It's very interesting how similar the route to the finals was for these two teams over the past two years. Last year UNC cruised through their pool and won the first game of the finals. OSU had to beat Rice twice to get to the finals.
This year OSU cruises through their pool and wins the first game while UNC has to beat Rice twice to make it in. Is it going to continue to mirror last year or is OSU going to repeat?
bkeks - interesting, isn't it? Mirror images.
However there is an alternative explanation that I happen to like better:
OSU was unhappy that their title last year was such a struggle. They had to play with their backs against the wall virtually the entire series, having to win six consecutive elimination games, some of them come from behind, to get the trophy.
So they want to show the world they can do it with much more elegance this time. And they are one win away from their goal:
Winning every game and never even being behind for a single inning during the entire series!
So the Beavers want a "do-over" because the win last year looked like a bit too much of a struggle.
Bear: You don't like Fox? I'm a no on your bet proposal - talk about stacking the deck!
However there is an alternative explanation that I happen to like better:
OSU was unhappy that their title last year was such a struggle. They had to play with their backs against the wall virtually the entire series, having to win six consecutive elimination games, some of them come from behind, to get the trophy.
So they want to show the world they can do it with much more elegance this time. And they are one win away from their goal:
Winning every game and never even being behind for a single inning during the entire series!
So the Beavers want a "do-over" because the win last year looked like a bit too much of a struggle.
Bear: You don't like Fox? I'm a no on your bet proposal - talk about stacking the deck!
Nice article on OSU in today's Oregonian by John Canzano. It's pretty apparent that Casey's squad is stacked with team chemistry majors.
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano...365121330.xml&coll=7
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano...365121330.xml&coll=7
I've suspended regular programming on my radio show today and so I'm doing the whole show on the Beavers. You can listen in from 12:00 - 3:00 pm EDT at www.kxl.com
Call in!
Call in!
Great article undeed. I think the article's title might be a wee bit unfair because I think you need to be a great team to even get there.
I especially liked the part how they pick their teammates up who have made a mistake. That contributes to how they play so loose. Barney is great leader on that team but they have several of them.
I especially liked the part how they pick their teammates up who have made a mistake. That contributes to how they play so loose. Barney is great leader on that team but they have several of them.
Thanks for the article. I couldn't read any further than the first page. Can you cut and paste it?
No doubt good team chemistry has a lot to do with a team's success. I have witnessed that myself. There is a lot at stake here, and coaches manage their teams differently.
I can tell you from being in Omaha, players are TOLD to leave the field immediately to get to the bus to avoid traffic. There they get hung up with autographs and pictures. Some have interviews to contend with. Most likely the wait was deliberate, maybe for those reasons.
To imply that they did it (regardless of reasons) because they are more of a "team" than others may not be accurate and obviously written as a feel good story. Might just well be they are getting the respect they felt they lacked last year, I have no problem with that at all.
I am rooting for both teams but I must say this article is way off base in the light they show other teams and UNC in the first few paragraphs. To say Oregon State is the only team left in the series is not accurate reporting, just the authors opinion.
Write what you want about your home team, but don't write off another until the end.
And that is just my opinion.
No doubt good team chemistry has a lot to do with a team's success. I have witnessed that myself. There is a lot at stake here, and coaches manage their teams differently.
I can tell you from being in Omaha, players are TOLD to leave the field immediately to get to the bus to avoid traffic. There they get hung up with autographs and pictures. Some have interviews to contend with. Most likely the wait was deliberate, maybe for those reasons.
I am rooting for both teams but I must say this article is way off base in the light they show other teams and UNC in the first few paragraphs. To say Oregon State is the only team left in the series is not accurate reporting, just the authors opinion.
Write what you want about your home team, but don't write off another until the end.
And that is just my opinion.
I had my share of run ins with Canzano during the Blazer deal. He's been known to make things up from whole cloth.
