During a very difficult 2021, it was a very good first year
A first full year is in the books for kerryeggers.com after my retirement after 45 years in the newspaper in April 2020.
First, thanks to all of you for being subscribers. I appreciate all the feedback we have received, both as responses to be published on the website and others of a personal nature.
We have plans to add sponsors in 2022 and perhaps expand to continue the podcast series that I began at the Portland Tribune in 2018. We will continue to cover things that I like to write about and that I believe you want to read about.
Thanks in no small part to my web supervisor — we had 79 posts on the site in 2021. Through the wonders of analytics, the following is a list of the 10 most-read posts through the year — and also five from the second 10 that were among my favorites.
1) March 23. Headline: Fronk was one of Oregon great athletes, ‘and the kind of person to match.’
In this remembrance of former Sunset High standout Bob Fronk — who died of lung cancer at age 62 — Apollo teammates such as Stan Walker, Kevin Bryant, Brent Green, Scott Hacke and Todd Frimoth paint the picture of a humble, personable, intellectually curious person who remained part of a “band of brothers” that lasted his lifetime.
2) March 25. Headline: Ex-Beaver greats weigh in on Tinkle, 2020-21 Beavers
Rarely has there been a more unlikely march to the Elite Eight of the NCAA basketball tournament than the one taken by Oregon State last year. A collection of former Beaver players — including Terry Baker, Ray Blume, Lester Conner, Steve Johnson, Loy Petersen, Mark Radford and Charlie Sitton — offered thoughts on what Coach Wayne Tinkle and his players were able to accomplish.
https://www.kerryeggers.com/stories/ex-beaver-greats-weigh-in-on-tinkle-2020-21-beavers-
3) September 27. Headline: On Oregon State’s historic takedown of Troy, along with a look at that win back in 1960 and a nod to the late Steve Hall
This column resonated with Oregon State football fans, who were tired of hearing about a Southern Cal home win streak that lasted 24 games and more than six decades until the Beavers’ 45-27 win at the LA Memorial Coliseum. Players on the 1960 team that last beat the Trojans on the road, including Don Kasso, Gene Hilliard, Rich Brooks and Neil Plumley, looked back at that win and also offered thoughts on Jonathan Smith’s coaching job with the current Beavers. The column also highlighted the life and career of local tennis official Steve Hall, a loyal OSU sports fan who had passed away nine days earlier.
4) June 8. Headline: Barlow’s Tom Johnson: He inspires, he mentors, he teaches life lessons and he wins
One of my favorite people in the coaching profession, Barlow High basketball coach Tom Johnson — a member of the exclusive 600-win club in the state’s long history with the sport — has made an impact with players, fellow coaches and those around him, both on and off the court.
5) August 27. Headline: Some old, a lot of new make Scott Rueck optimistic about his 2021-22 team
Of all the topics I’ve written about in recent years, few are as popular or as well-read as anything on Oregon State women’s basketball. No surprise there was a high level of interest in this interview with Rueck as he looked ahead to the Beavers’ 21-22 season. Scott is fun to interview — always optimistic, but very descriptive and thoughtful in his appraisals of his players and team.
6) June 12. Headline: Covering some baseball topics: Pat Casey, Friends of Baseball and Mavericks Independent League
With due respect to “Friends of Baseball” and the “Mavericks Independent League,” my guess is most readers turned to this column for news on Pat Casey and his interest in the then-vacant Louisiana State coaching job. Casey, in my estimation, is the greatest coach in any sport that this state as ever seen (alongside, perhaps, Bill Bowerman), and still carries a lot of clout with his legions of admirers.
7) October 28. Headline: Iconic coach alive and still kicking at 90: ‘Linfield might as well be called Rutschman U”
Ad Rutschman, the greatest small-college coach in the state’s history, was profiled with insight from two of his sons, Don and Randy, as well as several well-known coaches who played and/or coached for Rutschman. At 90, Ad still coaches special teams for the Wildcats, who revere the coach just like those who played for him 60 years ago.
8) November 18. Headline: A day in the life of George Fox football.
