134 COMMENTS

  1. According to the lineup on twitter, Drew will start. Also, Larnach listed as DH and Anderson in the 5 hole.
    Big game, Cal pitcher is no slouch.
    GO BEAVS!

      • Rasmussen started but maybe should not have. Very shakey first inning followed by solid 2 and 3; then the roof falls in in the 4th. Apparently injured, as Church was given all the warmups he wanted. Ice not having his usual excellent D adding to the misery. Beavs have 2 E’s.

        • That sucks. I’m watching the Ducks since there’s no video.

          Ducks are laying it on Duke. Up 11 but could easily be up 20. While this is the year of the Beaver, it’s certainly not the day of the Beaver.

  2. OT – heard on 1080 AM that Tinkle has/is/will talk to Stanford about their job? Haven’t been able to find anything online to substantiate the rumor, though. Anyone else hear this?

  3. Britton able to put ’em down in order in the b6, a little shakey but got the job done.
    t7=Madrigal to lead off, this is the time to rally if it is gonna happen.

  4. As said, “Cal pitcher is no slouch”. Jefferies allows only 4 hits, Beavs add 3 E’s and it is over.
    Some solace in that both Britton and Martinek did pretty well.
    How good is the rest of the Bears staff?

    ucks and dawgs in a dogfight now, Irvin lasted 6 and gave up 6 hits and 5 runs.

    • Did it ever occur to you, as a Duck, that you wrote the first two words of the post to which I’m responding?

      I don’t need to ask what you think of yourself.

  5. The verbal agreement is probably 98% locked in as far as the terms. Instead of the 15K bonus for the NCAA as now, I would prefer that raise to 85K for making the Dance and 140K for a win the Dance and 175K for the Sweet 16 and 200K for the Elite 8 or better. The base salary could get a 6-8% boost but beyond that make good things happen and set expectations for much more regular trips to the NCAA Tourney.

    • “There was competition. Sometimes when there’s competition, people don’t want to be part of competition. Everybody that is physically able and/or deserves to be part of the program is with us and that’s the bottom line.”

      Can I just say…….this kind of attitude is refreshing. No bullshit “neat deal/story/guy”, if you want to play, you need to compete.

          • That’s assuming he has a winning record & continues going to the NCAA 1 tournament. If he doesn’t, he might not even get an OSU extension. I watched part of the Oregon/Duke game and the speed, particularly, was on a very different level. I’m used to the Beavs going across the half-court line and then looking around for a bit. Perhaps the speed, OTOH, was due in part to neither coach calling time-outs like Tinkle is wont to do after even the tiniest rally.

    • Anbody here think the Beavs season could have been just as good as Oregon’s if we had landed Chris Boucher? Beavs were in his top 6 at one point, but then he cut his list to 3 and replaced OSU with Oregon. I feel like he was a major difference maker in last nights game with his ling frame and activity around the basket. Something the Beavs could have used.

    • I just watched the video. Agree — nice shooting touch, decent form and range. Also finishes well, gets off his feet quickly for blocks, looks like a decent passer and an above average defender. I think he could play as a PF for OSU, as well as a post. As a PF, he could take many defenders into the paint and have his way with them. Could see him being effective while on the court with Drew Eubanks, when we want to go big.

      Tyler Rawson would be a very good get for OSU, or so it seems to me. Add Tyler Rawson to Ben Kone (if healthy) and to Jaquori Mclaughlin, and OSU would be getting a nice infusion of new talent, to add to a strong group of returners. And still another scholarship available, isn’t there?

      • Yes, we have two available. Tinkle has said before that he wants to keep at least one of those two available for the 2017 class, which he said was shaping up to be even better than the 2015 class.

        • 2017 may include Steven Thompson Jr’s little bro, Ethan Thompson, who is supposed to be the better of the 2 players.

          This link shows a little grid with current players and potential signees by class, although I don’t know how up to date it is. It has Mcloughlin as a Verbal commit rather than a signed commit, but I’m pretty sure he has already signed, right?

          http://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/oregon-state

  6. Re: the spring ball article:

    I get that GA’s statement quoted above is about as un-Riley as you can get, and it is refreshing if you think of it only that way.

