18 responses so far ↓

• 1 Curtis Sexton // May 9, 2008 at 5:57 pm

  Seriously, we need to question the use of the name University of Oregon when it comes to athletics. Perhaps University of Out of Oregon would be more descriptive of current athletic teams. It is my understanding that some Duck teams are even imported from Europe. Now if that is true, why the use of the name Oregon? It is my understanding that only the former Duck Wrestling team had more than 50% of their athletes from our state. Maybe Women’s x-c came close. I heard wrestling had 70% Oregon Grads on roster over the last 3 years before being dropped by Oregon.
  Now before you folks go ballistic about the need to recruit nationally and internationally, my point is simply this: the U of Oregon can do a much better job of recruiting instate athletes. I do recall Duck football losing to teams whose QBs were from Eugene and not recruited by Oregon. Surely OregonAthletics could recruit an overall 51% of student athletes from Oregon and be just as successful in the past and future.

• 2 duck1fan // May 9, 2008 at 8:54 pm

  Curtis once in a while you will see a quarterback from our state(WSU) do something like that. But over all it’s not realistic to say that is a way to compete on the nationally stage as I hope you want as much as the rest of us. Personally I wish we could grab those great few from our state that get away but you can’t get them all. The quarterback your referring to wouldn’t even of started for us because his skills don’t fit our scheme anyway. Cade Mcnown wouldn’t of started either because we had a great quarterback at that time also. There just isn’t as much top talent that comes from Oregon compared to California or Texas for example.

• 3 Curtis Sexton // May 10, 2008 at 3:29 pm

  I am speaking about athletics. You, I believe are thinking about Football. Oregon has crossed over to become a University that does not respect Oregonians. One of the QB’s I was speaking about was Marty Louthan who led the Air Force Academy over the Ducks at Autzen statium. Marty wanted to be a Duck. My point again is this: be thorough in recruiting the state of Oregon. Do a better job of recruiting Oregon High School graduates in all sports. Set goals of achieving 51% of total scholarship athletes from Oregon. A reasonable goal that would not reduce the opportunities for victories. Because someone lives in California or Texas does not make him/her a better Division 1 athlete. Although population pool size is important, remember that it is a USA student-athlete pool and the State of Oregon is in the USA pool.
  The U of Oregon is no longer the U of Oregon in athletics. It is instead the U of nowhere.

• 4 duck1fan // May 10, 2008 at 5:12 pm

  Curtis there is no comparison to the talent pool in Oregon compared to California and Texas! They kill us! Yes they have a huge advantage in the population pool but also they just have a higher focus on sports then we do. Especially Texas. Have you seen Friday night lights? That’s just an example how it is all over there state. If we recruited anywhere near 50% we would rarely be nationally competitive in any sport as a athletic department. We might have individuals that make there mark but not overall. Not even close!

• 5 Curtis Sexton // May 10, 2008 at 9:03 pm

  Texas? You must be focused on football again. Didn’t The U of Oregon just win a National Team Championship in 2007 NCAA X-Country? “Not even close” you say. Check the stats for the last 3 years: Women’s X-Country 51% Oregon High School Grads; Men’s X-Country 49% Oregon High School Grads. Isn’t 49% “anywhere near 50%”?
  You are only hearing what I am not saying! What is our University of Oregon saying to justify only 5% of our Women’s Tennis Team being Oregon High School Grads over the past 3 years? Oregon has 16 NCAA sport teams and they can be successful with 51% Oregon High School Grads –overall over those 16 team rosters. Stop using football to reflect your thinking on 16 total sports programs. Oregon Athletics has a mission statement that they have abandoned. Athletics are about student growth and learning. This is achievable and compatible with winning. Or we have the U of nowhere?

• 6 duck1fan // May 11, 2008 at 2:06 pm

  So what your telling me is that x-crountry is a good reflection of great atheletes out of oregon? Same goes for you as your talking about one sport that we can compete in. If your gonna back this analogy of yours you’ve got to have examples of some quality atheletes from more then just running! You are right about one thing and that is alot of great runners come out of orygun. But Volleyball, Baseball, Soccer, Basketball, Football etc… that is not the case. Yes we have a few here and there but overall we just don’t have the same depth of talent as most other states. Another state that has more depth then us is washington. It’s right up the road and they still have way more quality players. You really think that if we recruited 50% from in-state that we would even have a chance against Stanford, UCLA in tennis?(That’s just an example) I can give you more if you want. Curtis if we had that many good atheletes coming out of oregon I guarantee you that our coaches would recognise that and recruit accordingly.

• 7 Curtis Sexton // May 11, 2008 at 5:11 pm

  Go back and reread your post from May 10. Then reread your post from May 11. Seems you are denigrating Oregon athletes, Are you trying to diminish the NCAA Championship that the U won with Oregon High School Grads?

