A Fan's Notes

The college football world turns its collective gaze to Eugene today to find out who starts the season as Oregon's quarterback.  The choice:  Bryan Bennett or Marcus Mariota.

I personally think too much is made of decisions like the one head coach Chip Kelly will announce later this morning.  One young man will be anointed the role of savior for this season; the other will take a clipboard to the sideline and keep notes.

Oregon is in the enviable position of having two fine young quarterbacks that could play just about anywhere except USC this year, where the incumbent golden boy, Matt Barkley, is said to walk on water.

But one of Oregon's guys is going to be very unhappy at the end of the day.  Will a sudden transfer be the second headline soon thereafter?

The funny deal is that both Bennett and Mariota are likely to play a lot in the early season, unless Oregon is vastly overrated and finds itself struggling against teams it is supposed to handle with ease.

First up next Saturday is Arkansas State.  ASU had a fine season last year, finishing 10-3, and has the core of that team returning and a new head coach with pedigree.  Gus Malzahn coached at football hotbed Auburn and knows his stuff.

But the Sun Belt Conference is a mid-major conference and supposedly is unworthy of competing with the big boys of the PAC.

We'll see.

The day is drawing near, folks.  If you've read this blog with the diligence that I have long suspected of you, you understand that college football is my number one entertainment.

Some folks prefer a long bike ride along a sunny path, but I'd rather sit at the bar or on my sofa and watch others exercise.

I like college football better than bad movies in the cineplex; a carnival ride doesn't compare. Hiking and mountain climbing are not even close; a long walk on the beach with a fine babe is okay, as long as it winds up near a television by 9 a.m. PT on Saturday mornings when the weekly ritual begins.

If she sits down next to me in the bar and consumes the game with the same passion I have she will win my heart.

Hell, I'll buy her a beer if she wants one.

Next Saturday I shall celebrate the dawning of a vital new thing, an annual second lease on life, an otherworldly experience that some have compared to the ingestion of a good drug.

The quarterback drama playing out in Eugene today?

I don't care who gets the job as long as the Ducks win, baby.  Yeah!


TS