Last Minute Prep and Ducks Victory

David R.

September 26, 2010 - 10:58 AM

The first day of classes has once again crept up on me like it always does, and I am sitting here on the last day of summer slowly coming to terms with the fact that I will be in class tomorrow.

 

I still have to go get my books and I a hoping that the list isn't too long. There never seems to be a pattern really. You could need five books one term and two the next. I have a few note pads to jot down all of the important info in my classes and I am set on writing utensils. I feel prepared for the upcoming term but it's always a little depressing when summer ends.

 

The Ducks snagged a win last night as expected in Arizona. The Sun Devils came out hot and were up 24-14 at one point. The Ducks never seemed worried and quickly fixed the score, taking a four point lead into the half. In the second half ASU couldn't do too much and Oregon was able to hold its place on the unbeaten list that shrinks from week to week. We didn't score as much as we did against Portland State or New Mexico, but the Ducks still mustered up over 40 points. Our crew still seems to be a scoring machine, as we have scored at least 40 points in every game this season. For a while in last night's game, the Ducks had still scored more points in the season than minutes played. Mind you this is the fourth week of the season, not the first half of week one. If we can continue to score as many points as we do, we should be tough to stop. Even though ASU wasn't ranked and I naturally have a slight Oregon bias, I don't think that this ASU team was a push over by any means. Back at home in front of a packed house the Devils were looking to give the Ducks a run for their money as they had to number 11 ranked Wisconsin the week before. I will say that we didn't look as sharp as I have seen us this year, and our defense gave up and unusually high number of points. Nevertheless we are now in the top five and 1-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference. Oregon will look to keep the party going against Stanford next weekend in the loudest football venue west of the Mississippi (The Autzen Zoo).

 

Yesterday had the potential to be a crazy day in the world of college football. Arkansas was in perfect position to knock off Nick Saban and Alabama, and the Beavers of OSU put up a great fight against Boise State on the smurf turf. In all honesty I feel like the outcome might have been different had the game been played in Corvallis instead.

 

I am about to head to the U of O bookstore to pick up all of the necessary learning tools for my classes. I am taking an English class, international communication, math 106 (yuck), and an animal behavior class. Minus the math class I think I have a pretty nice schedule and my classes seem pretty interesting. It all goes down tomorrow as I officially become a senior in college. It's weird to hear myself say that and makes me realize how time flies.

 

HUGE game for my Rockies today. At home against the Giants in a tight race. Gotta have it.

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Eugene in Full Swing.

David R.

September 25, 2010 - 9:50 AM

With the dorms full of new freshmen, the college atmosphere is back in Eugene. On Thursday during the day I had to drive over to the Erb student union to do some tabling for Oregon athletics. I quickly realized that this is also the day that all of the freshmen move in to the dorms and try to become acquainted with a new lifestyle. There was no wiggle room, no parking spaces, and no shortage of people. The fall term begins in only two days and I think it is safe to say that everyone is back.

 

Last night the streets were full of people looking to have a good time before classes begin. There were people all over the place and at one point an entire intersection by my house was full of bystanders trying to figure out what to do next. As is usually the case for most new freshman, they probably don't know too many people, and probably don't know their way around Eugene too well, so they leave the dorms and head wherever the night takes them.

 

Greek life recruitment is in full swing now that rush is about to begin. While the fraternities have a more relaxed and informal recruitment, the sororities have been working all week long to prepare for the madness that is sorority rush. On Tuesday a few friends and I went golfing and were joking about how nice it was to be able to hit the links while all the sororities were practicing.

This next week hundreds of girls will spend their evenings traveling from sorority to sorority trying to make a good impression and figure out which houses they like the best. A football game would make a perfect recruitment event for a fraternity, while sorority rush requires dress clothes and lots of conversation. Rush is always a busy time for everyone but it is well worth it once it is over. Each house has great new members and plenty of potential for years to come.

