Games like last night's make me wonder if it's worth the mental and physical tole of following the Beavs passionately.
During the entire 4th quarter, and especially during the overtime, my body felt physically ill, stressed, even shaking at times. Even the half dozen cocktails in my system couldn't keep me calm. After the liquor passed through my system, it still took a couple Xanax to sooth the nerves enough to fall asleep around 2am.
I feel like today is not the time to criticize, but instead it's a day to question the perils of being a fan.
So, for you, reader, I have three questions:
1. Do you think it's worth risking one's health to watch this team? After all, it's well known stress is a silent killer.
2. Does anyone else have this type of physiological and emotional response to loses?
3. Why the hell do we put ourselves through this?
Reading the comments, it seemed many fans were feeling Beaved out last night.
I'm wondering if it's not wiser to simply tune out "the process" of working towards a Rose Bowl. Maybe it's better to turn on the TV once a year, January 1st, and see who's playing in the Granddaddy. If it's the Beavers, great. Maybe that's better for my health, for our health?
Anyway, I feel shot this afternoon. There's a lot of criticism to dish out, but I don't have the will or energy to talk about the specifics or beat dead horses right now. For those who do, by all means discuss it in the comment area.
The reality is I'll get a few nights of good sleep, stay away from the bottle and pills, not watch any NCAA next weekend, and after the bye I'll come back more passionate than ever. What we should all do is turn off the TV and computer all together until January 1st.
I love it! College football is the greatest sport on earth. I pinch myself every year realizing that the Beavers are at least competitive most of the time now. Sateillite and the internet allowed me to follow the Beavers from afar and get a wealth of information and opinion previously unavailable. If I stroke out during a game, I have decent life insurance for my family!
Angry,
Were you at the game or watching on T.V.??
I was at the game. I have a Husky friend and he has taken me to the game in Seattle for years. He has come to Reser once, in 2001, and we routed them! The last three trips to Husky Stadium have been great! I was there in 1998 and last night was similiar. I loved trying to sieze the moment when we had it. We had chances to take control in the third quarter and everyone was gassed at the end. If Joe had held on to the ball we would have been just as tired , but elated. I see the team winning one, losing one, the rest of the way. I hope I am wrong, but I am not as bumned at you. . . . ever!!
I feel we were totally out coached in all facets of this game. We were not ready from the get go. I do not understand
1. PLAY CALLING
2.DEF. NOT READY AT START OF GAME
3. DEF. PERSONEL
Play calling was a joke last night. I do not understand why if we are ave. 4 to 5 yds a carry and we have 2nd and 2 on the 50 yd. line in a critical point of the game we drop back and take a sack putting us in a 3rd and long. This was just one of many many questionable calls in the 2nd half. I know I am not a coach but we are sitting here watching this game and we can tell by formations exactly what OSU is going to run.Why if Quiz is doing so well running outside the tackles do we continually run up the middle, and it is so predictable.
Our def. did step it up in the 2nd half but what was that in the 1st qtr. We were not ready(prepared) for this football game. Thats coaching!!!
Our def. personel needs a change. If its not working change something. Our corners and safeties can not cover Pac 10 recievers.
And are linebackers miss way to many tackles, lets try someone else.
I know that this season is not lost but I dont see us improving enough to keep from being embarrased by a couple teams left on our schedule.
very stressed. Heart rate was up. Way up. Took my pulse at 120 a couple times. Was hot in a cold room. Threw a 2/3 empty beer can across the room. Scared the dogs with my yelling.
I’d say the stress got to be a little over-the-top. It’d be nice to just have a nice easy win where they rest the starters for most of the 3rd and all of the 4th. Good luck on that.
Thoughts:
-the intensity of the games and the fact that 4/6 have been on the road got to us.
-We’ve all been waiting for Katz to show his youth and inexperience. It happened last night and unfortunately it cost us. Only a soph, and I’m excited about him.
-Don’t care who we play, every game in the Pac 10 has the chance to be a battle.
-UO will most likely lose. This conference is too difficult and intense to get through unscathed.
-Bye coming up should help. A lot. We get more home games, rest, and some healing, and hopefully some practice to improve personnel and scheme.
-I felt like last night our hopes of winning the conference were shot. But in this conference, who knows.
I was depressed all day. That should not happen just from watching College FB. But what’s the alternative? Not watching it? Don’t think I can give it up. My only idea is to DVR the game, wait an hour and a half, then come back and watch it. With all of the TV breaks, timeouts, and halftime I should catch up to real-time right around the end of the actual game. This would hopefully prevent such severe stress buildup. Just something I might try. I’d also have to turn off my phone to avoid texts/calls pertaining to the game.
.
