Duck Insider 10/1/26

0:00There it is going to the final four. The following is a rear-field presentation of the Oregon Sports Network. There it is. It's gonna play in the national championship games. Goodos to the fans. We know we can always count on those guys to show up and make it an unbelievable atmosphere. Our fans are so passionate about our team. You caught it! He caught that ball! That's your touchdown! In the buzzer! Yeah! Whether it be at the Jane, or at PK Parker, Otsin or MK, or wherever boy did they come strong. You're a fan of the ducks. I mean, you need to get involved with that deal. Top of the arc, three, two, one, a time for the flag. You can just see it in the way they cheer and the way that they get into the game. Probably tells you how special Oregon is. This is Duck Insider on the Oregon Sports Network from Learfield, presented by On Point Community Credit Union. People are the point. Now, let's go live to the country financial studio

1:00to talk Oregon Duck athletics. They work, we continue for Oregon. But Paul, the next training page, George, you sculled it. Kid doing practice here during what ducks call the work. We've got a lot of self-scouting working on themselves as you heard from Coach landing yesterday. And that gives us the opportunity to dial in on a couple other programs today. We're gonna chat with Oregon baseball head coach Mark Wasikowski ahead of their fall ball exhibition against Washington in Bend. More details are at the Bend Elks website, Bendelks.com. A noon start on Saturday for Oregon baseball in Bend, our central Oregon fans. I hope that you'll be there. And Oregon Beach volleyball, opening a new facility. The Duck Dunes is now open. Christian Cold, Oregon Beach volleyball head coach. We sat down with him to talk about the new facility, what it means to the program, and what it's gonna mean for their team. What's the team look like? Beach volleyball head coach Christian Cold starts us off. We got a lot to talk about with Christian Cold, Oregon Beach volleyball head coach.

2:02He's back in the country financial studio. Fresh off the first practice at your new home, the Duck Dunes got a chance to open up the Duck Dunes. Coach, how are you? I'm doing well. I love it. We're super excited for really the whole process of getting the season going finally. And then now the new home on campus and getting the student athletes settled in and trying to figure it all out and get any kinks out that we might have, but so far so good. Well, let's start with Duck Dunes. It's been a long time coming about eight years in the making and you've been able to be a big part of it here at the end of the process, coach. Just tell fans how special the day was when you got to open it up with your team. I think it was really cool to see just how far up the team was, but we didn't expect the amount of crowd to come and check it out with us too. It just, I guess, obviously was moving day for the students moving into the dorms. So we had families kind of around and a lot of the athletic department who played a big role over the last eight years was there.

3:05Really cool energy. It was just a really cool day and Rob Mullins and Jody said a lot of nice things. And it was really cool to see how much I meant to to them as well, because it's been a long process. And we just get to reap the benefits of everything they put together. It's cool that you said that though, because to that point, like these projects, they take time, there's so many moving parts, there's so many pieces. Could you just speak to that a little bit from your chair? Just how many people help make this happen for you? Oh, I mean, I don't even know if there's a number you can attach to it, just given how long the project's gone and just the natural coming and going of people. But when you put together the locker that opened up last year, which is great and full use and then great and full use. And then the courts this year, the construction of taking down Hamilton Hall and building the footprint and the drainage and having all these different experts. And then it got in the last month or so we were talking about designing the nets and the new lines and all sorts of stuff

4:07in the storage building where we have ice machines and gatorade coolers and everything. It's a ton of people more than I can even imagine, but it is a great effort by everyone. I'm kind of curious as the head coach, right? Like, your craft is coaching the student athletes, right? I'm building that culture, but then there's so many other things that you've mentioned like the ice machine, right? Like, things like that, just how much of you had to think about all that kind of stuff as part of this project? All the extra that goes with being a coach. I think the coolest part is that I've quickly noticed that it's this university does everything at a really high first rate in terms of standards. So it was kind of what in a perfect world would you want? And I was like, well, we don't really need this. They're like, well, would you use it? Because you should probably get it if you should, if you would. And I was like, wow, and the school is just so good at saying, yes, okay, we'll figure it out or good to know. Let's see if we can make it work as opposed to a no. So it was an interesting new experience for me, but fortunately, I've been, I guess 12, 13 years

5:09around NCAA, just pretty much seen every facility there is. And this is in terms of caliber. This is the state of the art brand new. It's the best we want. We've seen out there. We stole ideas from different schools. And it was really cool to be part of a project like this. Well, let me just say we've covered it a little bit on the show, but if you've missed it and now talking with the head coach of the program, the duckdoons name is pretty sweet coach. It really rolls off the tongue. Yeah, no, it's, it's, once you kind of understand the story behind it of like, hey, there's an organ, we don't really call it the beach as much as we call it the coast. And over and out there where there's a lot of dunes and being able to get the sand from or the majority of the sand from those dunes, it's, it just kind of makes sense. And I'm a big fan of alliteration. So duckdoons is working for me. As a broadcaster, I just want to say thanks to the committee that came up with the name, because it really does go a long way. Now, you'll notice those of you that come to campus, this is the first week of class here on campus. So a lot of students are seeing all this construction with the Hamilton Hall.

