On the road with the Ducks

What an honor to be part of the first game of the Ducks new era.
Friday's win over St Marys was one for the ages.
Oregon fans will remember that day for alot of reasons besides the victory.
Coach Horton's pregame speech to the team on the bus was special, too.
He asked the team to play as hard as they can, represent the University and all the people who made that day possible. He didn't tell them to 'go win', he asked them to play hard and they did.
But they also won.

Saturday was not nearly as much fun.
The doubleheader was long and the Ducks lost both games, but the one thing that bothers Coach Horton most of all is the way the team warmed up Friday and Saturday.

Prior to the first game on Friday, Coach said his team had its worst infield/outfield practice since the team got back together in February. Saturday's pregame warmup was the second worst, according to coach. The results on the field will come, but they have invested so much time in the infield/outfield warmup that it should have been much much better.

Sunday, the game was rained out. Steady downpour. No chance of playing.
Too bad, the Ducks would have loved the chance to erase the taste of those losses from Saturday.

Instead of playing a game, the team went back to St Marys for a workout in a small gymnasium.
Pitchers worked with Coach Checketts while the position players listened to Coach Horton talk for about 20 minutes and then focused on bunting. Horton said St Marys beat Oregon Saturday in the infield. They bunted and fielded bunts far better than the Ducks.

I've been around baseball a long time and I have never seen details like the detail Coach Horton provides. He says the players are taking in as much as they can, but he understands if they don't get everything just yet. His goal is to give these men the tools to become successful on the field, but also in life. Good stuff.

We fly out at about 7 and should be home late Sunday night. Then, Fresno State next Friday to open PK Park. Another emotional day awaits us all.

Details Details

I am about to launch into what will undoubtedly be the most difficult thing I have ever attempted to do.
In addition to managing the news content on KQEN and daily operations on The Score, I will be traveling with the Oregon Duck baseball team. Oh, and I have a wife and three kids. Two of whom are about to start softball seasons in Roseburg.
And I claim to be a detail oriented family man.
Yikes.
With the season about to start, humor me for a moment as I send out a laundry list of thank yous.
First, the ownership and management of the radio stations have been great through this whole thing. I first let GM Mike Carter and owner Pat Markham know that I was putting in for this gig in July of 2007. They probably didn't think this was going to develop into the gig it is, but they supported me and encouraged me even when they weren't sure if I could do this and still live in Roseburg.
Now that its happening, both Pat and Mike are incredibly supportive and I appreciate that more than they know because I have seen guys who moonlight without the support I have and it makes their lives miserable.

I have also seen guys attempt this without the support of their family.
Talk about miserable.
Some people trade their marriage for success in their career. I have already dodged that bullet, leaving Seattle in 2002 to return to Roseburg. My wife also wasn't sure whether I was just setting myself up for disappointment when I put in for the Duck job, but she supported me too.
Even though it also nearly put a crimp in her career plans AND has made our cozy existence here a bit more challenging. My wife understands what this means to me and I know she's proud of me, and I could not have pulled this off without her.
My girls are also excited for me, despite the loss of their dad at the softball fields. All in all, that might end up as a positive for both of them, but that sacrifice is by far the toughest thing for me in all of this.

Kyle Bailey and Bob Larson and Kenny Sherman have also been terrific. My absence during baseball puts alot of pressure on them. We'll work together to produce all the news and interviews you have come to enjoy, but the execution of all this stuff falls right on Kyle and Bob especially.

I have friends and mentors at church that will be keeping tabs on my mental state through the next four months and believe me, I will need that contact to stay sane.

I live by the theory that 20 percent effort produces 80 percent of the result. It takes the other 80 percent effort to get the last 20 percent of results. That last 20 percent is the difference between average radio and great radio.

Somehow, even when I'm on the road, that extra 20 will be my goal.

I plan on blogging from the road to let you know what its like behind the scenes with the Ducks and how things are going with the station.

I look forward to communicating with everyone - even while travelling.

Send me a note at brian@bciradio.com.

From the Chicken Suit to Duck Baseball

I know, I'm getting predictable.

Its going to be a busy week for me.
Roseburg North Medford tonight.
Roseburg at South Medford Thursday night.
Duck baseball scrimmage Friday afternoon.
News all in between.

The U of O is going to test PK Park around Friday afternoon's scrimmage.
The Ducks play the Ducks at 2.
We (meaning the U of O) are going to take the opportunity to plug in all the broadcast gear and hook it up to the network. No one except for some radio station managers will hear what I do, but for your edification, here is the plan.
I'll say hello to whomever is testing their reception on the network and give them an inning or two of play-by-play. I can't wait because it'll be the first time someone is sitting in 'the seat' where the games will be broadcast and that someone is me!

I actually had an incredibly vivid image strike me one time at a Duck football game.
I was looking over the edge of Autzen during the National Anthem at the cut out in the parking lot where PK Park was being built and this picture flashed in my mind. I could see both teams lined up on the chalk lines, the American flag snapping in the breeze in centerfield and the National Anthem being played. I was standing in the broadcast booth in the ballpark with headphones on.
The scene honestly brought me to tears because I knew someone was bound to have that opportunity. I desperately hoped it would be me.

Ahem.

Anyway, can't wait for the games to start and I am looking forward to the first trip. The bus loads Thursday morning for the trip to St Mary's in Moraga, California.
I've been there before. Once with the U of Montana Lady Griz basketball team. The campus sits in a beautiful valley and is probably second to Pepperdine when it comes to Most Picturesque University Campus You'll Ever See.

Dance Chicken Dance

Two hours in the chicken suit taught me an important life lesson:
Always be willing to laugh at yourself.

I did alot of that yesterday as I paid off my chicken suit bet with Jared Castle.
The look on the faces of people (especially kids) passing by is worth the minor amount of teasing that comes with dressing like a great big bird.
Kids walking by in the early hours would not make eye contact with me. Others on buses laughed and pointed, mostly with a kind of confused look on their faces.
It looked like the youngins were trying to comprehend what they were seeing and describe the scene to the adults in the car. I wish I could have heard the reaction from parents and bus drivers....

We raised almost $200 for SMART from donations. Thank you! For more on the SMART reading program, go to www.getsmartoregon.org.

Best Moment: A little kid walking to school with his parents put 31 cents in my bucket.

Worst Moment: a dog coming to be on the radio (yes, that happens around here) reacted a bit strongly when the big bright yellow chicken moved his arms. Apparently the pooch wasn't afraid of a stationary chicken, but when I moved a little, he went kinda crazy. Jared made a joke about Foghorn Leghorn and we both funnied out.

Worst Moment II: After I had shed the suit, Adam Perason from the News Review showed up for a photo op. I put the thing back on, complete with my sign "My team laid an egg in the Super Bowl" for the good of the SMART program.