More self -congratulating, and a big new post on the way...

The Sports Guy is now making me feel good about what I've said. I love it. Check out these quotes:

FIVE GUYS WHO LOOK LIKE THEY'RE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE

...

3. Zach Randolph

Playing with renewed vigor and it doesn't look like he ate Kenan Thompson anymore. I can't emphasize this emphatically enough: He DESTROYED Elton Brand at the Staples Center on Monday night. Is there a more unstoppable low-post player? Who can guard Zach Randolph when he's trying?

(Note: The preceding paragraph was not paid for by Paul Allen. Even if it seemed like it.)

SIX GUYS WHO ARE SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN THEY WERE LAST YEAR

...

6. Jarrett Jack
Now we know why the Trail Blazers didn't want to trade him last summer. Also, he gets bonus points for becoming the first visiting player during the 2006-07 Clippers season to earn "he seems nice" kudos from the Sports Gal.

I know I've suggested that Jack has problems, but hopefully I've also said how much I like him until Rodriguez learns the NBA game...or beyond that, maybe. That one's for my friend J-Lew, who loved Jack at Georgia Tech.

Of course, Simmons couldn't say only nice things.

15 GUYS WHO BELONG ON THE D-MILES MEMORIAL ALL-STAR TEAM

Note: You know how there are young players every year that everyone PROJECTS to be better than they actually are? And when we discuss them, it's always in the context of their potential rather than their production, even though they've never done anything or they always keep getting hurt? Well, I just described the logic that led to Darius Miles' getting traded straight up for Andre Miller and landing a $48 million deal from Portland. So here's the D-Miles Memorial All-Stars. If we made this an expansion team, everyone would pick it to win between 50-55 games and it would end up going 28-54.

Now for the important news...

I was thinking about something my friend Ek said to me about the new name of my blog. In reference to following Duncan and the Spurs, he reminded me of this:

the Spurs thing is mitigated because the SG makes an exception for once-in-a-generation-calibur college players who go pro for other teams. Although I think it should actually be an Oregon player in your case, and I don't think you'd want to be following Joey Harrington around the NFL...

Great point. So I was trying to think of once-in-a-generation-caliber players from Oregon that I could follow. None that came to mind. BUT, there is one who went to a different college. And if not for the Super Bowl last year, I probably would have ended up following him. That's right, Troy Polomalu is from Winston, Oregon. I had to drive through Winston to work at the Plywood mill, and I subbed at his high school a bit last year. He graduated the year before me, and he was one of the most dominant running backs Oregon has seen. He played defense too. And he was a great baseball player. But like I said, as much as I will always cheer for him, the Super Bowl ruined the possibility of me ever being a Steelers fan.

That led me to think about the Oregon players who have gone on to various pro-leagues. In the next few posts I'm going to try to do several things:

1. List all the current Ducks in the NFL and NBA, since Oregon doesn't have NCAA baseball or hockey teams.
2. List all the Ducks ever in those two leagues.
3. Figure out the NFL winning percentage of former Oregon quarterbacks.
4. Figure out the NFL winning percentage of quarterbacks coached by former Oregon coordinator Jeff Tedford
5. Maybe include some other stats in there, including a look at Oregon running backs.
   

Big things ahead, I know. Hopefully it's not too ambitious. Add to those things the prospect of watching a Blazer game and writing about it, and this should be a busy writing weekend. Did I mention I have homework?

Bonus points if you know who the Oregon QB in the picture is.