dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog

Between Ken Kesey Square at the heart of downtown Eugene and all of the University of Oregon buildings that bear Phil Knight’s imprimatur, it’s easy to overlook the legacy of Bill Bowerman and the culture of excellence he attempted to instill here.

In his four years as a head coach, Kelly’s Ducks are unbeaten (38-0) when they lead at halftime. For the dozen or so games when the Ducks went to the locker room without a lead after two quarters, Kelly’s team has lost more often than won (5-6).

How about ending practices once a week with your speedsters running 4×100 relay races at Hayward Field, professionally timed and open to the public? An eating contest for the linemen? A human tractor-pull? Let some of those competitive juices flow in public.

Circumstances are not what drive history forward; character is. Consequences and precedents can dissuade us from becoming true expressions of our unique and authentic selves, but they are always over and done with before we can act on them.