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Discussion: Baseball

By
angry
-
38

Enough with the basketball and football failures. It's time for us to fail in another sport: baseball. With Cliff's writeup coming out in the Times tomorrow, I figured this would be a good time to discuss opening day.

The official site has an informative writeup on the infield and outfield:

Sounds like we're going to be a team that scrapes for runs. Maybe even more so than last year. Susac might be the best power threat. Nash is surprisingly going to start out in CF. I don't like the idea of Miller as a starting OF. He was terrible on offense last year; he couldn't even get bunts down. Maybe Poyer grabs that spot?

Without too much thought behind this, I like an infield of:

3B-Not sure. Maybe Jake Rodriguez? Great HS numbers, but zero experience, and he didn't exactly tear up the West Coast League.
SS-Carter Bell
2B-Tyler Smith (He really  needs to improve his offense to be an every day 2B)
1B-Dylan Jones/Parker Berberet
C-Andrew Susac/Parker Berberet

And an outfield of:

RF-Jared Norris
CF-Garret Nash
LF-Jordan Poyer? Probably a reach, but he seems like the best speed/power threat out of the group. More likely is Norris starting in LF and Miller starting in RF. Ugh.

Sounds like a lot of these guys are interchangeable. I'm starting to see why we're picked 8th in the Pac-10…not a whole lot of pop in this lineup. The pitching staff should be good to great, though. I'm really high on Boyd, and he's rightfully starting out in the rotation. The bullpen appears shaky, but there's going to be addition by subtraction with the graduation of "KRhod".

This team has the feel of a turn of the century dead-ball-era squad: an abundance of pitching, limited power, good speed, and good defense. While I love that era and style of baseball, I'm not sure it works well with the *ping* bats. Stefan Romero leaving early was a shock at the time, and it's tempered my enthusiasm for this year's squad. If an unknown quantity, such as Poyer or Rodriguez, can provide offensive pop then the team could do well.

Basketball: Oregon State @ UCLA

By
angry
-
35

Today is the Lady Beav's birthday, so I am taking her out to lunch and then wine tasting. I'm not sure I'll be home for the game, but either way, I don't have time to write much about it this morning.

All I'd say is I'm expecting a loss for the same reasons I outlined last week:

1. The Beavers only play well versus Goliath teams where they have no pressure and nothing to lose.

2. The Beavers only play well at home versus such teams where the crowd forces them to focus.

With UCLA on a roll of late, they meet one of two criteria, which means a Beaver loss. This stat from the official site backs me up:

The Beavers are scoring about the same no matter where they play this season, averaging 71.4 points at home and 66.4 points on the road per game. The big difference is the scoring of their opponents, which are averaging 65.9 points at Gill Coliseum and 80.0 points per game on their respective home courts.

How do you explain allowing 15 more points on the road other than a complete lack of focus?

Nelson and Smith are going to have their way inside. Honeycutt will make them pay for playing a zone. I expect a romp, and the Beavers losing streak to UCLA to uptick to 13 straight.  The only things certain in life are death, taxes, and the Joe Burton costing the Beavers another game.

79-59, Bruins.

When: 1pm

TV: FSN (Nationally)

Radio: KPAM

Restructuring of Pac-12 Officials

By
angry
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14

The guy we've been complaining about for years, Dave Cutaia, has been asked to step down as coordinator of officiating. You can read about all the proposed changes here.

http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/220365/pac-10-restructures-football-officiating-program.aspx

It's a lot of corporate, cheese-ball lingo, but the bottom line is that we should get better officials.

Remember all those guys who would show up to this blog and say our petitions and voice don't matter? I think they do matter. I know I personally bombarded Larry Scott via his lapdog Kirk Reynolds. I'm sure a lot of you did as well.

High five, beavlettes.

Basketball: Oregon State @ USC

By
angry
-
77

Some interesting quotes from Robinson today:

[Robinson] told me this week that he may have finally settled on his starting lineup for the rest of the season. He didn't put it up to a popular vote, but he did talk to his players.

Keep in mind, Robinson doesn't attach much importance to who starts. If somebody comes off the bench and tears it up, he gets more minutes.

So tonight at the Galen Center OSU will throw out a starting five consisting of two freshmen and three sophomores for the third straight game: Jared Cunningham and Ahmad Starks at G, Burton and Devon Collier at forward and Brandt in the middle. … with the calvary right behind in the form of Omari, Calvin, and Roberto.

The only real issue I have is Joe "the big injun that could not" Burton starting. Now that Collier has established himself, why not put Roberto Nelson in there? Robinson had this to say on the subject:

Robinson said Nelson – who had nearly a two year layoff from real games – "is working hard to break out of his slump (27 percent from the floor last five games) and that Burton needs to relax and just make plays. His offense will come.

"I remember how bad it was last year when he had four or five turnovers a game,'' said Robinson. "I don't feel as nervous when he has the ball in his hands as I did last year.''

Really? I feel more nervous than ever. Burton is like a pastry chef doling out the turnovers.

One other thing to keep an eye on: Jared Cunningham has gotten a free pass the past three games. Robinson mentions that Nelson is riding the pine because he's shooting 27% over his past five games. Well, Cunningham is shooting 27% over his past three, only making six field goals in that span.

The line on this game is -11.5, Trojans. That's a smidge high. Think two possession game, something like 69-63 Trojans. This is definitely a winnable game, though. One we should expect them to win, which is why it won't happen.

TV: FSN (8pm)

Radio: KPAM

Cliff Kirkpatrick on RB Hire

By
angry
-
58

I'm sure you all read Cliff's blog and saw his disappointing speculation this morning. Cliff believes Riley will hire Robin Ross as a TE or RB coach who will then recruit Southern California. Here's the link to Cliff's full post: http://cliffkirkpatrick.mvourtown.com/2011/02/09/cliff-football-hire-speculation/

The words in the article that stood out to me were, "He’s a long-time friend of OSU coach Mike Riley."

What did I write about last week? Hiring an ol' pal and continuing the nepotism.

It's not that Ross is a bad coach, quite the opposite. But, this is a watershed hire. There is a glaring weakness on the staff: the inability to win recruiting battles, notably with inner city kids. Well, the Pac-10 just added two cities (Salt Lake City and Boulder), so things are only going to become more difficult. We saw Juda Parker commit to Colorado because of the night life. Last year Owa did the same with UCLA. There are dozens if not hundreds of other examples over the past decade. We need someone who can relate to these types of athletes.

I'm skirting around the issues and using euphemisms. I'll just come out and say it: we need a young, personable, black coach. There, I said it. Ideally, we hire someone from a large city who has played college ball in a small town and can aggressively sell the benefits of that environment to recruits

Is Ross a recruiter who will get us over the proverbial hump we've been discussing for at least six years now? That "hump" sure is pesky, isn't it? If the head coach puts in an earplug each time opportunity knocks, then as a fan you cannot feign being shocked when the hump remains ever-present.

Here's to hoping Cliff is wrong, and Riley is not only a year older but a year wiser.

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