Word is spreading about the Youtube video of Oregon State DT Stephen Paea benching 225 pounds 44 times. That’s the weight NFL scouts use to see how strong players are.

Well check out the above video for yourself. Let’s compare the reps here. The top bench press from OSU’s pro day last week were in the low 20s by LB Bryant Cornell (24) and OG Gregg Peat (23).

LB Keaton Kristick should be an NFL draft pick in April and he got it up 18 times. Last year OG Adam Speer did 30 reps and S Al Afalava did 29.

The top performers at this year’s NFL combine were OL Mitch Petrus of Arkansas with 45 and DL Jeff Owens of Georgia with 44. The closest others were 38 and 39, and then it falls off.

Coach Mike Riley said Paea was projected high when looking to leave for the NFL this year, but he went into the deal wanting to come back to the Beavers.

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Related posts:

1. Pro day report, video
2. Cliff: Paea staying
3. Cliff: Paea on USC, De Carolis

While this is the end of college gymnastics for them, it’s not the end of their involvement in the sport.

Laura-Ann Chong plans to go to graduate school for physical therapy, but leaves working with the Canadian national team open. Her old coach is trying to convince her to come back and do a bars routine.

“I don’t think I’ll have time do go to school and train, but you never know,” Chong said.

Mandi Rodriguez decided to change her career path this year. She studied to go into nursing, but now wants to stay in gymnastics.

“I had a realization that I wouldn’t be happy doing that,” she said of the medical field. “Gymnastics is where my heart is. It’s something I’ve always known. I’m a gym rat. I’d be happy working with female athletes working in sports administration or being a gymnastics coach.”

Whitney Watson may coach. Her father owns the club she trained at as a child, so she may help there. But there are other big plans.

“I am a graphic design major,” Watson said. “I’m designing a gymnastics line for Nike. They don’t make leotards like Adidas does. I hope to get the gymnastics line off the ground for them. So, gymnastics is definitely in my future.”

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Related posts:

1. Cliff: Gymnastics preview
2. Cliff: Gymnastics rankings (updated)
3. Cliff: Gymnastics update

Coach Jim Zalesky on the draw for his guys:
“When you get to the national tournament what you are seeded doesn’t matter. It’s your attitude, and it’s one match at a time. Sometimes you get caught looking ahead in the brackets, but our main focus is that first match.”

As the coach, do you look ahead to prepare them?
“As a coach we can afford to look ahead. We scout a guy, and we prepare guys for the next match even though they don’t know it.”

Beyond Covington, who is seeded No. 8, who do you expect to do well?
“Keegan (Davis), (Jason) Lara, (Kelly) Kubec and (Clayton) Jack have been ranked in the top-10. They are one round from being an All-American. You have to step it up and stay in the championship round past quarters to be an All-American, and then be a national champion if they get that opportunity.”

Is everyone healthy this year?
“Everybody is healthy and feeling good. We had a good week of training. Now it’s mentally getting ready to compete.

Covington on the team aspect of the tournament:
“We want to bring home a team trophy. A top-six finish would be ideal for us. We can do it. It’s not like no one has brought it home with six guys before. We are going to wrestle hard and not take a back seat to anybody. Just because we are Oregon State they might take us lightly, but they will know who we are after this tournament.”

You are always confident. Is that you talking or does everyone feel the same way?
“Kelly was there last year, and he told me he was just happy to be there. Being an NCAA qualifier was a big deal to him. Mike (Mangrum) and Kelly want to win that tournament. (Kubec) watched the winter Olympics and he wants to step on the podium. As hard as we train, we don’t train for second place. We don’t care what we are ranked. It’s like the Miracle on Ice. It’s not like underdogs never win.”

Kubec on what he learned last year:
“I learned what not to do. I didn’t have the right frame of mind. I was satisfied with my season. I have to have more of a fight. Pac-10, I didn’t wrestle with a lot of fight and heart. If I did that, I would have been walking out as Pac-10 champ. That’s one thing I can control.”

What about the team?
“If we have every guy perform to their potential – which hasn’t happened yet – if that happens we’ll walk away with the team trophy. I honestly believe that. It’s just a matter of putting it together. And I think we’ve had a good training phase and everybody is coming into it.”

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Related posts:

1. Cliff: Wrestling brackets out
2. Cliff: Wrestling update
3. National team recruits

Plenty of info came out of that, and now I have to condense it for public consumption. I’ll start with the spring depth chart. Be sure to read my comments for insight. Here’s my football notebook with tons of stuff that runs in Wednesday’s GT.

