Jay, here.

NFL.com has posted an Overview, Analysis, and Q & A with both Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart.

Here’s an excerpt from Dixon’s Q & A:

Growing up, who was your favorite NFL player and why?
Randall Cunningham, because he was similar to my body type and fast.

What’s your proudest moment in football? Proudest moment off the field?
Beating Oklahoma my junior year; graduating college in 3 ½ years.

You can read the entire Overview, Analysis, and Q & A here.

Here’s Jonathan Stewart’s Q & A:

Growing up, who was your favorite NFL player and why?
Emmitt Smith. He was successful and had a fluid running style, making it look easy and enjoyable.

In college, what player hit you the hardest? Who was the recipient of your best hit?
Haloti Ngata (practice); Pay Mavaluga

Click here for Stewart’s Overview, Analysis, and Q & A.

ESPN’s Sportscenter just announced the finalists for this year’s Heisman Trophy Award. And Dennis Dixon is not among them. Here are the finalists:

- Tim Tebow, QB, Florida

- Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas

- Colt Brennan, QB, Hawaii

- Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri

JJ

Duck fans, what do you think?  Who should win now?

Duck Sports News and Duck fans alike are tired of the debate surrounding the decision to play Dennis Dixon in the Arizona game. This is why we have relegated these links to our blog. So, if you really want to see how this is still playing out on the Op-Ed pages of The Register-Guard, knock yourself out.

PRO - Should the coach have permitted Dixon to play? (Ken Woody)

CON - Should the coach have permitted Dixon to play? (Julie Novkov and Joel Bloom)

[UPDATE: Guess DSN visitors are not as tired of this story as I thought.  So far, this link is the second most clicked of the day.]

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

Welcome to “The 4|4 with Peter Sirmon”, the UCLA Edition. Each week visitors to DuckSportsNews.com ask Peter four questions and he answers them. If you would like to ask Peter a question for next week’s CIVIL WAR edition, leave it in the comment section or send Peter an email.

Here’s the by-week edition of “The 4|4 with Peter Sirmon”.

Is this 2007 Ducks team the best football squad in Oregon history? - Jason, Chicago

Peter: I think there have been four teams in the last thirteen years that would argue that. The 1994 Rose Bowl team, 1998 Aloha Bowl Team(you might not agree with this one), 2001 Fiesta Bowl Team, and 2007 yet to be determined bowl game. The 1994 Rose Bowl team really played well together. Danny O’Neil, Josh Wilcox, Jeremy Asher, Rich Ruhl, Chad Cota, Alex Molden, and Kenny Wheaton were all excellent college players. The 1998 team could have really done something if not for injuries. I have never seen a quarterback play as well as Akili Smith did that year. He was simply amazing. Reuben Droughns broke his ankle playing UCLA. Several other players were also lost to injury that year. But, it would be tough not to put the Fiesta Bowl team as Oregon’s best ever. You judge the teams based on results and they only had one loss that year. The most interesting thing about these teams is that senior quarterbacks led them all.

Is Dennis Dixon more Vince Young or Antwaan Randle El? - Brian, Vancouver, B.C.

Peter: Dennis Dixon is more Vince Young. Antwaan Randle El was a gimmick in college. He was a good player, but never a true quarterback. He has had a nice pro career playing receiver and returning kicks. If he had gone to one of the elite colleges there is a good chance that he never would have even played quarterback. The problem that I think Dennis Dixon is going to run into is the fact he only produced big numbers for one year. I really like him as a player, but scouts do a great job in tearing players down and finding negatives in their careers. That is what he will have to overcome. When teams make first round selections they need to see a productive career, not just one season.

If you were Dennis Dixon’s teammate, would you have wanted to know about his injury before the Arizona game? - Steve, Seattle

Peter: I personally would have wanted to know. I respect the fact that he wanted to play and go as long as his body could hold up, but the psyche of a team can be very fragile. When he went down you could see the concern on the faces of all his teammates. Had they known in advance they would have been prepared for him coming out of the game and it wouldn’t have shocked them. It might have even inspired them to go out and play for him because it meant so much to him that he was willing to go out with no ACL. I admire him for even trying. When I tore my ACL in 2004 there was no way I could have tried to play.

Are you actively involved with some parts of the Ducks recruiting? If so, what do the coaches ask of you? - Jonathan, Beaverton

Peter: I am not involved in Oregon recruiting at all. I have mentioned Oregon to some high school players that are being recruited around the Nashville area. I talk to them as a proud alumni, nothing more. Oregon is starting to gain national prominence. When kids in Tennessee start taking notice to Oregon, you know goods things are happening. The success of the team is first and foremost, but the facilities and the uniforms are what grab the attention of these young men. When we see the articles and see some of the price tags that go with these upgrades it makes you gasp. But, never forget that recruiting 17-18 year olds is more of a mystery than a science. What the young men see is an innovative and cutting edge program that is dedicated to doing whatever is possible to give the athletes the best chance of winning every game. Without strong recruiting the program has little chance of success.

Again, thanks for the great questions. Keep them coming and join me next week in preparation for the CIVIL WAR.

- Peter Sirmon, No. 44

At One Click Sports News, we try to provide Duck sports news in ‘one click’. Unfortunately, that’s not the case all of the time. In this particular instance, we could have linked (or not linked) to this site on our main page without any comment. But we just could not do that. And after watching the video and reading the comments, we think you’ll agree.

So, if you did not get to see the end of the OSN broadcast of the Oregon-Arizona football game, take a look at it here and read the comments (”Oregon’s Commentators Don’t Seem To Understand College Football”).

I had family at the Arizona game. And I’ll tell you this: they are never going to a game at Arizona again. The facilities are terrible, and the fans are worse.

Did anyone else have a less than enjoyable experience at the Arizona game?

JJ

So, does Ken Goe (“What if Willingham, not Bellotti, had been coaching Dixon?”) have a point? Willingham benched Jake Locker after a serious injury. Should Bellotti have done the same with Dennis Dixon?

JJ

Already, it’s become very clear that football questions this week will have very little to do with the upcoming game in Los Angeles against the Bruins.  If the early headlines are any indication, this week will have everything to do with the decisions surrounding Dennis Dixon’s choice to play in last Thursday’s Arizona game.

So, here’s the question: what would you have done if you were in Coach Bellotti’s position?  Would you have let Dixon play?  Would you have held him out?  Would you have deferred the decision to others?

What call would you have made?

JJ

Ducks fans, you know how you’re feeling right now.  But do you know how the rest of the Pac 10 feels about your team?  Do they feel your pain?  Not exactly.

Here’s a sampling from around the Pac 10 blogosphere.  Mind you, this is only a compilation, a very sour sampler.  This is not a compendium of forum and message board comments.  If want to get a glimpse into a fan’s online soul, go the message boards and forums to take a look at your own risk.

Arizona - Not available.

Arizona State - “Tucson, AZ: Where BCS Dreams Go To Die”

Cal - Not available.

OSU -”Oregon Ducks Suck Against Arizona”

Stanford - Not available.

UCLA -”No Dixon”

USC - “Dixon out with a Torn ACL”

Washington - “Wow….34-24 Arizona Over Oregon”

And we saved the worst for last…

Washington State - “WHAAAAAAA! WHAAA!”