Bye Week Bonanza

[Just a few odds and ends to cover as we relax and rest through this bye week:]


Oregon/Washington to be televised next week.

The Oregon @ Washington game will air October 24th, 12:30 pm on ABC.

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Nearly 18 tons of goods amassed for tsunami relief

Duck players are doing good things for relief in Somoa. This is a great thing to see. But the reality is it won't get any Youtube or ESPN play if nobody is getting punched in the face.

The Oregon athletic department this afternoon solicited 35,380 pounds of food, water, medical supplies and other goods to send to Samoa and American Samoa after those regions were ravaged by a recent tsunami.
Players and coaches accepted donations from the public from noon to 5 p.m. at the athletic department today. The final total was nearly 18 tons of goods, according to Tucker Davies of Lile Moving and Storage, which donated use of the 51-foot semi truck that is being navigated down to Northern California by driver Tim Galus for delivery by Wednesday afternoon.
“For such a short notice deal, this was a real feather in the cap for the university and our state,” Davies said of the fundraiser, which was announced last week.
Among the items donated were about 30 wheelchairs and an estimated 30,000 bottles of water, Davies said. Galus’ truck is just 620 pounds short of the legal limit for highway driving, according to Davies. [That's fortunate. That drive to Samoa will be tricky enough even with the truck at the proper weight.

"What's that Mr. Truckdriver? You're trying to find Samoa? Sure we can help. We love Samoas. Here's all you do. First you take two graham crackers. Then you melt a chocolate bar and toast marshmellows and . . . . no, no, no, wait.
First you start a campfire . . . . NOW we're cookin' . . . Heh heh, I just made that up. That was funny, huh Patrick?
So Mr. Truckdriver, where you headed?"

The fundraiser started with an idea from UO football coach Chip Kelly and defensive tackle Simi Toeaina—who spent part of his youth in American Samoa—and was put into motion by UO assistant athletic director for student-athlete development James Harris. Toeaina, Jeremiah Masoli and Andrew Iupati all have family in the Samoan islands, as do a handful of Oregon athletes in other sports.
The effort kicked off at noon today, but boxes of clothes were already piled up in the loading dock of the Moshofsky Center. At 12:02 p.m. the first car pulled up to unload donations, in that case bags of flour and rice. The first group of football players accepting donations included Toeaina, Titus Jackson, Blake Thompson, Mana Greig, Denton Tuiasosopo and former UO receiver Brian Paysinger. [There's a Tuiasosopo playing for Oregon? It's true! He's a junior. On the roster his position is listed as 'player'. But I guess that comes as no surprise. Husky fans will tell you your garden variety Tuiasosopo can play any and every position.]
“I’m excited that you care enough to do things like this,” Liz Thwing told the players as they unloaded from her trunk bags of rice and flour donated by Eugene-Delta Rotary.
After today’s Oregon Club luncheon, Kelly arrived at about 12:45 p.m. to greet donors as they drove up to the Mo Center. At one point, around 1:20 p.m., the line of cars waiting to unload donations was seven deep.
The truck full of donations will be unloaded in the Bay Area on Wednesday, and on Friday will leave for Samoa by ship. [Oh . . . ship. Now I feel stupid. I was wondering about the connection between Samoa and college football. How many teams just in the Western US alone have at least one Samoan on the roster? I'm betting it would be easier to count the ones that don't.

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About those Dawgs.

The Huskies gave the Ducks and the rest of the Pac-10 not one, but two solids so far when they gave USC and Arizona each their first conference losses, putting Oregon in the driver's seat for you-know-what. We Duck fans owe them a "Th . . . .Tha . . ha . . ha . . . . . Thhhhaaaaaaank . . . y. . y-. . .youuuu, Hhh. . . . Hu . . . . Hussssssssk . . . . . " Screw it. It's not worth the pain.

This Saturday (FSN, 7:15 p.m.) the Dawgs are at ASU. They have a shot against Erickson's Sun Devils who are really struggling to find themselves. But regardless if they win or lose, they're providing good film for the Oregon coaches to analyze and strategize.
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OSU is also bye this week and will go to USC next week. That won't be fun. But perhaps they can further find a chink in the Trojans' armor.
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How is who? Oh ya, Masoli.
He is hoping to play against Washington. Here is an excerpt from Wednesday's Oregonian.

Masoli, who injured his right knee against Washington State on Oct. 3, was in shells and didn’t do much running. But he threw more than he did in the two practices he suited up for last week. “I took a lot more reps,” Masoli said. “I was taking a lot of reps with the first team, getting my routes (and) timing back.”

The severity of Masoli’s injury remains unknown. Masoli had an MRI done on his knee last week, but said “the MRI didn’t show anything really. It’s fine.”

Masoli said after Wednesday’s practice in the Moshofsky Center that his knee felt better, but remains stiff in the morning. He said the precautionary plan at this point is to avoid cuts and side-to-side movements and remain “just straight ahead.”Masoli’s availability for the Ducks’ game at Washington on Oct. 24 probably won’t be decided until late next week.

Enjoy your bye. Goodbye. --kb