Finally a Happy Trip to Corvallis

Today for the first time since 2003 I attended a sporting event in Corvallis and left happy. The Ducks beat the Beavers 76-73 to improve to 13-0. If they would have lost today I would have probably never set foot in Corvallis again. Next week we'll find out if the Ducks are for real when they face LA Schools.

I AM MAD

THE BEAVERS WON* (I'LL EXPLAIN THE ASTERISK IN A MINUTE) AND THAT MAKES ME MAD. I'M SITTING IN MY OFFICE AND PEOPLE WHO NORMALLY CHEER FOR THE DUCKS ARE CELEBRATING A BEAVER VICTORY*. ANY DUCK FAN WHO THINKS THAT THIS IS GOOD FOR THE STATE OF OREGON IS WRONG. THIS VICTORY* IS GOOD FOR OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY AND NO ONE ELSE. THIS HORRIBLE FOR FANS OF THE OREGON DUCKS, THIS IS OUR HATED RIVAL AND THEY WON* A BOWL GAME. THIS RUINS MY DAY!!!!

THE ASTERISK IS INTENDED FOR OREGON STATE FANS WHO HAVE STATED THAT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON DID NOT LEGITIMATLY BEAT THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA AND THAT THERE SHOULD BE AN ASTERISK NEXT TO THE WIN IN THE RECORD BOOK. THERE WERE FOUR BLOWN CALLS OR NO CALLS THAT WENT OSU'S WAY THAT SWUNG THE GAME IN THEIR FAVOR, HAD THOSE CALLS BEEN CALLED RIGHT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI WOULD HAVE WON THIS GAME. WHILE I DO BELIEVE THAT LIKE THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON AGAINST OKLAHOMA THE OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY BEAVERS LEGITIMATLY WON THIS GAME, I AM REQUIRED TO PUT AN ASTERISK NEXT TO IT UNTIL EVERY BEAVER FAN WHO TOLD ME THAT THERE SHOULD BE AN ASTERISK NEXT TO OUR VICTORY OVER OKLAHOMA RETRACTS THAT STATEMENT AND ADMITS THAT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON SUCKS DID IN FACT BEAT THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS.

I HATE THE BEAVERS!!!!!

I FEEL BETTER NOW

Really Lame Oregon Football Joke of the Week

What's the difference between Ice Cream and the Oregon Football team?

Ice Cream looks good in a bowl!

Gerald Ford: 1913-2006

Former President of the United States Gerald Ford passed away this evening. Ford was was 38th President of the United States and was the only President not to be elected to national office. He was appointed vice president after the resignation of Spiro Agnew by President Richard Nixon and became president after President Nixon's resignation in August of 1974. His presidency lasted only 895 days and is best remembered for the pardon of President Nixon, an unpopular move at the time that probably cost him the election in 1976 but history shows that the pardon was the right thing to do as it allowed the country to move forward. Ford restored honesty and integrity to the White House and brought the Nation back together after the embarrassment of Watergate. On a personal note the President of the United States on the day that I was born (January 10, 1977) was Gerald Ford.

Information from AP report on President Ford's passing was used for this post

My Christmas Present

For Christmas I a got a new set of Duck sweats from my parents, they are exactly the ones I wanted. I think they look great, but my girlfriend thinks that I look like a "tool" and will not be seen in public with me when I wear both the jacket and the pants. I want to wear the sweats to the Oregon-UCLA basketball game that we're going to in a week and a half but she doesn't think I should. What do you guys think?

Luke 2:1-20

The Birth of Jesus

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Dennisdailyrant.com National Championship Tournament Semifinals

Here's the semifinal results

Game One:

Louisville 21 Florida 17


Game Two:

Ohio State 31 USC 28

One Year Ago Today

It was one year ago today that I started this crazy thing called blogging.

Dennisdailyrant.com National Championship Tournament Second Round

Before I get to the results of my dream tournament I want to congratulate the following schools; Appalaichan State (1-AA), Grand Valley State (D2) and Mount Union (D3). The three schools won national titles in football this weekend. All three of them advanced through there respective playoff brackets and were crowned National Champions, now if only division 1A could get it right. Now the second round results.

Ohio State 34 Boise State 17
USC 28 LSU 24
Louisville 35 Michigan 31
Florida 21 Wisconsin 17

The semifinal games will be played next week.

Ohio State vs USC
Florida vs Louisville

Why do I make stupid bets?

Several months ago I made a bet with the CEO of the credit union in which I work for. The bet was if the Ducks won the civil war he would have to wear a duck shirt to work the follwing Monday, if the rodents won I would have to wear a Beaver shirt to work. Since the Ducks didn't have a kicker that day they lost. The following Monday I made good on the bet, it was perhaps the most humiliating experience of my life. I know it's a couple weeks late but here's the picture to prove it.

DennisDailyRant.com National Championship Tournament First Round Results

The first round results and for eight teams it's on to the quarterfinals.

Ohio State 48 Troy 13

Boise State 28 Auburn 24

LSU 27 BYU 10

USC 35 Wake Forest 7

Louisville 45 Notre Dame 17

Michigan 21 Houston 13

Wisconsin 24 Oklahoma 21

Florida 24 Central Michigan 10

The second round matchups are as follows:

Ohio State vs Boise State
USC vs LSU
Louisville vs Michigan
Wisconsin vs Florida

Sports Fans Can be Delusional

Sports fan often have unrealistic expectations of their teams, for example before this football season I said the Duck were going to finish 10-2 and compete for a BCS bowl. Often message boards are place we go to share our unrealistic expectations. It's also where we go after every loss to complain about our teams. I myself frequently post on educk which is a duck site with message boards. Today while reading educk I came across a link to a post from a fan on a USC message board, now I thought sometimes I get a little upset after a Duck loss but I have nothing on this guy. The following comes courtesy of TrojanAl a delusional USC fan, I think think this guy needs to relax after all USC is ranked in the top 10 and will be playing in the Rose Bowl.

