It's somewhat amazing how 3 measly points is the difference between further fan outrage and the tamed hope for a successful season.
There was a lot of redemption yesterday. Stephen Paea finally shut his mouth, and let his play do the talking. Keith Pankey made his first memorable play as a Beaver. The defense pressured the QB. And, both coordinators schemed solid games. It was especially refreshing to see Mark Banker utilize his personnel. The speed of Doctor and Collins on the field at the same time made a difference, even though Doctor had a hard go of it.
Without James Rodgers in the game, the offense had to get everyone involved, and you saw the results of that. Do the coordinators see the light and become more diverse? We'll have to wait to see. It's unfortunate that injury (Roberson and James Rodgers) had to occur before the staff were willing to entrust these skilled backups, but it should not come as a surprise. The coaches tendency to hone on one player per position, whether it be Quizz getting every carry, James receiving every pass, etc, is perhaps my biggest frustration.
Moving on.
For four weeks now there's been a lot of criticism that Katz doesn't check down to Quizz enough. I saw two check downs yesterday that would have resulted in meaningful yards. Two. Let's not forget how frustrating it was to watch Lyle and Sean throw two yard passes 90% of the time back in 2007. My point being, it's not just about checking down for the sake of it, it's checking down when there is opportunity for good yardage. And I agree, he needs to improve at the latter. But let's not criticize the guy so much that he develops a complex and begins checking down when big plays are available down field. Learning how to check down is an organic process–let it take its course.
Moving on.
The biggest problem I saw yesterday, and this has been this program's Achilles heel under Riley, is the inability of his teams to finish off games. Over the last five years, the Beavers have been a great first quarter team, but then slowly fade as the game goes on, only to pick it up again in the fourth quarter, many times to secure the victory. The second and third quarter lulls need to be addressed. Why does the team continually lose focus once they get a lead? In my opinion, many times it's predictable, conservative play calling that is the culprit, and that falls squarely on the coaches. Young people have less and less attention span, so it's imperative to keep them interested and involved in the game. QuizZ dive left, Quizz dive right does the opposite.
Another point to address is the notion that the defense has arrived. That is simply false. What made them look good was the pressure they were able to get on Threet, which forced him into mistakes, but many of the same problems continued to plague the unit. For example, allowing close to 50% third down conversions (7/16), 100% 4th down conversions (2/2), 161 rushing yards for a 5.1 average, and let's not forget the continued lack of fundamentals (e.g. the tackling "effort" on Arizona State's first touch down). In short, there was a lot of good (6 sacks, 3 turnovers), but also much of the same old. Improvement does not equate to "arrival."
One final note I'd like to mention: the coaches need to understand when to use the red flag. After Saturday, my tally is 5 calls this season alone that had an above-average to excellent chance of being overturned. In the Boise State game, one of them resulted in 7 for the Broncos. Yesterday, they lucked out and ASU kicked the FG they would have gotten anyway, but not before first driving to the 1 yard line, and almost scoring a touchdown. That would have resulted in 4 additional points–enough to win the game. The lack of decisiveness and aggressiveness has become old. Do you remember the failed challenges (notably on the WR, D.J. Woods' fumble) last year versus Cincinnati? Not recognizing or seizing these opportunities makes the coaches look at best passive and at worst incompetent, and that is not being nit-picky or harshly critical–the broadcasters always mention it, too. Pac-10 officials are bad, and at some point a game is going to be lost over one of these (missed) challenges, if it already hasn't.
All the positives and one week from today we’ll once again be looking at a 2-3 start.
Arizona has their soft spots, but I think Quartre has good reason to worry about the dreaded 2-3 because we’re going down to their place and their offense is faster than ASU’s (in my opinion)
I think when Roberson gets back to the field, he and Pankey should rotate and let two of the newer and faster guys round out the LB corps…
I’m concerned about Rodgers coming back and the offense becomes the same middling piece of crap it was in Boise. Langsdorf schemed well for about 2 1/2 quarters of the game but I felt that the 2nd half he was killing us- and I fear Quon’s return is going to bring back the fixation.
Halahuni was awesome.
I think the mvp of the game was the offensive line…they gave Katz a ton of time to make decisions and until Katz throws 2-3 picks in one game I’m not going to hear any negative words about him. What he’s showing us as a Sophomore is that he’s a game manager.
