Got some good quack today, so let's get to it:
- Oregon baseball looks to continue their 5-game winning streak this weekend as they head to Seattleto take on the Huskies. It'll be a great opportunity for the Ducks to position themselves for postseason play, though the Ducks still don't feel comfortable with their postseason chances. George Horton is looking for the Ducks to win both this weekend's series and next weekend's against Cal to feel good about their chances.
- The Oregonian has been doing a great job helping us get to know a lot of the baseball players, and have a piece today and pitcher and occasional shortstop Scott McGough, who pitching coach Andrew Checketts calls Oregon's 'binky' due to McGough's ability to come in and stop the bleeding whenever there's trouble. McGough played some shortstop last weekend with KC Serna suspended and then J.J. Altobelli and Jack Marder getting injured. He played an excellent 24 innings at the position, but his main job is as Oregon's set-up man, where he's pitched 49 innings with a 2.76 ERA. What's great is that we get stories about players like McGough every week, who will do anything to help the team, and this attitude will likely take the Ducks into the postseason.
- Oregon softball is looking to continue their strong season in the Atlanta regional tonight. The 20th-ranked Ducks received an at-large bid after finishing in 6th place in the very strong Pac-10. Oregon has only one player on the team with postseason experience, but they're hoping to shake off the nervousness and rely on the experience that Pac-10 play has given them. Oregon will open the double-elimination regional this afternoon against Auburn at 2:30, and it will be televised on ESPN2.
- Oregon golf started strong in the NCAA Southwest regionals, sharing the lead after Day 1 with three other teams. The top 5 teams in the 13 team tournament will advance to the NCAA championships.
- George Schroeder has a piece today on the search for a new AD. It sounds like the Ducks are looking to have an AD in place by the end of the summer, and will be looking for someone who knows how to run a business. This seems to be a trend recently, with schools like Indiana, Purdue, and Michigan recently hiring AD's for their boardroom prowess, and not for their school or sports ties. Though traditional sports goals will need to be met, many schools look for leaders that can help build and monetize a brand. That's true at Oregon more than anywhere else.
- Lastly, it's the start of summer, which means that football magazines are being released. And Athlon has their capsule for Oregon, who they've rated at #9. While these magazine's don't shed much light on the Ducks, it's fun to see how the Ducks stack up in the preseason. With 8 teams left, the Ducks are the only Pac-10 team ranked by Athlon. It'll be interesting to see how these magazines rank the Pac-10. It seems like the only other team that could be ranked above the Ducks is USC, because Lane Kiffin has such a record of success.
Is USC gonna be ranked ahead of Oregon? Is anyone going to actually be buying these magazines. After Phil Steele's epic failure throughout last season, this may be the first year in a while I don't pick one up. GO DUCKS!