Tako Tuesdays: The Therapeutic Value of an Oregon Highlight Video

I had a crap weekend. And it's a natural occurrence. Nobody, no matter how great your life is, goes through their year without the occasional clunker of a day. It could start by spilling your coffee, or tripping down the stairs on the way to work. Maybe you miss the bus and it starts raining. Or maybe you work your ass off all weekend only to get let go from your job, and come home to realize that your computer screen is cracked.

Note: one of those is me. And I don't drink coffee, and it was sunny all weekend. You do the math.

There are many different outlets people have to relieve stress. Some people drink tea, or do yoga. Others work out, hitting a punching bag or riding their bike. Some people drink away the pain. Me? I watch Oregon highlight videos.

YouTube is magic.

No really, it's god damn wizardry. If you went 25 years back in time, and told me I would be able to watch virtually any video clip I wanted to, from the comfort of my own home, for free, I would probably pee on you and cry, both because of the shock of the news and the fact that I'd be an infant. But for me, jumping on YouTube and watching Oregon highlights is an escape. It gets me away from whatever is ailing me, and takes me back to being at R Bar, packed in tight an hour before kickoff, because everyone wanted to watch the Ducks make it to the national title game; or to my house on 19th and Willamette, giggling like a six-year old as we ran up the score against Michigan; or to Autzen, Stanford Stadium, Memorial Stadium, husky Stadium, Martin Stadium, Sun Devil Stadium, Reser Stadium, or the Rose Bowl, all the places I've been to to see the Ducks emerge as champions. I can see old friends; LaMichael, LeGarrette, or Snoop, Joey, DD, or DT. I've talked before about how insignificant sports is in the "big picture" aspect of mankind. But it makes us happy. That's why we watch, why we play, why we talk about it with anyone that will listen.

Being the junkie I am, I'll watch any Duck YouTube video, provided it isn't set to some crappy hip hop or metal song or lists DAT's touchdown against WSU as only the 24th best play of 2011 (that video exists, though I won't justify it with a link). But if I had to make a Top Five, it'd look like this:

5. LeGarrette Blount's TD against fBSU - This was an OSN broadcast, so the video quality sucks. And everyone except the Darron Thomas fanboys tried to forget this game as soon as it was over. The real treat of this video comes 35 seconds in: the endzone angle. Why the Falcon Punch was enough to shoot a talent like his completely out of the NFL Draft is beyond me.

4. The Statue of Liberty Sequence: J-Stew's run, and Dixon's fake - The fake gets all the press, but it doesn't happen at all if Snoop doesn't break four tackles and pick up 15 yards earlier in the drive.

3. De'Anthony Thomas 2011 Highlights - This is something that we didn't spend nearly enough time talking about last month. DAT joined the track team on May 1st. Four days later, he anchored the 4x100 meter relay team that won the Oregon Twilight Meet. He also placed in the top 3 in the 100 and 200 meters. Normal people just don't join a track team, and run three elite races less than a week later. I'm fairly certain that DAT is what was inside Marcellus Wallace's briefcase. And he's gonna be on the football team for AT LEAST two more seasons.

2. LaMichael James 72 yard TD against Tennessee - This is the greatest offensive play in the history of Oregon football. And jtlight was kind enough to upload it in HD.

1. All 80 regular season touchdowns by the 2010 Oregon Ducks - My favorite part of the video is the pacing: no replays, no analysis, no extra crap. It's just an onslaught of scoring, for almost fifteen minutes. Someone needs to do a 2011 version, which would be even longer since Oregon scored 85 touchdowns last year. Man, we're spoiled. Can you imagine being, say, a Northwestern fan? Their touchdown compilation video would be three and a half minutes, and it'd be boring as hell. It's good to be a Duck

I can't be the only one that uses Duck videos to cheer themselves up. What are your personal favorites? Leave them in the comments for all to see.