Quick note on June Jones

Thanks to Lew for reminding me that I already mentioned Jones as a former Oregon QB who played in the NFL. Jones was born in Portland and started his college career as a Duck, but he transferred to Hawaii after two years, and then to Portland State after two years on the island. There are several former NFL quarterbacks who were Ducks for some time, but shouldn't be included in my statistical analysis because they spent more time at other schools. There are also a few former Duck QBs with really interesting stories. In the space I'll mention a few of those.

The other quarterback worth noting is Tuffy Leemans. Leemans is considered the greatest athlete to ever attend George Washington, but he started his college career at Oregon. Here's a little about him from the GW Hatchett, the George Washington newspaper:

In a time when numbers were much less inflated than they are today, and being a back was about as specific as you could get about positions, Leemans ran for a GW-record 2,382 yards on a record 490 carries during his three-year career. As he wowed the packed houses at Griffith Stadium in the heyday of GW football, he led GW to some of its greatest gridiron success (the team went 17-9-2 in his career with wins over Auburn and Oklahoma). Along the way, he also set school records for carries (207) and yards (1,054) in a season.

He was All-District and All-Eastern his last two years and honorable mention All-American his senior year. In addition, he was a proficient passer and punter, and he also starred for the basketball team.

As a 195-pound, 6-foot back, he was actually rather stocky for the time. It was everyone�s lament at GW that if the shifty, savvy Leemans only had some blocking, he could really do something.

Tuffy found that blocking with the New York Giants. After a stunning most valuable player performance in the College All-Star game at Chicago�s Soldier Field, he joined the Giants for the 1936 season and promptly led the league in rushing.

During eight seasons and 80 games, he would rush for 3,142 yards, pass for 2,324 and receive for 442. He had 16 touchdown passes and averaged 14 yards per punt return. He was All-NFL in 1936 and 1939.

December 7, 1941, was �Tuffy� Leemans Day at the Polo Grounds. The 55,051 fans only learned after the game that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.

In 1978, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A year later, he died at the age of 66.

And here's some more about him from the Professional Football Researchers Association:

For the next three years, Tuffy was virtually a one-man show, a true running- passing-kicking yriple threat, as the Colonials played competitively against such powerhouses as LSU, Alabama, Rice, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma. As a senior, Leemans was the team captain.

Still it is doubtful that the pros would have been knocking at his door had it not been for a young high school boy on vacation in Washington who caught a terrific Leemans perfomance against Alabama in 1935. That young man was Wellington Mara, whose father Tim owned the Giants. Young Wellington, who is now the Giants' president, reported back to his father that Tuffy was a prospect the Giants must sign once he was eligible.

"If I am remembered for nothing else, I'd like to be remembered for discovering Tuffy Leemans," Mara once said. "It's a good thing the Redskine didn't move to Washington until 1937 or we could never have gotten Tuffy."

The NFL employed its first college draft in 1936 and Tuffy was the Giants' second-round choice.

At that same site I discovered the reason that Leemans left Oregon. The coach who recruited him to Oregon from his high school in Wisconsin took the job at George Washington, so Leemans followed him there.

George Shaw was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1955. That was the same year that Johnny Unitas was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unitas ended up with the Colts the next year, and by 1958 had shown himself to be an amazing quarterback. Shaw had a decent first year, but didn't stand a chance to remain the Colts QB once Unitas had proven himself. Shaw was the backup quarterback for the Colts in the NFL championship game against the Giants, and then was on the Giants squad that lost to the Colts again the next year.

Those are a few of the stories that I found interesting as I was researching how Oregon quarterbacks have fared in the NFL. Before I post the W-L record, which is proving really difficult to find, I'm going to post the combined QB rating of the Oregon quarterbacks in the NFL.

Progress update

I've spent all morning doing research for my Oregon QB post, and it's not going well. I'm having a hard time finding W-L records online. A very hard time, actually. I've been guessing on some, so I don't know how I'm going to fix that. But I have found some other interesting stuff, so I may update my list of Oregon players who have been in the NFL to include undrafted players, and I may post about the overall QB rating for the Oregon super-QB. I wish I could do this more quickly, but I should have been doing paperwork this morning instead of this. Oh well.

