p. 1

ducks illustrated a magazine independent of the university of oregon vol 9 issue #3 feb 10 2011 the recruit issue » plus an exclusive interview with rob mullens » best recruiting class ever?

[close]

p. 2

ducks illustrated vol 9 issue #3 feb 10.2011 a magazine independent of the university of oregon a thank you from di thank you oregon club of portland for a fabulous recruiting day dinner experience this was my first time celebrating with the portland flock and it was great i received a personal invitation to attend the annual recruiting day dinner from mike goodell a board member of the oregon club of portland the portland club has been around since 1946 and actively supports the university and its athletic programs the annual dinner is a special event allowing members an opportunity to socialize with the coaches eat dinner and hear coaches comments about the recruiting class tradition always allows time for the members questions at the end of the program the club wants to provide a friendly relaxed but most of all private environment for the coaches and members during the dinner so the press and media are not allowed to attend you can understand my excitement with the invitation and being the only media in the room but mr goodell quickly informed me that if i attend i must abide by one simple rule i couldn t ask or report on anything pertaining to any of the coaching staff i needed to respect their privacy and leave the coaching staff alone okay that s a major blow visions of grabbing the magazine s cover story and feature recruiting article begin to fade maybe i ll take another angle and check out what kind of event the oregon club of portland sponsors i ve spent no time with the northern flock and have recently been on a quest to find out what kind of fan base we really have in the portland area i m thinking it might be big i mean really big on game days you see an endless stream of flapping green and yellow duck flags painted windows and honking horns in a convoy snaking south on i-5 towards autzen i m interested in finding out just how die-hard the portland fan base is i m on the road early wednesday the day of the dinner listening to the recruiting reports coming in our coaches have done their job and with our recent successes we re bringing in a great 2011 recruiting class can you believe two 5-star and nine 4-star recruits the ducks have blossomed into a national football powerhouse guests began arriving a little after five the grandeur of the oregon room at the portland convention center adds significance to the event and to my experience in the foyer arranged on long tables are displays of all the uo sports memorabilia to be auctioned a sports nut like me can get lost for an hour or so just taking in each item on the other side of the foyer are the open bars anything and everything you could want what impressed me were the 6 or more bartenders taking care of the guests yeah i ve been to events with a hosted bar where you had to wait in line 15 minutes to get a drink the accommodations were truly upscale the duck and rally squad were in the house working the guests like seasoned politicians they re so upbeat smiley and having fun they really drew my attention creating a lot of energy in the room so much that i don t notice phil knight until one of the girls greet him fox radio host petros papadakis made a quick appearance to see coach kelly he was the keynote speaker at the beavers recruiting dinner on the other side of the convention center so what s up with the beavers holding their recruiting dinner at the same venue we were here first go find your own pond the purpose of the recruiting dinner is more than just having a good time with the coaches and staff the oregon club of portland is a major fundraiser for the university while the guests dined on perfectly prepared filet mignon with scallop potatoes last year s club president presented athletic director rob mullens a fund-raising check in the amount of $145,000 even though i was sworn to secrecy on some issues i am free to tell you that the oregon club of portland recruiting dinner was a 5-star event i loved it general manager and publisher steve crowe editor in chief jerry thompson writers jason fife steve tannen kyle mcgowen matt rothermund graphic designer gavin valentine director of advertising tony arlyn photographers john tutrone craig strobeck mitchell strobeck webmaster andy crowe ducks illustrated magazine 541.926.3000 263 29th ave albany or 97322 subscriptions and reader inquiries to subscribe please visit our website ducksillustrated.com ducks illustrated is a 36-page full color magazine there are 26 issues published biweekly during the school year except during football season when it is published for each game di has two special issues june s season in review and augusts pac 12 preview di is distributed free of charge at over 100 locations from eugene to portland and by individual paid subscription it is available at all advertiser locations bi-mart stores winco duck shops and dari mart stores if you would like more info or would like to become an advertiser please visit ducksillustrated.com copyright © 2011 oregon web press inc all rights reserved reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of ducks illustrated the magazine is prohibited ducks illustrated does not accept and cannot be held responsible for any kind of unsolicited materials from time to time we allow selected companies to send mail to our subscribers for products and services that might be of interest if you would like to remove yourself from the advertising mailing list please call us at 541.926.3000 printed in the usa look for the next issue on feb 24 2011 cover photo illustration by gavin valentine steve crowe ducks illustrated publisher and president of oregon web press a certified public accountant and author of the tax guide rob mullens accepts the $145,000 check steve crowe 2 ducks illustrated.com