Warning: excessively long post to incoming…
I’m a long time reader, but first time poster here on your blog. I like your perspective (even as I often times find myself in disagreement with it), because you are quite passionate, knowledgeable, and in most cases, a realist when it comes to the nature of the beast that is modern college football. I usually hold off on posting, mostly because I’m short on time and tend to be too verbose for internet readers, but this game and this post has inspired me to get involved in the conversation.
I have an interesting perspective myself, different from the vast majority of fans. I grew up in a football family, where my father, who played college football in Oregon and had a decent career professionally, was the head coach for 12 years at a 3A school for the majority of my youth.
My brother and I both played college football as well; he in Colorado, and myself as a walk-on at Oregon State (2003-2007). I later moved to California where I currently coach football and track part-time as a graduate student.
My perspective as a beaver fan is unique because I was a player myself, and grew up in a coach’s family. There is a lot of “inside baseball” and philosophy to both the game itself, and the culture and nature of athletics and competition that many “fans” simply don’t have the qualitative experience needed to adequately understand. I don’t say this to pass judgement, I just often find myself in culture shock when discussing beaver athletics with the typical beaver fan.
Oregon State is a great school, with some great athletic programs, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there as a student-athlete and believe that things in general are heading in the right direction. Coach Riley is a great coach. He and the rest of his staff aren’t perfect, there are strengths and weaknesses as there are in all programs, but I believe him to be the perfect fit for OSU long term.
I understand your desire to “get over the hump” as a fan, your “anger” over a team that can’t quite seem to outgrow “mediocrity”.
But, the beast that is college athletics is a complex monster, to say the least.
Like you, I was exhausted at the conclusion of last night’s game, as I too was emotional during the overtime thriller. But, when it was over I was left smiling, and proud of our team for the way that they battled, both with the huskies and their own mistakes.
There were a lot of mistakes on the field last night, some quite difficult to swallow, and it was undoubtedly a tough and emotional loss. Our offensive line seems held together with tape and knee braces, and we have some personnel issues on defense that need to be resolved in order for there to be marked improvement (and wins). However, there is much to be gained.
When it’s all said and done I can guarantee you this staff will have the team improved and ready to play when Cal comes to town on the 30th. And so we hit the field and try it all over again, as we do almost every Saturday in the fall.
To answer your questions, of course it’s worth continuing to support this team through the tough losses, but if you really stress out to the point where your health is in danger, I recommend re-evaluating your perspective on athletics and what it means to compete in the first place. My father would say that to win at this level, to seek greatness, it’s vital that you know how to lose.
As an athlete, competitor, and former player myself, I can empathize with your emotions as a fan, including the negative ones that follow a loss like this. But when you compete at this level, getting beat comes with the territory.
You work your butt off, train like hell, put everything you have inside you into your sport, your team, your game. And then sometimes you screw up, you get beat, you lose. You learn from it, you move on, you get better. It’s a relentless pursuit, and it never ends, ever.
And that’s why we put ourselves through this, us players, and fans alike. To strive for excellence, even in the shadow of devastating disappointment and what seems like insurmountable challenges ahead of you.
It’s an emotional game, and you have to have the stones to ride the wave, the good and the bad.
There certainly are a lot of things we can do better (like recruit lineman, or play technically sound defensive coverages), but this will always be the case, there will always be something that can be done much better.
Football is an execution based game. The difference between a team like Oregon, that might not lose a game and win a national championship this season, and a team like Washington State, who might not win a Pac-10 game, is so precious little in reality.
Rest assured, our time will come, and things heading in the right direction. So smile, have some pride, and cheer on your team. Even when they screw up (over and over again), even when the beat themselves, even when they lose.
No doubt they will play their asses off for you once again on the 30th.
Nice post
Very well said!
I love when ex-players or guys with links to players show up. It makes for great content and perspective. Why not tell us who you were while a Beav? Do you get mad when we rip on the walk-ons? What part of the culture don’t we understand?–I played sports (baseball, fencing) and competed in clubs (chess, academic). I feel like I have an idea how these things work.
I would rather remain anonymous, suffice to say that most beaver fans wouldn’t recall me anyway. I was a back up running back/defensive back and special teams player, and I’ll leave it at that. I never aspired to be anything more, and chose OSU because I wanted to go to a big university, as opposed taking the opportunity to play a great deal and make football my career at smaller schools like PSU or Linfield.
It’s worth noting that while I’m not a typical beaver fan (because I was a player), that I also wasn’t a typical OSU athlete. I grew up in a family of educators, and my education was very important to me, and the primary reason I chose to attend Oregon State. I studied Anthropology, Psychology, and Political Science at OSU, and earned 3 degrees in 4.5 years. I’m currently pursuing a graduate degree in Anthropology, and part of my research interests is in collegiate athletics, and the culture of student-athletes. This is unusual for football players, so my observations and my studious nature of the game, of our program as well as others, is not at all typical either. I’m an outlier on both fronts to say the least.
