Football is back. Spring ball starts today and ends with a scrimmage April 26th (to be aired on the P-12 network).
Also, MLB started last night, and college ball heating up (and apparently burning holes in the Beav's leather).
I can't stand the lull between January (i.e. bowl games) and having baseball/football both going simultaneously. It's finally over. Of course, that means we're all a bit older, which sucks.
Almost time for my annual TV purge, where I drop Comcast for the warm weather months, only to pick it up again right before college football starts. You should all try it. You can pretty much save enough money for a brand new 42″ plasma tv if you drop cable for these months, and you’ll enjoy life a little more by being outside and relying less on your tv for entertainment. Plus, when you come back to re-subscribe for cable, they’ll usually give you some half priced or better deals.
Go Beavs!
I used to do that; then I canceled all together. It’s really nice.
Do you watch any tv anymore? Just wondering if you have given up on it completely, or if you have some sort of pirated deal that you can’t talk about?
I still enjoy watching several shows, and once college football season begins, I know I’ll be missing my sports channels at least, so I don’t think giving up tv altogether will work for me.
I don’t watch it much at all. A lot of networks have live steams now, though, so I will watch those if I want the news. For example, CNN and Bloomberg.
The only things I’ve ever enjoyed watching are documentaries, nature shows, history, etc, and I can find a lot of that stuff on Netflix (we use my GF’s parents’ account–I think this is legal?). Since I canceled TV I’ve probably read 25 books that I always meant to read. It’s nice. What I hate about TV are the ads. For a while I would mute commercials (this was my New Year’s resolution in 2009), but then even that began to bother me. I don’t like being sold products that I don’t need or want., and if I do need something I’ll seek it out. Just can’t take them forcing ads and crap products (like snuggies lol) down my throat. But anyway, for me it was win-win. Saved money, read books, didn’t get high blood pressure from the ads…
I never can get into those shows like Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, etc that people seem to love.
So what do you do for sports? Do you just stream the games online via bootleg feeds? Or do you just listen to your guy Parker on the radio?
I can’t stand the internet feeds and only use them as a last resort. I’d rather pay for a quality picture than watch it on my freeze and lag on my laptop.
Speaking of books, if you haven’t read the Outpost by Jake Tapper put it on your list. No matter your views on the war in Afghanistan, to read a good first hand account of what these young men go through is humbling. I’ll never see RPG in print again without wincing.
This is the biggest sin of idiot boy’s wars. I knew about friends and sons of friends dying for stupid and his profiteers only because I watched Bill Moyers on Friday nights. And I cried each time I read their names.
War is our legacy to the world. But reality dating shows are what our citizens think it is.
That’s not laughable. It’s not even obscene.
It’s just shame.
Every newscast on every “news” channel should give us updates about the most important event occurring which affects this country right now.
Sorry… I’ll file this in the memory hole now.
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/20/172402438/jake-tapper-the-outpost-that-never-should-have-been
I didn’t get to see any of the baseball games this weekend, but it sounds like they are struggling in the field. That’s pretty uncharacteristic of Casey’s teams. Pitching, Defense and Timely hitting is what win a lot of games.
Besides the quarterback battle, what are people hoping to find out during spring ball?
Both DTs and Poyer’s CB slot for me.
I think Nelson will be a lock this year at CB. I don’t trust Juco analysis per se, but the hype on him is so overwhelming, I’m believing we have a wun-n-dun CB player who will go in the first round now. This may be wishful thinking to bring players like the Commish and Hasty and the most recent class up to speed while also covering a position of need for one year. It’s also wishful thinking in that those mentioned will see first Poyer then Nelson and Reynolds develop to their fullest potential under Perry and buy into the system 150%. I don’t believe there is a 150%, but I do believe that confidence is a much larger proportion of the whole than many do. I’ll take 70% talent and 30% confidence over 90% talent and zero confidence any day.
I don’t see the same with the DTs as far as having a talent gap. I think the Jucos are the talent, and we have maybe Tago to fill in the developmental role. I like what Banker has done with moving the ends inside and vice versa, but even that is turning into a position of need now. I really wish Rosa would finally break his cycle of play until injury stops him. But I fear that’s made him a depth player in the end. We need some solid HS talent to come in on the D-line to sustain that unit.