Chris Casey — older brother of Pat and a renowned coach in his own right — offered an opportunity to spend a day inside the George Fox football program. It turned into what was probably my personal favorite story that I wrote all year.
https://www.kerryeggers.com/stories/a-day-in-the-life-of-george-fox-football
9) April 17. Headline: On Aldridge’s retirement, the Trail Blazers’ lot in life, Tinkle contract 4/17
This notes column hit on a lot of items, with comments on Wayne Tinkle’s three-year contract extension, the NCAA transfer portal and Oregon Ducks baseball among other things. Sometimes it’s fun to weigh in on a variety of subjects in our sporting world.
10) February 11. Headline: With Scott Barnes and Bob de Carolis, talking everything Reser Stadium.
After the stunning news that Oregon State had secured the funding to complete the Reser Stadium renovation, I reached out to OSU athletic director Scott Barnes for some insight into the project. I asked Barnes a lot of questions, inquiring about funding methods with donors, about the low stadium capacity (34,000 to 39,000), how realistic it was for fans to be in seats during the 2021 season and why no skyboxes are planned for the new west side. I also asked him the $50 million question: Who was the primary donor? He laughed off the question; I offered several possibilities to the readers. it was months later that a source slipped me the answer: The Resers.
I also thought it important to get a comment from former OSU AD Bob de Carolis, now working at Santa Clara, since he was the one most responsible for the east side renovation. “I’m just glad it’s going to get done,” de Carolis told me.
The next five:
• March 16. Headline: Cool Hand Luke the ultimate underdog: ‘We like shocking people’
Ignored by other Pac-12 schools despite averaging 39.6 points per game as a high school senior, sophomore guard Jared Lucas had a big hand in Oregon State’s run to a Pac-12 basketball championship and the Elite Eight. I spoke with Jared and his father, Jeff — his coach at Los Altos High in Hacienda Heights, Calif. — about his development as a player and his accomplishments as a player.
https://www.kerryeggers.com/stories/cool-hand-luke-the-ultimate-underdog-we-like-shocking-people
• Nov. 26. Headline: How does the Jackhammer Do it? ‘I have no idea’ says the Beavers’ Colletto
It’s safe to say there has never been a football player at Oregon State with the versatility of junior fullback/Wildcat quarterback/linebacker/special teams stalwart Jack Colletto. It was fun to catch up to “The Jackhammer” and find out a little about what makes the Camas, Wash., native tick.
• July 25. Headline: Offering a final salute to the legacy of Bud Ossey: ‘He went out on top’
I’m not sure I’ve met a person with more friends than Bud Ossey, the Oregon State super fan who died at age 101, not to be forgotten. Ossey — who first watched an Oregon State football game in Corvallis in 1924 at age five — was a fountain of knowledge on the history of Beaver athletics as well as a Renaissance Man with many interests and charitable endeavors. It was my good fortune to call him a friend.
• July 27. Headline: For Chad Forcier: 25 years in The NBA, and now two rings
I’ve always admired Chad Forcier for the work ethic and perseverence that carried him from the lower rungs of the college ranks to a pair of NBA championships as an assistant coach in San Antonio and Milwaukee. It was great to talk to the one-time Oregon State and University of Portland assistant about the experience of winning a title with the Bucks in 2021 and with the Spurs in 2014.
https://www.kerryeggers.com/stories/for-chad-forcier-25-years-in-the-nba-and-now-two-rings
• June 8. Headline: Buck doesn’t stop at Olshey — At least, he says it doesn’t
Through 9 1/2 years as general manager of the Trail Blazers, Neil Olshey made himself an easy target at times. I respected much of the work he did, swinging a few good trades, making a few good draft picks, landing players who have not gotten themselves into trouble off the court as did a Blazer GM of a previous era (Bob Whitsitt). But Olshey couldn’t get out of the way of his own ego in defending himself in condescending fashion to the media and, in effect, the public. In December, after an investigation into charges of work place misconduct and “creating a hostile work environment,” the Blazers ended the Olshey era by firing him.
https://www.kerryeggers.com/stories/buck-doesnt-stop-at-olshey-at-least-he-says-it-doesnt
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