Two things before getting back to football (on Wednesday I'll break down the Louisville game).
1. People have complained about having to log into the site upon each visit. An easy solution is to register an account here:
http://angrybeavs.com/wp-admin/
You'll then be able to stay logged in, receive emails when someone responds to your post, etc. Recommended for a more enjoyable and personalized experience.
2. As some of you may have seen, my "tough question" made it into print over at Oregonlive.com. I admire Lindsay Schnell for having the guts to ask that question, even if she had to do it passive-aggressively (i.e. west-coast style) through me. Anyway, the question ignited a lot of rage in the comment area of that site in addition to hate mail in my inbox, so let me address a few things:
a. You have the choice to read or to not read this website. If you choose not to read the site, it doesn't effect me. Meaning, I don't seek "hits", as critics have suggested. The reason I hyperlink at other sites is because I know there are other fans like me out there, and I want them to know they have a place to voice their opinions.
b. The idea that I made this site to stroke my ego…you can feel that way, but I'm going to offer my side of it: I made this site because I'm a huge Beaver fan, and because I want a better product, and because I was banned from other sites for voicing my opinion. I could really care less about ego. Like everyone else, if someone says something positive, it feels good, but that's hardly a reason to make a website and put all this effort into it.
c. The things written that cause the most uproar are nothing more than opinions, and opinions, by definition, cannot be right or wrong. Predictions can become fact, and at that point become right or wrong. If you want to call me an idiot or otherwise criticize, try to first separate the two.
d. Let's not confuse constructive criticism where it's due with being overtly and irrationally negative for the sake of it. The former makes things better; the latter makes things worse.
That's about it. Thanks for the death threats. I now know why OSU has the #1 family atmosphere. :D
Haters hate. Or something like that. (OK, I’m way to white to pull that off)
People are more comfortable with their pollyanna-orange colored glasses (blinders) on. I’m pissed that if a team runs any sort of spread/option attack we suck at defending it. Jerry Pettibone would have loved to play us. And yes, the LMJ/KB combo is going to kill us in the CW. We just refuse to recruit speed and refuse to scheme against the “gimmicky” offense. And that’s why we’re headed to El Paso/LV/Anywherebutpasadena for our annual Bowl Game/celebration of mediocrity.
Of the UO/Tennessee…the only positive thing that came out of that bludgeoning was shutting up the announcers who, when the score was 13-3, were going on and on and on about “SEC Speed” and “SEC Talent,” blah, blah, freakin’ blah. Didn’t hear so much as a peep about SEC (fill in the blank) after LMJ rattled off a 72-yd broken play TD. It would be nice if we could make a statement like that with the whole world watching. For once. September 25 would be a good time for that.
On to Louiville…I want nothing more than the beavers to put a serious beat down on the ‘Cards. Too bad the same coaching staff isn’t there from ’04 to stand up and take the abuse they’re due. And I think we’re going to give it to them. Quizz is going to have a field day. Katz shreds their secondary. Haven’t seen the line yet, but Beavers by 24. Book it.
I appreciate the site, Angry. Nice to have a place to vent. You’re still an a-hole, though. (Ha!)
I received threats of violence if I show up at a game. Classy, right?
ps. I think that Louisville game was in 2005, not 2004.
“I received threats of violence if I show up at a game. Classy, right?”
I noticed that embarrassing comment too. so much for family atmosphere!
Wow…every pencil dick with a computer is a tough guy on the internet.
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/djensen04/TMB/Chameleon_hatersgonnahate.gif
Has anyone heard if the Beavs practiced today? I haven’t heard of any practice being held since before TCU.
I think some introspection for the Beavers’ fan base can only be a good thing. All football season, especially if one periodically peruses pureorange.com, one cannot escape the vibe that the biggest thing that limits OSU is its followers.
I do not think it is off the mark at all to suggest that the bitterness of 28 straight losing seasons, the consequent happy acceptance of total mediocrity under Riley II, and what frankly amounts to insane levels of Ducks envy, all prevent a more positive, assertive vision of Beavers football from even being envisioned. It’s hilarious on some level that it takes Ducks from Nike to honor the “Giant Killers” with a uniform to use against the Ducks for instance.
All of the “lunch pail” and “family atmosphere” myth making in the world is going to get Beavers football over the hump. Only an unstinting look at where one is contrasted against where one wants to be is going to be sufficient motivation to act towards the attainment of a higher goal than your first Holiday Bowl.
The Ducks, whether one wants to attribute it to the influential boosters or the mob, did just that. Mike Bellotti was our comfortable mediocrity. He got us to the doorstep of being at least a West Coast power, but he couldn’t break through the door or keep us regarded as anything better than an “outsider feel good story against the powers that be.” That was literally his narrative. Him getting pushed upstairs and eventually to TV analyst was what was required to attain a killer’s instinct in Chip Kelly. The results are not in until Kelly is doing it all with his own players, but the Ducks have a resiliency and a resolve that they seldom, if ever, had under MB.
Kelly’s New Hampshire wise guy affability covers a very steely motivation to figuratively stab the opposition until it is no necessary to bleed them out. He does not “hang on” for a win like MB used to and he has seemingly no conscience about making Riley and Banker look ridiculous on the field if he can.