    But GA just dismissed a player for the murky reason of “violating rules” and then goes and says this publicly, apparently about that same player–making him sound like a coward or a guy who couldn’t take competition. Feels on the edge of slander, in my opinion. He’s dealing with a kid in his teens, who’s trying to make something of his life. And then the coach does this sort of backhanded slam. Against one of his own recruits, by the way.

    Also, from that same article, apparently after every practice, every player will be listed as either a “winner” or a “loser.” Again, golly you betcha, a not-anything-near-Riley attitude. But does anyone think, like me, that it doesn’t do the team any good to label guys who may take longer to get it as “losers”? That’s training a number of your guys to think of themselves, and be identified by others, as “losers” before they even get in a game situation.

    Being un-Riley is great, don’t get me wrong. But being hamhanded and cruel, that’s just going too far in the other direction. And is not good coaching.

    • They’re not kids; they’re adults.

      I don’t think he’s calling them losers as people, but they lost the battle that day. There is a big difference.

    • If every player is either a winner or a loser after a football game, why is it so wrong for each to be a winner or loser after football practice?

      • It’s not. There’s just a modern sentiment that everyone is a winner and everyone is equal all the time. Which is so obviously false, but it’s a nice white lie that makes some feel good and not have to deal with reality/life.

      • In a game, hopefully the losers are on the other team–a very big difference. If you use the term “loser” for one of your own guys, from day one, I don’t think that serves your team well in any way that I can imagine. Along toward the end of the season (say, the Civil War game) that third- or fourth-string guy–the “loser,” according to his coach all season–might be the next man up. With all the confidence in the world, right?

        And, come on, this is a 2-10 team–the word “loser” is floating around every guy on it, whether we like that or not. What kind of coach would start using that word on his own guys?

        I think GA could use a language coach.

    • I’ll agree. He’s seeming almost overly harsh in his critique of some guys, because one of the most scathing things you can say about a football player (or any athlete) is question his toughness and willingness to compete. I’d rather someone say I simply wasn’t good enough.

      And I’ll disagree with Angry saying they’re adults, I mean yeah they can legally sign papers and whatnot but think back to yourself at 20. Were you a mature, appropriate decision making person at 20 as you are now? I’d assume not. So you’re a young adult, and that matters. Slamming young men probably isn’t the way to go.

    • More on GA’s spring practice call:
      -Drew Clarkson to miss spring, not good; hope he is 100% for fall.
      – Leo who? “Leo Fuimaono, who also missed last season with an injury, will enter the spring replacing Josh Mitchell as the starting center.”

    • This comment was in regards to the question about past starters on the defense leaving the team. It was not about the player dismissed from the team.

    • He put up with Collins’ shit all year. This had to have been something pretty egregious because he isn’t one to slander players.

  7. Psychologists keep finding over and over that how you label yourself, and how you are labeled, makes a profound real-world difference. So how could it possibly be wise to impose the term “loser” on your own players from day one of the season’s practices.

    This year being different from Riley ain’t gonna cut it. And GA’s tendency to puff himself up with “tough” talk already is wearing thin, at least for me. Save your toughness for the field, Coach.

    There’s a lot I like about GA, for sure, I think he’s recruited well, and I HOPE he’s good at creating a winning attitude.

    But let’s face it: so far in real life we’ve had a lot of “tough” talk–such as, last year, the truly insulting “time to get your big-boy pants on”–and a 2-10 record.

    • I might agree if Andersen had a history of being one of those “classic,” abusive college coaches. But his history doesn’t indicate he is.

      In one-on-one drills, in unit drills, full squad scrimmages, or even with self-discipline (study, diet, workouts) one wins or loses and self knows that. Understanding how to deal with the small losses (individual drills, or even a play in a PAC game) without letting it defeat the self or the team in the bigger quest is critical. Anybody who cant handle that probably isn’t going to contribute meaningfully to the quest for a Pac-12 championship.

      • Well said, ObjC.

        A couple more takes:
        1) the winner/loser thing, as I understand it, is for an individual day or week; that means it starts over next time. It is an evaluation of one specific period of time, not an indictment of any individual.
        2) Andersen has been more involved in promoting academics (see Kyle Peko and the reported team grades) than Riley. He continually pushes three areas of s/a life: sport, academics, social responsibility. Doesn’t this indicate a desire to build up those who will respond?

