last night I spent at least an hour watching basketball player mixes on YouTube. Seriously, we just kept throwing out all-time names - Dominique, Larry Legend, Clyde the Glide, Larry "Granmama" Johnson, MJ, Karl Malone, Charles "break your fingers with a block" Barkley...and the beat goes on.
Here's a couple of the best I found last night:
First off, Bron-Bron is just filthy. He's just doing this for his own amusement in warm-ups. This is what would happen if he entered the Dunk Contest in LV...
Spanish Chocolate, Sergio Garcia, in action for Spain over the summer. Kid needs to get that three-ball working for the Blazers on a regular basis, he's already got the speedy dishes under control.
Chuck, the round mound of rebound. As alluded to above, it's not the dunks that are best - though the explosiveness is ridiculous - but his blocks. Good god. Watch a couple of the taunts afterwards too, lol.
Clyde the Glide, Portland's finest. Free-throw line dunks just never get old, too. I want one of the old Blazer Drexler HWC jerseys like nobody's business, I love the old wordmark.
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I only watched the last five or six minutes of the second half of the Oregon-Georgetown game, but damn, I was impressed. We were playing some ridiculous defense - without any big men! Against a team led by a big man! Mind explode! Now we're 6-0, and I think we should be able to clear out the rest of our out-of-conference schedule. God, we could be ranked soon. I can't handle this, I just can't. Pac-10 games are going to rock.
We accepted the Las Vegas Bowl bid, and will play BYU on December 21. Should be an exciting game, and certainly going to Vegas is better than going to El Paso, Texas.
Blazers play the Magic tomorrow at home. Can't remember the rest of their schedule, but I'm still happy with their play after watching (briefly) the game against Indiana. How we can stay in a game shooting less than 40% is....absolutely incredible. We're losing, but not because we're a sopping mess on the court, but through inexperience.
Sorry for the lack of timeliness, but I wasn't online for much of the weekend...I still have thoughts and opinions on the Civil War and the Blazers though.
13,500 or so people in the 18,000-capacity Rose Garden, but it was a pretty good atmosphere in the 4th quarter
Blazers pull out win in end of fourth quarter, impress hell out of Robo-Duck As promised and advertised, I went to the Blazers-Nets game on Wednesday, Nov. 22. My dad and I drove up in the rainy Portland evening, bought tickets up in the 300 section, and got some food, a couple beers, and took in the NBA pre-game atmosphere. With just a few minutes until game time the Rose Garden was surprisingly (and sadly) a little empty, but by the end of the first quarter the listed attendance of almost 14,000 had almost completely filed in and the Garden filled a bit. The upper parts of the lower bowl looked a bit empty, but the corners and ends of the 300-level bowl – aka the cheap seats – were pretty full.
The other note on atmosphere: I’m a bit too used to Autzen and, even, Mac Court. The PA and organ-runner were trying their hardest to get the crowd into it, but it took the Blazers making comebacks to really get the Garden rocking. At least they didn’t pipe in non-stop hip-hop during the game, like I’ve heard on TV in some arenas; not that I don’t like hip-hop – quite the opposite – it’s just my opinion on American teams playing too much music during sporting events.
The game itself really showed me a lot about the Blazers this year...
-Another slow start – Kristic scored 6 of the first 8 points for the Nets, and we were quickly down 13-4 or so. Even more shockingly in the end of the first quarter and into the second, Z-bo had more time on the bench then in the game – Nate sat him early and let Aldridge and Magloire get some quality time in the game. Tactically, it made sense, but it was sad to see LaMarcus on the bench for much of the second half.
In your eye - I believe that was Aldridge on the block, might've been Magloire
-We let Kristic run all over us, which I’m okay with – make their weaker link score on us. Better than leaving VC open to score 35...oops, never mind, that happened too. Jefferson played in his first game back from injury, and scored 16.
I think I'm officially in the Sergio Garcia Fan Club by now
-Spanish fucking Chocolate…my oh my, I like what he brings to the game. He didn’t see much time in the second half – Jarret Jack played well and heated up on shots in the second half, keeping Sergio on the bench, but when they were both playing on the court in the middle of the second quarter I loved the passing and the small-guard play. Sergio needs to learn a bit more when to play an ‘ordinary’ offense and when to utilize his court vision to whip those passes out to the wings (or, in one case in the second half, over his head to a man behind him), because always making the long pass is going to be too predictable in the future. Very talented young player, though. Very talented.