[close]

p. 3

eugene albany springfield salem portland vancouver contents 6 mens basketball uo hoops wins 4 out of 5 10 q and a w/rob mullens di exclusive interview with uo athletic director 14 mallard musings while we obsessed 16 recruiting football chip kelly comments on new recruits 26 recruiting track men s track class rated no.1 32 final season jay-r strowbridge craig strobeck jay-r strowbridge and johnathan loyd celebrated the ducks big win over washington 81-76 last saturday at matt arena duck sports calender 2.10 thursday 3:30pm softball vs byu tempe az 7:00pm w basketball vs ucla 7:30pm m basketball ucla 9:00am tennis m vs seattle 10:00am track field tyson invitational 2:00pm basketball w vs usc 5:00pm softball vs north texas tempe az 7:30pm softball vs nevada tempe az 7:30pm basketball m usc 2.15 tuesday all day golf w rio mar brach resort 2.17 thursday 1:00pm tennis m uc irvine 2.11 friday 10:00am track field tyson invitational 4:30pm softball vs texas a&m tempe az 6:00pm track field husky classic 7:00pm softball vs mississippi tempe az 2.18 friday 2.13 sunday all day golf w rio mar beach resort 9:00am tennis w minnesota 12:00pm softball vs cal state fullerton tempe az 9:00am softball vs utah las vegas nv 11:30am tennis w colorado 1:30pm softball vs nevada las vegas nv 2:00pm tennis m uc riverside 8:35pm baseball hawaii 2.12 saturday 8:00am track field husky classic 9:00am tennis w vs oklahoma minneapolis mn 2.14 monday all day golf w rio mar beach resort ducks illustrated 3

[close]

p. 4

making miracles happen every time you and betty work together to buy or sell a house betty donates to the john l scott foundation locally this means a donation to the relief nursery and to sacred heart hospital s children s miracle network go to johnlscottfoundation.org to see the difference you and betty can make working together betty korfhage broker 541 954-1238 1 800 342-7884 or office 541 687-1415 johnlscott.com/bettykorf contact tony arlyn at 541-760-3009 or tony@ducksillustrated.com your ad goes here 3760 highway 101 n wayside rv park b e florence or 541.997.6451 25 rv sites on the beautiful coast open year round · daily · weekly · monthly rates rec hall · mail room · ultra clean showers restrooms full hook ups · public telephone cable tv laundry facilities · free wi-fi go ducks jason starr broker finding the best possible solution to your real estate 541 556-6253 needs is my highest priority or office 541 687-1415 jasonstarr@johnlscott.com

[close]

p. 5

kelly robets broker gri helping buyers and sellers call kelly today 541 285-7039 or office 541 687-1415 kellyrobets@eugene-jls.com principal broker/owner shalligan@johnlscott.com scott halligan 541-480-9914 john l scott real estate eugene/springfield 2286 oakmont way eugene or 97401 541-687-1415 principal broker/owner jeremystarr@johnlscott.com jeremy starr 541-915-5602 · · rich ruhl 541 344-0949 390 coburg rd #f eugene richruhl@allstate.com come and compare your current policy with one from allstate · · we are committed to being the premiere real estate services provider in lane county award winning recognized as the most innovative web site free ahs home warranty provided to sellers during the listing service is our specialty call us today this office independently owned and operated

[close]

p. 6

malcolm armstead mens basketball surprise oregon men s hoops wins 4 of last 5 an 11-11 season record and a 5-6 wonloss mark in the pac-10 is not always something to be excited about but it certainly is for this group of oregon ducks from whom little was expected at the beginning of the season for some the season could already be termed a success for few thought new coach dana altman s squad would win five conference games with seven games left the ducks are now in the hunt for some kind of postseason play if they can continue playing like they have the past few weeks here is a summary of their last four wins 6 ducks illustrated.com john tutrone