I have never worried about QBs and WRs. I’m halfway to that with RBs, the O-line (TE’s are a hybrid in my mind) and the DBs (probably 75% on DBs). I’m a little skeptical on LBs because of depth. And I’m worried about the D-line because of a lack of youth.
Mannion will win out. We will win 10 games this year.
I’ll be here to eat crow if it doesn’t happen. But I won’t gloat over this expectation if it becomes reality… much.
I reserve the right to adjust these expectations if Boom is named a starter after spring and into fall for no other reason than… well… for no other reason than our coaches give for doing the same thing with other personnel decisions in the past. That will be a position which is an indicator of “same old” for me.
Yeah I think Nelson and Hunt will eventually leapfrog Hasty and the commish. Hunt’s run defense is really impressive, and Nelson looks like a Duck CB with the speed and fluid hips.
I really like the incoming frosh, and I think they’ll develop quickly. But I also think Hasty and the Commish are ballers who are more heady than physically talented. That works for me on the college level.
I like Hasty. Never liked the commish, other than his name.
Maybe projection on my part. He hasn’t risen on the depth chart, and those who evaluate him are more knowing than I am.
Linebackers to me are a worry, just because I haven’t seen much outside of Doctor and Alexander. DJ had some injury problems last year, so depth is a worry for me. Hopefully I can make it to a couple practices this year to get a look at them. But addition by subtraction in the form of Reuben Robinson.
I have to give a nod to RR. He sucked hard for three years, but he actually played decent ball in 2012. So he’s no longer going to be the Pankey of my jokes when talking LB play. He was still just a depth player, but he was somewhat competent this past year. Good on him for that.
Hi Pankey’s mom.
I like that Riley is adopting specific goals this year, that seemed to be lacking for a good stretch there; maybe he just didn’t trust the talent he had? This year he is talking about 150 rushing per game, getting more out of throws to the wide side of the field (Cooks has to be happy about that), more catches (60) for TE’s and RBs. I also like that he is telling incoming FR to be ready to play, not redshirt, which seems more aggressive of him than usual and again indicative of the incoming talent level.
Riley’s verbalizing a willingness to explore a faster paced offense seems a little milquetoast to me, and its difficult for me to believe he is detail-oriented enough to pull it off effectively. I would expect a lot of mistakes, lining up correctly, etc. I hope I’m wrong.
Looking forward to improved O-line play, the 3 rbs, the WRs including incoming FR, Dashon Hunt, and improved return games that could feature Ward/Stevenson, but also Nelson potentially on punts, maybe even Hunt or some other incoming FR like Bolden.
Who is “the commish?”
I expect at least a holiday bowl this year, the schedule is set up pretty nicely.
With the uptempo paced offense I don’t expect it to be what the ducks run, instead more of New England does where they get to the line of scrimmage quicker not allowing defenses to make substitutions. And the for sure positive about the uptempo being the conditioning aspect of it.
Sure could have used that against Washington.
The schedule is so easy this year. I agree with 10 games simply because they have a ton of returning starters and the schedule is as easy as it gets at this level.
Not sure milquetoast is the right word there. It’s timid of him to say he wants to explore a faster pace? Makes no sense to me. Can’t think of any single word for it, but it’s like a lifelong Luddite window shopping an Ipad. lol
It just came across to me as non-committal. I wouldn’t expect a wholesale change to a no huddle, hurry up offense, but I think committing to improving the 2-minute offense and implementing strategic use of an up tempo offense would have sounded stronger than “we’ll look at it.”
Even if you don’t employ Wyche-like no-huddle schemes, wouldn’t it be poor play to not make your opponents think you’re going to do it?
OT… if I put a beard on Wyche, does he become Carlesimo?
Don’t forget about Okonkwo. I think we got a steal in him. In fact, I think we’re looking at someone who will make the pollyannas sit up and cry “mostest awesomest coach of all time for doingest mostest with lestest” in the end.
I do think Okonkwo will be at least as good as Reynolds.
What about Charles Tuaau at DE? What’s the word on him? Is he here for spring practice?
Not sure I’m sold on Tua’au yet. I don’t know his status either.
I’m very curious to see the OL play. They’ve got a lot of depth now. And with G. Andrews stepping in at RT, the line averages 310 with only Enger coming in light at 290. This group will need to step up another level in the run game. If they can do that, they’ll be able to control the tempo of the game more. Improved play here helps the entire team. Also, if up tempo elements are to be incorporated into the offense, these guys are going to need to be in great shape.
