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David Pa’aluhi to Leave Program?

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Back to discussing football. Last week we learned we’d be losing Keith Pankey for the season. This week it appears David Pa’aluhi is leaving the program to move back to Hawaii and pursue a career in the military.

While not a finalized decision, if Pa’aluhi does leave, the depth chart takes a serious blow. There is more depth on the outside than in the middle. My guess is that Tony Wilson would get the nod in the middle since he was set to be 2nd team last year before going down. Robinson might get a (brief) look, but he had better bulk up quite a bit–last season he was completely over matched.  He’ll likely be 2nd string, though, and that is scary. Not sure Akuna is ready, physically, for the middle. Doctor, Welch, Unga–they all seem better suited for the outside rather than stopping runs between the tackles.

Clearly the best case scenario is that Pa’aluhi has a change of heart and remains with the team, as he was a very nice player last year. But the fact that he’s considering this new and completely different life leads me to believe he’s disenchanted on a level beyond repair. Even if he does return, physically, how much effort will he give on the field?

Blitzers Who Want to Berate This Blog

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Keep your posts confined to this area. We don’t need that kind of vitriol spewed across various threads. I see you’re all swarming over here like decapitated chickens; likely in response to the below linked thread and your lionized leader, “Shov”, telling you my opinions are shit.

Listen, lemmings, just book your tickets to El Paso and continue to blindly follow Riley and Mamma Machado whilst gloating over every minor OSU accomplishment, like say, a victory from the…gymnastics team. Oh, and this is the kind of crap I have to deal with from you nitwits:

Your enjoyment over the injury of one of our players is just disgusting. I am fully aware of who you are and what your goal is. I hope you are just trying to get a rise out of people, and that you don’t actually believe what you write. I find it funny that you write so that what you say is perceived as fact and not the poorly informed opinion that it really is.

A couple other notes that don’t make sense. You think Wilson is the leader to take over Pankey’s position??? Wilson is an Middle Linebacker, he will never play on the outside for the Beavers. Keo Camat may be the starter during the spring but he will get surpassed by the young guys very quickly. Robinson and the Unga’s will get the first shot and don’t count out Michael Doctor who you only mentioned once. I like Akuna’s potential, but I highly doubt that he will come in during the fall and start. Riley only plays true freshman when there is an absolute need at the position. We are stacked at LB so unless Akuna comes in as a world beater, which he may well do, it is more likely that we redshirt him.

Do you attend practices regularly? If you do then I would be up for a friendly chat during one of them. I always enjoy a good discussion. It would also help put a face to this cowardly blog.

And my (much more rational) reply:

First off, thanks for your input. Now let me show you how ridiculous and blind your opinions are. If you’d kindly remove your oranges glasses:

1. You say I “enjoy” the injury of a player. Show me where I get enjoyment. It would have to involve a comment such as, “Keith Pankey is hurt, this is awesome and I am enjoying it!” and I simply don’t see that. I said the replacement will be better. Instead of focusing on the perceived “negative” that I wrote, how about focusing on the positive–that I said we have better players. That wouldn’t be convenient for you, though, would it?

2. You say Wilson is a MLB, then you mention Robinson (another MLB) as someone who could take over outside. Like Kristick, Wilson is a player who can play middle or outside. At least be consistent. That is, don’t mention a MLB for OLB after you berate me for doing it.

3. “Riley only plays true freshman when there is an absolute need at the position”. Um, define absolute need. Phillip started last year and we had other tackles, you know. Quiz started as a freshman and we had McCants (and others). I’m not going to make a blanket statement like you did, or another one, such as “Riley always plays the best player” because even that isn’t true (e.g. Pankey over Roberson, #28 over Collins, etc, etc). Riley’s decisions are many times baffling, and probably a weighing of many factors.

4. You call me a coward, yet I am the only dissenting, well-spoken, voice of reason in “Beaver Nation” (can we think up a more original moniker, please?). You’re a coward for blindly following the opinions of your cohorts, uttering stupid, brainwashed phrases such as “in Mike Riley we trust”, and closing your mind to what this blog is: due criticism in an attempt to make the team better.

When the Beavers are routinely making the Rose Bowl (or heck, higher than a Sun Bowl), come back and tell me there is no room for criticism. Until then, I suggest you shut your mouth, bite your tongue, and go back to burying your head in the sand.

And I’ll even expound upon the “cowardly” remark, just because it’s fun to show people how emotion flaws logic.