6:10And then now you can see the Student Welcome Center. It's been part of a multi-year process with the, I guess in a lot of ways, the change to the middle of campus. And to that point, a lot of fans were asking me, like, so what's the viewing experience going to be like for fans that come out to watch you? Well, the built in like kind of around the facility, or I guess the sand, are these little berms on the, I guess the south end and the west end. That's kind of the majority of the area. And the nature of our sport, people usually just bring picnic blankets or they bring beach chairs and they can kind of lounge up there. We do have a 18 inch barrier surrounding the whole facility that is undoubtedly going to become seating, whether it's for student athletes who are often cheering for them or fans or any volunteers or workers who are also helping any a given event. Yeah, it's perfect, by the way. Just, I've been around a few different beach facilities. You've been around a lot of beach facilities and it just has this feeling of community about it. It seems like, and then you touched on the locker room earlier, coach it. I was hoping that you could tell us a little bit about even the logistics.

7:10Like this changes a lot for your team, makes things much better, doesn't it? Yeah, there's surprisingly amount of teams out there in the country that don't have locker rooms, let alone ones that are about a year older or newer. And then it's just, given the location and how close it is to the courts, the amount that they're able to shower and use and get more of the laundry services out of it. And as opposed to when we're off campus, it's been really cool to see it get fully put into action. Cool. Yeah, it's awesome to see it. Krishikol joining us, we're going to beach volleyball, head coach. And then by the way, you will see a little bit more coming to the facility, because the scoreboard will be in what, within the next month or so, depending on timelines, right? Yeah, so we're hoping for and so far, everything's given other honor ahead of schedule. One note I wanted to add about just the facility and just having our first practice out there the other day was talking to one of the assistant coaches, Danny, and he was saying that no team at this school,

8:11and a lot of schools, but no team really at this school is just so visible in the middle of something. And like in football and basketball, they're either tucked away in gyms or their own facilities and or a different part of campus. We were out there yesterday. There was people, there were people honking their horns as we were practicing and showing us a lot of love. It was pretty exciting to see and hopefully we can be a good example of a frontward facing program and doing things the right way and hopefully get more attention and use the courts for the regular students as opposed to just the athletes. It's super cool you say that, because I've often said there is literally a geographic divide between a lot of campus and then some of our athletic facilities. Like here in the Casanova Center and the Otsin Complex, right? Like you're walking across the river, driving over the Ferris Street Bridge. Like there is a little bit of a division, but then for programs like yours and you talk about just being so visible, that's got to feel good for the student athletes, right? Like they are like the front door to athletics here. Yeah, I mean it's crazy.

9:12It was something we didn't expect and just, it being right next to the Athlete Academic Center is that when people want breaks, they go outside and they can watch practice. And it's pretty cool to see the athleticism that comes with their sport. It's like a lot of people don't associate the Pacific Northwest with Beach volleyball, but trying to grow the game and I think we're off to Haggivostart. Well, and you talk about like growing the game and in the Pacific Northwest, mentioned the facility. One of the things that we've covered before seems like a good time to remind everyone some of the sand, a lot of the sand came from the Oregon coast, but then for drainage purposes, specialized sand coming from all over the country and Nebraska, right? Yeah, Nebraska, I think the people who kind of make those decisions, they're literally called sand court experts and they're the ones who kind of know the ideal size and shape of the sand and permeability and everything that comes with it, the depth that we didn't want to have, necessarily the deepest sand in the country because I think it'd be tough to convince a lot of teams to come play in very tough conditions, but we're definitely on the deeper side of it.

10:14So it's very good training for us when it has rained or any drizzle. The drainage has been flawless, no issues, very safe. So we're kind of excited just to how it's all coming together. That's super cool. And here I am, like, when I put rocks in my yard, I'm like, okay, what do I get? Just tell me, right? And you've got the experts that are telling you that. Exactly, yeah. And we talked a lot of different schools and how they did it. And I think there's no facility right now that's as stated the art and do it better than we do. We're chatting with Beach volleyball head coach Christian Cole to lots gone into the opening of Duck Dunes. We continue to talk Beach volleyball with the head coach next on the Oregon Sports Network from Learfield. As a local community credit union founded by teachers, on point is committed to supporting the students and faculty at the University of Oregon. And on game day, we're right there with you on the field in the bleachers and in the classrooms. Drop by one of your local branches today and discover the many ways on point can help support your financial well-being.

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13:17Duck and Sider presented by on Point Community Credit Union. Joy-Mac in the country financial studio. We were chatting with Beach Volleyball head coach Christian Cole telling us about duck dunes opening up the new facility and also the team that set a record or hat, I should say a record breaking season a year ago, hoping to build on that record breaking season. Part two of our chat with the Beach Volleyball head coach, Christian Cole. The facility alone is awesome and the student athlete's getting to enjoy. How about the student athlete? What was the off season like for you? Tell fans about it. I was good. We had a lot of momentum last year. We had a record breaking season. And then the team went this summer and they're on a mission. Not that they haven't been in summer's prior. But I think everybody knows, hey, we're at a really good turning point in the program. That we can make a big jump. And I think the amount of work that the team put in all summer, whether it is on their own training in whether it's Texas or Florida or California or wherever. And in here in Oregon too. And they put in a ton of work. We had our first practice yesterday and it was pretty, pretty adamant or pretty apparent.

