Charles Fischer

Austin Anderson, one of the relief pitchers is from Roseburg! The catcher who made the alternative team, Bennett Thompson, is from Medford! We love to see the Oregon players, do well!

In the gradual rebuild of the Oregon Baseball program, Coach Waz is trying to show the fans and recruits steady progress upward. Again it has been gradual with the transition from a "Small-Ball" team to a hitting team again between making PK Park more hitting-compatible, along with recruiting bigger players who get stronger in Oregon's weight room. The amount of offensive records broken under Waz is more than we have time for, but it is impressive and proof of the progress. But Oregon has had some real bad-luck injuries with pitchers, and yet the Ducks have overcome many of the handicaps that come with that. Oregon went into the Pac-12 Tournament without three of last year's starting pitchers due to injury who returned this year in Isaac Ayon, RJ Gordon, and Andrew Mosiello. To make it worse--we only had ONE stud starting pitcher this year in Jace Stoffal, and he has been out for three weeks due to injury! Four starting pitchers out? That usually spells disaster... Yet this coaching staff was able to make it work with a ton of freshmen and relievers who came through in clutch situations in Phoenix this weekend. We are at a big disadvantage going into the NCAAs, and the hope is that two of the injured pitchers can still join the rotation for Oregon. In the meantime...we have a ton of freshmen/sophomore pitchers who have acquired so much game experience that they will be quite savvy next year. It is a shame, because as good of hitting team as it is--with three stud starting pitchers--Oregon would seriously in the discussions of making Omaha, and challenging for it all. Waz recruited the pitching talent, but some bad luck injuries kept this team from its full potential. This is the first conference championship of any type...regular season or tournament for the Ducks in 60 years. For all the injury setbacks--this is something huge for Waz to point to when talking to recruits, and certainly raises the interest of the fans locally in Eugene. The future is bright for Oregon Baseball! (We find out where Oregon goes to play this next week on Monday morning at 9:00 AM PDT on ESPN2)

Pac-12 Tournament Champions - University of Oregon Athletics GODUCKS.COM Oregon beats Arizona 5-4 to claim the title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament

No sweat. And as it turns out...the game began on ESPNU!

Right, as I wrote. But again, my Infinity TV listing does not show the game on ESPN2, but shows it on ESPNU at 7 PM. I am recording on both channels to be on the safe side. I like to record and then start watching later to zip through the commercials.

I believe very, very strongly that the viewership of the Pac-12 in all sports is so vastly understated with SO MUCH upside, that once a streaming element is added? Our viewership will explode--especially Oregon's viewership on a global basis. This will put the Ducks in a very advantageous bargaining position in five years when choosing between renewing with the Pac-12, or considering other conference offers. Whoever we decide upon--it will be a boatload more than now. Streaming over five years can manifest that upside of which I believe is there!

Read the Pac-12/Big-12 Truth post I wrote, as Canzano puts those comments by the CU AD in context. That article is a short version from CBS of what Dennis Dodd would do--a Drive-By Smearing.

It was great, bounce back pitching from a freshman, and studly relief pitching, and hits at the most important time! —————— Pac-12 Tournament Champions - University of Oregon Athletics GODUCKS.COM Oregon beats Arizona 5-4 to claim the title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament We have a great story with a State of Oregon player in sophomore catcher Bennett Thompson from Medford, who began to play more as the season went on and is now batting .383? Whew! He has had some important hits for us, and it needs to continue! Another player who played sparingly and now cannot be out of the line-up is freshman Drew Smith who came in at third base when Sabin Ceballos was hurt, did a fantastic job, and is batting so well at .397 that he is our DH and a future star! Again...seven of the nine starters last night are hitting over .300 and one who was not, Gavin Grant, went 4-5 at the plate last night. Fun team to watch! Can the pack of freshman pitchers come through again?

