WEBVTT 00:00:03.750 --> 00:00:07.660 Portions of this show are recorded. Strap in 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.400 and be prepared. For Oregon fans that are listening 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:12.939 to our little radio program, just say a silent 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:15.439 prayer that Dan Lanning is your head coach. Because 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:17.920 with all that's going on in the world, I think 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:21.359 the last person that anyone has to worry about 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:23.899 is going to be Dan Lanning. Interesting guests. 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:27.039 Kelly Gray. Mike Parker. Coach Mark Waszkowski. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.559 Noah Eagle. Melissa Lombardi. Kenyon Barnard. 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:32.320 Jonathan Stewart. Sharp Opinions. Reeser Stadium, 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:34.899 the Valley Football Complex, is really nice. 00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:37.280 It's incredible. It's not just it's nice for 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:40.560 Corvallis. It's nice. And some smiles. Talking 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:44.619 about Oregon football somehow. 365 days a year, 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.219 baby. It's Danny Habel. Listen, I was out on 00:00:47.219 --> 00:00:49.539 Sam Darnold. By the way, another fun fact. He 00:00:49.539 --> 00:00:52.380 is going to be the first quarterback from USC 00:00:52.380 --> 00:00:55.140 to ever start a Super Bowl. That is shocking. 00:00:55.340 --> 00:00:57.619 Justin Grossweiler. I just felt like they have 00:00:57.619 --> 00:01:00.780 some dynamicism on defense, especially. That's 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:03.820 a great word, dude. I think he just made it up, 00:01:03.820 --> 00:01:05.340 but I think that's a great move. I don't think 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:07.659 I made it up, but we can check on that for next 00:01:07.659 --> 00:01:10.519 show. Dynamicism? Danny and Justin starts now 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:13.459 on Fox Sports Eugene and Fox Sports Newport. 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:17.900 Sitting in for Danny today, it's Goops, Steve 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:22.719 Mims. Welcome in to the Danny and Justin show. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.420 This is Steve Mims filling in for Danny as Danny 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:29.939 is on his way up to National Signing Day, the 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:33.379 U of O event. up in the Portland area. And he 00:01:33.379 --> 00:01:35.159 came in the general. They're driving up there. 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:37.920 A hunch tells me they might be listening as they're 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.920 driving. So, Justin, I think we should, as usual, 00:01:40.939 --> 00:01:44.159 be on our P's and Q's today. But I am appreciative 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:47.459 of you bringing me in to do the last show before 00:01:47.459 --> 00:01:51.799 the NBA trade deadline finalizes tomorrow. Thanks 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:53.739 for having me in. Yeah, and I think that you 00:01:53.739 --> 00:01:56.159 picked a good day because a lot of the moves... 00:01:56.510 --> 00:01:58.269 potentially already happened we'll see what happens 00:01:58.269 --> 00:02:00.730 coming into i think it's 12 o 'clock tomorrow 00:02:00.730 --> 00:02:03.810 so there's still more moves to be made i'm sure 00:02:03.810 --> 00:02:06.590 nothing super big for the blazers but overall 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:09.129 there's definitely some exciting stuff to talk 00:02:09.129 --> 00:02:10.969 about and it's been a really fun trade deadline 00:02:10.969 --> 00:02:13.210 this time because a lot of the times there's 00:02:13.210 --> 00:02:15.189 just nothing really exciting happens yeah i like 00:02:15.189 --> 00:02:16.770 kind of the build -ups having kind of some things 00:02:16.770 --> 00:02:18.629 leak out leak out leading up to it rather than 00:02:18.629 --> 00:02:20.889 having to go through it all so um we are gonna 00:02:20.889 --> 00:02:22.949 have a guest today jake willard the new general 00:02:22.949 --> 00:02:25.210 manager of your springfield drifters is going 00:02:25.210 --> 00:02:28.210 to be joining us I met Jake the other day at 00:02:28.210 --> 00:02:31.069 the Oregon baseball dinner when you and I sat 00:02:31.069 --> 00:02:32.830 at a table together and were seen out in the 00:02:32.830 --> 00:02:34.830 wild. My wife heard the comments you said about 00:02:34.830 --> 00:02:37.509 her the other day and was very kind of you to 00:02:37.509 --> 00:02:40.490 say nice things about her and to prove to Danny 00:02:40.490 --> 00:02:42.849 that she exists. Yes, it was lovely to meet her, 00:02:42.889 --> 00:02:44.509 and it was great seeing you out in the wild. 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:47.389 It was exactly what I expected as I was saying 00:02:47.389 --> 00:02:49.889 to Danny was that every about five minutes somebody 00:02:49.889 --> 00:02:53.770 would either wave to you or you'd say hi to them, 00:02:53.849 --> 00:02:56.599 something. That is my element. I mean, I covered 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:58.879 Oregon baseball for eight years, so whether it 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.460 was Josh Wilcox I saw, it was great to chat with 00:03:01.460 --> 00:03:05.120 him. Mike Barrett, former Blazer announcer, was 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.599 there, chatted with him. George Horton. Yeah, 00:03:08.699 --> 00:03:12.439 I'm not quite that social butterfly -ish all 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:14.360 the time, but when I'm around just Oregon baseball 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:17.770 and just... If I'm in a room of sports people, 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:20.310 local sports folks, after working 25 years in 00:03:20.310 --> 00:03:21.629 the local industry, I'm probably going to recognize 00:03:21.629 --> 00:03:23.949 a few. And so it is cool now that I'm not in 00:03:23.949 --> 00:03:25.449 that industry anymore to still run into people 00:03:25.449 --> 00:03:27.550 and kind of live out old times. So that was good. 00:03:28.009 --> 00:03:29.389 We had a couple of good baseball players sitting 00:03:29.389 --> 00:03:31.430 at our table, too. We did. We did. It was fun 00:03:31.430 --> 00:03:34.129 talking to both of them. Berkeley Mabeus, his 00:03:34.129 --> 00:03:37.840 parents apparently were. or from Alaska, I believe. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:39.979 And so it was cool talking to him about that. 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:41.860 Danny was making fun of me because just like 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:44.340 you, apparently I meet a bunch of Alaskans. We 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:49.500 got Tyson Alger, our friend from the Oregonian, 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:51.919 Freeman. Joe Freeman. Freeman's from Alaska. 00:03:51.939 --> 00:03:54.580 Smoking Joe is from Alaska, correct. So a number 00:03:54.580 --> 00:03:56.039 of guys that I can share that with. It's a media 00:03:56.039 --> 00:03:58.819 hotbed that Alaska is putting him out. Blaze 00:03:58.819 --> 00:04:01.280 is with us today. He's running the board. Shout 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:03.520 out to Blaze. It's getting crowded in here, and 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:04.900 we're going to get more crowded. We think Jake 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:06.439 might be coming in, but either way, we'll have 00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:09.740 Jake from the Drifters on. And so that'll be 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:11.400 our guest today. And as we wrap up the show, 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:13.740 we're going to chat about a big Oregon women's 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:15.340 basketball game tonight as the Ducks are hosting 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:17.759 Illinois in a pretty important game. And we'll 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:19.120 kind of go through some of the stakes on that 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.649 one as well. I didn't come in to brag, but I 00:04:22.649 --> 00:04:25.910 did go 5 -0 in Big Bets this week. I give you 00:04:25.910 --> 00:04:28.069 guys credit. I thought you guys would ignore 00:04:28.069 --> 00:04:29.670 that and I'd have to come in and announce it 00:04:29.670 --> 00:04:31.230 on Wednesday. But when I listened to the Monday 00:04:31.230 --> 00:04:34.199 show, you gave me my props then. No further to 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:37.120 do, but not quite as dramatic as yours, which 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.259 rallied you from behind me. I apologize about 00:04:40.259 --> 00:04:43.779 that. But I do like the fact, I think 11 -4 is 00:04:43.779 --> 00:04:46.899 a sterling record, and I might retire from big 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:48.800 bets. 11 -4 is about as good as anybody's ever 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:50.500 been, a good winning percentage as we've ever 00:04:50.500 --> 00:04:53.439 had. But I think, now is it my week this week 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:54.600 to pick the games? It is your week to pick the 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:56.399 games. So you can see it's a little bit of a 00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:58.720 challenge now, because the lines only come out 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:01.670 for basketball either that night or... for some 00:05:01.670 --> 00:05:03.709 of the early games the next day. I'll have to 00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:06.050 dig through and see what the lines look like. 00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:07.470 Obviously, we'll have the Super Bowl on there. 00:05:07.509 --> 00:05:09.930 That's going to be less than seven points spread. 00:05:10.069 --> 00:05:13.439 So we'll have that. and four college basketball 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.839 games. There was no controversy on whether or 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.220 not my pick was Mississippi men or women. I thought 00:05:19.220 --> 00:05:21.579 we got that all corrected. We got it all figured 00:05:21.579 --> 00:05:24.120 out. All right, cool. All right, well, let's 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:26.199 get started. And you're having Travis Demers 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:27.959 on tomorrow, you said, right? Voice of the Blazers. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:30.399 That'll be perfect timing because he'll be on 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:33.680 the show at 2 tomorrow. Trade deadline ends at 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:36.660 noon tomorrow. Baseball and basketball trade 00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:39.120 deadlines are two of my sneaky favorite days 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.860 on the sports calendar. Just because it's fun 00:05:41.860 --> 00:05:43.779 to kind of, and like I say, the basketball one 00:05:43.779 --> 00:05:45.019 has really been good because there were trades 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:46.560 last week kind of building up and there have 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:48.300 been a few more today. But I'm actually looking 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:50.420 forward to tomorrow to kind of watching at like 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:52.800 1130 to 12 when kind of the last one, you know, 00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:54.720 and you figure that's where we'll know on the 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:56.500 honest. If the Bucs are going to do anything, 00:05:56.600 --> 00:05:58.079 they're going to let these bids get as high as 00:05:58.079 --> 00:05:59.899 they can, drag people out to the final hour. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.160 And I think. It's potential that the Blazers 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:05.459 could be involved, if not in getting Giannis, 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:08.120 potentially facilitating Giannis' trade, bring 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:10.639 in somebody. They've got those three bucks trades 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.000 that are very valuable. So I think whether, I 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.939 think Portland will do something today and tomorrow. 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:16.680 I think Rob Williams could be gone. I think that 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:18.740 would be a natural to kind of trade that contract. 