Quack Fix: The start of spring practices

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Now we have another 364 days of reliable quack to look forward to--enjoy your post-April Fool's Day fix:

• The Ducks kick off the first of 15 spring practices today as Oregon looks to not only replace departed players but also break in the revamped staff. Moseley tabs inside linebacker, drop end, running back and guard as four positions to watch this spring. Also, Dustin Haines and Ayele Ford both picked up scholarships this year.
• Aaron Fentress writes about Mark Helfrich's first spring as the Duck's head coach. Helfrich announced yesterday that spring practices will remain closes, citing not only fan safety and controlling access to sensitive team information but also that players preferred closed practices.
• After leading the Ducks in postseason scoring, Damyean Dotson was recently named to the Kyle Macy Freshman All-American team. Meanwhile, Dana Altman is a finalist for the 2013 John McLendon national Coach of the Year Award.
• Cole Irvin was named the Pac-12 pitcher of the week after helping the Ducks sweep washington last weekend. On Saturday, Irvin tossed a four-hit complete game shutout. The team also rose one spot to #11 in the latest Baseball America poll.
• This Saturday, the Ducks will host the Pepsi Invitational at Hayward Field which will include Texas A&M along with the two washington schools. The Aggies are currently ranked number one in the nation on the men's side while the women are sixth.
• Ken Goe has a piece on former Oregon heptathlete Brianne Theisen whose busy summer includes not only elite meets such as the World Track & Field Championships, but also her wedding to Eaton Ashton.
• Finally, in what we could only wish was an April Fool's joke: the Pac-12 investigated their own head of officialsfor allegedly offering a bribe to officials for either ejecting Arizona coach Sean Miller or giving him a technical during the conference tournament. The league admitted inappropriate comments but nothing more.

Go Ducks!