Last week, Oregon St. Athletic Director Bob DeCarolis referred to something the ticket office is referring to as an "amnesty" program in his periodic report to Beaver Nation, but did not explain what it entailed.

Today, the details were explained. The term "amnesty" is totally misleading. It could be of real value to you, however, if you have been partnering with someone on the purchase of season tickets for football, basketball, or baseball.

As DeCarolis explains in his statement, season tickets bought as a package are all in the name of one person, and the accrued time in the program, and priority for access to tickets when demand exceeds supply, like some bowl games, can not normally be transferred except to family members, usually in the case of death, and such.

Yet many groups like to get their tickets as a single purchase, in order to keep the group together. This can be of considerable significance, as anyone who has been the recipient of randomly distributed tickets to road games can attest.

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Today was a rare occurrence for any university, it was a gameday for both the football and basketball teams. Let's wrap up today's activities with a bow.

Football:

• Finally a victory! Both the fans and the seniors deserved this one. The fans deserved it for sticking through this terrible season, and the seniors gave the fans a wonderful couple of years before this one.
• The "son of Montana" did not quite live up to the hype and the Beavs did a great job of capitalizing on his mistakes today. When Price did play though I did wonder if Washington looked down on OSU and thought they could win without him. It would have been a different game with a better UW qb, but "what if's" don't really matter after the fact.
• The defense played better today too, notably tackling in open space. They also created turnovers, a late forced fumble by Scott Crichton led to the score that really helped OSU open up the game, and a Ryan Murphy red zone int really sealed the deal. The Murphy int is encouraging too since he will likely get a lot of playing time next year.
  
• The offense mostly finished in the red zone with touchdowns, instead of settling for field goals. The running game was much more present, although Washington is pretty awful against the run.
• Probably the best moment of the day was James Rodgers becoming the all-time reception leader at OSU. He really earned the record and it was great to see him get there. There are plenty of other things to cover, but these things stood out the most in my mind.

Basketball comments following the jump.

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I know a lot of the focus right now is on the football season winding down and the basketball seasons starting up, but there is some news of note with the OSU women's soccer team hosting Portland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Beavs went 13-5-2 in the regular season (7-3-1 in Pac-12 play) and ended ranked 23rd in the country by the coaches.  Four players were named to All-Conference teams with junior Chelsea Buckland heading up the group by being named to the All-Conference first team. Named to the second team was Sophomore Jenna Richardson and named to the honorable mention team were seniors Colleen Boyd and Brittany Galindo.

The Portland Pilots are coming in at 9-9-1 (4-4-0 in WCC play), and the match begins at 7:00pm. The OSU Band will be on hand, and the members of Beaver Nation not on the road to California are encouraged to make a strong show of support for the team.

The Oregon State women’s soccer team and coaches are urging Beavers fans to get to Paul Lorenz Field with their orange and black on as early as possible for Friday’s NCAA 1st round game vs. University of Portland. General admission tickets will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. with the gates opening at the same time for fans to find their seats.

NCAA Soccer Ticket Information; Beaver Fans Urged to Arrive Early

So to the women's soccer group this season congrats on a great season and let's keep it going! Go Beavs!

(Photo: Jenna Richardson, from the OSU Athletic site)

The Empire (Commissioned by Team Speed Kills) has selected Fresno State in the final round of the SBNation Conference Redraft Project. If you are unfamiliar with the project, please read this.

Here's a look at The Empire:

Alabama
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas A&M
Arizona
California
Connecticut
Arizona State
Oregon State
South Florida
Hawaii
Fresno State

In a round where teams like Villanova and Georgetown were selected, I think we got a great steal in the Bulldogs. With the pick, we now have a small-rival for the California Golden Bears, a second team in the state of California, and a pretty good Football and Baseball team.

After the break we'll look at how the Beavers fit into the conference with Fresno State and take a look at how The Empire stacks up against everyone else.

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Oregon St. Athletic Director Bob De Carolis met with selected media today, and is meeting the challenge of Parkinson's Disease. De Carolis, 58, diagnosed earlier this year with the neurological disease, is using exercise and diet as tools to manage the malady, and taking the approach learned from a lifetime in and around athletes.

"You say, OK these are the cards that I have, what do I need to do?’’ said De Carolis. "I mean, I’ve been in athletics my whole life. It’s what you do (in sports), you face adversity. How do you change it? How do you get around it? You’ve got to have that mentality. You try to take those lessons you learned in the field of play.’’

The Oregonian's Paul Buker has a feature on the De Carolis, who is continuing to handle the day to day chores of an Athletic Director, though he did note that he has been "delegating a little more appropriately".

De Carolis still anticipates fulfilling his contract, which runs through June 2016, though he acknowledges that with a disease such as this, it literally is a day to day proposition. De Carolis also said that while his increased exercise program, and diet changes are currently working, and that he feels "energized’’ right now, if the signs of Parkinson’s get so acute that it starts affecting his public appearances, or meetings with potential donors, he would start on medication.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com

The Empire (Commissioned by Team Speed Kills) has selected South Florida and Hawaii in the 10th and 11th rounds of the SBNation Conference Redraft Project. If you are unfamiliar with the project, please read this.

Here's a look at The Empire so far:

Alabama
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas A&M
Arizona
California
Connecticut
Arizona State
Oregon State
South Florida
Hawaii

I think that the Bulls and Warriors were huge additions to the conference. With the South Florida pick, we are now into Florida, which is huge for TV purposes and recruiting. And with Hawaii, we have a good football and baseball program, a chance to play 13 games every season, a unique TV time slot, and little bit of history in football. Not to mention a great stadium, great fans, and great weather.

After the break we'll look at how the Beavers fit into the conference with these two new teams, take a look at how The Empire stacks up against everyone else, and ask for advice on who The Empire should select next.

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Oregon St. Athletic Director has announced that he has been diagnoses with Parkinson's disease, a brain disorder that occurs when a significant number of certain nerve cells called neurons die or become impaired. The neurons produce a chemical known as dopamine, which provides for smooth, coordinated function of the body's muscles.

De Carolis, 58, had neck surgery last November, but in the following months didn't seem to be getting any better.

De Carolis first noted symptoms almost 3 years ago when he was conducting the coaching search that led to the hiring of Craig Robinson as OSU's basketball coach. He said his left hand shook slightly, and he was losing coordination, but thought it was stress related. But when severe neck pain started, the need for further treatment became apparent to De Carolis.

“Once I found out what we were dealing with, I decided to get the mystery speculation out of the way,” De Carolis explained.

De Carolis is still in the early stages of the disease, and does not need medication. Treatment is focused on exercise and diet to control the symptoms.

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