So, choose to take my opinions with a grain of salt if need be because of my my desire to remain anonymous, but I’ve learned over the years in this business that it’s best to do so, especially when the internet is involved.
Anyhow. No, I don’t get “mad” when you rip on walk-ons. However, more often than not fans have misconceptions about walk-on players, why they are walk-on’s, and the difference between a typical D1 walk-on athlete and a 5 star scholarship player.
I don’t doubt at all that most of the people who frequent this site have a pretty good understanding of how things work in a big athletic program like OSU football, but it’s the minutia of the game, of the personalities involved that often get lost in translation. I suppose that if I feel the inclination I’ll address these instances as I see them.
Get this man author privileges
Thanks for posting — great to hear knowledgeable comments from the informed perspective of a former member of the OSU football team.
In your post, you say: “we have some personnel issues on defense that need to be resolved in order for there to be marked improvement (and wins).”
I’m sure I’m not the only reader/poster who would be VERY interested to hear your thoughts, in more detail, on this subject (naming names). Would you be willing to say more on this?
I’m apprehensive to call out individual players or coaches when they make mistakes, as many of them are friends of mine, but it’s pretty obvious that we have some issues that need to be addressed in the defensive backfield, and that we have players who simply aren’t getting the job done in starting roles.
Our defense, (a pro-style, 4-3, cover-2/1 press) puts a lot of pressure on the corners to play technically sound man-man coverage, and for safeties to have the awareness and athleticism to react without thinking, to see the play develop as it does, not after it does. If you pay close enough attention pre-game you’ll notice that most defensive drills are meant to emphasize instincts, and Banker is known for his preaching of “FBI’s” or “football instincts”. It’s something that is drilled into you every practice, over and over again.
A good example of this is how many fans seem to get upset when they see our corners consistently not turn their head to the ball when thrown to their receiver. However, this is learned technique, and when executed properly (which has been rare this season), makes perfect sense in our defensive scheme and philosophy, which is entirely based in individual instinct.
We have some players in starting roles right now who aren’t executing this scheme very well. Whether it’s from lack of experience or lack or ability I’m not sure, but it has to improve or we are going to have a rough time stopping most pac-ten offenses.
I can’t say as to what should be done to fix this specifically (as to which players should play and which shouldn’t) because I’m not around practice every day, but I can tell you that coaches won’t stick with a player that is struggling unless they have good reason to do so.
I think it was pre-TCU game that you said, at least for that game, you weren’t going to get emotionally invested in the game. I think that’s a wise choice; it is just a game. I think many fans take a vicarious approach to games that is, at least for me, a little unbalanced. I get upset, or happy, depending on the outcome, but I don’t take it to heart.
I think your frustration, and many others, was the hope that this team might be able to take it to the next level, having knocked on the Rose Bowl door two years straight, and having a couple of productive impact players like the Rodgers brothers. It looks clear to me now, that this staff isn’t going to take it to the next level. Looking at incoming recruits in terms of position and impact potential, I don’t see Riley et al making any positive steps any time soon.
I don’t think its wise to invest emotionally in this team, enjoy the game, but don’t hope for much. If/when Banker, and/or Riley leaves, and a “hotshot” coach comes in with a fresh approach and a knack for recruiting, then I think we can hope for bigger things. Not now though.
I’d bet none of us really thinks any of the players don’t care about winning, we know they do.
We are just not sure if the coaches are willing to do what is necessary, that is make those hard personnel changes or recruit at all costs so we can win. Here is a quote from Riley, who I really really like… as a person.
Gazette Times: “We want to continue to grow defensively,” Riley said. “We are not going to be where we want to be statistically. This will not be a year of stats for the Beavers. We are not going to lead the conference in defense. The most important stat defensively now is points allowed.”
He sounds defeated here before the season is over.
Basically he is admitting defeat because of defense… Dude, do something about it… get a new defense coach.
Not a year with good stats?? Why not, wasn’t Quizz a Heisman hopeful? Didn’t we have James until another cheap shot that Riley feels is just part of playing the game happened?
Most fans a broken hearted because we believe we had some tools this year and momentum building on previous years.
But I see now that unless some things change… real recruiting, coaching, attitude… there will be no change.
I am glad you pointed out that Riley quote…I found it a little odd and obvious myself. Of course, points are the most important number, but you cannot depend on turnovers to save a pourous defense over and over again. Giving up 450 yards a game is just not going to get you very far unless your offense is a lock to score 40 points a game (maybe next year). The season is only half over, what are you going to do Coach Riley to improve? NFL coaches are expected to make changes weekly!