14:19And we're very proud of our leadership because there were certain drills that were like, OK, we got 12 newcomers. How are we going to catch them up? And the captains from last year and hopefully the leadership group from this year are going to do it. How did a really good job? That makes our life a lot easier as coaches. And we're just really fired up to get going. Finally get going. A lot of these semester schools started six weeks ago. We're getting going now. And we're just trying to catch up a little bit, time-sense-wise. But we didn't lose much given how much they put in this summer. The leadership aspect, I know every coach wants some player leaders. It makes everything so much easier. I'm kind of curious, even practice logistics. Things are a little different when you have a new facility. Like is there a learning curve for your team with that? Yeah, first off, the setup has become so much easier for us. But I think the biggest one is, and this is, I'm aware, this is a very good problem to have. But the footprint is so much bigger than we were used to. And pretty much all any other three-court facility there is that I've ever been to, that just trying to get

15:21your voice to travel and be able to see everything. Like you mentioned, and there's a lot of space around the courts and between the courts. So it just feels a little bit bigger. And we'll get used to it. But that's, again, I'd rather my try. I have it a big, new, nice facility than one that's crammed and potentially dangerous, depending on how close they're supposed to be. And this is where I've always, it hurt me if I'm wrong. But I've always felt that Beach volleyball at the collegiate level is akin to tennis at the collegiate level, right? Because you have multiple courts going on as a head coach. You're kind of looking in a ton of different directions. And I feel like this is a good moment for me to ask you about your staff and just how valuable it is to have a lot of cohesive voices that are talking to the team. Well, I'm just so grateful that both of them, A, are coming back because there's such a valuable asset to the program. Both Brooke and Danny have been working all summer along with me. And we did a bunch of recruiting this summer. And it's really, really awesome to have somebody in Brooke, who's just a couple years out of college and playing

16:24herself. And it's just having a female on staff has been amazing from what I've heard from the student athletes. And she's so open and bubbly. And it's very easy to be inspired by her. And then Danny is just an incredibly good teacher. And he's works so hard and puts his head down and gets a lot of technical stuff out of the women. And all while having a great time doing it. So I'm lucky. We're just trying to find ways to keep this thing rolling. And it's been a lot easier on me not having to worry about coaching the coaches. We're all doing the same thing. We're all teaching the same thing. We know each other well. We get along well. It's a lot. We interact on at work. And then we can go hang and hang out with each other over the weekends or anytime off. And it's just it's really cool coming to work with two of your best friends. Coach, cool joining us talking beach volleyball. You mentioned earlier, I'll just straight up say, a record breaking year last year, right? So many positive things. You mentioned the momentum coach. How about the feeling for the student athletes? You feel like the competition level on your roster is risen head into this year?

17:25Yeah, we have 12 newcomers. And it's safe to say that they're all going to be able to compete and make the level of standard really high in practice. We're excited. We had four transfers and eight freshmen. So over half our roster right now is new. And it was a good opportunity to see, hey, where are we going to take this thing? Our senior class last year was great. And they left the program in a better place than they came into and we're grateful for that. And then we just had to reload. And we feel really good about the newcomers and their ability to help right away. How about the sheer size of the roster, to have gotten a little bit bigger and bigger over the years. And I believe if I can count correctly, a little bit larger roster this year, probably adds to competition level. Yeah, I think technically last year we started at 27. But then we had a few people who were just finishing up their grad degree. And then they left kind of part way through. But we're at 25. 19 is obviously our roster limit.

18:25But we have 25 right now. And we'll find a way. But in our sport, there's just really a lot of random nicks and soft tissue injuries that might like, you're never going to have a full roster any day of practice. So you're never actually practicing with the 25 people. But you have enough healthy bodies to kind of make things work smoothly on three courts. What's ahead for the team? A lot of practice now and then get going with some competition. Yeah, we're just trying to cram a little bit because we're sending five pairs to Alqai Beach in near Seattle this coming weekend. And it's a A.V.C.A. which is the American volleyball coach association national championship qualifier. And that's that would be in November. So we're doing that this weekend with five of our pairs that were very hopeful that. And then we got another tournament in Huntington in a few weeks. And two pairs going to Florida as well. Those are the other qualifiers. But we're excited to host University of Portland, October 11th. It's probably the official first match, not counting towards

19:27our record, but it will be the first one on the court. So that'll be the day after the UCLA football game. Hopefully we have a lot of people on campus. It's one of the athlete alumni weekends. And we wanted to kind of prune a show or showcase, I guess, of what we have. And there's a lot of got a lot of RSVPs and a lot of alumni who are from our program. We're going to come back and they're excited to watch too. Awesome. So if you're walking through campus and you see nice new facility, there's going to be some competition happening on that Sunday. I like it. That's awesome. Coach, well, what do we miss? What else should fans know as you head into a new season? I think that the team is incredibly motivated. And they're at kind of a greedy stage in a good way, a way that they want. Hey, we've gotten all these blessings from all these different outside sources. There's really nothing else they can ask for to be successful. And they know it. And they're putting in an incredible work. They don't like to talk about it last year, because we have bigger dreams and better goals this year. And the fact that, again, a lot of these

20:27are coming from player-led initiatives, it's just, it's been really cool to see. And I'm excited to see where the momentum can take us. So we can only do what we can, do our best to stay healthy, and be competitive and navigate what's going to come with this year with the El Nino affecting the whole country and different weather and patterns for our sport. That it's going to be, how do you deal with that adversity? And I think our team and what they've done over the summer and the mindset they have right now, they're going to be ready to rock and roll. And we know that there's expectations that come to whom much is given. So we are very excited to see and rise up to that challenge and go from here. Awesome. I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks for being a duck coach, and thanks for taking the time to come chat with us. Best of luck. I'll see you along. Appreciate it. Always. Duck Dunes, now open. I saw a couple of you even note in the comment section if you're live with us in the 1 o'clock hour, it really is a beautiful spot. Yeah, I love the vision that's come to fruition now on campus. Because Hamilton Hall, when it was scheduled to be taken down,