TrojanAl
12-5-06 9:58 AM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have analyzed the loss and there clearly has to be some changes made. There is no way that ucla team should have been able to hang with us. Yes, I know that the refs did everything they could to give the game to them, but we still should have pulled through it.

1) Someone has to pay for that loss. You can't just let something like this go without setting an example. Carroll knows who is most at fault and he knows which coach is most expendable. He needs to take action against that person. If it is Kiffin, fine, if it is the oline coach, fine, if it is the d coach who let the ucla qb run all over the field (did our coaches learn NOTHING form texas?) fine. Once the other coaches see that their job is on the line, they will NEVER let this happen again. They have become complacent with all the success and have lost their edge. Time to shake them up.

2) As part of the first point, no more hiring coaches because they are friends or relatives of others. Nepotism is the fastest way to bring down the program that I can think of. Trojan coaches should be hired based on their coaching resume, and nothing else. The players and the fans deserve that. We also need to bring in more REAL Trojans as coaches. Bringing in bRuins and others will undermine the program from within.

3) Booty looked like a deer in the headlights all day. Time to let Sanchez start. He was the NUMBER ONE qb in the country and everyone says he is the real leader we need on the field.

4) We need to recruit harder. I thought there was no way ucla could stay with us because we have all talent and they have no talent. I was wrong. We need to recruit players that are so much better than them that mentally the bRuins will be intimidated before the game even starts. It is time to distance us from them talent wise.

5) Someone needs to "coach" our players on how to respond to the media. I am sick of reading in the times quotes from our players about how "ucla just flat out outplayed us." Get a grip. No one outplays us. The result was a combination of things but ucla didn't beat us.

I have already called Garrett's office to let him know where we need to go from here. If you want to call him about the game, his number is:

(***) ***-****

Remember, if you don't let him know how you feel then you have no right to complain if things continue to go sour.

Trojan Al - esteemed graduate of the generally accepted most ELITE academic institution in the ENTIRE nation - USC entering GPA average a PERFECT 4.0 ( above sister school Stanford), SAT average an astronomical 1370 (towering above fast falling ucla and football factory notre dame, from Princeton Review), ACT average an extraordinary 30 (soaring above academic dinosaur cal, from Princeton Review), and Community Involvement Quotient average 5AA (above Harvard the "USC of the east" ), Time Magazine "Best ACADEMIC University of the Year", ZERO recruits who had to be held back TWO FULL GRADESCHOOL YEARS like the ones at notre dame, and wonderlic scores way above public school texas whose smartest player only got a 4!...and in last four years winner of four national STUDENT-athlete recruiting titles!

link to post

A BCS in Basketball? Why not?

Since the BCS and the bowl system as a whole has worked so well for college football, why not implement a similar system in college basketball? Instead of a 64 team tournament, we could have about 75 or so individual exhibition games across the country. These games would have corporate sponsorship and the matchups for these games would be determined by conference tie-ins. For example the fifth place team from the Pac 10 could play the sixth place team from the Big 12 in Boise Idaho in the Myspace.com game. There would also be a series of bigger more prestigious games, this is where the champions of the Power conferences would play, there would also be a handful of at-large teams selected to play in these games. Two teams would be selected to play in the National Championship game, those teams would be determined by a system which includes several computers, the coaches poll and a poll comprised of former coaches, players and administrators. By only extending the season by one game the players would miss less class time, more fans would be able to travel to see their team play and more teams would be able to finish the season on a winning note. Sounds like a perfect system to me.


Please note: The author of this blog deos not actually believe that there should be a BCS type system in college basketball. This post is meant to point out how ridiculous collge football's post season is. If you were unable to catch the sarcastic tone in this post, I would suggest that you read a different blog.

The Second Annual DennisDailyRant.com National Championship Tournament

Since my first national championship tournament last was a smashing success I have decided to bring the tournament back for another year. The format is the exact same as last year, the eleven division 1A conference champions and five at large teams will fill the tournament bracket. I have seeded the teams 1-16. The first round games will take place on December 9, second round on December 16, semifinals on December 23 and the DennisDailyRant.com National Championship game presented by Michelob Amber Bock will take place on January 1, 2007. Here are the eight First round matchups.

1. the Ohio State (Big Ten) vs 16. Troy(Sun Belt)
8. Boise State (Wac) vs 9. Auburn (at large)

4. LSU (at large) vs 13. BYU (Mountain West)
5. USC (Pac 10) vs 12. Wake Forest (ACC)

6. Louisville (Big East) vs 11. Notre Dame (At large)
3. Michigan (At large) vs 14. Houston (Conference USA)

7. Wisconsin (At large) vs 10. Oklahoma (Big 12)
2. Florida (SEC) vs 15. Central Michigan (MAC)

USC Cheerleader Cheers for Wrong Team-Again!

This video is courtesy of michiganzone.net .