OFFENSE
Quarterback
Ryan Katz (He gets first snaps.)
Peter Lalich (There’s open competition for the starter role.)
Cody Vaz
Jack Lomax

Tailback
Jacquizz Rodgers
Jovan Stevenson
Ryan McCants
Jordan Jenkins

Fullback
Will Darkins
Clayton York
Dylan Parsons

Split end
Darrell Catchings
Markus Wheaton (This is a position change from flanker. And there’s open competition here. The loser doubles as the backup flanker).
Geno Munoz
Obum Gwacham

Slot
Jordan Bishop
Aaron Nichols
Kevan Walker
Mitch Singler

Flanker
James Rodgers
Micah Hatfield (Healthy from broken leg in bowl practice.)
Garett Hall
Kevin Cummings

Tight end
Brady Camp
Colby Prince

H-back
Joe Halahuni
John Reese

Left tackle
Michael Philipp
Timi Oshinowo
Wilder McAndrews (Testing if he can still play due long-term wrist injury.)

Left guard
Grant Johnson (Out of spring with shoulder injury)
Ryan Pohl
Michael Lamb
Tyler Thomas
Rory Ross (Out of spring with knee injury)

Center
Alex Linnenkohl
Josh Andrews
Aaron Magnunson (This is new spot for him.)

Right guard
Burke Ellis (Wide open competition here.)
Colin Kelly (Moved from tackle to guard.)
Colin Lyons

Right tackle
Mike Remmers
Geoff Garner
Grant Enger

DEFENSE
Left end
Gabe Miller
Andrew Seumalo
Devon Kell
Mana Rosa (Out of spring with shoulder injury)

Left tackle
Stephen Paea
Casto Masaniai
Evan Hull
Ben Motter (Moved from offense to defense.)

Right tackle
Brennan Olander
Kevin Frahm (Moved from DE.)
Tonu Tuimalealiifano
Nate Hannah (Moved from offense to defense.)

Right end
Matt LaGrone
Taylor Henry
John Braun (Moved from offensive line.)
Mitchel Hunt (Out of spring with knee injury.)

Sam Linebacker
Keith Pankey (Out of spring with Achilles’ tendon injury, but expects to be back in fall.)
Devin Unga
Keo Camat
Paul Jones

Middle linebacker
Tony Wilson
Rueben Robinson
Kevin Unga
Walker Vave

Will linebacker
Dwight Roberson
Zane Norris
Michael Doctor

Left corner
James Dockery
Jordan Poyer (Moved from safety.)
Brian Watkins
Sean Martin (Out of spring with shoulder injury.)

Safety
Lance Mitchell
Josh LaGrone
Dax Dilbeck
Zeke Sanders

Safety
Cameron Collins
Suaesi Tuimaunei
Anthony Watkins
Levi Levasa

Right corner
Brandon Hardin
Keynan Parker
Rashaad Reynolds
Kaua Olds

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Related posts:

1. Spring depth chart
2. Depth chart
3. O-line depth chart

That means there’s no need to move around any games into the middle of the week. This is also the first game of the season to be picked up for TV.

And one more from the ipod.

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Related posts:

1. Football schedule
2. Future football schedule
3. Cliff: Football schedule

Well, Directv and Comcast reached an agreement to return Versus to the Directv programming lineup as it was in at the end of August 2009.

To fill out the post, here’s a return of what’s in my ipod.

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Related posts:

1. Cliff: Secrecy in sports
2. Cliff: Big sports weekend
3. Several news items

The Oregon State gymnastics team moved up one spot in the rankings to No. 7 in the nation with a regional qualifying score of 196.460.

Alabama is No. 1 (197.155) with Oklahoma (196.935), UCLA (196.900), Georgia (196.690), Florida (196.685) and Arkansas (196.510) right behind.

The Beavers are No. 4 on the floor (49.300), No. 5 on the beam (49.090), tied for No. 5 on the bars (49.195) and tied for No. 10 on the vault (49.200).

Mandi Rodriguez is No. 13 in the all-around (39.385) and Makayla Stambaugh is tied for No. 21 (39.220). They are tied for No. 3 on the floor (9.920).

Laura-Ann Chong is No. 4 on the bars (9.910) and Rodriguez is No. 5 on the vault (9.925).

Check out the floor routines from Friday’s meet Utah above and below.

Injury update
Freshmen Kelsi Blalock and Leilani Alferos remain out of the lineup, leaving the Beavers with 10 active gymnasts. Blalock returned to practice after her ankle injury, but is expected to miss her seventh meet. Alferos is coming back from her bicycle accident and will miss her fourth meet.

Leslie Mak competed on bars for the first time last week since Jan. 16 due to an elbow injury. Olivia Vivian returned last from a knee injury that kept her off the beam and floor.

“We are slowly moving in the right direction there,” coach Tanya Chaplin said.

Wrestling preview
Here’s a link to the wrestling team preview headed into the NCAAs on Thursday in Omaha, Neb. Oh the memories of Omaha. What a great place to party for two weeks with baseball as a backdrop.

That town has been good to the Beavers in recent years. We’ll see what the wrestlers can do.

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Related posts:

1. Cliff: Gymnastics rankings
2. Cliff: Gymnastics rankings
3. Cliff: Gymnastics rankings (updated)

So that became the premise of my Sunday column in the GT/DH. Check it out here.

