The Vig

Portland Beavers: I feel terrible. I didn’t make it to a single game this home stand. Between two Blazer games, more on that in a sec, and the rain, I just didn’t make the time. I’ll do better this week. I promise. As for the week past, the Beavs went 2-1 against the Fresno Grizzlies, getting strong pitching performances from Josh Geer (1-0 / 7 IP / 1 hit / 4 strikeouts) and Shawn Estes (1-0 / 6 IP / 4 strikeouts / 0.00 ERA) and solid offense from outfielder Chip Ambres (2 HR) and Matt Antonelli (3-for-9 with 2 triples).

Trail Blazers: I went to the Houston game on Thursday night. I only made it to halftime. The Blazers seemed to be sleepwalking and I was a little tired myself. I guess it turned into the T-Mac show in the second half. Kind of wish I’d stuck around. Yesterday’s game against the Spurs was another snoozefest. They should institute a San Antonio rule. Require the Spurs to get a shot up within say 15-seconds. Watching them plod their way through the Rose Garden yesterday was…well, boring. At the end of the third quarter, I figured the Blazers would need 75 points to win the game. At that point they had 52. It wasn’t meant to be. Nice to see Ime Udoka back in the building. And it was nice to see Damon Stoudamire get booed when he got into the game. Blzaer fans haven’t forgotten. I like that.

Whacky Idea of the Day: How cool would it be if the Blazers activated Oden for the last game of the year and stuck him in with say 5 minutes left in the Memphis game? Just long enough to see him in uniform and have him run around a little bit. I bet that would sell a few ticket packages for next year. I wonder if that’s crossed either Larry Miller or Kevin Pritchard’s minds.

Man City: Like they were going to beat Chelsea. Even at home. The Blues have managed three goals since the middle of February. A streak reminiscent of the end of last season. What’s different? The new owner seems willing to spend whatever it takes to become a top-four club. I just wonder if they’ll ever be able to draw the talent required to do it. They are the Clippers to Man U’s Lakers. And always will be.

Twitter: Sitting in the office on Saturday afternoon, I took a moment to check in on my Twitter account to see what was happening. Everyone and their daughter was headed to Fire on the Mountain for a meet-up. Being just up the street, I decided to join in. I’m so glad I did. Hockley was there, as was Banana Lee Fishbones. I made a few new friends as well. It was worth it to just listen to Aaron and friend discuss Twitter philosophy. The more I use it, the more I enjoy it. Twittering is definitely a participation sport. I don’t think wall flowers get nearly as much out of it.

Oregon State Beavers: Craig Robinson? Well, OK. Corvallis Gazette-Times beat writer Brooks Hatch has an interesting take on the reality of the Beavers gig.

The last three coaches at OSU were Ritchie McKay, Eddie Payne and Jay John. McKay went directly to New Mexico of his own volition, and thence to Liberty. Eddie has since been the head coach at Greensboro College and is now head coach at South Carolina Upstate. John did some scouting for the Denver Nuggets, and will undoubtedly find another position in basketball someplace in the not-to-distant future. My point is, all three (Jimmy Anderson retired, so he doesn’t count) found quick employment. Perhaps not at BCS-level schools, but they quickly found jobs that provided a comfortable income, even though they couldn’t get OSU turned around. For them, it was hardly a graveyard job.

Now, ask yourself, where are Washington’s last three coaches (Bob Bender, Andy Russo, Lynbn Nance)? Where are Kevin Eastman and Paul Graham of WSU, or Dick Kutchen, Lou Campanelli, or Todd Bozeman from Cal, or Rob Evans, Bill Frieder and whomever else has been at ASU before Herb Sendek (I’m drawing a blank here; Steve Patterson?)?

(Kevin Eastman, who I knew in college, is with the Boston Celtics. But the question is partly rhetorical).

Point is, there’s perception, and reality.

Thats something I hadn’t considered. I wonder if Bill Grier had considered that before leaving the Beavers at the altar last week.

A day later than normal, I know.  For the first time in a long time, I chose sleep over blog last night.  And it felt so good.   So what happened?

Blazers:  I had tickets to Friday night’s game against the Clippers.  I gave them to a co-worker who was having an adult’s weekend with her husband.  They report they had fun.  I’ll be at the Wizards game tomorrow night with my step-brother.  We’re quite excited.  Despite being out of the playoffs, and they were out three weeks ago when the press was saying otherwise, the home team is showing some spunk.  Games this season have been a blast to attend.  The sticker price on my package is going up four-fold for next season.  My other step-brother mentioned they’re not selling packages yet.  If the economy continues on its current path, I’m guessing the franchise is going to wish it had locked up our dollars early rather than waiting to try and get them in November or December.  I wonder if I’ll be as willing to give them $200 in December after the $4 gas has come and gone.  It cost me $40 to fill up my Honda this weekend.  That’s money that could have gone toward entertainment.

