Hope I am wrong but I think many Oregon State fans are simply numb with very few really interested in watching the Beavers. I think I am the average fan, for Beavers sake, I hope I am not given I have very little interest in how the football team does this fall. But my disinterest has way more to do with the direction of college football in general than the Beavers specifically.
College football to me is now best described as a whoredom that is going to become worse before it becomes better. College football now personifies the worst of human nature …… greed, selfishness and lack of character and integrity. It is no longer the place to spend Saturday afternoons rooting for
A team that will be disemboweled at end of the season
I'm 84. In my opinion, college sports will have a reset within a few years.
Currently, it is being dismembered now. Between NIL and the transfer portal, it's unworkable and don't blame the players.
The University Presidents and League commissioners blew it chasing TV $. OSU vre Uof O, WSU vrs U0d W, Michigan vrs Ohio State, Auburn-Alabama, the Red River Rivalry, and more, captured everybody. Who cares about Oregon vrs Rutgers, Arizona vrs Florida? Regional rivalries are a critical ingredient to college sports...or were.
The 'student athlete' is history. My granddaughter was a preferred walk on in college, running track for 4 years. With tutors, great self-discipline and perseverance, she graduated in 4 years. She told me that won't happen in the future. The major universities will fly football teams on chartered planes, probably departing on Thursday, returning on Sunday so players will only miss two days classes a week. Track, swimming, volleyball, softball, baseball, basketball will probably fly commercial with mused connections in Denver, O'Hare, Midway, Newark , and LA. Forget graduating in 4 years or maybe graduating. But the athlete stills learns valuable life lessons like perseverance, over coming obstacles, money management, loyalty, team spirit...at age 21 at $400,000. a year. Right ! Pray he never has a career ending injury at 22 and has to begin learning those life lesson late.
The current program is unsustainable. In a few years (next major TV contracts) football should morph into four 12-15 regional conferences and the rest of the sports revert back to regional competition.
I won't live to see it but today's model is broken and unsustainable. I enjoyed college sports for longer than I deserved but those days are over for me. In the meantime, I'll stick with the 49ers, and a few others.
I'm no marketing guy, but I am a Beaver. Seems to me a massive marketing campaign aimed at the entire country, calling the Beav's America's team and inviting fans to participate might make sense. The premise is that there is a national disgust with what has been happening in college football and fans throughout the country might be willing to rally around the one (actually two - -WSU) program(s) that represent the build not bought identity -- a protest vote -- a team everyone would like to see succeed in the ugly new world. My suspect, with no data, is that rightly done it could attract a lot of attention and financial support from the little guys Given our current situation, it is a risk worth taking, IMO.
Another Miss. Don’t get me wrong I am a season ticket holder for OSU Football and support the University in a variety of ways. I just read your column about OSU’s spring football event. I was embarrassed as I missed it. I then went and check my emails to see if I had missed an announcement for the event or an email encouraging me to attend. While I had a number of emails from OSU athletics including Scott Barnes letter to supporters about the status of OSU Athletics and the Conference. I could not find anything related to the spring football game. Now it is possible that I missed an email but I would have expected not just one but multiple emails encouraging me, a season ticket holder, to attend. I could not find any such emails. That appears to be another missed opportunity
If OSU can get a QB1 settled, this is a minimum 8 win team. Agree on the marketing content, the situation, well it sucks, but can you leverage it? Embrace the suck. I think it would play well to the 99% of households watching the CW. Everyone can relate to being kicked in the teeth and then persevering out of the mess. You can’t throw a penny in any direction in Portland without hitting a world class marketing agency, go get one. Heck, I will negotiate it for OSU, for free.
OSU has had the heart and soul ripped out of their football, MBB and WBB programs. OSU's favorite son, Coach Jonathan Smith bolted with as many players and recruits as he could carry, others transferred out. That's a major body blow. The basketball programs faced mass exodus of their starting fives + bench. These type of haymakers would put a lot of schools down for good. Let the resilient Beavers weather the standing 8 counts in all 3 sports and watch OSU bounce back. You know they will.
America has a new college football team to root for. It's located in Corvallis, Oregon and it is ready to capture your hearts. Orphaned after the Pac 12 imploded, it is headed on a journey to the unknown. Follow the Beavers as they try to find a new home, either in another conference, resurrect the Pac 12 or go it alone as an independent. Sell the journey and give people a rooting interest., like a documentary or reality show. America loves ❤️ an underdog, like Rocky. Anybody know Mike Rich's number?
Time to think outside the box. Maybe even partner with Wazoo. Strength in numbers.
The rebounders club is having a gathering on Thursday to honor our ‘23-24 wbb team. Won’t it be very awkward? Who is still on campus? Why do we honor those who don’t want to stay and play for us? I’m in a quandary.
That brilliant column, courageous even, is not going to win you fans in Beaver Nation. As a diehard Duck heartsick at what happened to Pac 12 and 100 percent opposed to Big 10 move…the one thing we don’t hear from Beavers is reflection on what they should have done differently—as in building big stadium and branding themselves decades ago as Oregon did. Instead we hear “blame Nike” and “Uncle Phil U,” which are true but also a reality of college sports for a half century.
