SB Nation User Blog: jtlight

Morning Quack Fix: Looking back and Kilkenny and meeting Gaines and Rice

jtlight — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:02:11 -0000

Good morning all. Every day we inch closer to football season, and are now in July, just weeks away from the start of fall camp, and two months from kickoff. Let's get to today's quack:

George Schroeder continues his excellent coverage of the changes in the athletic department. His article on Kilkenny can be summed up his line, "He leaves behind big shoes to fill. Or a big mess." But no matter your opinion on Kilkenny's job, I appreciate that he understood what he was doing. He brought changes to the department, the true impact of which we won't be able to evaluate for some time. But he was a visionary and got some very big things started. Through his deals, he helped secure the financial future of the athletic department. With all that he accomplished, it's amazing that he was only around for 2 years. Schroeder does an excellent job capturing all of the complexity of Kilkenny and what he did at Oregon, so make sure to give it a read when you have some time.
Moseley is giving us a look at some of the new Ducks, specifically Tyrece Gaines (WR) and Jackson Rice (P). There is a lot of pressure on both players. Rice is expected to start at punter, which is desperately needed after a poor showing of the special teams this spring. Rice is also looking forward to the season opener, as he grew up in Idaho and a Broncos fan. I'm sure that will end shortly. Gaines will have much more trouble catching up with the system, saying, "learning Oregon’s terminology and hand signals has been "like moving to a different country, learning a completely different language." But despite that level of difficulty, Gaines is doing what is needed, working hard. It took Jamere Holland a year to take the work seriously, but Gaines seems to have come in knowing that nothing would be handed to him. And what Duck fans will like to hear most of all, he loves to block, something that is vital for all of our receivers. For more on Gaines, check out this video put together by the Register Guard, it will definitely get you psyched.
Buster Sports has a couple things today. Former Oregon player and assistant coach John McKay comes in #2 in their list of the top 30 Pac-10 coaches. They also run down some of the prop bets in the Pac-10. Notably, USC is 2-5 favorites to win the Pac-10 title, with California and Oregon both around 4-1. But where I think things get interesting is in the Heisman race. Jahvid Best is a 10-1 favorite to win it, while Jacquizz Rodgers is 33-1 and LeGarrette Blount is 40-1. Daschel like Blount, and I can't say I disagree. He could see the ball a lot, and with those odds, might as well put some money on him, if you're in Vegas.

Any other links? Leave 'em below. GO DUCKS!

Morning Quack Fix: Mike Bellotti takes over, Ashton Eaton, and new recruits on campus

jtlight — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:22:27 -0000

It was actually a fairly busy weekend for Duck news, so let's get to it.

Mike Bellotti becomes the Athletic Director on Wednesday, and the George Schroeder of the Register Guard has a long piece on the state of the department and how Bellotti will handle his duties. Despite all that Pat Kilkenny accomplished, there were rumblings around the department that the family environment was gone in pursuit of the almighty dollar. While I think that Kilkenny did what he was brought in to do (start construction on the basketball arena), it will be good to have Bellotti in the lead, and bring some balance to the department.
Ashton Eaton is getting some well-deserved love from the Portland Tribune, which asks, "Is Ashton Eaton the world's greatest young athlete?" While I don't know if I'd go that far, Eaton is just dominant. Only a junior, he took second in the US Track and Field Championships decathlon this weekend, and is an automatic win in any college decathlon.
Rob Moseley has been keeping track of which new recruits on are campus for summer school and workouts. Michael Clay and Tyrece Gaines are in town, but unfortunately Cliff Harris and Diante Jackson are not yet. While there's no reason to worry, with Harris' issues off the field this spring, the sooner he gets to campus and into school, the better.
Justin Roper has announced that he will transfer to Montana. Though not all that much closer to Georgia, good luck to him.
Buster Sports top 30 coaches of the Pac-10 is getting down to the end, with UCLA's Terry Donahue at No. 5.

There's quite a bit floating around, so if there's anything else you'd like to discuss, leave it in the comments. GO DUCKS!

Morning Quack Fix: Galen Rupp wins again, Q&A with Josh Kaddu, and Akili Smith

jtlight — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:28:36 -0000

Happy Friday everyone! Let's get to the Quack.