00:06:19.580 --> 00:06:21.620 They've been talking about Drew Holliday. I think 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:23.579 they'll keep Drew, but I could see Rob Williams 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:25.839 going and I could see Portland with those Milwaukee 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:27.959 D, you know, those are pretty valuable picks 00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:29.620 right now. So I'm not saying that they're getting 00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:31.579 rid of them, but if something became available 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:33.620 that could help the Blazers, I could see them, 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:35.920 even if they not bringing in Giannis, at least 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:37.480 making a splash tomorrow with somebody with those 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.779 picks. Yeah, I agree. And I definitely think 00:06:39.779 --> 00:06:42.879 that at some point. Those picks will probably 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:44.740 end up going back to the bucks It just seems 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:47.199 like that's gonna be a valuable enough asset 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:48.939 for the Bucks in terms of what they want to do 00:06:48.939 --> 00:06:50.399 going forward They want to control their own 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:52.980 destiny in terms of their traffic. I still can't 00:06:52.980 --> 00:06:55.279 really see honest going to the Blazers I don't 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:56.819 see that being what ends up happening. I don't 00:06:56.819 --> 00:07:00.360 see a great Match in terms of other assets. I 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:01.959 don't think the picks themselves should be enough 00:07:02.430 --> 00:07:05.110 If you're Milwaukee to sit there and go, well, 00:07:05.129 --> 00:07:07.670 we'll take back Scoot, who you basically don't 00:07:07.670 --> 00:07:09.750 know if he's a good NBA player or not. And then 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:12.050 Jeremy and something else to fill the salary. 00:07:12.209 --> 00:07:14.269 And then thank you. We'll just tank now. Like 00:07:14.269 --> 00:07:15.910 this doesn't seem like what's going to be the 00:07:15.910 --> 00:07:18.490 best offer. So I could see a third team coming 00:07:18.490 --> 00:07:22.310 in there, giving a valuable piece to the Bucs. 00:07:22.509 --> 00:07:24.970 The Blazers putting in their three Bucs first 00:07:24.970 --> 00:07:26.769 round picks and then getting back something in 00:07:26.769 --> 00:07:30.040 between. So I do think that they're. which potentially 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:31.879 will be a move tomorrow. I could see that end 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:33.839 up being in the summer. Overall, I don't think 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:35.519 the Blazers are going to completely rechange 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:36.939 their team or anything like that. But I think 00:07:36.939 --> 00:07:38.839 the Krejci move actually is, it's kind of like 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:41.360 the perfect kind of move for them. Like they're 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.399 one of the worst three -point shooting teams 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:45.839 in the league. They take a ton of them. So add 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:47.839 a guy that can shoot, you know, like you might 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:49.699 as well. He's not going to, he didn't cost them 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:51.959 that much, but I certainly think that the Blazers 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:54.439 will be active, whether it is now or in the summer 00:07:54.439 --> 00:07:56.959 preparing for next season, more so than for this 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:58.970 season. And there's been talk as I facilitate, 00:07:59.310 --> 00:08:01.230 we talk about facilitating that Milwaukee picks, 00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:03.029 that like the name that's been thrown out is 00:08:03.029 --> 00:08:05.129 McHale Bridges because the Knicks want Giannis, 00:08:05.129 --> 00:08:06.870 but they don't have any picks to give up. would 00:08:06.870 --> 00:08:08.790 the Knicks make a Bridges to Portland to get 00:08:08.790 --> 00:08:11.230 those three Milwaukee? It's part of another deal, 00:08:11.350 --> 00:08:13.670 but getting those three, and now all of a sudden 00:08:13.670 --> 00:08:15.069 the Knicks can put together a trick. Because 00:08:15.069 --> 00:08:16.889 Milwaukee probably not going to want Mikael Bridges, 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:18.750 but they might want those picks instead. So there's 00:08:18.750 --> 00:08:21.750 been talk of maybe the Blazers, if there's been 00:08:21.750 --> 00:08:23.970 talk that Bridges and Lillard get along well, 00:08:24.209 --> 00:08:26.589 would that be a guy they'd want to kind of sacrifice 00:08:26.589 --> 00:08:28.269 those three picks for? And then it kind of helps 00:08:28.269 --> 00:08:30.110 the Knicks get that, then they make the trade 00:08:30.110 --> 00:08:31.990 for Giannis, the Bucks get it back. Could be 00:08:31.990 --> 00:08:33.730 something like that. We saw yesterday what... 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:36.120 Three first -round picks get you, and it was 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:38.500 basically Jalen Jackson. Was that his name? Jaren 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:40.399 Jackson. Jaren Jackson. Jaren Jackson Jr. J .J 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:42.080 .J. There used to be a Jalen Jackson. I think 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:43.779 he played for the Mavericks. Anyway, Jaren Jackson 00:08:43.779 --> 00:08:46.710 Jr. was basically three picks, a couple players 00:08:46.710 --> 00:08:50.970 involved as well. But that's kind of what the 00:08:50.970 --> 00:08:52.909 market is for three first -rounders right now. 00:08:52.950 --> 00:08:56.149 It is him. A fascinating trade earlier today, 00:08:56.250 --> 00:08:58.909 and I was here last year right after the Luka 00:08:58.909 --> 00:09:00.450 trade, which would have been like a year and 00:09:00.450 --> 00:09:02.429 a day ago. That's right, because I was on vacation 00:09:02.429 --> 00:09:06.409 when that happened. Yes. And then I remember... 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:09.320 When you came back, though, you were saying it 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:10.799 was such a terrible trade and everybody knew 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:14.340 that. Well, today, a year after a year of having 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:16.720 Anthony Davis, for those who haven't heard, the 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.919 Dallas Mavericks shipped Anthony Davis to the 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:21.399 Washington Wizards. The Wizards, and I love what 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:23.179 the Wizards are doing, they've become the home 00:09:23.179 --> 00:09:26.299 of really talented but unwanted players elsewhere. 00:09:26.419 --> 00:09:28.500 They brought in Trey Young without really giving 00:09:28.500 --> 00:09:29.879 him anything. It was C .J. McCollum and Corey 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:32.059 Kispert. 100%. And got Trey Young because basically 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:34.000 the Hawks retired to Trey Young. In fact, he 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:35.840 didn't play defense. Well, the Mavericks got 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:38.700 tired of Anthony Davis after a year, and so the 00:09:38.700 --> 00:09:41.500 Wizards trade for him. They trade two first -round 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:44.179 picks, but it's not—one of them was this year's 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:46.779 Oklahoma City pick. So that's basically the 30th 00:09:46.779 --> 00:09:50.080 pick. Another one was like a 20 -30 top -20 protected. 00:09:50.299 --> 00:09:52.860 So they basically—I mean, the Wizards have their 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:54.279 own pick this year that's going to be a lottery 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:56.120 pick. They didn't have to give up that to get 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:57.799 Anthony Davis. They gave up these other ones 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:00.159 and some other players. But I love the Mavericks' 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:02.379 strategy. It's like from the moment that trade 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:05.409 happened, they realized— We screwed this up. 00:10:05.669 --> 00:10:07.509 And then they waited and waited before they said, 00:10:07.570 --> 00:10:09.409 okay, now we're going to make the GM the scapegoat. 00:10:09.409 --> 00:10:11.629 Nico, you go away. We're going to pin it on you. 00:10:12.049 --> 00:10:14.529 And then the new GM basically says, all right, 00:10:14.529 --> 00:10:16.629 now I'm going to trade AD just because now I 00:10:16.629 --> 00:10:18.330 can just pin it all on Nico. It no longer looks 00:10:18.330 --> 00:10:20.009 like I can. And this just kind of completely 00:10:20.009 --> 00:10:22.629 gets us away. So somebody pointed out for Luka 00:10:22.629 --> 00:10:24.649 Doncic, they ended up getting, I think it's like 00:10:24.649 --> 00:10:28.490 Max Christie, Laker first in 29, and like these 00:10:28.490 --> 00:10:31.429 two wizards first. I mean, I think the term somebody 00:10:31.429 --> 00:10:33.610 used was a generational fumble in terms of what 00:10:33.610 --> 00:10:35.429 they got. But I love the fact that the Mavericks 00:10:35.429 --> 00:10:36.929 basically first get rid of Harris, and then it's 00:10:36.929 --> 00:10:38.950 like, all right, now we can kind of redo the 00:10:38.950 --> 00:10:41.029 AD thing because the guy who did it, you know, 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:43.009 if it's Nico there, he's not trading AD because, 00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:45.169 hey, that's what I gave up everything for. So 00:10:45.169 --> 00:10:48.519 I loved that trade for. The Wizards. Because 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:50.580 I love an idea of having Trey Young and Anthony 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:52.240 Davis. You know, there's big salaries and big 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.000 money. But, hey, for the Wizards, you're not 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:55.940 getting a lot of free agents. And now if you 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:58.360 can kind of, you know, they've been resting Trey 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:00.919 Young. So you rest Anthony Davis in his back. 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:03.019 You've got this potentially top six pick in a 00:11:03.019 --> 00:11:05.299 great draft. Now you bring those guys back. You've 00:11:05.299 --> 00:11:07.980 got Kula Bali, a couple of the other guys that 00:11:07.980 --> 00:11:09.500 they, you know, Sarr that they brought in. I 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:11.539 think it's kind of a fun team there. And totally 00:11:11.539 --> 00:11:13.279 the Mavericks have said we're Cooper Flag's team. 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:14.860 Let's just get rid of this guy. Let's get some 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:17.100 cap space and we can do some people to help Cooper. 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:19.340 And that's exactly why it works for the Mavericks 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:20.720 is because they ended up getting Cooper Flag 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:22.659 pretty much miraculously. And they still have 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:24.200 Kyrie Irving. I think that's going to be interesting 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:25.840 to see what they do with him now, too. I don't 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.480 think he can trade him. I mean, he's hurt. He's 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:29.320 hurt. But, I mean, I do think it's interesting 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:31.840 going forward. For next year, potentially. You 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:33.539 deal him in the offseason, I think somebody's 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:35.679 going to want to see him before. I kind of agree 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:37.860 with you about the Wizards because in the same 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:39.919 way of the Blazers, they're just not a team that's 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.059 going to sign an Anthony Davis or a Trey Young. 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:43.980 They would never get those guys outside of a 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:46.879 trade. And they did do a really good job. getting 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:49.919 value i think out of those deals and i think 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:52.840 the sar and anthony davis front court yeah anthony 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:55.700 davis has always been very much you know pounding 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:57.460 at the table that he's not a center well he's 00:11:57.460 --> 00:11:59.220 got a pretty interesting guy that's gonna be 00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:01.179 next to him that maybe has some traits kind of 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:02.759 like anthony davis and then you got a pick and 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:05.240 roll guy like trey young but also like you're 00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:07.299 saying right now they're at fourth in the lottery 00:12:07.299 --> 00:12:09.820 tied for fourth so potentially you add that one 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:12.299 more piece right there i mean see you get a darren 00:12:12.299 --> 00:12:14.259 peterson like all of a sudden you've really got 00:12:14.259 --> 00:12:17.200 something going and Do I have some concerns about 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:19.940 those two players, Anthony Davis and Trey Young? 