An old fart's perspective on the recent troubles.

Having read JonathanPDX's very well written FanShot, here's a perspective on the current Troubles from the other side of the generation gap.

As I see it, there are three aspects of the situation.. the Practical (what's the impact on the 2010 season?), the Philosophical (where did we go wrong?), and the impact on The Program.

The Practical

All this offseason garbage will lower the preseason ranking, making a NC run unlikely. But what were the true odds on that anyway, given the unfavorable schedule and the existence of Bama and Ohio State, who will likely run the table?

Given the returning talent, and (the secret weapon that nobody outside Duck World remembers) CK's ability to spin inexperienced straw into gridiron gold, I see no reason to think we won't have a decent shot at a Rose Bowl repeat.

Assuming, of course, that there are no more Dumbo Eruptions.

Still: It's fortunate that all this happened in midwinter. There's a full spring to work out any required offense modifications and evaluate the QB situation, and a full fall camp. In 2007, we had doubts about Dixon. In 2008, we blew through four QBs before settling on a starter in the third game. Those adjustments were made on the fly.. and the team celebrated back-to-back 10-win seasons.  Why would we think the sky is falling now?

The Philosophical

I was one of many Oregon supporters who bent over backwards to give Masoli the benefit of the doubt. My initial reaction, like many AtQers, was one of incredulity -- the situation seemed so ridiculous (why would a player of his stature even think about doing something like that) that I was certain the situation was contrived and overblown, and that Max Wolfard was just another preppy racist fratboy performing some kind of retaliatory act for insults or unknown disrespects. My normal level of cynicism was completely held in check.  I was, obviously, at least partly wrong; I discounted the fact that Masoli and Embry could, in fact, be knuckleheads without impulse control. I forgot that living in a fishbowl doesn't automatically make you an angelfish. (If Bill Clinton couldn't realize this, why would we expect someone barely old enough to drink to "get it"?)

If there was a way to do it, I'd apologize to Max.  (I would not, however, apologize to the many bloggers and re-tweeters and filterless "reporters" who insisted on reporting unsourced innuendo as fact. Regardless of the underlying situation, pseudo-journalism is just flat wrong.)

I hope JM gets his shit together, but it would take longer than the one or two years he has left in the program to get my trust back. We need to move on. I personally hope he transfers, but whatever he does, I wish him the best of luck. I just don't want to see him behind center any more. He's blown his chance.

The Program

It will take a whole lot more problems to sour me on the program, the team, and the staff. Anyone who lived through The Suffering, like JonathanPDX's dad, understands how bad it CAN be..

• No bowls for 26 years 
• 66-0 beatdowns by UW 
• 54-0 beatdowns by USC, at home
• Paycheck games 
• 14 game losing streaks 
• Consecutive 2-win seasons where all you could look forward to was beating OSU and maybe WSU or Pacific 
• No TV coverage 
• Half-empty Autzen
• Second-rate cheerleaders and lousy marching bands in yellow sport coats
• General laughing-stock status.

We aren't headed back there, folks. And we aren't even looking at a UW- or WSU-style short-term death spiral.

Let the media and the idiot blogging fans of other programs say what they will. There's _nothing_ CK could have done yesterday that would have made any difference to them, just as there's nothing you can say to a Husky honk when they respond to yet another stomping by dragging out Don James or even Gil Dobie.  Masoli suspended for the season? "But he can redshirt! Kelly will just change his mind again! Out of control!" LMJ and Beard suspended for a game while Alonso gets a year? "They're breeding misogynists down there! How dare they mistreat their women? Inequal treatment!!" 

Don't listen to them. And don't let them bait you. IGNORE THEM. One thing is true: These people hate to be ignored; it drives them crazy. (Especially the Boise State honks.) If these types of comments bother you, stay away from the oregonlive and ESPN Conversation sites, where most of the comments are either bait or the opinions of very casual fans without any level of credibility. Stick to AtQ, or get a premium membership at someplace like educk or DSA, and stay off the free boards. 

I'm proud to be a follower of a program that has Chip Kelly, and Mike Bellotti, and the 95% of the players who do understand how they are supposed to behave and have learned to control their impulses. The other 5% are being dealt with appropriately, and significantly more severely than they would have been at almost any other school.

To sum up.. everyone just relax, take a deep breath, enjoy March Madness, and trust the program.

Things are decidedly not out of control.