UCLA 13 USC 9

Just as Joanne said they would UCLA beat USC today, that eliminates USC national title consideration. That leaves Florida and Michigan left, my guess is that will probably be Michigan even though it should be Florida. Florida played a much tougher schedule than Michigan and they actually won their conference! Plus do we really need an Ohio State-Michigan rematch. If Michigan were to win, should they really be National Champs? After all Ohio State did already beat them once. Here's an idea, if Michigan does win the rematch they should have to play Ohio State a third time and that would decide who the national champion is. Another question I have is, why not Boise State? They're undefeated! As I've said before the BCS is a joke and we need a PLAYOFF!

Team Scores 201 points in Basketball Game

NCAA Division III Lincoln State College beat Ohio State Marion 201-78 in a basketball game today. It set a division III scoring record, the all time record is 258 held by then Division II troy in 1992.

Team Sets DIII Scoring record

Not the Smartest Girl

When I first saw this picture back in January I thought it was so funny that that I had to post it on my blog. Today I came the picture again with some text added and I still think it's funny.

Maybe Oregon is a Basketball School

Last season I was highly critical of University of Oregon Basketball team and specifically its head coach Ernie Kent. While I still think a change should have been made at the end of last season, I have to give Coach and the team some credit for the way they have played so far this season. The Ducks are now 6-0 after a 57-50 victory on the road over #18 Georgetown tonight. I'm still taking a wait see approach with this team but hope tonight is a sign of things to come.

Viva Las Vegas

Although it does very little to ease the pain of an awful season, the Ducks accepted an invitation to play the BYU Cougars in the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl on December 21, 2006. If anyone wants to contribute to the send Dennis to Las Vegas fund please let me know because your charitable donations are the only way in which I will be able to attend.

Why Not a Playoff?

This Sunday the pairings for the five BCS Bowl games will be announced. As usual there will be much controversy over the teams playing in the championship game. It is almost a forgone conclusion that when USC beats UCLA that the Trojans will be selected to play Ohio State in the BCS title game. While Ohio State is clearly the number one team in college football, is USC the clearcut number two? The answer to that question is no. What makes USC a better team than Florida or Michigan? They're both one loss teams why aren't either one of those teams number two. The answer, because a few computers, ex players and coaches (Harris Poll) and a bunch of current coaches who have more important things to worry about than how a team across the country is playing, say so. Since it's inception in 1998 the BCS has had some sort of controversy almost every year. Teams such as Cal, Oregon and USC have been wronged by this flawed system. Why not have a playoff so championships are settled on the field of play rather than by some computer? I have yet to hear a valid argument on why college football should not have a playoff.

There are four main arguments that I have heard against a playoff. The first one I have heard is a playoff will cause players to miss too much class time. Class time is important but players would never have to miss more than one day of class in a given week to go to an out of town playoff game. Plus many schools will be in Christmas break during much of the playoffs so players would miss very little class time. Division 1AA, Division II and Division three all have a playoff format to decide their championship yet missed class time doesn't seem to be an issue to them. The NCAA awards 88 championships in 23 different sports all of which have some sort of tournament in which an athlete may miss class. If it is such a big deal for Division IA football then why isn't it a big deal for the 88 other championships? Sounds like a poor excuse to me.

Another reason is Bowl tradition. For years the minor bowls were played before New Years day and the major bowl games were played on New Years day. This years Bowl Schedule features six games after New Years day. Then there's the Rose Bowl which traditionally has had the Pac Ten and Big Ten team champions. In recent years Texas, Oklahoma and Miami have played in the Rose Bowl. This years Rose Bowl will feature the Big 10 runner up and another team such as Notre Dame or LSU. There are also way too many Bowl Game, is there any tradition in San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, The Bell Hellicopter Armed Forces Bowl, The PapaJohns.com Bowl or The Meineke Car Care Bowl. In case you haven't figured it out yet, what I'm getting at here is that there no longer any tradition left in the Bowl Games.

Many people say that a playoff would diminsh the importance of the regular season. A playoff in no way is going to diminish the importance of the regular season. If you had a sixteen team playoff including eleven conference champions and five at large teams, the regular season will remain just as important. If you don't win your conference it's going to be awfully difficult for a team to get in so they better win every game if they want to be guarenteed a playoff spot.

The fourth arguement I commonly hear is that it would make it more difficult and expensive for fans to travel. As a fan I can understand this arguement, with a playoff it would make it difficult to make travel plans but I would argue that Basketball fans seem to have no problem doing it. Under my plan the first two rounds would be played at the stadium of the higher seeded team. Meaning that only half of the fans would have to make travel arrangements. Some fans may have some tough choices to make but I just don't see this as a reason not to have a playoff.

The real reason why there is no playoff in college football is money. There is so much money from corperate sponsors and TV revenue in these bowl games that the conference commisioners and University Presidents are afraid to implement a playoff. It is my belief that a playoff would be just as lucrative or even more lucrative than the current system. Major sponsor would be lining for the right to have their name on the playoff and I'm sure that ESPN/ABC would put up a lot of cash for the right to show the games on TV. The legendary singer/songwriter George Harrison once sang "all things must pass", the bowl system was good for its time but its time has passed.

A horrible ending to an allready horrible season

I really have nothing to say about it.

Random Thought from Corvallis

What does a housing studies major do?

OSU Joke of the Day

It's time for my final beaver joke of the day. Why doesn't osu have ice on the sideline?

Because the guy with the recipe graduated!

My Civil War Prediction

Oregon 27
Oregon State 24

OSU Joke of the Day

How many OSU students does it take to screw in a light bulb

Just one but he gets four credits for it

OSU Joke of the Day

What did the OSU grad say to the U of O grad?