  My point again–Oregon should have a goal of overall 51% of student athletes on the roster of the total athletic program. Oregon has 16 sports teams and if our coaches would do a better job of recruiting Oregon first, Oregon would be more successful. Some coaches make no effort to recruit Oregon while others are in the know and pull All-American athletes out of Oregon and now a National Championship. I am speaking about 16 sports, not one.

• 8 duck1fan // May 11, 2008 at 9:18 pm

  To humor you I looked back at my posts and Curtis Where in my comments did I ever take away that “Great” accomplishment of those runners? I just said that is one sport that we seem to have a descent amount of talent in. I was born in Orygun and am a very proud Orygun resident! I wish we had the same amount of talent as all those other states! I’m just speaking reality rather then speaking from my heart! Once again your essentially telling me that our local tennis players or golfers(for example) could compete with the California schools? Now that’s just crazy! They have more to pull from and just caliber of talent. I think that is also due to more options for those kids while growing up in those larger populated areas for more exposure to better coaching and knowing there is more competition makes the level of performance rise. If your wanting me to say I think the runners are not as important as other sports, your barking up the wrong tree!! I haven’t forgotten what put the University of Oregon on the map in the first place!(Pre-Fontaine) If I’m ripping on Oregon athletes that went onto college and competed then I’m ripping on myself too!! I’m gonna say this one more time: I would love nothing more then to go on a trip to California(for example) and be able brag to relatives down there that we have that kind of breeding grounds!! But it’s just not reality big guy!

• 9 Curtis Sexton // May 12, 2008 at 9:31 pm

  Talk about great recruiting of good student athletes from Oregon High Schools—How about Bend’s Ashton Eaton winning the Pac-10 Decathlon as a Duck sophomore!!!! —this last weekend at Arizona
  State University.

• 10 Curtis Sexton // May 13, 2008 at 9:28 am

  Now Duck1Fan, I was trying to be nice to you but your handle is not appropriate as you did not even know that the Ducks are NCAA Champions this school year!!! in Men’s x-country–listen to your words again:
  “If we recruited anywhere near 50% we would rarely be nationally competitive in any sport as a athletic department. We might have individuals that make there mark but not overall. Not even close!”

  How do you say anything to your own words except “I am sorry. I did not know that the Duck’s were NCAA team champions this school year.” (with more Oregonians than Californians on the roster!)

  You still do not understand what I am saying, so I will end this sharing with this last word: Who won the Pac-10 decathlon? easy–did you know it before I wrote it above? He is from Bend, Oregon.

  1. Oregon must do a better job of finding and recruiting the great Oregon High School student athletes. I realize they may be hard to find because they are in Oregon’s own backyard when Oregon Coaches are flying somewhere to recruit 1,000 miles away.
  Meanwhile California coaches are flying up here to recruit our student athletes. Not smart on the part of The University of NoWhere.

• 11 duck1fan // May 13, 2008 at 2:54 pm

  Oh I’m sorry Curtis, what sport does the decathlon fall under? Oh that’s right “Track”! I think I covered this already but you refuse to acknowledge that! It’s like you only read parts of my stuff! Did you not read the part that said we have great athletes here and there just not as many as other states!! That was an awesome thing that Ashton did!! But he proves my point that we have “Individuals” that are great not enough to compare to those other “States”!!! Obviously the track program is something you have alot of pride in! If you feel the need to challenge my Duck sport knowledge then I guess we can have it out!! Bottom line is that the more athletes out of Oregon that excel I’m that much more proud to say I’m from Oregon!! That doesn’t stop me from being realistic about what the truth is! You keep Making statements off of pride and emotion if that makes you feel like your doing your part!! Are you this compassionate about this because you got overlooked yourself?

• 12 Curtis Sexton // May 14, 2008 at 8:07 am

  This started with you making incorrect and false statements about the chances of “any” Oregon team being competitive at the national level with “anywhere near 50%” of the athletes being Oregon High School Grads.

  I gave you the FACT that Oregon won the NCAA Men’s x-country championships during this school year with more Oregonians running than Californians. Not knowing that fact alone puts your fanhood in question and makes your thesis questionable.

  Once again: Oregon needs to do a better job of recruiting in the distant state of Oregon. As to your last statement, I was not overlooked and was fortunate to be able to compete nationally and internationally through age 28. I am a sportsman not a fan.

• 13 Hank Hosfield // May 14, 2008 at 10:47 am

  With all due respect to duck1fan and Curtis, I think both make solid points. (FYI–duck1fan, Curtis was hardly “overlooked”, having been inducted to his alma mater’s hall of fame in Illinois as an athlete, and was just inducted as an Oregon representative to his sport’s national hall of fame as a coach.) But Oregon could certainly do very well in most sports by fielding teams comprised of more kids from Oregon. I don’t think football has the numbers to do this, but Bellotti should seek to sign more Oregon kids–if not just to maintain better relations with in-state athletes and coaches–not to mention, fans, who prefer to cheer for local products. But I don’t know if there are a dozen D-1 players a year that come out of Oregon, and there’s no way you could get all of them to go to Oregon.

