March Madness is upon us! And that means that work will grind to a halt on Thursday and Friday as we watch our brackets fall apart. Should be fun.
- The Oregon women's indoor track and field team won their second straight national title, led by Jordan Hasay, who set the school record in the mile, leading the team effort in a 1-3-4 finish in the event. The even gave Oregon 21 points at the time, and effectively put the meet out of reach. The Ducks ended up with 67 points. Runner up Texas had only 38. Congrats to the Oregon women on a spectacular performance! Go Ducks!
- The basketball season isn't quite over. The Ducks have accepted a bid in the CBI and will host a first round game against Weber State on Wednesday night. I wasn't optimistic about Oregon's chances, considering they had a losing record, but their Pac-10 tournament surge and brand new arena made the Ducks an attractive option.
- Oregon baseball ended the weekend on an emphatic note, whooping BYU 10-0 to sweep the series. Christian Jones struck out 13 in 7 shutout innings, and the Duck bats tied their highest run output of the season. It's been a rough couple weeks for Oregon baseball, and the team has definitely felt the pressure. Hopefully this sweep will give them momentum and confidence moving forward.
- What would a quack fix be without another 'street agent' piece? Thayer Evans at Fox Sports is getting in on the action this time with an in-depth four-piece series on Will Lyles, Lache Seastrunk, and 7 on 7 camps. The first piece looks at Will Lyles, and asks if he's the most powerful street agent. The rest of the series is linked on the sidebar of the article. Though this series is long, it's worth a read, not just for what the articles say, but for how they are framed. There is much criticism of Lyles and other street agents, and it all comes from high school coaches, or Texas assistant Major Applewhite, while support of Lyles comes from the athletes. While these articles are meant to be critical of street agents, they actually make me pause. The criticisms in these pieces are from parties that have a lot to lose as they lose their importance in the recruiting game. I don't view that as very reliable. There's little doubt that street agents need to be investigated and the recruiting process needs to be more transparent, but the criticisms seem to be out of self-interest rather than for the good of the recruits.
What's your take on the street agent issue after reading these pieces? Leave your thoughts in the comments. GO DUCKS!