The Barometer Online

To: Director of Athletics, Coach Casey, and other members of the coaching staff

Re: Oregon State not included in the 64 team NCAA baseball tournament

Oregon State University should file a formal protest because they were not included in the tournament. The following should be used to persuade the committee to allow the team to be included in the tournament.

Series wins against 5 teams who are in the tournament. Difficulty of schedule. The Pac-10 is very competitive.

The basic, fundamental question is this--is Oregon State one of the top 64 in the country? Hands down, yes. They are in the top 64, probably even in the top 40. There cannot be affirmative action--the committee is choosing schools to represent conferences. The committee must simply select the top 64, meaning some conferences will be left out, while some, like the Pac-10, will have nearly all their teams in the tournament.

Do not include schools like Bucknell, and some others. Coming out of high school, the best players go to more well-known schools. Are you rewarding players for choosing a school like Bucknell, and not better, well-known schools like Oregon State?

The committee/old traditionalists are just rebelling--are they afraid Oregon State might repeat, or at least go to Omaha? Very clearly discrimination--the old, fat, speak with a southern accent traditionalists are trying to get a warm weather school to be the national champion.

The Olympics, so to speak, test a team's ability, the skiers who ski the best during the Olympics win the medals. You have to choose teams who have a history of playing better in the postseason. Some teams, Oregon State did this the past 2 years, play better in the postseason--much like some skiers ski better in the Olympics, the World Ski Championships, and the World Cup Finals. If you look at the 2006 Winter Olympics, you will find that some top-ranked skiers did not medal, and vice versa, some lower-ranked skiers won medals.

Right now the committee is not selecting teams correctly. The perspective of the committee, which is like an old warm-weather school traditionalist, needs to be to look at some of the warm weather schools like the USA is in skiing, and The committee needs to look at the Pac-10 like Austria is in World Cup skiing (a lot of depth and very good skiers)--right now the committee is not looking at it this way. The US ski team is much like warm weather schools as a group. Some members of the US ski team are very good, while others are not. Some warm weather schools are very good, while others are not. Baseball traditionalists and American skiers and ski fans tend to be arrogant. Some of the warm weather and east coast schools are not as good as they think, are they including some warm weather and east coast schools just for the sake of being traditional?

An Austrian or Swiss looks at the Austrian or Swiss ski team how the warm weather school fans and traditionalists look at warm weather schools, while the warm weather traditionalists look at Oregon State how Austrians view the US ski team. Austrians should think, and are correct, that the US ski team is inconsistent, having some members who can just as well win a gold medal or finish 20th or not finish at all.

However, the warm weather traditionalists cannot judge Oregon State baseball in the same way. The committee is simply not analyzing the situation correctly. The committee cannot assume that Oregon State is not going to perform well. A few members of the US ski team are outstanding. Oregon State was like the US ski team--the lower-ranked team that had individuals performing well when it counted--winning the gold medal, so to speak. And vice versa, some highly-ranked baseball teams do not perform well when it counts. The committee has insulted coach Casey as well--he has outstanding coaching abilities and can bring out the best in players when it counts. If trying to decide between teams, consider the coaching. The committee has also affected the players' future professional opportunities.

The Olympics do include all the best teams, ranked skiers, and some inferior skiers from other countries who do not compete well in World Cup skiing. But in a baseball tournament, you cannot include the inferior teams just to have them represent a conference. The inferior skiers do not interfere with ranked skiers.

If the USA hosts the Olympics, and if 75% of the skiers are from the US or Canada, and the rest from Europe, there would be trouble.

You have to let Oregon State into the tournament for the same reason Bode Miller gets to represent the USA in the Winter Olympics, and why #20 or 25 or 30 in the world during the ski season is on the Olympic team and sometimes wins a medal in the Olympics.

There are repercussions being left out: attracting quality players--if allowed to play in the tournament, and if they advance, it could help attract better players than if not allowed to play in the tournament. The business perspective--being left out affects attendance, including overall attendance for the Pac-10 schools.

There is also discrimination here. Had a school like Texas, or Arizona State, or North Carolina won the national championship two years in a row, that team would definitely be back in the tournament the following year, even with a mediocre record. A mediocre record does not mean a mediocre team. A team that finishes at .500 in the SEC might be in the top 25. Like I said earlier, the Pac-10 is like Austria is in skiing--a lot of depth. So is the SEC.

And going back to the Pac-10 competitiveness, losing to Gonzaga means that the Pac-10 is very, very competitive. Gonzaga attracts very good players, and the Pac-10 players are even better. Oregon State should be included, and also Gonzaga if Oregon State was beaten by them.



Suzanne Vesely, Beaver baseball fan and Oregon State University Class of 1988
Tempe, Arizona

World cup skiing is the perfect analogy. The Pac-10 is like Austria--a lot of depth, like the SEC. If 9 SEC schools are in the tournament, then 7 Pac-10 schools should be. Like I said, the committee lets inferior schools into the tournament, and leaves better schools out because they choose schools to represent conferences. The committee is not objective. If the committee uses common sense, they put Oregon State in the tournament. The committee left Oregon State out just to rebel and push buttons. Very insulting to Coach Casey, who is one of the best in the country.

For all we know, the team that finished in last place in the Pac-10 might beat the inferior teams the committee has selected. For all we know, the team that finished in last place in the Pac-10 might beat the 2nd or 3rd place team in the SEC.

The problem is the committee assumes the warm weather schools are better, without them playing the Pac-10 teams enough to know. The logic is this: if you don't who would win if they play one another in the regular season, let Oregon State in to play them.

Let Oregon State in for the reason some schools in the South with losing records in college football get to be in a bowl game. Their conferences have depth.

In frustrating and surprising Coach Casey, the committee has made a big mistake--he could leave Oregon State for a warm weather school.

The tournament needs to include the best, to show the world the best college baseball teams. Other countries like Japan are interested in college baseball.

Suzanne Vesely, Beaver baseball fan and Oregon State University Class of 1988
Tempe, Arizona

I have said it about 10 times now--with a conference and also west coast teams much like Austria is in skiing, a .500 record by Oregon State does not mean a mediocre team. Teams like Utah Valley and Gonzaga do not play the SEC or ACC, so how can we compare? We cannot assume the well known, ranked teams are better than the teams that have beaten Oregon State.

The committee thinks Oregon State should play the Florida, or North Carolina, or Texas state high school champion. Pretty insulting, isn't it?