Good writing is like a woman’s skirt. It should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep guys interested. At least that’s what my high school freshman english teacher taught me, in between teachingTo Kill A Mockingbird and deconstructing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Axemen, you know who I’m talking about.).
And that’s exactly how I feel about tomorrow’s game against UCLA in the Rose Bowl.
The media surrounding the Oregon football program this past week has been the ugliest I have ever seen, read, or heard it. Interesting, no doubt. But ugly. So much so, that we here at Duck Sports News have had to explain/justify posting links to stories regarding the “Dennis Dixon Dilemma” because DSN fans were complaining of “Dennis Dixon Fatigue”. Again, interesting stories, commentary, and discussion. But you were clearly getting tired of it. And, frankly, so were we. (But we continued to post links to those stories because that’s what we do.)
That’s why I’d like to see the Ducks do enough for the win, but keep it close and interesting…uninteresting.
I’m not talking about the game. Although, the part of me that’s a fan wouldn’t mind seeing the Oregon offense get on track early and often, putting the game away before it even gets started. I’m talking about keeping it close in a win to make it uninteresting after the game. As co-creator of DSN, I know that a blowout will undoubtedly raise new questions regarding last week’s loss to Arizona:
“Would last week have been different if Brady had a full week to prepare?”
“Do you think the players would have responded this way last week if they would have known about Dixon’s injury?”
“Would another week have helped Chip Kelly’s play calling last week?”
And the questions could go on if the Ducks are long on success tomorrow. Instead, let’s hope they keep it short, and sweet.
JJ
Tags: Chip Kelly, Dennis Dixon, Ducks, Football, UCLA, University of Oregon
Todd Says:
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:04 pm
The national media has already written the Ducks off; a dominating win would get us back into the Rose Bowl conversation… and they’ll hate having to talk about Oregon.
JJ Says:
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Todd -
Not so much concerned with the national media. More concerned about the second guessing here at home.
JJ
lance Says:
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:24 pm
ANY score for an Oregon win would be welcomed tomorrow. These Ducks have played their arses off and they deserve to win the Pac 10 after beating arguably the best teams in the Pac 10.
Go Ducks! Here is praying Brady can win this game, so that we can get the “Leaf-Monkey” off our proverbial backs.
admin Says:
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Lance -
You’re absolutely right. A nice modest victory will do several things.
1) It will get the “Leaf-Monkey” off of everyone’s back.
2) A narrow victory will keep Dennis Dixon’s slim Heisman hopes alive. A blowout will shift the discussion to a “system vs. players” argument.
3) It’s a win. And will put the Rose Bowl on the line for the Civil War.
JJ
RoseannaDuck Says:
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:27 pm
People these days complain and ignore when other people don’t agree with them, or want to dig deeper. It’s immature thinking at best…no debate, only fan personalization when things don’t go their way. It’s the ‘please don’t confuse us with non-feel-good facts….bah humbug’. But that’s where life lives, usually.
I’d think you’d be glad for the post game hoopla…make some of us click to your page more. Here’s a bet…if Ducks loose tomorrow, I could care less about reading the articles, online and elsewhere.
admin Says:
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Roseanna Duck -
You’re right, as well. A win by the Ducks is good business for us. When the Ducks lose, we lose visitors.
DSN wants the Ducks to win. What we don’t want (and visitors have expressed it to us) is a continuation of the foul (no pun intended) debate that has taken place over the last week.
I was not trying to make a big deal here. Just wanted to point out that a small victory could be a really big win for everyone with an interest in the Ducks.
JJ
RoseannaDuck Says:
November 24th, 2007 at 1:28 am
Yep…….I get your thought train. But… from the perspective of winning for bowl games, I think the Ducks have to win big at UCLA, if they’re gonna win. And if they win big, I’ll help you answer your downer posts….lol…!!
FoulMood Says:
November 24th, 2007 at 1:35 am
Ummm… I’ve noticed at least two comments about how the Ducks need to win big at UCLA to help their bowl eligibility. Am I missing something? If the Ducks win out (regardless of win quality) they will be crowned PAC-10 Champions and earn a Rose Bowl berth… Right?
admin Says:
November 24th, 2007 at 10:41 am
FoulMood -
If the Ducks win out, they will go to the Rose Bowl. So, margin of victory does not matter.
I think margin of victory only matters in a couple of instances:
Large Margin of Victory -
1) Brings up a bunch of questions about last week
2) Diminishes Dixon’s chances of even making the trip to New York
3) Raises “system vs. players” questions - See #2
4) Increases confidence on both sides of the ball heading into the Civil War
Small Margin of Victory:
1) Limits the number of questions by pundits relating to last week’s loss
2) Increases Dixon’s slim chance of being invited to New York
3) Team gains the confidence of a win, but the knowledge that there’s still more work to do before the Civil War
4) Proof that Oregon can win with flash and gut one out
DSN reports on sports. But we also report on those who report on sports. And what we’ve discovered is that the media only explores certain storylines (maybe there are only so many stories to be explored).
These are more predictions regarding the media than they are regarding the game.
JJ