Washington Waddler

Is the time coming to consider moving the Softball World Series out of the Sooner’s backyard and into a neighborhood that’s a tad more neutral?

The effect of over reliance on portal talent reminds me of previous Seattle Mariner management that would put their $$ and effort into trading for aging, over price veterans rather than developing young talent. All it did was extend their dry spell from any appearance in The World Series.

Was on the south-side’s east shoulder ramp (when it was same as the north), so I was looking right across to where Wheaton intercepted. Saw the pick, and that was it because it was nothing but jumping bodies and waving arms after that. But, I sure heard it!

If I understand correctly, you should be okay to go since it’s scheduled for 2025.

The closer it gets to a PAC 12-style meltdown for the ACC, the more my mind wanders to the fate of Cal and Stanford. To have to survive that a second time? Whew. Would hope both could be regarded as ‘bubble’ programs by the P2: their potential to flesh-out any conference imbalances as part of a group deal. Would not be surprised though if there’s been a few calls from those presidents to their counterparts at WSU and OSU. An eventual super conference is an interesting reality to ponder. I wonder who would have less problems negotiating their way past their self-interests: B1G and SEC, or Fox and ESPN?

The Ducks and a resurgent Trojan program may be just what it takes to breath some life back into B1G baseball.

Love the direction this program is headed in. Beat the Aggies!

May have to pull some strings, but put me on the list. By the way, do they call it a White Out because they make so many errors? Jus wondering

Gotta love the grit this team is displaying. Go Ducks!

Not only is Fisher’s writing primarily focused on the Browns and Buckeyes, he was born in Cleveland. Provincialism among professional sports writers from the Midwest on east knows no limits. Added to the speculation regarding DG’s throwing arm, and the loss to Oregon at The Nagshoe clearly has them in a dither. What can you say? Seeds will be seedy.

Much thanks to The Seed hardcore. This type of story - created solely to inspire confidence in their fan base - never takes into account the effect it will have on its subject. Think this won’t inspire Dillon to prove them wrong? Think again.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Oscar Wilde

Thanks Charles for your Memorial Day tribute to the USS Enterprise legacy. As a Navy vet, much appreciated.

Any head coach worth his salt knows it’s never personal - even when it sounds like it. It’s all about team focus on winning, and when the game is over, move on - especially if it’s a loss. To return to old games is the provence of fans. For a coach to do so indicates a thin skin.

A definition of perspective: learning to shine the light on yourself as often as you do on the other guy. As much as I may still feel swindled and victimized by ref decisions in that game, it’s oddly calming to balance those thoughts by remembering how Oklahoma fans felt and still do after the game at Autzen.

Success can expose hidden insecurity, and if one is not ready to handle it, those bright lights can blind one with self doubt. When someone is responding publicly to your action, it’s always best to step back, take a deep breath, and evaluate the reply in terms of who the intended audience really is. Lanning’s reply to Locklyn’s action seems pretty clear to be moving past the situation, and addressing any interested parties as to how he deals with adversity: let it go, and keep the ship sailing on a positive course. There may well be hidden issues we’re not privy to, and one of those could be the simple mistake of taking something personal that never was intended that way.

Getting harder to avoid thinking that the pitching staff is missing the influence of Jake Angier.

Another of those things that set Lanning apart is that he doesn’t go after name brand assistant hires who may be already resting on their laurels. He wants young, motivated up and comers. He wants them growing, not grown.

Don’t know if it’s still a thing, but at one time, speed training in track focused on what was termed the ‘fast twitch’ muscle group. Bowerman sometimes used a pick-up truck on the Hayward cinder track and, sitting on the back with a high jump bar in his hands, slowly take his runners around while moving the bar up and down with the runners expected to keep their knees at whatever level it was at. No idea if it worked.

Looking back, it’s like night and day. From the unbelievable feeling that Oregon was on the verge of being coached by the next Gene Auriemma to . . . Jimmy Lake? It’s an unfortunate comparison, but Kelly Graves seems to have more in common with Mario Cristobal than any one else: great recruiter, lousy coach. The waste of all that talent is beyond comprehension, especially in light of how well so many of them are doing since leaving the program. Like rubbing salt in a wound. Aside from the unavoidable conclusion as to how important a role Mark Campbell played, two names that shed some light on this are Courtney Vandersloot and Sabrina Ionesco. Both players elevated Kelly’s programs and career. Both played the same role for him: defacto head floor coaches who operated his teams as field generals while he sat quietly, legs crossed, on the sideline. With the departure of Campbell, I now wonder if the promise of all that talent in coming to Oregon was lost to the single-minded sacrifice of a meat grinder whose only purpose was to search for Kelly’s next defacto head coach, and keep his career on track.

To simplify may be a challenge because the attempt to get something ($$) for nothing lives in the legal world of smoke screens. Complication and convolution are the friends of legal minds whereas simplicity is their enemy. However, it does seem to boil down to one word: theft.

There’s probably some truth to play-by-play comments regarding JC slowing the tempo past half court in order to catch a breather. Irregardless of how effective those minutes might be, when you’ve four players unable to spell the others, a DOT play-off game means you’re going to run out of gas.

When all is said and done, sports commentators and bracketologists (ie: fans with a microphone) are no different from you and me, except in one way: they have the advantage of nudging the teams they’ve picked over the ones they’ve not..

Think they’re still smarting from dropping the last two.

Nuance is easier to find when there are less moving parts and more opportunities to describe it.