This video of Riley is disturbing.

http://www.csnnw.com/beavers/mike-riley-looks-man-who-has-ran-out-ideas-answers

It appears he’s tearing up at one point. Is there something going on with him outside of football? I haven’t seen Riley look like this ever, outside the 2009 Civil War. You could understand it after that game, but what is going on now? Is he upset that we fans don’t appreciate him? We do appreciate stabilization, Mike, but not stagnation. Or is there something going on in the guy’s personal life?

I almost feel bad for getting on him after watching the video.

Having a beat writer in bed with the coaching staff doesn’t help the Oregonians’ mandate of objective reporting.

Tweet #1: @Quizz79 Lastly, do you have ANY idea how well respected Riley is around CFB, esp from other coaches, who know he’s not working with much?

Tweet #2: On my flight home yesterday I sat next to a very nice, very smart fan who understands why Riley is right guy for OSU. Wish more ppl got it.

Tweet #3: If you fire Riley, you likely hire someone who thinks of OSU as a stepping stone … and then you become all about constant turnover.

Tweet #4: You need to understand that Riley is doing a lot with not very much. You do understand that OSU is not a destination job, right?

Tweet #5: Mike Riley getting a lot of questions this morning about things NOT related to Oregon State football.

I’d like to know what the questions unrelated to football were.

Let’s assume there’s a smidgeon of truth that Riley doesn’t have a lot with which to work. Does she stop to think that maybe it is his own doing? A perfect example is the best RB he signed off Quizz’s “Heisman” buzz was Ward. Any other coach would milk that for a blue chip. Riley constantly plucks low-hanging fruit, so any deficiency in his pantry is due to his lack of grocery shopping.

Here is her twitter so you can see how bad it is: https://twitter.com/LindsayRae19

Oregon State beat writer for The O in PDX. Love football and fashion — who says the two are mutually exclusive? — but my heart belongs to hoops.

She sounds like a bimbo/ditz.

Here’s a chat she conducted today: http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2013/11/live_chat_talk_oregon_state_fo_7.html

Check out the first comment:

A school without resources can have a good few years, but ultimately cycle back (a la Boise State), but ultimately it ALL comes down to the reality that has permeated all levels of football now. Can you guess what that is? Hint: it starts with MONEY, ends with MONEY, has MONEY in the middle!!

We have loser fans, a loser beat writer, and a mediocre college coach (who was a big time loser in the NFL). Everyone invested wants to protect the status quo. Lindsey gets off on being close to the program and feeling important. Fans hate reading her crap. And she is a HORRIBLE writer (I did not edit his post, and it’s probably more well-written than her Nationally published pieces).

You have to wonder, what is the old guard protecting?

Bigger picture, how do we bridge the gap between old guard expectations and the modern era fanbase? Is there a way to do it amicably? Does the old guard raise expectations, or do the younger fans lower theirs’ (this is essentially what the old guard is asking we do, and personally, it makes me feel indignant and a bit disgusting to suggest, “you just need to lower expectations and everything will be okay”…).
The comment below is from O-live and sums up the old guard’s viewpoint. The sentiment is not dissimilar to a prisoner’s rationalization right before he’s about to take it in the ass.

“beaver84

1 Hour Ago

I am a 84 OSU Graduate. Most of the Riley doubters must be much younger than me and/or haven’t studied the history of Beaver football. Riley has built the Beavers into a nationally respected team from what used to be one of the laughing stocks of Div I football. WE were the team that everyone else used to use to pad their schedules. Now we represent a team that can play against pretty much anyone on any given night. Of course we have up and downs, but you must look at the reality of OSU before blaming Riley. HE and his style of coaching is why we get ANY decent players to commit to OSU. Even if Nick Saban came to OSU, I guarantee the results wouldn’t change much. OSU cannot compete against the big name schools in terms of recruiting, EVER. Other than a few good players from the state of Oregon, Riley and crew usually have to work with second tier talent that comes to OSU because they were not given scholarships by bigger name schools. Riley and staff have done a great job developing what they have to work with and have produced many NFL players. For example, do you think James Rodgers & subsequently Jaquizz would have even considered OSU if UT, A&M, Baylor, etc would have offered him scholarships? No way. OSU has a great reputation for the program due to Riley and that is why we can woo a some of these overlooked gems to “cowtown” Corvallis Even with such a handicap, we have kicked ass on some big name schools over the last 13 years AND have been to a lot of bowl games. OSU football is exciting to watch, and YES very nerve wracking when they blow opportunities to win. Riley works with what he has. He can run a balanced attack, we just don’t currently have a Simonton, Jackson, Bernard, or Rodgers for him to work with…or perhaps as talented or as big of an offensive line as in the past. Any way….if you want a scapegoat for the last three games, it should be Mannion. Great kid with lots of talent who has made a lot of mistakes the last three games against teams you need to play with minimal errors. He got banged up against Stanford and lost the touch. Very similar to Derick Anderson when the Beavs were 4-0 and let the nation in passing. DA got murdered by USC in game 5 and lost the next 4. Riley didn’t throw the interceptions agains Stanford…it was bad decisions by Mannion. The two in/near the end zone killed us. If we scored on those, we most likely would have won….and remember, Stanford was ranked like #6 in the county at the time. Same story against USC and ASU. If Mannion can erase his jitters and not hold the ball so long in the pocket when the rush breaks through, we can beat Washington. I know the coach is ultimately responsible, but if the program gets rid of Riley, don’t expect anything great to happen over the next decade.”

Even if the modern era fans are overly optimistic “dreamers”, I’d rather associate myself with them than that ^

A reason Ed Ray will never considering firing Bob D is all the backlash from the ’84 grad types. Until the majority of fans have a clear vision of what they want/demand, the AD will not, and we’ll toil in this tug of war (that is bordering on a fanbase Civil War).