I’ve only seen a little bit of G. Andrews so it’ll be nice to see if he can step up. Shame he couldn’t get the redshirt year.
Mitchell didn’t redshirt either…and he had even less playtime to show for it.
“Of course, that means we’re all a bit older, which sucks.”
Aw, c’mon, Angry. We’re all really a bit wiser, more sensitive and thoughtful, more patient when it comes to things and people who once irritated us. And, of course, closer to seeing a Rose Bowl and Final Four for our Beavs!
Kumbaya……and all that drivel.
Happy April 1st to all!
Really. It’s April 1st, where’s the Rose Bowl thread!
Ok… I read this post then looked up to see an audible.com commercial with earbuds and wires shaped like a rose.
Ko-inky-dinky I’m sure.
OT… apparently you saw what you saw.
Tim Donaghy touched the ball?
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21989633
Was it osbeavs who suggested that refs were corrupt enough to actually hate a coach instead of doing their jobs?
Whomever it was, you were scoring in spades.
As some of you know, I’ve been filling Larry’s email inbox with the really really crappy officiating that has occurred over the past couple years. I thought it would get better with McCabe leaving. But this last season was beyond pathetic. And I have not limited my… um… observations to just Beavs games. There have been a ton of really bad calls this past year.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21989946/joking-or-not-the-pac-12-coordinator-of-officials-must-go
I felt like this past season that the officials had an attitude that the Beavs were a team not worthy of the benefit doubt in most situations. I know CR has a loud voice, after reading this article it would not shock me if Rush “encouraged” a certain perspective from his group regarding Beav games.
I didn’t know if it was just my orange colored glasses or not. It just seemed like the Beavs had more bad calls on them each game, rather than the calls evening out over time. Like Collier getting mobbed all the time, and Nelson getting punched and then not even a foul call after the refs look at the replay.
I think Miller is a little more “vocal” than CR, but would not be surprised if both teams were targeted this year because the refs didn’t care for CR either. Speaking of, listened to the interview on ESPN radio last week and Robinson may be hiring a director of basketball operations that strictly does x’s and o’s, no recruiting. Craig also said he would like a veteran college coach. I know Dawkins at Stanford did that last year with Dick Davey who coached for years at Santa Clara. Wonder who Robinson would get if the budget allows it?
I want Litzenberger. The man is a hoops genius when it comes to breaking down the game and teaching it to kids. And he loves Oregon. We just need for him to be deprogrammed from his years at Nikegon. It would likely be easy since he loves the valley and hoops more than any one job.
We’ll probably end up with Tavaras Hardy.
I don’t know how a DOBO aids in x’s and o’s though. They’re not allowed to coach, teach or recruit.
Litzenberger would be a good fit if he’s willing to make the switch from the dark side. He’s coached both men’s and women’s hoops and is a good guy. I can’t think of anyone else. I always thought that the DOBO dealt with the budgeting and traveling schedules, but it would be nice to have strictly an x’s and o’s coach since that’s what Robinson needs. I’d like to see Robinson get a statistician too like Butler has with Drew Gannon.
I implied in previous thread that CR with his loud, booming voice may have not been the “refs” favorite this season.
It looked like Collier has lost some hops this season, but also he seemed to have the angle on many of his drives and there was no way the defender could close out without body contact, yet very few fouls were called. Moreland was constantly bumped going for rebounds and I remember several occassions were the contact clearly caused him to lose control of the ball, yet no whistle.
I’m still pissed about the sudden barrage of Beav traveling calls during the second Ducks game, yet Singler crashed into his own teammate, fell two full steps back and passed to an open player for a momentum changing three.
I’m sure I have orange colored glasses, but I just sensed that the refs were thinking here’s a somewhat undisciplined team that plays below average defense and they aren’t going anywhere this season, so why give them anything during the course of a game. If the team had actually been in the mix for a NCAA berth it would have been interesting to see how the games were officiated. Or it could be like Jack says and P-12 officiating is shitty league wide.
Are orange colored glasses the same as Blue Blockers?
I think Spartan fans will be watching the tourney this weekend with those on.
Blue Blockers cost $10 at that illegal road side stand, orange colored glasses are priceless.
Akuna and Collins are academic casualties per Eggers. This helps make room for the incoming class since there was only one transfer.
While Akuna was the highest rated recruit in his class, he never could live up to his potential and I think his weight was a big issue. This year’s depth chart had him at 258!
