Once again, the Oregon Ducks are beseiged by the injury bug.  Starting QB Nate Costa will have surgery to clean out a torn meniscus.  He is scheduled to be out at least 8-10 weeks.  With this being said, Stickman Justin Roper of Bowl Game Fame will start the season.  Ducks fans will say that this is not a big deal as Roper is steady and already proven.  They'll say that the QB job was close and Roper is not a #2 but a capable #1.  Chip Kelly is the only person that is going to save the Ducks on offense.  Without him protecting his sticky looking QB, Roper will be hurt and some unproven sclub will be pressed into action and that is where the excuses will start (again).

I don't wish ill-will or harm on anyone- ever.  I hope the Ducks can finally live up to the hype that they someone always muster year-after-year.  I hope they can stay healthy for a no-excuse season.  I hope that they can challenge for the PAC10 title and represent well in a bowl game.

With all of that out of the way, keep your ears and eyes fixated on Duck fans excuses.  "We lost our quarterback.  We lost our top two quarterbacks.  If only we had Dennis Dixon and J-Stew..."  I've been an Oregon native for close to a decade and still haven't run across a humble, non-angry, excuse making Duck fan.  I am going to challenge the Eugene faithful to bring it hard all year with zero excuses.  Hold Belloti accountable and demand a real coach that will get the most out of your team every year (I nominate Chip Kelly).  Be humble and do not make excuses.

Go Beav's!

What if we were put under a microscope similar to the one we placed athletes under?  What if our lives were blogged about and scrutinized?  What if our personal lives were misrepresented and judged- right or wrong?  Judge players commitment.  Judge their ability to stay focused during the off-season.  Judge their ability to eat well.

I propose a challenge.  Let's go public...

I am challenging you to list a "professional set of goals" that you would like to hold yourself accountable to for the coming season.  They can be anything.  How you will become an all-star at work?  How you can build chemistry amongst your team members?  How you will become a consummate team player?   How you will watch your diet or exercise?  Maybe list a specific work-out plan to improve strength, reduce your waistline or run a marathon for a purpose.

The bible says judge not, lest ye be judged.  We are bloggers and subsequently- judgers.  It's not New Years Resolution time.  This is the start of a new season where we can band together and judge each other the way we judge our sports icons.  I trust this group because the opinions are open and honest and I'm open to the challenge.  So much so that I'm proposing it..  Sometimes the words can sting.  But hey, I'm a professional.  I am the president of a small company.  I am well educated.  I am middle aged.  I am a former college athlete.  I am a former army officer and  I am no longer living in an athletic, soldiering body.  I am 5'10" tall and weigh in at 250 lbs.  I love me and know I can do better for my teams.  My family, my employees and my friends.

Personal Goals: Judge Me...

1.  30 minutes of cardio a day.

2.  Weight lifting (yes, I know what I'm doing) 4 days per week.

3.  Eat 5 small meals per day (160 grams of protein per day).

4.  No more soda.

5.  Quit dippin' Skoal.

I love sports.  I consider myself a decent athlete.  It's just time I start acting like it again.  I'm going to get under 200 lbs. by the end of the regular NBA season by doing it the right way.  Take the challenge and throw yourself out there as if you were a professional athlete.  Don't be afraid to open the debate and let others encourage you.  We all know that we control each and every decision we make each day.  I know I do a pretty dad-gum good job of living a good life that my kids can be proud of and will want to emulate.  I just want my inner athlete back.  I need my inner athlete back.  I will be posting a weekly Orman-mentary with progress.  Read it if you want.  Comment with whatever you want.  I don't care.  This is on me- for me- with hopes to inspire. 

Let the inner athlete out again...  Be real.

NBA HUNCHES OUT LOUD!

1.  Denver Nuggets will miss the play-off's.  Either AI or Car-smello will demand a trade. 

2.  There will be a minimum of two Phoenix Suns players who will be injured- causing them to come close or miss the play-offs.  One of the players rhymes with Hack- the other rhymes with Trash.

3.  OJ Mayo will find himself in some sort of weird investigation and he'll try to blow it off quicker than he transferred high schools.

4.  Michael Beasley, Shawn and Dwayne won't get along.  Pat Riley will be blamed.

5.  Jason Kidd will not last the season in Dallas.

6.  Kevin Love will be voted Rookie of the Year.

7.  Baron Davis will not be happy in Los Angeles.

8.  Pau Gasol will be caught in an anti-American photograph and explain that he was just joking.

9.  Agent Zero will have zero tolerance for managements inadequacies and blog about it.

10.  Jermaine O'neil will not be any better in Toronto.

11.  Ron Artest will do something stupid.

12.  Chris Paul will not be like last year.

13.  The Pacers will be better than last year.

14.  Greg Oden will surpass expectations and begin the Oden/Bynum duel that will be nationally televised for years to come.

15.  Brandon Roy will take another step towards being "Kobe North"

16.  Luke Walton will not be a Laker for the full season.

17.  Yao will say Ow and Tracy McGrady will punk out again.

18.  Dallas will not be as good without the lil' General on the sidelines.

19.  Kwame Brown will be an all-star (c'mon- thats a joke).

20.  Vince will not last in Jersey.

21.  Jerryd Bayless will be compared to Tony Parker.

22.  Rudy Fernandez will be compared to Manu Ginobli.

23.  Mike Conley will end up in Portland somehow.

24.  LaMarcus Aldridge will be an all-star.

Feel free to comment, argue or add your own... 

