SBNation.com User Blog: MarineCorpsDuck

A Group of 5 Cowards Jumps Montee Ball

MarineCorpsDuck — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:48:07 -0000

A Group of 5 Cowards Jumps Montee Ball

I hope Montee has a quick, full recovery. And I hope the police find the guys who did this and bring the cowards to justice.

Duck fans chant "THIS IS OUR HOUSE" as time expires in the 34-17 Duck win over the fuskies in the...

MarineCorpsDuck — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:33:46 -0000

Duck fans chant "THIS IS OUR HOUSE" as time expires in the 34-17 Duck win over the fuskies in the last game in fusky stadium.

Maehl - "hurts the running game"?

MarineCorpsDuck — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:07:53 -0000

Hello, Battle Red Blog community. As you can probably tell by my screen name, I'm a huge Oregon Duck fan who wandered over from AddictedToQuack to check in on one of my all-time favorite Oregon Ducks. I knew that Jeffery Maehl (as the long-time voice of the Ducks, Jerry Allen liked to call him) was signed to the Texans practice squad during the final roster cuts. I found the information after the jump when I searched this site for updated information on the defensive-back-turned-go-to-wide-receiver, (if you didn't know, when the Ducks ran out of WR's due to injuries in 2007, Maehl burned his red shirt with only 2 regular season games remaining, sacrificing the red shirt he had sat out the first 10 games for, in order to become a WR and help the team out, quickly becoming a fan favorite for obvious reasons).

In searching this site, I found a FanPost about Kevin Walter and whom the fans want to see as a replacement.

The piece about Maehl, which I included below, is confusing to me and I wanted to see what insight you might be able to provide. There is mention of Maehl being bad at blocking, and a liability in both the run game and special teams. This is really curious to me because the Oregon wide receivers are well known for being good blockers. Scott Frost, the WR coach, has a saying that they all say all the time - "if you don't block, you don't get the rock." A big reason that our offense regularly is in the top few teams in the nation at rushing yards per game and "explosion plays" is because our receivers block so well.

Those clamoring for Maehl to be activated are ignoring the fact that he has a deficit of bulk and blocking ability, which is what got him on the practice squad rather than the real squad. He can't do all what Walter did, and he's rather a liability on special teams; more than likely his orders on the practice squad were to lift weights like hell and work on blocking. His catching ability was never in doubt, it's just that for an offense like this one, it's hard to justify keeping a one-dimensional player that hurts the running game when he's in and is thus only useful in crunch-time 4-WR set situations. Promoting him now won't solve much, but I must admit that bringing in a young guy with potential is far more attractive than signing some broken-down free agent.

That being said, I completely realize that the NFL is a whole different level. Maehl is small for the NFL, no doubt, but a big part of being successful at blocking as a wide receiver is technique, relentlessness, and toughness. It's not like the cornerbacks they are normally going to be blocking are the big; a lot of the best cover corners are small-ish (Nnamdi Asomugha is 6'2" / 210 lbs, Darrelle Revis is 5'11" / 198 lbs, Maehl is 6'0" / 190 lbs).

So... the question I'm curious about is:

What leads you to believe that Maehl is not a good blocker? Is it based on an analysis provided by an expert like a coach, scout, etc?

I'm asking this question out of curiosity and with the understanding that there might very well be something I haven't seen or heard that shows this. But I've also seen many times where a players physical makeup and appearance lead people to put him in a certain category even if he doesn't belong in it. Scouts Inc rated Maehl Above Average on Competitiveness/Toughness in their draft analysis, which includes blocking, and said he gives good effort in blocking but his lack of size is a hindrance, but still rated him above average.

If there's an article I haven't read, a video I haven't seen, or some other information I'd much appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction. If there isn't anything like that, hopefully you Houston fans will be able to see ol' Jeffery in a different light.

So...we had our annual white elephant gift exchange at work today. For anyone not aware, in a white...

MarineCorpsDuck — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:40:39 -0000

So...we had our annual white elephant gift exchange at work today. For anyone not aware, in a white elephant gift exchange everyone brings a wrapped gift in. You draw numbers from a hat and the first person picks a gift. They unwrap it in front of everyone. Then the 2nd person can either steal that gift, or select a new one from the pile o' gifts. Then the 3rd person can steal any of the gifts or pick a new gift. If your gift is stolen, you can either pick a new gift or steal someone else's (but you can't steal something back that was stolen from you on the previous turn). Any 1 gift can only be stolen 3 times and after the 3rd time that person gets the gift permanently. Everyone gets to go and whoever went first also gets to go last before the exchange is completed.

