clamoring for him to start the first game he was eligible for. In most facets of life, there is nothing wrong with spending a few years honing your craft behind a more experienced technician. Of course, we all want to have that exceptional youth who can jump to the front of the line even over a competent QB, but those are few and far between in college football. Sometimes the athletes who make it to the professional ranks are the ones who have the 'resilience' to stick with a difficult situation and master it. I feel like that is often lost in the current football culture.

I was wondering why you seemed to be so MEH about it 😄 For me, I was thinking local kid & family ties, and it never hurts to have some depth even if he ends up backing up the talented youngsters. I probably was not paying much attention to it, but there must be some reason you say 'enjoyed it.' Social media comments I assume? In any case, in the new free-agency era of college football, I expect that it will be a recurring theme of players who once snubbed (or were snubbed by) a school transferring over some years later. NFL light?

I'd like to see our pass-catching, tall tight ends used in the red zone by working the formation to get them isolated on a db and then run a corner or fade route, with a QB accurate enough in timing and placement to put it in a position where the TEs can use their height to get the ball. That (in my non-expert imagination) is one of the things I imagine when I hear pro offense these days, thinking of Gronk and Brady, but I saw Herbert scoring touchdowns with the exact same play. On defense, I'd like to see more consistent pressure on the quarterback than I think we've seen over the last couple years, and that keeping up a positive turnover ratio and reducing 3rd down conversions by the opposition.