Winter Hawks:  Props to the Hawks for filling up the Coliseum on the last night of the year.  Donovan was grousing in The Columbian this weekend that he has to average 7,000 fans per night to break even.  If you would market the team, maybe you would!  He also says he takes a call a week from prospective buyers.  I don’t buy that for a second.  If there were that many buyers out there, surely the league could have come up with a better ownership group than the present crew.

March Madness:  I’ll be honest, I’m not that big of a college basketball fan.  Certainly not like I was a decade ago before Kevin Garnett skipped college altogether and entered the draft.  Time was you could name a significant chunk of college players and you knew who would be playing at the next level.  Now?  Now I probably couldn’t name ten college players.  They’re all here and gone too quickly.  With the paucity of real talent at the college level, you’re starting to see the mens’ game resemble the womens’ game.  It’s all execution and fundamentals.  The motion and flex offenses bore me to tears.

All that said, my bracket is within striking distance in the Canzano pool.  I only missed one game each in the East and South brackets.  11 of my final 16 and 7 of my final 8 are still alive.  Not too shabby.

Bruce Springsteen:  The show is finally upon us.  I secured my ticket last night.  I love CraigsList.  Any show you want to see, just wait until the last week before as plans fall apart and people scramble to unload tickets.  I got my GA seat for face value from a fellow fan.  And I have others banging on my door trying to sell me theirs’ as well.  It’s not quite a buyers’ market out there, but it’s close.  There’s certainly no need to feed the scalpers.

Fellow travelers with general admission tickets and a desire to get in the pit next to the stage would be advised to click here for wristband information.  I’m guessing this is how it will work at the Rose Garden, although there’s been no official word.  At least not on their website.  Hopefully we can avoid a repeat of the 2002 fiasco.

Easter:  I played around a little too much with the camera this weekend.  Then I went home and re-read the manual.  The macro-photography class I’m taking in a few weeks will help immensely.  In the meantime, here’s what I came up with.

Yes, I think I need to clean the lens.  Maybe.

Susie has the most beautiful flowers.

I think that’s my favorite.

From Deadspin:

Bill James, Mr. Smiling Don Quixote Baseball Face, writes in Slate today that he has figured out how a lead in college basketball is “safe.”

* Take the number of points one team is ahead.

* Subtract three.

* Add a half-point if the team that is ahead has the ball, and subtract a half-point if the other team has the ball. (Numbers less than zero become zero.)

* Square that.

* If the result is greater than the number of seconds left in the game, the lead is safe.

As Don Imus used to say, that makes my hair hurt.  I think I’ll just sit back and enjoy the Madness.  Besides, I don’t want to get Cheeto dust on my scientific calculator.

Congratulations to the Portland State Vikings for making it to the Big Dance.  Sure, they’ll be a 15 seed and get an opening round date with Kansas, but who the heck cares.  From nothing to the NCAA tournament in just a few years is a heckuva accomplishment.

But we’re not here to talk about the Viking men.  Nor the Blazers.  No, kids, the best basketball player in Portland is Claire Faucher (foe-SHAY!), point guard for your Portland State Viking women’s basketball team.  Check this out, she led the nation in assists this season, averaging 8.8 apg.  We’re not talking D-II here.  Or 1-AA.  We’re talking led the nation.  Folks like Stanford, Connecticut, Tennessee, LSU, and Duke.  Her assist-to-turnover ratio is just a touch over 2:1, which beats the pants off Jarrett Jack’s 1.7:1.  Unlike Mr. Jack, Claire’s turnovers are made from aggression, pushing the ball up the floor and just missing teammates on the break, not dribbling off her foot or throwing it at her teammates’ feet.  No no.  Claire is the real deal.  She could teach Employee #1 a thing or two about ball handling and passing.  It would be a hoot to watch her run the break with Martell, Brandon, and LaMarcus for a day.

The Lady Vikings play Northern Colorado tonight in the Big Sky Championships at Missoula.  If they win, they play either #1 seed Montana or #2 Idaho State, teams they’re a combined 3-1 against this season.  Its a long shot, but we could see both Portland State basketball teams in the NCAA tournament.  How cool would that be?

Congratulations to the Portland State Vikings men’s basketball team on advancing to the Big Sky championship game.  They play Northern Arizona at 6pm tonight down at the Rose Garden.  The winner advances to the Big Dance and a date with a #2 seed.