I drew #16, so I got to go last. When the #15 person went, he took a new gift and it was this bottle of Ducks & Roses Ale from January 2, 1995...the Ducks' last trip to the Rose Bowl before last year. The employee who brought it in as his gift said he stumbled upon it in his garage. He hadn't even been saving it on purpose; it was just left over from 1995.

I usually walk out of these white elephant gift exchanges with a lame coffee mug or something. This is by far the most awesome white elephant gift ever, and it's going in my Duck man-cave!!!

The Thing I Hate the Most About Civil War Week

MarineCorpsDuck — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:57:09 -0000

The past few years I’ve noticed a trend, and I hate it. Every year during Civil War week, multiple Duck fans sign up for SBNation…but they sign up for BuildingTheDam not ATQ. They go through all of the Baver threads over there and say all kinds of stupid crap. If this is your first year on AddictedToQuack, please do not do this. First of all, trolling other blogs is against the ATQ Community Guidelines:

via i551.photobucket.com

Please, do not troll BTD. Aside from the obvious Juju ramifications and tempting of fate, it just looks stupid. And if you are a lurker, and you sign up for SBNation and make your first post something inflammatory on BTD it just makes you look ridiculous.

I’m sure there’s going to be some good-natured back-and-forth this week. There always is, and it's been fun for the most part. If you want to talk trash, do it over here. But the last thing anyone wants is another CV3000. He tempted the Juju by posting that on BTD and OLive (among other places), and look what it did to the Bavers.

Have fun this week...just don't be that guy (or gal).

Expectations vs Hopes

MarineCorpsDuck — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:29:47 -0000

Getting caught up in the huge win against Stanford and the Ducks' rise through the rankings through the first 5 weeks of the season, I took some time to think about my expectations and hopes for the season. I figured I'd share with the community in case anyone finds themselves in the same boat as me.

Before the first game, after Darron Thomas was announced as the starter, I thought some about what would be a good, satisfying season. Considering the returning starters (and backups, don't forget) that we had returning I started to think of a pretty big number. With a first year starter at QB, however, I came to the realization that most teams with first-year starting QB's go through some growing pains. I thought about it in terms of how my company does performance reviews:

12-0 Outstanding

10-2 or 11-1 Exceeds Expectations

9-3 Achieves Expectations

7-5 or 8-4 Needs Improvement

6-6 or worse Unacceptable

You may or may not agree with my initial expectations, but that's not really what this post is about. I had several conversations with fellow Duck fans today where I felt like "Debbie Downer" as I tried to lower expectations somewhat. This is where the title of my post comes into play: Expectations vs Hopes.

For me, going forward from what I've seen so far, I expect that we finish the season no worse than 10-2. My expectations have risen from my pre-season expectations because Darron Thomas doesn't look nearly as shaky as I thought a first-year starter would. Now, 10-2 is achieving expectations, 11-1 is exceeding expectations, and 12-0 is still outstanding. Getting through games at USC, at Cal, at Oregon State, and Arizona at home undefeated is asking a lot to be expected of any team (not to mention the fuskies & UCLA).

However, I've only talked about expectations; what about hopes? I hope we finish 12-0. I don't think there's anything wrong whatsoever, as a fan, to hope and cheer for a 12-0 season this year. I come to ATQ for rational discussion about the Ducks, but I'm still a fan, so I don't have to think only about WSU next week. I get to think about things like, "would I rather go to the NCG and lose, or beat down the Donkeys in the Rose Bowl?" and "how sick would it be for LMJ to win the Heisman?"

So, what's the point of all this nonsense? The point goes back to the title of my post: Expectations vs Hopes. If you've gotten so carried away hoping for a 12-0 season that it's become your expectation, you are putting yourself in a bad position...if I told you at the beginning of the season that we'd finish 11-1, you almost certainly would have taken that. Enjoy the season, and try not to let yourself get so carried away that an 11-1 season becomes a serious disappointment. Hope all you want, just don't let that hope ruin the fun season ahead for you.

