Wanted to touch on a couple of subjects before officially closing out the 2011 football season and transitioning to basketball and football recruiting.

Onward.

Is LaMichael James the greatest Duck ever?
Touchy subject because comparing players across eras and offensive styles is a dicey proposition. You can definitely make a case for LMJ because he was the heart of the greatest three-year stretch in Oregon history. I’m not going to say he’s definitely better than Mel Renfro or Bobby Moore or Jonathan Stewart or Dan Fouts, but he’s in the conversation.

What I will say is that I’ll miss the sound at Autzen when he hit the corner and there was nothing but one helpless defender and a whole lot of green turf between him and the endzone. And I’ll miss the way he almost always got four yards on 3^rd-and-three. And I’ll never forget the night he hurt his elbow against Cal. It’s funny, Autzen Stadium is the loudest stadium in the Pac-12 but the most profound expression of the Oregon faithful’s love for LaMichael James was found not in ear-splitting cheers but in absolute silence.

DT’s Decision
If you want speculation on why he left, you won’t find it here. The thing about the NFL is that they almost always find talent. If Darron Thomas is good enough to play in the league, he’ll play in the league. If he’s not, he’ll be a working stiff like the rest of us. Difference is, he’s got a Rose Bowl championship ring and we don’t.
Here’s the thing: young men sometimes make odd choices. I know I did. But if his dream is to play in the NFL then he needs to go chase it. Remember in Good Will Hunting when Robin Williams’ character is telling Matt Damon’s character about missing game six of the 1975 World Series to “go see about a girl”? Maybe this is DT’s “see about a girl” moment.

My Playoff Plan
It looks like college football is about to change their postseason format. Athletic directors from across the country are expressing interest in (depending on the person) a plus-one, or a four, eight or 16 team playoff. Seemingly every blogger and columnist in the country has weighed in and I don’t want to be left off. Here then, the Adams Plan.

All 120 D-1 teams will play a 12 game regular season schedule (unless you play at Hawaii, then you get a 13^th game). Some conferences will have a conference title game, some won’t. The season will end in early to mid December. Once the season is done and the conference champions are crowned, some sort of selection committee will convene. This committee can consist of writers or ex-coaches or current coaches or computers or whatever. Doesn’t really matter.

The committee will be tasked with selecting the two best teams in the country to play for the national title. Some years, it will be really easy. Some years, it won’t . But if you watch enough football, you should be able to make an accurate judgment of who the best two teams are. And the team(s) left out will almost always have no one to blame but themselves. Maybe they lost at home to a mediocre Stanford team. Or maybe they lost to Iowa State. Or maybe their non-conference schedule was putrid when compared to the top two teams. Or maybe they come from a weak conference.

The key part of this plan is the branding and marketing angle. Gone is the “BCS championship game.” In its place is the “college football playoffs.” Hey, a two-team playoff is still a playoff. And since America loves a good bracket, we’ll make sure our bracket is in every magazine and newspaper in the country so that people can easily keep track of their office pools.

Oh, and we’ll make sure the participating schools and conferences get rich from this scheme and not the bowls. We’ll let the accountants figure that part out.

Chip Kelly’s Contract
Much was made recently of the bonuses paid Chip Kelly after Oregon won the Rose Bowl. It wasn’t hard to find quotes from University of Oregon students and faculty who apparently don’t know how contracts work. See, when Chip was hired as coach, his agent negotiated with the school things like base compensation, benefits and bonuses. One of these bonuses was for winning the Rose Bowl. So when Chip Kelly led Oregon to a Rose Bowl win, the school paid him this bonus, as per the contract.
It’s all very simple.

Oh, and Oregon State fans, I’m sure your coach has the same bonuses in his contract. It’s not Chip Kelly’s fault they’ll never get paid out.

An Arizona Sweep
With no meaningful football games until September, it’s time to start paying attention to college hoops now. I know the Pac-12 is not very good this season, but Oregon almost never beats Arizona anywhere, so seeing them win in Tucson to close out the rare desert sweep was a big deal.

Having a good basketball team to root for will make the football-less winter months that much easier to handle.