Would you like fries with that?

Why?

After sitting through the cold on Saturday watching my Ducks get crushed at home by an inferior team I said there was no way I was going to try to find a ticket for the Civil War. As the game got closer I started thinking that I really wanted to go. This morning I bid on and won a pair of tickets on Ebay for $91 only to have the seller back out on the deal and yes I did ruin his previously perfect feedback rating for that move. After that I pretty much gave up on going to the game until I got word that the University of Oregon was putting a very limited tickets on sale, so I went to goducks.com and purchased one ticket for $60 and now I will making about a five satop in Corvallis on my way to Portland on Friday.

POST 200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's true I've posted 200 times on this dumb blog in the eleven months since I started it. In honor of post 200, let's take a look back at some of my best posts since I reached 100 posts months ago.

A Heroic Performance

Year in Review Part I

An Inspirational Story

My Thoughts on Oregon-Oklahoma

Soccer: What a Joke

Beaver Nation

In Honor of Civil War Week

I wonder how many Beaver fans frequent this place.

OSU Joke of the Day

Why do OSU Grads hang their diploma in their rear view mirror?

So they can park in the Handicap spot

Sports Highlight of the Night

This video is of 5'9" Nate Robinson of the Knicks and 7'5" Yao Ming of the Rockets.

Football Fashion II

Last week I bashed Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for showing up to work dressed like he's going for a morning jog. This week I want to give props to San Fransisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan (who happens to be a University of Oregon Alumn) and Jacksonville Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio for wearing suits and ties for this weekends games. It used to be common for coaches to wear suits on the sidelines. Hall of Fame coaches George Halas, Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi always wore suits. In recent years NFL rules did not allow coaches to wear suits due to their apparel contract with Reebok. The NFL has agreed to allow Nolan and Del Rio Reebok issued suits for two games this year and hopefully it's something they approve for the whole season next year.

A new color for a new day

Since today is a new day, I have changed the background of my blog yet again. In honor of the Ducks being the visiting team in the 110th Northwest Dodge Dealers Civil War, I have gone with a white background for the week.

OSU Joke of the Day

What does an OSU Student and a bottle of Beer have in common?

They're both empty from the neck up.

OSU Joke of the Day

How do you get an Oregon State grad off your front porch?

Pay for the Pizza

One Year Ago Today

Much happier times

Black Sunday

Yesterday was perhaps the worst Football game I have ever witnessed at Autzen Stadium. As a result I have changed the background to black. I have also accepted the fact that the Ducks are probably going to lose to the Beavers and that makes me ill.

Another Classy Coach

"We lost but at least we took out a couple of their quarterbacks."

That quote is courtesy of Arizona football coach Mike Stoops reffering to last year's Oregon-Arizona game in which starter Kellen Clemens broke his leg and backup Dennis Dixon suffered a concussion. Clemens college career was ended in that game and Stoops is gloating about it. What a jerk!

http://ducks.blogs.oregonlive.com/default.asp?item=280159

Football Fashion

I don't claim to be a fashion expert by any stretch of the imagination but after watching highlights of New Jets and New England Patriots, I feel compelled to comment on the sideline attire of Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

While most coaches where slacks and a team polo or coat when it's cold or wet, Belichick shows up to work wearing warmup pants and an old hoodie with the sleeves cut off at the elbow. I know football can be cold, wet and muddy but is it too much to ask of a guy to show up to work not looking like he just woke up and pulled his clothes from the bottom of the dirty laundry pile?

Back to normal

ESPN has been a part of my life since its inception in 1980. Until last April I don't remember anytime in my life when I did not have ESPN. I saw the network grow from a single station that showed sports such as Australian rules football, Auto racing, Yacht Racing and Hockey to the family of networks it is today.

When I moved to my current residence back in April I decided to go with basic cable which does not include ESPN. What did I do for the last seven months without it? I ran two marathons, started dating a wonderful girl, got a library card and watched network TV shows such as Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor. It was strange not turning on my TV to watch sportscenter every night as I had much of my life but I survived OK.

About two weeks ago while watching television my wonderful cable provider comcast aired a commercial in which they advertising a special. The very next day I dialed 1-800-COMCAST to arrange to have my cable TV upgraded. Last Friday morning the cable guy showed up and got everything installed and now after seven months without it, I once again have my ESPN.

Only in America

Fantasy Football

For some reason I can't beat my friend Justin (don't bother clicking on his name because he never updates his blog) in anything. That all changed yesterday when I beat him in Fantasy football 84-56. That amazing victory puts me in a three way tie for first and I do plan on winning the league.

Nice Shot!

Here's a highlight from yesterday's Duck Basketball game, this is 5'6" freshman Tajuan Porter at the end of the first half.

Soccer Update

The Houston Dynamo beat the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup final today. Instead of celebrating with champagne like they do in real sports they sprayed each other with capri sun. The ten people that care in Houston are ecstatic.

Hope For Duck Basketball?

I know it's only Portland State that they beat today but after comparing the box scores from today's game and last year's game against Portland State, I have a little bit of hope. What a difference a year makes!


