First off, is this newsworthy for a 5-5 team? I guess it’s fine to briefly mention it like they did, but they take it a step further [into the ridiculous] with this:

The Beavers have the best home winning percentage against top-10 teams since 2000 (5-5) of any unranked FBS team, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Just seems like a huge reach to find something positive. (a) narrowing it down to home winning percentage is odd (b) they then narrow it down to top 10 teams, and as we know Riley is 14-42 vs top 25 teams (c) the word “unranked” should be negative, but the stat spins this as a positive.

It is a very odd stat and a good example how statistics can be misleading. For example, you have to wonder maybe the Beavs have just been unranked more often than the teams below them. Of course we don’t get that half of the equation. I know most will say “Angry, this is good for our National perception so why are you complaining?” I’m not. Just pointing out the BS/weirdness of it. If I am angry about anything it’s the mild insinuation in this article that everything’s now okay with Oregon State football. Ted Miller loves Riley and gets annoyed annually with fans who want to see a change.

I just read the story a bit ago and just wow…

That’s one of Canzano’s better pieces.

What stood out to me most was Riley. The quotes…

“It’s so sad to me that it still haunts her. It’s scary what that means to a lady,” Riley said. “Maybe retribution would have helped that. I don’t know. I just reminded our team here recently about those things that will change their life and others in a blink of an eye.”

“It’s scary what that means to a lady”? Then he goes on to make it about himself and the team.

Mike Riley, the football coach who Brenda Tracy resented so much all those years, is contemplating the unthinkable. He wonders if Tracy, nurse and survivor, might stand in front of his football team someday and share the gravity of her terrible experience.

“What do you think?” he asked me.

I told the coach she’d be powerful.

“I always try to research the right people to talk to our team and do it throughout the year,” Riley said. “That would be a compelling talk. A real-life talk. Instead of just talking about rape and sexual assault, actually having someone talk about how things can change for everyone in a moment like that.

I guess he’s trying to teach these players they shouldn’t rape people? Duh. Do people really need to be taught that? Maybe the lesson he’s trying to teach is your life can change quickly. That’s not as intuitive, so maybe there’s more merit there. But it just comes off really odd to me; like he is making it about himself and his players. Feels very “old boy network” to have a gang rape victim standup and talk to a football team when the coach who gave her rapists a 1 game suspension is standing there with [once again] his players’ well-being, rather than hers, in mind. It’s disgusting. I think completely differently about Riley after reading that article. I used to think he was a nice guy…