My underlying point is stability is a good thing, and the Beavers have that with their program.

There’s a minor reference to what Oregon is going through with all the legal problems. I mentioned this before, but I’m glad that the Beavers got that out of their system in 2005.

That was a crazy time for a reporter covering the beat when you found something in the crime log on a regular basis. Remember stolen sheep, paying a cab ride with pot and the bar fights?

Mistakes can happen at any time, and the Beavers could have a similar situation. However, OSU coach Mike Riley not only recruits players he can mold on the field, he finds generally good guys. So there’s less change of that happening.

That’s something I won’t take for granted. There hasn’t been someone on the roster I felt was a jerk in some time. When I first got here in 2004 there were a few.

So while I can’t say everything is fine because it won’t known until the season is here, the Beavers are stable and working for more. Spring practice begins March 29 to give us a look at what might be.

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Related posts:

1. Penn State prep
2. Heading into Penn State (update)
3. Penn State postgame

Oregon State ran its pro day combine for the NFL on Friday. About 15 scouts came to Corvallis to collect data on the Beavers. Here’s the story that ran in Saturday’s GT.

There were 12 athletes who went through at least some portion of the drills. It was a small showing for players and scouts this year.

Of the 12, there were six from previous years still trying to get noticed. They were Joe Lemma, Bryant Cornell, Chris Johnson, Dennis Christopher, Brandon Powers and Shane Morales.

The latest crop of Beavers were Sean Canfield, Ben Terry, Patrick Henderson, Damola Andeniji, Keaton Kristick and Gregg Peat.

Tim Clark was there but plans to do his pro day April 1 in Los Angeles. He got a late start to training from the broken leg suffered in the Civil War.

Check out Terry on the bench press above. The video just below is of Peat on the bench.

Canfield did the vertical jump and threw to receivers only. He looked strong and accurate. He said the difference from the NFL combine and today was he got more throws in and had a rhythm.

Kristick, OSU’s other top prospect, said he had an decent day and improved in some areas from the combine. Kristick heard he is a middle round draft pick. Check out his bench below.

Here are the bench numbers. They had to put up 225 pounds as many times as they could. Adeniji 8, Henderson 16, Kristick 18, Peat 23, Terry 21, Christopher 17, Johnson 18, Cornell 24, Powers 13, Lemma 20.

Terry turned in a strong performance in the vertical and long jump. He looked agile for a DE. Henderson was overall athletic. Cornell did well being a year removed from the game. Here’s Terry in the 40-yard dash.

Adeniji drew some interest from his speed and catching passes. A few scouts took an interest in Peat after his OL drill work.

Here are some unofficial 40 times for some of the guys: Kristick 4.72, Terry 4.76, Adeniji 4.58, Peat 5.23 and Cornell 4.59. Here’s Kristick’s 40.

What got to the athletes were the cone/shuttle drills. They show their burst of speed and flexibility. The scouts were very specific how they were to be done.

The following videos are a sampling of the 20-yard shuttle, 60-yard shuttle and 3-cone drill.

More from pro day will be in Saturday’s GT with interviews from those who went through it.

Terry in the 60 shuttle

Adeniji in 3-cone drill

Kristick in 20-yard shuttle

Henderson in 20-yard shuttle

Adeniji in 20-yard shuttle

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Related posts:

1. Pro day report, video
2. Pro timing day
3. Cliff: NFL combine report

An appeal by the Oregon State football team for Darrell Catchings to receive a medical hardship wavier for last season was granted by the Pacific-10 Conference on Thursday, according to the Beavers.

Here’s a link to a longer story on this that runs in Friday’s GT.

Catchings will be a junior this coming season and have two seasons to play. The wide receiver played some last year but wrist and ankle injuries sidelined him most of the season.

He had never voluntarily redshirted, so the Beavers asked for last season to be his redshirt year. Pac-10 faculty representatives met at the Pac-10 basketball tournament in Los Angeles to vote on each school’s cases.

Part of the criteria for a medical hardship wavier are he never redshirted, he played less than three games and the injury was season ending. The Beavers felt he met all the criteria for the minimum eight votes going in.

Catchings began last season as the starting split end, the go-to receiver in the offense. However a sprained right wrist from a blocking drill was originally diagnosed as a fracture.

Right before surgery he was checked a second time and it was determined he could return after five weeks of rehab. He came back to play in two games before severe high ankle sprain.

Catchings was tackled after a catch on the sidelines against Arizona on Sept. 26 and rolled his ankle.

The Beavers hoped he could make a speedy recovery, but didn’t. By the time he was cleared to practice but it wasn’t enough time to get in shape for the Dec. 22 Las Vegas Bowl.

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Related posts:

1. Cliff: Catchings update, more
2. Breaking Catchings news
3. Cliff: Catchings, notes