-Zach Randolph is looking very comfortable once he gets his motor going in the game. See also the comments about a slow start. Randolph had 21 of his 25 points in the second half – including all nine of his free throws – but was mysteriously missing in the first. Also, Magloire played very well – he might be finally adapting to Nate’s play style and the Blazers in general.
-Outlaw was great in the game as well. Udoka played well for his minutes, but you can’t help but think that he’s a stop-gap starter until Roy comes back from injury. Ime got into foul trouble too early.
Z-bo has one a mug above the bar at the free throw line this year. He's a regular by now.
-Z-bo lead with 25 points and Jack had 17, but the Blazers had four players with more than 10 points versus the Nets’ three. It’s a small stat, but it really states how team-oriented Portland played on Wednesday, though that may be a rotation more by necessity than anything else.
-"Pilgrim Blaze" brought out a bunch of little kids onto the floor between the first and second quarter and asked them what they were thankful for. Stock answers until the final two: "I don’t live in New Jersey" and "The Blazer Dancers." From little kids younger than ten years old. Awesome.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Blazers experience, $8 Drop Tops aside. I really get a good feeling from this team this year, and if they keep playing like they did last night – even if they don’t win and steal comebacks – they will have my support. This team will be even better next year, which is a scary thought and, not too sadly, I think we may be out of the Greg Oden sweepstakes.
Celebration, bitches. What a come-from-behind victory.
Duck Football: Can I get a kicker?
The hardest place to be today after the Civil War was not in the Oregon Duck locker room, where the players were left to ask “what if we had a real kicker?” nor in the head office of the Oregon athletic department, where they must be counting the lost pennies, nickels and dimes from missing out on the third-ranked bowl game for the Pac-10.
No, the hardest place to be was my parent’s house in suburban Portland.
Why?
I’m the only Duck in the family.
Yeah. Painful, isn’t it?
So when I’m normally turning to my roommates and joking about “buying a call” or getting a little help from the zebras, instead I have my dad yelling about Phil Knight and booster checks to the Pac-10 refs. Instead of my friend Jake painted up in green and yellow with the wig and his Hawaiian board shorts, I’ve got my dad, mom and sister all in orange. I think the dog’s even rooting for the Beavers too.
Such is the price to pay to be the splintered end in a rivalry split, but hell…at least we didn’t get blown out this year.
That sound you hear is me jumping off the Dixon bandwagon, eating crow and crying about the Ducks' Civil War loss all in one motion.
Brady Leaf impressed me. After booing him at times this year and last when he’s swaggered onto the field to help stop the bleeding or save Dixon’s ass from the fire, this time I instead looked forward to what the junior could do in his first ever start. “Can’t be any worse than with Dennis in,” I thought.
And I was right. He played very well – 25 out of 43 passing for 272 yards and one touchdown and interception, which compares very well to the Hero of the Day, Oregon State’s Matt Moore, except for where the little W goes in the statistics. And, unlike in the past few weeks when offensive stuttering or defensive gaps have directly caused us to lose, this time it can be pinned on one person.
Or should I say on one leg?
Oh dear.
I don’t blame Matt Evenson for missing the kick; that was the sophomore’s third attempt this season, come on. Oregon State fans, remember, wanted to string up Alexis Serna after his miss to lose to LSU in his first ever college game. While this isn’t playing down in Baton Rouge against an SEC team, it wasn’t an easy kick, either.
No, the real goat of today was Paul Martinez. Leading the nation in touchdown runs by kickers isn’t the greatest stat to have, especially when your in-state rival has a Groza winner on the sideline contemplating how he’s going to change up his speech if he wins it again this year. Martinez missed two kicks that he absolutely needed to hit, and an inexplicable PAT – this is the equivalent of a free throw, and yes, the weather was crappy, but still, how can you miss that thing? And how can you push the other two field goals wide?
All the hard work done by Brady Leaf, Jonathan Stewart, and the stepping up by the Duck defensive line to force pressure on Moore and stop the run was pushed wide right by Paul Martinez three times. What a sad way to end a Civil War that was within our grasp.