There is only one team left in Omaha
Sunday, June 24, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. The game ended. Rosenblatt Stadium emptied. And two armed deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff's department found themselves standing near home plate, twiddling their holsters, waiting for the Oregon State baseball team.
College baseball games have been ending all week in this stadium. And when they do, the players from both teams grab their gear, and scatter, one by one, into a sea of waiting friends, family and autograph seekers in the parking lot.
But not Oregon State.
Because on Saturday, after its 11-4 victory over North Carolina in the opening game of the best-of-three College World Series finals, the Beavers watched as the Tar Heels players began peeling off, bleeding into the crowd, one by one, across the way. And the Beavers said nothing, but only because nothing had to be said.
Then, Oregon State's players walked to home plate, set their gear down and waited. And waited. And after about 10 minutes, someone announced that everyone was present, and it was then, and only then, that the team left the field in a single-file line with the dazed deputies marveling at what they'd just witnessed.
You know, a team.
The only team left in this tournament, really. North Carolina didn't leave the field together. And if you ask the deputies in charge of the escort, they'll tell you that neither did Rice, UC Irvine, Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Louisville or Mississippi State.
And this is only to say that the Beavers act as if they're in this thing together, which, along with good pitching, is how you go from being the last team invited into the postseason to the last team standing.
Also, consider that if you'd been in the stadium Saturday, you'd have witnessed four errors -- two by each team. And if you'd been paying especially close attention, you might have noticed that when the Oregon State players made an error in the field, they were greeted as the inning ended at the top of the dugout steps with back slaps and words of encouragement.
Meanwhile, North Carolina reliever Tyler Trice made two throwing errors in a disastrous four-run seventh inning -- including sailing one down the right field line -- and when he was pulled from the game by his coach, not a single teammate moved to the dugout steps.
Trice walked alone. And the Tar Heels are done.
There was a lot of discussion last week about what it is that makes Oregon State special. Casual observers, unfamiliar with the chemistry of a Pat Casey team, fail to understand how it's possible that this group could be the best college baseball team in the country. But what they don't understand is that Casey doesn't need all the best players to win it all, he just needs some of them.
Pac-10 champion Arizona State had more talent than Oregon State this season. So does North Carolina. So does Vanderbilt, for that matter, and it stalled in the opening round.
Also, there were four other Pacific-10 Conference teams that finished higher than the Beavers in the regular season. But none of those clubs walked together -- figuratively, literally or in any other way. None of them figured out how to walk as a team, which is why they're home watching on television today while the Beavers play for the national title.
When you see Darwin Barney screaming around third base, looking to the on-deck hitter to see which side of home plate he needs to slide to, when you see Mike Lissman, the No. 3 hitter, attempting a sacrifice in the first inning, when you see pitcher Jorge Reyes etch his grandfather's initials in the dirt behind the pitcher's mound before every inning, you understand this is a team.
You understand it when you see Casey gather the Beavers players immediately after the game, cutting off the hand-shaking and smiling, to say, "We need to finish this thing." And then, when Casey walked away and was out of his sight, the players turned to one another, not to laugh or continue shaking hands, but to say, "Let's close this deal."
You get it, when you see second baseman Joey Wong walk through the parking lot after the game, his right elbow wrapped in a bag of ice after being plunked in the late innings, with teammates asking, over and over, "Hey, you alright?" And you get it when you ask Lissman what he thinks about who North Carolina might start on the mound in game two, and he says, "Don't care . . . don't matter . . . it's about us."
What we have here is a team that has outgrown its individual performances before our very eyes. A band that has been infected with confidence and is playing so loose and free that when Jordan Lennerton, who is Canadian, hit a two-run home run in the second inning Saturday, his teammates came climbing out of the dugout with their hands on their heads, fashioned into moose horns.
When Lennerton crossed home plate, he saw his teammates, smiled and put his horns up, too.
Oregon State hasn't trailed in this College World Series. In fact, the Beavers haven't been behind in a game since the eighth inning of their victory over Virginia in the regional on June 4 -- 55 innings ago. It's remarkable, because you can make the argument that they're not good enough to have done any of this, but before you do, understand that they just did.