Collins – Oh well.
Never want to lose guys that have been in the program for a couple years. Collins may be the bigger loss given our lack of depth there. Everyone is counting on the JC guys to be the answer, but they are always a crapshoot. They better come through or our interior D will be a sieve. I wonder where these two will end up?
Good news, actually.
file under “Twitter + football players = bad combination”
DJ Alexander ?@D_alexander4 55m
I’m fearless lol http://instagram.com/p/XndIyOxCOJ/
Yeah, DJ great idea.
I wonder how high he actually is off the ground. Can’t really see anything beneath him. Could be tricky camera angles or he could be an idiot.
I drove over that bridge about a month ago… twice.
I’m sure you guys heard about Mike Rice Jr. What a disgrace. Between this and the whole Ed Rush Sean Miller thing this week leading into the final four has been a really shitty look for college basketball.
There’s a fine line between hard coaching and abusive coaching. Personally I like tough coaching but for it to be successful, the kids have to be the type to respond to that kind of style. Cavanaugh is an example of employing hardcoaching, I hear a lot of his reputation for yelling at players but not demeaning them. CR is a yeller too but you don’t see his players complaining that he is abusive nor have I seen comments saying he is out of line.
I don’t agree with throwing stuff at players or demeaning them personally, the only result will be a mutiny against the coach and it is abuse which is what Rice Jr did. Surprised he’s still there.
Craig is far from it and the players like him. He cusses, but what coach doesn’t? However Robinson would never take a basketball and throw it at a player’s head as hard as he could or yell homophobic slurs. I will not be surprised if Rice is gone in 24-48 hours and maybe the Rutgers AD too.
Child doing a better job tonight at throwing strikes which had been the main issue for him this season. Offense still doing a poor job at situational hitting.
Of course now he’s struggling to throw strikes
Not a neat deal.
2-1 Pilots. Oregon State is playing like crap once again
It also pisses me off that the Ducks are on a roll, so the Beavs can’t even claim solo spotlight with baseball.
They’ve had a soft schedule for the last month aside from the Vanderbilt and Arizona series’. They have to play ASU in Tempe and my guess is ASU hands it to them.
Sixth is supposed to belong to the Beavs this season, Hayes leads off with a single and is SAC’d along by Keyes.
Looks a lot like Hayes may now be out of the slump.
Jerad Casper ties the game at 2 in the 6th, runners on the corners with 1 out
Surprise, surprise, Casper with an RBI single, JRod to third. One out.
Peterson RBI bunt single, 3-2 Beavs. Gotta love Peterson
Casper thrown out at the plate. That’s on the third base coach, you don’t run guys into outs.
Thrown out by a mile, our overall team speed is pretty low. We have a lot of guys who aren’t slow but they aren’t fast.
I like that our coaches have been more aggressive on the base paths this year but that was not the time to send him.
I really Schultz’s approach on the mound, he comes after every batter and makes them beat him.
meant to say I really like Schultz’s approach.
Barnes, Conforto, Davis for the bottom of 7th, should be the guys to get some insurance started.
To keep Schultz somewhat fresh for UCLA, it would be nice to get enough insurance to allow someone else to finish on the mound for the Beavs, thinking it would take about 3 runs for that to happen,
UCLA down by 2 runs against CalStateFullerton.
Hayes a 2 rund double to left, so good to see him not only making contact but getting ’em where they ain’t.
One more and maybe Schultz can hit the showers.
JRod a two run HR, 7-2 Beavs.
Andy Peterson is not getting it done at SS. The Beavers really miss Tyler Smith’s defense. Peterson is a below average defensive SS at best.
Agree. Question really is who would be better given Peterson’s ability at the plate and on the basepath? He has a number of clutch hits and very good bunts.
Have to question how Smith will do against UCLA, Mike Parker mentioned that he’d be available but didn’t convince me that he will be ready for full time. Breaking back in against UCLA won’t be easy.
At least Hayes and, maybe, Casper will enter the series in LA with good confidence,
If Tyler Smith can play defense and bat, got to start him. He’ll struggle a bit to swing the bat with the rust from the injury, but his defense is extremely important. I can deal with some of the struggle at the plate, bat him in the bottom of the order for a few games, low pressure spot. I actually think Casper looked good at the plate tonight. Wouldn’t mind putting him at third, Keyes at 2B and Smith at SS for the series. If Peterson added more offensively I would keep him in there, but offensively he’s not really getting it done right now.
