From Lincoln Logs to football stadiums: Jim Wilson’s thoughts on each of the Pac-12 venues …
It is a strange feeling to watch a football game without fans in the stands. It is even stranger to watch college football on Saturdays knowing that Pac-12 football stadiums are sitting idle.
Through these unprecedented times, I’ve learned how much I appreciate all the pageantry and build-up around the stadiums and the energy that college football fans bring to the overall atmosphere.
And I miss the stadiums themselves.
Fifty years ago, the Blazers got it all started with a victory over the Cavs …
Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the first regular-season game ever played by the Trail Blazers.
It was also the first professional game for rookie guard Geoff Petrie, one of the best players in franchise history and later the club’s general manager. And it was the first NBA game called by Bill Schonely, who was to become a legend and perhaps the most popular figure ever with the Blazers.
The date was Oct. 16, 1970. Portland beat fellow expansion club Cleveland 115-112 before a crowd of 4,723 at Memorial Coliseum.
On Pac-12 football, Pat Casey and Bud Ossey, MLB to PDX, Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat and Chad Doing and the Denver Broncos …
The Pac-12 football schedule was (finally) announced Saturday, with Oregon fans happy with the Ducks’ lone crossover game, Oregon State fans not so much.
The Ducks, ranked 14th in the latest AP poll, play host to Chip Kelly’s UCLA Bruins on Nov. 20. The Bruins were 4-8 a year ago. The Beavers’ only game against a South Division opponent, meanwhile, is at defending South champion Utah on Dec. 5.
For Ron Callan, a strange yet fulfilling night at CenturyLink Field
Through covering and working for the Seahawks for 40 years, I never expected to be watching a game in an empty Century Link Field. Beginning in 1981, I covered the Seahawks as a radio reporter, serving as a member of the Seahawks’ broadcast team (1995-2002). Since that time, I have worked the home games as a member of the Seahawks staff. I have the incredibly intense and rewarding job as the internal public address announcer. From my seat in the NFL stats room, I relate the official stats to the throng of media and others packing the stadium's press box.
With David Adelman, Talking “the Joker and Jamal” and the Nuggets’ amazing ride to the Western Conference finals
David Adelman was up past midnight Thursday in his hotel room on the Disney campus in Orlando. For the better part of an hour, the Denver Nuggets assistant coach was Facetiming with wife Jenny and their two children, son L.J., 6, and daughter Lennan, 5, who were all back home in Denver. And there was some conversation with Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.
Talking Beaver women’s hoops, Along with a little golf, with Coach Scott Rueck …
I’ve known Scott Rueck since shortly after he took over the Oregon State women’s basketball helm in 2010 and have admired the program he has built from the rubble he inherited from his predecessor, LaVonda Wagner.
Our contest winner, Milt Kintzley, loves Beaver baseball
Silverton resident Milt Kintzley, winner of our Sept. 1 drawing for “Wherever You May Be: The Bill Schonely Story,” is a long-time fan of Oregon State sports.
But the biggest interest for Milt and his wife of 47 years, Kathryn, is Beaver baseball.
As coaches go, as people go, Dick Coury was a gem
I saw a local car dealer’s “Believe in Nice” ad today.
It made me think of a man whose life embodied that approach.
To Dick Coury, “nice” was more than a slogan. It was his way of life. Sunup to sundown.
On Cliff Robinson, Another one gone before his time From the early ‘90s Blazers …
Cliff Robinson’s death Friday at the age of 53 leaves another gaping hole in the heart of Rip City.
In 2008, Kevin Duckworth died of congestive heart failure. He was 44.
In 2015, Jerome Kersey passed away from the effects of a blood clot. He was 52.
My take on the NBA boycott, and why players were wise to not go dark the rest of the season
I’m glad NBA players decided Thursday not to boycott for the rest of the season.
Not because something like $1 billion in national television rights is riding on the playoffs, though that’s certainly a consideration, too.
The Schonz is still going strong at 91!
Bill Schonely, centenarian Bud Ossey, former Oregon baseball/basketball star Rob Closs and Kerry Eggers enjoy lunch at Tualatin Country Club.
How would Beaver teams of the early ’80s and ’19-20 compare? There’s really no comparison
Has anybody seen the website WhatIfSports.com? It is an interactive site that allows users to select sports teams from different eras and pit them against each other in a computer simulated game. It is an intriguing concept -- having players and teams from different eras compete as if they were in their respective primes.
I’m not sure how a computer decides whether Dr. J can rise over Giannis Antetokounmpo, but it certainly sparks debate.
Blazers-Lakers should be an intriguing matchup. And my pick for the series winner is …
A few observations as the eighth-seeded Trail Blazers take on the challenge of facing the top-seeded L.A. Lakers in a seven-game first-round playoff series to which everyone across NBA circles will be paying attention …
• In a word, watching the Blazers’ nine-game run-up to the NBA playoffs has been fun.
Not because they made it — after 45 years in the sportswriting business, I’ll probably never think like a fan — but because Portland’s seeding games have been so watchable.
Ask A Beaver Anything
I’ll be participating in a "Ask A Beaver Anything" livestream on the "Beavers Behind Enemy Lines” group on Facebook on Friday August 14, 2020 at 5 pm. You are invited to post questions about Oregon State sports and I’ll do my best to answer them.
I was a guest on Ferrall: Coast To Coast on The SportsGrid Network hosted by Scott Ferrall
Longtime national sports radio host Scott Ferrall wanted to catch up with what is happening in the sports landscape in Portland. We chatted about the Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Carmelo Anthony, and my upcoming book about Jerome Kersey.
Seth Reeves’ swing sings as he preps for Winco Foods Portland Open
When tournament director Jeff Sanders and Ryan Fowler, his director of marketing/communications, invited me to play in Tuesday’s pro-am for the Winco Foods Portland Open at Pumpkin Ridge, I was excited.
When I learned the name of the pro who would play with our amateur team, I got amped up even more.
I am going to be a guest on Rip City Mornings with Dan Sheldon and Travis Demers Wednesday at 7:20 a.m.
I’m guessing the main topic will be the score of my team in Tuesday’s Winco Foods Portland Open pro-am at Pumpkin Ridge, but you’ll have to tune in to find out …
An inside look at the Astros’ cheating scandal
When major league baseball opens its abbreviated 2020 schedule this week, many fans will be interested to see what happens in Houston, where the Astros will play for the first time since commissioner Rob Manfred levied some of the harshest discipline in MLB history.
Books, books and more books …
Some of you may remember the sports book review columns I wrote periodically for the Portland Tribune. I’d like to bring back that feature occasionally on the “Kerry Eggers” website.