Good things are happening down on the Park Blocks.  People wonder if it will ever really catch on though.  Why the hell not?  Gonzaga was no better than Portland State when they started on their run a few years back.  They played in a gym the size of the Stott Center and had ho hum local support.  Winning changes all of that.  Maybe winning will get them a new place to play.  I still think a 6,000 seat arena in the basement of the new convention center hotel would be a fine home for both the Vikings and Winter Hawks.

I never did get around to properly writing up the Utah-Chicago game I saw down in Salt Lake ten days ago.  The Jazz are something special and their fan base definitely are our equal.  They’re passionate and fiercely loyal.  I do believe Portland has a better arena.  The Delta Center Energy Solutions Arena is a little smaller than the Rose Garden (19,911 for basketball as opposed to Portland’s 19,980) and much boxier.  I prefer the sight lines at the RG.

The current Jazz squad has been much improved with the addition of Kyle Korver.  In the short time he’s been in town, he’s become a crowd favorite.  Watching him work his way through a maze of picks and screens to get his shot was something to behold.  I’m going to have to get a good look at Webster and Outlaw doing the same thing next time I attend a Blazer game.

Like us, fans in Utah are waiting for their team to fully blossom.  Local sports host David Locke calls is Project 2010.  It’s the year about $26.5 million comes off Utah’s cap.  Now they’re gonna have to resign Boozer and maybe Okur, but beyond that, the sky will be the limit.  By contrast, the Blazers shave about$55.25 million off their cap a year earlier, but they’ll have a ton of guys to resign.  That said, they’ll be getting a top-flight free agent with that cash.  It’s all part of the Blazers plan.

SLC has three sports stations going 24/7 and a ton of local programming.  Fans down there are not only passionate about their Jazz, but they can talk up all angles of Utah and BYU athletics as well.  They really get after it.  The thing I found really interesting though was the lack of talk and respect for the Blazers.  “Project 2010″ focused primarily on defeating the Lakers and Suns and to a lesser extent Dallas and San Antonio.  Only once did I hear the Blazers mentioned, and it was only as a casual aside.  Lack of respect?  Just slipped their mind?  I’m inclined to pick the former.  Despite the fact the Blazers are in the same stinking division, for whatever reason they don’t see what we see.  I wonder why that is.

Something I’ve been thinking about as I watch the recent flurry of deals around the Western Conference.  Why should fans in Portland and Utah have to wait another year or two for their teams to improve themselves?  Why should we continue to pay full price while we’re stuck in holding patterns, waiting for Raef LaFrentz, Steve Francis, and Darius Miles to come off the books?  I mean I understand all the contractual stuff, but still.  It’s depriving fans, I think.  Obviously that thought needs to be fleshed out a little more, but it definitely bugs me.

Dear Bob DeCarolis,

I heard your interview on The Fan this afternoon. You talked about getting a jump on your search for a new basketball coach. You spoke of going all cloak-and-dagger and back channel to find your new guy. And your new guy is gonna be huge because you have to bring the basketball team up to at least the standard set by the football team. I believe you, baby. I do!

There’s only one name out there though that’s big enough, both for the community and for the recruits. And that’s Majerus. Think about it. The guy is a rock star. He’s Dennis Erikson all over again. And, word on the street is he’s on the outs at Saint Louis. Bonus! Plus, if you act quick, his point guard for the next four years just became available up in Oregon City. I’m not saying Brad Tinsley would come to Oregon State. In fact, he probably won’t. But you’ve got from now until April 16th to convince him. The big splash might be all it takes. C’mon! Let’s aim for the stars!

Bob, I’ll be honest with you. You haven’t done a whole lot for me during your tenure. Riley fell into your lap after he screwed up the Alabama gig. Pat Casey was there years before you showed up, yet for some reason you get some credit for keeping him in Corvallis when Notre Dame came calling. We all know it was Phil Knight who got that deal done. But for me, it’s always been the basketball program I’ve thought of when I thought of the Orange and Black. I guess its the era I was raised in. You’d have fond memories of basketball too if you had to choose between Ralph Miller and Joe Avezzano. This could be the beginning of a new golden age of Beaver athletics, but only with the right guy. We don’t need the stud college assistant. That was Jay John. And that’s LaVonda Wagner. No, Beaver fans want a proven head coach. A name. A winner. It’s time to make a splash. It’s time for Rick Majerus.

The Beavers men’s basketball team drew an announced crowd of 4,017 for their game against Stanford last night.  The Corvallis Gazette-Times’ Brooks Hatch says it was probably less than that.

Some quick, cursory inspection of the OSU media guide determined that’s the smallest crowd for a current Pac-10 opponent since 3,532 showd up for a Dec. 16, 1961, game against the Cardinal.

Anyone remember that game? Was there a snowstorm or something, because virtually every other crowd that season was considerably larger.