Ideal lineup for this weekend if Smith can go:
CF Jeff Hendrix
DH Ryan Barnes
LF Michael Conforto
RF Dylan Davis
1B Danny Hayes
C Jake Rodriguez
2B Kavin Keyes
3B Jerad Casper
SS Tyler Smith
Once Smith is back into the swing of the things after a few games, slide him back to the #2 spot.
I like your idea of having Hendrix in there but would probably put Peterson in as DH in place of Barnes.
I was thinking Peterson there, but like Barnes’ potential more to produce. He’s coming around slowly after coming back from the broken hamate bone, he’ll get it figured out. If Casey went with Peterson instead of Barnes, I’d be intrigued to see Jake move up to the 2nd spot. He’s patient and gets on base a ton, would be a nice option until Tyler Smith is back in the swing of things.
Beavers win 7-5
The next four games, for both the ucks and the Beavs, will be a test and possible turning point for both squads. Both on the road against good teams, we’ll get a good idea of who is for real. Then there is that non-con at Goss on the 9th.
My money is on the Beavs, just don’t think Sherfy can carry the ucks against quality competition.
Anybody here heard of the Portland Boltz? I just found that there’s a new PDFL (Professional Developmental Football League) in the area. Think of it as an NFL minor leagues system (although not affiliated with the NFL)
Hopefully we’ll see some former Beavs on the team at some point. Games are played at Hillsboro stadium and start in April.
Who wants to bet they only last 1-2 seasons before the league folds?
I’m actually interested but wish it were closer to the city. I don’t think I’ll be driving out to Hillsboro to watch a game unless I’m reallllly bored this Summer.
http://www.portlandboltz.com/
The Portland Boltz, eh? …. cant wait for the “I’m NUTS on boltz!” promo and subsequent variations.
Is Silver Stream or other, gonna visit some of spring practice and give us insight? Hope so!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmEpK8kJ9a4
Morovick (long snapper) received a schollie.
Has anyone seen/heard anything about the spring practices so far? I’m wondering how the QBs have looked but I haven’t really seen any practice write ups anywhere.
Nobody was rushing the passer yet Vaz managed to get sacked nine times.
Rushers are also not necessary for him to fumble the ball….is that stat listed?
LB shaydon akuna and DL desmond collins off team academic casualties.
I guess it was about time for Nikegon to dump a bunch of useless redacted emails and files. Now they have a news cycle for cover.
http://www.roopstigo.com/reader/auburns_vainted_title_victims_violations_and_vendettas_for_glory/
Btw, this report is new and has nothing to do with the ongoing investigation the NCAA is conducting at Auburn. That investigation is about street agents and recruiting. And yes, Willie Lyles is one of the agents involved.
Somebody at Roopstigo will probably wake up with a horse’s head in their bed tomorrow morning.
Tyler Smith not gonna be much help vs UCLA, per Eggers:
http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/135283-beavers-beat-pilots-but-defense-leaves-casey-grumbling
Bad news, for sure. Casey also alludes to his distaste for how many pitches Schultz had to throw against Pilots.
Casey’s contract extended through 2018
Any rumors of any early football commits?
No there has not been. However, that is not uncommon, last year as you recall Minnesota and OSU were the last Division I teams to get their first commitment. Most of the time the Beavs don’t get any commitments until Sept’ish. I think we will start hearing more as the camps in June happen and the coaches get to see the players.
There has been plenty of action from several Oregon Juniors. Connor Humphrey has been getting a ton of looks, and is headed down to Usc for a visit. So, it looks like we won’t be much of a player with the top recruits in the state again. Jesuit has a couple of kids get offers from UW, UO and others.
Here is a list of offers we have out, does really tell you much. La Mirada High School has a number of top recruits.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/school/_/id/204/class/2014/page/offers
See below, just got #1 today, QB from Snonomish, WA
Please tell me there is a special clause in place that by extending Casey’s contract, Craig Robinson’s is automatically decreased.
Pat deserves it after all that he has done for the program and baseball facilities.
Looks like The Glove is gonna be the first Beaver in a major sports HOF.
https://twitter.com/SHowardCooper/status/319838805953757185
Can CR be far behind?
Nice!
Well… as a player… if you don’t count the Olympics as major sports… or NCAA football and hoops.