00:12:20.019 --> 00:12:22.620 Yeah, probably. I'm not sure if this is going 00:12:22.620 --> 00:12:24.080 to be a team that's going to win the title or 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.139 anything like that, but they certainly kept most 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:28.460 of their good assets, and they added to— Trey 00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:30.200 Johnson, the guy they got from Texas. Exactly. 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:32.600 He was a shooter. So they have some assets. It's 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:35.200 an interesting team. Yeah. We're going to see 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.820 some historic tanking here down the strip because 00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:40.080 we've seen already that the Wizards said, no, 00:12:40.100 --> 00:12:41.500 we're not playing Trey because we've got to protect 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:44.320 this eighth pick. Utah's got a top eight protected 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:48.320 pick. If they finish ninth or beyond, they lose 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.139 their first -round pick. So they just brought 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:52.399 in Jaron Jackson. I guarantee you Jaron Jackson's 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:54.139 going to have a hamstring injury within the next 00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:56.539 week because part of this whole deal is you've 00:12:56.539 --> 00:12:58.179 got to still hang on to that pick for there. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:12:59.919 So you're going to be seeing, like I said, we've 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:00.940 already seen it with Trey Young. We're going 00:13:00.940 --> 00:13:02.940 to be seeing all these guys who got traded kind 00:13:02.940 --> 00:13:05.259 of like distressed assets to bad teams. Those 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:07.179 teams are going to say, yeah, well, if we get 00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:09.000 a lottery pick in this year, you know, a top 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.320 10 pick, that's great, but we've got to protect 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:13.120 that, and then next year we'll play to win. We'll 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:15.039 play to win with Jaron Jackson next year if we 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:17.679 have A .J. DeBonsa comes in. You know, with Trey 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:19.019 Young, we're going to rest Tim and Andy Davis, 00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:21.480 but if suddenly Darren Peterson, we can get to 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:23.019 join that, then we're playing to win next year. 00:13:23.059 --> 00:13:25.639 So you're going to see an incredible amount of 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:28.500 odd injuries that are going to... to be listed 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:30.080 as some of these and the Blazers are another 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:31.519 one you know they lose their first round pick 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.379 if they make the playoffs right they want to 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:35.960 take one more shot you know I think I think next 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:37.259 year Portland figures they're going to be good 00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:39.059 enough to make playoffs but do they you know 00:13:39.059 --> 00:13:40.820 even if they get in the play -in and you win 00:13:40.820 --> 00:13:42.600 through the play -in and you're the seven or 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:44.620 the eight you're taking on Oklahoma City or Denver 00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:46.440 I think you're going to see Portland if it gets 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:48.600 down to it trying to avoid that to make sure 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:49.899 that they can hang out of their pick one more 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:51.659 time too yeah I think you're weighing in that 00:13:51.659 --> 00:13:54.440 case how valuable is it for the development of 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:57.179 our team to have that success and get through 00:13:57.179 --> 00:13:59.039 the play -in and take that next step, and then 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.139 you add a Dame and the other pieces that you 00:14:01.139 --> 00:14:03.279 do in the offseason versus, like you're saying, 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.539 adding another first -round pick. Will that be 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:09.299 a top -five pick? Probably not, because they're 00:14:09.299 --> 00:14:11.480 pretty close to the— The Mavericks last year 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:12.940 had the lowest odds. But that's not going to 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:14.659 happen every year. It's happening more and more, 00:14:14.659 --> 00:14:16.080 though. It does. It does seem very convenient. 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:18.159 Or at least getting up into the top four. I mean, 00:14:18.179 --> 00:14:19.340 I'm not saying get number one, but if you get 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:20.960 in the top four, you've got one of the big ones. 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:25.309 So the Blazers right now would have— It's basically 00:14:25.309 --> 00:14:30.710 like around 10 % chance to get in the top four. 00:14:31.309 --> 00:14:33.090 As I always say with things like that, if you 00:14:33.090 --> 00:14:35.529 tell me I have a 10 % chance to win the lottery, 00:14:35.649 --> 00:14:37.870 I'm pretty happy. If you tell me I have a 10 00:14:37.870 --> 00:14:40.799 % chance to get... run over by a car walking 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:42.419 out of here today, I'm not very happy with those 00:14:42.419 --> 00:14:44.960 odds. So depending on what you're seeking to 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.919 happen, 10 % can be seen as really good or as 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:49.639 not so good. The problem with the tanking with 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:51.139 what all these teams are doing, and I think you're 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:53.120 right, is that they flatten the odds. And so 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.340 we're going to see more stuff like the Mavericks 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:57.279 getting – Or even just protecting you. I mean, 00:14:57.320 --> 00:14:58.940 at this point, Utah, even if they get the eighth 00:14:58.940 --> 00:15:00.580 pick, they just don't want to lose that. And 00:15:00.580 --> 00:15:02.720 who would it go to? Oklahoma City would get that 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.820 pick. So if they end up with the tenth pick, 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:08.350 Oklahoma City gets that. Well, and Oklahoma City 00:15:08.350 --> 00:15:10.970 would also get the Clippers pick, too, if the 00:15:10.970 --> 00:15:12.570 Clippers started to slip again. At one point, 00:15:12.610 --> 00:15:13.570 it looked like they were going to get another 00:15:13.570 --> 00:15:15.990 top three pick. Yeah, and now they traded Harden, 00:15:15.990 --> 00:15:19.049 though, for an injured Darius Harden. After going 00:15:19.049 --> 00:15:21.730 16 out of 20. I think the Thunder was probably 00:15:21.730 --> 00:15:23.990 very pleased with that trade yesterday because 00:15:23.990 --> 00:15:27.289 it, if nothing else, got away a guy who can help 00:15:27.289 --> 00:15:28.909 the Clippers win, and the Clippers, I think, 00:15:28.909 --> 00:15:30.639 were doing it. They've just kind of looked at 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.220 that pick as a sunk cost now. I think at the 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:35.139 beginning of the year it was like, hey, if we 00:15:35.139 --> 00:15:37.159 can get to the playoffs, make that pick terrible 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.940 for Oklahoma City. But now the trade for Garland, 00:15:40.019 --> 00:15:41.360 I think they realize we're getting old. We've 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:42.919 got to bring in a younger guy, even if it costs 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:44.500 us some games this year and we lose that pick. 00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:47.639 Sunk cost at this point. Yeah, I actually kind 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:50.240 of like the trade for the Clippers. I mean, I 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:51.720 don't think they were going to win this year 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:53.600 with James Harden. And James Harden has consistently 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.200 been a playoff faller. He does not play well 00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:59.340 in the playoffs. So is Kawhi still very good? 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:02.159 Yeah, he's an all -star now, too. But also, he's 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:04.440 older, and I do think that you're just getting 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:07.840 a younger asset. He has some injury issues, does 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.600 Darius Garland. But I like the move. You're getting 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:13.220 younger. It's a future piece. I believe, isn't 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:17.360 Darius Garland from L .A.? Maybe I'm wrong. 80 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.519 % of the league is. Right, exactly. So, I don't 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:22.179 know. I like the trade for the Clippers. I don't 00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:24.379 think that they were to win. I think they're, 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:28.259 honestly... The talent between Garland and Harden 00:16:28.259 --> 00:16:31.779 doesn't seem to me like worlds away. And you're 00:16:31.779 --> 00:16:33.340 getting a guy that's much younger. Do you think 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:35.139 the Cavaliers know what James Harden's playoff 00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:36.960 past looks like? You seem to know what it is. 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:38.860 But they brought him up with the idea that, hey, 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:40.759 we want him for now because we think we can win 00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:42.200 it this year. And I thought the same thing. Like, 00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:43.940 whoa, did they look at his playoff history? This 00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:47.080 is not a guy in Game 6 or Game 7 that ever comes 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.220 up big. He'll have a big Game 1 and a big Game 00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:52.210 2. Take a good look at James Harden's playoff 00:16:52.210 --> 00:16:54.750 stats. It's ugly. I like to have the debate with 00:16:54.750 --> 00:16:56.730 people about who's actually better in the playoffs, 00:16:56.889 --> 00:16:59.590 him or Westbrook, because their numbers are eerily 00:16:59.590 --> 00:17:01.690 similar. But yeah, the Cavaliers are sitting 00:17:01.690 --> 00:17:02.929 there in their boardroom, and they're saying, 00:17:03.070 --> 00:17:05.769 you know what, guys? Who do we need to bring 00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:08.700 ourselves? To the championship. Who's that guy 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:10.000 that's going to take us there in the playoffs? 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.099 James Harden. That's right, you guys. So, I don't 00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:15.039 know. It's a swing. And people are saying, though, 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:17.559 maybe that's going to be a preliminary move to 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:19.960 maybe bring back LeBron next year because LeBron 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:22.420 wants out of the Lakers now. Harden and LeBron, 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:23.660 that'd be a good team. I know. That sounds like 00:17:23.660 --> 00:17:26.759 basically the Nets from 2012 or whatever. Yeah. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.799 I saw today, you know, when Oklahoma City first 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.099 started and they had the Durant, Westbrook, and 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:36.900 Harden. And that was their big three. Those three 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:40.619 have now combined to play for 20 NBA teams because. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:43.299 Harden's been traded like five times. Westbrook's 00:17:43.299 --> 00:17:45.200 been all over the place, and Duran as well. So 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.220 sometimes you get a generational three, you think 00:17:47.220 --> 00:17:48.740 you'll be there forever, and those three, although 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:50.920 all three are Hall of Famers, combine to play 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:53.759 for 20 teams. All right, that is our trade talk. 00:17:53.859 --> 00:17:55.920 Tune in tomorrow with Travis Demers as the show 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.559 comes on after the trade deadline. All right, 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.119 when we come back, we are going to have Jake 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:01.940 Willard, the general manager of your Springfield 00:18:01.940 --> 00:18:04.299 Drifters, on. This is Steve Mims. I'm filling 00:18:04.299 --> 00:18:06.160 in for Danny. You're listening to The Danny and 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:09.099 Justin Show on Fox Sports Eugene and Fox Sports 00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:18.059 Newport. Welcome back in to the Danny and Justin 00:18:18.059 --> 00:18:20.559 show on Fox Sports, Eugene, Fox Sports, Newport. