The Oregon Duck football team has been No. 1 for less than a week.
In the five days since Oregon claimed the nations top spot, I’ve done two phone interviews regarding the atmosphere around campus, giving my so-called insiders perspective on where the team stands coming off the bye week.
In my previous two years of covering Duck football — zero interviews.
The first wasn’t much out of the ordinary, a 10 minute piece on the UCLA radio show talking about Thursday’s matchup. Some x’s and o’s, a few notes on some key injuries and a thought or two on being No. 1.
It was a good way to get my feet wet and a nice change of pace from our weekly podcasts (yes, we still do those).
The next, a guest spot on a show called “Jumpshots with Jasmine” on Israel Sports Radio. Call me ignorant, but it took me more than 15 minutes into the conversation to realize their end of the broadcast was actually taking place in Jerusalem, Israel.
Yes, even someone of no religious affiliation can appreciate talking Oregon football over the airwaves of the Holy Land.
These chances to represent the newspaper and myself on a larger stage are something I try to take pride in.
I don’t claim to know everything there is to know about Oregon football, nor do I think I ever will. But my take on the Ducks football program — and Oregon sports in general — does come with a small asterisk.
I’ve said it before, but I was never much of a Duck fan before coming to school here. Sure, I’d cheer for the Ducks or Beavers whenever they showed up on television, but I really wasn’t invested in either program.
Now I find myself having conversations about our beloved football team on a radio show half way across the world. If you had told me that just three years ago, I would have literally laughed out loud.
But maybe that’s why I provide a decent perspective on the No. 1 ranking and Oregon football as a whole. A cerebral and unbiased approach has always been my method. Do I want to see Oregon ride this top ranking out the rest of the season? Of course, but I also know the path that lay ahead.
Six games. Three home. Three away. One bowl appearance.
Some say the scheduling played into Oregon’s favor this fall.
It feels 50-50.
Road games at USC on Halloween weekend, at Cal and at Oregon State to close out the year. Two of those three are daunting (sorry Cal), then the three home matchups with UCLA, Washington and Arizona.
If Oregon shows up every game for the next six weeks — like a national title contender should — it will play for a national title. Should it lay an egg, we’re Rose Bowl bound. Two, and we could be headed to San Diego for another Holiday Bowl.
I digress.
Tuesday night I listened to a Chip Kelly interview with Colin Cowherd on ESPN.com. Kelly had his usual vibrant personality on full display. He even laughed at a joke Cowherd made about Oregon not wearing white pants after Labor Day. I laughed myself, sometimes a rare thing to come by.
Kelly, however, said something interesting midway through the interview that made me pause.
“We’ll pick our heads up on Dec. 4 and see if we did a good enough job,” Kelly said.
That’s Kelly in a nutshell.
Brief with his words, often saying more than you realize at first glance. But his statement rang true. Keeping their heads down and pushing through the next month and a half will be crucial.
For the first time ever, Oregon has a chance to represent itself on the nation’s biggest stage. The University of Phoenix Stadium — where the BCS National Championship game will be held on Jan. 10 — expands to 73,000 for major events.
I hope to spend my second week of 2011 in Glendale among those 73,000.
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Ducks have long road to Glendale
Daily Emerald
October 20, 2010
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