Great End to a Great Season

Oregonian photos

THIS ONE! This is the one to hang over my fireplace.

In 1994, I was sitting in a corner of Autzen Stadium with my wife. We were surrounded by Husky fans. The game was over, but we all just sat there, because we had just witnessed Kenny Wheaton intercepting a Husky pass and returning it to immortality.

We had been exchanging mostly, but not always, good natured jabs through the game. But afterwards we all just sat there and took the moment to be a little philosophical and whimsical.

The purply person sitting to my left, a nice lady for a Husky fan, told me frankly how this loss to Oregon had basically ruined Washington's season. Mind you, Washington was just four years removed from winning the national championship. And she went through each season since, year by year, saying how one loss here and one loss there RUINED the season because it prevented them from getting back to the National Championship.

I listened and knodded to her story, although I thought a bit odd. So I stood up and kneed her in the face. And while she was choking on the blood gushing out of her nose, I killed her husband.

OK no. . . but I wanted to; because what I was thinking as she was talking was that if the Ducks were ever in a position -- oh, say 15 to 18 years from that moment -- when they were beating their rivals regularly, winning the league championships, going to the big bowls including the national championship and flirting with undefeated seasons, I would never allow myself to get so highbrow that I couldn't enjoy a less-than-perfect season.

We are Duck fans, not Duck snobs; and we can't forget our roots. One loss? We had years when we worried for one win. Many times we have suffered the night-and-day difference between a 5-6 and a 6-5 season. Beating Washington this season for the ninth consecutive time is as special to me now as it was back then in '94. Sweeping the Arizona schools. Beating UCLA. And how 'bout that game against USC?!?.  I still say "Wow" when I look back at any one-, two-, even three-loss seasons.

And then there's Oregon State. Winning at Corvallis, no matter how many times Oregon has done it, is still a great accomplishment. It's never easy.

But it's so rewarding when it happens. You've heard of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem? Because of the following pics, I've come to call the three foot high barrier that rings the stands at Reser Stadium OSU's "Failing Wall." 

From three consectutive Civil Wars at Reser:


Failing Wall: 2008



Failing Wall: 2010

 

And this is my new favorite: Failing Wall 2012.
This poor guy is surrounded by Duck fans all smiling
like they're posing for a Christmas Card. But look at the
girl on the left. She's Beaver-clad as well, but she leans
away from him and smiles with the Ducks.
This poor orange-blooded sufferer is all alone in his own stadium.




Like little kids running around the living room playing superhero,
Super Mariota and . . . .




. . . The Black Mamba both run around the field
with their orange capes flapping in the breeze.



Ah oh. Barn Burner's cape is slipping off.

It looks like the Ducks are going to the Fiesta Bowl to face either Kansas State or Oklahoma depending on whether Texas will get its Bevo on this Saturday.

I lick my smackers at the chance to take on either of those teams this year. And it was the Duck's making the best of their opportunities that makes that possible. Below is an excerpt from the Oregonian article: Oregon's still cresting dynasty at critical juncture 
. . . . logically, Oregon should not have been a national title contender.

A redshirt freshman quarterback, season-ending injury to senior guard Carson York, no emerging go-to receiver and several other injuries along the offensive line increased the degree of difficulty to replace two all-time greats, James and quarterback Darron Thomas.

The defense lost its leader, senior safety John Boyett, and his replacement, budding star Avery Patterson. Injuries along the defensive line led to true freshmen being called upon to carry the load for two weeks. Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Alex Balducci should anchor the 2014 line.

Still, despite these issues, Oregon went 11-1 and did so in mind-blowing fashion.

The roster's talent level is an abundance of riches that should keep Oregon entrenched in the nation's top 10 teams for at least the next couple of years.

Fentress goes on to talk about better things ahead through the next couple of years provided the overly anticipated NCAA penalties aren't too bad and they survive whatever coaching changes may come.

Meanwhile, its interesting to see other schools react to their misfortunes.