I really hope Bishop and Wheaton get some more balls thrown their way and I really think Catchings needs to spend more time on the bench.
I do have to say that our sack fest was pretty impressive…and Dockery’s continued rebellion might end up making him an incredible corner. And Collins, I think might become an extremely dangerous OLB.
Those are my notes in no particular order…I think I need to lay off the sauce- that plus my pasty ass getting burnt at the game is making Beavocalypse a very hungover and dehydrated beavlette..
My reason for being upset with Katz not checking down to Quizz is that he doesn’t notice when Quizz is open because he doesn’t look to him when there isn’t a play with the WR’s. If Katz had thrown to Quizz on the flat route to Quizz instead of the inside route to I believe Camp, we would have gained at least 5 extra yards from where Camp had caught the ball(which was about a 2 yard gain.) Also, Nichols needs to not jump when catching balls like the announcers said on the t.v. That ball was at this shoulders before he jumped and it ended up being caught in his belly and he never put a foot down. Other than that, I think the Offense looked poised and in sync for most of the game.
Moving on…
I’m not sure if it’s the O-Coordinators, Riley, or the Offense themselves when it comes to a lead because you’re right angry, I’ve had this problem with Riley in that he doesn’t put the game away early(exception is the Washington game last year at home). I would much rather have seen us blow out ASU than have a nail biter near the end of the game. I recall DE’s Fiesta Bowl team where most games were blowouts to leave no doubts that we were good and especially against ND because we should have been in the National Title game that year if it weren’t for Washington! So this year when we play them up there…we should leave no doubts! :)
Next…
I am a bit nervous about this game, but something tells me that we have a good chance to beat the Wildcats. They are ranked in the top 15/10 (depending on the polls). We’re getting votes for the top 25. We win this game and we get back in the top 25. Also the ucks jumped Boise State in the polls. So I hope they get their dreams crushed like they have the past few years. I would love nothing more than the Beavs winning the Civil War and the Pac-10 and the ducks get knocked out of the Title game AND the Rose Bowl! One can dream can’t he?
We seem to have too much lag in deciding if we want to challenge. Most of these were crucial first down pickups where we could prevent a score and get the ball back. Maybe Riley has his assistants or people in the booth too set on being 100% they could get a reversal. Bottom line is most of the plays that could have been challenged this year were important enough as far as momentum and possible scoring that it would have been worth using them. Especially in the 2nd half if an opponents drive could be stopped you want to use it casue the odds are slim you will have a better chance. The chance of losing a timeout is worth the small cost when you have others and a decent lead. That ball looked like ASU probably trapped it.
I liked Dockery emerging as a leader and other receivers getting used to a bigger role. Good return game and I also think Katz just needs to rember Quizz when he has been looking downfield for a few seconds. He is usually avaiable in the flats for an easy 5 or 6 yards and in open space where he is dangerous. Should be a great UA game. Possession and Katz completion percentage will again be crucial. Hopefully the D can stop more 3rd and longs because that is where good D’s make their living. We have to get atleast one of the next 2 games. Get both and I will renew my season tickets for another decade..GO BEAVS!!
Your logic makes no sense at the end. Why would you deny revenue for the Athletic Department? Wouldn’t they need all the income they can get to help pay off the 7 mill deficit and also help with schollies? I mean really? I’m 23 now and started going to games when i was 5 since my dad got season tickets ever since then and a few years before that. I knew all the people in our area (since there were only about 50 at that time). 17 years ago was 1993. That’s 4-5 years BEFORE the start of the “turn around”. I’m happy my dad got tickets because he instilled on me what it means to be a true fan…this reminds me of those guys in the movie, “Major League” where there were only about 100 fans in the crowd and once they got better people would show up to watch them play. Those fans were true fans.
I am a real fan but my income is still inconsistent. Even so I would reward the Beavs by paying for the next decade of season tickets IN ADVANCE if they won the next two games. That doesn’t mean I probably won’t be a season ticket holder for those 10 years..I highly hope and expect to be. I have won gift packages for being a great fan so I am a real Beaver. You will see me in Pasadena sometime this century when we win our back to back Rose Bowls. That is the destiny I am waiting for and believe is coming for Oregon State.
James Dockery is starting to look like a D-1 player…
It was hard to watch him the past couple seasons, always getting burned by his assignment and drawing a PI flag every other play, but he has taken it to another level so far as a Senior. I am very happy to see this, although, I wish he would have figured it out 2 seasons ago.