OSU is a great university with a rich and deserved sports heritage. I love the Beavs. Until their fans get real, stop blaming others for their fortunes and dig deep into their own illustrious and wealthy fan base, they will wander in the desert.
Take care of that knee John. As for the future of the Pac 12, Pac 2, or whatever it becomes, some of us will continue to believe, the rest won't, and we will keep graduating great humans, whether or not they are athletes.
John, you hit the nail on the head regarding marketing and letting the big business donors take over. Marketing and "thinking big" has always been a weakness at Oregon State, since I was a kid growing up in Philomath in the 70s. I'm not sure there is anything OSU COULD'VE done to prevent what has happened, what I do know is that over the last 50 years they haven't done ANYTHING that MIGHT HAVE prevented it. We'll never know now. It's hard for a leopard to change its spots, but if they don't at least try, and swing for the fences, this is a lost cause. You can't just sit back and "hope" things change, which is what the strategy seems to be right now. A home and home with Kansas State starting in 2030 does nothing. By 2030 these programs will be dead and buried unless some other bold thinking is implemented almost immediately. OSU appears to be using the same strategy it's been involved with over and over, both internally and with the old Pac 12. Say nothing, produce nothing, miss deadlines and keep telling us they'll have answers "soon". How has that ever worked out the past 5 years or so? They longer they wait, the more certain it should be to everyone that 1) they have no real answers or strategy, and 2) when we finally do get answers it will be underwhelming and a complete miss. So preventable yet so predictable.
Agreed, this last years has been this Beavers fan nightmare. But, its also been an awaking. We need a complete transformation in Football and Basketball. I'd much rather see our sports program grow smaller rather than larger. I'd much rather see us bring joy back into the games than player NIL or portal drama. For me the 400K thing + the "Elite 8" eight girls basketball team collectively betray the fans who cheered them. Transitions are hard, Transformations are better.
Even if the Beavers aren’t in the predicament they are in… I found out about the 10-7 final of their spring game from your column, John. That’s a problem too… OSU’s lack of marketing. Even if I wasn’t a Duck, what would suggest I go to Corvallis? Rest and recovery, John.
Hope I am wrong but I think many Oregon State fans are simply numb with very few really interested in watching the Beavers. I think I am the average fan, for Beavers sake, I hope I am not given I have very little interest in how the football team does this fall. But my disinterest has way more to do with the direction of college football in general than the Beavers specifically.
College football to me is now best described as a whoredom that is going to become worse before it becomes better. College football now personifies the worst of human nature …… greed, selfishness and lack of character and integrity. It is no longer the place to spend Saturday afternoons rooting for
A team that will be disemboweled at end of the season
USAPTXO
I'm 84. In my opinion, college sports will have a reset within a few years.
Currently, it is being dismembered now. Between NIL and the transfer portal, it's unworkable and don't blame the players.
The University Presidents and League commissioners blew it chasing TV $. OSU vre Uof O, WSU vrs U0d W, Michigan vrs Ohio State, Auburn-Alabama, the Red River Rivalry, and more, captured everybody. Who cares about Oregon vrs Rutgers, Arizona vrs Florida? Regional rivalries are a critical ingredient to college sports...or were.
The 'student athlete' is history. My granddaughter was a preferred walk on in college, running track for 4 years. With tutors, great self-discipline and perseverance, she graduated in 4 years. She told me that won't happen in the future. The major universities will fly football teams on chartered planes, probably departing on Thursday, returning on Sunday so players will only miss two days classes a week. Track, swimming, volleyball, softball, baseball, basketball will probably fly commercial with mused connections in Denver, O'Hare, Midway, Newark , and LA. Forget graduating in 4 years or maybe graduating. But the athlete stills learns valuable life lessons like perseverance, over coming obstacles, money management, loyalty, team spirit...at age 21 at $400,000. a year. Right ! Pray he never has a career ending injury at 22 and has to begin learning those life lesson late.
The current program is unsustainable. In a few years (next major TV contracts) football should morph into four 12-15 regional conferences and the rest of the sports revert back to regional competition.
I won't live to see it but today's model is broken and unsustainable. I enjoyed college sports for longer than I deserved but those days are over for me. In the meantime, I'll stick with the 49ers, and a few others.
Well played, as usual, John. And all the best with that knee, we are all rooting for you. Charlie
I'm no marketing guy, but I am a Beaver. Seems to me a massive marketing campaign aimed at the entire country, calling the Beav's America's team and inviting fans to participate might make sense. The premise is that there is a national disgust with what has been happening in college football and fans throughout the country might be willing to rally around the one (actually two - -WSU) program(s) that represent the build not bought identity -- a protest vote -- a team everyone would like to see succeed in the ugly new world. My suspect, with no data, is that rightly done it could attract a lot of attention and financial support from the little guys Given our current situation, it is a risk worth taking, IMO.