[close]

p. 7

craig strobeck joevan catron was named pac-10 player of the week for wsu and washington mens basketball ducks clutch in corvallis e.j singler had 16 points and jay-r strowbridge scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half as oregon defeated oregon state 63-59 on saturday jan 22 strowbridge made two free throws with 8 seconds remaining to seal the win for oregon 9-10 2-5 pac-10 which outscored oregon state 8-10 3-4 11-4 during a four-minute stretch late in the game roberto nelson had 11 points and jared cunningham nine for the beavers oregon shot 24 of 48 from the floor including 9 of 23 from 3-point range oregon state was 20 of 52 overall the ducks have won 71.4 percent of the match-ups with oregon state 30-12 dating back to the 1991-92 season last 20 seasons including this year the last time oregon won in corvallis was back on march 2 2008 in that game maarty leunen scored a teambest 32 points in leading uo to the 80-68 victory joevan catron was the only current duck to play in that game e.j singler 16 points led uo in scoring for the fifth time this season third time in conference action it was the 14th time in 20 games this season that singler has reached double figures in scoring garrett sim 15 points reached double figures in scoring for the third time in the last five games his point total matched a season best jay-r strowbridge 15 points reached double figures in scoring for the first time since uo s dec 11 win over willamette it was the fifth time he has scored 10 or more points in a game this season first during pac-10 play three uo players accounted for the majority of the ducks first-half scoring garrett sim 10 joevan catron 8 and e.j singler 6 tallied 24 of the ducks 33 points 72.7 percent of the team s scoring load nine players saw action in the first 20 minutes the ducks posted a 25-5 run in the first half to take a commanding 33-16 advantage with 3:34 on the clock osu went scoreless stuck on 16 points for just under four minutes during that stretch the ducks used their ninth different starting lineup g-garrett sim g-johntahan loyd f-e.j singler f-tyrone nared and f-joevan catron it was nared s first start as a duck ducks break 25-year drought at stanford four ducks scored in double figures led by senior forward joevan catron s 15 points in a 67-59 road win over stanford on thursday night it was uo s first victory at maples pavilion since the 1985-86 season snapping a 24-game road losing streak to the cardinal oregon improved its record to 10-10 overall and 3-5 in pac-conference play stanford dropped to 10-9 on the season and 3-5 in league action catron who shot 5-of-10 from the field also grabbed a team-high six rebounds senior guard jay-r strowbridge added 13 points off the bench hitting 3-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc junior guards malcolm armstead and garrett sim each tallied 10 points oregon shot 42.9 percent from the field 23-of-53 including a season-high 52.9 percent on 3-pointers 9-of ducks illustrated 7

[close]

p. 8

17 stanford was limited to 41.7 percent shooting 20-of48 and 31.6 percent from behind the 3-point arc 6-of-19 ducks dominate cougars a dominant defensive effort along with balanced scoring lifted the oregon men s basketball team to a 69-43 victory over washington state at matthew knight arena on thursday night the ducks 11-11 4-6 pac-10 had four players score in double figures and the defense held the cougars to 25.9 percent shooting to post their third victory in the past four games oregon started strong scoring the first two baskets on a garrett sim three-pointer and a e.j singler lay-up to grab a 5-0 lead the ducks expanded the lead to 17-8 when malcolm armstead poured in a trifecta with 12:24 to play in the opening tanza after the cougars scored consecutive buckets to cut the deficit to five the ducks put down the clamps defensively by going on a 10-0 run and holding wsu scoreless for 7:01 the spurt gave uo a 27-12 lead with under five minutes left in the first half wsu scored the next six points all coming from the charity stripe to pull within nine but joevan catron put uo back up double figures with a jumper with oregon up 31-19 and under two minutes left in the half washington state s klay thompson drilled a three-pointer to snap a 9:27 drought without a field goal and pull the cougars back within nine catron once again put oregon up 11 with another bucket which helped the ducks maintain a 10-point lead 33-23 at the half the ducks shot 44.8 percent in the opening stanza and held the cougars to 6-of-28 21.4 percent from the floor in the opening frame the ducks continued their shooting prowess from beyond the arc to open the second half as catron and sim began the frame with trifectas to give uo a 39-23 lead a wsu bucket made it a 14-point uo lead but a bucket by singler and back-to-back threes by sim and catron ballooned the ducks lead to 47-25 after a washington state timeout jay-r strowbridge and catron each nailed jump shots to make it 51-25 a few minutes later sim capped off five-straight points with a pair of free throws to go up 58-30 with 11:09 remaining oregon s lead got as large as 62-33 and the ducks margin was never less than 23 points the rest of the way oregon held washington state scoreless for the final 3:23 of the game oregon shot 42.9 percent from the floor and held washington state to only 25.9 percent shooting uo drained 9-of-23 39.1 percent of its three-pointers while wsu made only 4-of-25 16 percent the ducks controlled the glass with a 39-30 rebounding advantage over the cougars oregon s defense also forced 15 turnovers and had nine steals its offense dished out 17 assists and only turned it over 12 times both teams shot well from the line with oregon making 12-of-14 85.7 percent of its free throws and washington state draining 8 ducks illustrated.com craig strobeck