Congrats, Doc! You are on your way to crawling out of my dog house.
He’s played very well. As OS said, he seems to have assumed a leadership role, too.
On a similar note, Hardin looked much better with the pass rush up front.
Dock was good last year. CB’s just get beat sometimes… no matter how good they are. Also it was strange that ASU never really tested Hardin in pass coverage.
For those who are afraid that James’ return will bring the offense back to the Rodgers show…don’t be.
Go look at the numbers from the rest of the games this season. We have consistently done a good job of spreading the ball around- at Boise for example, James got 5 touches total (3 rushing, 2 receiving). Last year, this was not the case at all. This year, that’s been a highlight for me all along.
By the way, Bishop is the one who jumps too much. Nichols has been consistently awesome- the last in a long line of outstanding walk-on possession receivers.
EDIT – just checked, and James had 5 or 6 touches (rushing & receiving combined) every game this season.
And regarding bad play-calling and slow starts…I have a pretty simple theory here, and it’s all about goals.
Chip Kelly/Jim Harbaugh etc…want to win a national championship. They want to BE – AND be perceived as – the best team in the nation.
Mike Riley wants to win the conference and go to a Rose Bowl. Period. End of story.
What does that mean? Your non-conference slate is a pre-season. Your games are glorified scrimmages. The focus is on learning, exposing weaknesses, determining personnel shifts etc…so you can fix them when – BUT NOT UNTIL – the PAC 10 season starts. If image doesn’t matter, then rankings and perception don’t matter. Getting blown out by a top team on national TV doesn’t matter, as long as you learn a little something along the way. So of course play calling is going to be awful – you’re not going to give your PAC 10 opponents any worthwhile film to watch. Every trick and wrinkle will be saved for the conference games. That could even (partially) explain the lack of challenges at Boise…lack of coaching intensity.
I believe Riley is a very competitive guy who is hit hard by conference losses, but I think at the end of the day he doesn’t lose any sleep over a OOC defeat. There was a major increase in intensity vs ASU, and I think that’s a coaching thing.
I wholeheartedly concur but I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Of course I want the Beavs to win a NC. But realistically let’s get to the Rose Bowl first… it’s been a few years hasn’t it?
If we go to the Rose Bowl will we be happy? Would any of us here trade in a Rose Bowl for a couple victories at TCU and at Boise? The answers are obvious but that still doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care if they lose these OOC games. But are we putting too much value in what we see from the Beaver players and coaches during these OOC games?
If Riley really doesn’t care that we win or lose these OOC games then Ok I guess, as long as he performs during Pac-10 play.
If I knew this for certain, I would probably stop spending my $$$ traveling to places like Dallas, Boise, Pennsylvania, and Cincinnati and go clamming on the Oregon coast instead. I could use that money to upgrade my season tickets and get under the roof for those cold, rainy, late season games that we’ll be winning because we used the OOC games as more fall training camp right?
I went on record as saying I’d close this site down if the Beavers win a Rose Bowl. At that point there’s nothing to criticize–it’s their zenith–since I really don’t think the NC is a realistic or fair expectation.
I don’t think I was clear on my main point- I’m not seeing that we need to be shooting for a national championship right now. Obviously I would be thrilled with a Rose Bowl berth. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with setting that as a goal. I’m saying there need to be other considerations beyond solely that, considerations such as recruiting and the image of your team.
What bothers me is that, because OOC games have no impact on winning the conference, Riley doesn’t seem to care about them. Those publicized losses are not only embarrassing for all of us, but they will keep us from ever gaining national respect (and by extension, promising recruits). Most of the country probably has no concept of the transformation the program has undergone, because every time they see us play, we play like the 2-10 team that they remember us being over the 28 dark years.
Whether due to Riley’s view of conference vs OOC games or the team sick of being bad-mouthed the increase in intensity showed. Great outcome yesterday but I’m still waiting for the passion that says, “we’re gonna get a lead and keep on hitting till the final whistle.” Some call it “smash mouth” intensity, it can be contagious! GO BEAVS !!