  Getting kids to stay in Oregon is a bit of a challenge in itself–especially for the top female athletes. Oregon is turning out some of the top high school girl basketball players in the country, but almost all of them choose to go out of state to college. If the UO kept the gals who picked Stanford and ASU, they would probably be Pac-10 champs.

  Just the same, I believe Oregon could compete well in virtually every sport if they got the top in-state athletes. Filling 51% of UO rosters with Oregon talent does not seem like any recipe for mediocrity. OSU won their first NCAA baseball title with mostly Oregon players, and their best basketball teams under Ralph were mostly Oregon players; and lately the Beavers have been beating our football team with a roster filled with many more Oregon players (I just counted 34 Oregon players on their spring roster), so it seems major sport success is very possible by recruiting more Oregon kids. Most of the sports teams fielded by the UO are sports that Oregon kids play well.

  Then again, if such things were important the UO would still have wrestling and swimming.

• 14 duck1fan // May 14, 2008 at 9:28 pm

  Curtis I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I did know about that victory and if you want to question my “fanhood” then go ahead I could care less if you feel that way!

  Hank you gave me some real information to think about and I think after hearing your points I will have to admit my perception is probably incorrect when it comes to certain sports. I didn’t realize we had that many girls coming from our state that are national level caliber. I knew we would have one here and there but I didn’t know we had alot each year coming out of oregon. When you referenced to OSU competing with us the last few years with alot of oregon athletes I still don’t consider that competing on the national level because they’ve beaten us two years when we’ve been putting our scout team out on the field. The last time OSU was competitive nationally they had very few oregon grads in the line-up. Like I said in some of my previous comments, I think our x-country local talent is always very competitive. If me saying these kind of statements put my fanhood in question then curtis question away. I can’t stress enough that I would love nothing more to brag that Oregon is considered a breeding ground for national level talent all the time not just once in a while.

  On another note is it true that Arizona State dropped there wrestling program also? Or is that a bad rumor?

  Curtis if you can give me some stats on more then just the x-country team, that come from oregon in a sport that yields at least the 50% mark for those sports I will concede to you on this blog. As you can see from what I wrote to Hank if you give me facts to back up your point I will admit my ignorance. Hank didn’t stick with one sport, he had overall stats. Give me your best shot there curtis.

• 15 Curtis Sexton // May 15, 2008 at 10:33 am

  My thesis is this:
  1. Oregon can and must do a better job of recruiting in state.
  2. Oregon coaches need to have a goal of a 51% roster of in state student athletes.

  If Hank Hosfield is correct and there are 12 D-1 football athletes coming out of Oregon High Schools each year, then counting the red shirt year there is potential for 60 Oregon High School Grads in the D-1 football programs state wide at any time.

  Here are the 3-year totals for % of Oregonians on Oregon Sports Teams:
  Wrestling 70%
  W x-Country 51%
  M x-Country 49%
  M T&F 46%
  W T&F 44%
  Volleyball 42%
  Softball 37%
  M Golf 37%
  Soccer 36%
  W Bx 29%
  Football 26%
  M BX 25%
  M Tennis 24%
  W Golf 9%
  Lacrosse 6%
  W Tennis 5%

  The total in-state roster %age for 2006-2007 school year was just under 35%. I am saying simply have a goal to increase that % by 16%–not too difficult to do when in some cases little to no effort is being made. A head college coach has a responsibility to provide statewide and regional development leadership in his sport. Let’s do better with a smart focus on Oregon. The taxpayers, fans, sportsmen, athletes and children of Oregon will benefit.

• 16 duck1fan // May 15, 2008 at 10:02 pm

  I appreciate your thorough stats. I agree that we need to have realistic goals on increasing in-state recruiting. I guess my argument was that out of the sports that are close to that 50% mark how many are competing nation wide? Besides that question I think if we can find a way to improve the exposure of the small school great athletes (Donte Rosario) we can then get the recruiters from U of O to take notice. I guess the biggest question should be is how do we get those small schools that have those great athletes the exposure they need to get the proper attention?

• 17 Curtis Sexton // May 16, 2008 at 8:04 am

  “Wrestling Too Good For Oregon” I just read this essay here at DuckSportsNews.com and WOW Michael Copperman is one talented writer! Most disturbing is KilKenny’s beliefs revealed in the “I can do anything I want”, “We’re privately funded” quote. There is a sick concept within those words: it is one of unaccountability and a belief that the Athletic Department is not connected in anyway to the student growth and learning of Oregon’s high school and college student athletes.
  “Privately funded” begs the question: “How many dollars is the Oregon Athletic Department paying yearly to lease the land that Oregon’s athletic facilities sit on?” Are Oregon taxpayers truly disconnected from Oregon’s Athletic Program? My heart goes out to the State of Oregon’s wrestling community. The wrestling community is the victim of KilKenny’s shallow thinking.

• 18 Richard // May 16, 2008 at 11:10 am

  Outstanding article by Cooperman. Adn should we be surprised by Kilkenny’s remarks? I’m not.