When I arrived at Hayward Field in the early stages of the men's discus, a Washington coach and one of his athletes were siting next yo my seats. The Husky athlete was actually sitting in one of my two seats. I told him that he was welcome to stay as my guest but if my friend (AJ) were to show up he'd have to leave. As it turned out, I watched the entire meet with him. To his credit, this young man was a perfect gentleman. We cheered for all of the athletes, but especially enthusiastically for our teams. He knew most of the Duck athletes that are from the state of Washington, and gave them all a good ovation.....we had a lot of fun.

As for the meet.....not much to say, except wow! Never think that this kind of dominance comes from just getting the top talent. That team is exceptionally well coached. Training strategy, and meet strategy are very very important. I believe that Oregon's coaching is the biggest reason for the Duck dominance over USC.

I think that perhaps Mother's Day hurt attendance. It would have been nice to see more fans in the East Grandstands. The athletes are outstanding. From Kyree King to King Ches, and from Deja Stevens to Katie Rainsberger this team is fleet and deep. The field events are flush with great athletes as well. What a day! What a program!

Ducks and Zona from Pac-12 join FSU and Florida to make up the top 4

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Now that the new coaching staff is active on social media (specifically Twitter), we the fan and this site should be a little more dialed into what's happening. I'm not a big fan of Twitter, but there seems to be a lot of activity out there. Coach Arroyo was in Houston. Coach Joe is in Cleveland. Is there a way for the fans to learn anything from that without guessing and researching?

This has been discussed before. But with some players moving on, how many schollies will we have to give out, this cycle?

Thanks:

Rduck

Taking a look at some of the interesting measurements on the first day of the NBA Combine.

NBA Combine: Day 1

After picking up a huge 18 points last weekend, Ducks men are back at it with a point in the hammer throw, and a big 8 points from someone's nephew in the javelin:

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Scott!! What do you know??

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I hear Canzano and lots of other media types, guru's, etc preach for patience with Willie Taggart. Many of them believe a realistic goal should be 6 wins and any ol bowl game. I am a bit more optimistic.We all know that the program a has added some talent and most would agree their is a huge upgrade in coaching as far as energy and work ethic. The one thing I never hear people discuss is that even without the changes and additional talent, this team was one of the youngest teams in the country last season. Last December I felt that even if they had kept Helfrich and company, the natural improvement, even with the questionable culture, would have lead to 7-8 wins.

Here is what I see when looking at the e deep depth chart

offense- 18 of top 22 return- senior losses Dakota Prukop, Cameron Hunt, Zac Morgan, Pharoh Brown
Not only will the returners be better, but all of these senior will be placed on the two deep by better players. Some would argue that Brown is better than any returners, but I see Jacob Breeland as a better player right now.

Defense 18 0f top 22 return- senior losses- T.J Daniel, Wayne Kirby, Aunstin Maloata, Apleu

Again, 18 of 20 players will as a group be much better and all of those leaving should be replace by better players. There is no one on defense that is gone that was very good at all.

I just looked at one two deep at the end of the season so might have missed a couple of guys who were on the two deep at some point, but I'm pretty close here. Some would argue that they are returning a bunch of guys that can't play , but many of these guys are working harder with this staff. Not all of them , but many of them will be much better. I'm happy actually that the media have such low expectations and if I'm wrong and they only win 5 or 6, I'm still going to be patient with Taggart. He and staff and they are monster recruiters. Just saying that the future is bright, but next years team, with the improvement of the returners and a nice influx of talent is going to be better than most so called experts think. If you just add mental toughness, the Ducks probably beat Nebraska, Colorado, and Oregon state last season. Its not like they had no talent. I will go out on a limb and say 9-3.

Oregon Live

http://www.oregonlive.com/recruitin...giles_texas_tech_1000.html#incart_river_index

I guess I have been living under a rock because I just stumbled upon the PK80 BB Tournament set in Portland for next Thanksgiving weekend, in honor of Phil Kight's 80th birthday.

I just bought tix last night.....if you want to go, you should know they are almost sold out.