I feel ready for the school year but I am still missing a key ingredient-my text books. Buying books for the upcoming term is always a pain because everyone else is doing it and it is never cheap. I have always wondered how the book store will sell me a book for $70, buy it back from me for about $5, and then sell it to someone else the next term for another $70. It seems kind of unfair but I guess it is what it is.

 

The heated race in the Nation League West might could be running away from the Rockies. After a 10-game winning streak the Rockies have managed to drop five games in a row, putting them (in my opinion) only one more loss away from being completely removed from playoff contention. With the number of remaining games being a single digit, it is now or never for the Rox.

 

The Ducks take on Arizona State tonight in the first game of Pac 10 play. The Ducks shouldn't have a problem, despite ASU's showing in Wisconsin last week. The game of the night is Oregon State at Boise. All signs thus far would point to a win for the Broncos, but the smell of an upset is in the air, and if Boise is going to lose a game this season, tonight is the night.

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Sports in High Gear.

David R.

September 19, 2010 - 5:05 PM

Fall is a great time of the year for any sports fan. Football is back and it's crunch time in major league baseball. Oregon Ducks football is rolling and we are the team to beat in the Pacific 10.

 

On Saturday the Portland State Vikings made a trip down to Eugene to take on the Ducks who are sitting at number five in the country. Im am all for optimistic thinking, but after catching word of Oregon's trouncing of New Mexico, the Vikings couldn't have possibly thought that they had any chance of winning. The fall weather is back and it was raining for the entire game. It clearly sometimes rains in Autzen, despite the popular "it never rains in Autzen" pre game cheer. Luckily I had a rain jacket or else I would have been soaked by game's end.

 

The Ducks game out guns blazing and were once again up to a safe large lead before the end of the first quarter. ESPN noted that the Ducks are leading the nation in the points per game category. The Ducks are averaging around 63 points per game and have over-powered every defense they have faced all season long. The team will be in Tempe next week to take on the ASU Sun Devils, who almost knocked off number 11 Wisconsin on the road this weekend. If Arizona State brings a similar effort next week our Ducks may have their work cut out for them. I'm not too worried though. Our team looks phenomenal in all aspects, and our defense has given up 13 points in three games. That unit is a force to be reckoned with and will play a huge role in the team's success this season.

 

The next home game is against Stanford who is slowly making its way up in the polls. Andrew Luck has looked strong thus far and the Ducks will have to take revenge for last year's defeat at Stanford. Oregon is in perfect position to win the Pac 10 and has looked like arguably the best team in the nation through three weeks.

While the college football season is just beginning, major league baseball is as exciting as ever. The Colorado Rockies are making their annual September burst and the San Diego Padres are losing control of the division that they have dominated for months.

 

As I write this the Rockies are in extra innings with the Dodgers in Los Angeles. As of now the Giants are winning the division and the Rockies are one game back of the lead, trailing the Padres by half a game. With the Giants snagging a win today, the Rockies desperately need a win today to keep themselves in the hunt for October.

 

While Carlos Gonzalez has put up MVP numbers, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has hit 15 home runs in his last 16 games, not including today's game. The man is out of his mind and is clearly doing whatever he can to make the push to Rocktober.

 

The Denver Broncos got their first win of the season today beating the Seahawks in Denver. Kyle Orton looked impressive and the Broncos won by a comfortable lead. In his second season with Denver, only time will tell if he has what it takes to take the franchise back to the promised land.

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Fall is in The Air.

David R.

September 15, 2010 - 4:25 PM

The four weeks of summer that I had when I got back to Eugene have slowly dwindled away. It feels like I just got back yet the first day of classes for the fall term is next Monday. It has been nice to relax in summer mode but now it's time to gear up for my last fall term at the University of Oregon.

 

Eugene is always fun this time of year because I get to see a lot of friends who I haven't seen all summer. One of my friends studied abroad for the winter and spring term so until a few days ago I hadn't seen him since the end of last fall term. As everyone slowly starts to return to the Eug the social atmosphere certainly improves and the leisure time is more exciting.