[close]

p. 9

mens basketball 11-of-13 84.6 percent catron s 17 points led four ducks who scored in double figures strowbridge finished with 15 points off the bench sim poured in 13 and singler tacked on 10 more catron narrowly missed his third double-double of the season and led all players with nine rebounds armstead finished with five steals and sim dished out four assists ducks upset 20th-ranked huskies 81-76 matthew knight arena is quickly gaining a reputation as a building that opposing teams dread playing in the new arena claimed another victim as the oregon men s basketball team topped no 20 washington 81-76 on saturday oregon improved to 12-11 this season 5-6 in the pac-10 and pulled off a home sweep of the washington schools the ducks have won four of their last five games and are 3-1 at matthew knight arena uo missed its first four shots from the field and found itself trailing 4-0 just over two minutes in with the score 6-3 oregon scored seven-straight points to grab a 10-6 lead the ducks continued hitting shots throughout the first half and led 29-20 with 7:31 to go in the opening stanza undeterred the huskies drained back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to three however jay-r strowbridge and joevan catron quieted the rally with consecutive buckets to put uo back up seven washington closed the half by making two more three-pointers but oregon still led 37-34 at the break oregon s pressure defense was the story of the first half the ducks forced the huskies to turn it over 10 times in the first half which led to 18 uo points in the opening frame the huskies tied it up on their first possession of the second half on a justin holliday three-pointer and grabbed a 45-42 lead 2:59 into the final period despite losing the lead the ducks battled right back and responded with a 13-2 spurt to take a 58-50 lead uo upped its lead to 10 points 62-52 with 7:58 to play but uw came right back and drained a pair of three-pointers to cut the ducks lead to four washington made it a two-point game 76-74 with 40 seconds left but e.j singler calmly drained a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game again after another uw bucket singler was called upon once more and again singler made both shots to clinch the victory catron paced the ducks who had four players score in double figures offensively the senior scored 20 points including 16 in the second half to keep oregon in front down the stretch singler finished with 16 points and went a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe tyrone nared poured in 14 points and strowbridge scored 12 off the bench catron led uo with nine rebounds singler and malcolm armstead each dished out five assists and armstead also finished with a game-high five steals washington edged oregon in field goal percentage 50.8 percent to 45.2 percent three-point shooting 11of-27 to 6-of-21 and rebounding 35-31 the ducks won the game by shooting a sparkling 19-of-23 82.6 percent from the free throw line while the huskies made only 5-of11 45.5 percent oregon also forced 15 turnovers and turned those into 26 points uo only turned it over eight times leading to only nine uw points the ducks head to los angeles next week oregon starts the trip by facing ucla at pauley pavilion on thursday night courtesy goducks.com www.goducks.com good luck to coach kelly and the ducks 44 club rd suite 330 eugene 541 868-1850 ducks illustrated 9

[close]

p. 10

[close]

