Until Next Weekend, This Was the Greatest Weekend in Duck History
10/21/2024 11:36 AM
For a moment in time it seemed that the Ducks ruled the world. In New York, Sabrina Ionescu and Nyara Sabally won a WNBA title with the Liberty as their squad won the first pro basketball crown in the city since the New York Nets' ABA Championship in 1976. They beat the Minnesota Lynx in a Game Five final in overtime, 67-62.
The trophy was the first for the Liberty and the first of their career for the two Oregon Duck stars, who were denied a chance to compete for the NCAA women's title in 2020 when the tournament was cancelled amid Covid concerns.
Sabally shined brightly in the Liberty win. She came off the bench like the torch itself, lighting up the Minnesota Lynx for 13 points and 7 rebounds in just 17 minutes.
Ionescu struggled historically in the clinching game. Although she had hit clutch three pointers throughout the playoffs to get her team there, she endured a massive cold streak in Game Five, throwing up brick after brick as she went 1-19 from the floor.
The shots weren't falling but she kept battling, contributing 7 rebounds, 8 assists and two steals as the champs held the four-time champion Lynx to two points in the overtime period.
What followed was jubilant light show, the strains of "New York, New York" and a capacity crowd dancing in the confetti, a crowd that included Big Apple luminaries like Spike Lee, Robin Roberts of Good Morning America and actor Jason Sudeikis. Ionescu exchanged a congratulatory kiss with her husband, former Oregon All-American center Hroniss Grasu.
That would have been enough for a glorious Duck weekend, but it was only the capper. Earlier in the day Oregon football was voted #1 in both the AP and the Coaches Poll after blanking the Purdue Boilermakers 35-0 on Friday.
On Thursday Pro Duck Bo Nix led Denver to a 33-10 road victory over the New Orleans Saints. Nix had 164 yards passing and 75 rushing as the Broncos won their fourth game in five tries after starting the season 0-2.
Sunday afternoon Marcus Mariota came off the bench to relieve injured starter Jayden Daniels and shined in relief, tossing two touchdown passes while completing 18-23 passes for 205 yards.
As ever, after the win Mariota gave credit to his teammates. "When you have a brotherhood like this, you'll find ways to win," he said.
That seems to a theme for the Ducks, no matter the gender or the sport. One of the Flyin' Hawaiian's TD strikes went to Zach Ertz, the former Stanford tight end who had a memorable and controversial scoring reception while sliding on the back line of the end zone in an upset win over the Ducks in 2012. The Cardinal prevailed 17-14 over the 10-0 Ducks, who had moved to number one in the polls the week before.
The Mariota-to-Ertz connection suggests maybe the universe has realigned itself, and that somehow the heartbreaks and disappointments of the past have been broken forever. If Justin Herbert has a big night tonight for the Los Angeles Chargers in their Monday night matchup at Arizona, it's time to buy lottery tickets and research flights to Indianapolis and Atlanta, the sites of the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff Final at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 20th.
