Mickey Mantle's Liver

Play Ball!!! (or, How is Bud elig Going to Screw Up Baseball This Year?)

Well, it has been some time since the last post here on the Liver.  Sorry about that, but between the Super Bowl and the opening day of the Baseball season (the REAL opening day that happens on American soil), there really isn't a lot of sports to comment on, especially if you are a Beaver basketball fan.

With that being said, with the new baseball season upon us, let me catch you up on some of my thoughts:

• I really think the men's basketball team at Oregon State got screwed by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.  A lot of other teams (Arizona State, for instance) complained that the Committee focused too much on one aspect of a team's schedule.  That is what happened to the Beavers, too.  I think the Committee put way too much emphasis on the Beavers 0-19 PAC-10 record, and should have given a lot more weight to the Beavers impressive victory over Tennessee Tech in December of 2007.
• Roger Clemens is in A LOT of trouble.  Remember, it is never the crime that gets you in trouble, it is the cover up.  Just ask Martha Stewart and Scooter Libby.
• The only way Terrelle Pryor was ever going to play in Autzen Stadium is if Ohio State or Michigan came to play.  U of Zero never had a chance with that guy.
• How is it that the TWO TIME DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS are not ranked in the top five college baseball programs in the country?
• Pacman Jones should not be allowed to play in the NFL until the guy who was paralyzed in Pacman's shootout can walk again.  If he can't walk, Pacman shouldn't be allowed to play.  After all, fair is fair.
• I have seen Jake Long, Chris Long, Glenn Dorsey and Matt Ryan all play in college.  Adrian McFadden is a freak of nature.  But the best player in college football is Dorsey.  Look at how the Giants won the Super Bowl, with a dominating front four.  Given the most recent prognostications, I am afraid that the Patriots are going to get Dorsey.  Talk about the rich getting richer.
• I know that the A's and the Red Sox played the first games of the 2008 MLB season on March 25th and 26th in Japan, but as far as I am concerned, the opening day of the baseball season is March 30th in Washington D.C.
• By the way, how rude was it when President Bush threw out the first pitch in the  new Nationals stadium and people actually booed.  It isn't President Bush's fault the Nationals suck and those fans were dumb enough to actually spend money on Nationals' tickets.
• I can't wait for the 2008-2009 NBA season.  Why?  Because the Blazers are going to be AWESOME!!!!  Brandon Roy made the All-Star team, and LaMarcus Aldridge turned into one of the young, dominant power forwards in the Game.  The Blazers are a shooting guard away from being a perennial NBA playoff contender.

So now it is time for the baseball season to start.  Here is my prediction: The Red Sox will repeat as the World Series champs.  Jacoby Ellsbury will be the AL rookie of the year.  Kosuke Fukudome will be the NL rookie of the Year, and the Cubs will finally make the World Series.

Remember, you heard it here first......

Happy Birthday to the Greatest Baseball Player Ever...Will Clark

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Will Clark's Birthday.  Will Clark, of course, is the greatest baseball player to ever put on a uniform....anywhere!!!!  Today Mr. Clark celebrates his 44th birthday. 

One of the great things about Will Clark is the fact that no one will ever accuse him of using steroids.  With that being said, he was a dominant hitter in both the National and American leagues for 14 years, and a surperb fielder as well.  It is safe to say that Will Clark re-defined the first base position.

Personally, I think March 13th should be a national holiday.  It certainly is a holiday in my house.

Happy Birthday Will.

Perfection!!!!!

What do Oregon State University, Rice, and Colorado State University have in common?

Their men's basketball teams had perfect seasons.  Perfectly awful, that is.

It is one thing for Rice and Colorado State to go winless, but entirely different thing for the Beavers to go winless.  Unlike Rice and Colorado State, the Beavers men's basketball team has a history of success.  For the better part of three decades, the men's basketball team was one of the best teams on the west coast, if not the entire country

Top: The 1981 Beaver basketball team, nicknamed Orange Express, rolled through its season to a 26-1 record and a #2 ranking in the nation. Above: Ralph Miller, 1981's Coach of the Year. Left: In 1981, Steve Johnson became OSU's highest scorer and the NCAA's most accurate field goal shooter (at the time). He was named a first-team All-American.

The Beavers excelled at being the worst team in the conference.  They were the first team in PAC-10 Conference history to go 0 and 18.  They were last in the conference in field goal percentage, free throw percentage and points per game.  We weren't just bad, we were historically bad.

Remember when Oregon State was a basketball school, our football team stunk, and our baseball team was hardly memorable.  Now, our football team is one of the best on the west coast, our baseball team is the two-time defending national champions, and our basketball team is a national laughingstock.

Beaver Nation, just remember, football season starts in 6 months.....