By Jay Jones, August 11, 2008
If former Duck Josh Wilcox is emailing me his contributions this early in August without me asking for any (Josh has an open invitation to write about anything, anytime on DSN) , then it must be time for football.
Now, I have to apologize to Josh. He sent this to me early last week. But with everything going on, I kind of forgot to post it.
My bad.
But his words as true today as they were last week. Heck, it was only a week ago, right?
Sorry, Josh. And thank you.
Here’s Josh and his take on Fall Camp:
It’s about damn time. I have been anxiously waiting this day for over 7 months. Fall Camp is starting. Many will think this is the start of the season for the Ducks, but that actually started in January.
This is nothing like double days in High School. So, for all of you Uncle Rico’s out there who think you would have won State if you would have gotten more playing time, it’s just not the same.
The first couple of days fresh legs are abound. The energy level is at an all time high, as the excitement builds. Then the pads go on, and the only fresh legs are Kickers, and some of the QB’s.
As each morning passes and the bull horn in the hall way acts as the alarm clock, you awake from a deep sleep, or if you have a loud snoring roommate, no sleep. For about two to three seconds you forget the aches, pains, sprains, but then your body wakes up. You begin the day figuring out how to roll out of bed without banging something that is sore. The instant this occurs you are reminded of the long day ahead. But in some sort of sick sadistic way you love that feeling, you feed off that feeling. That proves to yourself that you are actually doing something right.
As football has evolved, training camp has gone away from the days of fourteen straight doubles with full pads, salt tablets, and no water. This is beneficial for the players as now they tend to have less hitting and provide better physical care to these highly trained athletes. But in someway, I think this has taken away from the overall toughness of players in the game. It’s a fine line. And if there were a magic formula, then everyone would do the same thing. All coaches have different styles, ideas, thoughts, and backgrounds which contribute to their formats.
Fall Camp is a time when players bond more with each other, because that is all you see. You get sick of seeing the same guy. You get in fights with your friends. But at the end of each day you find out something you did not know about a key member of your team. Not where they are from, or their favorite rock band, but you see if that guy will make a difference. When everyone is tired, who are the ones pushing it? Who are the ones making plays? Who is taking the easy way out? Who is really hurt? Who is taking the practice off because of jock itch (true story, not me)? Spring ball is for teaching, and evaluating. This is the time to show if you are going to make the traveling squad or not. It’s an attitude. Do you want it bad enough? How important is it to you to leave everything on the table? Are you going to be a legend in Oregon Duck football and help build the tradition? Or are you just there to be on the team? Get some bowl game rings you will never wear, and stock up on Oregon gear so you can show people you were part of the cool club?
And I have yet to talk about the meetings. There are meetings for all special teams, offense, defense, your specific position, and meetings just to meet. The fun is seeing who will fall asleep and who won’t. Standing up in meetings is a common occurrence; because you would much rather stand up than be called out for sleeping. You are so tired you almost need toothpicks to hold up your eye lids. And if you’re lucky, some of the coaches will cut you loose so you can get an extra 30 minutes of time to relax before bed check, or another practice. Some of the best all around funny moments occur during film study, not so much as what happens on the tape, but the comments made in meetings. Movie lines, bad jokes, and overall smart-ass comments are a staple in trying to bring some normalcy to your day. Nicknames like Loony, C-3P0, Francis Sawyer, Rusty, are a common staple. And most of the time you don’t get to pick yours. So if you got one that sucks, you’re screwed.
The smell of the locker room. Well, I really don’t think now they have that big of issue with the ventilation systems in the lockers. But when I was around, I can think of a few lockers that needed to be quarantined and required bio hazard suits. And for the most part it was usually the offensive and defensive line. Surprised? I know because aren’t these guys some of the cleanest, physical specimens you will ever run across.
Damn I miss it.