21:33well, that was part of why the student welcome center was built behind Hamilton Hall. And so a lot of people come to campus and be like, wait, there's these signs that are pointing behind this building to get to the student welcome center. Well, now you can see the student welcome center as you come into the heart of campus, hayward on the right, student welcome center on the left. And now before that, when you travel down the center of campus, you see duck dunes there on the left, right near the J-Qua, near Matthew, United Arena. The logistics took a long time to come together. About eight years for this project, and it was part of a larger university project. And now it is a home for Beach volleyball with their locker room right across the parking lot in Matthew, United Arena. Christian Cole, the duck beach volleyball head coach, here's to another record breaking season this year. As we continue, let's talk Oregon baseball. Mark Wasikowski was kind enough to check in with us, a fall update as the team returns to practice here this week. Keep it here on the Oregon Sports Network from Learfield. Huh, huh, right. Winning doesn't happen by accident.

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25:06And now the ducks along with every other team around the country are able to play more exhibitions. One of those for Oregon baseball is coming up on Saturday. It's in Bend at the home of the Elks taking on Washington on Saturday at noon. Tickets are available at Bendelks.com. It's also a fundraiser for Oregon baseball. As Mark Wasikowski will tell you, we checked in with the Oregon baseball head coach bit of a fall update and a roster check in for was. Oh, it's always fun when you get Mark Wasikowski in the country financial studio. Was is great to have you in the studio. We were actually just talking. Our pre-game interview is usually over in Was's office, which is basically just another studio at this point because of modern technology. And if you need a hat was, we got you covered. I like the run the damn ball hat. Run the damn ball. Yeah, the big boys on Coach Landings team, I get along with really well. Those guys are, those are my favorite guys. I know we're not picking favorites with everything, but I do. I'm picking favorites. I like the big guys on that team. I think they'll be a benefit if I ever run into any problems.

26:08The biggest guys are my most favorite. Look, I think that's just smart on your part. Those guys are awesome. They put in a ton of work and it's fun to see those guys work out actually because they can lift the house. And that's, it's pretty impressive. Well, and you talk about the selfless nature that is an offensive line, right? That applies to a baseball team too, right? You want to be playing for the team, play for the team. It's such a good lead and look at you. That's a true pro. Thanks. You know, look, for you guys, it's the off season, but we're in midseason football form. Am I right? I mean, but there's no off season for you. No, there's not. There's not things like that. No, we get a couple weeks in December, which is nice. Yeah. You know, what you do. And other than that, no, it's, it's a full-go gig. You know, I mean, it's between the recruiting and the agents and, you know, all the stuff nowadays. It's, it's a lot going on. There's no doubt. It's a busy time pretty much all the time. We just got done with the segment, you know, in school started what yesterday. Yeah. Before school started, it's been going now for a couple of good solid weeks where it's unlimited hours.

27:09We're out there on the field all day every day. And it's been a really good time for program install. We got a lot accomplished. And now we, we're starting back up, you know, with school starting yesterday. And today is literally our first practice since school started. So that's where we're at. I love it. And you get an awesome game that we're going to talk about in Bend coming up against Washington. We'll talk about that as the fall slate is here. I do want to go back with you was a little bit and ask you about a program best seven ducks drafted in the top 20 of the major league baseball draft. That's pretty cool to see that. Pretty cool to see that. A lot of, a lot of hard working guys that are getting an opportunity to get out there and play pro ball. You know, and, and for those guys, I'm excited about that. You know, I mean, it's good for the program. Good for those guys who's getting a chance. And, and we're just trying to continue to take the program up. And try to talk about continuing to take the program up. Tell fans about the off season. It's the nature of college sports. You have guys come and go. Tell us about your roster heading into the fall. I, you know, I mean, we've been with them now. What three weeks or so. And it looks like we're going to be really good again. You know, it's just different these days, Joey, because you know,

28:09you've, you're going to lose more guys. You're going to lose some guys to the transfer portal. You know, that thing it takes. It takes and then it gives you some in return. But, but still you, we lost a couple of key guys. You know, we lost a lot of guys. The pro draft, right? And so the entire, when you look out there, I mean, there's four returning position players out of the whole group. So out of the 19 position players, there's four returning guys. And so that's a little interesting when you got 15 new guys that you're coaching on one side of the ball. And then the pitching side, there's a lot of returning guys. There's been some really good ads. There's a lot of old ads. You know, it seems like the majority of the club are old. It's all to the transfer portal probably. You know, you're just these roster players. You know, you're just, these rosters are much older. And it's much harder for a freshman to get on the field. If they do get on the field, they're really good. And a couple of guys that did get on the field last year that were young, that were really, really good decided to stay with Will Sanford, Tanner Bradley, Brad and Jack, the three guys that were on TMIOSA. And then a couple of guys that were really, really good, that decided to leave and junior Milwaukee and Angel Laya and Burke Mabius.

29:12And so, you know, you know, when, when you're in the field, you know, you know, when, when three guys are leaving your program and crying, telling you how much they want to stay, but they can't because the money's so great to leave, that sucks. You know, because you want to be able to match the offer and say, stay, we've got you. And it's just not a reality for us yet. Maybe someday it will be a reality. I still don't want a system where, or a culture in our program, where the only reason why guys are here is because they're being paid and our offer is the best offer. The best offer program, I think it's going to have some really long culture days in front of them because they're there for the best offer. And if it's the best offer, then are they there for all the things that you're going to be teaching in that locker room each and every day? And the answer's probably not. And so, you know, what do you really have when you have a best offer program? I don't want a best offer program. I want a program that can compete with best offer that can take care of people at a large way to where there's no reason to really leave as long as the kids happy and he's getting the ability to play, the opportunity to play.

