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Dam City Classic Micro-Preview: Dam We Miss Tres Tinkle

What to expect from this weekend at the Moda, in brief.

By Mitch Heath
Utah Jazz v Portland Trail Blazers Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images

The Beavers will somewhat begrudgingly continue the basketball season’s slow march to sadness (March Madness pun) this weekend at the Moda Center in the Oregon State-hosted Dam City Classic.

Contrary to what one might think, the Dam City Classic, in its’ second year, is actually not a tournament. In fact, it’s just four not-so-great teams playing in the Moda Center in a sort-of-showcase on Friday and Sunday. On Friday night there will be a doubleheader, starting with South Dakota State playing Portland followed by Oregon State taking on Long Beach State. On Sunday afternoon, Oregon State will play Portland.

Oregon State looks to pick up a win after dropping the last seven games. Given the obvious injury woes, youth, lack of chemistry, etc., I think everyone is hoping that the bright lights and tens of dozens of people who will fill the lower bowl of the Moda will spark a Long overdue win (Long Beach pun).

During the week, Danny Moran of the Oregonian wrote up a story about Tres Tinkle, Sophomore captain of both the team and our hearts, attempting to rally the team with an inspiring speech. After silence while breaking down the awful loss to college basketball’s Cleveland Browns, Savannah State, Tres stood up and spoke:

According to Danny Moran’s account of Tres’s recounting, Tinkle became emotional during the speech and was disappointed in the Beaver’s lack of passion for the game. There is still no timeline for the return of Tres Tinkle from his wrist injury, which means he likely won’t return this month. Which also means he won’t be back before we start Pac-12 play. Which means he probably won’t play against UCLA. Which means Lonzo Ball might score 75 points.

Given that the Beavers accepted an invitation to play in next year’s AdvoCare Invitational, this may be the second and final Dam City Classic for a while after Wayne Tinkle sparked the movement to resurrect the Far West Classic in 2015. The Far West Classic was renamed the Dam City Classic this year, which is definitely a better name.

No matter what happens this weekend, the Dam City Classic gave us this:

We will be chatting here and tweeting throughout the game @BuildingTheDam, so feel free to follow along and commiserate/celebrate with us!