Quick Blazer note: tough loss last night in Minnesota. I've read about it, since I didn't watch it, and I'm convinced that we need R-O-Y to help our perimeter defense. Randolph is still playing well, but if we can't keep guards from doing whatever they want we're going to have a tough time winning. We play the Cavs tonight. Hopefully we can abuse their guards, since that's our best shot to be close. Onward and upward.


Here's a picture of former Oregon and NFL quarterback June Jones, the head coach at the University of Hawaii. Just one of the names that will be included in the QB post. It's coming, just wait.

Things are looking up

It's been a pretty good few days. Even though I didn't get any work done over the weekend, being at the coast and seeing family turned out to be a great use of time. Then last night I got fairly caught up on my school stuff. Yesterday was the first time in a while I've been genuinely excited about the prospect of teaching next year, which is fantastic. I realized recently that the things I need done for this term are actually going pretty well. And with the exception of Oregon getting demolished at USC, the last few days have been pretty good for my teams. I've said enough about the Blazers, but I want to include a snippet from Hoopsworld.

Can we say enough about the turnaround of Zach Randolph? Yes, he has been an absolute beast on the block and on the glass, but that's not new - everyone knew and expected that Randolph would return. What really has people turning heads - fans, teammates, and opposing scouts alike - is Randolph making the extra pass and playing defense. His preferred place to get the ball is about 12-15 feet from the hoop, roughly a 45 degree angle from the basket. Often he will get the ball in post-up position, but then turn and face up his defender. When that happens teams are starting to send an extra defender his way.

In the past Randolph would take that as a challenge and try to score over two or sometimes three players. Now Randolph calmly holds the ball away from the defenders - much like Shaq does when double-teamed - and waits for a cutter to go to the hoop. Many times this season that cutter has found themselves with some extremely easy points since Randolph is looking to make that pass.

The defense is another improvement, too. Never much known as a guy who gets in the air and blocks shots, Randolph is changing people's minds. He is averaging 0.6 blocks a game so far this season. That may not sound like much, but consider that's triple his career average. His steals are also up to 1.1 a game, over 50% better than his 0.7 career average.

And no, it doesn't hurt that he's scoring 27.3, grabbing 10.3 rebounds, and hitting 91% of his foul shots either.

How about the OTHER rookie? LaMarcus Aldridge had a fabulous NBA debut on Sunday, scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds. This had been discussed in the days leading up to the draft and also during his play in Las Vegas this summer, but Aldridge really does remind a lot of people of Rasheed Wallace with his wiry build, his high jump shot on the block with nice touch, and his ability to run the floor. Think Coach Nate McMillan is excited to have him back? Look for Aldridge to get even more playing time, at least until Joel Przybilla and Raef LaFrentz come back from injuries. Actually, if he continues to play as well as he did Sunday, those players coming back may not matter.

That's the sort of thing that gets me excited, which is good, because I was not on the Aldridge bandwagon coming into the season. The other good sports news for me was Seattle pulling off the win over St. Louis. It looks like Alexander and Hasselbeck could finally be back this weekend, and perhaps Bobby Engram, Sean Locklear, and Robbie Tobeck could be following them. Yeah, those are five offensive starters. Pretty impressive stuff, this winning without them. Here at the University of Oregon we had some fun on Sunday night, as a Tajuan Porter set a freshman record with 38 points against Portland State. Oh yeah, and he made ten three-pointers. Also I should point out that the women's basketball team from my brother's alma mater, Vanguard University, beat the Oregon women in an exhibition last night here at McArthur Court.

I'm having a harder time finding an exhaustive list of Oregon players who went on to the NBA, but it's coming. And the QB post is coming too.

I decided to put up a little photo comparison of Aldridge and Wallace. If LaMarcus does turn out like Rasheed, I'll be really happy, since I love 'Sheed's game. Especially in tandem with someone like Zach.

This team has me pretty excited

The one coffee shop I could find in Depoe Bay, Oregon—whale watching capitol of the world—doesn’t have wireless internet. Instead, customers can buy time on the one crappy computer. Needless to say, I spent two dollars to check a few things online for ten minutes, but I’m not willing to pay more so that I can blog. Thus, this is being written on Saturday afternoon, but won’t be published until sometime Sunday.