30:13But at the same point in time, I don't want to be best offer because I think that's really a slippery slope today in our game. And I'm getting used to that one. That's a different one. Well, but, gosh, why is it me? You're talking about life adult decisions here. Sometimes the highest salary isn't the overall best offer even in life and jobs in professional worlds like ours, right? I mean, that's kind of what you're getting at here. And it's just happening at a younger and younger age professionally for kids. Look, there's some situations where a kid may have to take best offer. What if he's got such an unbelievable family situation where literally every cent is keeping food on the table for somebody at home or somebody's parents are out of a job. And I mean, for that, the NIL, I think, is fantastic because now you've got kids that probably wouldn't even be in college without it, I guess. And now they're going to get a chance to be in college because they're getting paid. And that's not money that's going towards, you know, a nice sports car, a Tesla or whatever it is. It's going towards, you know, maybe sending money back home to where a mom and dad

31:13can have some sort of medical care or have some sort of medicines that they need or food on the table and that's real. That's happening. That happened with one of our players already. And now for the other side of it where it's just, yeah, I want to go somewhere where I get paid the most money. I don't know. I mean, not for NIL to turn into that. That that that that tells me a lot about the player itself when a full scholarship and money on top of it's not enough to stay. That's a that's a that's a problem because now there's a lot of other deeper things that that's teaching that I think as parents, we're not teaching at home. And so if we're getting away from that, or maybe that kid hadn't been taught that at home. And that's a wow, that's a deep, deep issue. But still yet, I don't know. I think it's complicated. As you can tell, I think this whole thing is complicated and there are some pluses out of it. But there are some some real team wrecking type things that can go on. And what do we have to be, I guess, clear headed on a lot of these things?

32:17Well, and isn't that the point, right? That it is complicated and it's different for each individual. Right. What is your talking about? Like everybody makes a different thing. And to that point though, the relationship business that you all are in as coaches and in the recruiting trail and the transfer portal, that's still a major part of what you're talking about here. That relationship that you build, isn't it? Well, you sure hope so. You know, I mean, that's what you're talking about player development and relationships. And so when a player says, hey, and at most of these recruits say, hey, what's number one for you? Well, player development and relationships. Well, okay. Well, then if it is player development and relationships, and you've got great relationships with your teammates, and you're developing as a player and you get the opportunity to play, well, then NIL shouldn't really be a factor. And so if that becomes a factor, then you got to wonder why? Why has that changed now? Because at the one point in time, now circumstances in life change coach. And my money, you know, my family don't have any money, so we need it. But that's different. But if circumstances in the family situation financially haven't changed, and yet now we're going to change our opinion, what's important?

33:19Now we're losing a moral compass and I got an issue with that. And so for the issues with moral compass, that's a real problem. But at the same point in time, let's not lie about this thing. There are kids that are getting cut from programs. We're going to have kids get cut from our program this fall. You know, they cut roster sizes down. I still want to give guys an opportunity. And so we're going to have more guys than the roster allows us to have to start our fall to prove that they can earn a roster spot. Competition. Right. But competition also means there's going to be some guys that are unhappy because they got cut and they didn't make it because of competition. And so we are very transparent about that going into it, but still yet it's a real thing. And for somebody that wants to grumble about, well, you know, I mean, I only had two months to make it or three months to make the team. And then I got cut and that's not fair. Well, it's a big world and that's the amount of time we have. And I can't really apologize for the fact that the rules are what they are. And we have to have a roster set by basically the end of our fall or Thanksgiving.

34:23And so we really only have, you know, as we clock turns to October, you know, you've got about six to seven weeks left to make the ball club. And that's it. And so it's it does. There is some reality here. And so we want to put the face on it, right? Like we were just started this conversation talking about how you're three weeks in. It's the first week of school and it's go, go, go, go, go, go. Right? I mean, you gotta lock in if you're a student athlete here because competition is going to be fierce. Well, that's right. And so, you know, they say student athlete. Well, that's two full-time jobs. You know, students on campus. That's a tough job. That's a full-time gig being a student on campus with full-time load. And then plus the athlete side of it, that's another full-time load. Right? That's like having a student that has a full-time job. You literally have two jobs. You know, if there were a waitress or a waiter out there, you know, and a student to pay the bills. Well, the student athletes getting their bills paid for largely by a scholarship. We still, literally, we are not at a level to where every player on our field gets a scholarship. We're not even close to that.

35:24You know, and they just changed the rules from 11.7 scholarships for a roster of 40. And now we've got an outfit called the Diamond Ducks that help us a ton raising money on top of 11.7 to add more scholarships. But we're not even close to 34 full scholarships. There's a lot of schools out there that are doing 34 full scholarships. We're not there yet. And so that's an objective off the field that I personally have is to get Oregon-based father where we are at 34 full scholarships, fundraising wise. And Waz, we're going to continue with Coach Wazkowski. I always appreciate he's up front, right? He'll tell you what's going on with the dynamics of college baseball. And we'll talk through that roster and get you ready for that matchup in the fall against Washington when we come back. Talking to Oregon-Bassball on the Oregon Sports Network from Learfield. At Shadow Hills, we're more than just a country club. We're where family, fun, and connection come together. Enjoy our award-winning course, vibrant year-round events, and the warm camaraderie of fellow members. Our all-inclusive event spaces offer both indoor and outdoor settings, perfect for weddings, business events, holiday parties, and more.

