What the &$%#@!!!

First some Husky fans pay $500 to change the lights on the Morrison bridge to purple and gold (Of course Canzano had to chime in)... And now I start seeing ads for "The Dawg Den" on Ducksportsnews.com? Are you kidding me?


3 words... Thank you Huskies! Cheers to reminding me why I hate you so much and making this rivalry fun again... You've been silent for way too long. Too bad it will be back to normal next year after your QB bolts a year early for the NFL.

In the mean time, keep telling yourselves this is a "trap game." I think we'll find out the truth on Saturday. Go Ducks!!!

A Day with Chip Kelly

Here's a great article from George Schroeder at the Register Guard that goes over one day in the life of Chip Kelly. Gives you a new appreciation for how much effort goes into the head coaching job... "Feeding the tuna mayonnaise"

Chip Kelly on ESPN

Watch more ESPN videos on AOL Video

Breaking Down Some Numbers

I've heard some arguments recently how Oregon hasn't proved themselves in the Pac-10 yet because the teams they've beat are 0-8 in the Pac... But the teams the Beaver's have beat in the Pac-10 are 4-2! I thought I'd look into the 0-8 and 4-2 a little more... because numbers can be deceiving the way you use them.

First and foremost, 3 of those 8 losses are to OREGON!

The remaining 5 are all respectable losses:
2 - USC (who has won the Pac-10 the last 7 YEARS!)
2 - Stanford (who started 3-0 in the Pac-10 before losing to OSU)
1 - Arizona State (who may only be 1-1 in conference but despite how bad ASU has been playing this year... this loss was by Washington State)

Washington State has a bye and Cal & UCLA are playing each other this weekend. That means despite what happens, that 0-8 record will only be 1-9 after this weekend. Still sounds bad, huh?

Let's take this same logic and apply it to the Beavers... The teams they've beat have a record of 4-2 in the Pac-10 (Or 4-0 if not including the Beavers)... Sounds much better than Oregon's 0-8, right?!?

Let's take a look at those 4 wins from Oregon State's opponents (Plus 3 of the 4 are Stanford's wins).
2 - Washington State (enough said)
1 - Washington (Yes respectable this year... but they are still the team that went 0-12 last year).
1 - UCLA (respectable)

Oregon State's conference loss is to Arizona, a team that is 3-2 or 1-1 in conference (that 1 win being over Oregon State and one loss being to... Washington).

So what'd we learn from that exercise?!? Not much, not much at all... but since I'm already this far...


For $hits and giggles, let's take a look at Oregon's non-conference opponents... They are 11-6 (or 10-4 if not including Oregon). So far this season all of Oregon's opponents are 18-15 (or 17-10 if not including Oregon).

***If you exclude the two patsies (Washington State and Purdue whom only have 1 win each and are likely not to beat more than anther team or two) you are looking at an opponents record of the other 4 teams at 16-5 (or 15-2 if not including Oregon).

Take a look at Oregon State's non-conference opponents... They are 10-8 (or 9-6 if not including Oregon State). So far this season all of Oregon State's opponents are 20-14 (or 18-10 if not including Oregon State).

***If you exclude the two patsies (Portland State and UNLV whom only have 2 wins each) you are looking at an opponents record of the other 4 teams at 16-6 (or 14-4 if not including Oregon State).

Both teams seem fairly equal when you break them down like that...

Oregon's Non-conference Schedule (excluding UofO): 11-6 (10-4)
OSU's Non-conference Schedule (excluding OSU) : 10-8 (9-6 )

Oregon's Overall Schedule (excluding UofO): 18-15 (17-10)
OSU's Overall Schedule (excluding OSU) : 20-14 (18-10)

Oregon's Overall Schedule w/o patsies (excluding UofO): 16-5 (15-2)
OSU's Overall Schedule w/o patsies (excluding OSU) : 16-6 (14-4)

So after this long and extensive look at this... Just what have we learned? Mainly that the numbers don't matter yet and won't make complete sense until the end of the season when everyone has had a chance to play one another... Plus I pretty much just wasted 15 minutes of my life... And you wasted 5 for reading this (but what else do you have to do on a bye week?!?).

Nonetheless... bring on the rest of the schedule...
Go Ducks!

Crazy Fans

I would really like to see the followup video where this guy gets jumped for being such an idiot. Yeah, you sure told Spurrier...