I was glad to see improvement, but see that the work is far from completion. I don’t know how Henry came in late and just ran into the backfield and ran right by Threet. A couple of issues that come to mind. We tend to run up the middle, always have, over and over and over. At what point do you change things up and try a different approach? And throwing the long bomb. It would be great if we connect, but we normally don’t. Quiz up the middle, long pass ( incomplete ), Quiz up the middle, Punt. Trying plays that haven’t worked at all over and over seems insane. I don’t fault Quiz, he usually has three or four defenders in the backfield with him when he gets the ball. The O line did a good job in pass protection, but hasn’t opened up holes for Quiz all year. Maybe they don’t have what it takes, which would require a coaching work around. The team and coaches need to step it up big time this week. 6’5″ Nick Foles makes me nervous. I think one big advantage he has over Katz is that he can see the whole field. Have to upgrade my Dish package to see game on Versus. Go Beavs
I woudl have to upgrade too. What a rip. They have about every sports channel except Versus on the level I’ve got too. Vs. can’t be that spendy can it?
I didn’t get the Beavs game on my Dish. I am in Nebraska, but I have that Sports Tier that includes ALL Fox channels. It was supposed to be avaiable, but it got blacked out. I may not see too many more Beav games this year I guess. Tired of giving them $$, the channel selection just keep going backwards it seems.
I don’t know what FSN you have. Out here FSN northwest is owned by Directv. The “Fox” sports stations on Dish have been dropped. I don’t know why, but usually the customer gets hosed.
FSN Northwest is NOT one of the 19 Fox Sports affiliates that has been dropped by DISH. I saw it on my DISH plan over the weekend in Portland and to my knowledge everyone with FSN Northwest did. FSN Arizona, FSN West, FSN South, FSN North, etc were all dropped but not FSN NW thank goodness.
I live in Omaha Nebraska. Normally, my recordings are not blacked out, I wonder if it has something to do with the dispute. It might come into play now though since I’m out of Market. Don’t know. Pain in the ass though.
I agree. No holes? Hey here is a thought, let’s try running Quizz a different way. Or dump some short passes to him when he sitting in the middle of the field reading a newspaper and sipping tea because the closet defender is a mile away.
I sound like a broken record but I don’t think it is wise football to have to relay on the long ball to win. Long balls should be the icing on the cake.
On the OOC comment, I don’t think Riley doesn’t care about winning OOC games or he’d be certified crazy to schedule top teams all the time. He could work out the weaknesses with easier teams that would not be so apt to injuring our players before Pac-10 begins.
OOC games bring in money (TV) and possible recruits… although we don’t seem to capitalize on the recruits part.
I liked those OOC games when they were scheduled, so I can’t go back on it now. It’s the only way the Beavs can get into BCS atmospheres. If you can’t earn your way into that environment, then schedule it, bank the money, and be a leg up on conference foes who schedule cupcakes. I’d prefer one a year, and in the 3rd game, not first, but that is something that can be refined.
Something like this would be ideal for the first three games:
1 FCS team (Portland State)
1 bad FBS team, but better than the FCS team (Wyoming, Utah State, etc)
1 BCS level/top 10 team
Begin the Pac-10 schedule
Weird, I was wondering during the game the last time I saw a pitch or sweep.
Na’Alii Robins commits!!!
Na’Alii Robins commits!!!
Na’Alii Robins commits!!!
… Na’Alii Robins … ….. … ? … commits?
Na’Alii Robins???
Good! Though it’s hard to tell how good he is from watching youtube videos. He is a sought-after defensive player that wants to be a Beaver. I’m down with that.
Sought after by whom?
His tape is bad. Note on the read options he’s making tackles ten yards down field, and those are his “highlights.”
I had read somewhere that Arizona and WSU were interested in him among several lesser schools, Weber State, etc.
He seems to have good lateral down-the-line movement when they run away from him in his video. Ok, so if that is the best that I can come up with then I concede he’s not a game changer, yet.
Admittedly I’m still learning about this game at its younger levels. Also, I played DT and DE in high school and was so slow that I never once made a tackle when the ball was run away from me… so maybe I envy guys like that.
For others to see what we’re talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-tSX1Z4Z5E
That’s a really good point on the OOC games. And in reality, they probably were originally intended for that purpose (preseason warmups).
I also think the AD may have made the job a little too comfortable, too early in Riley’s second stint. Whatever happens in the “preseason”, Riley knows he’s fine. Seeing him smiling and joking with reporters after the BSU loss was sickening.
It seems he might have a bit of the classic government worker mentality- where you’re not overly concerned with performance and results because you know expectations are low and your job is safe.