At least San Francisco is a lot nicer place to visit than El Paso, Texas.
Early-week updates
So the Blazers got rocked two nights in a row after winning at home against the Nets. Sacramento just put their foot on our throats and we choked - not much can be done there - and the Suns were the Suns. We host the Pacers tonight, and we should be able to win this one - hell, the Raptors were able to stomp them over the weekend.
I still can't believe the Blazers have done this well - now, if we can just get Roy back, we'd have a hell of a youth movement going. I can't wait to see how well we can do with depth at the bigs back (Przybilla, La Frentz, and Aldridge all rotating with Z-bo at the 4 and 5? Oh god!) and Roy back. I hope that doesn't limit Sergio's minutes at the 1....I'm wondering how awesome a Garcia-Roy backcourt could be in five years. "Dominance" comes to mind.
Tomorrow night the Ducks men's basketball team plays at Georgetown in a real test of a game. I think we might be able to win it - though Hairston's return scares me regarding the balance of chemistry and having to use our big men a lot against the Hoyas' dominant front court does as well. If we stay close then we should be more than fine, I think. The real must-win is against Nebraska in over a week. I should go to that game...
Moos leaving is a bit of a shock to the athletic department, and I'm really, really wondering who's going to take over from him. I really hope it isn't Lannana or Bellotti - I love them as coaches, but they shouldn't double dip.
I feel like my dad whenever I've done something incredibly stupid - I'm not mad, I'm disappointed. I still love the Ducks, just now how they've been acting the last half of the season. O-fer on the road this season (save Fresno St.) and now Fortress Autzen is gone?
Basketball season is finally giving me hope and something reasonable to look forward to, as opposed to our likely Sun or Las Vegas Bowl invite. Ugggh.
Duck Basketball
We play Rice in Houston tonight (a game that starts soon actually) and this is one of the two pre-Pac-10 games against a real opponent that we absolutely have to win. Playing at Georgetown is going to be difficult, but if we're in that game next Wednesday than I'll be happy. However, we MUST beat Rice and Nebraska - they are winnable games. The rest of the non-conference games should be slam dunks; however, keeping in mind the only other team from Oregon we beat last year was Oregon State, I'm not taking anything for granted, yet just remaining confident and hopeful we'll head into conference play strongly this year.
Portland Trail Blazers
Z-bo pulling down a huge board last Saturday against the Nets, who I'm going to see in person in Portland on Wednesday night
Blazers get to host the Spurs tonight - yay, the league's most boring, ruthlessly efficient team! - and that one's on FSN at 7. Wednesday night we host the Nets - the game of destiny that I'm going to be headed up to - and that's also on at 7 on FSN.
the Blazers played very poorly on Friday night in Boston, winding up losing by more than 20 against a very poor Celtics team. However, the team got it turned around for Saturday night's game in New Jersey against the Nets. According to the Oregonian's Jason Quick, Jarret Jack was so distraught by the Friday night game that he couldn't go to bed and instead called up to coach Nate McMillan's hotel room...Nate had an equal amount of unrest and the two ended up watching that night's tape until about 3 in the morning.
God I love this level of dedication. Is this the franchise finally turning around to the positive side? Is this the bright new dawn, or at least it's first rays?
in other Blazer news, Miles will be out for the rest of the season with microfracture surgery on his bad knee. Z-bo and Amare Stoudemire have proven it takes more than a year to recover from the surgery, and Amare - after sitting out almost all of last season - is still a little tenuous. Watching the Suns' center's recovery is the biggest clue as to what Darius will expect because, just like Phoenix's big man, Miles' game relies on sheer athleticism - Miles is very talented, Amare is a freak, but they both rely on their bodies more than game knowledge, so seeing how Stoudemire recovers throughout this year should give us an idea.
Randolph is still doing well after playing most of last year on his own recovery. The man is just doing everything right. However, some within Blazerdom are calling for both their heads. What's my take? We figure out Randolph after this season, but Miles needs to go stat. Him being gone is a blessing (not even in disguise, it just is one) because it won't jack with the team's chemistry. However, he's really worthless to us with a bad knee...or if he's not going to recover properly and just be an 800-pound gorilla on the salary cap. I hope we do something with his contract sooner rather than later, but still wish to reserve judgment for Z-bo until he gets a full season's worth of testimony. He's got a hot start and a great month of November....he could build it into an All-Star season (which would ROCK) or he could go downhill. It's too hard to call right now.
