But believe it or not, Oregon did play football back before Nike as well, so we Webfoots have our own ancient memories, like listening with my Dad and brother to the old radio blasting out an Oregon game while we worked in the yard, with Norm Van Brocklin as QB. (remember him, a future pro star?)

And back in the Past, Oregon teams actually featured mainly in-state athletes– I personally knew a bunch of the guys on the 1958 Rose Bowl team that lost by a FG to Ohio State, as I’d played with, or against, them in HS.

Today, we depend almost totally on out-of-state athletes–just six of our top 45 are in-state– thank God for Texans James and Thomas– so recruiting nation-wide is our life blood– and thus the danger of getting in the mess we are in.
Maybe we too will end up like Ohio State, USC, Miami, etc., knocked down beyond recognition by NCAA penalties.
It’s sad, takes a lot of the fun out of our current success on the field. Let us be a warning to others who are tempted to cut corners.

Last week Ron Bellamy, who retired last week as the excellent sports editor of the Eugene Register-Guard, had a thoughtful essay on his enjoyable career, but with a serious warning about Oregon’s current direction with its emphasis on Big Money and pressure to be at the top.

Bellamy noted that the real problem with our current mess with Lyles is not the original mistakes, but rather the cover-up in which the aggressive Kelly may be involved.
Needless to say, all true Duck fans are distraught at this possible breach of athletic ethics. This isn’t the Oregon we grew up with and loved.

And cosanostra, your comment is as sweet as your name.

You are absolutely right…great memories, Dad and the radio, screaming at the radio…we would especially scream at the radio when LSU played Ole Miss. We did not regularly defeat Alabama back then…haaaarrrrsddd to beat The Bear!

I think that gave us our “addiction” to popcorn. That is what we would enjoy during the game. Our radio was a kitchen clock AM radio from Sears and Roebuck as well! ha. We sometimes would have to “pop” it when the frequency would waver and static would drown out the play by play at the most inappropriate time…right when Billy Cannon was running a kickoff back toward a touchdown.

He bought that one before we were born. But it finally wore out (or we “popped” it one time too many?!) Then our Dad bought a radio from Sears and Roebuck with an antenna! We thought that was big time. An antenna might mean no more static! It was much better….ha….what great memories…we no longer have our Dad but what great memories.

Dad and I would plan our day around the time when the game would come on. We listened to many many games together. It’s probably why I like to turn down the volume on my TV today and tune in Eli Gold over the radio when Bama plays.

I cherish those memories of the times I got to sit with my dad and listen to the games. We would yell and scream at that darn radio, lol….great memories

Most recruits for SEC teams come from the SEC areas in general and mostly from the particular SEC’s team area. It has been that way for many years. College football in the South is MUCH more popular than pro football or any other sport or possibly any other entertainment. That makes a huge difference. Young boys are raised with their fathers and uncles having a favorite college football team.

Our fathers would carry a transistor radio on the worksite when they worked at night or leave on the truck radio (AM stations only back then, and it was 1150 AM WJBO in Baton Rouge. We would pop popcorn and drink Zatarain’s root beer made from Zatarain’s root beer extract and some yeast to give it carbonation.

However, these problems will keep happening as long as Oregon and others must go to such desperate lengths to get, and keep, hot recruits in order to compete with the likes of Oklahoma or the SEC.