Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson's brother-in-law in Washington D.C., is doing his part to help the Beavers -- hey, the economy is getting better! -- but football attendance is down at Reser Stadium, which is putting pressure on the athletic department budget, OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis told The Oregonian.

De Carolis is baffled why Beavers fans aren't showing up to support the strong product coach Mike Riley & Co. produce, and he basically called out his own fans. From the story:

De Carolis did not intend to call out Oregon State fans, but he came very close when discussing the school's inability to fill 45,674-seat Reser Stadium.

"I've never seen a state like this, where it's one or the other, you're a Duck or you're a Beaver," De Carolis said. "Well, if (OSU alumni) are so proud of that, why is it so hard to keep this thing going? We have a hell of a football product -- a hell of a football product -- and we can't sell out the stadium?"

"Where are all the Beaver fans?"

Oregon State is eighth in attendance in the Pac-10, averaging 41,922 fans. That's down from 44,930 in 2008.

Another interesting comment form De Carolis in Paul Buker's story: The Beavers won't solve budget problems by looking for a big payday from teams with 100,000-seat stadiums.

One method to stem the financial bleeding De Carolis appeared to rule out was having Riley's team schedule lucrative road games against imposing national powers with no return agreement.

"Penn State did call us," De Carolis said. "They said, 'We know you need the money.' But we're not interested in that."