2005 Oregon vs PSU box score

2006 Oregon vs PSU box score

For a trip down memory lane here's my blog entry after that horrible game in December of 2005.
Duck Basketball December 27, 2005

Pete Carroll: A Real Class Act

An Injustice

Normally when I write about soccer I'm making fun of it but today an injustice happened in womens college soccer and I along with many fans of University of Oregon Athletics are ticked. In one of the biggest post season snubs in Pac 10 history the University of Oregon women's soccer team did not receive an invitation to the 64 team NCAA tournament. This is the number 17 ranked Ducks who finished second in the Pac 10 coming off a weekend in which they swept the LA schools including the 2-1 overtime victory over the number three ranked and Pac 10 champion UCLA Bruins. The third, fifth and sixth place team in the conference all received invitations but not the second place team. This is a load of crap and NCAA has a lot of explaining to do!

Gameday Breakfast

Two waffles, four pieces of sausage and Widmer Hefeweizen. It doesn't get any better.

October 22, 1994

It's a day that I will always remember. I was sitting in with my parents in the west endzone of autzen watching my beloved Ducks take on the hated Washington Huskies. After watching the Ducks take the lead on 98 yard scoring drive, I witnessed the Huskies march down to the Oregon eight yard line. It looked as if the huskies were going to steal another victory from the ducks, they had the had the bowl first and goal with an all american running back. What happened next forever changed Oregon football. On first and goal, huskie quarterback Damon Huard threw a pass towards the endzone but a freshman corner by the name of Kenny Wheaton stepped in front that pass at three yard line and took the ball 97 yards for an Oregon touchdown. Without "The Pick" the Ducks don't beat Washington, they probabably don't go to the Rose Bowl, no Rose Bowl means Oregon football continues in mediocrity and the winningest era in Oregon football never happens.

I Hate the Huskies!!!!!

That's really all I have to say about about Washington.

PAC 10 CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in cross country

I'm alive

I really have no excuse for not blogging other than I got bored with it. I'm happy to announce that I'm back! I don't know how often I'll post but I'm here for now.

Now for a random item of business. Tuesday on my way home from work I followed a car with a license plate that read "A POS". I was amused by it because if you don't know POS is short for "Piece of S***" I often reffered to my old Nissan as a POS. I though it was the greatest license plate ever until I passed the car realized that it was from the "Lane Memorial Blood Bank" meaning that the license plate was probably reffering to the Blood type "A Possitive".

A New Look

To show my support for the Oregon Ducks, I've changed the color scheme for my blog. There have been rumors floating around that after the thrashing of the Ducks by the Cal Bears that I have given up on my Ducks. That is 100% false! The Ducks will be back! It starts this weekend with the UCLA Bruins! Go Ducks! Leave the Bruins in ruins!

Marathon Photos

Here are some photos taken of me during the Marathon. You may notice the time on the one of me crossing the finish line is slower than what I repoted in my previous blog, that is because the event uses chip timing so my did not actually start until I crossed the start line.

St John's Bridge

Mile 20

Finish 1

Finish 2

Finish 3

3:35:14

I finished the Portland Marathon yesterday with a solid time of 3:35:14. It was ten minutes slower than my last marathon but I'll take it.

An Inspirational Story

I first heard the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt about a year ago and I was moved to tears. Today I came across the story again and once again was brought to tears. I'll let you all read it for yourselves and then watch the short video at the bottom of the story.

World Strongest Dad

By: Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''

Soccer update

The Chicago Fire beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 to win the US Open Cup. Fellow South Eugene High School alumn Nate Jaqua scored a goal. Congratulations Chicago, I guess.

Fire win fourth Open Cup title

New top 25

1. Ohio State (4-0)
2. USC (3-0)
3. Auburn (4-0)
4. West Virginia (4-0)
5. Florida (4-0)
6. Michigan (4-0)
7. Oregon (3-0)
8. Louisville (4-0)
9. Georgia (4-0)
10. Texas (3-1)
11. LSU (3-1)
12. Virginia Tech (4-0)
13. pOUt (3-1)
14. Iowa (4-0)
15. Tennesee (3-1)
16. TCU (3-0)
17. Notre Dame (3-1)
18. Cal (3-1)
19. Florida State (3-1)
20. Boise State (4-0)
21. Nebraska (3-1)
22. Clemson (3-1)
23. Arizona State (3-1)
24. Rugters (4-0)
25. Texas Tech (3-1)

Marathon #2

This Sunday I will be participating in my second marathon. My expectaions are not as high this time around. My training has not gone as well, I've battled a few injuries and I havn't been eating as well as I should. I'll probably take a little break after this and then it'll be back to training because if all goes as planned I will be running two Marathons next spring, the Eugene Marathon on April 28 and the Newport Marathon on June 2. If you want to moniter my progress during the race you have text message updates sent to your cell phone, you will get six updates throughout the race. Just click the link below if you're interested.

Text Updates

A Complete Meltdown

If you have 15 extra minutes click on the link below. It's a clip from a sports talk radio show in Michigan, all I can say is wow.

Radio Show Host Meltdown

My Top 25

Sorry I missed last week but here are my updated rankings. But first some pictures of the fine officiating from Oregon-Oklahoma game that you may not have seen.
Sure Looks like offensive PI to me
The redline is the ball should have been spotted Notice the playclock

1. Ohio State (3-0)
2. USC (2-0)
3. West Virginia (3-0)
4. Auburn (3-0)
5. Florida (3-0)
6. Michigan (3-0)
7. Oregon (3-0)
8. Georgia (3-0)
9. Louisville (3-0)
10.Texas (2-1)
11. LSU (2-1)
12. Virginia Tech (3-0)
13. pOUt (2-1)
14. Iowa (3-0)
15. Notre Dame (2-1)
16. TCU (3-0)
17. Arizona State (3-0)
18. Tennessee (2-1)
19. Cal (2-1)
20. Florida State (2-1)
21. Boise State (3-0)
22. Boston College (3-0)
23. Alabama (3-0)
24. Nebraska (2-1)
25. Clemson (2-1)

See any resemblance?

