I’m not really joking with that response. The new AD at the school seems to be more about hype and money, than actually having winning teams. The rumor is, he even asked if Coach Casey would consider going to Eugene (of course, the press statement made after that rumor was leaked is that “no offer was made”… meaning, contact was likely made). The Ducks said that this has nothing to do with Oregon State’s success. But I cannot believe it.

They are also looking at building a new Baseball Facility.

Good Going Brian.

It is very late in the year to be hiring somebody right now.

I believe this is one of the problems Oregon State has had recently.

I am just getting tired of Oregon this and Oregon that…Just hire somebody!!

1. I was a wrestler when I was in high school, so I don’t like to see schools drop the sport. However, there’s no doubt that baseball is a more popular sport, and dropping wrestling in favour of baseball is just one of those hard decisions that Title IX forces schools to make.

There is an alternative to transferring. UO could make wrestling a club sport.

2. The Ducks will initially be playing in the stadium used by the Class A Eugene Emeralds. I haven’t actually been to this facility, but friends of mine who have tell me that it’s an interesting old ballpark. The college baseball and Northwest League seasons don’t overlap. I’ll put in the suggestion here that the powers that be use some of Phil Knight’s money to give this place a facelift, then both the Ducks and Emeralds could use it.

3. What has changed in Eugene since 1981? Well, Portland State and Eastern Washington also dropped baseball, so bringing back baseball at UO still means fewer spots for DI players than there were 15 years ago. At the same time, the popularity of baseball is the Northwest is definitely growing. The West Coast Collegiate Baseball League has been a huge success, and the North West Athletic Association of Community Colleges has also been turning out a lot of good players.

There’s also some rumbling at Seattle U. that they might return to DI, and make baseball a varsity sport at the same time.

4. We’ve already discussed the potential wisdom of UO going after a local coach, who knows the recruiting territory, instead of going for a high-profile guy. Maybe we could get a Rob Vance bandwagon going…

I was devastated when Providence College dropped the baseball program due to Title IX and I bet people are feeling the same thing at Oregon about the wrestling program.