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:24.519 This is Steve Mims filling in for Danny and Justin 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.240 here with me. We've got a crowded house. We have 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:30.140 Blaze over there. I say spinning the discs in 00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:32.859 the old record days, but pushing the buttons 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:35.079 to get us on. And we have an in -studio guest 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:37.480 as Jake Willard, the new general manager of the 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:39.599 Springfield Drifters, joins us. Jake, thanks 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:42.019 for coming in. I hope there's enough room in 00:18:42.019 --> 00:18:43.819 here to give you a chance to breathe and you're 00:18:43.819 --> 00:18:45.299 not claustrophobic. But thanks for coming in. 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:47.039 I'm super excited to be here. I was a journalism 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:48.839 student at UO, and to be in the booth like this 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:50.420 is super exciting for me. So I'm excited to chat 00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:51.859 with you guys. Thanks for having me. Awesome, 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:53.700 man. We were talking. It was great to meet you 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:56.180 at the Oregon baseball event the other night. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:58.940 I know you said baseball's been your background. 00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:00.480 Take us through. You've been the general manager 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:02.319 now for about a month or so with the Drifters. 00:19:02.460 --> 00:19:04.680 Two whole months. Two whole months. Give us kind 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:06.500 of an idea. I know you were at Tracktown before, 00:19:06.579 --> 00:19:08.119 but take us a little bit through kind of your 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:10.759 journey and kind of locally and where you're 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:12.559 from and what baseball teams you root for and 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:14.420 what's kind of brought you to this spot. Absolutely. 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:17.279 No, I think it's funny. Like, I'm from the San 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:19.460 Francisco Bear originally. I grew up a diehard 00:19:19.460 --> 00:19:21.500 San Francisco Giants fan. And for me, it was 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:24.180 peak. Tim Lincecum, Buster Posey, three World 00:19:24.180 --> 00:19:26.779 Series runs, got the tail end of Barry Bonds, 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:29.920 756 home runs, watching him do that. I know that's 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:31.279 controversial. Everyone's got their takes on 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:33.579 Barry Bonds. But I grew up rooting for him a 00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:34.940 lot, and so it was cool to watch him do what 00:19:34.940 --> 00:19:37.599 he did. So I'm very grateful. My mom actually 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:41.160 worked for Fox Sports Bay Area at the time. She 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:42.660 was doing some stuff on that when I was, like, 00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:45.339 little, little. So we went to... A ton of Giants 00:19:45.339 --> 00:19:47.400 games, got to go to everything. And my dad would 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.660 take me to as many games as he could. So big 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:51.079 shout out to my parents for getting me into baseball 00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:52.720 and had so many core memories of that growing 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:55.779 up. So that's kind of. how I got fell in love 00:19:55.779 --> 00:19:57.160 with the game. I played as well. It wasn't very 00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:58.720 good. You know, I think everyone in little league, 00:19:58.740 --> 00:20:00.500 you know, either you're good or you're just there 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:02.420 to have a good time and have fun. So I was one 00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:04.680 of those guys. I like to have fun. Um, but going 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:06.700 and being a fan of baseball was huge for me growing 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:08.779 up. Um, I had so many memories with that. So, 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:10.740 and then, so you, you went to U of O, so come 00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:12.859 up to U of O and then take us from what's been, 00:20:12.940 --> 00:20:14.559 I know you said baseball at heart got into track. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:15.880 What's kind of the journey that led you to the 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:17.599 drifter? Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, so it came 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:19.960 up to U of O. So class, I graduated in 2019 from 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:21.660 the school of journalism. So shout out Justin 00:20:21.660 --> 00:20:23.440 over here. Love that. We're talking about us 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:25.809 overlapping. A hundred percent. So super cool. 00:20:25.890 --> 00:20:28.710 So I studied journalism at UO, but I was actually 00:20:28.710 --> 00:20:30.430 in high school. I fell in love with the sport 00:20:30.430 --> 00:20:32.190 of track and field as well. So I'm more on the 00:20:32.190 --> 00:20:34.730 running side. So I ran cross country track all 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:37.849 four years and kind of my coach at the time, 00:20:37.869 --> 00:20:39.609 he was the general manager of this company called 00:20:39.609 --> 00:20:42.670 Flow Track. And it's like the ESPN of track and 00:20:42.670 --> 00:20:45.630 field is what I tell people. And so he kind of 00:20:45.630 --> 00:20:47.109 got me connected with the pro side of the sport. 00:20:47.230 --> 00:20:48.609 And I started working with them while I was in 00:20:48.609 --> 00:20:50.630 high school, just doing post -race interviews 00:20:50.630 --> 00:20:52.309 and whatnot. And that kind of fed into like, 00:20:52.369 --> 00:20:54.720 OK, journalism. uo and i fell in love with track 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:56.980 and field so kind of knew i wanted to try to 00:20:56.980 --> 00:20:59.720 work in the sport track and field 2016 as a freshman 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.720 i interned with track town usa um they're the 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.380 company that puts on the pre -classic the olympic 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:05.920 trials the big means to come to hayward general 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:08.299 runs that now absolutely i know michael riley 00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:10.880 so shout out um but yeah so i interned with them 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:14.039 in 2016 four years at Oregon, graduated and fell 00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:16.920 into a job right away with them in 2019 after 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:19.359 I graduated. So I got to work the 21 Olympic 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:22.160 trials, 24 Olympic trials, held a lot of different 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:24.579 roles with them. I just kind of fell in love 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:27.470 with this community, like through that job. Um, 00:21:27.569 --> 00:21:29.490 and I know that just like sports is so powerful 00:21:29.490 --> 00:21:31.430 in this community. I mean, obviously track town 00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:33.509 USA is the name for that company, but also the 00:21:33.509 --> 00:21:35.670 nickname for this community. Um, they earned 00:21:35.670 --> 00:21:38.470 that. And so I was very vocal champion of that 00:21:38.470 --> 00:21:40.369 as like, Hey, like we have this responsibility 00:21:40.369 --> 00:21:42.710 at track town USA to uplift the community and 00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:45.170 give back and create magical memories for athletes, 00:21:45.289 --> 00:21:47.529 fans, volunteers, officials, you name it, anyone 00:21:47.529 --> 00:21:49.630 coming to the meets. Um, and I kind of fell in 00:21:49.630 --> 00:21:52.619 love with that, but obviously I was very. in 00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:54.680 like i had specific roles like i had to do like 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:57.319 i loved it but i did i did retail i did look 00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:59.380 and feel brand experience all that fun stuff 00:21:59.380 --> 00:22:01.380 but i was i knew i was itching to kind of try 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:03.819 some new things i think working in the sports 00:22:03.819 --> 00:22:05.700 world especially there for six and a half years 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:07.700 i was like there's so many other little things 00:22:07.700 --> 00:22:09.579 i would love to start to try like i think we've 00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:11.420 got a lot of cool ideas that we could implement 00:22:11.420 --> 00:22:14.039 to improve fan experience but we were limited 00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:16.380 by we put on one to two track meets a year yeah 00:22:16.380 --> 00:22:18.599 um so when i heard about the drifters opportunity 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:21.039 and saw like hey this is a young organization 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:22.920 they're entering their fifth season this year 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:25.660 um they have great foundation their game day 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:27.319 experience is awesome they just need a little 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:29.460 help with marketing and there's 30 home games 00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:31.119 in a season where we can try different things 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:33.460 every night can be unique that became really 00:22:33.460 --> 00:22:35.859 enticing me i was like oh i can kind of come 00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:37.940 in and grow this young organization, put some 00:22:37.940 --> 00:22:39.700 marketing behind them and help them in that front. 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:42.059 But also we get to try things night to night 00:22:42.059 --> 00:22:44.940 and just create cool little moments and create 00:22:44.940 --> 00:22:46.960 those fan experiences that were so impactful 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:49.539 for me growing up. So that was a big draw. And 00:22:49.539 --> 00:22:52.000 I was very fortunate and blessed that Kelly and 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:53.980 Ike, the owners of the Drifter, saw something 00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:55.779 in me and wanted to give me this opportunity. 00:22:55.980 --> 00:22:58.359 I'm only 29, so I know I'm on the young side. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.380 All of us on staff are actually in our 20s, which 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:03.319 is really a cool stat as well. So yeah, it's 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:04.960 a young core. We're all really young and excited. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:07.119 to try to make a difference and just grow the 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:09.279 baseball community in this town and represent 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:11.660 Springfield too. I think Springfield always sometimes 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:13.519 feels like the second cousin to Eugene with all 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:15.380 the big sports that happen on this side of I 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:18.220 -5. So I'm hoping that we can kind of create 00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:19.980 something special on that side of I -5 and give 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:21.839 them something to be excited about. Awesome. 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:24.140 Congrats and welcome into the baseball community 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:27.299 here. Tell me about, and I know... One of the 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:29.079 things that drifters people, you know, is a minor 00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:30.980 league is that it's college wood bat league. 00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:32.920 Tell people a little bit about the drifters about 00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:34.480 Hamlin for people who haven't been there. It's 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:36.640 such an incredible stadium. Just give an overview 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:38.380 of kind of what the drifters are. You mentioned 00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:40.059 the five years, just kind of the short history 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.720 and what Hamlin field kind of means to this community. 