I’m sure there are die hard Duck fans that are looking at ESPN this morning, perhaps at the Pac 12 Standings are noticing something different. Oregon(22-6, 11-4 Pac 12) is tied with UCLA at the top of the conference, and we haven’t played the Civil War yet against Oregon State(13-5, 3-12 Pac 12).  No, this is not a typo.

Feb 27, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Solomon Hill (44) reacts during the game against the Southern California Trojans at the Galen Center. USC defeated Arizona 89-78. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The USC Trojans took it to Arizona on Wednesday night, the Wildcats came out flat and may have been caught looking ahead to their weekend matchup with UCLA.  Arizona may have also lost their shot at a high seed in the NCAA Tournament and most likely will fall to the #3 seed or lower of the Pac 12 Tournament. When it comes to the conference resume, Arizona is starting to  get some holes punched in it. UCLA has already beat the Wildcats once this year already back on January 24th.

Tied with UCLA atop the Pac 12 standings Oregon faces Oregon State who comes to Eugene Thursday night for the Civil War at Matthew Knight Arena. It’s Senior Night and several Ducks will be playing their final game in front of the home crowd including  Tony Woods, E.J. Singler, Carlos Emory and Arsalan Kazemi. The ceremony celebrating these players will happen after the game.

Earlier this week Dana Altman announced that Freshman Dominic Artis is closer to a return, he will likely make an appearance against the Beavers. If the Ducks get a victory, they will be a game up on UCLA and a game and half up on Arizona heading into next week.

Oregon closes out the Pac 12 Regular season on the road against Colorado(Thursday, March 7th, 6pm ESPN2) and Utah(Saturday March 9th, Pac 12 Network 11:30am)

Oregon Ducks This Week:

TheStartingFive.net

“With the Benefit of Hindsight, I wish I had done more”

Former Penn State Coach Joe Paterno

If you have look at my bio, you know I graduated from Penn State.(Class of 1999, Telecommunications) I know that by bringing up Jerry Sandusky again, it’s like ripping the bandaid off of a wound that is still healing.  Many people forget the first part of the quote above when taking about the sex abuse scandal that rocked Penn State.

Aside from players, and coaches and what they have to say about their coach I wanted to give my perspective on Joe Paterno. I met him on several occasions when I worked for Forever Broadcasting in State College as a DJ and Production Director.

Paterno came into the studio, with his signature thick glasses, to record a radio commercial for a local car dealer and as you could imagine, I was pretty nervous the first time meeting him as I had to record the audio for the client with Joe Pa’s voice. He did the first cut and looked at me with a slight smile as if to say, we’re good, right? I froze for a moment and thought to myself, “do I have him record it again, or go with the first take.” I had him do it one more time and gave the choice to the client which cut to use. We shook hands, and off he went.

With the Freeh Report and the Paterno Report coming out yesterday, which did say it was a rush to judge the former Penn State coach, the focus has now turned to awareness, not just for State College and Penn State, but for the country. The interview with Katie Couric that included Sue Paterno, Joe’s wife and their children showed the kind of man that Paterno was. He lived in the same house in State College on a quiet  street. He raised his children to have honesty and integrity in their lives and with hindsight I do believe that Sandusky would have been brought to justice back in 2001. It was brought up that back in 2001 no one knew the warning signs to look for. Paterno and Sandusky’s kids would play in pools together on bowl trips, no one knew. Jerry Sandusky and his wife adopted children, the people at the agency who allowed him to have those children did not know.

“If the experts didn’t know, how could we be expected to know” – Sue Paterno on Jerry Sandusky

The blame of this story has now shifted to helping people become more aware of this issue at hand. I do not believe that Joe Paterno was made aware of anything concerning Sandusky until 2001, in his meeting with Mike McQueary which he sent up to his superiors.

You can read both the Freeh Report and the Paterno Report on Paterno.com, but if nothing else allow this post to help you to be more aware.

-Justin Phillips/AutzenZoo.com

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Justin Phillips is Sports Reporter for Newsradio 1120 KPNW in Eugene, Oregon