The Blazers game last night would have been the perfect one to watch, because there wasn’t much else going on. Alas, it wasn’t on TV anywhere in the country. Which means that I missed seeing another example of the team’s new calling card: toughness. Last year the consensus about Portland was that the players didn’t care. They gave up. They didn’t work hard. Teammates quit on each other. I don’t believe anyone is saying any of those things this year, as they improved to 4-2 on this young season, won their second straight game, and remained undefeated at home.

(Props again to the Hawks, who are also 4-2, and to Joe Johnson who is still playing really well. Also, it was nice for my fantasy teams that Josh Smith decided to show up finally.)

Even though I didn’t watch the game, I saw some of the highlights and a bit of the stat line, which makes me think I can comment on a few things, or more precisely, on a few players.

Zach Randolph is unreal. I know I’ve been saying it, and I know I’ve been quoting others who are saying it, but give me a break. One of my friends with insider needs to tell me what Hollinger said the other day, because I think Randolph is trying to have the best offensive season by an undersized power forward in history. I saw some clips of the game last night, and there were several offensive rebounds that he took out of the hands of multiple Hornets, one of which was after a free throw. This man is possessed. The big men are still hurt, Roy only played 12 minutes (with nothing to show for it stat-wise), and we’re never sure who else is going to show up. And Zach has carried this team to 4 wins. I know that it’s early, and the season is long, but a comment by my friend Ek reminded me of how special this team is already.

The Bulls are still a relatively young team, and have multiple new guys in the rotation, so I'm not surprised they're taking a little time to gel...

I agree, and don't fault them for taking a while to get it together. But in thinking about the Bulls, I can't help but compare the Blazers. We are still one of the youngest teams in the league, and there are a lot of injuries right now. And yet the team is playing really well together. Maybe McMillan is better than I thought. Oh wait; he missed Friday night’s game because of a death in the family. THEY DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THEIR COACH. So, to recap: the Blazers won Friday night after being down by 25 at the end of the first quarter. They’re only the second team in the shot clock era to do that. They did it with three of their five legitimate post players hurt, they’re star rookie still battling a foot injury, their head coach absent, and only one of two captains suited up. Who was the only person out there with a leadership title? Captain Zach Randolph, also one of the two legit posts, and the only player that the Hornets knew was going to get the ball every time down the floor. He responded by scoring his fewest points in three games, a measly 31, and grabbing 14 rebounds. MVP is a three-man battle right now (thanks to LeBron’s walk-off…) between Randolph, Johnson, and Dwyane Wade. Yes I am delusional. Moving on.

If Travis Outlaw keeps up his one-in-three performance, I’ll take it. In the third game of the season he scored 19 and had 18 rebounds, all while playing out of position. (He has said that he feels like a two who can play three, which is where Portland usually plays him. With the numerous frontcourt injuries, he’s been playing the four alongside Zach at five.) Oh yeah, and that performance was against Minnesota, who has a decent PF. In the sixth game of the season he did it again, scoring 18 and getting six rebounds and SIX BLOCKS. I didn’t see the game, so I’m not sure how those all played out, but in a game that sees your team down by 25 after one quarter, six blocked shots is going to help a lot at getting the fans back in and disrupting the other team’s offense. People who have seen the in-between games have said that he “looks lost” or “looks like he’s asleep.” I don’t want him to be lost or asleep for two thirds of the season, and I would much rather see him perform consistently, but if he plays a third of the season like that? I’ll look forward to what happens as he matures even more. The kid is only 22.

That last post about Ducks in the NFL was pretty lame, but I am still interested in posting all the Ducks in the NBA. And I think the upcoming post about Duck QBs and NFL winning percentages should be a bit more interesting. Speaking of which, when this gets published tomorrow I’ll know what happened, but I hope Oregon can pull off the upset in L.A. Dennis Dixon needs to have a good day running the offense.

Oh, and on Friday I bought a Randolph jersey for $22.50.

This team has me pretty excited.

A quick post for J-Lew and Ek

NBA.com released the new power-rankings today, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Portland jump 21 spots. Who else jumped that many? Atlanta. The two teams are ranked 8 and 9, respectively. Plus, Joe Johnson and Zack Randolph are both playing like MVP candidates right now. Don't believe me? I've got the picture to prove it. Look a few spots down and you'll see some names that could surprise you. Also, I love the category of teams we're included in. That's right, The Contenders. This must continue.

