Charles Fischer

The transfer pitcher from St. Mary's was listed on the program at 6'9", but in yesterday's interview with the media he admitted that he is actually 6'11"! Good grief...how you like to see that unloading on you as a batter when he already starts higher on the mound? He is third game starter, the second game of the double-header on Saturday like last week. He had scoreless innings, but only went three innings as they are building him up with a pitch-count. He threw between 92 mph to 99 mph, and has a change-up, and slider. Fun to watch!

Here is something to share that I thought the Hockey fans who will be watching US vs. Canada tonight at 5:00 PM PST on ESPN might enjoy... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Important Than the Stanley Cup? Maybe... I was not in the room when NHL officials planned the 4 Nations Face-Off, but I can tell you with certainty that tonight’s final, a matchup between Canada and the United States, is what they hoped for. The entire hockey sports world will be watching. Experts expect ratings rivaling a Stanley Cup Game 7 Final, or better. No matter what happens tonight, the 4 Nations experiment is a massive win — and don’t be surprised if other pro sports follow hockey’s lead on this, in some form. But what’s going to actually happen? Let’s hit some key points: Who’s the favorite? Our friends at BetMGM have this at even odds entering the game, despite the U.S. win over Canada earlier in this tournament. A survey of The Athletic’s hockey staff essentially confirmed that sentiment. Players to watch? I’ll give you three. First, for Canada, it’s always Sidney Crosby, no matter the young talent surrounding him. The 37-year-old is the center of Canada’s universe here. Just read his teammates’ quotes in this piece to see how revered the living legend is. For the Americans, both players to watch have the last name Tkachuk. Both are healthy enough to play, and the pair have become the heart of an American team that’s been nearly flawless this tournament. Expect a big hit or two from either brother early in this one. Tone-setting, and all that. The irresistible alternate history: Canada coach Jon Cooper could’ve easily been behind the opposite bench tonight, as the dual citizen was recruited by both countries' programs at the same time. Literally — Hockey Canada and USA Hockey called Cooper within 10 minutes of each other back in 2017, when both needed a coach for the World Championship. Canada called first. One major snag: The Americans are banged up. The U.S. has had multiple players go down this tournament, the latest blow coming with defenseman Charlie McAvoy falling ill with an infection. Quinn Hughes, the choice to replace him, is not with Team USA due to some light chaos with Hughes’ NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. Above all, though, legacies are at stake, and we can look beyond Crosby for that. Sid the Kid is a legend, win or lose. But for Canada’s Connor McDavid and the U.S.’s Auston Matthews — two of the sport’s brightest stars — this will define their careers going forward. Can’t ask for much better than that.

Ducks are playing AT Iowa City, and lead 45-37 at the half!

Gotta win!

This is a very interesting article that gives good thoughts about the B1G-SEC Playoff preference, and why... "Setting up playoff access accordingly isn’t creating 3 separate tiers; it’s simply acknowledging that 3 tiers already exist and constructing the system to match reality." Why the B1G and SEC Proposed Playoff Changes Are Good for College Football - On3 WWW.ON3.COM The Big Ten and the SEC want to alter the playoff model giving them four automatic bids each. Here's why I like it. "In reality, neither the Big Ten nor the SEC trusts the selection committee to be able to properly evaluate teams for at-large bids across conferences while the playing field is so completely unlevelled."

TV, not movies?

While I squirm at the term, "mercenary," like Jon, I like how your article defined the strategy, the weakness, and the huge upside the portal transfers brought us. In particular I have enjoyed how Lanning's staff has developed transfers into better players, and that has helped the recruiting as well. Lanning has built a Blue-Chip roster from high school recruits, and this year we begin to see the fruits of that, with even more kicking in for the 2026 season. B1G is not thrilled with their new Daddy...

Playing No. 7 Oregon State four times will not be easy, and when you add Washington, UCLA, and USC...we still have four former Pac-12 teams on the schedule.

Let's move this hockey discussion to one of the other hockey threads begun, or start a new one! (Three pages is too long)

When Cristobal was here....he named a son "Rocko," and while the explanation given was after this friend, "the Rock,".....I thought of the cartoon my daughter and I watched together and enjoyed...hmmmm.