When this season is over, the Beavers should become a case study for us all. Teams, companies, societies and civilization could learn something about themselves by watching this group walk out of the building together.
John Canzano: 503-294-5065; JohnCanzano@aol.com To read his blog, go to http://blog.oregonlive.com/ johncanzano; Catch him on the radio on "The Bald-Faced Truth,"
KFXX (1080), weekdays at 5:25 p.m.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. The game ended. Rosenblatt Stadium emptied. And two armed deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff's department found themselves standing near home plate, twiddling their holsters, waiting for the Oregon State baseball team.
College baseball games have been ending all week in this stadium. And when they do, the players from both teams grab their gear, and scatter, one by one, into a sea of waiting friends, family and autograph seekers in the parking lot.
But not Oregon State.
Because on Saturday, after its 11-4 victory over North Carolina in the opening game of the best-of-three College World Series finals, the Beavers watched as the Tar Heels players began peeling off, bleeding into the crowd, one by one, across the way. And the Beavers said nothing, but only because nothing had to be said.
Then, Oregon State's players walked to home plate, set their gear down and waited. And waited. And after about 10 minutes, someone announced that everyone was present, and it was then, and only then, that the team left the field in a single-file line with the dazed deputies marveling at what they'd just witnessed.
You know, a team.
The only team left in this tournament, really. North Carolina didn't leave the field together. And if you ask the deputies in charge of the escort, they'll tell you that neither did Rice, UC Irvine, Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Louisville or Mississippi State.
And this is only to say that the Beavers act as if they're in this thing together, which, along with good pitching, is how you go from being the last team invited into the postseason to the last team standing.
Also, consider that if you'd been in the stadium Saturday, you'd have witnessed four errors -- two by each team. And if you'd been paying especially close attention, you might have noticed that when the Oregon State players made an error in the field, they were greeted as the inning ended at the top of the dugout steps with back slaps and words of encouragement.
Meanwhile, North Carolina reliever Tyler Trice made two throwing errors in a disastrous four-run seventh inning -- including sailing one down the right field line -- and when he was pulled from the game by his coach, not a single teammate moved to the dugout steps.
Trice walked alone. And the Tar Heels are done.
There was a lot of discussion last week about what it is that makes Oregon State special. Casual observers, unfamiliar with the chemistry of a Pat Casey team, fail to understand how it's possible that this group could be the best college baseball team in the country. But what they don't understand is that Casey doesn't need all the best players to win it all, he just needs some of them.
Pac-10 champion Arizona State had more talent than Oregon State this season. So does North Carolina. So does Vanderbilt, for that matter, and it stalled in the opening round.
Also, there were four other Pacific-10 Conference teams that finished higher than the Beavers in the regular season. But none of those clubs walked together -- figuratively, literally or in any other way. None of them figured out how to walk as a team, which is why they're home watching on television today while the Beavers play for the national title.
When you see Darwin Barney screaming around third base, looking to the on-deck hitter to see which side of home plate he needs to slide to, when you see Mike Lissman, the No. 3 hitter, attempting a sacrifice in the first inning, when you see pitcher Jorge Reyes etch his grandfather's initials in the dirt behind the pitcher's mound before every inning, you understand this is a team.
You understand it when you see Casey gather the Beavers players immediately after the game, cutting off the hand-shaking and smiling, to say, "We need to finish this thing." And then, when Casey walked away and was out of his sight, the players turned to one another, not to laugh or continue shaking hands, but to say, "Let's close this deal."
You get it, when you see second baseman Joey Wong walk through the parking lot after the game, his right elbow wrapped in a bag of ice after being plunked in the late innings, with teammates asking, over and over, "Hey, you alright?" And you get it when you ask Lissman what he thinks about who North Carolina might start on the mound in game two, and he says, "Don't care . . . don't matter . . . it's about us."