Galen Rupp ran in Oregon colors at Hayward field for the last time, winning the 10,000 at the USA Track & Field Championships. The win will allow him to compete in the World Championships in Berlin later this year. Rupp has been a huge part of the rejuvenation of Oregon track, and it will be exciting to see him move on to the world stage.
DuckTerritory had another interview with a current player, this time catching up with Josh Kaddu, one of Oregon's linebackers. It's definitely exciting hearing Kaddu talk about how fast the defense is, and I love his closing line: "The hits are coming."
The San Diego Union Tribune has a piece on former UO star Akili Smith, who has learned from his past, and is now working as an unpaid QB coach at Grossmont College. Unfortunately for Smith, he wasn't able to put it all together on the football field, but it's good to hear that he's pulled his life together, which not all draft busts are able to do.
The boys over at OBNUG are playing whatifsports with last years Oregon/Boise game, and it didn't turn out quite how they'd like.
The NBA draft was last night, and we didn't talk much about it with no Oregon players in the mix, but CougCenter, who always does a great job with basketball analysis, has a run down of all Pac-10 players drafted.

That's all for now. If you find anything of interest, leave it in the comments! GO DUCKS!

Ducks unveil new football uniforms

jtlight — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:59:21 -0000

via GoDucks.com, visit GoDucks.com for the full gallery.

View full size photo uploaded June 23, 2009

So, Oregon has unveiled new uniforms. The full press conference can be viewed here under the Athlete Features tab, and full photo gallery of the uniforms can be viewed at GoDucks.com.

But whatever your opinion on the look of the new uniforms, Chip Kelly made clear during the press conference that while you may or may not like looking at them, that's not that point. The main ponit of the uniforms is to increase the performance of the athletes. According to the Ducks press release, the new uniforms are 28% lighter than the previous jersey's put out in 2006. The new materials do not soak up moisture, and use laminates and other materials to provide reinforcement where needed, such as the wings in the shoulder pads. This keeps the jersey's durable while not using any extra weight.

During the press conference, Will Tukuafu stated how they could feel the difference between the new and old uniforms, and that the new ones made it easier to move.

In terms of how the uniforms look, the wings are staying for a few years, and the yellow pants and helmet (along with the blasted flames) are gone. They are replaced by a new "carbon" color, which will likely be featured during away games. Here is what the university runs down the changes:

Oregon will again have green, yellow, black and white as jersey options, but adds a second white top to the mix featuring different accent colors. For pants, the Ducks will choose from green, black, white or steel, which replaces yellow for this uniform cycle. And helmet options now come in green, black, white and carbon. The black and white paint schemes are new for 2009, while the carbon helmet replaces Oregon's yellow helmet.

The reaction so far seems to be mixed, so join the fray leave your comments below.

As far as outsider perspective goes, it's gotta be a slow news day over at Doc Saturday, who devoted two whole posts to the Duck uniforms. The post summing up the changes was only margnially mocking. One thing pointed out, is that the uniforms really seem to steer clear from the bright colors we've seen before (such as the blindingly bright yellow), which is a welcome change.

Poll

What do you think of the new uniforms?

Morning Quack Fix: Michael Clay, Mike Riley, and overrated Utes?

jtlight — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:13:32 -0000

73 days before the quack is plentiful and we never want again. Here's what's out there after the weekend.