GO DUCKS!

Poll

What do you think?

Good point

25 votes

When did you join the fun police with Quinn? Leave the smart stuff to Matt Daddy, Benzduck and Bill Musgrave

9 votes

I don't care how Matt Daddy justifies it, I hate when TJIII face-guards

25 votes

59 votes | Poll has closed

Why Does Rich Brooks Hate the Ducks?

MarineCorpsDuck — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:25:59 -0000

Why Does Rich Brooks Hate the Ducks?

Rich Brooks, the former head coach at Oregon and Kentucky, has seen the No. 5 Ducks play the past two weeks. "They’re a very, very good football team," Brooks said. "They have a lot of speed and skill on offense and they are very quick on defense. I’m not sure they can stand up to Stanford. Arizona is a physical team, too."

B_AVERS I haven't gotten a full copy of the 2008 Civil War, but I finally found evidence. In the...

MarineCorpsDuck — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:39:28 -0000

B_AVERS

I haven't gotten a full copy of the 2008 Civil War, but I finally found evidence. In the picture on the right, you can see that the guy in white sunglasses is the first E in BEAVERS. In the picture on the left, the guy with the white sunglasses is MIA. He thought his future was so bright, he's gotta wear shades, but apparently he was wrong.

The photo on the left was from this video, at the 1:44 mark. The photo on the right was from this video, at the 2:35 mark.

Poor BAVERS...

Click here for a larger view of the image above.

I put this on AddictedToQuack as well... Is it just me or does the Ducks defensive end, Kenny Rowe,...

MarineCorpsDuck — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:10:59 -0000

I put this on AddictedToQuack as well... Is it just me or does the Ducks defensive end, Kenny Rowe, look a lot like Rasheed?

Starting DE - RoweSheed? Every time I saw Kenny Rowe I felt like I'd seen him somewhere else...

MarineCorpsDuck — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:07:20 -0000

Starting DE - RoweSheed?

Every time I saw Kenny Rowe I felt like I'd seen him somewhere else before. Anyone else see Rasheed Wallace?

The North/West Division Split: Will It Impact Football Recruiting?

MarineCorpsDuck — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:03:39 -0000

Good take by MCD here, definitely deserves the FP. Go Ducks! - dvieira

Since expansion has become reality, there has been a lot of speculation about the potential impact on recruiting, specifically the impact that less trips to southern California will have. While this isn't possible to predict, my initial thoughts were that it wouldn't be too bad for Oregon. I admit that my opinion was formed based on a few assumptions:

1. Oregon gets a lot of players from Northern California
2. Reading/Hearing several times "we don't play much in Texas, and we are recruiting well there."
3. The more knowledgable people here on ATQ don't seem to be too worried about it.

So I decided to look at our current roster and see for myself if my assumptions are true. I was surprised by what I found...

Good take by MCD here, definitely deserves the FP. Go Ducks! - dvieira

So I decided to look at our current roster and see for myself if my assumptions are true. I was surprised by what I found...

Of the players on the current roster on GoDucks.com, the state breakdown looks like this (roster is up-to-date - no Diante Jackson, Masoli, Embry, Tyrece Gaines, Bowlin, etc):

44 - California
23 - Oregon
5 - Idaho
4 - Washington
3 - Texas, Hawaii
2 - North Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, Canada (What are you laughing a-boot?)
1 - Nevada, Alaska, Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Alabama

So I thought back to my assumptions. Do we really recruit well in Texas? The numbers don't support that assumption, but the quality of the players may offset the lack of quantity: LaMichael James, Darron Thomas, and Blake Cantu are the 3 Texas players. What about my assumption that we recruit as much or more from northern California than southern California? Of the 44 California players on the roster, only 17 are from northern California while 27 are from southern California. (NoCal=Bay area & north , SoCal=L.A. area and south)

The numbers don't support my assumption here either, but does the quality make up for the numbers? Of the 27 southern California players, 6 are starters/impact players: Kenjon Barner, Casey Matthews, Kenny Rowe, Eddie Pleasant, Talmadge Jackson, and Javes Lewis, with Rob Beard, Marvin Johnson, Anthony Gildon, Darrion Weems, Ryan Clanton, Charlie Charmichael, Max Forer, Malachi Lewis, Will Wallace, Everett Benyard, and others also on the SoCal list.