What we have here is a team that has outgrown its individual performances before our very eyes. A band that has been infected with confidence and is playing so loose and free that when Jordan Lennerton, who is Canadian, hit a two-run home run in the second inning Saturday, his teammates came climbing out of the dugout with their hands on their heads, fashioned into moose horns.
When Lennerton crossed home plate, he saw his teammates, smiled and put his horns up, too.
Oregon State hasn't trailed in this College World Series. In fact, the Beavers haven't been behind in a game since the eighth inning of their victory over Virginia in the regional on June 4 -- 55 innings ago. It's remarkable, because you can make the argument that they're not good enough to have done any of this, but before you do, understand that they just did.
When this season is over, the Beavers should become a case study for us all. Teams, companies, societies and civilization could learn something about themselves by watching this group walk out of the building together.
John Canzano: 503-294-5065; JohnCanzano@aol.com To read his blog, go to http://blog.oregonlive.com/ johncanzano; Catch him on the radio on "The Bald-Faced Truth,"
KFXX (1080), weekdays at 5:25 p.m.
Gees, this is college baseball.
Sounds like my wife's kindergarten class that has to stand in line, single file, as they head out to the bus to take them home.
I still like the 'Heels even though they looked like Little Leaguers last night.
Sounds like my wife's kindergarten class that has to stand in line, single file, as they head out to the bus to take them home.
I still like the 'Heels even though they looked like Little Leaguers last night.
Rob,
I got to hear a little of your show, including your interview with Mike Stutes. Nice work!
BTW, the locals that I talked to love the new format. Maybe you should dump your partner and go with the sports show?
I got to hear a little of your show, including your interview with Mike Stutes. Nice work!
BTW, the locals that I talked to love the new format. Maybe you should dump your partner and go with the sports show?
Great idea spizzle! I'll pitch that to management!
Thanks for listening ... Mike is a good kid. Nice to have him on just hours before game time.
Thanks for listening ... Mike is a good kid. Nice to have him on just hours before game time.
SP,
Thanks. No way trying to put down the Beavers, my son knows some of them and he states they are, in the true sense of the word, a whole team built strictly on the mentality there is no I in team. Great leadership. Team chemistry is so important, we see that in MLB as well. Why do the ones with teh most talent, big payrolls not make it to playoffs while the teams with not as talented or known players do? IMO, team chemistry.
Although I thought the Tigers had more talent this year than last, the team chemistry as the year before was not there. So I understand what he is talking about.
I don't think UNC or any of the other teams got where they were without team unity and chemistry.
JMO.
Rob, the Muckdogs need Stuts, hope he comes to NY if he signs.
Thanks. No way trying to put down the Beavers, my son knows some of them and he states they are, in the true sense of the word, a whole team built strictly on the mentality there is no I in team. Great leadership. Team chemistry is so important, we see that in MLB as well. Why do the ones with teh most talent, big payrolls not make it to playoffs while the teams with not as talented or known players do? IMO, team chemistry.
Although I thought the Tigers had more talent this year than last, the team chemistry as the year before was not there. So I understand what he is talking about.
I don't think UNC or any of the other teams got where they were without team unity and chemistry.
JMO.
Rob, the Muckdogs need Stuts, hope he comes to NY if he signs.
Here is a lttle snippet from Mark Etheridge of sebaseball.com
quote:Observations
Oregon State continues to find offense from unlikely places and get great pitching and defense. They may not be the most talented club in the land, but Pat Casey is showing why people are calling him the nation's top coach.
North Carolina will need another quality starter from Luke Putkonen. He shut down Louisville and now has the task of slowing a red-hot Beaver club. The parallels are there to the Rice situation where the Tar Heels won a three in a row with Putkonen, Robert Woodard, and Adam Warren on the hill. They only need two wins this time but those two have to come against Oregon State.
The Heels have to score early and make OSU play from behind, something they have not had to do. Meanwhile OSU just needs to continue their game, score early and extend the leads behind strong starting pitching. The nation is becoming Beaver Believers.