DuckTerritory has another interview with an incoming Oregon lineback, this time with Michael Clay, who is already on campus preparing for his first year of Division 1 football. Oregon also looks to be visited at some point by Cal de-commitment and #5 DT in the country Cassius Marsh.
Buster Sports is continuing their countdown of top Pac-10 coaches of the last 50 years, and has Mike Riley at #10. I'm sure this is bound to stir up some controversy. While I am very impressed with what Riley has done, I think that he has to do a few things before being a top 10 coach. He has never reached an upper level bowl game, with his best years resulting in the Sun Bowl. And in the biggest game of his coaching career, his team was blown at at home by 27. Not to take away from what Riley has done, but I think this ranking is simply a case of being enamored with the present and overlooking the accomlishments of past coaches.
JazzyUte over at BlockU asks if Utah is overrated. I tend to agree with Matt Hinton's assessment that Utah will have a very hard time replacing all that it lost from last season's great team. JazzyUte, not surprisingly, takes a more optimistic approach, but hopefully Utah does a great job in the MWC this year after getting smoked in Autzen.
USC hired a new basketball coach over the weekend, getting Arizona reject Kevin O'Neill. The boys over at Conquest Chronicles don't seem too pleased about the hire. O'Neill was not one of USC's top choices, and this definitely seems to be a case of settling, though, USC is not a basketball power, and this may be the best they could hope for.
Phil Steele is continuing his preview with Cal coming in at #9. Here's a link to his magazine preview of Cal.

That's all for now. If you find anything, leave it in the comments! GO DUCKS!

Morning Quack Fix: Braxton Lane signs with Rangers, George Uko looks at Oregon

jtlight — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:21:57 -0000

The quack is a bit late today, but it's still quack.

The big news is that Braxton Lane signed with the Texas Rangers, and will not be coming to Oregon for either baseball or football. While this isn't great news, I had thought that chances of Lane playing football at Oregon were quite slim. He hadn't played football in a year, and was a very promising baseball player. While I believe most of us were focused on his football prospects, he would have been much more important to the baseball team. Good luck to Braxton with the Rangers.
DuckTerritory hasn't been around long, but they sure are pumping out a lot of good recruiting info. They have a few good pieces out today. The first of which covers George Uko, the 15th rated defensive tackle in the country. DuckTerritory is reporting his top 5 schools as "Oregon, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Cal and USC." Uko attented the Oregon coaches half day camp this weekend, and he came away impressed. He also met UO commit Curtis White, who could also play on the D-line. I would love to see those two anchoring the defensive line for the next few years. Uko will be officially visiting Oregon this fall, but had plenty of good things to say about Cal and others, so we'll just have to wait and see.
In other recruiting news, it sounds like the Ducks are starting to recruit two more players. One to QB Bryan Bennett, who isn't an elite prospect, but a very solid one. With a coaches like Helfrich and Kelly teaching him, he could grow into a very very good college QB. Also on the Ducks rader is the #2 receiver in the state of Oregon, Booker Wells. The 6'1" 180 track star has come out of nowhere (only has 1* on scout), due mainly to injury problems. But those problems, he says, have helped him to become a more well-rounded person, something that is always a good thing. Wells sounds like he's one of those under the rader recruits that could do great things, so it'll be interesting to see how things play out during his senior year.
Lastly, ESPN insider is counting down Mark Schlabach's pre-season top 25 with in-depth analysis. Yesterday they looked at Boise State at #14, and today they'll be looking at Cal.
Also, I'm getting incredibly tired of people not thinking about basic issues, but just trying to stir up controversy. Besides the ridiculous "Will Oregon stay healthy" debates, which could be applied to any team in the freaking nation, we get this other crap from Ted Miller regarding player transfers and Tonio Celotto. What's especially mind-numbing about this article is that it totally misses the fact that Tonio tried to get back onto the football team, but was turned down because he was behind academically. If you're going to try and stir up controversy, at least get the facts right.

GO DUCKS!

Phil Steele top 40 countdown: Boise State comes in No. 12

jtlight — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:06:06 -0000

Phil Steele top 40 countdown: Boise State comes in No. 12

Here's Phil Steele's Boise State preview. Note that the link is a PDF.

Morning Quack Fix: Track and field reaction and recruiting news

jtlight — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:53:14 -0000

Well, the NBA season is over, and we're that much closer to college football. On to today's quack!