In fact I would like to address a rumor which has been tying up my phone and email in box. I did contact the University to see if any slow old out of shape players could get any more eligibility. I know I retired many moons ago, but in order to not create a fiasco like the one in Green Bay, I took the buy out. I settled for a tall call six pack of Meister Brau, a pound of Hooters Chicken wings, and the chance to watch games I will not attend on Dish Network. And just to think it did not cost Oregon a dime. I should have listened to my agent, as he wanted me to hold out for more. But who in the hell would turn down Meister Brau?
On another note, congratulations to Gary Zimmerman. It proves my point again that those guys are not only Hall of Fame players, but Hall of Fame people. He is a tremendous role model to up and coming players that you do not need to talk about your accomplishments (which is the norm today). Instead, if you are that good, you will be recognized. Some people have to wait longer than others. But if you play, and your play merits you being there, then you will get there.
So, now it begins. Bring on the Huskies.
Josh Wilcox, a Junction City, Oregon native was a four-year letterman with Ducks. In the Rose Bowl Season of 1994 against Arizona, Danny O’Neil threw 15 yards to Josh for the game’s only touchdown early in the fourth quarter as Oregon came from behind to win 10-9. Arizona was ranked No. 11 by The Associated Press and ranked 23d by The New York Times computer. Josh went on to catch 11 passes for 135 yards against Penn State in the 1995 Rose Bowl. After finishing his career at Oregon, Josh went on to play for the New Orleans Saints in the NFL.
After the pee test, it was a day of physicals over the RCA Dome. Telling every doctor and team about your injury history, and your ankle “sprangs” (shout out to my boy Rusty), gets old real fast. We had the Cybex test, a machine strapped to your leg, which helps determine strength of some sort and tells them something. I don’t know when a Cybex ever helped on the field, but that is the old school in me. I think it tests for the knees and make sure they are not getting a bum knee. Teams are making investments and want to look at the meat all different ways. I mean, you take a look at the steaks in the grocery store right?
Then they measure your wingspan, hand span, weight, height, and then your done. Not too bad right. It would have much better if I was not wound like the old Evil Knievel toy. Man, was I at my wit’s end. But I was confident I would do well in the bench.
Nevertheless, I did not have any sort of performance that was going to help me. In fact, it probably hurt me, putting me between the middle rounds and free agency. It is all on me. I was prepared, but I did not go to any speed camp, full-on training thing, like they have today. If I was to do it over, I would want to do that, but who knows how much that would really have helped me. One thing I have learned is you can’t look back. Even though I did not get drafted, I got a chance, and that is all I can ask for. Plus, it would not have given me a chance to wrestle in Portland, go to Amsterdam to play for the Forest Dragons, go to the Saints, and then become the first ever XFL Hall of Famer!
Sea Bass Comeback In The Making?
Sea Bass.
To steal a line from one of my favorite announcers, and a friend, Jim Ross from the WWE, and XFL, “It was Bowling Shoe Ugly!”
Keep in mind this was 1997 and I did not have my He-Man Trapper Keeper journal, so I can’t remember if it started on a Wednesday or not. And some of the times and numbers might be off, but will be close. Honestly, I really don’t want to remember some of this. But here it goes.
Now here is when some of it gets blurry, a couple of tall cans blurry. We went to the hospital and got blood taken, EKG, X-Ray’s on any major injury. At that time, concussions were examined and I had no surgeries. So, it was not too bad. We got back to the hotel and went to a meeting about what to expect, and then went to bed. Jake Plummer was kind enough to put my bags in my shower. I roomed with Scott Von Der Ahe, aLB from ASU, and he slipped and told me about it at dinner. So, I didn’t have to worry about the stress. I mean, I was kind of like Cameron. I was so tight that in two weeks you could have had a diamond at the end of it. If you get that reference cool, if not watch Ferris Buller.