This Dude Needs Some Help

Here's a video from an Oklahoma fan, he's got issues.

My Thoughts on Oregon-Oklahoma

Here is "conclusive visual evidence" that Oregon beat Oklahoma.

5 Years Later

Fiver years ago today the world was forever changed. It was a day in which we saw the absolute worst in the human race but through that horrible event we saw the best as well. It's important that we all take a moment to remember all of those who lost their lives on that horrible day and all of those who lost their lives since that day fighting for the cause of freedom. Thanks to all of the men and women serving in our armed forces, the fire fighters, police officers and all those who go to work everyday to make the world we live in a safer place.

God Bless America!!!

Then and Now

In honor of me missing (unless I win tickets in a contest or someone calls and offers me tickets, because at that point I will take that as a sign that I'm supposed to go the game. Don't worry Ubels I'm not asking for my ticket back because I've allready given it up) my first Duck home game since October 28, 1995, I've decided to do a little then and now.

Me
Then- I was an 18 year old freshman at Western Oregon State College. I was 6'1" and and weighed in at 222 pounds. My hairstyle of choice was a part to the right and my outfit of choice was a pair of Levis Silver Tab Baggy jeans with a tucked in T-shirt

Now- I'm 29 years old working as a collector for a credit union. I'm 6'2" 227 pounds . My hairstyle of choice is spiked in the front and my outfit of choice is cargo shorts from old navy and a t-shirt.

Number One Song in America
Then- Fantasy by Mariah Carey

Now- SexyBack by Justin Timberlake

Average Price for a Gallon of Gas
Then- $1.20

Now- $2.73

Top Grossing Film
Then- Get Shorty

Now- The Covenent

Duck Uniforms
Then














Now




















Mike Bellotti
Then



















Now

The End

On September 16, 2006 something will happen that has not happened since October 28, 1995. An Oregon Duck football game at Autzen Stadium in which I'm not in attendance. Meaning my streak of sixty six consecutive home games will come to an end. It was a tough decision and I'm still not very happy with my friends that had the nerve to schedule a wedding on the day of the biggest game of the year but I probably made the right decision. I will probably shed a tear next Saturday when I'm watching the kickoff from an undisclosed location in Portland while someone else is sitting in my seat at Autzen. I guess it had to come to an end someday, I just didn't want it to come to an end now.

College Football Rankings

Here's my rankings after the first week of action.
1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. West Virginia
4. Texas
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Auburn
8. Oregon
9. Notre Dame
10. Oklahoma
11. Louisville
12. Tennessee
13. Florida State
14. Iowa
15. Georgia
16. Virginia Tech
17. Nebraska
18. Penn State
19. Clemson
20. TCU
21. Miami
22. Boston College
23. Alabama
24. Texas Tech
25. Georgia Tech

Oregon 48 Stanford 10

After months of anticipation football season is finally here. Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching my beloved Ducks destroy the Trees 48-10. Next up is the Bulldogs of Fresneck State. It should be another win for the Ducks, setting the stage for a showdown with Oklahoma Sooners in Eugene on September 16. Stay tuned tommorrow for my updated top 25 rankings.

12 Hours From Kickoff

Yes I'm still awake and I get to get up and run 22 miles in about five hours.

My Top 25

Here is my preseason top 25 for the upcoming college football season. I will be updating my rankings weekly.

1. Ohio State
2. West Virginia
3. USC
4. Texas
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Auburn
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10.Oregon
11. Louisville
12. Florida State
13. Miami
14. Iowa
15. Georgia
16. Virginia Tech
17. Cal
18. Nebraska
19. Penn State
20. Clemson
21. Tennessee
22. TCU
23. Boston College
24. Alabama
25. Georgia Tech

Pac 10 Football Preview

After a two week hiatus I'm back and to kick things off here's my first annual Pac 10 Football preview.

1. USC- They lost a lot of talent from last year's team but most of their bench players from a year ago could have started almost anywhere. I don't think they'll run the table but look for the Trojans in Pasadena on January 1. (10-2)

2. Oregon- A dificult schedule but I think this will be another special year for the Ducks. Remember these two names, Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart. (10-2)

3. Cal- Lynch is a stud at Running Back but the Bears have serious questions at quarterback. (9-3)

4. Arizona State- I originally had them picked for third but with the recent turmoil and the fact that they always under achieve I moved them down to fourth. (8-4)

5. UCLA- Their defense was lousy a year ago and they have to replace both their starting quarterback and running back from a year ago but I still think they're good enough for fith. (7-5)

6. Stanford- Second year for coach Walt Harris and a solid senior quarterback in Trent Edwards. The Cardinal are improved but not by much (7-5)

7. Arizona- Mike Stoops has shown that he can recruit but it remains to be seen whether or not he can coach. (6-6)

8. Oregon State- A Mike Riley coached Oregon State football team has never lost fewer than five games. That trend doesn't change this year (6-7) Note: Oregon Sate plays 13 games this year.