Well deserved.
Check that… the “as a player” part is because the Naismith HOF does count NCAA hoops as a major sport.
Another well-deserved honor!! Congrats Gary!
OT-
Northwest kid transferring from Kansas and want to be closer to home:
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/huskymensbasketball/2013/04/03/anrio-adams-leaves-kansas-may-consider-uw/
No mention of Oregon State as an option. Get on the damn phone Coach Rob!
And sell a walk-on spot?
Won’t there be an opening when Moreland goes off to the D-league?
How are other schools going to do it? How does Riley do it in football when he over recruits? You make room for better talent. Give him the spot of one of the scrubs on our team.
UCLA has three signed and one committed to fill one ship. Three frosh are likely headed to the NBA, and you never know who else might leave after a coaching change. But if all stands the same then they won’t have room (the one committed is the new coach’s kid). And if Adams and Anderson do stay, Alford will likely help some kids transfer.
Arizona has two signed and one committed (who they will not put aside for anyone, let alone put aside for another guard who school hops) for three ships. I highly doubt he goes there unless he walks on.
UW has two signed and two committed for four ships. It’s possible one of the committed gets his offer yanked for Adams. But the world would whine about Romar math, and that does take its toll on recruiting (note diminishing recruiting success year by year). UW is a more likely spot for him as a walk-on since he could pay in-state tuition and gain a ship in the next recruiting cycle.
And Nikegon has three signed and two committed for five ships now that Moore doesn’t want to work as hard as it takes to play at Nikegon. Note that other people who didn’t want to work that hard have gone on to play with great success at other schools. One of them is so lazy that he’s decided to extend his season into the Final Four instead of cramming into a shorter season like Nikegon has done. I suppose he’s just pacing himself. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that the two committed would get shoved aside to open up another ship. I also wouldn’t be surprised to hear that someone else on the roster feels they can’t put in the really hard work it takes to be a Duck and just up and transfers.
I just love it when Nikegon stupids do their “we’re so entitled we like to put it in writing” in the comment sections of every article ever written.
http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/04/oregon_basketball.html
That’s what happens when a “scrub” gets pushed out… or in the case of Nikegon, “sees the writing on the wall” or “doesn’t have the work ethic blah blah” or “has a bad attitude/is a lousy person or teammate/etc.”
I’m a little old school in that I think a school should honor a commitment to a kid who signs on (barring disciplinary or academic reasons for yanking a ship). They should get four years. I love how coaches whine about flexibility this and unrealistic that when talking about four year ships. But the reality is that it’s only the coach’s word at stake. And a coach’s word is only as good as the rules require it to be in some cases.
UW has another ship open up with Breunig leaving. That’s not a fair trade in Romar math if they add Rio as a transfer now. They’d be losing a big and taking a small SG who wouldn’t even contribute for a year? UW is already going to be a tiny team next year. Now they lose depth on the front court too (albeit a bencher for last season). With Breunig or another 6’8″ recruit, they’re a 6’3.9″ team. With Adams, they would be 6’3.5″ team overall (6’3.6″ with him on the bench).
And I thought the Beavs were small last year at an effective 6’5.5″ last season (would have been 6’6.3″ with Brandt and Gomis).
Well never mind.
Mike Moser is graduating from UNLV this spring and will transfer to UW. They trade a big for a big.
In Riley’s interview after practice today said that the team will most likely have a spring game if the team can stay healthy.
Eggers on the QB battle
http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/135351-beavers-qbs-embrace-battle
Eggers on Matty Boyd, super good article
http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/135353-big-leagues-can-wait-as-boyd-makes-pitch-for-ncaa-title
What’s the surprise going to be at Fridays practice that Riley tweeted about?
Our new hurry up wishbone offense.
On the subject of the D-League… Every year my dad and I head to Reno for the first weekend of the NCAA tourney. While in town we had a chance to checkout the Reno Big Horns. Let me just say it should be mandatory that every student athlete attend a D-league game or at least the equivalent of it for their sport. I don’t think there is a better way to show why its important to attend your classes and get your degree. There were about a quarter of the number of fans that you would find in Gill, and there were two inflatable jump houses at one end of the court to keep the kids in attendance busy. Much like Reno it was entertaining if for nothing else the funky factor. If anyone finds themselves in a town that has a D-league team buy the cheap seats $8 and go sit wherever you want.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BWEcjCEftRI
I feel like the video production quality has taken a step forward this year.