This season is a throw away as long as pankey sees the field
Pankey is not great… but did you see him chase down Locker from behind. I would have paid money to see Angry’s reaction to that one. That was a great chase down and shoe string tackle, though he missed some other plays.
I also watched him hang on Locker’s back only to fall off and see Locker throw a touchdown in the second OT
I think the key with the Beavers is to not get emotionally invested. Let’s be real Mike Riley coached teams as history has shown will lose games year and year out they’re not suppose to lose. By not being emotionally invested in Mike Riley coached teams you can handle their disappointments better. We as fans can criticize all we want but it doesn’t change the fact that we see Beaver teams every year make the same mistakes over and over again.
I truly believe Riley needs a brand new coaching staff. Langsdorf and Banker are just not good at all they need to go. Maybe by a change of the coaching staff Riley might with their help figure out how to start faster have the ream play to their potential.
Speaking of Langsdorf and Banker is there a worse O-Coordinator and D-Coordinator at play calling? Seems every single time something works they go away from it and they always seem in critical times to put players in position to fail. We then get mad at Hardin for letting guys beat him but if he isn’t a good cover guy and his man beats him how much can we really blame him for it? Banker consistently puts the players in position to fail which is beyond frustrating.
This team will not make the next step until Riley’s staff goes. Riley can stay I think he is a good football coach but he surrounds himself with awful coaches.
I’m at the point where I won’t get emotionally invested in the team until they give me a reason to tired of getting excited about the team only to be disappointed.
Well said, well said… totally agree, just wish I could emotional detach myself.
I go through those feelings during every game, but you’re right, it was especially bad for me during the UW game. I seriously thought I was stressing my heart to an unsafe level and made a concious effort to settle down. I really can’t drink during the games, I have wait until after its over to either celebrate or try to get some help sleeping.
No joking, I’ve asked myself the same questions about whether it’s worth it, to watch the Beavs stumble about, or if I should just tune it out, but I look forward to football all year, and even with the high expectations and inevitible September flop and fade into obscurity, I still can’t help myself.
I’m not really surprised to read that others have the same physiological reactions to the games that I do. It’s not healthy, but what can you do?
Humor always helps with disappointment. Want to hear something funny?. Rivals/blitz do a piece each week on the best defender the prior game. It’s not based on watching the game, but instead on game stats and some convoluted, math-101 point system. This week’s winner?
You guessed it: Keith Pankey!
“The defense had some great moments and some ugly moments, but after each game we take a look at the stats and break down the MVP’s and grades. Keith Pankey narrowly edged out Dwight Roberson for this weekend’s Giant Killer Award.”
If fumbles are a stat, and interceptions are a stat, and dropped passes are a stat, shouldn’t Missed Tackles be one as well? How motivating/embarrassing would that be?
Stayed up until 1am (CST) to watch this turd of a game. Between the Nebraska lack of effort and the schizophrenic Beavers pathetic loss, I’ve learned that 7 hrs. of my life for these two games is was worth it. Luckily, I did not decide to watch the Chargers get beat by the worst team in the NFL for the 2nd straight week.
I’m lowering my cable to the lowerst possible level. Bye Bye ESPN channels and Fox Sports, CBS Sports. If it’s on ABC/CBC, etc., I might watch. Not worth the $.
Sports are killing me. I wish I could take it for what it is, but I don’t. Never had. Even when I played it was emotional and in the end turned out to be leave a bad taste (several reasons, irrelevant to you folks). It’s too bad. I have a two year old who is getting interested in Sports. Unfortunately his Dad is on the way out. I’m buying him a Guitar and a Keyboard instead of a Football Helmet and Baseball bat.
He’s half White/Asian, and bound to be about 5’8″, so sports is a waste of time for him anyway. I’m sure Mom would not oppose. She’s not a sports person anyway.
My heart was racing too. Although by the first OT I figured the Beavs would lose in some sick way. Here is where the Beavers start their run. Once everyone has given up hope and written them off. It happens every year. I guess it could be worse… we could also be Chicago Cub fans! eeeke.
:( You just described me.
I don’t know. I get excited for football, but there’s no reason to think NCAA D-I football is anything to celebrate. I love the fans, the gamedays, the sport. But there is no tangible goal worth attaining (for the Beavs) other than a Rose Bowl appearance. And realistically, I would reserve the RB for teams who are elite.
While I always hold out hope for the Beavs and do all the calculations in my head which allow for talent hanging by a thread to compete for a whole season flawlessly, I don’t get disappointed with a team who has yet to show anything resembling dominance.
I might be a little more excited next year, because the team will be vastly superior to this year’s team. And I’ll still be a crazy fan for this year’s team. But I know what we have this year. We have a potentially great offense whose weak spot is the line. And we have a porous defense.
