The Loop

I'll be the first to admit a serious lack of postage on the Loop, but hey I work at one of the biggest wineries in California and we've been crushing about 500 to 600 tons of grapes a day. I haven't been able to fixalate on a compooter much.

But that don't mean I don't keep an eye on the Ducks and I sure was glad to see them hang 40+ points on someone, even if it was the woeful Vandals.

Thoughts on the Pac 10 as we switch into high gear for the season:

Washington and WSU look pretty bad. I don't think either is going to make a run for the title let alone even a bowl game. The huskies just look off balanced and plain bad, while the cougs seem pretty inexperienced. I predict a losing record for the dawgs and would be surprised if WSU broke even.
In Arizona things look good for both the sun devils and wildcats. I think ASU will be a tough team to beat (more on them later) and Arizona is a team on the rebound.
California's Bay Area has the real power teams this year with Cal and Standford. Cal is not much of a surprise, but Standford has made real progress.
USC is of course USC. Now I don't know much about fUCkLA, but I know I hate them.

The same goes for OSU, who I think are bottom feeders and should be a push over for (you guessed it) THE DUCKS. I think Oregon is the dark horse of the Pac 10 this year. They've got the talent and coaching to win, but will they bring the concentration and awareness to make it happen?

But the Loop is about predictions so I've got one to close out this rambler of a post. I'm saying it now, OREGON WILL BEAT OSU IN CORVALLIS this year. You heard it hear first.

48-10, sucka!

I was half-right on my prediction. Though I didn't give the Ducks enough credit. But really, for a team that hadn't yet scored in the first half, can you really blame me?

Anyway, I didn't even get to see this. No TV, nowhere. And now that the Ducks have fallen from their previous powerhouse status, I won't get to see too many others unless I go to Summers. So long, ABC telecasts!

And yet, I still feel the same about one thing: GO DUCKS!

Oregon, 3. Idaho, 2.

Paul. I remember that guy. What ever happened to him?

Don't everybody post at once!

I predict -- Oregon: 27, Idaho: 10.

Stick it in.

That's right, Loopsters -- COMMENTS!!!!

Now you don't have to log in -- or even identify yourself! -- to leave your $.02 on this here weblog. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't post, though. I think we should consider it bad form to start an entirely new conversation in the comment boards if one has an account. Otherwise we could go through the whole season with this as an open thread, and that would get tiresome, albeit rather slowly. Think about it.

That said, GO DUCKS!!!!

It looked like my prediction was nicely on track through the 2nd quarter. After that? Well, then there was the after that.

Next week: Idaho. Easy pickin's. I'm sure the Ducks thought they'd be 1-1 right now, and man, 0-2 sure looks a lot different. But now the Ducks should finally have things figured out. Indiana was a fluke and this time we beat the spread (barely).

The Loop seems a bit slow these days. I guess two losses to begin the season will do that to you.

AK has the right attitude. I suppose the our only chance is to completely shut down their offense -- you hear that, Haloti? -- and keep them out of FG range. A tall order? But of course! Then Clemens has to throw like he's... like he's Joey Harrington. Even that won't produce much against Oklahoma's defense. We'll probably have to rely on FGs as well. If the score starts climing, we lose. Therefore, I predict:

Ducks: 12
Sooners: 6

Go Ducks! Stick it in, stick it in, unh!

My boss lost money on last week's game. The Hoosiers are always a sure bet to lose. Well, almost always. This fact does make me happier.

Prediction for this week? Um, do I have to? Am I obligated to pick the Ducks to win this game? What if I don't? If I do, what happens to my credibility?

I ain't going beat a dead horse no more, aside from saying that the game did suck. I'm glad I wasn't able to watch it down here in my little corner of the Golden State, but from what I read it sure was a heartbreaker.

Kinda like the WSU game of last year, and I believe a lot of us Duck fans started moaning about "OHHHHH IT'S ALL OVER!!!!" with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Yet the Green and Yellow boys came back to make it to a pretty good bowl game.