The Beavers are now averaging 3,555 through seven home games, and that’s not pretty, especially in a year when it’s charging a ticket surcharge ro raise money to refurbish the joint.

It’s last in the Pac-10 by more than 3,000 per game; USC was ninth at 6,699 heading into the weekend and the Trojans drew 10,000 on Thursday night for the Cougars.

Yikes.

Thursday night in Corvallis, the Oregon State Women’s basketball team beat Arizona 94-88 in double-overtime.

So what, you ask?

Well, due to injuries, illness, and academics, Arizona only suited up six players.  Two of them fouled out by the end of regulation.  Arizona, playing with only four players, built a six-point lead in the first overtime.  Oregon State finally tied the game with :06 left on two Britney Davis free-throws.

Arizona lost another player in the second overtime.  With only three players on the floor, Arizona built a four-point lead with 1:42 to go.  Oregon State finally took the lead :33 later.  Another Arizona player fouled out a few seconds later and Arizona was forced to play the last minute with only two players on the floor.

I’m not sure which team this game says more about.  Kudos to the Wildcats for not letting up.  No tape of the game has surfaced yet.  DeCarolis has probably ordered all copies destroyed except the one he’ll be keeping around for LaVonda Wagner’s performance review.  Once the ‘Cats are back in Tuscon, no doubt they’ll be uploading some of their stuff to the YouTube.  It should make for some fun/awkward viewing.

Oregon City Pioneers:  Many mocked me this weekend over the loss at Redmond.  There’s no shame in it.  Is Redmond that great?  No.  But neither were the Pioneers.  That they even made the playoffs was an accomplishment.  It’s on now to basketball season.  With Kevin Love out of the league, things should open up for my boy Brad Tinsley.  As for the girls, the TRL had best get their track shoes on.

Oregon State Beavers:  I was busy prefunctioning the Roger Clyne show, blissfully unaware of the fact the Beavs were trying to give the game away.  Had I known, it could have put a crimp in my evening.  As things stand, they’re headed for the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.  Disappointing?  I guess.  Time was a six-win season would have been quite heady for the orange and black.  How times have changed.

Oregon Ducks:  Their fans will be insufferable this week.  I can’t wait for the Civil War.

Winter Hawks: So the whole key to the trades was the influx of veteran d-men.  So what do the new guys do?  They go out and allow 56 shots against Seattle on Saturday and 51 against Tri-City on Sunday.  The excuse will be the guys are still adjusting to their new surroundings.  They need a week of practice.  But see hockey is hockey.  And fundamentals are fundamentals.  They don’t change just because you change sweaters.

Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers:  They played a great set at Berbati’s Pan Saturday night.  They played again Sunday, but the show was sold-out.  I can’t name a single one of his songs, nor can I do the crowd participation thing (unlike a Springsteen show, where all you have to do is pump your fist…you have to know the WORDS to a RCPM tune).  It all mattered not.  He’s Jimmy Buffett, only 20-years younger.  My buddy Rick and I were talking about the state of the music industry at the show.  He said he’d like to ask Roger what its like to know there’s no money in music anymore.  Not like there was even a decade ago.  There’s no way to go from zero to $10,000,000 anymore.  It’s a one-in-a-million shot, I’ll give you that.  A decade ago Alanis sold-out arenas for almost two straight years based on one song.  That’s possible.  But a sustained career?

Man City:  0-0 at Pompey keeps the Blues in third place in the table.  There’s this thing I keep reading about called the “transfer window”.  Like most things British, I don’t understand it.  It sounds an awful lot like baseball’s off-season, only it’s in the middle of the season.  The Blues need offense.  It would be nice to find it.

Underdog Pool:  There were a cornucopia of upsets this week.  St Louis, San Diego, Denver, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Jacksonville all hit.  I’ve got the ‘Niners going tonight.  Mike Nolan’s dad died yesterday.  I wonder if that means anything.

Arizona Cardinals:  I e-mailed a fellow fan during the second quarter yesterday as Whisenhunt had put Tim Rattay in on 2nd and goal in the first quarter.  The season, I said, was falling apart.  Why in the hell would Whisenhunt do that unless Warner were mortally wounded?  I don’t get it at all.  Then at the end of the second quarter, Rattay threw a touchdown pass to Leonard Pope.  All was forgiven.  The ten-point win looks more impressive than it was.  The Cardinals remain the only team in the league to not score a touchdown in the first quarter.  That’s impressive.  That said, they’re only 1/2 game out of first place in the division.  And they have the tie-breaker!  So who knows.

Trail Blazers:  I’m with Dwight.  This is going to be a learning year.  Nice win against Dallas, though.