There will be addition by subtraction next year. Until then, I can’t get overly excited about winning the lottery. And until there’s a playoff system with at least 8 teams (ideally 16, but I’ll take 8), then D-I football is nowhere near the best sport.
I too am building up my hopes way to high for next year… just so the the coaches can do what they have been doing for several years in losing games they shouldn’t so that I’m left devastated.
I know, Darcie Downer, but even if the players are spectacular next the coaching staff won’t be.
Maybe Chris Petersen should show this to Winston Venable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxSQ5QGNytY&feature=related
Being a cheap shot comes with some consequences. I hope the kid gets better, but these hits are avoidable if the NCAA ever gets serious about stopping them.
The NFL is considering automatic ejections and suspensions for helmet to helmet hits… on the first offense.
Besides, I’m starting to get excited about a sport in which we can lose six to ten games and still be in the running for a national title.
Amen.
When’s the first game, a month or so?
Less than four weeks. It’s a Saturday early afternoon game on Nov. 14.
We’re going to have to rely on the rest of the conference for SOS. We have 11 non-con games, and none of them are great. We pretty much need to win all but one or two in non-con play then win at least 10 in-league.
It’s possible, but I hate relying on the rest of the league winning their non-con games for us to be viewed as competitive.
http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/orst-m-baskbl-sched.html
I attended a wedding the day of the game and the entire day was great and then when it came time for the game to start, I had the worst feeling in the world! I wasn’t ready to watch the Oregon State game…apparently since I wasn’t really ready or wanting to watch it, the team decided they didn’t want to play much either.
The most disappointing thing for me about this game was that I think I saw this coming. Katz was starting to throw INT’s against Arizona and he seemed to be fine that game. This game, when I saw a close up of Katz’s face on tv, (they did this a lot on ESPN that night) he was mouthing the play call and I guess whispering it to himself and then going and calling the play. I don’t think he’s ever mouthed the play or whispered it to himself before. I think he had a hard time focusing on the game. Not sure if he was worried about how he’ll do now that JR is out for the season or what, but Katz was not himself this game.
Another thing I noticed was that Quizz was getting a ton of yards running the ball and I think Langsdorf’s philosophy isn’t necessarily going away from the run game, but since we had success in the run game, he thought play action would be fine for pretty much the rest of the game. The problem is, you have to balance it and keep the other teams D guessing…meaning run when they think you’ll pass and pass when they think you’ll run. The formation for the 2pt conversion to “win” was perfectly set up for a QB draw! There was 1 LB to beat on the left side and the LB on the right side was waaay outside! Katz could have done a 3 step drop then run as hard as he could into the endzone and make 1 LB miss! How hard is that?!
This video is extremely slow to load, but it’s the best one to see what I’m talking about. The 1:58 mark is the best to view where the linebackers are lined up. QB draw NEEDS to be Implemented into this offense and this would have been the best time to run it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td2z-_3YPOk
That late kickoff was brutal. I was yawning by game time. Washington’s home field advantage was greater than +3 because of the late kickoff. I never thought of that angle–it’s why Vegas gets the big bucks.
Try driving up to Seattle at 6am to start tailgating by 9am for a 7:15pm kickoff. That took a ton of effort.
So why didn’t I just head up to Seattle later in the day? Because at 5am and I’m wide awake in bed excited because it’s game day dammit!
I don’t know if it’s Riley trying to keep the QB from getting hurt, or if it’s Langsdorf not being the most mobile guy when he was playing, but this team need to design runs for the QB. Everyone does it. Katz is as mobile as anyone they have played so far, and they all have designed runs. If the WR’s on that play all run corner routs (looks like 1 on 1 to me, they clear the middle out of all the clutter. The hole opened up big time, and their would have been just the one LB.
Maybe pull a tackle or guard from left to right to give him that blocker and just rely on Katz to not get caught from behind (as the right side opened up).
I know they must feel awful too, and their the ones playing…but man it get’s old for fans too…
When I first saw the empty backfield formation my first thought was ” wow, QB draw”, but then I thought “what the hell am I thinking, they don’t even have that in the playbook”. I just thought it had to be something different to pull Quizz out of the backfield.
I can assure you that QB draw is part of the playbook. However, in a very limitied role.
I liked the play call on the two point conversion. The play called, as well as blast (Sun Bowl vs Mizzou) and weak-side zone (the previous play) are bread and butter plays for the beavs inside the 5, and get the majority of the reps in red-zone practice.
The philosophy behind the play call is to isolate linebackers to make a quick decision as to who to cover and how to position themselves. It worked, and both Halahuni and Bishop were open. I don’t know if Katz didn’t see Bishop or was hesitant to throw it his direction, but the play call was a good one, the execution just fell a little short.