Looking at the game's stats I think we can all agree that the Ducks are STILL A PRETTY GOOD BALL TEAM. They were still able to outgain the Hoosiers by nearly 500 yards. I mean they ain't a national title contender team, but let's be real, were the '04 Ducks ever in contention?

Loopsters, the Ducks gave this one away, so we're just going to have to get over it. Especially because this weekend they have one of the biggest games of possibly the decade if they can pull it out.

I confess: As Kenny Washington stormed up the field to return that first kickoff for what seemed to be a touchdown, I was seeing a championship run ahead of us. My first thoughts: Bring it on, Oklahoma!

And then: The ball bouncing off Terrence Whitehead's chest ... no Duck able to hold onto the ball until he was downed. And more, and worse. The first four Duck possessions ended in turnovers, all of them unforced fumbles. We handed them the game in the first half of the first quarter. Up to that point, the average Hoosier starting field position was on Oregon's 28 yard line. Unfreaking believable.

Then in the fourth, it seemed as if we had it. We were but 20 yards or less from the winning touchdown. And then, I watched as Clemens threw what at first seemed to be a very bad pass (the spin was all wrong) -- then it got worse, as it landed in the hands of a Hoosier. With that, we literally threw the game away.

I read a number of stories last week about how the Ducks were looking shaky, but this was unprecedented. As Bob Rickert said at the Big O's Ducks Blog, this is not a top-flight program. No team that deserves to contest the national title can operate like this.

I saw the game at Summer's over in Arlington, the big Ducks bar I probably talked about last season. It was a great environment there, and even the handful of Hoosier fans in attendance seemed a) shocked that they led so quick, and b) that they didn't lose it down the stretch. They were sweating, yes. Us Ducks fans, we were just drinking.

And so the Northwest division of the Pac-10 starts abysmally. Only the California teams plus AZ State begin with a winning record. This could be a bad year, I'm just warning you.

I'm glad I forgot to issue a prediction. I'm going to hold onto my Oklahoma prediction for a few days, now.

Indiana does such mighty big time like a big ol' hoover, but I still think the Ducks are going to be shaky coming out of the gates on this first one. But we'll see come tomorrow. I wish I could get the game on the T.V.

Here's what Indiana coach Gary DiNardo had to say about Oregon

“They are a physical, veteran group for the most part. It is their first game, so we are going on last year’s tapes so we don’t know if there is anything new. It will be loud and tough to communicate, and it is going to be tough for us going up against one of the better teams in the Pac-10.”

I like the way this guy thinks.

Indiana whupped it up on Central Michigan last week 41-10, but that really doesn't tell us anything. In fact I'm a little too lazy to really do any research on the Hoosiers aside from the fact they weren't too good at all last year.

Oregon has the experience and a possibly explosive offensive. I don't know what to expect on defense, and Indiana does have the advantage of this being their second game, but they Ducks are at home. I'm predicting a win for the Ducks that will likely see quite a few penalities.

UO: 28
UI: 14

As an aside I'm already enduring shit from Cal fans down here in Sonoma. I think they stand to be the next most annoying team out of the Golden State, second to USC.

Phew. For a few minutes in the late fourth quarter and even a few short moments in OT, I was a little concerned the Beavers might pull it off and drop #3/#4 LSU. Now, the better any Pac-10 team does against other conferences, obviously the better. But simply taking the Tigers to OT was good enough for me -- no reason the Ducks need to be following OSU's lead.

Which is not to say the heat isn't on. The Pac-10 is now 3-1, possibly 4-1 after the Fuskies/Fresno St. game this evening. Maybe this year the conference will get some respect. I'm not holding my breath.

Will the Ducks show up against a team from Indiana that no one thinks about when you mention Indiana football? Watching football today at least one CSN commentator chose the Ducks as the victor next Saturday ... I assume there will be more. I'll be there ... at the sports bar. Anyone actually going?

As this is something like the first post for the '04-'05 UO sports season, allow me to point you once again toward Oregon Sports Fan, which returned from hiatus just today. I'll be updating it through the football season and beyond, just as I followed Ducks b-ball and the Blazers in the winter and spring. Check in their for daily news, alert your friends and colleagues, and send me a link if there's a story I'm missing.

See you all real soon.