History is littered with them: poor advice and awful decisions. I should preface with the fact I’ve been the biggest fan of Darron Thomas. My opening piece in this column before the 2011 season was the belief he would end up in New York for the Heisman ceremony. I’ve also defended him from the knuckleheads who felt Bryan Bennett was a more worthy starter despite DT’s unprecedented winner’s resume as a Duck.

I think his choice to turn pro now is flat out crazy. I’m positive Napoleon and his advisors were confident moving forward with the decision to engage in battle at Waterloo back in 1815. I’m sure the Lincoln’s only saw the upside to a nice evening at Ford’s Theater. I’m not buying all the stats including the terrific won/loss mark and outstanding TD throws to pick ratio Thomas compiled at Oregon. This is college. Things work completely differently in the NFL.

For openers a spread option quarterback has never had success in the pros. Don’t give me Tebow or Cam Newton. Cam is a unique case, who also happens to be built like an inside linebacker at 6’5” and 255 pounds while D.T has more of a receiver’s frame. Tebow is also a beast at more than 240 pounds, and the jury is very much out on his future success.

Darron can outrun most linemen and a good chunk of the linebackers at Colorado, Washington State or Missouri State. That won’t be the case at the next level. I’ve heard theories defending this decision. One is sanctions coming over Will Lyles, which is stupid because never once has the NCAA leaked the results of an investigation. I’ll buy he might be tired of school after 4 years or wants to help his family financially, though I’m not sure how the latter helps if he doesn’t get drafted and fails to make the league.

I follow the NFL as closely as anyone save beat writers for the 32 teams in the league. I’ve been racking my brain for days now. I hope I’m wrong. I can’t imagine a general manager or personnel guy using one of their 7 valuable draft picks on Thomas. He’s a perfect fit for Chip Kelly’s college style attack, but transferring those skills to the National Football League is going to be extremely difficult, if possible at all.

The announcement from the football office somewhat overshadowed the terrific accomplishment in the desert by Dana Altman’s hoopers. Many factors are in the mix, but this team has yet to make the connection with the fans or the local community. Despite the solid pre-conference record and a split of their first 4 Pac-12 games, I didn’t feel the buzz. Certainly the run to the Rose Bowl pushed basketball to the back burner. I think fans need time to process all the new faces and get a feel for this group. Well if timing is everything, it’s set up to open the gates and allow the bandwagon to begin filling. I believe Oregon will benefit from a very ordinary league. USC and Utah might stink. Cal might be really good. It’s hard to come to a definitive decision on the other 9. Considering this program is on the rise, that’s a positive circumstance.

I think these Ducks have some strong elements. They’ve won all the close games. Each time a contest has been settled by single digits, the U of O has chalked up a victory. Tony Woods is emerging as an interior force. Not sure I recall a better shot-blocker during my 21 years in Eugene. The in-season addition of Devoe Joseph has been like a “just add water” potion for success. This young guy has that closer’s mentality with no fear of shouldering the burden at crunch time. Olu Ashaolu attacks the rim in a manner unseen around here since Freddie Jones.

Throw in my Altman factor. I can’t imagine any team under his guidance who doesn’t get progressively better month to month as the schedule moves along. Let’s face it, the whole C.B.I tournament run last year had value, but also came with an underlying smirk. Right now there is hope for a substantial upgrade to the N.I.T or dare I say it? Not yet. I’ll get back to you.

Twitter: @sportstalk953