I think some of that is just his personality, which is why their is the family atmosphere there. But you can still be a loving dad who is strict and expects the job to get done… and who provides the tools to get it done.
Judge for yourself re oral commit from Na’Alii Robins, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive end from the Saint Louis School in Honolulu:
http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1008706.html
Here’s my take, for what it’s worth. (1) he has a good upside, and may be a “find”; (2) it’s good news that OSU could bring a quality recruit to campus last weekend, and impress the recruit and his dad so much that they immediately committed to OSU, and won’t look anywhere else. That’s a really positive sign for OSU recruiting — more of that, please!
OSU was his ONLY offer…
What’s the kid gonna say? “NO”?
If a starving person who hates chicken had his/her choice of KFC or to go hungry, what would they choose?
As promised, I spent much of Saturday afternoon at Reser watching one guy — Brandon Hardin.
As I noted elsewhere on this site, I came away with a mixed impression. Hardin did a pretty good job staying with his man on most sideline routes. However, Hardin seemed to have trouble staying with his man on cuts over the middle (slants or posts). I don’t know why ASU didn’t try to exploit Hardin more on slants and post routes. I suspect the aggressive pass rush on Saturday played at least a part in that.
But watching Hardin disclosed another problem. When the Beavs went to a zone, there was a big hole on the sideline behind Hardin and in front of the safety. Hardin would just let the wideout run past him near the sideline, give him a little bump, and then say goodbye. The safety was still at least 10 yards away, and the QB could just throw the ball on a line to the receiver before the safety could get there.
Threet hit this twice for big gains (20 + yards each time). I d0n’t know why ASU didn’t go to it more. But it’s something that Banker needs to fix!
Hardin’s responsibility in the 2-deep is to slow down the WR enough for the safety to come over the top. He didn’t do that a couple times. In fact, he whiffed twice, and it was noted by the announcers.
So I watched the play after that, and he seemed to be getting a good jam on the WR’s after that. I think someone on the sideline… ahem… suggested he do something about it.
We were lucky to have the pass rush this game. Tui was beat deep a couple times, and the rush hurried the throw.
Interesting. Being at Reser, I didn’t hear what the announcers said. Sounds like this problem is already being addressed, which I’m very glad to hear.
Did the announcers comment at all on Hardin’s apparent difficulty staying with receivers running slant or post routes? That seemed obvious to me at Reser on Saturday. But maybe I was missing something….
What’s the scoop on Elisinoa Aluesi?
BeaverBlitz is reporting that OSU has offered him… I don’t know anything about him other than he’s not rated by the scouting agencies… much like a lot of OSU recruits (which is one of the problems).
Great athlete with lots of upside at DE. He played QB mostly up to this year, then he decided to add defense to his resume. He came out with some obvious natural talent, and the D-I scouts sat up and took notice.
Don’t know anything about his grades. But he is LDS, so he’ll mission.
Assuming his grades are good to go, he is the type of player our coaches need to offer. We need to bring the prospect players in from around our own state, and we need to develop them ourselves. This makes for a good relationship with the coaches and administrators of the local schools. When prized recruits come up, we get good rep from their coaches. When prospects with great upside appear, we get the heads-up.
That’s why I keep pushing the local guys who are just out of the recruiting limelight. Michael Bibbee was a great pick-up last year, but we seem to be stuck recruiting Az and Cali too much for the same level of recruit.
Tape on Aluesi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn5WeytLaD8&feature=player_embedded#!
Can you imagine that coming off the edge after a QB?
Oregon State held on for a tight win. Great to start Pac-10 play with a “W” but this team still needs to grow more this week and bring a total team effort on Saturday in Arizona. Unless we play a full 60 minutes with focus, intensity and united purpose it will be tough sledding. The Beavs can do it but they are gonna have to play smart and physical and be in attack mode!
Playing the full 60 minutes is a key. This team is sort of a re-start every week. I just feel like you almost can’t depend on any one thing, but they seem to scrap just enough to have that chance to win. Maybe Katz and the O get a bit more confortable and keep scoring in the 30’s, and the D wakes up, and finds the right combinations (Banker) to keep the other teams in the teens or low 20’s. Seems the best hope at this time. Seeing USC mauled by the Husking was promising, but they’re a different animal than the Beavers…no pun intended.