p. 11

with uo s athletic director q and a rob mullens di i guess you feel pretty charmed beginning your tenure with a football national championship appearance rm yes chuckles i think the president said it best that i walked into somebody else s birthday party i may not have been invited but i decided to stay for the cake and that is kind of what it feels like i feel very fortunate to be here it has been an absolute whirlwind it s hard to believe it s been five months because i have been all over meeting so many passionate duck fans it s been fantastic from bend to medford obviously i spend quite a bit of time in portland but when i go on the road whether it s phoenix the bay area or la the passion for the ducks runs deep di what is the economic state of the athletic department rm it s going great what we ve experienced is tremendous growth in oregon athletics in a very short period of time five or six years ago we were 63rd in the director s cup which measures overall competitive excellence last year we finished14th that s a tremendous leap only four teams in that same time period went from outside the top 25 to inside the top 25 the university of oregon made the biggest leap obviously there had to be significant investment to produce that type of broad-based excellence general success in all the sports so our budget has grown from 45 million to 75 million in that six-year time frame and that puts us on a level playing field almost with our competitive peers in the pac-10 soon to be the pac-12 and we re doing that in a smallish football stadium when you look at who is in that top 20 of the director s cup it s folks with resource bases of 80-90,000 seat football stadiums so we were fortunate to have 74 straight sellouts and the best home field advantage in football we re extremely fortunate to have a loyal passionate donor base who contributes to our success di how does the uo donor base compare to other successful schools rm in the percentage of the amount of donations we re probably similar to some of the big elite football schools that we are competing with they just have much bigger budgets texas has a $130 million budget ohio state is well over $100 million there are three or four schools in the sec whose budgets are well over $100 million and that s the company we are keeping in football now so we are doing it we are finding innovative ways to make sure we maximize revenue streams football is important to us we receive no general fund dollars so we are selfsupporting and football generates somewhere around 70 percent of the revenue for us to be able to fund a 19-sport program 500 athlete program di how does your 19-sport program compare to other schools rm in the sec they are about the same when i was at kentucky we had 22 sports which was the largest in the sec now in the pac-10 stanford ucla cal those folks are up in the high 20s low 30s in sports sponsorship but when you look at the sec schools with large budgets the floridas the alabamas auburns of the world they re in that same range of 19-21 sports di what projects are ahead rm the new football building is the most immediate one that is in the planning phases it s a much-needed project we re very fortunate we have an outstanding football locker room and treatment center but our football coaches offices our positional meeting rooms and our offense and defense meeting rooms all our meeting space is sub par when you look at the elite company that we ve moved into i was telling a group that we re in new company here we were the first time no 1 team this year since the early 1990s we ve joined a club where 1 is recycled the second team to participate in a bcs national championship game who had not won a previous national championship in the current bcs format so since 1998 we were only the second school who competed in that game who hadn t previously won a national championship and we were the school with the smallest stadium to participate in that game so facilities have played in big part in the progress of oregon athletics and of oregon football the jaqua center does not have a peer the academic center is in a class by itself ducks illustrated 11

[close]

p. 12

and that has a significant impact on prospective studentathletes as does our locker room and treatment center now other schools have locker rooms and treatment centers that are nice but those really set us apart this next piece will be critical because it will it address office space more importantly meeting space and a number of other needs it will be located kind of around the casanova center di what was your favorite sport growing up rm i did a little bit of everything when i was real young but by the time i reached middle school i was really focused on basketball i lived in a rural area there weren t a whole lot of other kids around to have football games or baseball games so i had a ball and a hoop and a real love for basketball so that s what i spent my time doing di you must be thrilled with the new arena rm the arena opening was fantastic on a number of fronts to be able to sell out the first women s game there and the atmosphere that was created it s going to have a positive impact for jim moore and the volleyball team it s really going to have an impact on the community we sold out elton john jeff dunham had somewhere around 8000 tickets sold the globetrotters disney alive has already been here the interest on bringing in entertainment for all ages and all interests to eugene has been very positive di i can t see a mid-court stripe rm it s there the officials can see it the players can see it it s a faint line but it s there di myself and other journalists have commented about the floor in a negative way for example why aren t the trees green rm i m not an expert in design so i don t know all the answers all i know is it tells tinker hatfield is an icon i mean he s a design icon for what s he s done and how he s changed design and todd van horne also at nike are exceptional for what they do and that floor tells a great story not only the high point of oregon basketball with the national championship with the tall firs but it also represents our region and who we are it s very innovative again which for oregon athletics has become a real positive it represents who we are di do you get questions about expanding autzen a lot rm i get questions about expansion everywhere i go people are really excited about the growth of the football program and people realize that we have a special atmosphere at autzen stadium there aren t many that create the atmosphere that is created at autzen from beginning to end and that s one of the things i m most impressed with no matter what the score this past season our fans were in that stadium playing a role in the game we ve sold out 74 or 75 straight but would want to do this in a very practical way we want to understand and do more research to understand what is that demand and how would it best work we want to maintain sellouts and maintain that loud atmosphere that autzen s been known for because it has an impact we don t have any time-line or master plan at this point di what about a policy by the uo president or yourself that would mandate that duck uniforms would always incorporate the green and yellow school colors there are a lot of greenless uniforms now i don t understand that why not dark green like the green bay packers instead of black i just don t understand the black at all even when washington wore black they had purple and gold in the uniforms rm policies are restrictive and what those uniforms have done for oregon football is a national story in a very positive sense prospective student-athletes love learning and hearing about those and while everyone may not have green in it there s a color palate that fits di there s not one green and yellow uniform in the design rm right but if the uniforms the uniforms we have attract student-athletes which have allowed us to have the impact we ve had it s innovative it s creative everyone pays attention to it others are even starting to follow it it s had a significant impact you d be amazed at the number of e-mails and text messages and phone calls i ve had since january 10 wanting to know where i can get those green volt socks jerry thompson jerry thompson jerry thompson is the editor in chief of ducks illustrated a former student manager of the uo football team he is the writer producer of two oregon football videos mighty oregon and ducks top 10 12 ducks illustrated.com

