We're halfway through the week, but more importantly, the Ducks are less than a month away from kicking off fall camp. Needless to say, it's going to be a long month. And the only thing to keep us sane is our morning dose of quack.
- The Ducks' world-class harrier Galen Rupp received yet another honor yesterday to add to an already-incredible list of achievements when he was named the NCAA Division I Academic All-American of the Year. Rupp is the first University Division track and field athlete to receive the distinguished award since its inception in 1988. Congratulations to Rupp on a truly remarkable career at Oregon as not only a once-in-a-generation athlete, but an outstanding student as well.
- The Register Guard has a couple football pieces this morning. Rob Moseley lets us know that Oregon has an open Graduate Assistant position on offense, as it looks like previous GA Jim Fisher has moved up to assistant director of football operation/recruiting. Also, kicker Daniel Padilla is going to look to transfer. Padilla, a redshirt sophomore couldn't break into the 2-deep this offseason, and looks to move on.
- George Schroeder also has a profile on QB Jeremiah Masoli, who is looking to be the leader of the offense, both on and off the field. He is working his butt off during the summer, and is doing everything he can to exceed our high expectations. Schroeder has turned in an excellent piece that really captures the attitude of the players during this voluntary practice time, so make sure to check it out.
- BleacherReport.com's Joe Penkala previewed Oregon's wide receivers, giving the Ducks corps a B+ despite the loss of starters Terence Scott and Jaison Williams. If you haven't already, check out Penkala's previews of Oregon's quarterbacks and running backs as well.
- DuckTerritory's tony_d listed the top 25 high school recruits in the Northwest. TE/DE Curtis White from Eugene's Sheldon High School, who has already committed to Oregon, is listed at No. 2.
- ESPN.com's Ted Miller issued his twelfth random thought about the Pac-10 in his ongoing "Don't Be Surprised If..." series: "Stop the run, win the ring." In other words, don't be surprised if each team's success is relative to its ability to stop the myriad of running backs and mobile quarterbacks in the Pac-10. I actually don't totally agree. With six Pac-10 teams in the top 50 in the country in rushing last season, just slowing down the run will be enough.
- GatorSports.com is rolling out its preseason top 25 team-by-team and published its write-up on No. 14 Oregon on Monday. It's always interesting to get an SEC perspective on Pac-10 football.
- Like everyone else in the world, the Pac-10 is now officially tweeting. A post at Pac-10.org invites fans to follow and fan the conference's Twitter and Facebook profiles. Could this be a sign that the changing leadership will lead to a change in culture for a conference that's been run by the same guy for 26 years?
As always, post any relevant links or comments below.
GO DUCKS!