I wish I was the great white "freak athlete," but I'm not, which is why I'm writing as opposed to playing sports. Watching and following more basketball has inspired me to pick up the rock more this year, though...I need to develop my ugly Shawn Marion jump shot into something a bit more textbook.
Expect a nice Time-Delayed Live Blog on the Blazer's Wednesday night game that night. I honestly can't wait.
sorry for the lack of updates, but this weekend shall provide a bunch of fodder. Here's a quick preview:
-Duck Football - vs. USC at the Coliseum. This game will be the difference between the Holiday and Sun Bowls for the Ducks and Trojans this year. I'm a little worried that USC's staunch defense will come out swinging and keep their stuttering offense in the game, but...well, their defense allowed Matt Moore to run rampant on them, so there you go. And while others are worried about USC's talented receivers, those same receivers struggled until the fourth-quarter almost-comeback against the Beavers. And even though it's in the LA Coliseum and USC fandom is incredibly fervant, the place was a moratorium in the second half when UW was in town.
Too many questions that can't be answered to call this one. I'm just going to have to park it on the couch and watch. It's the late game, too, which is kinda cool because many of the Ducks' games have been early this year.
-Duck Men's Basketball - vs. Lehigh, Cal State Northridge and Portland State - with anything resembling luck the Ducks will open their season 3-0...that is, if the hype that "this is the year it all comes together" is anything to go by. I'm still incredibly cynical of Ernie Kent, just because he can talk a lot of talk and get recruits but has had a nice habit of throwing away games and also not inspiring his players to play at their best...but, I will be in the stands against Lehigh tomorrow night, so the chance to see us play (minus Malik, who's out to injury) will be good - especially because, with three games in three days, the rotation will be heavy. Good chance to see pretty deep into the bench on this one.
in other Duck sports news, there is some shenanigans going on with the women's sports, but the Daily Emerald has got far better coverage than I could ever muster. Soccer team got snubbed, their star gets picked up for basketball season, and the basketball player who quit the team Monday has joined the volleyball team Thursday. Merry-go-round, indeed.
-The NFL - Big game on Sunday night, even if the Bears are no longer perfect. This is the real crunch time - everything up until last week was really just a tease. Pro football season truly starts in November.
-The EPL - my Arsenal host Liverpool on Sunday, Newcastle the next week and then Hamburg for the Champion's League. Big games; the Gunners need to turn their shots-on-target and opportunities into goals on the scoreboard. I'm convinced that, until the team lives up to its 4-goals-a-game potential, the masses and supporters of other teams won't look at Arsenal like NBA fans look at the Suns, and go "you know, that's just fun to watch."
-the NBA - Blazers play some more this weekend, including against the New Orleans-OKC Hornets tomorrow night. Seeing the player they could have drafted last year in the Hornets uniforms will be interesting...blazers are 2-0 at home and Randolph is starting to make noise for a real turnaround/career-setting year this year. Granted, it's one week in. But still. This is sports - it's practically mine and everyone's jobs to extrapolate good years out of the first week or two.
That's all for now. Another topic to keep your eye on is a retrospective of Michael Schumacher, which I will probably write all misty-eyed after watching the tape of his last race.
Ah, homecoming. And, even better, the Huskies. I outlined the game and everything in the last post from Thursday night, so I really don't need to re-cover that ground.
the view from the student section...note to self, stand higher up more often
I only saw the first half of the game - I had other duties to take care of, but did listen to a lot of the second half on radio. But what I saw I liked - for the most part. Jonathan Stewart went for 159 and two TDs and would have had his best game if he'd stayed in; the yardage totals lie a little because Brian Paysinger ended up as the third-highest rusher off of a couple of reverses. Still, 316 total yards is NOTHING to sniff at; neither is the Oregon defense holding the Huskies to 35.
You're still the team's leader, and yes, the running game was on, but what happened to the precise bomb-dropping passing game, Dix?