[close]

p. 13

portland business supports the ducks portland advertising contact brian shandera 503.270.1491

[close]

p. 14

mallard musings while we obsessed i remember being at a local watering hole on september 1st of 2005 watching the oregon football team open the season at houston they d just come off their only losing season under mike bellotti the cougars jumped out to an early lead and put up 21 first quarter points in a somewhat joking manner a buddy of mine said when s basketball season start it goes to the nature of the fan you follow a particular program and like to keep multiple options open show of hands how many were chomping at the bit for this season s edition of duck hoops not much movement as the football team navigated it s way to glendale how many gave the basketball team more than the occasional peek well it appears as the ducks dusted the 14 ducks illustrated.com craig strobeck beavers and took auburn to the wire for the natty dana altman and his staff were kind of busy working really hard to sell these guys on his philosophy the thursday following the defeat against au mathew knight arena opened and the celebration overshadowed what was taking place i heard some theorize the victory against usc was partially due to emotion i think 9 steals keeping up on the boards and a scrappy effort were equally responsible the offense and second half defense struggled two days later against what many see as a march madness bound ucla team then oregon won 4 of 5 what a program that lost it s top scorer best big fella top freshman recruit and a few other defectors and appeared ready to hold a raffle to fill the bench didn t

[close]

p. 15

john tutrone seem capable of a run like this certainly some of the success can be attributed to the pac-10 i don t think i ve ever seen the league so down a good friend of mine asked a very interesting question do you see a lock lottery pick or high level nba player on any of the roster s in this conference thanks k.a it s part of a trend it produced one first rounder a year ago when quincy pondexter of the dawgs went to oklahoma city as recently as 2009 a trio of pac-10 players went in the top 10 in 2008 oj mayo russell westbrook and kevin love went 3,4 and 5 i think you get my point right now klay thompson of wsu leads the pac in scoring but has been held to a dozen or less points in 3 of the last 4 games franchise nba player i think not derrick williams of arizona is a really good college power forward those 6 8 guys get devoured at the next level see if you can call me on this one i spoke to a ton of oregon fans leading up to the season and between e-mails texts phone calls on the radio and in person discussions the consensus was they d win about 12 games maybe 2 or 3 in conference and hopefully be competitive most nights those expectations have already been exceeded the catch is that was fans media and outsiders making those predictions obviously dana altman and his charges were having none of it moral victories meant nothing look up to no one rather look every team directly in the eye and dare them to grind face the pressure or take this duck team for granted think the washington fans who decided to make this trip to the willamette valley thought there was even a remote possibility they d lose in eugene why would they the win against the dawgs was admirable because of a few issues after getting demolished on the boards in the 1st half with uw owning a 21-12 edge with their superior size and athletes oregon made a reversal and won the second half battle 19-14 another critical aspect as pointed out by altman in the post-game was they actually had some execution lapses which led to some way too easy huskies baskets and bricked their way to a 6 for 21 afternoon from 3-point land they beat the consensus choice to win this league and didn t play out of their minds but out-gutted and out-worked the opponent and simply wanted it more joevan catron is showing his value at both ends and i really love the way he conducts himself in the post game presser with his understanding of what they do right and wrong i also though the second half performance of e.j singler was sweet he had just 6 points and 2 buckets in the stanford win was a bleak 1 of 8 shooting in the cal loss and though he was okay in the wazzou win had a rough opening 20 minutes against washington at the break he had 3 points and a rebound he ended with 16 points 4 boards and 5 assists and put the game on ice draining all four free throws in the final 29 seconds from my chair this team is playing with house money the rest of the year so watch out and don t sell this coach staff and players short here s a heads up the new floor at matthew knight arena is becoming the football team s uniforms and colors far too much negative talk when i believe it s completely meaningless as far as what matters like wins losses and building a successful program the young recruits love the unit while the players and coaches say the floor impacts what they re doing in no manner whatsoever time to get over it and move on with your lives steve tannen steve is in the drive time slot from 3-6 pm on sportstalk now at 95.3fm contact steve at stevetannen@live.com ducks illustrated 15

[close]