Below is from today's John Canzano article and has the most truth, the most sense of anything out there right now. Q: Fast forward to June 30. Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff has presented best media offer to Pac-12 presidents which has come in at $18 million per school. What happens next? A: $18 million? Per school? What happens next? Your alarm clock goes off. You wake up, nightmare over. I reached out to a source with direct knowledge of the Pac-12’s negotiations and asked “still feeling confident about beating $31.6 million per school?” The answer came back: “We are.” Q: What is your gut feeling about the Pac-12 future? A: My educated opinion has not shifted or wavered — the Pac-12’s 10 remaining members will stay together. The conference will announce a shorter-term media rights deal that ends in 2029 or 2030. It will add San Diego State, and maybe, one other school (SMU). And we will do this dance all over again in five years or so. Q: Any truth to the rumor about Colorado being iffy with the Pac-12? A: Let’s recap. Colorado athletic director Rick George has said numerous times that his school wants to be in the Pac-12. He told Jon Wilner and me in our podcast: “Why would you want to be in a conference where there’s 16 to 18, when you can be in a conference that is 10 to 12? Your opportunity, particularly when the top six-rated conferences have automatic (College Football Playoff) bids and the top-four have automatic byes, why would you leave?” This week, he told Brian Howell of The Boulder Daily Camera: “You’ve got to believe about a third of what you see out there. We’re members of the Pac-12, we’re proud members of the Pac-12 and we’ve got to see where our media rights deal lands and where our conference goes. In a perfect world, we’d love to be in the Pac-12, but we also have to do what’s right for Colorado at the end of the day. We’ll evaluate things as we move forward.” Is that a flip flop? The gloom-and-doom crowd may be reading it that way because they’re hoping and wishing, but I’m not going there. Unpack his words carefully. I hear George reiterating that his school likes being in the Pac-12, wants to stay in the Pac-12, and still needs to see the final deal. The AD is right — Colorado and every other school must do what’s right for itself. I also think George might be pandering to the CU crowd that desperately wants the school to explore other options, particularly the Big 12. His comments walk that line. Remember, George also told Wilner and me that no Pac-12 school is leaving for a couple million more in media rights money. It has to be game-changing money to even be a consideration. For that reason, I don’t think Colorado is going anywhere. GK at Pac-12 Baseball Tournament having more fun than negotiating with ESPN...

The helmet avatar of Curtis is West Virginia… Note also that the poster has a bias-preference, as many Big-12 fans want Oregon to join them.

Right.

Oregon had FOUR Freshmen pitchers hold off the damn Huskies, with Grayson Grinsell leading the way with 3.2 scoreless innings. The pitching future at Oregon looks bright… Our Beloved Ducks are in the conference tournament final!

Proud of them, and building toward the future…

Ducks win it and play in the conference final Saturday night! More is coming…

Thanks again to all of you, and especially to our Moderators!

If an improved ASU and CU can replace USC/UCLA to keep Utah honest in the south--that could help us? (And the conference)

A lot of heroes in this one, with an update, article coming! The Ducks play in the Tournament Conference Final on Saturday night at 7 PM on ESPN2! ———————— Let's cheer our Our Beloved Ducks on the Pac-12 Network (or online) versus the bastard-Huskies! Again...the batting order before the 'Furd game had SEVEN over .300! Un-Fricken-Believable

I don't think he meant top-five in the conference....

Unbelievable come-back, and more reports coming!

"The Ducks have had a winning program to sell, and a raucous game-day atmosphere, and Daddy Phil’s bucks, and first-class facilities. But they’ve never had someone with this vim at the helm. What could this mean for the Pac-12? Well, all bad things, of course." As I wrote before, Oregon has more 4/5-Star Rivals players verbaled for the 2024 class than the rest of the Pac-12 combined....and then doubled!

Oregon was down 4-0, and then 6-2, to come back and tie it in the ninth, and win it 8-6 in the 10th! They play in the conference semifinal Friday afternoon at 2:30 PM against the Bastard-Huskies! ———————— The Ducks play No. 1 Seed Stanford tonight, and we have our opportunities. 'Furd pitchers gave up 10 runs last night to Cal, and play again tonight, while Oregon used six pitchers, and none more than two innings on Tuesday night. With two days of rest and a low pitch count--I'll be most of the hurlers could go again who held Cal to only two runs. We can do it! My friends...I have NEVER seen this in Oregon Baseball; we had SEVEN hitters going into the Cal game over .300! And the remaining two have good percentages! Wow! One of the new stars is Drew Smith! I know....calm down Charles!

The Women are on ESPN2! Cheer OBD on! If the Softball team wins this best of three, then they would stay in Oklahoma City for the World Series next week. Super Regional At Hand For Ducks - University of Oregon Athletics GODUCKS.COM Oregon opens a best-of-three series at Oklahoma State on Thursday (6 p.m. PT, ESPN2).

As much as I want the Pac-12 to survive and we all prosper....I know Oregon will be fine regardless of where they end up. Dan Lanning is making sure of that on the recruiting trail of HS players, portal transfers and coaches. But if I was an Oregon State or WSU fan and hearing that news? I probably wouldn't have a bowel movement for a week.