All the Ducks ever drafted into the NFL

I just saw that the Blazers beat the Lakers. Without R-O-Y. And Zach is unbelievable. He is phenomonal. I love this team.

I found this chart online and decided to just use it instead of making my own, because it is really thorough.

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Name	Team	Position
2006	1	12	12	Haloti Ngata	Ravens	DT
	2	17	49	Kellen Clemens	Jets	QB
	4	14	111	Demetrius Williams	Ravens	WR
	7	27	235	Justin Phinisee	Buccaneers	DB
2005	3	30	94	Adam Snyder	49ers	G
	7	9	223	Marcus Maxwell	49ers	WR
2004	2	3	35	Igor Olshansky	Chargers	DT
	2	4	36	Junior Siavii	Chiefs	DT
	4	9	105	Samie Parker	Chiefs	WR
	6	33	198	Keith Lewis	49ers	DB
2003	4	7	104	George Wrighster	Jaguars	TE
	4	8	105	Onterrio Smith	Vikings	RB
	7	7	221	Keenan Howry	Vikings	WR
2002	1	3	3	Joey Harrington	Lions	QB
	2	22	54	Maurice Morris	Seahawks	RB
	3	14	79	Rashad Bauman	Redskins	DB
	4	5	103	Justin Peelle	Chargers	TE
	6	16	188	Wesley Mallard	Giants	DB
	7	36	247	Steve Smith	Jaguars	DB
2001	5	24	155	A.J. Feeley	Eagles	QB
2000	3	19	81	Reuben Droughns	Lions	RB
	4	34	128	Peter Sirmon	Titans	LB
1999	1	3	3	Akili Smith	Bengals	QB
	4	38	133	Josh Bidwell	Packers	P
	7	2	208	Jed Weaver	Eagles	TE
1998	2	12	42	Patrick Johnson	Ravens	WR
	5	23	146	Blake Spence	Jets	TE
1997	3	22	82	Paul Wiggins	Steelers	T
	3	34	94	Kenny Wheaton	Cowboys	DB
	7	3	204	Tony Graziani	Falcons	QB
1996	1	11	11	Alex Molden	Saints	DB
	4	8	103	Ricky Whittle	Saints	RB
	7	6	215	Jeremy Asher	Redskins	LB
1995	6	24	195	Dino Philyaw	Patriots	RB
	7	1	209	Chad Cota	Panthers	DB
	7	12	220	Herman O'Berry	Rams	DB
1994	3	10	75	Romeo Bandison	Browns	DT
	3	35	100	Ernest Jones	Rams	LB
1993	6	21	161	Eric Castle	Chargers	DB
1992	9	25	249	Muhammad Oliver	Broncos	DB
	12	19	327	Matt LaBounty	49ers	DE
1991	4	23	106	Bill Muscrave	Cowboys	QB
1990	3	25	78	Latin Berry	Rams	RB
	4	24	105	Chris Oldham	Lions	DB
	8	24	217	Curt Dykes	Eagles	T
	11	10	286	Daryl Reed	Seahawks	DB
1989s	8	0	0	Brett Young	Bills	DB
1989	2	22	50	Scott Kozak	Oilers	LB
	3	2	58	Matt Brock	Packers	DE
	6	9	148	Thom Kaumeyer	Rams	DB
1988	2	8	35	Anthony Newman	Rams	DB
	4	6	88	Rollin Putzier	Packers	DT
	8	23	216	J.J. Birden	Browns	WR
1987	1	13	13	Chris Miller	Falcons	QB
	3	18	74	Clifford Hicks	Rams	DB
1986	5	28	138	Lew Barnes	Bears	WR
	9	19	240	Tony Cherry	49ers	RB
	11	21	298	Drew Smetana	Chargers	T
1984u	1	3	3	Gary Zimmerman	Giants	G
1984	3	19	75	Steve Baack	Lions	DE
	6	23	163	Dan Ralph	Falcons	DT
1983	2	22	50	Mike Walter	Cowboys	LB
	3	27	83	Steve Brown	Oilers	DB
1982	4	12	95	Reggie Brown	Falcons	RB
	6	12	151	Vince Williams	49ers	RB
	11	21	300	Stuart Yatsko	Broncos	G
1981	6	18	156	Bryan Hinkle	Steelers	LB
	12	21	325	Kevin McGill	Browns	T
1980	4	14	97	Terry Dion	Seahawks	DE
	8	4	197	Don Coleman	Broncos	WR
1979	10	18	266	Bruce Beekley	Falcons	LB
1978	7	9	175	Fred Quillan	49ers	C
	9	3	225	Reggie Grant	Jets	DB
1976	1	18	18	Mario Clark	Bills	DB
	8	23	232	Ron Hunt	Bengals	T
	12	3	322	Ron Lee	Chargers	DB
	17	17	476	Chuck Wills	Redskins	DB
	17	27	486	Stan Woodfill	Cowboys	K
1975	1	16	16	Russ Francis	Patriots	TE
	11	2	262	George Martin	Giants	DE
1974	5	18	122	Tim Guy	Bills	T
	16	10	400	Jack Conners	49ers	DB
