Season Tickets are here, Reser looks good, and Fall Practice is days away

Over the weekend I got a nice little present in the mail... My 2007 season tickets have arrived!



The new seats, scoreboard, and the inside stuff looks great! Ready for the season as far as I can tell!




Football is just around the corner! Only days until Fall practice starts!

OSUBeavers.com
2007 August Practice Schedule (Subject to Change)

Aug. 3-7, 9, 11 (officials), 14, 16, 18 (officials), 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 – 2 p.m.
Aug. 8, 10, 13, 15, 17– 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 27-28 – 6:30 p.m.


2007 Schedule

Aug. 30 Utah (FSN NW) 7 p.m.
Sept. 6 at Cincinnati (ESPN) 4:30 p.m. PDT
Sept. 15 Idaho State (FSN NW) 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 22 at Arizona State TBA
Sept. 29 UCLA TBA
Oct. 6 Arizona TBA
Oct. 13 at California TBA
Oct. 20 Bye
Oct. 27 Stanford 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 3 at USC (ABC or ESPN) 5 p.m.
Nov. 10 Washington (FSN) 7:15 p.m.
Nov. 17 at Washington State TBA
Nov. 24 Bye
Dec. 1 at Oregon (ESPN2) 1:30 p.m.

Tickets, Coach, and Expansion

Since the Beavers were crowned National Champions for a second consecutive year not a lot has happened around Corvallis (Beavers wise). But a few things have been notable so I thought I'd blog my thoughts.

* OSU replaced Dan Spencer who left to go to Texas Tech with Pat Bailey from George Fox University.

Sounds like he's a great guy who will fit right in at Oregon State. He wants to help the players succeed and he wants to win. Perfect. And John Croy played for him!

Philomath resident John Croy played on Bailey’s first West Linn team in 1985 and assisted on Bailey’s 1994 and 1995 Lions’ teams, which advanced to the Elite Eight and championship game of the state 4A tournament, respectively.

“When I played for Pat he always had an extreme passion for playing the game the right way,” said Croy, now a Corvallis businessman and Little League coach. “When I came back and coached with him, he was the same” but had progressed as a coach and teacher.

“The stuff we were teaching in 1995 was way ahead of what he taught us in 1985. He was a student of the game to an extreme. He spends a lot of his spare time thinking, ‘How can I teach baseball better?’ and that’s what makes him so good.

“He relates to the players so well, they love him. And it’s not because he’s a softy, because he’s not. He demands that players do things (the right) way, and guys come ready and willing to give their best for him.”

Nice quote John!

* Goss stadium is expanding, but we already knew that. Go check out the artist renderings: link.

* OSU is starting single game ticket sales on Monday (7/16) at 8:30am. No Civil War this year so I'm not sure how big the rush will be, but you've got to get in the stadium to check out that JumboTron! Plus, there's a good deal on a 3-pack for $105 for 3 games.

To participate fans must select one game from each group listed below:
Group 1: Utah (Aug. 30) or Idaho State (Sept. 15)
Group 2: Arizona (Oct. 6) or Stanford (Oct. 27)
Group 3: UCLA (Sept. 29) or Washington (Nov. 10).
Single-game tickets may be purchased in person at Gill Coliseum or by phone at 1-800-GO-BEAVS starting July 30. Ticket office hours are weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Beavers begin practice Aug. 3 and open the season Aug. 30 against Utah.

* The basketball team has a new recruit from North Carolina. He looks to be an athletic, defensive big man with suspect offensive abilities. He should help with big, athletic teams on the defensive end.

Sweet! I got tickets!

This morning I woke up got a scone, coffee, OJ, chair, and paper and headed down to Gill Coliseum. I got there a little before 7am fully expecting a huge line. The doors were open, so that was a good thing. I was happy when I showed up as the 10th person in line.

I knew at that point, I was going to get my tickets for the Beavers baseball super regional.

However, I wasn't going to rely on being in line early as my only shot at tickets. I had two friends furiously refreshing the web site since the web tickets were available at 7am. By 7:05 the web site couldn't handle the load. I settled in for a long wait until the ticket window opens at 8:30am. Then the call:

"It was an emotional roller coaster. Just like the Civil War last season. But I got through and you have tickets." my buddy said. "I'm going to put this confirmation on the fridge."

45 minutes in and I had tickets. Joy!

Since I got them early, I had some time to take photos of the construction:

Gill Annex





Reser 2 Construction







And then there's this:




Go Beavs!

Do you have Beaver Fever?

Itchy first down finger? You may have The Fever.


If you listen to as much sports talk radio as I do, then you've heard the new OSU Athletic Dept. football ticket marketing campaign. I like it. It's clever and makes me listen. I already have season tix, but I thinks its really important to do this type of marketing because it raises brand awareness over all fans, not just prospective season ticket holders.

Now we need to start the viral marketing campaign. I'm going to put this ad on my site until fall camp in an effort to get more season ticket holders for the Beavs. I'm going to email the athletic dept. and see where to send people when they click on the ad.



I encourage all other Beaver bloggers, podcasters, and influencers to do the same!

And if you don't have season tickets this year, buy them! The defense is going to be dominating and Bernard and Sammy and two of the most exciting offensive players in the Pac-10. What are you waiting for??!