Talking Jail Blazers, Jerome Kersey and the NBA with the 3&D Love Podcast crew …
I had fun spending an hour with these Portland natives and obviously diehard Blazer fans. We covered a lot of ground and a lot of NBA history. Give it a listen!
Pondering what’s happening with Damian Lillard, Ethan Thompson, Chris Duarte and Terry Porter …
Ruminations on roundball heading into the weekend …
• There is plenty of consternation in Rip City over the NBA’s “snub” of Damian Lillard as a starter in the upcoming All-Star Game. You fans who are up in arms: Sit down right now. You still have a chance to win the “Biofreeze Hoop With Dame” contest, where you can shoot it out with Lillard and win up to $100,000. (Personally, I’d rather have it out with Brooke Olzendam in ping pong.).
Thoughts on Tyler Shough, Ryan Crouser, Paul Castro, the Hops and Volcanoes, NBA-All-Star Weekend and the real G.O.A.T
A wintry weekend? Snow way!
Thoughts on some sporting subjects:
• Item: Oregon quarterback Tyler Shough enters the NCAA transfer portal.
With Scott Barnes and Bob de Carolis, talking everything Reser Stadium
On Tuesday, five days after the seismic announcement that Oregon State will “complete” Reser Stadium, I spoke for a half-hour with Scott Barnes via telephone.
The Beavers’ athletic director seemed flush with emotion over reaction to plans for a $153-million project that will upgrade the west side of Reser and augment the $80-million renovation to the east side that was completed in 2005.
A fond farewell to Herb Brown, the octogenarian Oregonian who has coached the world
Put Herb Brown in among the famous Oregonians who flies under the radar in the world of sports.
The older brother (by 4 1/2 years) of Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Brown is an accomplished casaba coach in his own right.
Brown, who turns 85 in March, is most well-known for his time spent as head coach of the Detroit Pistons from 1975-77.
But Brown’s resume is replete with stops throughout the world. The native New Yorker has had assistant coaching jobs with eight franchises, including the Trail Blazers. He was a member of Maurice Cheeks’ Portland staff from 2001-03.
Cinderella’s slippers come in size 14 for ex-Beaver tackle Mike Remmers
There will be dozens, maybe hundreds or personal stories that come out of the lead-up to Super Bowl LV. I’m not sure any are more Walter Mitty-ish of nature than that of Mike Remmers.
The Beaverton resident and Jesuit High and Oregon State grad will be starting at left tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs as they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
An oldie but goody About a lot of oldies but goodies
“Voices of the Game”
By Curt Smith
Diamond Communications
This book, loaned to me to read by Bill Schonely, is quite likely the Bible of baseball broadcasting.
It offers historical perspective on baseball broadcasters and broadcasting from its beginning in 1921. Through 500-plus pages, it covers legends such as Bill Stern, Graham McNamee, Byrum Saum, Red Barber, Ernie Harwell, Vin Scully, Bob Prince, Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, Harry Caray, Joe Garagiola and even Jimmy Dudley, the latter Schonely’s partner during his one season with the American League Seattle Pilots.
I’m no fan of no fans at Moda, and neither is Damian Lillard
Having left the newspaper business in April after 45 years, I’d not been to a Trail Blazer game at Moda Center until Sunday’s date with the New York Knicks.
Portland PR honchos Jim Taylor and Jake Gifford were good enough to credential me and allow me to experience first-hand what it’s like to be in an NBA arena without fans due to COVID-19.
Hank Aaron has passed, but in my heart, he’ll never be gone
Boyhood heroes never really die, do they?
They live forever, even when the boy himself grows old.
Henry “Hank” Aaron will live forever in my heart, the slugger with the sweet swing and the temperament to match.
‘The Hooker’ wasn’t well-known, but those around him were (Fifth in a series of reviews of sports books)
“Jim Hock: Father on the Line”
By Jim Hock
Rare Bird Books
No fans allowed, but Hawks will soon return to ice for shortened campaign
Plenty is happening on the hockey scene this week — finally.
The NHL began its 56-game regular-season schedule Wednesday night, a welcome addition to the television sports calendar that features the NFL playoffs, the NBA and college basketball these days.
