Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

And now Alexis Mack is gone.

This is turning into an absolute clusterf***. Mullens and Peterson absolutely screwed up in handling White and the program is paying the price, with Lombardi taking almost all the heat now because Mullens refuses to really address anything.

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Very embarrassing.

If Oregon softball is the kind of thing you'd get embarrassed about.

Whomever is responsible for this, no one would still have a job after ruining a whole product line they were put in charge of. This whole situation is an absolute shame and embarrassment. The NCAA, the AD, the coaches, and the players are all responsible and getting behind the program in a silly free agent system that is NCAA women's sports is kind of not what I have in mind. I don't like Lombardi, I don't like the transfers, and I hate the complaisance from the community with regard to this monumental f*** up.

It's honestly just getting comical at this point. What an exodus. I guess that makes Paul White Moses.

AshlandDuck wrote:Whomever is responsible for this, no one would still have a job after ruining a whole product line they were put in charge of. This whole situation is an absolute shame and embarrassment. The NCAA, the AD, the coaches, and the players are all responsible and getting behind the program in a silly free agent system that is NCAA women's sports is kind of not what I have in mind. I don't like Lombardi, I don't like the transfers, and I hate the complaisance from the community with regard to this monumental f*** up.

I'm thinking you should dislike White, Mullens, and Peterson the most since they're the ones who couldn't seem to work together anymore and that dysfunction poisoned the well with the remaining players. Couple that with the new transfer rules and you have a recipe for a disaster that Lombardi isn't completely at fault for.

greenyellow wrote:

AshlandDuck wrote:Whomever is responsible for this, no one would still have a job after ruining a whole product line they were put in charge of. This whole situation is an absolute shame and embarrassment. The NCAA, the AD, the coaches, and the players are all responsible and getting behind the program in a silly free agent system that is NCAA women's sports is kind of not what I have in mind. I don't like Lombardi, I don't like the transfers, and I hate the complaisance from the community with regard to this monumental f*** up.

I'm thinking you should dislike White, Mullens, and Peterson the most since they're the ones who couldn't seem to work together anymore and that dysfunction poisoned the well with the remaining players. Couple that with the new transfer rules and you have a recipe for a disaster that Lombardi isn't completely at fault for.

Maybe she isn’t completely at fault, but c’mon...there has to be a huge part of the blame laid on her shoulders. She couldn’t even do anything to change any of their minds out of leaving? I have a hard time believing she wanted to have a clean slate and start from fresh, that would just be stupid. Rest of the blame can be laid at Mullens feet, as he may have not been made aware, or realized the backlash and mass exodus that ensued. That is on him. Maybe he was willing to take the risk.

From the sound of this new column from Register-Guard columnist Austin Meek, Oregon could still be facing another transfer from a potential starter, an injury to another potential starter, and eligibility issues on another. If true, the team could be down to 12 players once the first game arrives. I'm really beginning to think that the transfers are now starting up again because of the recent R-G story about White's departure and players not wanting to be stuck on a team with an uncertain future.

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My take on this(which matters to no one)...good riddance. White seems like a attention wh—e. So what if Mullen’s didn’t wanna talk to him all the time. He’s got a lot going on. So what if she laughed when he told her how much Texas was offering. White got his payday but that wasn’t good enough for him. He’s looking like a scorned spouse now going thru a divorce. All the players liked him cause he let em do whatever they wanted so of course they will side with him. Clean house and let Lombardi run it the way she wants

This. Is. A. Complete. DISASTER.

There's no other way of expressing this situation. Just on a visceral level right now, I'm probably most upset with the athletes who are abandoning the program. They're taking the easy way out, like taking their toys and going home. But ultimately, I guess they can do whatever they want. One thing that can and may need to happen, though, is for Mullens, at least internally, to admit that he *ucked up in hiring Lombardi. Mack also referred to the changed "culture" in her departing tweet. It's nothing personal against Lombardi, and I doubt almost anyone could have anticipated the mass departures. But this feels like maybe a situation where the Oklahoma evangelical is like a fish out of water in Oregon.

