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Morning Quack Fix: A BIG JC Recruit, Plus Summer Workouts For Women's Hoops
by JConant
on Jul 3, 2009 9:19 AM PDT
in Morning Quack Fix
1 comment
Time for a little Holiday Weekend Quack. Happy Fourth weekend everyone - keep it fun, and safe. Seems like most of the writers are taking a break too...
- Always some good football stuff over at DucksTerritory. Competition is hot for the services of 6-7, 310-pound JC o-line recruit Roszell Gayden, and Oregon is in the mix. Another highly-touted Florida athlete has Oregon on his radar...Take a look at 2011 prospect Jabari Gorman.
- A couple women's basketball articles give us a look into Paul Westhead's up-tempo offense and how the Duck women are preparing for the upcoming season. Jason Vondersmith says Westhead is looking to make a quick impact.
- Over at the R-G, Rob Moseley reports that all 10 returning players - including two newcomers - are in Eugene this summer, working out as a team.
- Two Oregon baseball players were named to an all-star team in the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League.
- Oregon women's soccer coach Tara Erickson and freshman Julie Armstrong will represent their countries in international competition this summer.
Ugh...slow news day. If you find something interesting, please post in comments.
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Morning Quack Fix: Looking back and Kilkenny and meeting Gaines and Rice
by jtlight
on Jul 2, 2009 7:30 AM PDT
in Morning Quack Fix
18 comments
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!
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Media Wednesday - Indoctrinating the Youth
by dvieira
on Jul 1, 2009 11:00 AM PDT
in Football
3 comments
We here at ATQ feel that it's very important to start kids on Quack at a very early age. For this week's Media Wednesday, we wanted to give you a view into our Quack for Toddlers program. If you're interested in our showcase for the Junior Quack Club, make sure you click the jump.
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Morning Quack Fix: Two more Ducks fly the coop, not including Kilkenny
by PaulSF
on Jul 1, 2009 7:00 AM PDT
in Morning Quack Fix
8 comments
It's Wednesday already, and if you're lucky like me, you'll be getting this Friday off to celebrate America and all its glory. Since we're technically already over the hump, let's celebrate with a quick quack fix:
- The Oregon football team will be without the services of two more Ducks next season. Dominic Glover and Zach Taylor will not return for the upcoming season, but unlike Oregon's most recent departures, this time it's due to their failure to meet NCAA eligibility requirements, head coach Chip Kelly announced yesterday. After redshirting in 2007 and missing 2008 with an injury, Glover, a defensive end, never saw any time on the field for the Ducks. Taylor, on the other hand, played in all 13 games last year as Oregon's primary long-snapper. I assume he can be replaced, but it's certainly not comforting knowing the Ducks will be employing a rookie long-snapper.
- The Oregonian's Bob Rickert has a brief update on five football national recruits interested in the Ducks, including three we've already mentioned in the last month.
- Oregon freshman golfer Andrew Vijarro won the 100th Oregon Amateur men's tournament at Bandon Dunes on Saturday, becoming the first Duck to win the event since Gregg LaVoie in 2002.
- Apparently Kilkenny didn't wait long to soak in his retirement. He was spotted last night at Petco Park taking in the San Diego Padres' game against Houston. Kilkenny is long-time friends with the Padres' general manager Kevin Towers, a Medford native.
That's all I've got for today. As always, post any relevant links or comments below.
GO DUCKS!
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Morning Quack Fix: More on Bellotti to AD, Rupp going pro and Frohnmayer's retirement
by ntrebon
on Jun 30, 2009 5:12 AM PDT
in Morning Quack Fix
30 comments
Good morning Quack addicts. Here's your latest fix
- Moseley has a blog piece about the Ducks heading into the second week of voluntary workouts. Of note, LaMichael James reports that he is fully recovered from his shoulder injury.
- John Hunt has his own piece on Bellotti's transition into the athletic director role, as he highlights the differences between Kilkenny and his successor. Hunt also includes some insight from Barry Alvarez who, after becomin Wisconsin's all-time winningest football caoch, became the school's AD in 2004.
