Vanderbilt @ Oregon State (Super Regional)

I would be surprised if Vanderbilt’s dugout gets brutal with Heimlich. I hope and expect that Vanderbilt’s head coach — Tim Corbin — has too much class and too much respect for Pat Casey to allow such misbehavior. Corbin led Vanderbilt to a national championship in 2014 and to 2d place in 2015. He has turned Vanderbilt into one of the premier programs in college baseball. I don’t think Coach Corbin and his program are going to take the low road here. See: http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/sports/20170608/vandy-sets-sights-against-no-1-oregon-state & http://www.vucommodores.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/tim_corbin_276720.html

And there it is — Toffey takes Thompson over the wall. OSU fortunate that no one on base. Get Jake Thompson out of there, please…….

I was thinking this morning about LeGarrette Blount.

As long-term angrybeavs regulars will recall, Blount was a star running back for the Ducks who was suspended in early September 2009 for the entire season after committing assault on national TV: “Blount punched an opposing player, a teammate and accosted fans at Bronco Stadium in an outburst caught on national television and replayed countless times. On the following day, Oregon issued a release announcing the suspension and adding “the suspension would remain in effect through any bowl games the Ducks may play in,” and that “he will not be allowed to participate in any games.” Right. Only a month later, Chip Kelly started talking about giving Blount a second chance, and reinstating him. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2009/10/legarrette_blount_to_be_reinst.html Chip Kelly then reinstated Blount shortly before the 2009 “Civil War for the Roses”, and Blount was one of the key players leading the Ducks to a 37-33 victory that denied the Beavers a Pac-10 championship and Rose Bowl berth. http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/civilwar/index.ssf/2009/12/civil_war_game_chat_oregon_sta.html

Given Canzano’s recent merciless criticism of Oregon State and Luke Heimlich, and the hardline position Canzano has taken against OSU giving Luke Heimlich a second chance after a juvenile felony conviction, I was curious to see whether Canzano back in 2009 was similarly critical of the University of Oregon and Chip Kelly for backtracking on the season-long suspension of Blount and conveniently reinstating Blount just in time to help defeat the Beavers in the “Civil War for the Roses”.

Here’s the answer: http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2009/11/legarrette_blount_could_learn.html

“Because nobody is rooting against the reinstated running back now. How could you? Whether you agree or disagree with coach Chip Kelly’s decision to reverse his stance and bring the player back, the best thing that can come from all of this is for Blount to get his degree in sociology, and get about creating a new legacy for himself”

“Take the opportunity seriously.  Recommit yourself to your life goals.  Understand how absurdly close you were to losing it all.  If you don’t, the second chance is wasted.”

“Not every university would have been willing to give an athlete that so badly embarrassed it another chance.”

“It is a privilege to play football at a college. Having the letters “O-R-E-G-O-N” on the front of your jersey comes with responsibility and expectation. And But, we live in a society that too often lowers them for people who can run fast and jump high and entertain us with their athleticism.”

“Blount, who has been suspended three times in 18 months at Oregon, is either going to join the ranks of sad souls who blew one final opportunity to get it right. Or he’s going to use this as a springboard to take himself somewhere greater.”

So, for those keeping score at home, Blount deserves a second (or third, or fourth, or fifth) chance for mistakes he made while a student at Oregon (including vicious assaults committed on national tv). Heimlich, in contrast, should not be given a second chance for a mistake he made as a 15 year old juvenile offender.

In the twisted mind of John Canzano, perhaps this makes sense. Or perhaps Canzano is just a world-class hypocrite. I tend towards the latter view.