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:44.700 Absolutely. Absolutely. So, yeah. So you hit 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:46.140 it on the nail on the head. We're a college summer 00:23:46.140 --> 00:23:49.140 wood bat team. So that means that. So my favorite 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:50.940 example to say, and I think the locals kind of 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:52.559 this makes sense for them. So Bryce Betcher, 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:54.859 you know, Oregon football standout, Oregon baseball 00:23:54.859 --> 00:23:56.559 standout. I'm sure you guys on the. Listen on 00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:58.440 the airwaves, they're familiar. He actually played 00:23:58.440 --> 00:23:59.980 two games with the Drifters last year, which 00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:02.339 is really, really cool. So we are an opportunity 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:06.640 for college athletes, so NCAA, NAIA, D1, D2, 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:08.240 and all that stuff. So they kind of come and 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.940 play with us in the summer and practice with 00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:12.359 a wood bat. So obviously at the college level 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:14.299 they play with aluminum. We're a wood bat opportunity. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:16.980 And I've kind of built it as it's baseball in 00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:19.119 its purest form. It's just guys who show up every 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.200 day and they just want to get better at the sport 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:24.319 of baseball and get better to hopefully either 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:27.299 be better. get recruited by other colleges maybe 00:24:27.299 --> 00:24:29.220 they're trying to get practice for mlb because 00:24:29.220 --> 00:24:31.759 the mlb the wood bat everything with that um 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:33.740 but they're not trying to beat someone out to 00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:35.539 make it to the next level the minor leagues these 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:37.319 are just guys who were here for the summer and 00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:39.759 we just want to get better um so that's kind 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:41.299 of the cool thing about it the west coast league 00:24:41.299 --> 00:24:43.839 we're a part of that so a lot of people say i 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:45.140 say like hey have you heard of the portland pickles 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:46.900 they're the biggest most well -known team in 00:24:46.900 --> 00:24:48.700 the league their show social is amazing they've 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:51.059 grown something super special in portland um 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:52.700 and so their ears kind of perk up like oh yeah 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:54.539 i know the pickles and like well the drifters 00:24:54.539 --> 00:24:56.549 play the pickles we're in the same league as 00:24:56.549 --> 00:24:58.710 the pickles um so there's 16 teams in the league 00:24:58.710 --> 00:25:01.349 um there's a bunch that make up oregon washington 00:25:01.349 --> 00:25:02.930 that goes all the way up to canada and we actually 00:25:02.930 --> 00:25:04.609 make our first road trip up to canada this year 00:25:04.609 --> 00:25:06.529 for the victoria harbor cat so that's gonna be 00:25:06.529 --> 00:25:08.710 cool for us um but yeah it's an international 00:25:08.710 --> 00:25:10.509 league it's one of the best on the west coast 00:25:10.509 --> 00:25:13.130 um and honestly could kind of go up there with 00:25:13.130 --> 00:25:15.069 the cape cod league and other college summer 00:25:15.069 --> 00:25:17.250 wood bat leagues were pretty great product we've 00:25:17.250 --> 00:25:19.349 had some major leaguers come through and um yeah 00:25:19.349 --> 00:25:20.910 we're excited to just be here in springfield 00:25:20.910 --> 00:25:23.109 and hopefully just grow awareness in this and 00:25:23.109 --> 00:25:24.470 more people come out and kind of see what we're 00:25:24.470 --> 00:25:26.700 about so What have been some of your early, you 00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:28.079 mentioned being on the job for two months, but 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:29.539 what have been some of your early priorities, 00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:31.480 some of the things, obviously you've got to, 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:33.440 I mean, the season's actually only a couple months 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:35.019 away, but what are some of the things you've 00:25:35.019 --> 00:25:36.740 been trying to do and kind of some of the influences 00:25:36.740 --> 00:25:38.400 you've been bringing to them? Yeah, no, the season 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:39.839 will be here before we knew it. Our first home 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:41.660 game is June 2nd, so everyone mark their calendars 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:44.059 now. But yeah, biggest things for me are kind 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:46.079 of just building up the marketing and the sales 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:49.579 for us. We have done an awesome job of kind of 00:25:49.579 --> 00:25:51.880 honing in our fan and game day experience. That's 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:53.680 pretty top notch. Hamlin Ballpark is beautiful. 00:25:54.019 --> 00:25:56.279 Corner Pioneer. Parkway and Centennial. You can't 00:25:56.279 --> 00:25:57.420 miss it if you're driving through Springfield. 00:25:57.500 --> 00:26:00.440 It's right off 126, so it's a beautiful location, 00:26:00.740 --> 00:26:03.640 but they just haven't been able to get the word 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:06.359 out. They kind of have grown naturally with word 00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:08.200 of mouth, which is really exciting. Our attendance 00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:10.839 last year was up 66%, and we averaged about 500 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:12.859 fans a game, but we did have our first ever sellout 00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:15.279 last year for our fireworks show, which we're 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:17.160 having again this year, 4th of July. It's going 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:19.799 to be July 2nd this year is our fireworks show, 00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:22.119 our big one, so mark that on your calendar. Yeah, 00:26:22.220 --> 00:26:23.920 so word of mouth has been growing, but they've 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:25.440 never Never been able to kind of hit their stride 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:27.279 with, like, how do we get the word out? When 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:28.839 a fan comes to a game, how do we get them to 00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:30.839 come back to a game? So I'm hoping to kind of 00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:32.359 create some of those marketing channels for us, 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:34.319 get some email newsletter going. We're working 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:35.960 on building a new website as well, something 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:38.500 a little more modern, a little more fresh. Online 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:40.500 merch, we're looking to build that too. I know 00:26:40.500 --> 00:26:42.099 everyone loves the Drifters merch, so we're going 00:26:42.099 --> 00:26:44.319 to build in that as well. So those are kind of 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:46.059 some of my early priorities. And then just sales 00:26:46.059 --> 00:26:48.680 and, like, community, you know, awareness. Like, 00:26:48.680 --> 00:26:51.460 I think Ike and Kelly are amazing owners, and 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:53.650 they've got their business connections. We've 00:26:53.650 --> 00:26:55.029 been able to bring in sponsors that way, but 00:26:55.029 --> 00:26:56.910 we're hoping to kind of just reach out more to 00:26:56.910 --> 00:26:58.589 the community and get more Springfield businesses, 00:26:58.789 --> 00:27:01.109 local, bought in, and just kind of say, hey, 00:27:01.150 --> 00:27:03.130 we're here, we want to support you, we hope you 00:27:03.130 --> 00:27:04.789 want to support us, and let's just grow the city 00:27:04.789 --> 00:27:06.210 of Springfield together. There's a lot of cool 00:27:06.210 --> 00:27:07.809 energy in Springfield right now, and so we're 00:27:07.809 --> 00:27:09.609 hoping that we can kind of just be helpful with 00:27:09.609 --> 00:27:11.430 that. So those are the big initiatives to start, 00:27:11.509 --> 00:27:14.410 but promo schedule, we're looking to do our first 00:27:14.410 --> 00:27:16.410 bobblehead giveaway this year, a lot of fun stuff 00:27:16.410 --> 00:27:19.099 like that as well. And it seems like your background, 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:20.980 and I can kind of attest to this as a journalism 00:27:20.980 --> 00:27:22.759 student, is a little bit of jack -of -all -trades. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:24.460 You've got to do a little bit of everything when 00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:26.339 you're a journalism student and when you're doing 00:27:26.339 --> 00:27:27.819 the position you're in now, which is being a 00:27:27.819 --> 00:27:29.559 general manager, which is very different than 00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:31.220 being a general manager for a Major League Baseball 00:27:31.220 --> 00:27:33.279 team. But how do you think that your background's— 00:27:33.869 --> 00:27:35.769 given you an advantage into the position you're 00:27:35.769 --> 00:27:37.890 in now oh it's such a great question um so i 00:27:37.890 --> 00:27:39.369 mean i don't know what you studied specifically 00:27:39.369 --> 00:27:40.829 in the j school but i was a super journalist 00:27:40.829 --> 00:27:43.930 okay perfect so you get it so um yeah i mean 00:27:43.930 --> 00:27:47.069 i always knew that like i would rather be a jack 00:27:47.069 --> 00:27:49.069 of all trades or i joke sometimes a jake of all 00:27:49.069 --> 00:27:51.890 trades um that like hey i can just jump into 00:27:51.890 --> 00:27:54.009 whatever bucket i need to and like know enough 00:27:54.009 --> 00:27:56.190 baseline knowledge of everything that like hey 00:27:56.190 --> 00:27:57.970 i can make it work like it may not always be 00:27:57.970 --> 00:28:00.230 perfect but at least we can make it work um and 00:28:00.230 --> 00:28:02.670 i think again talking about what the the ethos 00:28:02.670 --> 00:28:05.460 of college is like i think a lot of us like i 00:28:05.460 --> 00:28:06.980 said we're all in our 20s on our staff so we're 00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:08.319 all learning we're all young in our professional 00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:10.859 careers um and we just really want to try to 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:12.740 figure out hey what works and what doesn't and 00:28:12.740 --> 00:28:15.500 just get better every single day um and so i 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:16.740 think that's one of the exciting things about 00:28:16.740 --> 00:28:18.819 the drifters it's like it's it's just the ethos 00:28:18.819 --> 00:28:20.460 of the team like we just want to get better every 00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:22.980 single day and a lot of people sell one percent 00:28:22.980 --> 00:28:24.759 better every day it's like no not even that like 00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:26.000 we just want to see that we're trying to know 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:27.559 the right direction that we're growing in the 00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:29.119 community that we're building something meaningful 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:31.819 um and if we can create a memory along the way 00:28:31.819 --> 00:28:34.349 whether it's player or for a fan that's an amazing 00:28:34.349 --> 00:28:37.609 outcome so yeah I definitely like the approach 00:28:37.609 --> 00:28:39.670 of being able to dip your hands in a little bit 00:28:39.670 --> 00:28:42.109 of everything and I think I get excited by that 00:28:42.109 --> 00:28:44.009 like I'm a person who chases my passions and 00:28:44.009 --> 00:28:46.710 I get excited about doing the the bobbleheads 00:28:46.710 --> 00:28:48.670 or like hey what are our concessions like can 00:28:48.670 --> 00:28:51.369 we maybe add like another condiment for the hot 00:28:51.369 --> 00:28:53.230 dogs or like what are the cool other things we 00:28:53.230 --> 00:28:55.190 can do to kind of improve fan experience and 00:28:55.190 --> 00:28:57.150 like I love to get into the weeds when I'm really 00:28:57.150 --> 00:28:59.089 excited about something but I also like being 00:28:59.089 --> 00:29:01.029 able to keep it fresh and jump around from idea 00:29:01.029 --> 00:29:04.109 to idea. or from marketing to operations to sales 00:29:04.109 --> 00:29:07.349 to finance and you name it. So it's a fun gig, 00:29:07.410 --> 00:29:09.490 and I think the general manager title is fitting 00:29:09.490 --> 00:29:12.230 because you're just generally managing. So it's 00:29:12.230 --> 00:29:14.460 really fun. You guys can sit here and talk about 00:29:14.460 --> 00:29:17.619 your Oregon journalism in 2019, and I'll go talk 00:29:17.619 --> 00:29:20.420 to my friends from the early 1990s journalism 00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:23.180 school. But anyway, the building's changed a 00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:25.779 little bit. I can tell you that much. Jake Willard, 00:29:25.859 --> 00:29:28.119 general manager of the Drifters. It's jake .willard, 00:29:28.140 --> 00:29:31.099 W -I -L -L -A -R -D, at driftersbaseball .com. 00:29:31.460 --> 00:29:33.500 Again, if you're business owners out there, if 00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:34.759 you're looking to sponsor, if you're looking 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:36.700 to partner, the Drifters are great. I've been 00:29:36.700 --> 00:29:38.640 fortunate to get to know Ike Olson and Kelly 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.019 Richardson, wonderful stewards of this community. 