Bad news? Dixon only threw for 109, no TDs and 2 picks. What happened to Dennis' confidence? UW's defense is pretty good (and I put a LOT of the rushing yards on our diesel offensive line) but they're not that good; Dixon just still has something in his head. What happened to the Dixon who picked ASU apart and threw for more than 100 yards to Williams in the first quarter alone? A win is a win, but Dennis needs to get back on his horse for us to beat USC this coming weekend.
But the real star was the defense. Holding the Huskies to less than 140 yards - only 13 of that being on the ground after the sacks were factored in - and a huge late interception, the D did exactly what I wanted them to do - stop the run. The Ducks also kept their heads when UW pressured...easy to keep your head against PSU, a little more difficult against a pesky Pac-10 team.
The inaugural Mandrake Award for Player of the Game goes to a young man who opened the scoring for the game and also had the Ducks' one takeaway on the day...and he would be Rover Patrick Chung. The punt return electrified the crowd, and really lit the spark for the game.
USC next weekend. I'll be biting my nails watching from Eugene.
GonzoBlog notes from the stadium: I have another wonderful picture showing the clouds breaking away and washing the student section quarter of the stadium in light. the gods held off on the rain until 1:00 left in the 4th mark, and yes, that includes not raining throughout the whole morning. Awesome warm weather. Maybe it was me not trying to be close in the student section, but it wasn't as packed as the last games I've gone to have been. Crowd exploded, of course, when "the pick" started up on the scoreboard. Black uniforms didn't look so bad, but I'm sad we didn't do something akin to what Louisville did when they wore their blacks against West Virginia on Thursday and asked the home crowd for a "black-out". Golden opportunity to do something cool that they completely ignored.
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oooh, clutch. Outlaw led the team in the home-opener victory over the T-wolves, and he helped lead the Blazers from a deficit as big as 16.
God damn, the Blazers have won two games late with some clutch shots. Dixon did the honors tonight, hitting a 3 on a kick-out from Brandon Roy to cap a comeback win for Portland. Before tying the game in the third, the Blazers were as much as 16 points in the hole.
My god, we've gone from folding over under pressure to being clutch? Oh my. and Z-bo's still leading the team statistically through three games, averaging 18 PPG. Portland lost to the Warriors last night, which McMillan attributed to the team not playing together as a team well.
Lakers on Monday is the next TV game, and I'll try and watch a lot of that. I haven't gotten the chance to watch a lot of my Blazers so far this season and it makes me sad. I'm eyeing tickets, possibly for the Wednesday of Thanksgiving break and for games during Winter break as well. Hrmm. I will get to games this year, and if I go I'll GonzoBlog(TM) the game.
Even though he's injured for the game, Isaiah Stanback has still led the Huskies out of the basement this year...and is still an image of derision for the rest of the Northwest
Whoever decided that we were playing the Washington Huskies for our homecoming game this year was an absolute genius. Hosting the Huskies is always a joy - because it's the most heated rivalry that we have - but giving the excuse to invite all the alumni who went to school when Oregon football was likely pretty bad and got killed by the Huskies on a regular basis...inviting them to the slaughter that could be this year's game....priceless.
Some context for those outside of the two universities: we hate each other. This is probably the most-heated rivalry on the West coast...except nobody knows about it, which Jacob May of the Daily Emerald writes about today. The rivalry, besides being geographic, stems back to the Huskies choosing Cal over us to go to the Rose Bowl in 1948; for students of my generation and even my parent's generation, the Huskies were the only respectable football program in the Northwest for years and never let anybody forget about that...hence the arrogance and swagger they still have.
the audio for this is absolutely priceless
Of course, what really touched the Ducks off into the Nike-fied stratosphere we now live in was the 1994 game, at Autzen, with the Huskies ranked in the top-25 nationally and Oregon off to a decent season that had hit a few bumps. We had the lead but the Dawgs were driving...until Kenny Wheaton picked the ball off on the 8-yard line and, as is seen before every home game on the Autzen scoreboard, ran it back to the house for the game-sealing touchdown. I'm getting chills just typing it out, nevermind the commentary call as well.
Game Analysis
The Huskies...I just don't want to call them at all. Looking at the stats, nothing stands out; not the running game, not the passing, not even their defense. The only stat they're high up on is penalties committed, sitting second in the Pac-10 behind Stanford. Now that Stanback is out, they have no real recognizable players.