36:31Whether you're in search of championship golf, lively social gatherings, or simply a welcoming community to call home, Shadow Hills is the place where you belong. Hey Duck fans, at Country Financial, they make insurance easy. Whether you're shopping for home, auto, or more, their representatives will take the time to understand your specific needs and explain what options work best for you. Worry less and feel more confident knowing you're covered. Visit CountryFinancial.com to get started today. Experience more with Country Financial. Auto at Home Insurance Policy is issued by Country Mutual Insurance Company, Country Preferred Insurance Company, and Country Casualty Insurance Company, Bloomington, Illinois. Your Daily Dose of Oregon Athletics. This is Duck Insider from Learfield. Yes, I finally got my first home. It is exciting. Let's learn a few things about online safety first.

37:48Learn more at sissa.gov forward slash the CurrR World. I just got a text asking me to approve a bank transfer I didn't make. I bet you get messages like this too. So much of our lives are online today, from email to banking and everything in between. To make sure my information was protected, I checked out sissa's SecureR World website. For simple steps to stay safe online, now I know how to protect myself from scammers. And you can learn too. Go to sissa.atcisay.gov forward slash SecureR World. You know you make me want to take my ears up and throw my head up and throw my head back in. Come on now. You can't buy on point, you can get into credit. You can enjoy back in the country when you're in the studio picking up our conversation with Mark Wasikowski, Duck Baseball Head Coach. Us fallball is underway for Oregon baseball. Continue your watch. Look at it.

38:50You're in this though. Look at it. He's got the coffee ready. Did you see that? He was ready holstered the coffee was ready to lock and load. This is fresh off of staff meeting going to practice today. Getting off a cold from the weekend. But hey man, we're pumped to be here today and now it's like thanks for being here though. Now nothing coffee can't cure. That's true. I know you wholeheartedly believe that, don't you? Coffee's great. Coffee cures all. Now you talk about the Diamond Decks though. Part of what has happened is different events like the one that we're going to talk about here coming up against Washington. Right? You get a chance to do some of these cool things, these endeavors in the fall that maybe you didn't have in years past. How'd the game come together? Was tell fans about it. NCAA is now allowed us to have four scrimmage games during the fall. Well, they're not free either. Right? When you go somewhere, there's budget. And so, you know, I mean, we've got some some real hurdles to go when they say you can add four games. Well, they're not free. So you got to come somehow somehow come up to the money. The money's being provided on this situation from Diamond Decks, which is a.

39:52It's an outfit that really was designed to, you know, the university basically funds the program at a level. And let's use 11.7 scholarships. Well, in excess of 11.7 scholarships, we said, well, how are we going to get more scholarships. And we then created the Diamond Ducks, which is an outside entity. And these guys now create in addition to 11.7 scholarships and some other things. And so these guys now for fans out in Bend, put a gather game. You know, we're bringing Washington in, which isn't cheap. Because, you know, they're under the same scrutiny we are with budgets and so it isn't free for them either. They can't just come when they don't have the budget to do it. So we've got to be able to provide. Nevertheless, we put a game together through Diamond Ducks. Washington, Oregon, in Bend. It's pretty early. We've only been practicing for about three weeks before we even four weeks before we even go out there and play them. But it'll be an early look, right. It'll be an early look for fans more of a fundraising type of a of a scenario for us to go and play them in Bend for fans that maybe on a off week.

40:57Remember in football, right? And, you know, good scheduling. Yeah. Good ducks. We know that last weekend. You know that that SC game was a good one to watch. I think everybody should be excited about that. But, you know, and it's nice to have the guys that were on the bandwagon program back on. Yes, sure. But that's the fans doing their job. They should be fickle. They're called fans. They're fanatics for a reason. So we don't knock the fans when we give them a product that they love to see. Then they're probably going to support it. And that's what we're hopeful to do when we go out to Bend this weekend on Saturday, 12 noon at the ballpark out there in Bend where we're playing Washington. It should be it should be a lot of fun. It's where the Alcs play nice facility. If you're not familiar, really nice facility. Hope to see a lot of fans there. You can go to Bendelks.com more details, tickets, scotch covered, make the trip to Bend Saturday, October 3rd this Saturday at noon. You talked about it. Just it's an early look for your team. But against somebody else, right. Pretty valuable for your program at this early juncture, isn't it? Well, it really is. You can't you can't emulate a true game, even in a scrimmage situation. Our first scrimmage is Thursday.

42:00Right. I mean, we haven't even scrimmaged yet. Right. And so we're going to scrimmage on Thursday and then play on Saturday. All right. So what's that look like for us? It'll be really interesting. We're taking our first infield outfield today. So I mean, I don't I'm not building excuses in at all about how we're not going to play great or anything. I like our club. I think we're going to be really good. It is young in the season. And you know, that probably it'll be a great opportunity for us all to be able to get in and dug out together and just grow. And that's what we need when we've got a lot of new guys. I think we have more than half of our roster, brand new because of the draft, graduation and a little bit of portal stuff where guys had left. You know, we've got about more than half of our roster that's new. And so just getting in the same dugout together on Thursday, first chance. And then on Saturday, it's going to be huge for us. And then next Wednesday, we also play a game against the Canadian, a Canadian outfit that shows up here and will play him on Wednesday. So those are great opportunities for us to play a game. As you saw in football, I don't know who we played in the first week.