A friend who did slo-mo DVR thing said that Joe H. was pretty open initially and Katz was a nano second slow in recognizing it. Did you think that the slow hike threw off the timing? On an emotional level, I hate the bang-bang plays because it they do not succeed it is just over! Everyone loves the roll-outs because as a fan you keep hoping something opens up until the bitter end.
Angry — The Beavs are 3-0 in PAC-10 play and riding high if only Joe Halahuni hangs onto that last pass after he’s hit (or, better, if only Ryan Katz throws that pass one-fifth of a second earlier — seriously, that’s all it would have taken for an easy 2-point conversion on that last play).
Of course, the Beavs didn’t make that last play. But the Beavs could not have been closer….
If the Beavs make that last play, Beaver fans are ecstatic, and life is great. In the real world, when the Beavs blow that last play, Beaver fans are despondent and depressed.
That’s college football! That’s what we all sign up for when we decide to root passionately for a college football team. Highs and lows. I think Gladbeav26 put it well when he said (paraphrasing his football coach father): “to win at this level, to seek greatness, it’s vital that you know how to lose.”
Like most others who have posted here, I felt very bad when that two-point conversion attempt failed. But like at least some others who have posted here, I was proud of the way the Beavs came back from a 21-point deficit and held the Huskies scoreless in regulation the rest of the way. And I was proud of a lot of the Beaver players and the effort they put forth in a tough environment last Saturday night.
Yes, it’s hard sometimes to be a Beaver fan. But imagine what it’s like to be a fan of Cal? Or of Washington State? All things considered, I’ll take the Beavers any day.
So, I hope you take some time off, recharge your batteries, and come back strong in a couple of weeks. Still plenty of football to come. The Beavs are still well-situated with only one PAC-10 loss. And there is still the prospect of an EPIC game against #1 Oregon at Reser in the Civil War. Life is good — really!
Go Beavs!!
We would have probably won if the snapped ball arrived 1/4 of a second earlier. The snaps are lobbing too slowly and doing a little loop at the end that is causing about a 1/4 second delay. Without that he most likely gets that ball to the Tank’s chest and he simply sits down for the touchdown.
You are right on about the shotgun snaps. What is with the wobble and arch? That cannot be by design, right? Many snaps had no zip on them.
I’ve been wondering about those snaps. It’s hard to believe six weeks in they’re still arcing like that.
That problem is not unique to this year. It used to drive me crazy watching that last year. Why no urgency, or drive to get it right? The quicker its in the QB’s hands, the quicker he can do something with it. Details like that matter.
Why is the offensive play calling so offensive? Why is it unimaginative and repetitive. I would challenge, again, that Riley should not have Langsdorf calling plays this year. His 1st baby is now 3 months old. That is not a stable environment to be offensively creative. Don’t expect much improvement on play calling.
But don’t get me wrong. I’m not a bitter beaver. I still think OSU can find themselves in control of thier own destiny in the Pac10. ie- washington loses.
I’m pretty anomalous as a Beaver fan…I was never that interested in any sports growing up. I didn’t follow Beaver football or anything else. I understood the game more or less, but not a lot of specifics. Then, a bunch of friends talked me into going to the PAC-10 season opener back in 2008. I didn’t even know who we were playing until I showed up.
So, in the student section for that #1 USC upset – and rushing the field afterward – a football fan was born. I quickly became a Beaver football fanatic, and I’ve learned most of the highlights of the last decade of play.
Then came Utah the next week, and my newfound passion came crashing down around me. That was also the year of the most embarrassing Civil War loss in recent history, followed by probably the most boring bowl game of any team in recent history.
So, I learned pretty quickly you have to find a way to keep your passion, but be able to put losses behind you. 2008 was a crash course. I just have to force my mind into another gear, tell myself it’s just a game, forget about it…and re-engage a few days later. After Utah and then Oregon I thought I wasn’t cut out to be a sports fan, but I think I’ve got a reasonable balance now.
The painful losses hurt but the wins are worth it. You just have to develop coping mechanisms.
They’ve got 2 more losses in them. USC, Stanford, Oregon, UCLA, Cal? Lots of capable ones there. I have a hard time seeing the Beavs win out.
http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/14684/usc-ucla-will-get-pac-12-payout
Now USC and UCLA will get $2 million each until the new TV contract kicks in. NO WAY should we be agreeing to this unless the basic 5-4 model is used where you play 5 division and 4 of 6 out-of division games. If CA schools get guaranteed games (5-2-2) and this it is the most unequitable garbage ever. They should be paying us because the SEC and Big Ten all use the 5-4 model and that is completely the norm. Teams need to see everybody atleast 2/3 the time but we would just see LA 50% of the time in a 5-2-2. Most people thought the 5-2-2 had little chance so Bobby D. better be stepping up and getting a new MAJOR concession to the NW. That should just be the 5-4 model and then all would be OK, but if Bobby D. does worse than that, then all the NW schools should get 2 extra million a year as well or have equal revenue status from the beginning. The 5-4 model is enough for the CA schools. They still see their main rival every year and then both the other schools 2 years of 3. So 2 years of 3 they all play eachother anyway. Getting a little money for this might be acceptable but not for getting every last wish at the expense of the NW. Awful.
