Sent tonight.
I have a boatload of questions. Hopefully he agrees to answer some, but considering he declined the mainstream media's requests, I am not holding my breath.
Any other interviews you'd like? Post suggestions. I'm in the mood to do them again.
Mark Banker for sure. He so voiceless yet so much of the upcoming season depends on him. Also, ken Simonton is always good in interviews. Can’t imagine he’s very busy these days.
I would graciously consent to an interview. I’m available….. pretty much any time. Call me. JB
Thought you were going to Costa Rica soon JB?
Actually, that could be a fun way for some commentary and satire. You two should do that.
jay john, mike parker, sasa cuic
Ooh, Mike Parker is a good one.
Banker is a good one, too, but no chance he does it.
Hey, how about Riley? Beard the lion in his den or some such.
God, ask about changes in his offense, defense… meds he mioght be on….If his head has ever spun around a 360…….yata yata
Better to hear from current or future beavers. Maybe some of the incoming o-line. Or recruits we struck out on. That seems to be where the most gold is.
There are two standard answers you’ll get from former beavers or coaches. Either they’ll decline or they’ll just dance around the questions and avoid saying anything inflammatory.
As for Katz, he has been steady with declining requests. Even if he did accept, I think the answers would be short and something along the lines of “it just didn’t work out”.
If he did answer, I’d bet he’d say something along the lines of he didn’t feel like he was treated fairly, maybe led to believe his job was secure, and didn’t get the opportunity to redeem himself. And it’s perfectly fair for him to feel this way because it’s probably the way it happened. It’s similar to getting dumped. Maybe he just didn’t see it coming….and Riley is a guy that is just terrible at dumping people, even if it’s the right move. (ex. Barney Graff or Greg Newhouse)
I agree, Katz won’t give up anything good. But I want to know about the darker side of the program. I’m trying to think who I can get at who’ll fork over that type of info…it has to be ex/bitter players. Saw a little bit of that with Ryan Allen/Nick Westerberg, and it was really interesting.
Maybe you could try Ryan Leaf. Yeah, yeah, I know he was a Coug, but he seems to still have a bad taste of Mike Riley in his mouth. Direct all Leaf addressed correspondence to Cascade County Jail. I’m sure he has plenty of time answer any amount of questions.
He got arrested again! Wow.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7765279/ryan-leaf-arrested-again-burglary-drug-charges-montana
Ryan Leaf: So much talent – here’s a link to a Steve Kelly – Seattle Times – article.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/stevekelley/?from=stnv2
One of the comments alludes to a steroids drug program at Great Falls High School during RL’s high school days. Dunno about that – but I do know a little about his high school arrogance and that of his parents, as well. It’s why I love to read and hear about parents of star athletes who teach and impress core values while being justifiably proud of their offspring’s athletic prowess.
You want a bitter ex-player who’s seen the dark side? How about Tyler “naked 3pt stance” Thomas?
I doubt there is much of a darkside to the program. At most, it’s been poor judgment of on field talent/decision making and poor communication of why things are done. It leads to wounded egos, but that’s all it is. I can’t see something like the UCLA basketball situation where the star players are running out of control and Riley just tolerates it.
You might try Craig Robinson. He’s a pretty straightforward guy and if you got the interview, he’d answer your questions without a lot of song and dance. I think your chances of landing an interview would be better than 50/50 too,
I agree with Bill. Its not likely there’s a dark side to the program, just poor management of it that stems from a lack of vision, lack of attention to detail, poor communication, and poor evaluation.
I think of the Katz/Mannion situation and how poor that was handled on national tv, resulting in ridicule from the likes of Urban Meyer in the booth. Riley and Langsdorf embarrassed Katz at Wisconsin, and their poor handling of the situation was negative for the team. Allegedly (conveniently?), they “knew after a spring practice performance” that Mannion was the guy. But they didn’t have the courage to communicate that and manage it in a productive manner for the team.
