Long suffering OSU basketball fans have something to get excited about. The head coach is the nation's First-Brother-in-Law to President Obama. OSU beat Cal and Stanford, both on the road. ESPN even named the Beavers college basketball's Team of the Week. As a soccer fan, I am jealous.
Sports writers and bloggers like my pal Jason have been taking stabs at determining what is responsible for the positive change in Beaver basketball. I want to explore how we can apply it to buoy our sinking soccer programs at Oregon State University.
Coaching Change
Coach Craig Robinson was admittedly not De Carolis' first choice. I think he fulfilled the most crucial criteria: different than the existing regime. The Beavers men's coach Dana Taylor has been around since 1999. At this point I think thats just due to a lack of attention by the administration. Linus Rhode experienced his first year at the helm of the women's program last Fall. The opportunity still exists for Rhode to create something fresh and new, but we deserve sooner rather than later.
Defensive Innovation
Cal's basketball head coach Mike Montgomery said of the Beavers, “I look at Oregon State and they scare me because of the style they’re playing. What they’re doing is sort of different — another zone team with another zone concept.” He is referring to the unique 1-3-1 zone OSU has been using to stymie opposing teams. Its a system most teams and players aren't prepared to deal with. There has to be opportunity to innovate on the soccer field at the collegiate level. Three in the back. Five middies. Surprise your opponents guys.
Team Oriented Offense (The Princeton Offense)
Robinson has OSU playing a Princeton style offense which is designed for teams with limited athleticism. It is based on unselfishness, constant movement without the ball and patience. It does not require the top recruits from the west coast to be successful. Our soccer teams tend to attack with direct long balls which promote an up and down game and generally favor the more athletic team.
Extreme Fitness
The Princeton Offense requires a high level of fitness due to the continual movement of the players. Oregon State University won't be able to lure the top players in the Pac-10 away from the California schools. But we can be the fittest team in the Pac-10. It worked for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team.
Oregon State basketball fans aren't expecting to win the Pac-10. They are reacting to the chance to compete. And I think the players are responding to that feeling too. Perhaps the changes themselves are arbitrary and the benefit they ultimately provide is hope.
What do you think OSU soccer needs to right the ship?
Today, we recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in honor of his contributions to human and civil rights in the United States. King's impact can be felt in many facets of of our lives including our schools, where we work, our Presidency and yes, even soccer.
King and other civil rights leaders changed our nation so I can take my children to a club or international soccer match in the United States without seeing huge signs and banners displaying pro-racist and Nazi slogans. Is our soccer and sports culture free of racism? No, I don't think it is. But after watching this video on racism in European soccer I do feel very thankful to Dr. King.
Here in Corvallis, we have seen a rapid and still growing integration of Hispanic and Caucasian cultures on the soccer fields during the last few years. Yea, we still have some work to do, but different people coming together to play soccer is a huge step in the right direction in my opinion.
Have you noticed cultural divides fading away in our local youth and adult soccer programs?
"Opps! Sorry , I thought this was the men's restroom."
That will be my most vivid memory of the Fox and Firkin which has closed down according to the Gazette Times. The closest thing we had to a traditional English Style Pub in Corvallis has always had a loose connection to the local soccer community.
I will recall often seeing the old OSU women's coaches Andy Richards and Heidi Slaymaker enjoying a beer there. Sometimes with former players like Jeanette Scotti.
The Fox and Firkin was also one of my favorite places to watch Champions League matches. It had the only sorta-large screen television in downtown Corvallis that was tuned into ESPN2 during the mid-day games.
The riverside location is really nice and I am crossing my finger in hopes that a new pub will open that will give us a real soccer pub atmosphere. I'm talking about ten televisions showing Fox Soccer Channel, GolTV, Setanta, and ESPN Deportes all at once. I want an ongoing debate at the bar about who was the better player. Maradona or Pele? And I want the owner to fervently remind us that George Best was better than both.
Farewell Fox and Firkin. Thank you for giving me a place to watch soccer with my friends over a beer. And to that woman in the ladies restroom, again I apologize.
SoccerPro.com 
Cudo Investment Services
Posts