        We’ve seen what Riley’s laid back approach produced and Andersen deserves more than a year or two to demonstrate what a more focused approach will bring.

        • Exactly, it’s for individual drills and daily practice. If you’re a loser each day, you probably need to get better fast or quit. Andersen cares a lot about his players. He was a walk-on/loser himself, so I doubt he is picking on anyone specifically and simply calling it like it is. Also, on the flipside, the “winner” gets uber confidence and wants to remain a winner — it keeps a very high standard in place because the winner wants to remain a winner, whereas the loser wants to become a inner, which is good.

          I’m sure he makes it clear that while they’re the loser today, they don’t have to be tomorrow.

    • Your assuming the players are going to get their feelings hurt……..only if they are not mentally tough enough to take criticism. It’s akin to pass/fail, nothing more.

      I don’t know if you have ever played D1 sports…..but this is how it works at good programs. It’s simple, be mentally tough to take criticism or leave. Really any upper level sport to be truthful. It’s not co-ed 2nd grade soccer and everyone gets a trophy.

      I mean, we could go back to the Riley rainbow unicorn farts bullshit, that put us in this situation. And I have a hard time believing anybody wants that.

      • Beav players, every one of them, signed up to a losing program–in fact, to a program with a strong reputation for losing. And added to that a new and constantly shifting coaching staff. So I can’t think of a tougher-minded group in the Pac 12.

        Talk about facing up to adversity.

        “Loser” is a term DESIGNED to hurt someone’s feelings. And yeah, some guys see that as a hill to climb or a wall to break through, and rise to the top. Good for them, and we want them.

        But some guys respond better to criticism that is meant to improve and not to insult. Even at the D1 level, and maybe especially there–because it’s a highly, highly skilled level, no matter how tough you want to be.

        I hope GA’s not a one-trick pony when it comes to his style of motivation. For some players, and probably a whole lot more than that, reasonable criticism in a variety of ways, and even at high decibels, is exactly what they want and would thrive in. They didn’t accidentally get into a tough sport. I hope GA’s got a lot of approaches with his players–and not the same “tough-ghy” note over and over again that I seem to be hearing so far.

        Every single guy on our team is already facing adversity given our record, and so signed up for a lot more real-life adversity than any player at Oregon or at the other Pac 12 elite teams.

        I think they can be shouted at, criticized, taught. Even some of that process can slip out into the public sphere.

        But public insults and name-calling? I just don’t see a place for it, especially for the players who signed up for this historically losing and now constantly (so far) shifting team. Our players deserve a whole lot of respect.

        And a whole lot of that respect should come from their coaches.

        • Beav players, every one of them, signed up to a losing program–in fact, to a program with a strong reputation for losing. And added to that a new and constantly shifting coaching staff. So I can’t think of a tougher-minded group in the Pac 12.

          Talk about facing up to adversity.

          They either didn’t have better offers or thought this was their best chance to play. Some liked the coaches. Either way, they had a chance to weigh all that during their recruitment and decided to commit to GA knowing all about him. Stop with the everyone is a winner millennial crap.

        • “loser: noun: a person or thing that loses or has lost something, especially a game or contest.”

          “contest: noun: an event in which people compete for supremacy in a sport, activity, or particular quality.”

          How is the word loser “DESIGNED to hurt someone’s feelings”?

          Why do you hate competition? Why do you even watch or participate in sport?

        • If someone doesn’t like being called a loser then that individual should not participate in individual or team competition. There’s always one winner and one loser. Period. End of story.

          If we use that logic in your post ALL high school athletes should be 5 star athletes. Wouldn’t want any 1 star or no star athletes getting a complexion or feeling sad.

          When I played growing up and you got your ass handed to you during a game, you got pissed off, went back to practice the next day and practiced harder because you didn’t want that to happen again. Kids today are such pussies

    • This is old news. From day 1 Andersen said there will be competition in every practice and that winners would be declared in said competition. So what if in one of the many ways he described this he said there would be winners and losers. I would hate it if someone called me out every time I declared someone and winner and someone else a loser in some type of competition.

