Every Sunday, The Emerald sports staff will collect their favorite quotes from the previous seven days. Athletes, coaches, media or anybody with a quote pertaining to Oregon sports can be included. Below are The Emerald’s favorites from the week of Feb. 24-March 2.
Baseball
“We’re the 2014 Ducks. We’re going to be able to hit this year. PK Park better watch out for us.”
– Oregon catcher Shaun Chase said after Tuesday’s 8-2 win over Portland.
“I guess the danger in the quick hook on (Jordan) is the next guy that gets the ball is like, ‘Oh man, I better go out and be perfect.’ I hope they don’t fall into that trap. But it’s more of a case of the excellent guys that we have than a case of Jordan not doing well at all.”
– Oregon head coach George Horton on selecting Porter Clayton as Sunday’s starter versus Cal State Fullerton, thus removing Spencer Jordan from the rotation.
“We noticed some different personality with the guys. We didn’t take a good infield … There was some doubt and that’s disappointing to me. As much as we talk about we play the game, we don’t play our opponent. In this case some kids played the opponent.”
– Horton after Oregon’s 9-2 loss to Cal State Fullerton on Friday.
“Catching him is an adventure. He’s so filthy – it’s really incredible. I’ve never caught a guy like Matt Krook before.”
– Oregon catcher Jack Kruger on receiving pitches from fellow freshman and starting pitcher Matt Krook.
Football
“It was on so many networks, I couldn’t even tell who … I was getting a lot of texts from parents. It was on The View, Whoopi Goldberg was talking about, Outside the Lines, it was kind of just everywhere. My uncle does management — he manages recording artists and stuff — and he was in Africa on a tour. He said he woke up and it was in USA Today. And he was all the way in Africa, so it was kind of just out there. I couldn’t really tell who was covering it. It was just ridiculous.”
– Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown, reflecting on the media reaction to his actions from a controversial snowball fight in December.
Men’s basketball
“He’s a big factor in starting the game. He plays defense with intensity and helps out with the boards to start the game. Just being another played from Houston, I’ve been talking to him and telling him to keep his head up. That’s what good players do, keep their head up. People make mistakes. Keeping the intensity on the bench and keeping us in the game. That’s what good players do.”
– Junior guard Joseph Young on his teammate Daymean Dotson, who was benched for last Sunday’s game versus Washington State for his false identification citation.
Women’s basketball
“He likes to go fast. So to have him call me fast is a really good thing.”
– Oregon guard Drea Toler on her head coach, Paul Westhead.
“I don’t think I have ever been more happy for my team. I think there are a lot of teams out there that don’t want to play us.”
– Westhead after Oregon’s 98-90 win over Arizona State on Friday.
“It means the world. Especially because in my four years of being here, I’m pretty sure we haven’t won on senior night. It definitely was a good feeling. I tried not to cry. I tried to stay in the moment and probably will be teary-eyed later on today.”
– Senior Ariel Thomas on her final regular season game of her Oregon career, Sunday’s 90-78 win over Arizona.
Other
“It goes back to Jason Waterman, who coached here in the late ’90s, early 2000s when he would give out bullets for really big hits. He was a bit of a redneck, but the boys always loved the tradition.”
– Assistant club men’s rugby coach Cal Taylor on his team’s postgame tradition to hand out bullets to players for strong performances.
“If it isn’t a national union covering all student athletes, how do you get a contract where the terms are the same?”
– Mark Phelps, a senior instructor at the Lundquist College of Business with a background in sports law, on the possibility of a union in college athletics forming.
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415