00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:42.950 And so if you are a business owner, owner and 00:29:42.950 --> 00:29:46.109 looking to kind of support local baseball, but 00:29:46.109 --> 00:29:47.890 also see how the Drifters can grow your business, 00:29:48.089 --> 00:29:50.529 reach out to Jake, give him a call, and it's 00:29:50.529 --> 00:29:52.930 a great organization to be part of. So tell us, 00:29:52.930 --> 00:29:57.289 you said June 2nd. So for people, this is kind 00:29:57.289 --> 00:30:00.289 of your... June, July, early August is the drifter 00:30:00.289 --> 00:30:01.930 schedule. This is, you know, people get, you 00:30:01.930 --> 00:30:03.930 know, major league start one time. But for you 00:30:03.930 --> 00:30:05.549 guys, and then that first week can sometimes 00:30:05.549 --> 00:30:07.049 be you're waiting on some of the college guys 00:30:07.049 --> 00:30:09.069 to come. But really, you get into the heart of 00:30:09.069 --> 00:30:11.690 your season. For you guys, it's June, July. And 00:30:11.690 --> 00:30:13.990 you mentioned there's going to be some promo 00:30:13.990 --> 00:30:15.369 days. I don't know if you have any of those yet. 00:30:15.410 --> 00:30:17.309 You talked about some host families. What are 00:30:17.309 --> 00:30:18.750 some of the things you guys are looking for right 00:30:18.750 --> 00:30:21.329 now as you kind of get towards three months? 00:30:21.410 --> 00:30:23.789 I hate to even tell you. It's going to be here 00:30:23.789 --> 00:30:25.789 before you know it. That's for sure. Yeah, so 00:30:25.789 --> 00:30:27.730 I think you hit the nail on the head. Host families 00:30:27.730 --> 00:30:30.329 is going to be big for us right now. So obviously 00:30:30.329 --> 00:30:31.869 these kids, they're coming from around the United 00:30:31.869 --> 00:30:34.150 States and they're coming here to Springfield 00:30:34.150 --> 00:30:35.890 and a lot of them don't have places to stay. 00:30:35.990 --> 00:30:39.329 So we have the awesome opportunity for local 00:30:39.329 --> 00:30:41.109 people in the community to host these players, 00:30:41.269 --> 00:30:44.950 host families. So we have an amazing allotment 00:30:44.950 --> 00:30:46.509 of people who have helped us over the years and 00:30:46.509 --> 00:30:48.309 kind of house the players. The players are obviously 00:30:48.309 --> 00:30:49.829 on the road a lot or they're at practice during 00:30:49.829 --> 00:30:51.569 the day, but host families get tickets to the 00:30:51.569 --> 00:30:53.250 games. We give them merch, a lot of cool ways 00:30:53.250 --> 00:30:54.990 to connect and get them involved with the drifters. 00:30:55.049 --> 00:30:57.119 So we rely very heavily on host families. families 00:30:57.119 --> 00:30:59.119 and appreciate them so much so if you're interested 00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:00.940 in that please reach out we're always looking 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:02.700 for that but yeah you hit the nail on the head 00:31:02.700 --> 00:31:05.420 june 2nd is our home opener um and then the season 00:31:05.420 --> 00:31:07.700 will really kick off in earnest kind of in late 00:31:07.700 --> 00:31:11.119 june early july um it does take a few like if 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:13.339 a college player goes on in the world series 00:31:13.339 --> 00:31:14.799 far enough we'll get them after they're done 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:17.200 with that obviously so um we'll have a part of 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:19.759 our roster uh we're hoping last year we're really 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:21.359 close we were just outside of the playoffs so 00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:22.720 we're hoping that we can be competitive again 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:25.259 on the field um but yeah i mean big things to 00:31:25.259 --> 00:31:26.859 look out for we're gonna have our fourth of july 00:31:26.859 --> 00:31:29.759 fireworks game on july 2nd this year so excited 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:31.619 to bring that back that was our first ever sellout 00:31:31.619 --> 00:31:33.839 last year we're hoping to make that big um other 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:35.819 things to look forward to so we're gonna do a 00:31:35.819 --> 00:31:38.539 um rapids birthday party rapid is our mascot 00:31:38.539 --> 00:31:40.990 and so we always bring out other mascots we Try 00:31:40.990 --> 00:31:42.670 to get the Oregon Duck, the Corvallis Knights, 00:31:42.930 --> 00:31:44.750 Benny the Beaver, you name it. We're going to 00:31:44.750 --> 00:31:46.029 try to bring out all the mascots to celebrate 00:31:46.029 --> 00:31:48.990 Rapid for his birthday. And knock on wood, I 00:31:48.990 --> 00:31:50.390 might be announcing this a little early, but 00:31:50.390 --> 00:31:52.890 Rapid bobblehead potentially as a little birthday 00:31:52.890 --> 00:31:54.589 prize for everyone coming through, a little party 00:31:54.589 --> 00:31:57.150 favor. So we're really working hard towards that. 00:31:57.230 --> 00:31:59.549 But we're excited to do a bobblehead this year 00:31:59.549 --> 00:32:01.170 for the first time ever. And yeah, we're going 00:32:01.170 --> 00:32:02.690 to have a full slate of promotional schedule 00:32:02.690 --> 00:32:05.009 coming out soon. And we're looking to do single 00:32:05.009 --> 00:32:07.509 game tickets on sale April 2nd. So everyone mark 00:32:07.509 --> 00:32:09.109 their calendars. That'll be really fun. But season 00:32:09.109 --> 00:32:10.789 tickets are available right now. Now DriftersBaseball 00:32:10.789 --> 00:32:12.990 .com if you are interested in that. DriftersBaseball 00:32:12.990 --> 00:32:14.609 .com is the place to go for that. Absolutely, 00:32:14.670 --> 00:32:16.390 yep. Merch? Can they get merch on there yet? 00:32:16.490 --> 00:32:18.309 Yeah, so the new website we're hoping to launch 00:32:18.309 --> 00:32:19.710 sometime in the month of February. We're getting 00:32:19.710 --> 00:32:22.029 close. And with that, we're hoping to have online 00:32:22.029 --> 00:32:23.970 merch available. But the merch on the stadium 00:32:23.970 --> 00:32:25.809 this year is going to be really good. I'm a merch 00:32:25.809 --> 00:32:28.130 head. At Track Time, I did design a lot of merchandise 00:32:28.130 --> 00:32:29.990 there and had a lot of fun with that. So the 00:32:29.990 --> 00:32:31.369 Drifters branding is beautiful, and I'm hoping 00:32:31.369 --> 00:32:32.769 we can do some cool stuff with it this year on 00:32:32.769 --> 00:32:34.730 some retail product. Yeah, there's no doubt. 00:32:34.809 --> 00:32:36.490 When you've got Richardson Athletics involved 00:32:36.490 --> 00:32:38.369 in the merchandise, you're going to have some 00:32:38.369 --> 00:32:41.119 pretty top -notch stuff. Absolutely. Jake, thanks 00:32:41.119 --> 00:32:42.680 for coming. Anything we didn't give you a chance 00:32:42.680 --> 00:32:44.339 to say, anything else you want to say before 00:32:44.339 --> 00:32:46.700 we let you go? And we'll certainly bring you 00:32:46.700 --> 00:32:48.339 back in here another time or two before it gets 00:32:48.339 --> 00:32:50.000 going. Absolutely. I think when we get our roster 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:51.440 a little more finalized and we get more cool 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:53.359 details, we'll definitely jump on and get the 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:54.980 word out. But, yeah, I really appreciate you 00:32:54.980 --> 00:32:56.900 guys bringing me on and looking forward to stepping 00:32:56.900 --> 00:32:58.400 into this role with the Drifters, growing something 00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:00.400 meaningful, and having some fun this summer. 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:02.259 I think summer nights are better with baseball, 00:33:02.339 --> 00:33:04.559 right? 100%. Come to the Drifters. Our GA tickets 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:06.700 are cheap. Kids 12 and under get in free. A lot 00:33:06.700 --> 00:33:07.920 of cool things we can look forward to. So we 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:09.380 hope to see people. the games this summer, and 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:11.339 you guys as well. It's hit you out. Absolutely. 00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:13.619 Awesome. We'll be there. Jake Willard, he is 00:33:13.619 --> 00:33:15.500 your new general manager of the Springfield Drifters. 00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:18.500 Again, jake .willard, W -I -L -L -A -R -D at 00:33:18.500 --> 00:33:21.359 driftersbaseball .com, or just go to driftersbaseball 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:23.819 .com. Support your local baseball team. Jake, 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:25.119 thanks for coming in. Thank you. We'll catch 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:26.799 up with you soon. Appreciate it, guys. All right, 00:33:26.819 --> 00:33:28.660 when we come back, we are going to look ahead 00:33:28.660 --> 00:33:31.200 to tonight's Oregon -Illinois women's basketball 00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:33.680 game. We'll wrap up the show. This is Steve Bims 00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:35.279 filling in for Danny. You're listening to The 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:37.700 Danny and Justin Show on Fox Sports Eugene and 00:33:37.700 --> 00:33:43.460 Fox Sports Fox Sports Newport. Welcome back into 00:33:43.460 --> 00:33:45.779 the Danny and Justin show. This is Steve Mims 00:33:45.779 --> 00:33:47.900 filling in for Danny. Big thanks again to Jake 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:50.079 Willard for coming by. Good dude. Good dude. 00:33:50.140 --> 00:33:52.400 Fun conversation. Yeah, yeah. He brings a little 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:53.839 bit of energy, which is something the Drifters 00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:56.180 need. It's a great program out there. Like he 00:33:56.180 --> 00:33:57.279 said, there's not enough people to know about 00:33:57.279 --> 00:33:59.579 what's going on out there. And so I definitely 00:33:59.579 --> 00:34:01.759 recommend folks get in touch with him and get 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:04.000 involved in one of your local baseball teams. 00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:06.779 All right, Oregon women's basketball tonight, 00:34:06.940 --> 00:34:09.420 and it's a big one. They are hosting Illinois. 00:34:09.579 --> 00:34:14.340 Illinois has been on the cusp of the top 25 this 00:34:14.340 --> 00:34:17.500 year. And for Oregon, as we know, Oregon is, 00:34:17.619 --> 00:34:20.519 I think, after that road sweep, getting Rutgers 00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:23.739 and, more importantly, getting Maryland. I think 00:34:23.739 --> 00:34:26.420 Oregon's firmly in the NCAA tournament. I mean, 00:34:26.420 --> 00:34:28.440 barring a collapse here, I think they're in. 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:30.719 But I think what they need to do now is kind 00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:33.300 of work on their seeding. According to Charlie 00:34:33.300 --> 00:34:36.159 Cream, who is the Joe Lunardi of women's basketball 00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:38.840 with his bracketology, he has Oregon as the number 00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:41.739 nine seed, which sounds great, except that if 00:34:41.739 --> 00:34:44.159 you're on the 8 -9 line, that means you're going 00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:46.980 to UConn or going to South Carolina or going 00:34:46.980 --> 00:34:50.039 to UCLA, and your second round game is against 00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:51.699 one of those teams at their home. The way the 00:34:51.699 --> 00:34:54.619 NCAA tournament works, the top seeds host the 00:34:54.619 --> 00:34:56.420 first two rounds. So unfortunately, if you're 00:34:56.420 --> 00:34:59.769 on that 8 -9, In a world, I'd almost rather be 00:34:59.769 --> 00:35:03.309 a 12 and have to face a 5 and then a 4 rather 00:35:03.309 --> 00:35:06.650 than going to a UConn and doing that. But tonight's 00:35:06.650 --> 00:35:09.230 a lot on the line for that. So for those who 00:35:09.230 --> 00:35:10.889 haven't been paying attention, Oregon right now 00:35:10.889 --> 00:35:15.889 is 17 -7, 5 -6 in the Big Ten. Illinois is 16 00:35:15.889 --> 00:35:18.710 -6, 6 -5 in the Big Ten. So this is two teams 00:35:18.710 --> 00:35:20.650 that are kind of with some similar resumes facing 00:35:20.650 --> 00:35:22.949 off tonight. Oregon being the home team, it would 00:35:22.949 --> 00:35:24.829 be important to continue the momentum that started 00:35:24.829 --> 00:35:27.190 here with the win over Penn State. Again, really 00:35:27.190 --> 00:35:30.489 picked up with that win at Maryland. And with 00:35:30.489 --> 00:35:32.949 what Oregon's got left, you know, they've got 00:35:32.949 --> 00:35:34.969 Ohio State, who's ranked ninth, coming in on 00:35:34.969 --> 00:35:36.590 Sunday. I'm going to be at that game, Super Bowl 00:35:36.590 --> 00:35:39.150 Sunday at noon. Ninth -ranked Ohio State comes 00:35:39.150 --> 00:35:41.349 in. That'll be a tough one, so it'll be really 00:35:41.349 --> 00:35:42.809 important, I think, for Oregon to get this one 00:35:42.809 --> 00:35:44.369 tonight, which, again, is against another team 00:35:44.369 --> 00:35:46.590 kind of similar to them in the standings. And 00:35:46.590 --> 00:35:48.010 then that gives you a chance, hey, if you can 00:35:48.010 --> 00:35:49.869 finish off the weekend with Ohio State a win, 00:35:49.969 --> 00:35:52.150 that's great. But even if you lose that and split, 00:35:52.309 --> 00:35:53.829 that's not bad with this one. But I think it's 00:35:53.829 --> 00:35:55.250 important for them to get the Illinois game tonight. 