Another Miss. Don’t get me wrong I am a season ticket holder for OSU Football and support the University in a variety of ways. I just read your column about OSU’s spring football event. I was embarrassed as I missed it. I then went and check my emails to see if I had missed an announcement for the event or an email encouraging me to attend. While I had a number of emails from OSU athletics including Scott Barnes letter to supporters about the status of OSU Athletics and the Conference. I could not find anything related to the spring football game. Now it is possible that I missed an email but I would have expected not just one but multiple emails encouraging me, a season ticket holder, to attend. I could not find any such emails. That appears to be another missed opportunity
If OSU can get a QB1 settled, this is a minimum 8 win team. Agree on the marketing content, the situation, well it sucks, but can you leverage it? Embrace the suck. I think it would play well to the 99% of households watching the CW. Everyone can relate to being kicked in the teeth and then persevering out of the mess. You can’t throw a penny in any direction in Portland without hitting a world class marketing agency, go get one. Heck, I will negotiate it for OSU, for free.
OSU has had the heart and soul ripped out of their football, MBB and WBB programs. OSU's favorite son, Coach Jonathan Smith bolted with as many players and recruits as he could carry, others transferred out. That's a major body blow. The basketball programs faced mass exodus of their starting fives + bench. These type of haymakers would put a lot of schools down for good. Let the resilient Beavers weather the standing 8 counts in all 3 sports and watch OSU bounce back. You know they will.
America has a new college football team to root for. It's located in Corvallis, Oregon and it is ready to capture your hearts. Orphaned after the Pac 12 imploded, it is headed on a journey to the unknown. Follow the Beavers as they try to find a new home, either in another conference, resurrect the Pac 12 or go it alone as an independent. Sell the journey and give people a rooting interest., like a documentary or reality show. America loves ❤️ an underdog, like Rocky. Anybody know Mike Rich's number?
Time to think outside the box. Maybe even partner with Wazoo. Strength in numbers.
BTW, get well soon 😊.
The rebounders club is having a gathering on Thursday to honor our ‘23-24 wbb team. Won’t it be very awkward? Who is still on campus? Why do we honor those who don’t want to stay and play for us? I’m in a quandary.
That brilliant column, courageous even, is not going to win you fans in Beaver Nation. As a diehard Duck heartsick at what happened to Pac 12 and 100 percent opposed to Big 10 move…the one thing we don’t hear from Beavers is reflection on what they should have done differently—as in building big stadium and branding themselves decades ago as Oregon did. Instead we hear “blame Nike” and “Uncle Phil U,” which are true but also a reality of college sports for a half century.
OSU is a great university with a rich and deserved sports heritage. I love the Beavs. Until their fans get real, stop blaming others for their fortunes and dig deep into their own illustrious and wealthy fan base, they will wander in the desert.
Geez. This is the new ecosystem for college .The football players are getting what they have always deserved .
Whoredom? Please. The NCAA and the fans have been using players for revenue and entertainment for years. That is whoredom
Take care of that knee John. As for the future of the Pac 12, Pac 2, or whatever it becomes, some of us will continue to believe, the rest won't, and we will keep graduating great humans, whether or not they are athletes.
John, you hit the nail on the head regarding marketing and letting the big business donors take over. Marketing and "thinking big" has always been a weakness at Oregon State, since I was a kid growing up in Philomath in the 70s. I'm not sure there is anything OSU COULD'VE done to prevent what has happened, what I do know is that over the last 50 years they haven't done ANYTHING that MIGHT HAVE prevented it. We'll never know now. It's hard for a leopard to change its spots, but if they don't at least try, and swing for the fences, this is a lost cause. You can't just sit back and "hope" things change, which is what the strategy seems to be right now. A home and home with Kansas State starting in 2030 does nothing. By 2030 these programs will be dead and buried unless some other bold thinking is implemented almost immediately. OSU appears to be using the same strategy it's been involved with over and over, both internally and with the old Pac 12. Say nothing, produce nothing, miss deadlines and keep telling us they'll have answers "soon". How has that ever worked out the past 5 years or so? They longer they wait, the more certain it should be to everyone that 1) they have no real answers or strategy, and 2) when we finally do get answers it will be underwhelming and a complete miss. So preventable yet so predictable.
It's no longer just about buying the players (NIL); it's about buying the fans (marketing).
It's no longer about the game; it's about who has the richest sports-obsessed benefactor.
The playing field was lopsided before. Now it's impossible. And ridiculous.
Agreed, this last years has been this Beavers fan nightmare. But, its also been an awaking. We need a complete transformation in Football and Basketball. I'd much rather see our sports program grow smaller rather than larger. I'd much rather see us bring joy back into the games than player NIL or portal drama. For me the 400K thing + the "Elite 8" eight girls basketball team collectively betray the fans who cheered them. Transitions are hard, Transformations are better.
Even if the Beavers aren’t in the predicament they are in… I found out about the 10-7 final of their spring game from your column, John. That’s a problem too… OSU’s lack of marketing. Even if I wasn’t a Duck, what would suggest I go to Corvallis? Rest and recovery, John.