Steven Nelson looks like he’s hungry and ready to take the starter spot. Hautau looks bigger than I thought he would, which is a good thing. Delva barely even noticeable. Hopefully it doesn’t stay that way for him.
I don’t care too much about other pac12 teams, but Su’a Cravens (USC) blew out his meniscus today. SC has had quite a few injuries this Spring.
From the sound of MR in the practice vid Q and A session, Akuna and Collins must have really pissed him off. His answers about them were very abrupt and out of character for him.
I noticed the same thing bg.
Since Akuna was listed as #2 on the Spring Depth Chart at will LB, it was strange to me that Riley acted like the loss was no biggie. I knew the chart was just a general starting point but this makes it seem even less useful.
I noticed the abruptness of his answers too. Usually he expresses some regret of the loss of the player, as in the recent case of Agnew’s transfer. And that example was at a position well stocked with talent.
I suspect he meant it had “no impact” because neither player had demonstrated meaningful in-game contributions. Nothing’s lost. Other than the opportunity cost of players who might have seen the field and remained in good academic standing.
OT – article on Stanford RB Gaffney. Enjoy the opening paragraph…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130405/stanford-tyler-gaffney/?sct=uk_t11_a1
Sounds like Stanford remains well stocked with talent.
Good for them, bad for us.They signed a monster O-line class in 2012, so those guys will start making the two deeps this year.
Further on in the piece Gaffney mentions being tackled in the “thud” drill; wonder how solid the hits are and how this drill relates to Riley’s approach.
The “surprise” at practice today is Riley has brought in a DJ for the team to have music played during practice.
Captain and Tennille and Abba?
If I had my choice, I would have a DJ follow me all day playing Average White Band “Pick up the Pieces”. Just TRY having a bad day with that music playing. Can’t be done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnH_zwVmiuE
A buddy of mine went to practice today, gave some great insight. “Mannion looked better today” didn’t get any follow up after that. So it could mean he looked better than Vaz, or he looked better than other days.
And 10 minutes he responds with this.
“Mannion has noticeably more zip on the ball and Vaz thew a couple of really bad passes”
Also Nelson vs. Martin
“Nelson looked better to me than Sean Martin. He is way more physical and doesn’t get turned around as much, and seems to be a more fluid athlete. They [coaches] have him [Nelson] returning punts.”
Wide Receivers.
“Cooked looked really good. He had some nice catches and he is really explosive. Malik Gilmore looks big but he also seems slow dropped 3 easy passes and the passes he caught he almost dropped. Kevin Cummings looked good though.”
New Defensive Tackles
:The JC DTS look big.”
There have been several comments from the practices about Gilmore dropping passes. Not good.
Does he room with Boom?
DJ was droppin’ beats, and Gilmore was droppin’ balls
That sucks about Gilmore but that’s great to hear about Mannion!
IAGDTBAB
First Committ!
Josh Mitchell’s brother Nick
Here is his highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J4A29wcE80
@Nick_Mitchell03 1h
Officially committed to play college football at Oregon State University!! God is good #GoBeavs
Here is his profile page, I guess I better get posting in the Recruiting forum
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/172689/nick-mitchell
He doesn’t look very good.
But his brother is on the team! That’s got to make you feel good! Gosh darn it!
He’s the number one rated QB in Washington, he runs a 4.5 and I would think that even YOU must admit that Mike Riley does a solid job of judging QB talent.
This kid is probably going to be pretty decent.
His highlights show he’s pretty good at hitting wide open receivers downfield. maybe we should be looking at some of his receivers too?
Do any of you guys subscribe to Scout? They actually have highly detailed, very good practice reports for spring and fall camp, especially spring.
I subscribed to Blitz for a couple of months for some of their recruiting info, got a free 4 month extension, and read a couple spring practice reports. Absolutely terrible…100% fluff with zero substance. Makes Cliff and Schnell look like journalistic superstars. Cancelled my subscription even with two free months remaining…better than forgetting and paying them another penny.
So…Scout has great practice info, and Blitz has solid recruiting info. Both are pretty much garbage in the other realm, as well as any articles or analysis in-season. If only there was an easy way to activate and inactivate those accounts…
A little look inside Club Beaver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppyZE0uZfAM&feature=player_embedded
I liked Coach Cav’s reaction