On Billy Martin’s short, steamy stint in the Bay Area
(Fourth in a series of reviews of sports books)
Old-time baseball fans will recall Martin — a middling infielder during his playing days — as a feisty, controversial manager who was hired and fired five times by owner George Steinbrenner with the New York Yankees.
One man’s suggestion for realignment in the FBS ranks …
By Gary Beck
(Editor’s note: Beck is a Corvallis native who played both football and baseball at Oregon State in the 1970s. He was a safety in football and a slugging third baseman in baseball, leading the Northern Division with a .381 average in league games as a junior. He coached football for 29 years, including two as running backs coach at OSU (2006 and ’07) and 23 as a high school head coach. He coached Corvallis High to the state championship game three times, winning titles in 1979 and ’83. Beck currently lives in Marysville, Wash., and is an astute observer of college athletics.)
I’m not satisfied with the haphazard way the FBS conferences are set up, nor their schedules.
There needs to be some uniformity in order to level the playing field for all the schools in terms of qualifying for championships and bowl eligibility.
On the Trail Blazers’ lousy start, Hassan Whiteside and my former boss, Alabama’s long snapper, a Texas grad assistant and all those $$ tossed around in college football
Things on my mind as we kick off a new (and hopefully far better) year …
• A statistical analysis of the Trail Blazers’ disappointing seven-game start to the 2020-21 campaign portends that the local NBA quintet is fortunate to be 3-4.
The off-season emphasis by general manager Neil Olshey was help at the defensive end, something that was a near-constant during Terry Stotts’ first eight years as coach.
How I became a Heisman voter, How the process works, and how I decided on DeVonta Smith …
In the 85-year history of the Heisman Trophy, only five receivers have won the award as college football’s premier player. So Alabama’s DeVonta Smith — named Tuesday as the 2020 recipient — is in with some exclusive company.
I was one of many throughout the country who cast a vote for Smith, the spectacular senior who was never better than he was on Dec. 19 when he helped No. 1-ranked Alabama get by Florida 52-46 in the SEC Championship Game.
Belnap draws winning ticket, receives Schonely voice message
Troy Belnap is the winner of our drawing to have Bill Schonely record a message for the voicemail on his cell phone.
Belnap, 43, is a fitting recipient of this prize. He has been a fan of “The Schonz” since his childhood days in McMinnville.
Jim Ross loves wrestling, and wrestling loves him back — sort of
This was a birthday gift from my youngest son, Drew, a full-fledged pro wrestling fanatic. I was only marginally acquainted with the celebrity of Ross, the Hall of Fame broadcaster who for many years was Vince McMahon’s right-hand man with the WWE.
This isn’t Ross’ first book; his autobiography is entitled “Slobberknocker,” which evidently means a violent collision. That’s what Ross’ life was like inside and outside the ring (yes, he actually wrestled a number of times).
Beaver sports a way of life for auction winner Al Nyman
Al Nyman and Oregon State athletics go way back.
“My dad (Karl) was a coach who got a masters degree from Oregon State,” says Nyman, whose $250 bid earned him a copy of “Civil War Rivalry: Oregon vs. Oregon State” autographed by 20 former Beaver and Duck football greats. (One hundred percent of proceeds go to the Willamette Humane Society of Salem.) “My mom got her masters degree there, too. A lot of my family went to OSU.”
Al Nyman, 80, graduated from OSU in 1964.
Going from A to Z with Mitch Canham talking Beaver baseball …
Mitch Canham is upbeat as he prepares for Christmas with his wife, Marlis, and their children, eight-year-old Mack and six-year-old Mya. He’s a little bit healthier, too.
Oregon State’s second-year baseball coach had his left knee scoped two weeks ago.
Do we have the book for you …
Here’s an idea for a Christmas gift, or for New Year’s, or just to give to a friend who happens to be a sports fan: Selections from the collection of sports books Kerry Eggers has written. All books will be autographed, and upon request, personalized by the author. All costs include postage and handling. Provide a name and address and we will ship directly if the book is headed to the final recipient. If you order before Dec. 21 you should receive your order by Christmas Eve. Payments can be made via personal check or Venmo.