9. Washington State- Bill Doba isn't a good football coach, enough said! (5-7)

10. Washington- The Huskies will double their win total from a year ago but they still finish last (4-8)

Coach of the Year- Mike Bellotti
Player of the Year- Marshawn Lynch RB Cal

Coaches on the Hot Seat- Mike Riley, Bill Doba and Mike Stoops

Taking a Break

Unlike my friends Aaron and Justin who just disappear for weeks at a time, I'm letting you know that I going to take a little break from the world of blogging. Why? Because I can! So for the next two weeks I won't be posting anything new, feel free to read some of my archives in the meantime and check back on August 22 for more blogging excellence.

I will leave you with one thought to ponder for the next two weeks. It's a quote from the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi:

"I am the Fred Astaire of Karate"

Fantasy Football

The NFL season is almost upon which means it's time for fantasy football. I am pleased to announce the formation of the Friends of Dennis' Daily Rant fantasy football league on ESPN.COM. I'm limiting it to ten teams this year and the top four teams after week 13 will advance to the playoffs. Once I have 10 teams I will set the time and date for the draft. If you want to join please send me an email at superduckdc@hotmail.com.

September 2, 2006

We are just over a month away from the first Duck Football game, I wish we could just skip August and get right to September. Four weeks from this coming Saturday I will make my return to Autzen Stadium. Upon arriving at my seat I will be greeted by my football family, these are people that I only see six times a year at Autzen Stadium. To the right of me will be the nice elderly ladies Hariet and Janice (I finally learned their names after sitting next to them for five years) behind me will be the old guy and his son (I still have yet to learn their names) and in front of me will be the family that I have yet to meet. This year is going to be a little different than previous years, I may have to miss a game for the first time in ten years and I'm considering sitting in seat 20 instead of seat 19 for a couple games at least. For at least two games I'm going to have to be on my best behavior because I will be joined my wonderful girlfriend Carrie. This will also be my first football season as a blogger, meaning you will get to read about every single game! Needless to say, I'm excited about Duck football season!

Too Hot? Grab a Slurpee

Much like the rest of the country, the state of Oregon was hit with a heat wave this week. In an effort to beat the heat I made almost daily trips to 7-11 to buy a Slurpee. I know they're loaded with sugar and they turn your tounge weird colors, but they taste so good! When it's 105 degrees out there is nothing more refreshing than a slurpee.

Tour de Fraud?

News broke this morning that this year's Tour de France winner failed a drug test because of that news I have removed all mention of him on my blog. This combined with a scandal that sent many top contenders home before the race even started is a black eye for the sport. It is my hope that he did not do anything wrong and that his name will cleared but at this point it doesn't look good.

The sports media has been raising the question today whether or not today's news should make us more suspicious of seven time winner Lance Armstrong and I say absolutely not. Lance has been tested over 300 times in his career and has never once had a positive test. Many of the allegations against him have been discredited and he has even won court cases against his accusers. While athletes like Barroid Bonds hide behind attornies, Armstrong has fought every single allegation against him and has been cleared of wrong doing every time. This years tour may have been a fraud but I have no reason to believe that the previous seven were.

My New Running Shoes

My new running shoes arrived today, I'm so excited about them that I'm taking a break from work to write about them. I 'm sure most of you will think that they're ugly but I think they're beautiful. I apolgize for the quality of the photo but it's the I could do with my phone.

Biking to Work

Today I decided it was time to get back on my bike. So this morning I got on bike at about 7:50 and headed off to work. Instead of biking in my work clothes I decided to wear shorts and a t-shirt and put my work clothes in my backpack. When I got to work I discovered that I only brought one black sock, so for today I'm wearing black dress pants with black dress shoes and really short white sock that you can't see so it looks like I'm wearing no socks! I have provided a picture of my bike for all of you and unlike Justin's picture this is my actual bike.

Too Hot

So it was 105 degrees in Eugene yesterday and 100 today! It supposed to cool down to the high 80's low 90's tommorrow, I can't wait!

I love Air Conditioning

The temp outside is supposed to reach 102 degrees today which is far too hot for me. I am actually excited about sitting in my cold air conditioned office for the day. After work I have to go to a wedding and since I'm reading a scripture during the wedding I have to put on a tie, I'm not looking forward to that. I feel really bad for the wedding party, I can't imagine wearing a full tux. Did I mention it's an outdoor wedding and it's supposed to be 97 degrees at 6:00 PM?

Because I Can

Since I truly believe that Dennis' Daily Rant will become the worlds best blog, I spent a whopping $2.99 to register www.dennisdailyrant.com for one year. So you can now enter www.dennisdailyrant.com to get the world famous Dennis' Daily Rant. Stay tuned for more exciting additions to Dennis' Daily Rant in the weeks to come.

A Heroic Performance

If you look back in the history of sports you will find several stories of athletes who played through injury or illness to lead their team to victory. There was Willis Reed in game seven of 1970 finals playing with a torn thigh muscle inspiring his team to victory. There was Kirk Gibson who leg was hurt so severely that he could barely walk coming in to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth in game one of the 1988 World Series and hitting a two run homer to win the game. There was Michael Jordan scoring 38 points in game five of 1997 NBA finals with the flu. Tonight something happened that will be talked about for years, the performance of Dennis Cook in City League Softball.

Bothered by a problem in my right eye all day I considered sitting out this evening's game. After lunch my eye was bothering me so bad that I had to take out my contacts and put on a backup pair of glasses that I keep in my car. At one point in the day I could barely open my eye, as the progressed I was able to open it but my vision was a little blurry and it felt like someone was sticking it with a needle. Knowing that we were playing the feared Micro Stars who are widely considered the best team in the league, I had no choice but to play.