She is in her 30s now, but when my daughter was growing up..."we" watched cartoons together often. I would even pause and we would discuss or laugh at something, hence my occasional reference to Spongebob Squarepants of which we watched a TON. But Rocko's Modern Life was another that we enjoyed. An Aussie accent dog and his sidekicks... And who can forget..."Mr. BigHead!" Rocko was great fun, and like Spongebob...there were tons of jokes that a child would never understand, thus written to make ME laugh. (They succeeded)

If there is a new game going on...let's start a new thread instead of three pages here...

First of all, I agree that a loss like this cannot happen often, and I don't think it will. It was a perfect storm of that outfielder saving a HR and who knows how many runs, and some damn fine pitching by Toledo that day. It will happen like that, because as they say, "that's Baseball!" We also had a transfer pitcher in for the first time, and literally could not get an out. Had to be pulled after the fourth batter... A different pitcher for Oregon perhaps gives us a win, but in the early games like this--you gotta play people and see who is good. Oregon also played a number of freshmen in the field, and my gosh we got two impressive freshman catchers. Something I just learned from Waz in an interview was why our pitching staff collapsed against Texas A&M, as I could not understand how Brock Moore could mow down Oregon State, but just got shelled at College Station. Apparently the majority of our pitching staff was SICK after the first game, and that is some bad luck. I was not sure I believed Coach Waz when he said before the season that, "our pitching depth is better than last year." Really? We lost most of who was good, and we have no idea what they are being replaced with...but Waz knew. This is an experienced, savvy team with deep pitching, and Omaha is possible! (Charles, put down those Pom-Poms) Gabe Howard, the 6'3" freshman from West Linn left them scoreless..

A lot of love for Michigan! Damn, these B1G fans have RIVALRIES.

It is a slow time, and we all need a smile. (Even if Gallows humor)

In the D1Baseball rankings, the Ducks moved from No. 12 to No. 11, while holding steady at No. 19 with Baseball America. Frankly, I've always followed D1Baseball, even when on the short end of things. There are five major Baseball ranking services, which is crazy considering how few keep an eye on the sport, IMHO. Unfortunately, Beavis has outscored their opponents 30-3 in their first three games, including a 6-0 victory over B1G Indiana, who has a good team. Oregon State is at No. 7, but could move higher over the season. Our Beloved Ducks have a very high upside, as we had some impressive freshmen pitchers surprise me, and the development of two pitchers that I counted out was also quite impressive. (Collin Clarke and Cole Stokes) Ian Umlandt has strange stuff that still messes batters up, and creates low scoring as last year. So the surprise from this last weekend is how the scoring was much lower for such an experienced team than I would have thought going in, and how the pitching was WAY better than I was hoping for. Yes, it is early and not like playing Beavis, but there is real hope for a shot at Omaha. I think the game lost was GOOD for the Ducks; going undefeated for a while gets teams full-of-themselves, and this was a great reminder of how two walks and an infield error will load the bases with no outs, and you have to mentally clamp down to prevent a bad inning. I gotta say though, that Toledo had an outfielder who caught two incredible hits that prevented three runs scoring between the two catches. (We lost 5-3) ESPN made one of them in their top-ten. Well, and in that game--the Rocket pitchers were just studs, and handcuffed the Ducks superbly. Good on them, and good for Oregon to be reminded of how thin the razor's edge is. 3rd Baseman Carter Garate Loves Baseball....Do You?

Wow. I had no idea it was that bad....thanks so much for the research, and damn...that is tough on the players!

“Live by the three…”

I've changed my mind on this topic, as I am not in favor of getting automatic bids for B1G and SEC after all. We need that push to earn it...and remove the conference championships and make that weekend the first round of a 16 team playoff with no byes for anyone. With 16 teams...anybody that has a real chance of winning a 'Natty will not get left out. And let's seed, and reseed the damn thing.

Ducks up by 14 with nine minutes left...maybe this means I can watch the replay without covering my eyes!

The women are 9-1 already, with the only loss in extra innings (4-3) to Arizona State. Great start!

I am not the least bit worried with Dan Lanning running things, as the upside has only begun. I disagree with his last statement in the article, his conclusion. I am not so sure about USC, in fact I have more confidence in Washington over the next four years--by a mile. That bastard Fisch is a damn good coach, and he is ahead of where I thought he'd be in the rebuilding and a long ways ahead of Jonathon Smith at Michigan State. What he did at Arizona still ranks as one of the most impressive coaching miracles I've seen, as the Wildcats had been the tire-fire for a long time. How you recruit to that is very hard...and he did. He also found gems that turned into great players, and he will do that at Washington, I believe. My Ernest Wish for Washington...