43:02But those are really valuable things, no matter who you're playing, boys, he stayed, I think it was. And then in the next chance we got, you know, I mean, you can just see that those guys aren't from me with each other when they go to Oklahoma state and they play out there. And then they come home and they play against the Portland state. Oh, you shouldn't play them. Hey, that's so valuable for for landing in those guys to play. It doesn't matter who they play. Just being together and he's got the same thing over there where he's, you know, a lot of turnover and stuff with a portal era. You know, you really do have to come together and see who the leaders are going to show up on the field. And you're seeing that now on the football field each and every time that they're snap a ball. You're seeing different leaders emerge. You just can't do that on the practice field as well as you can when you're playing games. Talking baseball with head coach Mark Wasikowski, you touched on building, right? The, the combrotteries, what you're talking about was, how do you go about doing that? What are some of your strategies in the off season for your team to try to get the guys get to know each other a little bit? Well, I mean, you, you, you first off, you, you know, a lot of those things cost money when you want to do team building stuff.

44:06You want to take them on a float down a river on a freaking raft or something like that. We can't do that. We don't have the money to be able to do that kind of stuff. You know, I, I think there's value of whenever you can get the team together and do that. We're going to get on a bus and go to bed. I think it's going to be great going over the mountain on a bus and sitting on a bus and being stanky on the way back and coming, you know, playing a game. And I think that stuff really it's, it's two, three hours on a bus one way back the other way. I just think there's value there. You know, what happens there? You know, these guys, they're usually on the phone. One thing we try to do in the, in the clubhouse, phones aren't allowed in the clubhouse. If you want to take a call, you want to make a text, go outside the locker room and do it. But when you're in that locker room, don't be disrespectful. The guy next to you and be locked in on your phone staring at your screen. It's really trying to, you know, trying to get guys to where they actually talk with one another and get to know each other. Right? If you're not on your phone. Well, great, you know. But still yet, I think what else do we try to do? I mean, we, the two weeks of practice that we have, you know, we, we start every single day with a team building session of an hour in the morning, right?

45:15And every hour in the morning we run through. We've an acronym called process. It's preparation relationship, ownership, compete, energy and effort, substance and standards. That's what it stands for. It goes on a weightlifting shirt that we have. We haven't distributed that because we haven't earned it yet. We literally start our fall with a white t-shirt. We actually have two, which is nice for laundry purposes. But it's a white shirt. They show up and we decided to do that because literally the culture of the program when we first took the job. The guys that were in that locker room said, well, guys, you come here for the wrong reason. They're coming here for Nike shoes for stuff for all the bling. And we said, okay, let's change it. And so let's not have any bling until we earn it. And so we've done that. So we start with a white shirt. We give them the basics for practice, paris, spikes, pants, whatever. If it gets cold, sure they get what they need. We're not going to like keep something from a guy when it's cold. And then we're not going to give him a jacket or something like that. That's stupid. That's not culture building. That's absolutely the opposite. We're going to give them what they need. But I think you see the point. We're not going to just give them stuff for a Twitter pick or an Instagram deal or whatever they can put a real out there.

46:22So nevertheless, we do that. It builds team chemistry and culture. But the process is then taught every single day. And we have players, former players, the Ryan Coonies of the world. And all those guys that then take a letter, they start every single morning with we're going to talk about the P and in preparation. And one of the former players will do basically a real quick clip of it. Or they'll do it live. They'll come in and they'll they'll with our morning breakfast. Everybody has a notebook. So it starts literally with a notebook. And and guess what? On the first day after you've given everybody a notebook the day before. How many guys show up and they don't even bring their notebook after they were told you're going to need your notebook tomorrow morning at seven o'clock in the morning. Of course, there's always somebody who does stuff like that. That's that's part of the process process. It's teaching young guys stuff that they probably already know. But then they choose not to do it. Why? Because they're in a weird spot. They're in college. They're away from their families. They're away from their home. They got a bunch of new guys that they don't know. And they're freaking out.

47:22They are 18 to 22 years old. The people that bet on sports. Wow. Just telling you a bad decision. They're 18 to 23. And there is wildly unpredictable off the field as they are on the field. And if you think you got it licked on the field. More power to you. I don't care what sport. I don't think you're going down the right road. You're probably going to lose my opinion. Sorry. But still yet, it may be a lot of fun for you. And so I have at it. Nevertheless, they're very, very young. These guys are really needing support structure and togetherness to really kind of bring along. And that's all we do in our team building stuff is to try to give them something to be able to really grab onto. That's simple that they can understand. That's Mark waskowski organ baseball head coach. We're going to come back and finish our conversation with him is that. Get ready for the Huskies and bend on Saturday. Keep it here on the Oregon sports network from Lairfield. And as a local community credit union founded by teachers, on point is committed to supporting the students and faculty at the University of Oregon. And on game day, we're right there with you on the field in the bleachers and in the classrooms.

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50:38Final segment today. We've got some big 10 picks to make tomorrow. And Oregon baseball over the weekend is playing in bend against Washington. We continue our chat with Oregon baseball head coach Mark Wasikowski checking in on his team as fall ball is underway. You mentioned that it's early yet. I know you're going to have a lot of competition. Figure out what the roster is going to look like. But I do want to ask you was about the returners on the mound. A lot of guys that fans are familiar with and you mentioned two of them pitching for team USA. Pretty cool. Tana Bradley, Will Sanford. They got the opportunity. Braden Jackson got the opportunity. Those three guys got the opportunity to go out and play for team USA this summer. They made the team. So they had to earn making the team. They had to earn getting an invite for the team. And and three guys making team USA was the highest that any school in the country, which is great. You know. Well had a very good both of them had all three actually in order to make that team had to have had a very good summer and they did. And so to start a pitching staff off with two guys that were, you know, Tana Bradley was a closer on team USA. And and Will Sanford, I think was the second starter on team USA this summer. Nevertheless, to start with those two pieces.