  8. Since we’re already filling this thread with football talk, has anybody heard anything about the QB position? Do we really plan to go into the season with only Garretson, McMaryion and Moran on the depth chart?
    Maybe I’m missing somebody? We lost Mitchell, Collins and Matagi is supposedly transferring to BYU after his mission. They tried to recruit Matt Struck but he had to go the JUCO route to fix some academic related issues, so there was at least an attempt to bring in one more QB, but I haven’t heard of any other backup plans after Struck couldn’t qualify.

  9. UW just took down Kentucky in WBB. I hope the OSU women have a little bit of what the UW gals have going when they play tomorrow.

    S. Carolina also out.

    • Yes, they did – and I don’t think Kelsey Plum was the high scorer. The other players picked it up. As the Cal’s WBB coach noted, the Beavs don’t handle pressure very well and if DePaul rattles them to the point that Weisner and/or Weiss can’t get into the flow of the game, I think it won’t go well for the Beavs.

      • You mean the Cal coach whose team lost twice to the Beavs? By a combined 32 pts?

        Agree that if BOTH Weisner and Weiss are taken out of the game it will be a long day. However, if just one of those two has their usual game I think the rest of the team will contribute enough to be competitive.

          • No problem, whoever said it made a good point.
            In any event, this game is gonna be a big test for Beavs WBB. I think I’d be slightly more comfortable if they hadn’t blown out the last two opponents, but Rueck and the team are saying all the right things.

  10. Tonights lineup has Donahue leading off (DH) followed by Madrigal and Harrison. Morrison moves up to 7th in the order. No Larnach tonight.

    Cals pitcher tonight has an ERA about 2 runs higher than Jefferies who was so tough last night.

  11. Pitch count: Jake in 3 innings 40; Cal’s guy in 4 innings only 44.
    And, on pitch #41 to open the b4, Jake gives up another HR.
    2-0 Bears

  12. Stanford ladies take out top seed Notre Dame. That makes the 4th and 5th place teams from the Pac-12 in the elite 8

  13. Jake being Jake; playing with fire, cannot execute an intentional BB, has thrown 84 pitches and given up 4 runs.
    Meanwhile Cal’s guys is cruising along. Top of the order coming up for the Beavs t6, time for some O.

  14. Cal has a pretty good team and this was Oregon State’s first legitimate tough test with this road series. I expected the Beavers to lose 2 of 3. Cal’s ace and #2 guys are pretty good. No surprise to see them have a tough weekend. Not really worried about them

    • If you want credit for a prediction, you should make it before the game/series starts. Saying you expected them to lose 2 of 3 at this point seems weird.

  15. Reality check going to lose this series. Hopefully pick up a game tomorrow. The offense been non-exsistent. can’t even get to their bullpen.

  16. Way OT: Article on Walton:

    “I spoke with the announcer Jim Gray, who has worked with Walton on TV for decades. “Bill is a brilliant man,” he said. “He has such a fertile mind. He’s probably the only person who’s ever been able to tie together, in the same sentence, Mother Teresa, Michael Jordan, climate change, the Berlin Wall and — what’s that ballerina’s name? Baryshnikov. Before you know it, you’re off to Ferdinand Magellan. I’ll say to him sometimes: What about the game? He’ll say: It doesn’t matter, the people can see the game.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/bill-waltons-long-strange-tale-of-nba-survival.html?ref=sports&_r=0

  17. More OT reading, Nike’s tactic of “Always ‘Reppin” (itself), and Knight feels like Oregon and Duke (two Nike-sponsored teams) were “his children?” Geezus. Players indicate they’d like their own team motto instead of Nike’s….

    “Does it rub any players the wrong way to have an inorganic slogan on their organic cotton shirts? Do they care that they are essentially modeling the apparel company’s latest line of inspirational clothing, and all they get out of the deal are a few T-shirts?

    “There’s certain stuff you like more than others depending on whatever your taste is,” said Casey Benson, a sophomore guard at Oregon. He added: “It’s nice to have your own original saying. There’s something to be said about that.”

