Nice Dog, Mean Man

(Sketch is the subject of numerous poems in Charles Deemer's new book.)

CD, whose new book of poems for RBP will come out in late October, is a mean-spirited anti-Duck.

That means while he was brave and smart enough to earn his MFA from Oregon, he hates the institution in Eugene, which he maliciously and habitually refers to as Nike U.

You know, because of Phil Knight's billion-dollar influence on athletics there.

In fact CD is a boisterous and illogical fan of UCLA, where he earned his undergraduate degree before attending Oregon, and not long after retiring as a Cold War military spy.

(Hmm...Was he a double agent?)

But now CD has gone beyond the pale.  He is predicting that a major injury to one of Oregon's stars Saturday against Nicholls State University will change the lofty expectations for Oregon's season.

Call it Operation Crystal Ball, a psyops maneuver by the enemy.

To even mention such a scenario is indicative of CD's calculating heart. To accomplish what he believes will happen, he expects the football gods to take down one of only two players who are so enormously valuable to the Ducks that an injury to either one one would cause their dreams of glory to vanish.

In other words--and this is beyond dispute--our poet believes either Marcus Mariota or De'Anthony Thomas is going to suffer a season-ending injury in the first half of their game Saturday.

I don't know if Oregon will be unscathed after its first game, but I can tell you CD is playing dirty in this deadly game.


TS