In case you were under the rock next to me, here is the amazing lineup:

ARKANSAS
BUTLER
CONNECTICUT
DUKE
FLORIDA
GEORGETOWN
GONZAGA
MICHIGAN STATE
NORTH CAROLINA
OHIO STATE
OKLAHOMA
OREGON
PORTLAND
PORTLAND STATE
STANFORD
TEXAS

2018 kid.. weird that its a Safety when the coaches passed on Blaylock..

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2440

Christopher"Rocket"Rainey! Congratulations and welcome to Track Town!
Elite Texas sprinter 10.25 100m PR 5th fastest high school time this season......on a rapid progression...he was almost unknown last autumn. There has been some speculation as to whether he would play college football. He is 205lbs
Huge get, and really great to finally see an incoming elite freshman sprinter coming to Oregon to run for the men
I have decided that, for now, we might consider him a 4 star. There was no wind gauge on his 10.25 100m. So it isn't certain that he ran this in a wind legal time. Still, this is an exciting addition to the UO track team.
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to Army AA

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Just started following 5* PF ducks commit Miles Norris on Twitter.

Michigan State insider on 247sports just put in a crystal ball prediction in favor of the Ducks.

Good news peeps.

http://www.oregonlive.com/recruitin...lashback_top_10_orego.html#incart_river_index

Oregon Live article that ranks the recruits.......including Mile Norris.

I disagree with some of it.

What say you?

Another area our athletic department is meeting or exceeding expectations. This time, in the classrooms.

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Wait? What? A five star basketball commit did not whet your appetites enough?

the Miles Norris commitment was a big boon for the class of 2018. It does not yet mean that every top tier recruit will want to join the flock - but this shows that Altman is beginning to reap the rewards of his fantastic work in Eugene.

I have spoken often of Altman's reception in Eugene; it was much like an Oregon reception would seem appropriate, damp, chilly and overcast. There were images of Tom Izzo dancing in the heads of Duck fans and most looked at this hire with a resounding thud. Most of us did not know much about the guy and were suspicious. After some digging, I was not as perplexed as others, but it took that digging.

I am glad, on some levels, that the higher up names passed; especially Mike Anderson. I just don't think that he would have this program at the same level as what Altman has done. There were many doubts early on as Altman leaned far too heavily on transfer players who were short term fixes. But once he got some stability and a winning tradition built, things have been considerably better and I think they will only get better.

The one thing to like about basketball? The 'close to home' factor is far less constricting to recruiters in this sport than in football. Basketball players are already far more used to travel through their AAU circuits. In addition, the sparsity of positions at each school make leaving the state an almost necessity in many cases.

Football Thoughts

Today I had an interview with Ray Woodie III for Duck Sports Authority. He is a fantastic young man (learned not to call them kids!) which is a tremendous reflection on his family.

The only reason I bring up Woodie again is that he is a 2019 recruit. I used a metaphor yesterday in War Room that I really think is apropos here. With Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich, Oregon assumed the role of 'coolest kid in school' who could arrive to a party late, have all the hot girls come over and ooh and ahh over him and take his pick-of-the litter. The problem with this philosophy is that someone else will always be 'the next big thing' or the hot 'new guy in town' and when you don't recognize that change, you start losing out.

This is not a shot at Helfrich, more of a compliment of how Willie Taggart and staff have changed the vision for the program. They recognize that you have to get to the party early; mingle; meet a lot of people and start developing that relationship. That is why we are seeing so many early offers.

No, making an offer does not mean the staff is working hard, but following up on that offer and developing a strong bond? That takes tremendous effort.

I am calling this segment each Thursday "Thirty Thursday' so I imagine that means I should imbibe in some form of delicious beverage. I have not yet decided what the beverage of choice for tonight will be, but I think I will create a 'Thirsty Thursday' page where I upload images of my choice each week. Just a fun way to pass some time on Thursday nights.

So, while I won't promote my personal blog here, if you want to see my beverage of the day, let me know and I will send you a link. Oh, and if you have a recommendation, feel free to share it with me!

Oregon was in his final 3. I don't know the detail. Maybe Oregon didn't have any space for him...doubtful but who knows. I have heard a rumor about a big time athlete who has given a silent commit....but silent means silent...let's wait and see if it all happens.

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Caught up with the 2019 recruit for his thoughts on recruiting, having a father as a coach and much more:

Ray Woodie III talks summer plans

Here is some info on the event held today and tomorrow.

Ducks well-represented at NBA Combine