OSU did seem to possess some special qualities when watching them. However, it's easier to smile, pat one another on the back, give hugs, etc. when you're smashing another team. I like the OSU kids... always have. The smiles on Wong and Barney are truly infectious and I suspect that OSU may have a special team chemistry. Let's give NC some praise though too. Their team got killed and they played terribly, but they continued to fight and stick together.
I've always believed that chemistry is an important factor in winning... one of the reasons I thought UCI might make it to the finals.
I've always believed that chemistry is an important factor in winning... one of the reasons I thought UCI might make it to the finals.
I do agree that its easier to have "chemistry" when your winning - did you all see the ESPN story about Chipper Jones and Smoltz - I think chemistry is from the top down not the other way around - you can bet Bobby Cox is fuming over the way two of his veterans have acted and will/has corrected it.
Bonehead plays 
Any questions?
Ouch! There just isn't much you can say except congratulations OSU! Two very solid games! I'm not sure I've ever seen a team look as flat as UNC has in this championship. 
I wouldn't say flat, more like tired. 72 games this season, most likely the most from any team in the NCAA.
Congrats to the Beavers and to Mitch Canham, I hope that he gets everything he deserves.
Congrats to the Beavers and to Mitch Canham, I hope that he gets everything he deserves.
I wonder if OSU will not get a pre season ranking in 2008??
This is the suttle things that happen to the left coast teams when there's no respect.
A national Champion not being ranked the next year.
Well National Champion's again.
Lets get the polls right this next year.
Congrats to the Beaver's.
This is the suttle things that happen to the left coast teams when there's no respect.
A national Champion not being ranked the next year.
Well National Champion's again.
Lets get the polls right this next year.
Congrats to the Beaver's.
Congratulations to the University of North Carolina Tar Heels for being a worthy foe.
GO CELEBRATE BEAVS!
GO CELEBRATE BEAVS!
One thing people may be missing is that they must be playing some really good baseball out in Oregon and perhaps that is the part that is overlooked the most. I re-checked their roster today and the majority is from Oregon and then the Pacific Northwest. They have shown that if you recruit the best players out of Oregon and give them good coaching then you can compete with anyone.
I don't consider them a pure small ball team either. They like to hit the ball behind the runners in many cases rather than bunt them over.
I don't consider them a pure small ball team either. They like to hit the ball behind the runners in many cases rather than bunt them over.
No, the Beavers shouldn't be ranked next pre-season. After all, they are losing eight players to the draft!
But they're not losing Coach Casey!
Congrats to OSU!
Congrats to OSU. They played a great game
Congrats to the Beavers!!!!!!!!!!!!! They played with so much heart. It was fun to watch.
Looked to me like UNC was beat after that great relay and play at the plate. That really took the starch out of them.
This was the first team ever to win four straight college world series games by six runs or more - how is that for dominating?
Carolina really fell apart defensively ... again. The Beavers, on the other hand, made two errors the entire series. Both of them were bobbled balls by outfielders that gave an extra base to the hitter.
Which means they never once, in five games, gave their opponents an extra out.
When this thing is analyzed, and all the stats are in, I think people will realize that it was a dominating performance by the Beavers. They were behind for a single inning in the entire series.
Pretty incredible. I love those guys.
This was the first team ever to win four straight college world series games by six runs or more - how is that for dominating?
Carolina really fell apart defensively ... again. The Beavers, on the other hand, made two errors the entire series. Both of them were bobbled balls by outfielders that gave an extra base to the hitter.
Which means they never once, in five games, gave their opponents an extra out.
When this thing is analyzed, and all the stats are in, I think people will realize that it was a dominating performance by the Beavers. They were behind for a single inning in the entire series.
Pretty incredible. I love those guys.
I'm bout tired of these Beavers beating my Tarheels. LoL congrats to OSU they had a great season. plus the heels will be back next year!
quote:They were behind for a single inning in the entire series.
