Sebastabear said:

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Second, what? At what point did I say that everything that happened to Cal from 2007-2017 was based on the letdown loss from the OSU game? That's not even implied by what I wrote, much less stated. As a hint when I say "what happened in the back half of the season was an abomination" I mean "what happened in the BACK HALF OF THE SEASON was an abomination." Hopefully that was clearer.

But you seem to be arguing that Cal lost games in the back half of 2007 for the same reason it lost games in 2009 and 2012 and 2013, etc. I think those are all different lost seasons for dramatically different reasons and it's a fine argument to have I suppose if you want to talk about it, but that was never really the point I was making. Here I'm talking about 2007 alone and analogizing it to what could (hopefully) happen to Oregon in 2018.

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Looks very inconsistent & unsteady. You are taking a quite admirable perhaps overly-nuanced approach in differentiating latter JT seasons, but then all that sophisticated nuance is discarded in somehow equating the supposed psych makeup of a JT team from over a decade ago to a team (put together by a diff staff in a diff program in a diff location in a diff student body in a diff decade) that hasn't shown any signs of emotional fickleness. So, as-of-yet warrantless speculation of OU is somehow derived from an incomplete analysis of the factors in '07; looks like trying to build a much desired conclusion on not one but actually two unsteady premises. Nuanced when it suits you (JT 07 vs 08-12), but throwing caution to the wind when it doesn't (ignoring other factors for 07, while also speculating with no evidence on a current team's heart). That lacks soundness in argumentation and persuasive force.

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I guess you think if we had won the OSU game we still would have gone 2-5 for the remainder of the season (Ha!!!!)

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Did you forget about a most important depth chart decision thereafter? Had JT inexplicably gone the rest of the way with his injured QB, there would have still been several close losses even with a W over osu. Fans seem to forget that definitely not all was lost for the year after that loss; in the next week, Bears were ranked #9 and still in the long game; a top-10 ranking warrants a complete mental breakdown only in revisionist memories. The difference was a healthy QB. Throw a healthy QB in there motivated to redeem himself instead of a hobbled one, and the record is better than 2-5. Yet, thinking that winning the OSU game would lead to the RB ignores the change in QB, several other roster holes (even Syd & Tyson had their breakout season in '08; in '07 they were promising but not the Syd & Tyson they became), and new OC.

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And I would further debate the use of "effete" in this context to refer to an argument as opposed to an individual or system is incorrect but that seems somewhat . . . effete.

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I was definitely not calling a person (you) effete. An analogy/argument with initial force can become effete ("depleted of force or effectiveness") after analysis. The trouble with a connotation that is an insult is that it often swallows up other perfectly respectable definitions; language & communication suffers as a result.

Refs are always bad, always screwing up games. They are also at every game. Like jock itch. You would think that these folks would have at least enough self esteem not the put their incompetence on public display. But they don't. Nothing to be done about it but clean & liberally spray with an antifungal.

Hey, you guys, I have learned a lot about the meaning of "effete" thanks to this thread. Very interesting: Look it up in three different sources and you will get basically three somewhat different meanings. One commonality: It's a disapproving adjective, a pejorative. Seems to mean lacking in strength or vitality due to being overly refined or decadent, kind of played out. Its most famous use, the only one I remember, was when VP Spiro Agnew called the press an effete corps of impudent snobs (or something like that) and I think that was written for him by a semi-famous wordsmith whose name I forget (columnist for the NY Times on politics and use of the English language, died about 10 yrs ago). Edit: His name was William Safire, a Republican who, were he still around, would have something interesting to write, concerning the current occupant of the White House.

I'm guessing the Ducks fans aren't having any conversations quite like this today.

https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2018/09/oregon_ducks_put_the_difficult.html

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-- Fall classes began Monday, putting a greater premium on time management, and causing the UO coaches to tweak the practice schedule.

-- Saturday's 7:30 p.m. game (FS1) in Memorial Stadium will be both the Ducks' first 2018 road game, and the first time they have played in the late-night time slot.

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(Reminder, Cal beat BYU in Provo in a night game.)

I was pleased the Ducks lost for the reasons stated by nearly everyone in this thread. They were knocked down a notch and it affects their confidence. It's helpful to us. At the same time, we have to realize we're playing the Ducks this week and not the Cardinal. Our hatred of the Tree does not help us win THIS WEEK. We can deal with them when the time comes. One thing at a time.