I wouldn’t worry about USC. They have been on the decline since Pete jumped ship, and Kiffin has them sinking fast. Nobody on that team enjoys playing for him or respects him. Now that they can’t get an AP title, they’re done. I actually bet good money on the Huskies for all these reasons.
Other than that WSU win, seems USC is in the same boat as the Beavs were before the ASU win (and still are for the remaing schedule)…they could lose them all. Doubt they will, but WSU and UW were their best bets, and they are done with those two.
Utah wants to expand Rice-Eccles Stadium in the next 3-4 years to maybe close to 65,000 seats.
http://www.blocku.com/2010/6/19/1526559/rice-eccles-stadium-expansion
OSU has said they may build the new west side beginning in 2014. I think we should definitely not wait any longer. The new west side only brings us to about 50K. It will take horseshoeing in the South Endzone into a double-deck for us to get 55-56K. With UO wanting to soon finish their bowl and getting 68,000 or so and Utah wanting 65,000 we need to get to 50K ASAP. I would argue we should spend the money by 2014 and not wait for the South Endzone Doubledeck until later. It will be cheaper to build it all at once and we will not want to be too far behind other programs. We should settle in close to 56K with our double-deck horseshoe complete and start off 2015 Oregon State Football with a bang!
Why expand if the Beavs can barely sell out their current stadium.
Because the West side of the stadium looks like complete shit!
It’s an eye sore that needs to be demolished.’
Mirror the other grandstand to make the stadium look updated and uniform… makes the program look more legit (other than winning).
We will EASILY sell out the 50K once the new west side is in through effective pricing. Budget wise I don’t think we can get it going before 2014 although I wish we could. Maybe Pat Reser would donate a little more among others and maybe we can get some state money. I would do the whole double-deck horseshoe and move the jumbotron to above the Valley Center. That will bring us just over 55K and DeCarolis can bring nice Valley View like pricing to the upper reaches and it will sell with the momentum and excitement of Pac-12 play. Many teams will be expanding or building new stadiums (like the Huskies) and we need to get to 50K soon and 55K would be even better. A high seed conference championship game can happen as soon as stadiums are that much larger throughout the conference and it will bring a high frenzied, crazy buzzin’ Pac-12 that will be incredible if we can have that. It rewards the fans and you have the right to buy your seat for a fair price for a CCG if you are a season ticket holder. That will sell that many more season tickets. Trust me, this Pac-12 will be huge and if it grows fast enough, we get to a Pac-16 in time and then 55K will be small. The Ducks might have a 74K stadium by then and Utah will have 65-68K I bet.
Aren’t the Beavers getting 10 mil windfall next season? I thought significant money was the point of the Pac-12…
What is the cost/estimate of the addition?
The new west side will have less club seats but will likely still cost 80-82 million to build. Double-decking the south endzone so we have a complete horseshoe would be another 25-26 million (includes moving jumbotron to the north above the Valley Football Center) if we did it at the same time. Probably would cost us 35 million and up if we wait 5 or more years after westside expansion. So I guess finishing it all at once would run 105-108 million. Much less than the 240 million the Huskies are going to spend in 2012. Since we have already spent 115 million on expanding it that would raise our total to a good 220 million.
I agree that this is all well and good but lets be realistic, we can’t sell out our stadium as it is. We barely have one sell out a year and our average attendance is over 4000 below capacity. A nice stadium is cool but makes our program looks piss poor if it is empty. Honestly, this state just simply can’t support a 55-60K seating at Reser and a 74K seating at Autzen. That is too much commuting for people around the state. Not to mention that nearly every middle school in the state has eliminated school sports. That has created this huge surge in private youth football programs throughout the state. These leagues almost universally play on Saturdays, further limiting the people who want to attend college football games. If we are gunna build stadiums that large, consider playing on Sundays.
Angry, you mentioned the 10 mil windfall, we need that just to keep our athletic department afloat. Most of our athletic programs have poor facilities and are bankrupt anyways. I am unsure if basketball really makes that much money. Football is carrying this athletic department.
They don’t need it to survive. They just need $4m to erase the current debt. They over-budgeted one year, and they reset the budget to reflect reality after that.
I’m not saying they wouldn’t cut programs if we didn’t expect this revenue. But we do more with less in a revenue sense as well. Football does carry the AD at OSU. We were one of 30 (?) college football programs (all colleges in all divisions) which ran in the black last year. And we did so well that we made more than a 250% return on that investment.