Portland Trail Blazers new shooting guard Rudy Fernandez showed that his offensive game will make a smooth transition to the NBA again in the gold medal game.  He scored 22 points in his second game against the strong US Team.  His explosive leaping ability was on display with power dunks and significant hang-time for a 6'5" player.  His long range shooting was verified.  The quick first step and movement without the ball should be incredible as a number two to Brandon Roy and Portland fans are just now realizing what a player we locked down.

Nate has to be grinning.  He earned a gold medal his new shooting star earned a silver. 

Welcome to Portland Rudy!  We are singing OLE!

The following are anagrams & supporting definitions of the man-child known as GREG ODEN.

1.        Green God = indicative of the Pacific Northwest's RIP City (re)creator. Defined: The word green is closely related to the Old English verb growan, "to grow". It is used to describe plants or the ocean.  In America, green is a slang term for money, among other things. Several colloquialisms have derived from these meanings, such as "green around the gills", a phrase used to describe a person who looks ill.  Defined: God is most often conceived of as the creator and overseer of the universe.

2.        Green Dog = Ferocious pack hunter leader who is environmentally conscious- indicative of the Pacific Northwest vibe. Define: See aforementioned definition green. Defined: The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora.

3.        No Greed G.  This is slang for how unselfish Greg is as a player/person. Defined: No means no.  Defined: Greed is the selfish desire for or pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others. It is generally considered a vice, and is one of the seven deadly sins. Defined: "G" is short for "gangster." Used in greeting to a friend or associate.

4.        Drone Egg = the continuous sound of thumping a basketball into a spherical shape by Greg Oden when dunking.  Defined: A drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated, and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built.  Defined: The shape of an egg is an ovate spheroid with one end larger than the other end. The egg has cylindrical symmetry along the long axis.

5.        GO RED ne = Symbolizing Trail Blazer color as well as the blood of opposing players under the neon lights.  Defined: Go means to be habitually in a certain state or condition.  Defined: In human color psychology, RED is associated with heat, energy and blood, and emotions that stir the blood, including anger, passion, and love.  Defined: ne is the atomic symbol for Neon.  Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish glow...

6.        Deer Gog (N) = Graceful running supervillian who leads team to 110 point average offensive output.  Defined: Deer is representative of a comparable animal's grace in moving.  Defined: Gog is the name of several different fictional characters, all of which are supervillains and have been published by DC Comics.  The first version of Gog was known as William, the sole survivor of the Kansas disaster, and became a believer in Superman as a savior, even creating a church dedicated to his philosophy as he tried to find meaning in the cataclsym that had taken place. One day, Superman visited him and told him that he wasn't the omnipotent, perfect being that William thought he was, shattering William's world view and mentally unbalancing him. When the Quintessence (Shazam, Ganthet, Zeus, Izaya, and the Phantom Stranger) invested him with a portion of their vast power, William, now known as Gog, went insane and blamed Superman for his misfortune, believing him to be the Anti-Christ who had allowed the Kansas disaster to take place to regain his standing in the world.  Using his newfound powers, Gog killed Superman. Unsatisfied by his victory, Gog went back in time one day, found Superman KOBE, and killed him again, repeating the process over and over, each time varying the means of Superman's death and absorbing portions of the slain Supermen's power.  Defined: The ASCII code for lowercase n is 110- representing the number of points the Blazers will average with Greg in the line-up.

7.        Geen Drog = a tall killer who murders or causes grievous bodily harm to opposing players.  Defined: Geen is a former nurse convicted of murdering two patients and causing grievous bodily harm to 15 others while working at Horton General Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire.  Defined: In etymology is a pole or stick.

8.        Negro GED = This is what opposing players will get when Oden sends an opposing player back to school for the first time.  The second time will be a diploma; the third a Bachelor of Science; the Fourth- a Masters; the fifth- a PHD and finally; Retirement.  Defined: Negro is a term referring to people of Black African ancestry. Prior to the shift in the lexicon of American and worldwide classification of race and ethnicity in the late 1960s, the appellation was accepted as a normal neutral formal term both by those of Black African descent as well as non-African blacks.  Although the term is considered archaic and is not even common as a racist slur. The term is still used in some contexts for historical reasons such as in the name of the United Negro College Fund. "Negro" means "black" in Spanish and Portuguese, and the French "noir" as well as the Italian "nero"- all of which derive from the (Latin: niger = "black"). In Italy the word "negro" is still used neutrally by many people.  Defined: General Educational Development (or GED) tests are a group of five tests which (when passed) certifies that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills. To pass the GED Tests and earn a GED credential, test takers must score higher than 40 percent of graduating high school seniors nationwide. Some jurisdictions require that students pass additional tests, such as an English proficiency exam or civics test. 

9.        Need Org "G" = symbolizes Greg Oden's desire for organization amongst teammates/associates.  Defined: A human need can be defined either psychologically or objectively. These may be connected: the non-satisfaction of an objective need - the failure to "pay" a cost of being a human - is likely perceived by the needy as a "felt need." On the other hand, the specific manifestation of objective needs is defined by individual preferences and psychology: the need for food can appear in many different ways.  Defined: Org is The biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. Over 7 million articles in over 200 languages, and still growing.  Defined: See aforementioned definition.

10.     GORDEN e.g = symbolizes Greg Oden's comedic prowess.  Example: ESPY's  Defined: Gorden Fitzgerald Kaye (born 7 April 1941) is a BAFTA-nominated English comic actor.  Defined: E.g. stands for exempli gratia, which means "for example."

The Enforcer, The Odenizer, The De-Bynumator and NEW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF NBA CENTERRRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ- GREG ODEN!!!!