51:42Tana is interested in being a starter and we're going to look at that as well. Nevertheless, to have those three pieces is really important and then to be able to add some pieces. Not only guys that are returning that developed, you know, and developed during the off season through summer ball and everything Hudson Carball. He's come back. He's looked very good. Cooper Markham. He's come back. Look very good. Shane Johnson came back. He looked very good. And these are names that everybody's going, huh? What are you talking about? Yeah, they didn't pitch last year. Hardly at all. But yet they've come back now after their freshman year, which we kind of got into a little bit with a process talks. And not even having a notebook. Well, that was who they were last last year. And now they come back after a summer pitching all summer long, experiencing their freshman year before that. And now they're here in your two. There are a lot more mature. There are a lot more understanding of being on time, showing up with your notebook, taking great notes, being detailed, you know, knowing what a legit effort is every single day. And probably the most important part going to frickin' bed at night instead of being wowed by some of the fun college stuff that's out there.

52:46They're now probably really focused on what they're doing. And guess what? You see the abilities that they had coming in here, the all-state, all-league, all-world stuff start showing up better in your two because now they're more mature and they're actually doing that. You have these guys. You have Luke Morgan returning who is a back-end bullpen piece. He's looked really, really good, big, strong kid from Southern Oregon. And then you've got some other guys that have bounced in here. Brody Martin, Grizzolonic, transferred him from Hawaii, Chase Fry, transferred in here from Grand Canyon amongst others that look like they looked the part. And now they're going to get an opportunity to earn whatever they earn here. Final thought for you, why is it? We've covered a lot. I appreciate the check-in. You're staff. I didn't get a chance to ask you about your staff yet. Some new pieces and some familiar faces that are in different roles for you this year. Pretty fun. A little bit. Well, one new face, Ryan Feynman. Right? Ryan Feynman now takes over as recruiting coordinator for Jack Martyr who left for the University of Texas. He took that opportunity. Sometimes happens when you get an awful lot more money. Sometimes two and three X or four X the amount that they're getting sometimes is what these guys get for opportunities. Sometimes they stay, sometimes they go.

53:58Jack left. Ryan Feynman comes in from Troy. Troy Alabama. And he's a guy that I've known for a lot of years. He was in Southern California. He went to Indiana. He was a catcher in Indiana and a real tough guy at Indiana. And yet Ryan now was at Troy last year and Troy fans as you know was one of the final eight teams in the College World Series last year. Obviously Troy's not a household name for a baseball program. I think the team you think would go to Omaha in the state of Alabama would be Alabama. And yet Troy was there and Alabama was not so Ryan Feynman was doing the recruiting there. I've known him for years. He's a hard working, you know, young guy that's really good at what he does. So he's new on staff. And then there's the rest of staff's the same. You know, Matt floor pitching Brett Thomas still with hitting outfield. Tempts a scenario catching hitting. You know, Dan Strailey we were able to retain Dan. He's he assists Matt Flore and bullpen with the pitching dominant Graziano who's now he jumps on her staff as camp coordinator.

54:59He was a guy that kind of grew up with us as a manager and he's a hard working guy that's just tremendous. And obviously Travis Buck who with the new rules being lifted. He's more on the field now. He was just our operations guy a year ago, but they've lifted the rules of countable coaches. And now we're able to have more coaches and so to have a guy like Travis Buck instead of just being in the office being, you know, that job with the operations. He's now allowed to do operations. Yes, but he can also coach on the field. And so to have a guy that played in big leagues for six years on the field. It's huge and have a guy like Dan Strailey. It was on the on a major league field for 12 years and 16 at the pro level is is absolutely great experience wise to be around these young guys maturity wise. It's a really good staff and that's why people keep trying to poach him. I honestly when we lose a guy if they want to go go. And if it's because you're getting paid a ton of money or whatever great. I've never fired a coach. I don't want to fire coach. We've always had guys come in here try to steal our coaches. A lot of times they say no. That doesn't make news. What does make news is when they say yes. But that's because program is going in a really, really positive direction and people out there know that our staff is the best in the country.

56:12They want to try to steal him. He's Mark waskowski organ baseball head coach ducks playing Washington in Bend on Saturday at noon bend elks.com for more details more tickets was thanks, but great to see you. It's great to see you. This is going to be a fun year isn't it? It's going to be a really fun year. We got a good club. And you know we're looking forward to getting out the bent. There's a lot of people out there and been that are going to let's pack the house. Right. Let's get that place back show up. There's autograph sessions after the game for your youngsters bring them out and let's have some fun out there and been for one day. It'll be good. Mark waskowski organ baseball head coach getting us ready for that fall ball exhibition. Bend elks.com for more details. The ducks taking on the Huskies and a fall exhibition coming your way and on Saturday. I look forward to somebody asked me earlier if I was going to be making the trip out there. I'm not. I'm actually dedicating time this weekend organ volleyball and organ soccer. In part because my son has demanded to go to Oregon soccer on Friday night. It's true. That's a real thing. Also bat night mayhem is coming back Tuesday October 27th more details for those of you that are on our go ducks email list and on go ducks.com tomorrow. Big 10 picks special guests.

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59:36You've been listening to duck insider on the Oregon sports network from Lairfield presented by on point community credit union people are the point the preceding has been a Lairfield presentation of the Oregon sports network.