So, what do I take from this? Just like I said in the opening, we can't know the impact of having less games in SoCal until it happens. I'm not saying it's time to PANIC, but I also think that ignoring the impact and thinking it won't be a big deal may end up being blissful ignorance in retrospect a few years from now. The fact that we are on TV so often is, in my opinion, more important than playing that extra 2 games in SoCal during a kid's career. In addition, the schools we'd be competing against for these recruits would mostly be in the same position as us: uw, WSU, OS, Cal, and Furd would be in the same position. The recruits that are really worried about being close to home are going to go to USC and UCLA most likely anyway. The impact would probably be most felt in depth, in which we've made tremendous strides over the past few years.

For the record, I'm still in support of the expansion and going to a North/South division split is fine with me. I looked this information up for my own knoweldge, but I thought that if I was operating under these assumptions there could be others who are as well...so I decided to post it here so you can have the information if you want it.

Ducks Football - Deepest Team in the PAC 10?

MarineCorpsDuck — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:26:55 -0000

Ducks Football - Deepest Team in the PAC 10?

If you told me 5 years ago we'd be having a discussion that the Ducks went to the Rose Bowl, I'd believe you. But if you told me we'd be discussing whether the Ducks have more depth than USC, I'd have a harder time believing you.

from Ted Miller via ESPN.com

Blount Article on ESPN - Learning from an Expensive Lesson

MarineCorpsDuck — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:33:50 -0000

Blount Article on ESPN - Learning from an Expensive Lesson

Eight months after punching a foe, RB Blount tries to rebuild image, draft prospects

Kaeding Speaks...

MarineCorpsDuck — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:54:05 -0000

Kaeding Speaks...

Kevin Acee's column.

Schlabach's 2010 Top 25 - Ducks at #4

MarineCorpsDuck — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:26:11 -0000

Schlabach's 2010 Top 25 - Ducks at #4

Holiday Bowl - Why not the Beavers?

MarineCorpsDuck — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:25:19 -0000

I've been asking this question since last week, and still haven't gotten a solid answer. It looks like the Beavers, Cal, Stanford, and Arizona will all be tied at 6-3 in the Pac 10, and 8-4 overall. Everyone has been assuming that the winner of the USC vs Arizona game was going to go to the Holiday Bowl. Assuming USC won, I guess I could follow that reasoning...but they lost. I have no clue why the heck Arizona would be more appealing than the Beavers.

So I did some quick research. I can't find anything saying that this is concrete. That's not to say that I didn't miss something. I did, however, find this interesting article. In it, Clark Siebrand, who is a Holiday Bowl selection committee member, states that he prefers the Beavers in this scenario.

A 15-member committee will meet Dec. 6 and debate the merits of each team. A majority vote determines who they pick.

"That's when we have a big decision with who we pick," Siebrand said. "I personally prefer Oregon State. They haven't been here before. There is a sentiment for Oregon State. If there's a tie they look pretty good."

The article also confirms that there is no "tie-breaker" for the Holiday Bowl. In the event of a tie for 2nd, they can pick whoever they want. So...am I just missing something that says that Arizona is going for sure, or are people just making an assumption? I hope for the latter, and I hope to see the Beavers in the Holiday Bowl.

At my company, managers have to send an e-mail to everyone when we will be out of office so people...

MarineCorpsDuck — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:22:03 -0000

At my company, managers have to send an e-mail to everyone when we will be out of office so people know. Here's what I send to my whole company.

Dennis Dixon on ESPN.com's main page.

MarineCorpsDuck — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:21:09 -0000

Dennis Dixon on ESPN.com's main page.

Phil Steele's pre-season predictions

MarineCorpsDuck — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:32:16 -0000

Phil Steele's pre-season predictions

From his Aug 10, 2009 overrated/underrated teams post. I doubt I have to tell anyone here which category he puts the Ducks in.

"Teams that are in the Top 25 that I feel will not be ranked at the end of the year.