Your self-assessment begins when you can admit as a fan base that you need to leave your collective comfort zone of middling results and short man’s syndrome about the Ducks and fashion some excellence you can proudly call your own. You shouldn’t even need this blog, or the opposition, or consultants from Nike to come to this conclusion on your own.
Four or more losses annually and a 2-13 road OOC record in the regular season isn’t excellence of any stripe to someone who didn’t spend a generation and a half sucking hind teat.
Drop the woe is me act, cut out the mediocrity if you can’t sweat it out of Riley, and market yourselves as something more positive and complimentary than the meager existence of trying to be the anti-Ducks.
You have all of the limitations that you accept to have.
these guys are a lot like dogs who bite out of fear. they just don’t know what to do with you, angry!
Keenan Lewis never got cut…he’s the primary backup.
And while I grant you the last two classes of Beavers in the NFL haven’t been great, only a handful were cut (Canfield, Kristick, Norris), and even those three were re-signed to the practice squad. 2009 seems like the theme here, not “last two seasons.” Hughes got dropped to practice squad as well, but that’s skewed by the fact that he went down before the season even started with a season-ending injury. Logically he’d have catchup to do.
So you could argue that many of our recent NFL draftees have been on the bubble for making in the in NFL…but that’s hardly the same as WAC caliber. Not one was dropped outright.
Butler has done well for Dallas, Levitre has done very well, Stroughter, Afalava, and even your guy Lewis have done alright.
Right, Hughes not Lewis. You know what I meant. Both were WAC caliber, but Hughes was actually the better of the two, at least for OSU.
Wasn’t Afalava cut last week? Not sure why you put him on your “done very well” list…
Hmm, must have missed that on Afalava. OK- you got me there. I knew he had a lot of play time and tackles last year (which actually surprised me since I wasn’t expecting him to make it).
Still, you didn’t explain how a WAC caliber player is 2nd on the depth chart after two years on a team with a pretty solid secondary (Steelers)?
A WAC player, Kyle Wilson, was selected in the first round by the Jets. He was absolutely toasted tonight–cost the Jets that game. Isn’t a WAC player starting for the Chargers are RB tonight?
I’m sure there are plenty of WAC players in the NFL.
Edit: just looked it up, 63 WAC players: http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=1578598
OK…looks like this is just semantics then. To me, “WAC-caliber player” implies “not good enough to play in an AQ conference,” and by extension “not good enough to make it in the NFL.” Obviously there are players good enough to make it from the WAC, and even in DII.
And any rookie from any league is a liability as a first game starter. Some can jump right in, but many -even ones that turn out to be really good in the end- can’t.
Well, I’m sure a lot more players (i.e. > 63) come from each AQ conference than the WAC. It’s a slight, but not the worst insult. My issue with Lewis: constant cramps and always seemed to be flailing/bad body control and never looked to make a play on the ball. I think the NFL liked him because he’s “rangy”…
Passive or aggressive, one thing remains constant – humans are territorial pack animals and no subset more so than sports fans. They see you as a threat to the pack, and therefore castigate you. Animals are typically instinctual, not forward thinking (yes yes, I know crows can get treats out of a vending machine).
My recommendation is to publish their emails to you on this site and forward the more violent of them to the cops and the Oregonian accompanying an op-ed about the hypocrisy of the OSU family atmosphere label. With your level of writing/critical thinking, it will get published.
When we go to our annual game this year, let’s welcome their beatings with a video camera and a cell phone ready to send to 911.
Actually, they see me as a threat to recruiting. All the emails I received talked about how recruits were going to read my blog and not attend Oregon State. Okaaaay.
I disagree that humans are pack animals. “Pack animal” suggests an animal that hunts in organized groups. I’m not being hunted by a group–they’re showing up one at a time via email and probably don’t know about each other. I suppose humans could attack/hunt me in packs if they all agreed on it and knew of each other, but I don’t think that happened here. I think you mean mob mentality.
Pack/mob, same thing..OSU positivity brigade=pack that you are attacking.
Angry, do you think players or coaches read your blog? You have really received death threats over your opinions, good lord people take life way to seriously. In the end, it is just a game.
I’m not sure if players read it. I know Bob D does.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVMPlIQAz5E&feature=related
ff to 3:45: that bone is this blog
Angry has more hair than what I pictured him to have. It’s weird that people always end up looking different than I imagine to in my mind.
PS, he is nasty with that bone in his hand.
I never understood why people that don’t like a blog just don’t stay off it. People that obviously know that the subject matter doesn’t fit them, and they come back again and again. Their missing something in their skull, and blowing smoke in other peoples fresh air makes them happy because they know people are right, that they shouldn’t be smoking.
No doubt! Just like the people who spend all the time arguing with flamers who post on articles…ignore and move on with your life. People are so thin-skinned…I’m embarrassed for them.
Don’t know. I remember people who hated Howard Stern had a hard time turning him off. I think these people need to constantly remind themselves why they hate something. They’re a bit masochistic. Or, they like it/agree on some level they don’t want to admit. Only possibilities I can think of.
O-Live seems to be full of passive references to your blog these days, Angry. Today an article about Riley defending his front 7 after fans started calling them out following the TCU game…wonder where “they” read that????? LMAO.
A guy on blitz just ripped off my “how to defend the spread” piece, too. And they’re praising him. Over here, I “knew nothing about football.” Funny how that works!
Doc on Rome–I posted the link in the forum area.