1973	2	26	52	Chuck Bradley	Dolphins	C
	3	8	60	Tim Stokes	Rams	T
	3	12	64	Dan Fouts	Chargers	QB
1972	1	4	4	Ahmad Rashad (Bobby Moore)	Cardinals	WR
	1	22	22	Tom Drougas	Colts	T
	4	24	102	Tom Graham	Broncos	LB
	8	8	190	Leland Glass	Packers	WR
	12	23	309	Mike Williams	Chiefs	DT
	17	20	436	John McKean	Rams	C
1971	7	16	172	Bob Newland	Saints	WR
	10	15	249	Jack Stambaugh	Bengals	G
	12	18	304	Tom Blanchard	Giants	K
	14	20	358	Lionel Coleman	Rams	DB
1970	3	12	64	Andy Maurer	Falcons	G
	4	12	90	Jim Evenson	Steelers	RB
	11	13	273	Alan Pitcaithley	Giants	RB
1969	9	22	230	Claxton Welch	Cowboys	RB
1968	1	12	12	Jim (Yazoo) Smith	Redskins	DB
1967	15	15	382	Steve Bunker	Rams	TE
	16	9	402	Bill Smith	Steelers	C
1966	15	12	227	Jim Kollman	Bears	G
	17	3	248	Mike Brundage	Steelers	QB
1965	10	4	130	Dave Tobey	Steelers	C
1964	2	3	17	Mel Renro	Cowboys	DB
	3	1	29	Dave Wilcox	49ers	DE
	11	2	142	Bob Berry	Eagles	QB
	19	4	256	H.D. Murphy	Cowboys	B
1963	2	6	20	Steve Barnett	Bears	T
	3	7	35	Ron Snidow	Redskins	T
1961	8	10	108	Neill Plumley	49ers	T
	11	3	143	Riley Mattson	Redskins	T
1960	4	1	37	Willie West	Cardinals	HB
	12	7	139	Dave Grosz	Eagles	QB
	15	7	175	John Wilcox	Eagles	T
1959	8	4	88	Jim Lenden	Lions	T
	30	4	352	Ron Stover	Lions	E
1958	12	3	136	Jack Crabtree	Eagles	B
	21	2	243	Jerry Kershner	Packers	T
1956	7	11	84	Jack Morris	Rams	B
	8	9	94	Dick James	Redskins	B
1955	1	1	1	George Shaw	Colts	QB
	4	7	44	Jack Patera	Colts	G
	7	5	78	Hal Reeve	Steelers	T
	18	8	213	Ron Pheister	49ers	C
	30	6	355	Bill Toole	Giants	B
1954	18	2	207	Emery Barnes	Packers	E
1953	24	1	278	Monte Brethauer	Colts	E
	28	9	334	Tom Novikoff	49ers	B
1952	30	9	358	Dick Patrick	49ers	C
1951	18	10	217	Dick Daugherty	Rams	G
	21	9	252	Earl Stelle	Rams	B
	27	2	317	Ray Lung	49ers	G
1950	3	13	40	Bob Sanders	Eagles	B
	8	10	102	Sam Nevills	Bears	T
	8	11	103	Woodley Lewis	Rams	B
	15	12	195	Ted Meland	Browns	G
	19	13	248	Darrell Robinson	Eagles	E
	25	2	315	Steve Dotur	Bulldogs	G
1949	4	6	37	Norm Van Brocklin	Rams	QB
1948	15	1	126	Dan Garza	Giants	E
	16	9	144	Don Stanton	Eagles	T
	25	1	226	Dick Wilkins	Giants	E
1947	7	9	54	Chris (Duke) Iversen	Giants	B
	20	6	181	Brad (Whitey) Ecklund	Packers	C
	22	8	203	Chuck Elliott	Rams	T
1946	10	9	89	Jake Leicht	Redskins	B
	27	2	252	John Kauffman	Yanks	G
1945	3	1	17	Cecil Gray	Dodgers	C
	5	6	38	Georege Bujan	Redskins	C
	9	7	83	Bill Mayther	Bears	C
	21	5	213	Leroy Erickson	Rams	B
	29	5	301	Bill Davis	Rams	B
1944	10	6	93	Bob Koch	Packers	B
	28	1	286	Bob Davis	Cardinals	G
1943	3	1	16	Dick Ashcom	Lions	T
	5	6	36	Val Culwell	Giants	G
	11	5	95	Tom Robin	Rams	B
	15	4	134	Floyd Rhea	Dodgers	G
	23	5	215	Ed Moshofsky	Rams	T
	25	5	235	Jim Shephard	Rams	E
1942	3	7	22	Curt Mechan	Dodgers	B
	19	2	172	Bill Regner	Rams	E
1941	5	4	34	Chet Haliska	Rams	B
	5	10	40	Jim Stuart	Redskins	T
	11	1	91	Marshall Stenstrom	Eagles	B
	19	5	175	Len Isberg	Lions	B
1940	5	2	32	Frank Emmons	Eagles	B
	6	1	41	Vic Reginato	Cardinals	E
	14	10	130	Bob Smith	Giants	B
	16	4	144	Dennis Donovan	Dodgers	B
	18	8	168	Jay Graybeal	Redskins	B
	19	10	180	Cecil Walden	Giants	G
1939	17	9	159	John Yerby	Packers	E
1937	6	8	58	Del Bjork	Bears	T
1936	5	5	41	Stan Riordan	Cardinals	E
	8	6	69	Ross Carter	Cardinals	G

