Matt Bagley
@bagleysports.bsky.social
120 followers 67 following 890 posts
Currently covering Oregon State athletics for Oregon State Beavers on SI (https://www.si.com/college/oregon-state), and covering the reborn Portland Fire's inaugural WNBA season in 2026 for my own independent site: portlandsupporter.com
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bagleysports.bsky.social
I didn't hallucinate; that's a relief. Somebody on the Portland Fire reddit sub posted the screenshot of the now deleted social media post announcing new head coach Alex Sarama.

portlandsupporter.com/portland-fir...

I wrote about Sarama at the link above.
bagleysports.bsky.social
Over/under 1 inning of Game 1 that somebody on the Fox broadcast reminds viewers that the Mariners were one of seven finalists to sign Ohtani out of Japan.
bagleysports.bsky.social
After today, I now know what it feels like when you break a story, it gets aggregated by a national outlet, and then a dozen other outlets cite the aggregator. OK journos, I get it!
bagleysports.bsky.social
This is a gold medal skeet
bagleysports.bsky.social
I didn't hallucinate; that's a relief. Somebody on the Portland Fire reddit sub posted the screenshot of the now deleted social media post announcing new head coach Alex Sarama.

portlandsupporter.com/portland-fir...

I wrote about Sarama at the link above.
bagleysports.bsky.social
Mark Stein reported last week that the Fire interviewed Sarama, and one of his other writers Jake Fischer reported that they also interviewed Heat assistant coach Miles Simon.
emilyadler.bsky.social
are you able to report any of the other candidates they've interviewed? haven't seen any mention before
bagleysports.bsky.social
Clarification: I am citing a LinkedIn post that the Fire quickly deleted. I know that Sarama interviewed last week, and he checks off a lot of the usual boxes (coaching pedigree, connections to Vanja Černivec, connections to Portland).

My best guess? A PR staffer jumped the gun.
bagleysports.bsky.social
The Portland Fire have announced the hiring of their new head coach: Alex Sarama.

Sarama worked remotely for the London Lions' front office in 2023-24 (led by Fire GM Vanja Černivec). At the same time, he was an assistant with Portland's G-league team, the Rip City Remix.
bagleysports.bsky.social
The Portland Fire have announced the hiring of their new head coach: Alex Sarama.

Sarama worked remotely for the London Lions' front office in 2023-24 (led by Fire GM Vanja Černivec). At the same time, he was an assistant with Portland's G-league team, the Rip City Remix.
bagleysports.bsky.social
It shouldn't, but America in 2025 is all about short-sighted decisions
mattbrown.bsky.social
this is what really sticks out to me about the Big Ten's latest private capital play.

Even if the investment is a good one, why should a 25+ year decision be left in the hands of executives who will be gone in six months?
sports.yahoo.com/college-foot...
bagleysports.bsky.social
Raider fan here and I still wish we could have drafted him. It's been a year, Brock Bowers has HOF potential, etc. Still that high on Penix.
bagleysports.bsky.social
Joe Davis just shocked me. "Highway five from Vancouver".
bagleysports.bsky.social
I'm ready now. Three plays is enough.
bagleysports.bsky.social
Jorge Polanco AGAIN. Unbelievable!
bagleysports.bsky.social
More from Robb Akey on Danny Langsdorf replacing Ryan Gunderson at OC: "It's not because I don't think Gundy's a good coach, he's a helluva coach, he's a smart guy, a helluva person. I know it's not easy for Coach Gunderson".
bagleysports.bsky.social
Oregon State interim head coach Robb Akey on the decision to switch play callers: "I was told to run the show, and this is the way we're gonna go, moving forward".
bagleysports.bsky.social
I am digesting Robb Akey's introductory presser in Corvallis, and one thing pops out to me: Akey said Danny Langsdorf (senior offensive assistant + QC) will call plays this week.

Langsdorf was Mike Riley's OC at Oregon State from 2005-13, where he tutored current OC Ryan Gunderson.
bagleysports.bsky.social
In this piece, Ben Pahl hits on something I expect to see under interim head coach Robb Akey.

The 2025 Beavers, divided between Oregon State's traditional pro-style offense and Maalik Murphy's more familiar Air Raid, will finally commit to one style of play.

www.si.com/college/oreg...
What's Next For Oregon State Football After Firing Trent Bray?
Oregon State officials made the chise to move on from Trent Bray after an 0-7 start to the 2025 season. It's a difficult transition for any program, but the Bea
www.si.com
bagleysports.bsky.social
My friends, who know my (progressive) political ideology, occasionally express surprise that I stayed on the app formerly known as twitter as long as I did.

Like the passage in this screencap, my last straw really boiled down to usability. It's just not a good app anymore.
explaintrade.com
This is an exact encapsulation of why I moved to Bluesky.

No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.
Well – no. Bluesky may or may not be, as one centre-right friend who felt unwelcome put it, “self-righteous island”. But the idea that’s why we went is nonsense. That I’ve largely stopped posting on a site that’s done more to shape my career and social circle than the rest of the internet combined is less about avoiding rival opinions (I love arguing with people who are wrong!) than with the fact the site simply became unusable. It stopped generating the things (good jokes, interesting debate, clicks) I wanted; it became extremely good at generating the things (racists, pornbots, racist pornbots) I did not.
bagleysports.bsky.social
One more big play and its probably under consideration.