If they're as smart as their cross-state brethren, they will try to rattle Dixon, isolate J-Stew, and run the ball early and often. Our pass defense is, once again, the best in the Pac-10 - even though maybe two of the five starters in the secondary can buy booze - but our run D is what has taken the hit from injuries. This game could be a blowout, or it could end up being settled by a last-minute field goal. The worst part is that, given our current form, I don't even know if we're going to win this. Washington is good. Unfortunately.
Quick notes
...you thought I was going to ignore the Blazers winning close in the opening game up in Seattle? yeah, right. Scariest quote: Z-bo is now the captain of the team? Holy hell...but he did drop 30, grab 10 boards, played smart and appeared to really hustle at times. His game is really the theme for the Blazers right now - steps in the right direction. Can't base a playoff run off of one game, but damn, if we play like that all year...
the Mariners aren't going to be in the Daisuke Matsuzaka sweepstakes....which is bad, because the kid will be at least a solid 2-3 starter in any rotation within a year or so, and has a good fastball and a wicked slider from accounts...but it's good, because in the same press release it insinuated that they were looking more at Jason Schmidt or Adam Eaton. Hrmm. We *need* a starting pitcher and one more big stick in the lineup to really climb...the no-name bullpen established themselves last year, defensively we were solid, but nobody really mashed and our starting rotation was a mess. King Felix is still a few years away, Washburn is *not* the #1 starter, and everyone else is subpar. Get Schmidt and somebody to hit the long ball routinely and we'll start talking about an AL West run.
I wish I could somehow sneak into the car with my Seahawks season ticket-wielding roommate, who is going up for the Monday night game this week, but I somehow really doubt that would happen. Still going to try and watch as much of the game as possible, though, and pray that Phillip Rivers has a good enough game to justify starting him over Seneca Wallace who - yes, indeed, in my league - earned more fantasy points than Rivers last week. BOGGLES THE MIND.
Welcome to Robo-Duck's Revenge...and meet our patron saint, Robo-Duck aka Mandrake aka the saint of bad Nike ideas. Titling this sports blog after him not only gives me ironic Internet sports blog street cred, it's also a nice reminder that, while Nike money is good, Nike ideas aren't always quite so good.
Welcome to the slightly NW-biased views of a Portland native, current University of Oregon student, and dedicated sports fan. I guess this sports blog is what happens after reading too much Deadspin.
let me get a few more things out there on the line: besides being a dedicated Duck, I love the Mariners (in spite of the idiotic upper management), the Blazers (in spite of themselves), the Seahawks (in spite of being seen as a bandwagon hopper), the Arsenal (even though those who love soccer are few and far between), and I love Formula 1, MotoGP and the American Le Mans Series....even though they're hard to follow in the US.
Expect to see opinions on the big sports leagues and their big news, as well as everything to do with my teams and what's happening in the Northwest.
So that's the manifesto. if you have anything else to ask, just leave a comment.
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Dennis Dixon gets his groove back
here's the coverage: Even though Oregon playing Portland State was a glorified scrimmage, it still had some very important side-effects for the Ducks. It let them get their confidence back, especially Dixon; it gave Leaf some more game time; and it gave the first game time to freshman Nathan Costa, who led a great drive in the middle of the fourth quarter from our own 2 all the way to an Andiel Brown touchdown. Giving the kids some game time, in front of a sold-out Autzen (though, A) I doubt that place was totally filled at kickoff, and B) the student section was probably empty by the time Costa got in) is MUCH more important than all the attention they get in practice. I know it's Portland State, but PSU isn't a pushover - they're top-25 in the I-AA poll, and actually beat a 1-A team (New Mexico) earlier this season.
It was kinda bizarre to watch that drive - it was a real "blink and you miss it" drive, which is the surprising thing. Costa made a few big passes and an even more impressive scramble where he just moved right past a couple of Viking defenders. Not the true runner that Dennis Dixon is, but more like Kellen Clemens with a bit more mobility...
oh yeah, that makes him PERFECT for the spread-option. Dixon sometimes looks to run too much, and Leaf is a 'scrambler' at best...but somebody who runs fluidly when necessary, lets his running backs do the running, and has a great arm is EXACTLY the QB we need for the future. I can see his #7 on replica jerseys a few years from now.
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