Thing is, what can be done about it now? Give Lombardi her walking papers and swallow her contract? I'm even curious if Lombardi has offered or would consider offering, out of just feeling really bad about all this, her resignation. I don't know if starting over from a completely clean slate would help the program in the long run or not. I do think we're perilously close to having the upcoming season cancelled.

duckfan96 wrote:My take on this(which matters to no one)...good riddance. White seems like a attention wh—e. So what if Mullen’s didn’t wanna talk to him all the time. He’s got a lot going on. So what if she laughed when he told her how much Texas was offering. White got his payday but that wasn’t good enough for him. He’s looking like a scorned spouse now going thru a divorce. All the players liked him cause he let em do whatever they wanted so of course they will side with him. Clean house and let Lombardi run it the way she wants

I am with you on this, and I actually feel for Lombardi. She took this job believing that it would be the Oregon she, and us apparently, say from the outside. Once she arrived only then did the become of aware of what she had entered in to.

The issue I have with the program at this point is they are dangerously close to not being able to field a team. Roughly looking at only having 12 available to start the season, a couple injuries and its pretty much can we play with 9? Rotation is out the window.

Greenblood wrote:This. Is. A. Complete. DISASTER.

There's no other way of expressing this situation. Just on a visceral level right now, I'm probably most upset with the athletes who are abandoning the program. They're taking the easy way out, like taking their toys and going home. But ultimately, I guess they can do whatever they want. One thing that can and may need to happen, though, is for Mullens, at least internally, to admit that he *ucked up in hiring Lombardi. Mack also referred to the changed "culture" in her departing tweet. It's nothing personal against Lombardi, and I doubt almost anyone could have anticipated the mass departures. But this feels like maybe a situation where the Oklahoma evangelical is like a fish out of water in Oregon.

Thing is, what can be done about it now? Give Lombardi her walking papers and swallow her contract? I'm even curious if Lombardi has offered or would consider offering, out of just feeling really bad about all this, her resignation. I don't know if starting over from a completely clean slate would help the program in the long run or not. I do think we're perilously close to having the upcoming season cancelled.

Such a terrible take when it is so abundantly clear that this exodus of players is tied to White leaving far more than Lombardi coming in. The new transfer portal has more to do with these transfers than Lombardi and we've got 10K girls on campus, I imagine a few of them played Softball at a competitive level - the season is not going to be cancelled for crying out loud.

I believe there are a number of reasons for what's going on, and my post does not suggest otherwise. But Lombardi's inability to keep the team reasonably intact AND the number of references to the changed "culture" by the departing players clearly suggest to me that the presence of Lombardi, and not merely the departure of White, is a very real factor. (And not all of the departees have gone to Texas to be with White anyway.) I have no personal opinion on Lombardi as a person or her coaching ability myself other than I suspect she could be a pretty successful head coach under the right circumstances. I hope she ends up being one here.

"Not being able to field a team" won't be an issue, they'll just start taking walk-ons.

Considering the two latest defections played for Lombardi during the fall and began spring practices with the team, I feel it's safe to say they didn't leave because of Lombardi's coaching style or a stupid dress code (which seems to be nothing more than "please don't wear sweats to class"). They left because new light was shed on how the athletic department handled White's exit and the transition. I believe Austin Meek retweeted a tweet from Maggie Balint's mom after the story broke and she seemed pretty distraught. These players seem to be hammering home "trust" in their public transfer declarations, signifying they no longer trust the school. I read that as mistrust at the administration, not a single coach.

If these players loved White as much as it's been mentioned in this and the Balint thread, it'd stand a reason they saw White as the victim of mistreatment, whether or not outsiders such as ourselves would agree.

IMO, based on what's reported, I think it's more than fair to drag the university for mishandling the situation. I have yet to see much that signifies hiring Lombardi herself was a mistake.