Of those, here are the ones still in the NFL, along with their current teams.


Next up, the NBA Ducks.

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.

Patting myself on the back again

Remember when I said the Blazers would be NBA champions in 2009? Well, it looks like someone agrees that they'll be pretty good by then. He may not say "NBA champs," but I still like showing that others think this team will be good in the not-too-distant future.

16. Portland (12)

The good news: the Trailblazers are on the right track. You won't see many arguments to the contrary these days.

The bad news: they're making very slow progress.

The last couple years in Portland were essentially toilet flush years. In other words, they got rid of a lot of waste that they didn't need, but did they really improve themselves in terms of being able to field a winning team? I would argue not. They simply made the moves that were necessary to begin improving. This year we'll start the see some improvement for the first time, but that doesn't mean we'll see over 30 wins.

Now, finally, a young core is in place. Brandon Roy looks capable of being a leader and an All Star sooner rather than later. He and Carmelo Anthony will be the best players in the division in 2009. Despite a gimpy start, LaMarcus Aldridge will be an excellent pro. Jarrett Jack is showing great things as the starting point guard, and Zach Randolph is playing to prove that he belongs on the new and improving Blazers. There are a lot of positives in Portland, but patience will be key. My rankings have them contending for a division title in the weak Northwest in 2009, which would represent enormous progress. So why have they moved down four spots? Because the five teams that passed Portland in these rankings from a year ago are on a faster track for success. It's going to take awhile in Portland.

So says Archer Berryman, Lead Editor for Basketball News Services, at Hoopsworld. I was going to come up with some more of my own thoughts today, but I need to get to school. My weekend basically starts tonight, which is good because I have a lot of paperwork and homework to get done for my program. But, I'm hoping I can also watch a game this weekend while I'm at the coast and finally write my own impressions from the Blazers team this year. Also, there may be a Seahawks post coming down the pike soon. Keep watching, since this site is worth watching now that I'm writing about sports consistently. As is my new trend, I'll include one picture for this post. Here's a picture of the best tight end in college footbal, Joe Newton. He started over me when he was a sophomore and I was a senior in high school. Great guy, great tight end.