I don’t see any incentive for the NW schools to accept that. We have Washington and Oregon to support the area politically, so I don’t see a reason to back down. What makes me most angry about this whole situation is how Colorado and Utah showed up late and cut the line.
Supposedly they are still talking about pods which is smart. What I always thought would happen is that the 5-4 normal model would pass and then the CA schools would put pressure to use pods starting in the 2nd year most likely. I still hope that happens. But if this 5-2-2 garbage gets through at all then we have to hope and pray that pods get used, instead of not caring either way. A 5-2-2 should never be approved so I am hoping that they announce they want to use pods from the beginning and wait for approval and in the small chance they are not approved then we just stay with the 5-4 norm which is good enough. I don’t even wan to think about any concessions to the NW because we need either the 5-4 or pods, and nothing else!
CU and UU are not pulling the strings. It’s the Cali schools playing both ends against the middle.
If the Cali schools keep their union and involve the Zonies and Newbies in the SoCal love-fest, then the NW schools are left on their own.
The Cali schools know this, but everyone is acting as individuals in opposition. When we tell the NoCal schools to go ahead and join their SoCal friends in the same division, but also to give us revenue sharing, then the SoCal schools will show how much of a real rivalry they have with the NoCal schools… namely none.
Money is the only factor worth arguing. Screw divisional alignment. Give us revenue sharing, and use all other tools as bargaining chips.
I know CU and UU aren’t pulling strings, but they show up 100 years after league formation and jump to the front of the line–their good fortune pisses me off. Utah probably makes 2 or 3 mil in an average year–they’re going to be up to 15-20 mil now, and reaping LA recruiting? Seems really unfair to long-standing members in the north.
Yeah, what Miller states in the article seems like the worst possible outcome for the NW schools. The NW plus CO and UT in the North might even be better than the 5-2-2, if I’m thinking about it right, and if the end-game is playing in So Cal. That way, the 6 North teams could divy up 8 games with USC and UCLA each year, versus the 4 NW teams divying up 4 games with USC and UCLA under the 5-2-2.
That’s what I’ve been saying. I would much rather have the Newbies with the NW schools. Two protected cross-divisional games just kills competition.
Add unequal revenues to the equation, and it appears that UU and CU are just tools at this point. If they acted in their best interests as a part of the league, they would stop acting as individuals just happy to be here.
Once a tool, always a tool. Just ask the Zonies.
Just described everyone except Texas (and Maybe Oklahoma…since they actually win every year) in the Big 12-2 next year. Texas +9 league is what it should be. As it will be the Los Angeles +10 Conference next year.
My understanding is the Big 10, even with the underling lesser brother teams they have in that league, all share equally.
The deal has to be the NW gives up recruiting LA in exchange for equal revenue right off the bat. The grandfather idea is terrible, unless it’s just one year until they get a TV deal in place–that I can live with.
Also…I think a creative solution to the “no LA exposure” problem would be…in seasons when OSU is not playing in LA, schedule a weak Southern California team, like San Diego State.
I wrote about this on the forum, and there’s a thread for this topic there.
http://angrybeavs.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=84
I just shot Bob a note:
Bob,
Two things:
1. I think a creative solution to the problem of losing recruiting/exposure in LA would be to schedule a weak Southern California OOC game, like San Diego State, in seasons when OSU is not playing in LA.
2. Please do not let USC and UCLA control the league by demanding a payout or some other inequitable scenario. I realize the money is good for OSU, but the Cal system shouldn’t hold the NW universities hostage. The model should be the Big 10 and SEC, not the Big 12.
Thanks,
Angry
Are there any other SoCal schools that have football teams? Cal Poly?
Cal Poly has a pretty good DII team…it’s Central Coast, though, not really Southern Cal. It’s about 4hours north of LA. As long as it’s a day trip I think you could sell that to recruits/families.
Yeah, Division I A, you get the Pac-12 teams, San Diego State, Fresno State and San Jose State.
Division I AA you’ve got UC Davis, Cal Poly (SLO) and I think that’s it. The Mustangs have terrible facilities and I can’t imagine Davis is any better.
So choices for weak OOC leaves San Diego State and Fresno State.
What about University of San Diego? I think they have a football team.
Anyway, between these handful of schools, the Beavs should be able to schedule a game down there every year or two. They’ll have the 5 other NW schools fighting for those games once ADs catch on (and maybe the LA schools, too, to try to the NW schools out).