My junior year I named Oregon’s tight ends Chris Anderson, Blake Spence, Jed Weaver, and myself, the “4 Horsemen”. We were a pack. If you messed with one of us, you got all of us, just like the original 4 Horsemen from the NWA (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Ole Anderson). Spence didn’t really get it, but the other three did. Then again, Blake was probably thinking about surfing or something else. Once during daily doubles the training staff took an ad from USA today promoting Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair and put my picture over Ric Flair and pasted it up around the treatment facility. So the poster was me vs. Hogan. It was a good rib. For the record, I would have beat the Hulkster, because I was saying my prayers and eating my vitamins.
Before I signed with Minnesota in 1997, I met Matt Borne who was the first “Doink the Clown” in the WWF, now WWE. He is the son of Northwest Legend Tough Tony Borne and was helping with the revival of Portland Wrestling in the state of Oregon. So, we decided that it would get done. My debut match was on November 1, 1997 in a flea market in Portland. Luckily, or because of my planning, take your pick, there was no Oregon game on that day. That gave ample time for my friends and family to come watch. Over 800 people showed up and saw me defeat Bruiser Brian Cox with a Flying Body Press off of the top turnbuckle, for the 1-2-3! I recently saw a tape of this and in terms of wrestling standards, I would give this a rating of -1 on a 10 point scale. I did not really know what I was doing, but it ended up looking okay for what it was. Wrestling purists agreed and mentioned that for something that received so much press, it should have been better. But it put butts in the seats! And that equals a bigger paycheck!
But what name to use? Joshquatch? The NW Duck? The All-American? I needed a name. For that, I had help from the media. It seems this quest to name me struck a chord with a short round news caster who I happen to know, and had a good relationship with. So his suggestion of “Sea Bass”, based on the character in the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber”, a scruffy guy sitting in the back of a diner with a mesh hat took off like a wild fire in southern California. “The Duck Homer”, Joe Giansante, deserves credit for starting the “Sea Bass” name, which has stuck to me like groupies at a Molly Hatchet/Bad Company concert. I have yet to put it on my business cards though.
In the end I was a Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champion and the Heavyweight champion. Granted, I have never been in a Wrestlemaina. But I got to follow through on a dream and this helped pave the way for me to appear on ECW, train with Dory Funk Jr, and eventually get a WWE contract. I am pretty sure that the visions of me jumping off a turnbuckle in a flea market are not stuck in the minds of my parents like the Rose Bowl; they were always supportive unless I did something real stupid, and often times talked about not using the Wilcox name. Guess “Sea Bass” will have to do. I don’t know maybe I should be “Lucky”.
However, one morning I was lucky enough to accompany, more like taxi, my father and Jack Youngblood to a Gridiron Greats golf tournament. There I sat down and ate some breakfast with those two and Dick Butkus. Here I am sitting with three of the toughest people ever to play the game, and all I can do is sit back and realize that is why I played the game. Not very easy when your hung over by the way. All the stories they were telling, laughing about other players, and more. Those three guys are not only Hall of Fame football players, but guys you want on your side in life; they are Hall of Fame people. Someday some people will realize it is not about stats and contracts but about the relationships and memories.
I was duped; it was all about the current athletic department versus faculty debate. Crap! Got all excited for nothing. But then a 10 watt light bulb went off in my head and I decided to use my journalistic expertise and my past experiences to touch on the subject.
These are examples of memories that just wont leave me no matter how many brain cells I have killed through out my life playing football: living in Amsterdam, New Orleans, San Diego, LA, going to a few Metallica concerts, a Grateful Dead show at Autzen, and attending the U of O. Going to the Lane County Fair Grounds and watching Buddy Rose vs. Billy Jack Haynes, driving to Portland to see the big Don Owen mega event when the Road Warriors beat the Russians, Nikita and Ivan Koloff in a cage match. Going to Fred Meyer and getting Pro Wrestling Illustrated, begging my parents to let me go to Wrestlemaina 2 closed circuit TV, the scaffold match between the Road Warriors and Midnight Express on TBS, Magnum TA and Baby Doll, the AWA on ESPN, and Ric Flair telling everyone “to be the man you have to beat the man”. And this is just the start.