Oregon – The Ducks have just 9 returning starters and have only 1 returning starter on the offensive line and just one on the defensive line. They lost THREE 2nd round draft picks and their head coach Mike Bellotti. Since Chip Kelley took over just before the spring they got rid of a few coaches and I have 7 players from my projected two deep that are circled (no longer with team). They only had 8 starts lost last year due to injury and probably wont be as fortunate. They play Cal and USC at home and Cal has won 3 in a row vs the Ducks and have a large edge in the trenches in that game. They also play Boise St, UCLA, Stanford and Arizona on the road."

Good prediction, Phil.

via youtube Arizona fans rain down trash after losing to the Ducks in double overtime.

MarineCorpsDuck — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:40:30 -0000

via youtube

Arizona fans rain down trash after losing to the Ducks in double overtime.

via www.si.com Ed Dickson celebrating after the tying touchdown.

MarineCorpsDuck — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:18:54 -0000

via www.si.com

Ed Dickson celebrating after the tying touchdown.

Dontae Williams commits to Oregon

MarineCorpsDuck — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:20:06 -0000

Dontae Williams commits to Oregon

According to Ted Miller

I Love My Ducks - Supwitchugirl *Update 11/18 - The university made them take it down from...

MarineCorpsDuck — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:06:59 -0000

I Smell Roses @ Yahoo! Video

I Love My Ducks - Supwitchugirl

*Update 11/18 - The university made them take it down from Youtube, but now it's resurfaced on another site. The cat and mouse game has begun. You may not like this video, but it is getting excellent reviews and comments from a majority of fans. It's not the best song in the history of the world, but it's fun and they did a good job with the production in my opinion.

Ed Dickson - Mackey Semifinalist

MarineCorpsDuck — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:37:21 -0000

Ed Dickson - Mackey Semifinalist

The Lane Kiffin Show

MarineCorpsDuck — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:53:00 -0000

The Lane Kiffin Show

Gameday Open Thread - Early Games

MarineCorpsDuck — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:08:54 -0000

I'll take the initiative and create a gameday open thread for the games leading up to this evening. Will Tennessee be affected by the arrests of 3 of their players? Or will Ole Miss finally show why they were ranked in the top 10 during the preseason? What's going to happen between Iowa and Ohio State? The Beavs play the fuskies at 12:30, and Arizona vs Cal is at 4:00 Pacific. Who's with me in rooting for Purdue and Utah today?

* Editors/Managers - Please feel free to move this or delete it if one of you is putting up an open thread on the main page.

[Ed. Edit - dvieira] bumping to the frontpage. I don't know about you guys, but I'm watching the Purdue vs Michigan State game

Highlight video

MarineCorpsDuck — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:17:56 -0000

Highlight video

Vote for LaMichael for Freshman of the Year

MarineCorpsDuck — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:57:21 -0000

Vote for LaMichael for Freshman of the Year

Spoiler Alert: He had 60%+ of the vote when I voted.

Shirts for the Halloween Game Against USC

MarineCorpsDuck — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:25:38 -0000

Shirts for the Halloween Game Against USC

I found this on O-Live. This guy got the university to license these. A duck reaper throwing up the O? SICK!

Do You Care About the Ducks' Ranking?

MarineCorpsDuck — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:17:20 -0000

The Ducks moved up to #12 in the AP poll this week. 2 teams above them, Virginia Tech and Ohio State, both lost, but they were jumped by Georgia Tech. I was slightly upset about this for about 2 seconds when I realized for the first time in years, I don't really care what the national rankings are.

The chances of the Ducks winning out is, in my opinion, not very realistic. The PAC 10 is tough this year, and every game left on the schedule will be tough. But even if they do win out, so many teams would have to lose that the chances of getting to the National Championship Game have to be 100-1 or worse. It seems at this point that the shoot-for-the-stars goal of this season should be the Rose Bowl. To make the Rose Bowl, it doesn't really matter what the rankings are; it's all about the standings.

I usually watch both the polls and the standings as a season progresses, but for the first time that I can remember I don't really care that much where the Ducks are ranked in the polls. What are you paying more attention to, the ranking of the Ducks, or the PAC 10 standings?

Poll

Where do you stand?

I'm more concerned with the PAC 10 standings than the polls for the first time.

37 votes

I'm more concerned with the Ducks' national rankings in the polls.

11 votes

I'm more concerned with the PAC 10 standings, but this is what I'm normally most concerned with.

28 votes

Huck the fuskies.

78 votes

154 votes | Poll has closed