So before I begin with this rant, I want to apologize to all the sane and reasonable Duck fans that read this post. This post is not directed at you in the least.No matter where you go in this fine country, "Sports talk show caller" guy is usually a different kind of dude. And here in Oregon, it's no secret that Oregon Duck fan can sometimes be a different breed as well.
Well, yesterday during Primetime on 1080 The Fan, the two worlds came together. A guy named Yoshi called into the show yesterday while Suke and Isaac were discussing this Cliff Harris situation that is in the news. I wish I could find the audio somewhere, so that I could give you Yoshi's exact words, but his "reasoning" went something like this:
Hey guys, I don't think that Cliff Harris should be suspended at all. But if they have to suspend him, I don't think it should be for the LSU game because that would be punishing the whole team. I don't think the whole team should be punished for what Harris did.
Hey guys, I don't think that Cliff Harris should be suspended at all. But if they have to suspend him, I don't think it should be for the LSU game because that would be punishing the whole team. I don't think the whole team should be punished for what Harris did.
Let me say congratulations Yoshi, I just crowned you idiot of the day. This is probably not the first time you've won this award, but it's the first time it's coming from me. Now I sort of get what Yoshi is saying. The guy doesn't want to lose the LSU game and that's the only thing that matters to him. But his opinion is utterly ridiculous. It never ceases to amaze me how blind college football fans can get when you have a conversation about their team.
Ask Yoshi if players on his beloved Oregon Ducks getting in any trouble with the law (short of murder, or serious crimes of that nature) is a big deal to him and he's probably going to say no. Luckily not all Duck fans are as delusional about this Cliff Harris deal as Yoshi. But there is a faction of Duck fans that share Yoshi's way of thinking. And it's complete nuts if you ask me. It's so ludicrous, it's almost annoying.
I know it must be hard for Yoshi and fans like him to come to grips with reality, nor do I expect them to be realistic about anything, but here's the deal. Oregon is a big time program now, playing big boy football. Oregon is a very fine football program, as a matter of fact. They are very good and should be your only reason to keep living and to not kill yourself (which they probably are for you). No one is taking that away from you and your team. But when players on your team get arrested, and it seems to be a reoccurring thing, it's kind of an issue. Or, at the very least, needs a little bit of attention.
To say "hey, this ain't a big deal, who cares" is dumb. And it sounds dumb. To say "hey, yeah let's suspend him for the Nevada game (a severely less difficult opponent), but not the LSU game, so the whole team doesn't get punished" sounds pretty stupid too. Do you even get how stupid and dangerous driving 118 mph is?? If Cliff Harris played for Ohio State or USC or Auburn or Florida, there's no doubt in my mind that Yoshi would be calling up some radio show yelling that Harris should be kicked off the team or put in jail or something like that.
That's why I can't take fans like Yoshi seriously at all. It's also why it pisses me off when they call up radio shows, driveling on about how it's so unfair to punish the whole team, blah, blah, blah.
In case you're wondering, no, I don't think that things are getting out of hand down in Eugene with the football program. I'm not going to overreact and say "fire Chip Kelly! He's lost control of the team!" or "kick everyone off the team!!" I'm not saying these are a bunch of evil kids who are purposely doing wrong things and getting arrested for the fun of it. But let's be reasonable. This has to be concerning. This is concerning to anyone that is a reasonable and level-headed person. Whether you're a rabid Duck fan or not, you should agree that this crap needs to stop happening, right?