00:35:55.550 --> 00:35:57.170 Completely agree. It's kind of the same thing 00:35:57.170 --> 00:35:58.750 as the road trip, except you're doing it at home 00:35:58.750 --> 00:36:00.889 this time. So you got the one against Rutgers. 00:36:01.010 --> 00:36:02.750 That was the one you really wanted. It gave you 00:36:02.750 --> 00:36:04.650 an opportunity to get a bonus against Maryland. 00:36:04.789 --> 00:36:06.650 It was a great game for them. Maryland kind of 00:36:06.650 --> 00:36:08.449 struggling right now as well. So same thing, 00:36:08.489 --> 00:36:10.190 like you're saying, against Illinois and then 00:36:10.190 --> 00:36:12.389 Ohio State. Get the one against Illinois. I feel 00:36:12.389 --> 00:36:14.530 like you're in a pretty good position to do that 00:36:14.530 --> 00:36:16.210 and then see what happens against Ohio State. 00:36:16.329 --> 00:36:18.610 And this team has been very competitive against... 00:36:18.809 --> 00:36:21.610 Every team they've played, except for UCLA, which 00:36:21.610 --> 00:36:23.230 is obviously one of the top teams in the country, 00:36:23.309 --> 00:36:24.889 has one of the best players in the country. So 00:36:24.889 --> 00:36:27.710 I think the 8 -9 probably seems fair. I don't 00:36:27.710 --> 00:36:29.469 know, like you're saying, if it's the best spot. 00:36:29.530 --> 00:36:31.289 It's kind of deja vu all over again with what 00:36:31.289 --> 00:36:32.849 they had to do last year. Going to North Carolina. 00:36:33.090 --> 00:36:36.510 Exactly, and having to play them in the second 00:36:36.510 --> 00:36:39.530 round. So you try to see if you can improve on 00:36:39.530 --> 00:36:41.250 that. They'll probably have to take one of these 00:36:41.250 --> 00:36:43.030 ranked games they have left, two against Washington, 00:36:43.250 --> 00:36:45.949 one against Ohio State. But overall, this team 00:36:45.949 --> 00:36:49.710 has been pretty good. win a lot of games, stay 00:36:49.710 --> 00:36:51.650 competitive in the games that they haven't won. 00:36:51.769 --> 00:36:53.829 You probably wanted to win one or two of those 00:36:53.829 --> 00:36:55.590 games that they were in that were close, that 00:36:55.590 --> 00:36:57.530 they just couldn't quite finish off. But there's 00:36:57.530 --> 00:36:59.349 still a few opportunities here left at the end 00:36:59.349 --> 00:37:00.909 of the season. Yeah, and like you say, if you 00:37:00.909 --> 00:37:04.010 can win, if they're on that 8 -9 line, a sweep 00:37:04.010 --> 00:37:06.469 this week would be huge. But even if, you know... 00:37:06.860 --> 00:37:08.519 If you get that Ohio State win, that might get 00:37:08.519 --> 00:37:10.280 you up to a six -seed type thing. That's where 00:37:10.280 --> 00:37:12.159 you want to be is kind of that six -five type 00:37:12.159 --> 00:37:15.199 thing, you know, four. I think even Kelly said 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:16.739 the last time he was on that maybe they had a 00:37:16.739 --> 00:37:18.440 chance at hosting, but some of those losses they 00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:20.500 had might have taken away that. But if you could 00:37:20.500 --> 00:37:22.719 be that six or so, again, if you're the six, 00:37:22.840 --> 00:37:24.659 you're the favorite in the first game, and then 00:37:24.659 --> 00:37:26.000 you're on the road, but you're facing a three 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:28.840 -seed. Women's basketball is deep, but the difference 00:37:28.840 --> 00:37:31.880 between at UConn, at South Carolina, and going 00:37:31.880 --> 00:37:33.940 at a three -seed, which would be like a 10th, 00:37:33.940 --> 00:37:35.760 11th, 12th -ranked team, as we saw last year, 00:37:35.800 --> 00:37:37.579 Oregon. gave North Carolina everything and almost 00:37:37.579 --> 00:37:40.639 got them in that one there. So I think that it's 00:37:40.639 --> 00:37:42.920 just important for their spot in the standings 00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:44.880 that if they can get the one tonight, and I think 00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:46.360 it should be a good crowd. It's a 6 o 'clock 00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:48.019 start for those who are looking to go tonight 00:37:48.019 --> 00:37:50.420 to Matthew Knight Arena. Super Bowl Sunday, it's 00:37:50.420 --> 00:37:52.559 a noon start. So for fans who want to go out, 00:37:52.599 --> 00:37:55.619 go watch the game against, again, ninth -ranked 00:37:55.619 --> 00:37:59.219 Ohio State. So a top -10 team coming to MKA noon. 00:37:59.699 --> 00:38:02.280 Plenty of time to get home. Pop open the popcorn 00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:04.579 for the Super Bowl. Yeah, plenty of opportunity 00:38:04.579 --> 00:38:07.760 for fans to get a lot of action, both professional 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:10.360 and in the collegiate ranks this weekend. But, 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:12.099 no, I think this is a good opportunity for them. 00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:14.820 I think if you think about the development of 00:38:14.820 --> 00:38:16.960 the team as well, Isatute has been doing really 00:38:16.960 --> 00:38:18.239 well recently. You've been on that bandwagon 00:38:18.239 --> 00:38:19.599 for a while. I've been on it for a long time, 00:38:19.659 --> 00:38:22.440 so I'm glad that there's been— The world's catching 00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:24.179 up to you. Exactly. I'm glad everybody's figuring 00:38:24.179 --> 00:38:25.960 this out, that Isatute is a really, really good 00:38:25.960 --> 00:38:29.139 player. So I like the way that the team is developing 00:38:29.139 --> 00:38:32.039 as well. It's not just the wins and losses and 00:38:32.039 --> 00:38:34.380 the resume, but I think that they're trending 00:38:34.380 --> 00:38:36.239 in the right direction. Not a perfect team by 00:38:36.239 --> 00:38:38.360 any means. It's a young team. They make mistakes 00:38:38.360 --> 00:38:40.300 at times. I think the next step for them is to 00:38:40.300 --> 00:38:43.179 really finish off some of these close games that 00:38:43.179 --> 00:38:45.679 they've been in. But I think overall the direction 00:38:45.679 --> 00:38:47.659 of the team is really good, and I'm excited about 00:38:47.659 --> 00:38:49.139 the way that they're going to finish. Yeah, 2 00:38:49.139 --> 00:38:50.860 -10, I'll have to 10 .5 points a game. It's an 00:38:50.860 --> 00:38:52.719 interesting group because you've got... Three 00:38:52.719 --> 00:38:54.559 players averaging in double digits, but really 00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:56.280 six players who are averaging, you know, like 00:38:56.280 --> 00:38:58.039 seven points or more, which is kind of what I 00:38:58.039 --> 00:38:59.780 like to see in a team. You don't have, you know, 00:38:59.820 --> 00:39:01.860 Fiso's leading the way at 15 and then Mia Jacobs, 00:39:02.139 --> 00:39:04.860 you know, Bell, Rambis, Ari Long. You've got 00:39:04.860 --> 00:39:07.619 kind of a good six, seven person rotation in 00:39:07.619 --> 00:39:09.340 there. And really, I mean, you can go through 00:39:09.340 --> 00:39:11.519 their losses and, I mean, holy cow, they had 00:39:11.519 --> 00:39:13.519 Michigan ahead, you know, another top 10 team 00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:14.820 that were leading them, could have beaten them 00:39:14.820 --> 00:39:17.340 in overtime. Number 15, Michigan State, they 00:39:17.340 --> 00:39:19.739 were ahead of them with four minutes left. Lose 00:39:19.739 --> 00:39:23.449 that one at home. They go. to... or they were 00:39:23.449 --> 00:39:25.730 on the road at Wisconsin, and they had a free 00:39:25.730 --> 00:39:28.010 throw basically to win it, missed that, Wisconsin 00:39:28.010 --> 00:39:30.050 hits a three -pointer, and then come home and 00:39:30.050 --> 00:39:31.730 lose to Minnesota. I mean, that was sort of, 00:39:31.769 --> 00:39:34.550 they've had some coulda, shouldas, but at the 00:39:34.550 --> 00:39:35.969 same time, they went on the road, they won at 00:39:35.969 --> 00:39:37.590 USC. Again, people would have said they probably 00:39:37.590 --> 00:39:39.449 aren't going to win. They won at Maryland a game 00:39:39.449 --> 00:39:41.230 they're not supposed to win. So in a weird way, 00:39:41.289 --> 00:39:42.610 it's almost like they're probably kind of where 00:39:42.610 --> 00:39:44.250 they should be record -wise. They've just taken 00:39:44.250 --> 00:39:46.150 a different route to get there. Exactly, and 00:39:46.150 --> 00:39:48.070 if you can look at that one stretch and go, well, 00:39:48.150 --> 00:39:49.889 we could have won one of these games, but at 00:39:49.889 --> 00:39:53.190 the same time, the game against UCLA. I think 00:39:53.190 --> 00:39:54.489 they were down. I have to look at the score. 00:39:54.590 --> 00:39:57.869 Yeah, they had a 26 -8 fourth quarter to win 00:39:57.869 --> 00:39:59.429 that one. So that was a comeback victory, one 00:39:59.429 --> 00:40:00.789 they probably shouldn't have won. And Maryland 00:40:00.789 --> 00:40:02.570 was similar. They were down in that one. Exactly. 00:40:02.670 --> 00:40:04.369 They were down at halftime, down and going into 00:40:04.369 --> 00:40:06.769 the fourth quarter. So, like you say, I think 00:40:06.769 --> 00:40:08.630 that they're definitely kind of where you expect 00:40:08.630 --> 00:40:11.090 them. But the path has been sort of interesting. 00:40:11.329 --> 00:40:13.630 And you kind of look at it like, ah, man, if 00:40:13.630 --> 00:40:15.730 they could have gotten one or more of those victories, 00:40:15.849 --> 00:40:17.730 then maybe you are in that four or five spot. 00:40:17.889 --> 00:40:20.389 But I think overall. probably what I expected 00:40:20.389 --> 00:40:22.590 maybe even a little bit better overall coming 00:40:22.590 --> 00:40:25.070 into the season just in terms of the way they've 00:40:25.070 --> 00:40:26.769 played like there hasn't been any games where 00:40:26.769 --> 00:40:28.489 it's just felt like oh man like they didn't show 00:40:28.489 --> 00:40:30.550 up or like they're playing against a team that 00:40:30.550 --> 00:40:32.070 they should beat and they don't look like they 00:40:32.070 --> 00:40:33.750 have the effort like it just seems like it's 00:40:33.750 --> 00:40:36.289 a team that's young on the rise developing but 00:40:36.289 --> 00:40:39.710 maybe not quite there yet yeah yeah and you know 00:40:39.710 --> 00:40:41.090 I think Kelly Graves done a great job as you 00:40:41.090 --> 00:40:42.590 might say I was a little worried after that Minnesota 00:40:42.590 --> 00:40:45.130 loss I kind of felt like boy they might be falling 00:40:45.130 --> 00:40:46.630 out of the bracket, and holy cow, they've got 00:40:46.630 --> 00:40:49.210 to go on the road, including Maryland. And I 00:40:49.210 --> 00:40:52.590 think that Penn State really kind of, not a great 00:40:52.590 --> 00:40:54.369 win, not a great team, but to get that and then 00:40:54.369 --> 00:40:56.960 to... The Penn State game starting off, you're 00:40:56.960 --> 00:40:58.719 down 8 -0. Exactly. That might have been the 00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:00.539 panic. That was the panic moment right there, 00:41:00.559 --> 00:41:02.119 where you're down 8 -0 against Penn State, and 00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:04.659 you're like, uh -oh. But no, I completely agree. 00:41:04.760 --> 00:41:06.300 That was a big bounce -back game, despite Penn 00:41:06.300 --> 00:41:08.260 State really not being that good. Yeah, and Rutgers, 00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:09.480 same way. But like you say, Maryland's really 00:41:09.480 --> 00:41:12.039 good. And again, behind significantly. I think 00:41:12.039 --> 00:41:13.699 they were down 7 or so in the fourth quarter. 00:41:13.739 --> 00:41:15.719 And on the road at a place like that, it's not 00:41:15.719 --> 00:41:17.440 easy to come back and came back and actually 00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:19.079 kind of win it by 8 -1. It's somewhat handily. 00:41:19.159 --> 00:41:21.079 So a good one there. So again, for Duck fans, 00:41:21.340 --> 00:41:24.480 I'm sure KG would love to have a full house. 00:41:24.650 --> 00:41:27.030 out there tonight. It is, like I said, it's a 00:41:27.030 --> 00:41:29.489 good matchup. It's an important game for the 00:41:29.489 --> 00:41:32.329 standings. Illinois is at Oregon tonight at 6. 00:41:32.570 --> 00:41:35.409 And again, 9th ranked Ohio State. Number 9 in 00:41:35.409 --> 00:41:38.190 the country, Ohio State, is at MKA on Sunday. 