I suspect that also affected their play calling against Sac State. When they should have been running the ball in the first half, they had Katz throwing far too much. Instead of calling a game plan that fit the opponent, I suspect they were still trying to evaluate Katz and find some way to make their decision easier.
sometimes I wish there was a dark side to the program. you know the kind that gets star recruits here becuase we are buying them cars and making payouts. but then once you start doing that you have to start wearing shiny homo looking unis and have a lot of douchebag fans.
Roberto Nelson/ Dohrmann
WOT – but too late for the baseball thread. OSU women’s softball team gets win in 3rd game against UCLA – not a series win, not a sweep, but an OSU breakthrough with a freshman pitcher from Lancaster CA – class valedictorian. I look forward to seeing what this team does with the rest of the PAC-12 schedule.
I saw that on twitter, that’s pretty cool, Hopefully the program is headed back in the right direction. This conference is just brutal in that sport. Maybe they can make a nice long run in the tourney?
Former defenders Mitchell or Collins might be good. One of them was keeping a journal last year or the year before (Mitchell?) and seemed to do a decent job of it.
Though hampered by injury, they both had significant playing time, and were likely frustrated by the play of the defense. Collins move to LB probably came a year later than it should have. They likely aren’t busy, and likely have nothing to lose by being honest.
Jonathan Smith. I understand he stays in touch with MR and, while probably sympathetic to him, might have some insight as well as observations on how the program is viewed. I’d really like to know why MR has seemed so distracted recently.
While Smith isn’t likely to burn any bridges his answers could be valuable in what is not said. Questions about the difference’s Smith has seen in the HC’s he has worked with and his thoughts on what Riley is likely to do to change the record of the past two years might be good. Additionally, questions on what makes Riley so respected would be interesting.
I agree, I think Jonathan Smith would be an interesting interview.
I second the Ryan Leaf nomination above.
Interview Katz when he’s 30 so ego won’t be as big an issue. At that point he’ll be able to talk about getting beat out by someone better.
He got beat out by someone who, most likely, will be better, but was yet better.
Not sure about that. Many people, including myself, following along through Spring and Fall camp last year weren’t surprised to see Mannion get the start.
Ok, enough….. Here is what you do to get the skinny on Riley and what is affecting him — you make up a fictional insider, who agrees to be interviewed anonymously. The answers allude to the problems but are …vague But still open up the apparent can of worms.. THEN Riley is moved to respond, just to clear things up, and we still get more than we would otherwise.
There are good and not so good things happening at Oregon State right now as we strive to become a more high profile university in the major sports.
State of Beaver Nation:
http://beaverbyte.com
Wtf? Is this supposed to make me want to follow your link? That’s about the laziest teaser I’ve ever seen. Sorry, not trying to be mean, but you really need to step it up if you want to bring in new readers.
Some peope don’t like too exhaustive preambles but it did need an extra sentence atleast to tie it together. That extra sentence should be “I delve into the issues OSU is confronting as it looks to become an intriguing player on the national stage.”
I think the article itself hits on alot of relevant points, both good and bad, but explains how fans rarely get certain talk from BDC or Riley that would give us more confidence that they truly want nationally respected and talked about programs that are used to winning.
As of 2:20pm, Katz hasn’t responded. Do you think he’s ignoring me, or just busy with practice and ready to spill the beans later tonight. ;)
These slow periods are fun…I get to harass people and dig up dirt. Time to request an interview from Riley…
Hey….he is just waiting for the play to develop…. someone to get open……wait…….wait….
….oh, shit, he got sacked…..
He had several emails in his inbox and just got stuck on the first one.
For those who don’t know that angrybeavs does interviews, here is the archive. All 3:
http://angrybeavs.com/category/interviews
Ryan Allen declined. I wonder if Peter Lalich would give any good Riley insight. Who else would expose Riley and the dark side? I’m thinking a LB who is no longer on the team yet sat behind Pankey might be angry and ready to go off…trying to think of one who fits the bill.
Expose Riley and the dark side? What dark side? I don’t think you’ll find much of a “dark side”.