 

I have spent quite a bit of time over at the athletic department getting ready for the football games and the upcoming mens basketball season. Our new mind blowing basketball arena is finally a reality and games will start being played there after the new year.

 

The weather has been pretty summer-like as of late and the other day I played my first round of golf in Eugene since I have been a student here. There is a nice course called Laurelwood that is just a few blocks from campus and it isn't too expensive to play. A friend and I barely made it out in time and had to play the 9th hole in the dark. I have somehow managed to start hooking the ball just as badly as I used to slice it and I will hit one out of every nine fairways on average. I accept the fact that I'm quite the stiff but I still enjoy playing, even if I put up a 10 on the first hole.

 

Being in Eugene much earlier than usually has made it easy for me to get everything done that I need to before the year starts. When I have returned to Eugene in the past I have sometimes felt like I have way too much to do. Being here four weeks early gave me the luxury of slowly moving back and forth between houses, as opposed to having to pull an all-day fire drill to try to get completely moved out. My room is looking pretty good and I have thrown up a few posters for decoration. I made good use of the limited space I have in my tiny room and everything seems to fit just fine.

 

Three of the five of us are back for good and a fourth will be here for good on Tuesday. The kitchen is holding up decent so far but knowing our group it has the potential to become disastrous at any time. Our vending machine is in great shape and dispenses cold beer for free at any time. I might have to stock it up so I can have ice cold refreshments right in my living room. Our house is shaping up nicely and it's nice to slowly get it filled with more people.

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Ducks Roll.

David R.

September 12, 2010 - 4:43 PM

After yesterday's blowout in Knoxville I think it is safe to say that our Ducks football team is a force to be reckoned with this season. In a nationally televised game that let the Ducks showcase their skills the team scored 45 unanswered points in one of the rowdiest stadiums in college football.

 

 

The game got off to a sketchy start to say the least. After we fumbled on our first kick return the Vols kicked their second field goal to take a 6-0 lead over the number seven ranked team in the nation. As 102,000 fans were at their loudest, suddenly both teams were sent to the locker room. There was a crazy lightning storm right over Neyland Stadium that suspended the game for around 40 minutes. The game was only seven minutes in and already the thought of an upset loomed overhead. Tennessee had taken an early lead after an Oregon fumble and the game was postponed for a reason that I had never seen before in college football.

 

 

The more I thought about it though I realized that this might actually help the Ducks. The 102,000 fans that were going wild before the break were deflated after having to sit around for the better half of an hour. When the game resumed however the Vols were able to jump out to a bigger lead at 13-6. Unfortunately for Tennessee that was where the wheels fell off of the bus. The Ducks made a quick strike before halftime as newbie quarterback Darron Thomas threw a dime to tight end David Paulson for a quick six. After halftime the Ducks caught fire and couldn't be stopped. Star running back LaMichael James returned in fashion busting off a stumblin' bumblin' 70 yard touchdown run and Kenjon Barner, considered by some to be the best punt returner in the nation, joined the party with a huge punt return.

 

 

  The SEC madness was no match for the Ducks on Saturday and now it's up to us to defend our throne atop the Pacific 10 conference. The Ducks should breeze by Portland State this weekend but will have their work cut out for them when they take on Stanford stud Andrew Luck and and travel to USC. The Ducks are off to a great start and should have their eyes on Pasadena, or Glendale...

 

 

I spent my Sunday in Portland out on the Willamette River. I have been boating in a Lake before but never in a river. As we went along I kept expecting to see the end of the lake but then kept realizing that we were in a river that goes for miles and miles.

 

 

Most of the people on the boat went wake boarding or water skiing but I took a seat in the middle and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the sun. I have never wake boarded before and my last water skiing adventure ended in disaster so I decided to be a spectator. It was still a blast and hopefully I'll get to go out again when it warms up in the spring.

 

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