00:41:38.530 --> 00:41:40.130 Noon, get there, and then you can get to your 00:41:40.130 --> 00:41:42.489 Super Bowl. Not home this week is the Oregon 00:41:42.489 --> 00:41:47.369 men's team. And their gauntlet this week is not 00:41:47.369 --> 00:41:52.550 an easy one at all. They go to... Purdue, Saturday 00:41:52.550 --> 00:41:57.110 at 10 a .m. on a national CBS audience. And I'm 00:41:57.110 --> 00:41:59.809 not totally sure right now that this men's team 00:41:59.809 --> 00:42:02.309 is ready for national television or when CBS 00:42:02.309 --> 00:42:04.070 scheduled this game, they thought it would be 00:42:04.070 --> 00:42:06.610 a one -win Oregon team. But that's kind of where 00:42:06.610 --> 00:42:10.349 we're at is the Oregon men go to Purdue and to 00:42:10.349 --> 00:42:13.320 Indiana. And at this point, you just got to see 00:42:13.320 --> 00:42:14.960 some signs of life from them and hope that they're 00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:18.019 hanging in there because there's just been a 00:42:18.019 --> 00:42:20.239 struggle. And maybe the good sign would be maybe 00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:23.320 Nate Biddle comes back. You can hope. At this 00:42:23.320 --> 00:42:24.920 point, you can hope. And they're unfortunately 00:42:24.920 --> 00:42:27.280 getting Purdue right off of when they're bouncing 00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:29.480 back from a little bit of a struggle, too. So 00:42:29.480 --> 00:42:31.360 maybe if they're coming into that game on three 00:42:31.360 --> 00:42:32.820 -game losing streak, you say we're getting them 00:42:32.820 --> 00:42:35.179 at the right time. But they got their win against 00:42:35.179 --> 00:42:38.239 Indiana. So it's tough. I mean, it's just a tough 00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:40.619 – it's a tough – Place for them to play and match 00:42:40.619 --> 00:42:42.800 up with, even if they had Jackson Shelstad and 00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:44.719 Nate Biddle. But they don't have those guys. 00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:46.800 They might have Biddle. There's been some talk. 00:42:47.059 --> 00:42:48.559 Although Altman kind of made it sound like maybe 00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:51.699 I'm just wish -casting at this point. But potentially 00:42:51.699 --> 00:42:53.059 they'd come there. And I'm not sure it would 00:42:53.059 --> 00:42:55.059 make a big difference. Again, they come back 00:42:55.059 --> 00:42:57.119 home for Penn State and Minnesota later. If they 00:42:57.119 --> 00:42:59.539 were to get Biddle back by then and maybe have 00:42:59.539 --> 00:43:01.340 Simpkins, you could look at maybe trying to get 00:43:01.340 --> 00:43:03.639 a couple of things going in the home. But I know 00:43:03.639 --> 00:43:05.619 it's been tough. I had a friend of mine who's 00:43:05.619 --> 00:43:07.760 an Iowa fan and came down and he said, that was 00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:10.539 great. Half -empty crowd, and I made my way up 00:43:10.539 --> 00:43:11.940 to the third row and watched the whole game from 00:43:11.940 --> 00:43:14.440 the third row. I said, yeah, it's been a bit 00:43:14.440 --> 00:43:16.780 of a Big Ten takeover. I know when Michigan came, 00:43:16.980 --> 00:43:19.019 there was a lot of go -big -blue chants at the 00:43:19.019 --> 00:43:22.340 end, and Iowa had it, and Michigan State. And 00:43:22.340 --> 00:43:24.679 I know there's, and again, there's one win. I 00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:26.320 get that the fans aren't exactly pouring into 00:43:26.320 --> 00:43:27.880 Matthew Knight Arena for the men's games right 00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:30.059 now, but it'll be interesting to see how this 00:43:30.059 --> 00:43:32.539 thing ends and what sort of, what the end of 00:43:32.539 --> 00:43:34.059 it looks like, because like you say, at this 00:43:34.059 --> 00:43:36.750 point, it's hard to see. much more than two or 00:43:36.750 --> 00:43:38.090 three wins, and that's just because it's kind 00:43:38.090 --> 00:43:39.869 of Penn State and Minnesota coming almost just 00:43:39.869 --> 00:43:42.090 – and it's so bizarre to see a Dane Altman team 00:43:42.090 --> 00:43:43.530 going through this. I mean, yeah, I've just – 00:43:43.929 --> 00:43:45.530 As a guy who covered him for eight years and 00:43:45.530 --> 00:43:47.250 has watched his 15 years here, there's never 00:43:47.250 --> 00:43:49.889 been a death march for Dana Altman, you know, 00:43:49.949 --> 00:43:52.010 in just a season that you just were waiting for 00:43:52.010 --> 00:43:54.050 it to end. This is always when his teams were 00:43:54.050 --> 00:43:55.670 ramping up and you're like, holy cow, this is 00:43:55.670 --> 00:43:56.869 going to be a team that can get to the Sweet 00:43:56.869 --> 00:43:59.809 16. We've never, you know, since maybe that first 00:43:59.809 --> 00:44:01.630 year, we've never had a year where it just felt 00:44:01.630 --> 00:44:03.449 like, holy cow, this season can't end soon enough. 00:44:03.750 --> 00:44:07.170 Yeah, the saying is what? That Dana Altman aligns 00:44:07.170 --> 00:44:09.190 Rubik's Cubes. And I don't think that the... 00:44:09.800 --> 00:44:12.400 I think they're missing squares. I think there's 00:44:12.400 --> 00:44:14.420 some pieces missing from the Rubik's Cube this 00:44:14.420 --> 00:44:18.260 time. It's just not there. Their guard play is 00:44:18.260 --> 00:44:20.139 just like they're not getting enough. I mean, 00:44:20.159 --> 00:44:23.599 I think the Wei Lin thing, they need to see. 00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:25.219 I think if there's one thing you want to see 00:44:25.219 --> 00:44:26.699 down the stretch of the season is you want to 00:44:26.699 --> 00:44:28.519 see something out of Wei Lin more than just flashes. 00:44:28.639 --> 00:44:31.500 I want to see a little bit of consistency when 00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:34.699 it comes to his shot selection, defense. He's 00:44:34.699 --> 00:44:37.789 an exciting player, but. It's hard to look at 00:44:37.789 --> 00:44:40.070 this team and sit there and go, well, really 00:44:40.070 --> 00:44:42.650 excited about this part of the team. It's just 00:44:42.650 --> 00:44:44.849 rough. It's just tough right now. It's a tough 00:44:44.849 --> 00:44:48.570 one. And Wieland was—and there's points of it 00:44:48.570 --> 00:44:51.380 I look and just wonder. Who connected him and 00:44:51.380 --> 00:44:52.960 Dana Altman? Because, you know, when you say, 00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:55.000 this guy's really flashy, he's really nice behind 00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:57.079 the back, can really kind of light it up at times, 00:44:57.139 --> 00:44:58.599 takes some questionable shots and doesn't play 00:44:58.599 --> 00:45:01.159 a lot of defense. That's not player A for Dana 00:45:01.159 --> 00:45:03.699 Altman. So I'm not sure who kind of made the 00:45:03.699 --> 00:45:05.380 connection that said, hey, this would be a great 00:45:05.380 --> 00:45:07.559 fit for either of you in this way there. And 00:45:07.559 --> 00:45:08.639 that's another thing. I'll be just, you know, 00:45:08.659 --> 00:45:11.460 fast forwarding. At the end of this year, you're 00:45:11.460 --> 00:45:13.760 seeing like what? I mean, there's got to be a 00:45:13.760 --> 00:45:14.920 few guys. You know, when teams aren't having 00:45:14.920 --> 00:45:16.679 a good season, there's inevitably some players 00:45:16.679 --> 00:45:18.559 that are looking to go somewhere else. And maybe 00:45:18.559 --> 00:45:20.139 some of them are being encouraged to look somewhere 00:45:20.139 --> 00:45:21.639 else because of how this year has gone. But, 00:45:21.679 --> 00:45:24.320 you know, Biddle will be gone. I think KJ Evans 00:45:24.320 --> 00:45:26.380 probably heads to the NBA, you know, at least 00:45:26.380 --> 00:45:28.679 turns pro after this. I think he will. Shelstad, 00:45:28.960 --> 00:45:30.460 you know, does he want to come back and kind 00:45:30.460 --> 00:45:32.619 of take on a whole new group? How many of these 00:45:32.619 --> 00:45:34.519 guys that have really been kind of in and out 00:45:34.519 --> 00:45:36.019 with playing time come back? I think it's going 00:45:36.019 --> 00:45:38.420 to be kind of fascinating to see what the team 00:45:38.420 --> 00:45:41.440 looks like heading into next year. But we'll 00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:43.440 get more into that in the future months. But 00:45:43.440 --> 00:45:46.320 for those who are excited to watch Oregon basketball 00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:49.360 on national TV, tune into CBS at 10 o 'clock 00:45:49.360 --> 00:45:52.559 on Saturday when they take on Purdue. But again, 00:45:52.659 --> 00:45:55.519 the team that's got everybody going right now 00:45:55.519 --> 00:45:57.880 is the Oregon women's basketball team, which 00:45:57.880 --> 00:46:01.780 is here this week. And this week is also the 00:46:01.780 --> 00:46:04.679 start of softball season as the Oregon women's 00:46:04.679 --> 00:46:07.539 softball team gets this season started. And they 00:46:07.539 --> 00:46:12.079 are kicking it off here. They're on national 00:46:12.079 --> 00:46:14.000 TV this week. A couple of the games are on the 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:17.059 MLB Network, if I correct. Correct. Nails Melissa 00:46:17.059 --> 00:46:19.880 Lombardi, a regular on this program, who I know 00:46:19.880 --> 00:46:22.500 was on here earlier this week. This is a pretty 00:46:22.500 --> 00:46:25.480 exciting season, and it'll be fun to see them 00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:27.719 facing some really tough competition because 00:46:27.719 --> 00:46:29.539 this is the fifth -ranked team. They're going 00:46:29.539 --> 00:46:31.420 to be good at the end, but we're going to see 00:46:31.420 --> 00:46:32.960 where they stack up against some of these teams 00:46:32.960 --> 00:46:34.940 from the beginning. Well, like Coach Lombardi 00:46:34.940 --> 00:46:37.519 said, you've got to beat the best to be the best. 00:46:38.519 --> 00:46:41.039 I think it's a good spot to be in, especially 00:46:41.039 --> 00:46:42.679 early in the season, coming off of where they 00:46:42.679 --> 00:46:44.639 were, because it does seem like this is the type 00:46:44.639 --> 00:46:46.840 of team. This is version 8. They have the little 00:46:46.840 --> 00:46:49.159 8 on the side. It's almost like an infinity sign. 00:46:49.619 --> 00:46:52.539 Ducks forever, I guess. Version 8 forever. But 00:46:52.539 --> 00:46:54.940 I think that it is building off of the good things 00:46:54.940 --> 00:46:57.039 of version 7. Obviously, you're losing the Lushar 00:46:57.039 --> 00:46:58.840 sisters. You're losing Paige Snicky. There are 00:46:58.840 --> 00:47:00.719 some spots that they're going to have to refill, 00:47:00.900 --> 00:47:03.139 but I think that one of the things I think is 00:47:03.139 --> 00:47:04.900 going to be really good, especially early on. 00:47:05.360 --> 00:47:07.840 I think that it's really nice to have your pitching 00:47:07.840 --> 00:47:10.539 staff. You know Lindsey Grine is going to go 00:47:10.539 --> 00:47:12.079 out there and be your ace. And you know Lisa 00:47:12.079 --> 00:47:13.880 Kolsky is going to go out there and be a great 00:47:13.880 --> 00:47:15.800 number two. And they need to figure out the rest 00:47:15.800 --> 00:47:17.639 of the rotation. I think that was something that 00:47:17.639 --> 00:47:20.519 was very important for them going down the stretch 00:47:20.519 --> 00:47:23.599 last season. But I think that they just – it 00:47:23.599 --> 00:47:25.300 seems like the kind of team that has the pieces, 00:47:25.460 --> 00:47:27.960 they got – Melissa Lombardi is expecting more 00:47:27.960 --> 00:47:30.000 power this year. I'd like to see if they have 00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:32.260 that power with the speed, which was such a big 00:47:32.260 --> 00:47:34.619 thing for them last year. I don't remember exactly 00:47:34.619 --> 00:47:35.960 where they ended up, but they were in the top 00:47:35.960 --> 00:47:37.980 10 for, I think, both stolen bases and home runs. 00:47:38.159 --> 00:47:40.179 So I'm really excited about this team. I think 00:47:40.179 --> 00:47:41.860 it's going to be great for them to try to get 00:47:41.860 --> 00:47:44.179 some early competition to see where they're at. 00:47:45.769 --> 00:47:47.670 But overall, I think that it just looks like 00:47:47.670 --> 00:47:49.570 it's going to be a good team. So I think we just 00:47:49.570 --> 00:47:51.489 have to see it at this point. Yeah. So for those 00:47:51.489 --> 00:47:53.309 who are interested, this week opens up, and it's 00:47:53.309 --> 00:47:54.929 stunning to think that it's softball season. 00:47:55.030 --> 00:47:57.030 I know. But there's also a reason that they open 00:47:57.030 --> 00:47:59.829 the season in Florida and California and California. 00:48:00.389 --> 00:48:03.550 But this Friday, the opener is February 6th, 00:48:03.570 --> 00:48:06.230 10 a .m. They play Missouri. This is in Clearwater, 00:48:06.389 --> 00:48:08.929 Florida. And then they get Clemson that same 00:48:08.929 --> 00:48:11.510 day. So you've got an SEC and an ACC opponent 00:48:11.510 --> 00:48:14.949 in day one. Day two is Liberty. A rematch. A 00:48:14.949 --> 00:48:17.110 rematch from the Super Regional last year. Yeah. 00:48:17.210 --> 00:48:19.690 Yeah. So that's a good Liberty team, obviously, 00:48:19.769 --> 00:48:22.369 and then Tennessee, so another SEC team. And 00:48:22.369 --> 00:48:23.789 that's going to be the one that's on tape delay. 00:48:23.929 --> 00:48:25.909 That's the tape delay one, okay. The next one 00:48:25.909 --> 00:48:27.690 against Southern Louisiana, that's going to be 00:48:27.690 --> 00:48:30.949 live on MLB Network. It's 7 a .m. Correct. On 00:48:30.949 --> 00:48:33.599 Super Bowl Sunday. It's something you can do 00:48:33.599 --> 00:48:35.900 before you go to the women's game. Women's game. 00:48:35.940 --> 00:48:37.639 So there's your Super Bowl Sunday fans. You've 00:48:37.639 --> 00:48:40.340 got Oregon, Southeastern Louisiana, MLB Network. 00:48:41.139 --> 00:48:45.949 And then at seven o 'clock. Go to church, come 00:48:45.949 --> 00:48:48.829 back home, go to the Oregon women's basketball 00:48:48.829 --> 00:48:51.349 game at noon, and then you can watch your Super 00:48:51.349 --> 00:48:53.369 Bowl after that. All right. Thanks, everybody, 00:48:53.449 --> 00:48:55.449 for tuning in. Again, big thanks to Jake Willard, 00:48:55.469 --> 00:48:58.090 general manager of the Drifters. Justin, thanks 00:48:58.090 --> 00:49:00.449 for having me in. Absolutely. Look forward to 00:49:00.449 --> 00:49:02.110 whenever the next time is. Yep. Danny will be 00:49:02.110 --> 00:49:04.110 back tomorrow. The mayor, Travis Demers, will 00:49:04.110 --> 00:49:06.469 be on as you guys wrap up what could be a wild 00:49:06.469 --> 00:49:09.349 trade deadline for the Blazers. We will see. 00:49:09.409 --> 00:49:11.679 But tune in tomorrow to find out on that. This 00:49:11.679 --> 00:49:13.420 is Steve Mims. I'm filling in for Danny. You 00:49:13.420 --> 00:49:15.280 have been listening to The Danny and Justin Show 00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:19.500 on Fox Sports Eugene and Fox Sports Newport.