Boondock Saints: All Saints Day

Finally, after 10 years after the release of the original Boondock Saints, the sequel will be released in select theaters on Oct. 30th. Here's a link to the trailer. They will have a link to theater listings in the future.

Arrested Development Movie Update

So it's finally in happening... After waiting for all the main actors to jump on board, Mitchell Hurwitz and Jame Vallely are now working on the screenplay for the future film. Production is likely to begin in the Spring.

New Facilities & More

If you haven't been to Oregongridiron.com for a while you probably haven't noticed there are some new videos up.

• One video shows some of the construction and renovation going on the Oregon campus right now.
• There are also a few new motivational videos that were prepared for the games this season and a focus on Oregon's D and LaMichael James.
• Of course there is a (somewhat) new video regarding Oregon's uniforms... 720 combos.

First 2011 Ducks Recruit

Ducks just picked up their first recruit for 2011 recruiting class. Running back Tyson Coleman is 6'2", 200lbs and from Lake Oswego High School. He is considered a 4 star on scout and has yet to be rated on Rivals. He already had offers from Oregon State and Washington.

This is only a week after picking up Nick Rowland last week. He's a 6'5", 300lb 4 star (on both Rivals and Scout) offensive guard from Peoria, Arizona. Ranked as the 3rd (Scout) or 7th (Rivals) best player at his position.

Attitude

So typically this isn't the type of thing I would post for this blog but it really stood out to me when I came across it yesterday. I guess you could say this could apply to anything in life... including how you perceive your sports teams.

Your attitude impacts your life. Your attitude is more important than how intelligent you are. It is more important than your talents, your giftedness or skills. It is more important than your failures and than your successes. It is more important than what other people think or say or do. You cannot change the past. You cannot control what others do. The only think you can do is control your own attitude.

The remarkable thing is you have a choice every day regarding the attitude you will embrace for that day. Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.

Kelly: A Man Of His Word

Despite Oregon struggling during the first 3 games of the year (and the first 3 games under Kelly's tenure), the Ducks are 2-1 heading into a scary matchup with Cal this weekend.

It's understandable that Kelly has been getting a bit of scrutiny (despite the 2-1 start) because of some of the issues the team has had the last 3 games. But the Ducks are still finding a ways to win... Plus, I dare you to tell me this article doesn't silence, or at least soften, some of your bitching.

Worried about the Ducks?

Back in 1994, Oregon started the season 1-2... You know what happened after that. Former Oregon QB Danny O'Neil explains why not to count the Ducks out quite yet.

Weekend Predictions

• Every Day Should Be Saturday expects the Ducks to come crashing back to earth again.
• Ted Miller from ESPN predicts that while Oregon isn't the same team as last year, it's not the same Utah team either... Ducks win by 3.
• The Sports Network expects Utah to roll by over two touchdowns.
• Mr. Pac-10 believes the Ducks will barely squeak out another one.
• Nick Daschel at Buster Sports thinks that if the Ducks don't win this one it's hard to see them achieving a winning record. Ducks in a low scoring game.
• Arizona Star likes the Ducks over the 16 game winning streak of Utah
• Brad Vipperman at Bleacher Report thinks Utah will continue their winning streak.
• Rumors & Rants picks Oregon to win but not cover the spread.
• Jason from the Portland Tribune thinks the home team will win a close one.
• Condotta from the Seattle Times has Utah winning by a touchdown.

Some Links

George Schroeder wrote a great article on reducing expectations yet not being surprised with this Oregon team if they develop into their new roles.. At this point, who knows what the Ducks will do.

Going into the Utah game, here are some defensive numbers.

If you didn't know, Oregon picked up two North Carolina recruits last week. Here's an interesting article on them and recruiting nationally.

While Oregon's opponents have been tougher, Utah is riding into this week's game with a 16 game winning streak.

Blount debuted on the scout team this morning. After breaking up last week's scrum and now practicing with the scout team I believe Blount deserves some much needed respect for rising above the Boise disaster.

Oregon is trying to work Ed Dickson into the offense more after only having 3 catches for 17 yards.

Oregon will likely play the Washington State Cougars at 6:15pm now so that if the game isn't picked up for two of the television windows it can be played on Oregon Sports Network.

Here is this week's football release for Utah.

Uniform Selection

What should Oregon wear (or not wear) with this interactive website. I just want the Ducks to wear something they'll win in this weekend.