COLORADO, ARE YOU HIGH?
Say you're a house painter. A homeowner calls you and says he needs you to undo a terrible job done by a previous house painter and then get the job done right.

You look at it and see the previous paint is thin and peeling already. You tell the homeowner that while most paint jobs take three to four days, this will take a good ten days to undo the bad and paint it correctly.

The owner agrees.

So just four days in, you've scraped off all the old paint and applied a primer. And you're getting ready to put on the first coat when the owner comes by.

He sees that the job is still far from where he wants it and fires you immediately.

"But I told you this was going to take longer," you said.

"Ya, but it looks worse now than before," he replies.

"Yes, but I've just started," you reply.

"Too bad," is his answer.

And you look straight at him and say, "Man . . . . . Do you know what? . . . .Man . . ."

And you storm out and forget to load your ladder on your truck because you're so mad.

Colorado fired coach Jon Embree after just two seasons of a five year contract that he told them from the start would take the full five years. Good ESPN story here.

When should you fire a coach after only two years or less?

When he's caught in a hotel room with a stripper named Destiny.  When he is seen abusing his players. When he is seen abusing anybody. When he punches an opposing player during a game. When the GPA of his team dramatically drops. When his players constantly get into legal trouble. When he shows blatant negligence or disregard to basic university and NCAA regulations. When he has a gambling problem. When he shows up to work drunk. When he doesn't show up to work at all. When throughout the season, a steady stream of players walk into the athletic director's office and says, "This guy doesn't know what he's doing."

None of that happened at Boulder. In fact Embree's players had the best GPA's in school history. They stayed out of trouble. They respected him. Embree was going to fire at least two assistants and switch to the spread option. He was planning for the next three years, getting ready to add two good coats of paint.

Could he have turned Colorado around? The point is, we'll never know. Colorado gave him five years to bring their program out of the shambles that Dan Hawkins had spent five years putting it in. But they panicked after just two years.

SO LONG JEFF AND THANKS FOR THE NEW STADIUM
Hey Jeff Tedford, Ernie Kent returned your call and said, "Ya, tell me about it."


MEANWHILE, BACK AT AUBURN . . .
Overheard in the coach's office: ". . . Well, what did you expect Colorado to do? I mean Embree only had four wins in two seasons -- HA HA HA. . . Hey hold on, I got a call on the other line . . . Hello, this is Gene Chizik . . . .What?  I'm FIRED?!?!?"

It's like Auburn was on a hot date but discovered her bra was stuffed with tissue. Once they saw Chizik naked without QB phenom Cam Newton and genius offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the thrill was gone.

Sure he won the Natty two years ago. But since then switched from Malzahn's no-huddle/spread back to a pro set. His team went 3-9 this year. Two of his players were arrested for public intoxication. And new NCAA investigations are on the horizon. Suddenly he was very unattractive.

PAC 12 CHAMPIONSHIP:
UCLA cleverly loses to Stanford to set up upset at Stanford?
Did you hear the L.A. reporter accusing UCLA coach Jim Mora of throwing the game against Stanford to avoid having to go to Eugene to play the Ducks?

At very beginning, then again at 4:30 mark.


Thanks for flattering the Ducks, Scoop. But honestly, I think Mora's Bruins lost this game the old fashioned way. They sincerely and genuinely played like crap.

Should UCLA suddenly pull out some secret offensive sets and stun the Cardinal tonight, we'll talk again. But I think Stanford proved that they are worthy champs after beating USC and UCLA and stunning Oregon at Eugene.  Keep in mind also they narrowly missed out on an upset at Notre Dame in overtime.

"Noooooooo!"
That was the lament of a blog writer who learned that Washington Coach Steve Sarkisian was a serious candidate for the job opening at Arkansas. Only this wasn't a Husky blog, it was of Oregon.

Hey Dawgs, it's a bad sign when your rivals are nervous about your coach leaving.


Finally, an excellent recap of the Civil War accompanied by 38 Special. Crank it so Beaver fans near you will ask, "What are you watching?"


Next: Waiting for bowl selections.
--KB