- Bruce Feldman runs down the top 10 toughest non-conference football schedules for 2009. Oregon checks in at #5. Feldman judges USC's schedule to be the third toughest, with no other Pac-10 teams making the list.
- Ted Miller continues his "Don't be surprised if..." series by looking at which schools might have coaching changes after next season. His conclusion? All ten coaches will be around for the start of the 2010 season. In another blog entry, Miller discusses the standings from the Director's Cup, in which the Pac-10 again had a strong showing.
- Andria Wenzel has a weekly roundup of Oregon baseball players who are participating in summer baseball. Included is a brief update by second baseman Josh Hogan on his time with the Corvallis Knights of the WCL. Highlights include Antony Kreitz who earned Player of the Week honors for the Hawaiian Collegiate Baseball League.
- With his brilliant collegiate career over, Galen Rupp has gone pro after signing with former Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson's management company. Good luck to Galen -- hopefully he will continue to see a lot of success as the next level.
- Finally, the Statesmen-Journal has a piece on the end of Dave Frohnmayer's run as the president of the UO, a position he held for 15 years,
Well, that's about it. Please post any comments or other newsworthy links below.
Go Ducks!
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End of the Pat Kilkenny Era
by dvieira
on Jun 29, 2009 11:00 AM PDT
in News
12 comments
Mike Bellotti will be officially taking over as Athletic Director for the University of Oregon on Wednesday and with that, the Pat Kilkenny Era will be officially over. He didn't even want the job initially, so much so that he tried to lure former UO Football Coach Rich Brooks into taking it. Here we are in 2009, 3 years have gone by with Kilkenny at the helm. Let's take a look at some of the notable efforts during his time.
Landed a $100 million donation from Nike co-founder Phil Knight to construct what would become Matthew Knight Arena
Getting this donation broke down the dam that was holding back the new arena project for years. You can't argue with friends talking friends into spending a bunch of money and that's just what Pat did to Phil. Today, construction is underway for the new arena and whether or not you buy into the politics of how the financing came about, the project is still creating jobs for Eugene and the surrounding areas during a time when unemployment is very high. I wonder about how much money basketball will bring in with the new arena but having a mid-sized stadium in the middle of the state is good for a lot more than just Ducks Basketball Games.
Revived the baseball program after a 28 year absence
I'm not a baseball guy at all. That being said, I gave it my best to follow Oregon Duck Baseball. This was a victory for people that have a lot more invested in the sport than I do. How this plays out long term will be interesting but I take issue with a number of items surrounding baseball's return. First off, the claim by Kilkenny that Oregon State national championships in 2006 and 2007 played no role in bringing baseball back. Right. Sure. Although I buy the argument that college baseball will be a bigger deal in a few years than it is right now, making the claim that baseball coming back at this time is completely unrelated to their national championships and Phil Knight's donation to keep Pat Casey at OSU just isn't believable. Second, what's up with the shady deal of adding in the Eugene Emerald revenue into the projected budget when you don't even have a deal in place for them to play at PK Park? For the Ems, they either need to pony up major cash to revitalize Civic Stadium, pump about $2 million into PK Park to make it minor league baseball compatible or move the team. Counting on this money, when you are already over-budget because of the hiring of George Horton, is funky.
Dropped the wrestling program
Wrestling was never going to make the kind of money that other sports were. Even if you roll with the whole "Oregon's tradition is that there is no tradition!" argument that football uses, then wrestling was definitely on the chopping block. I understand Title IX and the importance of it but this whole situation could have been handled a lot better. I view this as a big black eye on Kilkenny where members of the wrestling team even tried to sue the University in efforts to keep the program alive.
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Morning Quack Fix: Mike Bellotti takes over, Ashton Eaton, and new recruits on campus
by jtlight
on Jun 29, 2009 7:56 AM PDT
in Morning Quack Fix
11 comments
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!
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Morning Quack Fix: Galen Rupp wins again, Q&A with Josh Kaddu, and Akili Smith
by jtlight
on Jun 26, 2009 8:11 AM PDT
in Morning Quack Fix
16 comments
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!
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