    Caid Kirven, a 6-foot-9 senior forward for Virginia, which is sponsored by Nike, said: “I’m always a fan of getting new stuff. But, yeah, it is one of those things because we get them and they’re awesome and we’re really excited and then we turn on the T.V. and everyone is wearing them and it’s like, Oh, man.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/sports/ncaabasketball/at-ncaa-tournament-one-motto-fits-many-teams.html?ref=sports

    Ok, enough OT this a.m….

    Go WBB! Will there be a game thread?

  18. Does anyone have a list of early enrollees and JC guys who are showing up in time for spring?

    Basically who from the class of 2016 will be participating in spring ball? I don’t think we had any greyshirts this year, right?

    I know Moran and I’ve heard there’s a lot of early enrollees but don’t have any other names.

  19. Harrison with a 2 RBI HR first inning; add to that Eckert is on the mound today and prospects are good for a W today.
    Seems KJ may be getting hot at the same time as Ice remains sharp, should be good for the O as we watch for pitching to solidify.

  20. I didn’t notice the new football roster was out. Here’s some moves I noticed:

    Cyril Noland Lewis to CB (3rd move in 3 years?)
    Titus Failuga to OLB
    Adam Soesman to OLB
    Devin Chappell to S

    Also, anyone else find it strange that we have 5 place kickers?

      • He’s listed as a CB under the 2015 roster, and that’s what I remember from last year. I know he played a lot of nickel but I thought CB was still his base.

    • You must be looking at the OSU site; the Salem paper which still has Strong on the team lists Titus as a D End and C Noland Lewis as OLB.
      Someone should email Horowitz (or our old buddy Cliff Kirkpatrick). A Facebook acct is required for posting comments to Horowitz’s erroneous article.

      Regardless of which positon Titus holds on the FB team, it’s that rasslin’ with Gabby Hanson which Gina reported that concerns me most

    • It’s the most dangerous position on the field………..turf toe….hang nails…….improperly stretched groin. Gotta keep your bases covered.
      Only one has a scholarship……..correct?

  21. Was just looking through espn women’s bracket and decided to look at the person who has the #1 bracket rank. That person has the beav women winning the NC. They have only missed 1 game so far in the entire bracket. Thought that was kind of neat…..even though it’s a long way to the top.

  22. Baylor and UConn are so good. It sucks for the Beavs that their side of the bracket is shaking out to be much tougher. They’d have a good shot of making the championship game if they were on the other side.

  23. Beavs lose 5-3 and get swept at Cal. I wasn’t certain the Beavs would win this series as it looked to be the toughest on the road this season but I certainly didn’t expect them to get swept. Be that as it may, Cal is still very good

      • Eckert much like Rasmussen Thursday night had one bad inning. Didn’t make it out of the 2nd. Beavs knocked Cal’s starter out in the 1st. Cal’s bullpen is pretty damn good. I don’t think getting swept is going to sit well with Casey. Have to see how the team responds on Monday and Tuesday. The next 9 games are home (well, all in Oregon. One game is in Hillsboro). Beavs don’t play another road game until the series in Pullman on April 14. The next 12 games are not difficult

    • Well, who do you suggest has shown good enough numbers to warrant a spot in the weekend rotation? Heimlich has been good and bad. He was good early, then terrible, then gave a good 4-1/3 today. Idk why the Beavs seem to lack pitching depth. Really missing Sam Tweedt this season

  24. Thought we would get at least 1 game at Cal…..ughghggggg. Pac-12 is wide-open again. If Beavs dominate bottom half of the teams, and go .500 the rest the way against the top half, they’ll still get a regional IMHO.

  25. I’m for Heimlich as the Saturday starter and relegate Jake to bullpen and mid-week duty or bring on one of the new hot shot freshmen for mid week pitching chores. We need to see more of Mitch Hickey also. My favorite lineup vs. righties is Morrison leading off, then Madrigal, KJ, Ice, Nobach in center, Donahue in left and Jack in right with Billy as DH. vs lefties, stay the same except use Gillette as the DH. Larnach seems to need mid week time and I’m not sold on Gretler as the 2nd catcher…. how about catching the O’Rourke kid midweek? Just sayin’.

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