Good Luck Ducks, Week 11: Pivotal Road Fight

Oregon faces their biggest road test of the season against a stubborn Utah team.

Having unceremoniously dispatched Stanford last week without much trouble, Oregon finds themselves facing perhaps their toughest test of the season. The Ducks head to Utah for a late game against a team leading the entire nation in sacks. This wouldn't be the biggest concern in the world were it not for a vastly depleted offensive line that suffered yet another injury on the very last play of the Stanford game.

Marcus Mariota is still in the driver's seat of the Heisman race (who cares?) and the Ducks find themselves ranked #4 this week in the CFB playoff rankings. If the season ended right this second, Oregon would have something besides an Alamo Bowl to play for, and that would be fantastic. Unfortunately, that's not how these things work and the Ducks face a very scary and real test on the field tonight.

I have the utmost confidence in the offense at this point, but if this game follows the script of past Ducks games where the line can't seem to do anything right and positive yardage is the most difficult thing in the world, this could spell doom. I have a feeling of dread about this game for sure, but my hope is that the team has learned something about past games where positive yardage was no given. The running game has improved by leaps and bounds since early in the season, and even Thomas Tyner is getting back into the action as Oregon's three-pronged attack has stuck opposing defenses time and time again. If the run is working tonight, there's very little to dread.

Last season's meeting with the Utes led to impressive Oregon things on the ground.

Game time is 7:00 PST with national TV coverage on ESPN. Go Ducks!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1976 Topps Traded #27T

The Yankees cap doesn't always fit. This time, it did.

Who is he? Ed Figueroa was a Puerto Rico-born pitcher who became the first from the territory to win 20 games in a season. He came up with the Angels, but his best years would lie ahead of him.

How did he get here? Figueroa was traded along with Mickey Rivers to the Yankees for Bobby Bonds. It worked out very well for Ed, as he'd pick up two World Series rings in pinstripes as a member of the rotation.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 1976 Topps # 27

Airbrushed Score: 8

Comments: Airbrushed Yankees caps always look really goofy. This isn't the worst I've seen but the glowing blue cap and blurry pinstripes aren't helping at all.

Mailbox Action

Get ready for some trade posts to cozy up those chilly autumn evenings.

The mailbox at Cards on Cards Central has been rather full again, and not just with political campaign ads. I've started throwing cards around the country again and others have thrown things back at me. One such package was a surprise package from defgav of Baseball Card Breakdown, who sent me a reminder notice in the form of baseball cards for something I managed to not follow through with. (I prefer these sorts of reminder notices to the ones I usually get from people I owe.)

This Braden Looper from 2006 Fleer was a card I forgot about and had to add to my want list (and 10 Most Wanted) long after I thought I had completed this team set. The cards with mismatched logos and uniforms sometimes throw me.

Seeing cards that look like 1986 Topps weirds me out more than anything else. The 1986 set was the first I ever ripped packs of, so the design is imprinted on my brain somewhere.

I also casually needed a card from 1988. I have the whole 1988 Topps Traded set, but I didn't have one of these for my Cardinals binders for some strange reason. This is another one I cross off the Top 10 list.

Congrats to Yadi for his 7th consecutive Gold Glove Award. I wasn't sure if he'd get it this year since he missed so much time due to injury, but defensively it was one of his finest seasons based on the few tangible metrics. He threw out nearly half of would-be base stealers and had a near-perfect fielding percentage. I like that.

Purple Shiny Winners

Not pictured: Mickey Mouse ears

Congrats are due to Jim of The Phillies Room for being chosen as the winner of Friday's quick contest. The prize is 3 of the purple refractors that I pulled from a recently purchased $10 blaster of 2014 Topps Heritage. For the second year in a row, I ended up with a "hot box" containing a purple refractor in each pack, though none of the refractors fit into my collection. As for the 2014 Topps Heritage set proper, I wound up with a couple of inserts and a couple of SPs that I needed, and that's pretty much it. Let me know if you can help out with the set or are looking for anything (I have lots of doubles now.)

Once Jim makes his picks, the rest of these will be available for trades and the like.

The Chrome parallels must have a longer lead time for production because they'll often feature a player in their former (pre-Photoshop) uniform while the base card will be "updated".

So... I've run out of things to say. Enjoy the pictures.

Here's another guy, looking somewhere.

Hey... look at me. I like... baseball?

This is a reliever.

Geeked.

Good Luck Ducks, Week 10: Hell to Pay

Let's just burn this thing down to the ground.

Rivalries are one thing, steeped in history with lots of older men exchanging stories about past border clashes. Families are divided over their allegiances to one team or another. Beneath all the crosstalk, however, there's usually a measure of respect that lies below the surface. Even in the most contentious of seasons, Beavers and Ducks usually can come to praise each other when the dust settles. There are regional bonds. It's weird.

There's another kind of "rivalry", though I wish there was another word for it. Maybe there is. It would be a word to represent pure loathing of the opponent due to recent results. Oregon hasn't lost games consecutively to many teams of late. Arizona actually joined this list of two earlier this season, but the simple fact is that everyone on the Oregon side is seething with fiery anger for the Stanford Cardinal. Twice in a row has a season been derailed by the school with the higher academic standards and completely different on-field philosophy.

Yo Ho! The pundits were proven right! Oregon doesn't play football the right way. Stanford plays "smash mouth knock your sister over and step on her back for good measure" football just like the Football Gods intended. Two seasons ago, it wasn't surprising that Stanford one because Oregon doesn't know how to play physical. Last year, it was just more of the same!

Well, with Oregon knocking on the door of the Top 4 of the committee-elected playoff teams, this is the biggest game for the Ducks in four years. And with a power running back finding his way in this crazy mess, it looks like Oregon may even show some glimpses of Playing Football The Right Way this year, after all. If Oregon can get on the board early a couple of times, I think it will do away with the nerves of past failures and put the Ducks in a good spot for another victory.

In different times (2010), a battle of top 10 teams saw Oregon come out victorious over Stanford in Eugene.

Game time is 4:30 PDT with national TV coverage on FOX. Go Ducks!

Not Airbrushed Friday: Trick or Treat!

It's my birthday, so I'm going to put you to work for me. Maybe you'll win?

Here's the deal: it's my birthday and I don't feel like I should be put to work on my birthday. That means no inspired (ha!) Airbrushed Fridays post from me. Instead, the most insightful/interesting comment about this card will win a bit of a treat, as well as this card if you really want it!

The prize is purple and shiny and current. You'll get to choose up to three of them (out of eight or so). The deadline is 11:59 PM (PDT) Sunday 11/2. Happy Halloween!

Beam Me Up

Hey, it's my birthday! (Almost.)

Impromptu contest forthcoming.