They are D1-AA, but Independent. So they never make the 1-AA playoffs. I thought that sucked. When Harbaugh was coaching them (just prior to Stanford), the put several 0-1 loss teams together. Even had a QB that got some looks at the combines.
But…not a good game for OSU. Schedule some weaker Texas schools too…to get your foot into that market, with less change of getting an “L”. Make sure you win all of your NC games…one decent opponent, but at home.
Yeah, exactly. Just schedule OOC games where you want to recruit is the bottom line.
Yep. I think even if those Teams are North Texas, Florida International, and Cal Lutheran…you get your name in the market.
And 3 likely victories.
“3 LIKELY victories,” LOL
What does it say about your program when you’re scheduling Cal Lutheran?
Not sure that brand exposure is helpful ‘at any cost.’
It works for the SEC and Boise State.
San Diego is in the Pioneer League, but is considered lower 1AA. Like the Ivy league, so I don’t see them scheduling a d1 school. They never even play SDSU.
Yeah they are non-scholarship, so not really an option.
James Harrison was fined $75K, Brandon Merriweather $50K and Dunta Robinson $50K for their cheap shots on Sunday.
Boise State head coach Chris Petersen has appealed the NFL commissioner’s rulings.
I still want the Bay schools, but getting that was supposed to go along with a normal 5-4. The ADs voted 7-5 for a full plan that will be revealed on Thursday. They were told to keep their mouths shut. Haden disobeyed and now they are getting 2 miilion more for atleast one year (probably just 1 because the threshold will be reached in 2012 with the new TV contract). THAT IS PLENTY! These divisions were good with a 5-4. Playing teams just 50% is pathetic and should not be incorporated into a new Pac-12 model and Haden going against what was decided by the whole and getting his way would begin an awful trend. All teams are sacrificing something and this needs to include CA. I am glad they are talking pods but CA is just being majorly annoying. Still seeing teams 2 years out of 3 is OK and they would still have all 2 years of 3. Just one year do they miss one team and we are supposed to ruin our LA access all the way to 50% for this? No way. 5-4 or pods and nothing else. Approve the 5-4, pay them the 2 mil for 1 year, and start the petition for pods soon. That way CA gets what it wants but not with a horrible situation where we only see LA 50% of the time. With pods too it makes it even across divisions so that we would get the LA teams as much as the new schools. The whole package was the vote, so if we go with the Bay to North divisions which is fine, we can’t let them change the details later. CA would have no reason to go for pods, nor would any other region except the NW if that went down, and it would be hard for us to get the votes later. That is why we have to YELL BLOODY MURDER and make sure it starts 5-4 with a plan to look at pods. Like the original deal they voted on and Arizona’s AD Osbourne said he could not comment on.
Any idea on targets for recruiting visits this week? Hoping we have some o & d linemen coming. DJ Welch going to qualify this year?
They’re extending a new set of offers to OL and DL this week. No big names, all the typical under the radar guys. The Beavs aren’t realistically in it with any big names/exciting recruits right now.
Anything on the 4 kids from Grant HS in California that want to be a package deal?
Still trying to figure the mindset of recruits/recruiting to OSU…
OK, the facilities are not on par with other schools, but the team is competitive and a 4-5 star recruit would/should be starting on any current/future OSU team.
There are very few positions on this football team where a quality kid couldn’t or shouldn’t be an immediate starter or #2 at worst. RB, QB, WR (maybe), and one DT are not likely to get unseated. That leaves a lot of spots open for competition.
Most good players want to get playing time and/or start and be on a competitive team. I don’t see the drawback to OSU in those terms.
Maybe facilities are that much of a downfall? Maybe the rural location? Maybe the ‘sales force’?
The facilities aren’t bad.
The #1 problem is Riley is not a good recruiter, and he hasn’t hired any good recruiters on his staff. Why? Because “good recruiter” and “good guy” are like oil and water.
“Snake” Oil and “Holy” water…
Yeah, all the Beaver fans who use the “snake oil salesman” insult are simply jealous of good recruiting and justifying their head coaches poor recruiting. As if recruiting is a moral issue or something more than business.
Katz has to quit lobbing up lazy throws into the endzone. Only time you can not zip in touchdown passes is on a corner fade and it better be where only your guy can catch it. If we win our next few and are at 5-1 we can be in a good position, but then we have the USC, @Stanford, Oregon part of the schedule so the Beavs have to comeback, get to 5-1 and get Beaver Nation loud and energized for the home stretch.
Mau Nomani to walk-on after returning from his mission. This is big news–as many probably remember, he was a highly regarded 3-star before he left.
This is huge news. Will he be eligible in 2011? If so, he could be a great help on the OL, as he will only improve on the starters we currently have. (Not named Philipp)
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