Washington Waddler

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.

As the RG points out, nothing changes as the result of this executive order because judicial interpretation of the Sherman Antitrust Act has sided with the plaintiffs, which precedent can only be affected by an act of congress.

Nice read Darren. From many of my previous comments, anyone can pretty much tell I’m on the same page. While there is no questioning the importance of the current conference realignments to the survival or extinction of many programs, it remains an agreement of utility, and not heart. For me, the importance of place will always trump the convenience of programs with nothing else in common other than the pursuit of money, wins and power.

Agree, kudos to Portland. Like coach said, evenly played, mostly clean game where our drives found gloves and a few of theirs didn’t. That’s good baseball. Glad we’ll get another shot at them.

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?