1. Are newspapers cowards when they don’t attend practice, yet write their opinions and observations of players or games?

2. Are you a coward for not coming to my door to deliver your message and instead posting it behind the anonymity of an IP address?

3. Make sense–your logic is a disgrace to humanity and a reason our academics aren’t up to par. Stop embarrassing the intelligent, objective readers who post here and enjoy the blog for the breath of fresh air that it is.

Pankey Tears Achilles; Beavers Become a Better Team

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Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous that an injury to a senior LB would make the Beavers a better team, but the reality is that Keith Pankey is so bad, that his departure from the squad makes the Beavers better. That is, of course, assuming the guys behind him are at least average, and they are.

Tony Wilson was having a fantastic spring last year before he suffered his own season-ending injury. Then there is the prize of this year’s class, Shaydon Akuna. Akuna will likely start in Pankey’s place. Why?

1. Riley has been getting more precocial talent the past few years. Therefore, he’s been starting guys more and more as freshman. See Markus Wheaton, Michael Phillip, James and Quizz, etc.

2. The alternatives are Robinson, Tony Wilson, or Keo Camat. Wilson will be a good player, and he’s the main challenge here. However, his skill set is more suited for middle linebacker.

3. Pankey started as a true freshman, and he was (and still is) a below average defender who wouldn’t start on any other Pac-10 squad, not even Washington State. If Riley was willing to put Pankey in that position, surely he will give Akuna every opportunity to win the job.

Of course, Riley will make it an open competition to dissuade complacency, but right now we’re likely going to see another 4-star gem starting as a freshman. Do you think Akuna was over-nighted the playbook? You never want to cheer an injury, but this one is a blessing in disguise and the type of divine intervention that makes me wonder if the Beavers are in for a big year.

2010 Recruiting Class Rankings

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Thomas Molesi ++++

Fred Thomspon ++++

Sean Mannion ++++

Donnell Welch ++++

Shaydon Akuna +++

Scott Crichton +++

Ryan Murphy +++

Trevor Romaine +++

Tyler Perry +++

Mana Tuivailala ++

Michael Bibbee ++

Roman Sapulo ++

Dominic Glover ++

Malcolm Marable +

Will Story +

Connor Hamlett +

Not yet signed Happy Iona: Will never don the orange and black. Terron Ward: Intriguing prospect. Excellent speed. Does he have much else? Good gamble in offering a greyshirt.

Washington, The Big "Dawg" In Hawaii?

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Ah, 1990. Seinfeld in, MC Hammer out.  Somewhere in the woods of the great Pacific Northwest, the word “nirvana” was muttered by an ugly, smelly, dying hippie who never quite attained it, while at a small club in Seattle, Washington, the word “Nirvana” was chanted by crowds of modern hippies, known as hipsters, in reverence of the most important rock band of my era. Seattle was on the map; grunge was king; I was rocking my flannel, and my 36 inch jeans lay on my 30 inch waist like Fogel’s “before” photo. That’s what size 32 belts are for, right? Thus began the great foray into The Emerald City.

What is the saying, every 20 years history repeats itself? Or is it every 30 years? Well, for the sake of this write up let’s say 20 and be historically inaccurate historians. Who doesn’t like irony!?  Ladies and gents, Seattle is once again relevant. Not only were the Huskies 41.666666% improved from the year prior, but according to recruiting services (I would disagree), they raked in one of the better classes in the conference. What is more disturbing is that the Dawgs seem to be hijacking our Hawaiian pipeline. Hawaiian recruits by team are as follows:

Washington-4

Arizona-1

Oregon State-1

UCLA-1

Arizona State-0

Cal-0

Oregon-0

Stanford-0

USC-0

Washington State-0

The Huskies with 300% more Hawaiian recruits than the Beavs? Hawaii was our lifeblood for a decade. Where do we regain that ground? The fertile mollisols of Oklahoma? Certainly not the cold gelisols of Alaska! Ah, nothing like soil references and blogging on a Wednesday night. Nevada dried up years ago. Maybe Texas. All I know is that the massive Pete Carroll creep tree is hanging over the conference…you either recruit dirty or you might as well not show up on Saturday. This conference is getting more and more competitive; what I don’t like to see is the Beavers losing ground in areas they historically dominate. And no, I don’t want to wait 30, or even 20 years, for history to repeat itself and the Beavs once again gain a stranglehold of The Aloha State.