Aaron Fentress of Comcast Sports Net seems a decent fellow. His job is to state strong opinions and get people talking and he does that very well. He’s intelligent and outspoken, and fans shouldn’t mind at all that he speaks up with extreme views and often plays the contrarian on the set of “Talkin’ Ducks” and in his columns. That’s what he’s supposed to do, and the fact that he does so boldly and earnestly livens up what would otherwise be a parade of “the Ducks are great.”
They are great, but the story has more dimension and interest when it is framed with a willingness to speak truth and even occasionally take the risk of being completely wrong.
I applaud his courage in taking on the jocks. Joey Harrington is a Duck legend and a national treasure as a spokesman of college football, but his playing of the “have you ever been in that situation?” card is a cheap, theatrical trick: if that logic were applied more broadly, only former presidents could comment on the wisdom of presidential decisions, only rapists and murderers could assess the demons and twisted thinking that leads tortured individuals to do reprehensible things.
I understand Harrington’s point too, that it’s unfair to label a young athlete a choke when they fail in the attempt to do something rare and exceptional. Fully realizing that the two men are playing roles to make a panel discussion more interesting, Captain Comeback cheated in shouting down Fentress regarding his football credentials: a longtime observer of the game who is an AP poll voter can make reasonable observations about football without being a former contender for national champion at quarterback. Fentress was a wide receiver at Portland State. He also coaches semi-pro football here in Portland and had a 69-7 record as coach of the Portland Monarchs, a .908 winning percentage. While that isn’t the BCS, the principles of winning football and organization hold true. He knows what it takes to win, and is qualified as anyone to stir the pot.
Thank juju some one does, or the stew would burn at the bottom and lose flavor.
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