You know, why he favors bad punters, Pankey, and walk-ons etc and sticks with them even when they’re terrible. I’m sure players on the other side of those decisions have some interesting views…
He makes about the same number of calls the other way too, For example, McCants, Catchings were both projected starters, both started having ball issues and we rarely saw them again. I think Ryan Pohl was the projected C when he got sick and Linnenkohl took over and never looked back. and it looks like he made the right call with Mannion over Katz.
Riley has a huge problem in that he believes in his guys a little too much. He’s has more success finding diamonds in the rough than most coaches. He’s thinking every player can develop into a James Rodgers or Sammie Stroughter or Slade Norris or Victor Butler, or Kyle Devan. He just doesn’t know when to cut his losses and he ends up with guys like Hekker and Pankey.
I will add, most of the misses seem to come on the defensive side of the ball more than offensive.
it was actually marcus henderson who was projected to start ahead of linnenkohl his senior year but i think he got mono
How do we know the “dark side” isn’t just occassional bouts of incompetence?
bingo
OT – I know that people frequently cite e-mails from the athletic department at OSU that are in error. This time, I received one from the Alumni Association asking why I hadn’t renewed my membership yet. Interestingly, I haven’t ever been a member of the Alumni Association. Apparently lack of attention to detail is not confined to the athletic department.
Sounds like they have a scammer working to increase membership. A practice which really isn’t that uncommon. Shady but not uncommon, hey at least it’s marketing!
I was sent the same message and like you, I also have never been a member. Figuring it’s because I’ve purchased season tickets the past 3 seasons in the upper level “Valley Football Center” section. It’s the only section you can purchase season tickets without being a donor, but maybe somehow that flags me as a former Alumni Association member.
If you graduated somewhat recently, all grads are given a one year membership. I know too many people who didn’t even know that they were a member and were slightly confused when the alumni association called them about renewing.
That would explain it. I am a recent grad, making it even less liking I would become a member. I don’t have the spare cash to donate because of the economy.
It’s tough to justify donating to an institution when somebody has 10-15 years of student loan payments to make. The money needs to go towards paying off the debt first.
OT – I just saw that Kyle DeVan is also on the coaching staff as a GA. He should be a nice addition to help the young incoming lineman.
Wow, I didn’t even know he left the NFL. I thought he was doing well with the Colts and Eagles.
But I agree, an alum who has recent, significant NFL starting experience can’t hurt.
Why are we not in play for Skyline QB Max Browne?
He’s a five star. That’s why.
Even though the system here is good for QBs looking to go to the next level, there’s no prestige to attract top recruits.
Vanderveen is better… faster, throws a prettier ball (and harder), better feet, better pocket presence… and has taken it under center. I think Kolney Cassel is a much more relaxed spread QB as well. Browne is going to take two years to just become a pocket passer. I’m not sure what Fink thinks he can do with him besides bolster USC’s recruiting rankings.
I think we need to look at some pocket passers who take it under center. Sefo Liufau would be better if he had an o-line who could give him a pocket. And there are two kids who are taking over for overrated QB’s who were in front of them last year. I have no idea why Chase Favreau started instead of Alek Torgerson. Torgerson is going to be good. And at least Zach Kline did everything well… just nothing great. That was enough to keep Cameron Birse on the bench. IMO, Birse is the better QB, and he would be a great fit in Corvallis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHY43Y6IRxg
This guy has great touch. He doesn’t overthrow and hits his receivers in stride.
thought of a couple more- coye francies and marcel love. two guys who had a lot of talent but were ushered out of the program before their senior years. they could have something to say that others wouldn’t.
For the record, I liked this kid’s older brother, Garrett. He went on to play for Cal Poly this past year… probably because he was forced into the starting QB position after Austin Bray went down with a broken arm in the opener. But he did get to create his own high school legend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8mtrUfGL0&feature=player_embedded#!
Little bro is a different animal. He has a mean streak a mile wide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsKOW8JrhGA