I think hoops made about 140% on about a $5m outlay. I would imagine not much else makes a 100% return or better. Maybe gymnastics or baseball?
Point being… we’re so conservative that it would take the jaws of life to un-clench… well… you get the idea. I don’t expect the extra $10m per year to go to waste.
I expect them to use the funds to endow several scholarships per year, save for capital improvements and to have an emergency fund to cover poor budgeting in the future.
And what facilities are poor?
I’ve seen golf, baseball, rowing, soccer, softball, football, basketball and gymnastics facilities. I haven’t seen the new wrestling gym, but I liked Langford for that sport just for the nostalgia of it. I hear the new gym is better.
We can use some more court space in order to ease practice schedules, and Reser is a work in progress. But we have some pretty nice facilities.
Our crew facilities are what come to mind for me, those definitely are now good facilities. Soccer and softball definitely need help. Basketball is starting to get better but we must be honest, Gill is pretty dumpy. It has a lot of potential but all they did was take a 69 Camaro and put a Maaco paint job on it. Nice car at a basic level but doesn’t mean it is a great car.
I thought soccer and softball were pretty nice. It’s not like we need a shrine with 40K seating to accomodate the flood of fans going to those events.
And Gill is what it is. The outside is an interesting design. Some hate it, some could not care less what it looks like. I personally think they can do better with the landscaping and incorporating the plaza with the design of the building. But that’s me.
The inside is hoops heaven. The seating is on a gradual bowl up to the rafters and mostly on the sides. There’s not a bad seat in the house. Frankly, I never understood why anyone would want to sit in baseline nosebleed seats or even on the top level of a tiered stadium. I’ve tried both, they really suck.
Gill has no pretenses about it. The function is all about playing and watching hoops. And everyone is a part of the game, whether they like it or not. It’s not a multi-purpose mega-plex mecca of gaudy taste and luxury boxes for those who don’t really care about the game.
That was last year before Valley View. We are averaging 45,395 this year. Cal has already sold all seats (even club) and the game is over 3 weeks away. That will bring our average above 45,500.
The fact is that we can EASILY sell 50K seats after the new west side just by having more Valley View pricing for the upper reaches. There is probably 3000 more seats that would sell quickly with that pricing.
We need to do the new west side starting by 2014 at the latest but can wait another 8-10 years to do the south endzone upperdeck . The Pac-12 is going to maintain its frenzied buzz for quite some time and we may see a Pac-16 in the next decade too. The sooner we seat 50K the quicker we can satisfy the demand that is out there especially for more Valley View seats. If it is built by 2014 or 2015 I guarantee we will sell out all games except maybe WSU. Even so the Cougs will still probably see 45,350 fans this year because the fans are excited about the Beavs and love our full and rockin’ Reser gameday experience!
I still don’t think we can fill 50K, not right now. Maybe a few years down the road. Look at our home schedule this year, of course we sold out. We sold out in 2008 also. The odd years when we have the crappy home schedule we don’t sell out. Also, who would be a lead donor to get these projects started? Reser said that he was done making major donations to the athletic dept. after helping with the basketball practice facility. He said that he wanted to refocus his donations to academia. I wonder if his family will honor that desire, if so who is our major athletic donor?
Great attendance this year is helped by the schedule but HONESTLY has more to do with Valley View pricing. I expect 97-98% of fans will renew for next year so I don’t expect a blip. With Pac-12 starting there is just a fervor going on. Pat Reser is one of our better donors. No doubt. It would be fitting to finish the west side soon and finish the original Raising of Reser for both sides. I think 2014 is probably when they start that after a few years of sellouts. A new west side would basically just replace all the current west side seats and then be a bunch more Valley View seats (3500 or so) that could then be sold. I am very confident with the same pricing that they would sell in a matter of 3 months or less. Bottom line is that our stadium will look AMAZING when both sides are done and we need it for recruiting and to expand the Beaver Nation fervor another notch up. We can and will almost surely wait on the south endzone but we need to start fundraising for the new west side NOW!
I’d like to see better seats. All bleachers should be removed–it looks bush league/high school.
I am okay with bleachers in the student section because it fits with those sections. When bleachers are in place the only limit to how many students can fit in a section is how many we can pack in. I remember at the USC game in 2008, everyone in my section had to stand with their shoulders at an angle, we couldn’t fit standing abreast of each other. I agree about the paying sections though, they should all have folding chairs.