Then Barney made sure they went back up the very next inning with a two run homer. Barney should have gotten the MVP imho but Reyes was certainly worthy.
The Beavers certainly were dominating during the post-season. The last two games should be required viewing for every Little League team--to visually explain what a TEAM is all about--and what a COACH is--and how to play the game. They were fun to watch.
Congratulations to the Beavers and their families.....We have some new players to keep tabs on....especially that Darwin Barney. He just might make Cubs fans out of this family of Sox fans....
I am very happy for the Oregon State Beavers.
But my heart is broken for the Tar Heels.
Congratulations to the Beavers and their families.....We have some new players to keep tabs on....especially that Darwin Barney. He just might make Cubs fans out of this family of Sox fans....
I am very happy for the Oregon State Beavers.
But my heart is broken for the Tar Heels.
10-14 in the Pac10 says more about this team than the championship they won.
Congrats to the Beavers!
What was Fox thinking in the 7th?
I think we should contribute a few bucks and get the Beavers some new road uniforms...Can you say UGLY.
On any given day, anything can happen. Shows us all that many fans can be college baseball coaches.
Congrats to the Beavers!
What was Fox thinking in the 7th?
I think we should contribute a few bucks and get the Beavers some new road uniforms...Can you say UGLY.
On any given day, anything can happen. Shows us all that many fans can be college baseball coaches.
quote:10-14 in the Pac10 says more about this team than the championship they won.
Do you mean it shows how much heart they have after a mediocre conference season to get hot in the post season and waltz through Omaha?
quote:Originally posted by BeenthereIL:
10-14 in the Pac10 says more about this team than the championship they won.
Maybe their record in the Pac-10 says a whole lot about the Pac-10...a strong conference.
And before we think of collecting any dough for different Beaver baseball uniforms we must first pass the hat to raise funds to buy the Oregon Ducks new football uniforms! See for yourself...
The O in OSU must stand for Omaha.
Side note - they should play college baseball on TV 12 months a year - that was fun to watch!!!!
Side note - they should play college baseball on TV 12 months a year - that was fun to watch!!!!
quote:Originally posted by BeenthereIL:
On any given day, anything can happen. Shows us all that many fans can be college baseball coaches.
?
.
Rumor mill says....that OSU has to take predominantly State of Oregon players...if this is true says even more about the skill level of Oregon players AND the coaching staff...
44
.
quote:One thing people may be missing is that they must be playing some really good baseball out in Oregon and perhaps that is the part that is overlooked the most. I re-checked their roster today and the majority is from Oregon and then the Pacific Northwest. They have shown that if you recruit the best players out of Oregon and give them good coaching then you can compete with anyone.
Rumor mill says....that OSU has to take predominantly State of Oregon players...if this is true says even more about the skill level of Oregon players AND the coaching staff...
44.
quote:Originally posted by BeenthereIL:
10-14 in the Pac10 says more about this team than the championship they won.
What was Fox thinking in the 7th?
I think we should contribute a few bucks and get the Beavers some new road uniforms...Can you say UGLY.
On any given day, anything can happen. Shows us all that many fans can be college baseball coaches.
I honestly wonder how someone could make this type of post.
How about credit to Barney and Canham for the play in the 7th. Not like the kid was out by 10 feet. If they don't make a brilliant relay, block of home and catch the ball coming from behind the runner, that runner scores and momentum shifts in a major way.
In case you don't know, and you don't, OSU pressures teams into mistakes and they execute as well as any team. They have been doing it against the best competition in the country for 3 years. They are the "best."
Players who know the game, who have competed at high levels, know that sometimes the other team deserves the credit because they played better and won. That is what happened.
Show a little class. OSU deserves it.
We were incredulous that he crow-hopped as he was catching the ball....unbelievably great play!!!!
quote:Originally posted by BeenthereIL:
10-14 in the Pac10 says more about this team than the championship they won.
Maybe it says more about the ACC