The big story of the weekend was the NCAA track and field championships. Ken Goe, who had excellent coverage all week long, has a good wrap up of the event. While watching Texas A&M take the title on the final event stings, this is Oregon's best finish at the championships since winning it all in 1984. So while the loss is disappointing, it's important to remember how far Oregon track has come in the past few years, and looks to be returning to its former stature.
The Register Guard also has a bit more from Andrew Wheating, who won the 800m in dramatic fashion, after hurting himself as he went into his kick. He fought the whole way, but said, "I was grateful when it was over and it was a relief to find out I won. I struggled that last 100. I was hoping my calf wouldn’t rip apart … I was gritting my teeth. I just wanted to be done."
It was also a big recruiting weekend. The biggest news in the region is the verbal commitment of Jesuit (Portland) 4* WR Keanon Lowe to UW. He was to go to camps at both Oregon and USC. The commitment of Nick Montana played a large role in his decision.
Meanwhile, two camps were held in Oregon over the weekend. Oregon held it's NIKE camp over the weekend and receiver Booker Wells, out of Grant high school in Portland, was named the MVP. Booker has been a relative unknown, but if he keeps this type of production up during his senior year, could garner some offers from Pac-10 schools. Also held was the Eugene Elite 11 QB camp. Vancouver, WA QB Garrett Grayson made a splash at the Eugene Elite 11, winning MVP honors. He is currently being recruited by OSU and BSU.

That's all for now. As always, leave any news or comments below. GO DUCKS!

Texas A&M sweeps the NCAA track and field championships, Oregon comes in second

jtlight — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:59:57 -0000

Both the Oregon men and women fell to second in the final day of competition at the NCAA track and field championships. Oregon did what they could, but with few competitors today, they simply couldn't add to their lead. Andrew Wheating won the 800m at the line, and Keshia Baker took 5th place in the 400m, getting the women's team 4 points. But in the end, they could not hold off the Aggies, who overperformed in a few key events on the final day, including taking second place in the 4x400 relay to seal the deal.

The Oregon women did as well as expected, but the Oregon men left too many points on the track, ending up with 46 points when they were projected to have 67. Matthew Centrowitz's injury in the 1500m put the Ducks in an early hole, and the Ducks underperformed in other areas as well. It's unfortunate that such a great season had to end in this way.

However, despite the disappointment, this was a great season for Oregon track. We saw some dominating performances, including the twilight run in which the men set the collegiate record in the four mile relay. We saw Oregon sweep the Pac-10 tournament, and we saw great performances by Galen Rupp, who will go down as one of the greats in Oregon history.

So congratulations to the men's and women's track and field teams, and great season and a job well done. GO DUCKS!

Duck Men and Women lead NCAA Track and Field Championships heading into the final day

jtlight — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:43:07 -0000

Heading into the final day, both the Oregon men and the Oregon women are leading the track and field championships, and the possibility for a sweep still exists.

Friday saw Galen Rupp won the 5000m race, after stopping mid-race to fix his shoe. Rupp took 10 points in the event while Shadrack Biwott finished eighth for one point. Cyrus Hosetler came in 4th in the javelin, picking up 5 points for the team, leaving the Oregon men at 36 points on the meet, 20 of which were won by Rupp and Ashton Eaton.

On the women's side, Rachel Yurkovich won her second consecutive NCAA javelin, while Brianne Theisen won the heptathlon, breaking the school record in the process. With a second place finish from Nicole Blood in the 5,000, and a sixth place finish by Kalindra McFadden in the heptathalon, the Oregon women have 39 points overall.

Going into the final day, things are going to get very exciting. On the men's side, Oregon only has two more competitorsm, Andrew Wheating in the 800 and Jordan McNamara in the 1,500. While Wheating should win, McNamara will do well to simply win points. The only Oregon woman left is Keshia Baker, who will compete in the 400.

Unfortunately, Oregon's main competition is Texas A&M, which still has a multitude of competitors. While the Aggie men only have 13 points, they have 4 competitors in the triple jump with 3 likely to score. They also have competitors in the 200, 400, and 4x400. Texas A&M has faltered in the competition, like Oregon, but the Ducks could not capitalize. The final day is sure to be action packed, as track and field news projects Ducks to win 46 to 44.

The Oregon women do not have quite the lead that the men do, as they are up only 20 points over A&M, do not figure to put many points on the board today. The meet's is Texas A&M's to lose, and they are projected to take the title, 50 to 44.

Today's meet should be on CBS (or can be seen online here), with the main track events set to be starting at 12:05 CST. GO DUCKS! Bring home the championships!