Washington Waddler

On the other hand, what has ultimately proven to be the NCAA’s loss of traction and undoing is making these arbitrary ‘lines in the sand’ stands that run head on into the court’s interpretation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Saying when and when not a player can utilize their legal right to negotiate an NIL contract seems to go in one direction: to court, and where the NCAA ultimately loses.

Saw a video once of a kangaroo slam dunk. Why not?

Yes! And, why stop at four year schools? Invite all the community colleges! Heck, we won’t even need a regular season anymore! October thru March Madness!

And good to see the pitching staff coming together for the stretch run.

Nice to see the drawing of the new practice facility wall on MLK Blvd using the old imported Chinese block basalt wall as a base for the ‘eye-popping O’ wall under consideration. Can’t remember a speculated cost for Knight to bring those tons of rock across the Pacific, but it certainly pales by comparison to the on-going construction. But, it was big for those times

Question - missing from the original drawings is the structure with the curved facade to the left of the domed practice facility shown in the latest construction photos. Assuming that view is of the west end, does anyone know what that add-on is about?

As a rule, the only spring games that leave you impressed with the OL is when you have five returning starters that have been together for a minimum of two years. Otherwise, it’s just feast time for unleashed D linemen. When it didn’t matter because no one else but us were paying any attention to Oregon spring games, coaches could open up the play book. With all eyes onboard, boring has become the new normal. Can’t ever remember feeling this good about our QB room - top to bottom - nor its promise for the future. Portal can change all that in the time it takes to write a check ( or tap a transfer), but right now - wow

And what’s not said is how he’s the type of athlete who will excel under the tutelage of our unparalleled training facilities and the M.M. Sports Performance Center.

Gotta be impressed with how Florer prepared his young stable’s inning by inning control of the Beavis bats. Mike Parker’s lack of enthusiasm when reacting to Lauaki’s 7th inning 2 score double was music to my ears!

What were the Trojan faithful saying about the color of grass in Eugene?

Talent wasn’t the decisive issue in Oregon’s sweep of Washington. What was, was the steadying influence of our six seniors to their one.

If you got enough free Beavis breakfast sandwiches to pay back what they stole from us in the PAC 12, and you stacked them up, how far would that reach?

Not to beat a dead horse (that's been pummeled so many times before it’s become unrecognizable - I’ve certainly done my share!), but that’s the reason we now call college football ‘NFL Jr.’ Media $$ is a one-way professional road that utterly lacks for imagination. It just wants more. It’s nostalgic now to look back on those ancient days when one of the rites of bringing in the new year was to allow the best to celebrate it with us on January 1 bowl games. Just celebrate, and leave The Who’s #1 nonsense to the media to squabble over. Gone with the wind.

And that is what it’s all about, and the reason why sub500 teams make the playoffs - fans in the stands for as long as they can keep them there help pay those obscene contracts.

And beat the Huskies!

I tend to agree with Jon that the final decision on any new scheduling format would eventually run through the media. Without the NFL’s owners’ parity demand, CF income is driven by market size, and ‘survival of the fittest’ match-ups, both of which the media lusts after. The degree to which those weekly $$ forces are lessened by any new arrangement would be resisted by ESPN, Fox, etc.

Good to see both Grein hitting her stride, and Ma’ake finding her groove again in time for the mutts. Go Ducks!

Putting ducks on a frozen pond usually means one thing: migration.

The Michigan model of ‘Win Now’ not only requires a fat transfer wallet, but also suggests coaching may now be moving away from player development, and towards utilizing the already formed skill-sets of veteran top talent into more or less straight forward offensive and defensive schemes that focus on advantageous match-ups. It’s one-on-one at both ends of the floor with a vengeance. For Dana, this model represents a big shift away from what has been his strengths: recruiting good to excellent high school talent that he can then gradually shape into ‘his team’ over the course of a season. Where Dana exemplifies the college value of teaching, Dusty May has brought off-the-shelf pro moneyball squarely into the NCAA limelight.

Excellent analysis; and I agree, winning in the NIL/transfer era all starts with a successful head coach’s ability to target players that fit his system, and then access to a wallet.

Life in a coast to coast league is down right hard on any sport, but especially on the diamonds where three game series are common. It almost seems like an average three away game pattern in the B1G for us is, loss, win and push, with the better team normally on that last game winning side. No easy answer. Scheduling might try grouping two regional series together (Maryland/Rutgers; Michigan/Ohio State) which mostly solves time zone issues, but puts teams in motels for a week. Charter flights that can better cater to the needs of sports teams might help, but NCAA regs may limit that. Learning how to better deal with it over time is likely the only answer.

Can there be any question now as to the effect transfers (and the amount of $$ it takes to get them) have had on college basketball when the starters for a team that just won the national championship had not one player from their own recruits?

It probably has to do with the amount of $$ generated by football before and after the three broadcast tv channels was replaced by the cable services (primarily ESPN & Fox) that bid university/athletic dept. income into the stratosphere. From that point, it became just a matter of time before those responsible for this jump would demand their rightful share of this new wealth. Cue the lawyers . . .

Just stay out of the way, and give the man room to grow, both himself and the program.

Okay, I’ll bite. And, this hopefully is only situational, but right now, the bats are most important because with Sokolsky still working through an injury, Spencer yet lacking consistency and Milhorn still earning her spurs, the load has fallen squarely on Grein, which - without reliable relief - will only get heavier as the competition notches-up. Right now, I don’t put defense (as critical as it is) on the same level of importance as offense because the better the competition gets, the higher the percentage chance that opponent bats will find the gaps rather than our gloves.