Washington Waddler

For the most part, those Isla Vista match-ups were fun mound duels to watch. Really enjoyed them. I’m far from being any kind of pitching expert, but watching their motion and mph, the Gaucho hurlers seemed to have a lot wider curve, and speeds more often in the 70’s and 80’s, where as our guys regularly pushed into the 90’s which accounts for not having near the hook of their pitchers. Got me wondering if that has more to do with pitching coaches or player ability, or both. Either way, both clubs have top drawer pitching coaches and staffs. Exciting stuff, and one of the things that makes the game great.

Travel eastward, and the further you get, the deeper and stronger the pull of old tradition grows. And, by comparison, B1G bias pales the further east you get (how’d they accept us in the Ivy League?), and the south is on a completely different planet. Pretty simple formula: the less time you’ve spent together, the less time you’ve had to develop bad habits. Give them 20 years and maybe we’ll get a few smiles. Prefer being west.

Any word from Lombardi on Elise Sokolsky’s injury?

Could be that donors just don’t care. But, then why build MKA? Another possibility is Nike is sending a silent message that they are no longer onboard with Dana. They may feel that being a good coach is not enough if you appear to resist the change to the new transfer/NIL reality (hiring a GM, etc) that now runs everything. Dana may just be perceived as belonging to another age that can’t or won’t adjust to what runs the game today.

In this current world of college athletics where players have more than one option, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether someone is playing well for the program they’re apart of, or just to increase their transfer stock.

True, don’t recall any complaints when Sabrina & Co. were whitewashing their way through the first two rounds in Eugene. Kelly Graves note: it’s always troubled me the way Kelly could not keep nor succeed with the amazing recruits the Sabrina years opened to him. It was like watching the stock market of the 1920’s hit 1929. Then I read his remarks following the loss to Texas where he said, “For us, we were kind of a homegrown team in terms of, we had players that had smaller roles last year, and they moved into bigger roles. We didn’t just go out and pay and plug and play kids, and I’m proud of that. . . .” Like that market of the 20’s, the post-Sabrina years were just a little too much, and a little too fast, but it’s now beginning to feel like he’s finally getting his feet on the ground, and on his own terms: homegrown, and built from within. Like it.

About now, coach is probably reminding his team that the same guys they stomped by 14 runs beat USC just a few days ago.

Interesting how the women’s Sunday win was also a come from behind in their sweep of Penn State. Nice start to conference play against a team with 19 wins and (before us) 6 losses, two of which were against #1 Tennessee and one with #22 UCF.

The bigger the spotlight, the more glaring the results? At the end of a very successful season, it’s hard to resist not putting all those eggs in one basket where you’ll get either one glorious omelette or a broken mess? The big picture tells me Dan’s on the verge, but still needs a bit more seasoning. The bigger picture tells me he’s building it right on track to get there. I’ll go with the bigger picture.

Beavers go to Reser’s for a clam dip patch.

With about 2:20 left in the game and Maryland star Oluchi Okanawa racing down court after a turnover with what looks like a guaranteed go ahead lay up, Ehis Etute not only out runs her, but cleanly swats her shot into the stands If you didn’t understand then that Oregon was going to win, you just weren’t paying attention. There is no quit in this team.

True, but not the expenses of both fan bases. Just levels the playing field?

Another option is to eliminate 2nd round home field advantage, and award those games in a bidding process to lower tier bowl game cities. Would mean more travel, but more $$.

Yes, nice to know this Fisch will remain catch and release.

Just another hockey novice glued to the tube, but it looked like the OT format of removing one man from each team worked in our favor because Canada’s strength looked like its ability to keep us off balance by controlling the puck with well placed passes between their five, while we seemed to excel at one-on-one match-ups. Less men on the ice seemed to loosen things up a bit, and give better spacing for head to head battles. But just another opinion from a hockey ignoramus. One opinion there’s no questioning is Jon’s. We don’t win without Hellebuyck guarding the goal.