Wearing glasses instead of contacts for the first time in my softball career I took the field at my usual first base. Through six innings I was 2-3 with three RBI (it is RBI not RBI's because runs batted ins makes no sense). We entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 10-7. I lead off the inning with a single. The next batter got a hit and as I was running to second I felt my hamstring pop. Clutching it in pain I asked for a pinch runner. City League rules allow for the last batter out to run for you and you don't have to leave the game. We scored three runs in seventh sending it to extra innings.

Since we had no subs left, I had to take the field in the eighth. I could barely walk but I made out there and prayed that a ball was not hit in my direction. We gave up two runs in the inning so we trailed 12-10. We scored two runs tying the game up. With two outs and a runner on third I limped to the plate. I could have tried to draw a walk and because of some bizzare rule would have been able to take second and the next batter would have automatically taken first thus loading the bases. Taking a walk in slow pitch softball is just a plain wuss move. I knew if I could just get the ball into the outfield I would be able limp into first before the throw and the runner on third would score. On the first pitch I hit a hard shot to the shortstop and I took off towards first, as I hobbled down the line at about 25% of my normal speed, the shortstop rifled it to first but threw it low and the first baseman was unable to grab it (a skilled defensive first baseman like myself would have gotten it). I reached first base base safely and we scored the winning run. Final score PCFCU 13 Micro Stars 12!

Butte to Butte Photo

Here's the one photo taken of me during the Butte to Butte. Hopefully my softball injury doesn't slow me down too much and I can return to running soon.

Year in Review Part I

One of my most popular posts ever on this blog was the two part year in review for 2005. This year I decided to something different, since the year is half over I’ve decided to part I of my 2006 year in review now. Stay tuned for part II in January.

January- It was an uneventful beginning to 2006, I attended a small get together at a friends house, consumed a few alcoholic beverages (not even close to how much I consumed in 2005) and that was about it. I took three days of vacation to begin year and did absolutely nothing, it was wonderful. On the fourth I watched USC choke away that National championship. On January 10, I celebrated my 29th birthday. A few friends took me out for dinner and that was about it. That also the day that I had my official weigh, I hit the scale at 223 pounds thus fulfilling my pledge to be under 225 pounds on my 29th birthday. January ended with a visit from my friends Pablo and Luis from Mexico.

February- This was the month that officially began training for the marathon. On the 5th as I was enjoying the Super Bowl I came down ill and started puking. This began a miserable evening of going between bowing at the porcelain throne and sitting on that same throne. After going to work for an hour to appear in court on behalf of the credit union I went home and slept the rest of the day. After a couple of days I felt much better and resumed my normal schedule. On February 14th my streak of Valentines day’s without a girlfriend extended to 29, I have a feeling that streak is not going to extend to 30. On President’s day I returned to the ski slopes, it was a great day of skiing and honoring dead presidents.

March- Early march was kind of quiet, nothing real exciting happened. Another NCAA tournament began without my beloved ducks and for some reason the coach kept his job. I celebrated ST Patrick’s day with a couple glasses of Irish stout and a cigar. I made my 11th trip to Mexico with First Baptist. It was another great trip it’s amazing to see the work that God is doing down there. I made my triumphant return to the Basketball court in Mexico and had a career high of twenty points one game.

April- I returned from Mexico on the second, I celebrated my return with a Corona. On the third I got sick again with the same thing I had on Super Bowl Sunday. That made for a miserable couple of days. On April 8th my roommate got married. On April 9th I was invited to lunch at a friends house after church, I didn’t think much of the invitation at the time but apparently it was a part of some master plan. I went over to my friend Andrew’s place thinking I was going to have lunch with him and his fiancé Liz, well I did but there was one other person there that I didn’t know was going to be there, her name was Carrie. I had met her a few months earlier but this was the first time I really talked to her. A few days later on the 13th I was invited out for drinks and guess who was there? I talked with her for most of the evening even though there were several others there. On the 15th I got up and ran twenty miles then I moved. That was not a fun day. The sixteenth was Easter, I spotted Carrie in the crowd at church and was going to say hi to her afterwards but I kind of chickened out and just left. On the 20th I was invited out for drinks again, this time there were just four of us and one of them happened to be Carrie.

May- The first couple of days of may were pretty quiet, nothing exciting. On Thursday May 4th I received a text message. I thought that was bizarre because nobody ever sends me text messages. The text message happened to be from Carrie, inviting me to join her and some of her friends for drinks. At this point I was starting to like this girl but was to much of coward to do anything about it. On Tuesday May 9th I was having dinner at my parents when my phone rang, guess who it was? We hung out at Starbucks for about three hours that night. Two days later we hung out at McMenimens for a couple of hours. The next few days were pretty normal marathon training, laundry and eating. May 18th was the first official date, we played miniature golf, loser had to buy ice cream. I won buy two strokes so she had to buy ice cream. After ice cream we ended up at the beach. After hanging out several more times over the next week we finally had our talk. Memorial Day weekend I went up to Portland and helped Justin remodel his kitchen. That was also the weekend that I met Carrie’s parents.

June- On June 3rd I ran my marathon, I finished with a respectable time of 3:25:07. My family and a small group of friends were there to cheer me on at the finish. The rest of June was a pretty quiet month. I hung out with Carrie quite a bit and went to work that’s about it.
Well there’s the first half 2006 stay tuned for part II in January.

The Major League All Star Game

Tommorrow is the annual Major League Baseball All Star Game. Of the three major sports Baseball has the best all star game. That being said I do have some issues with it.

First is the rule that every team has to be represented. This is ridiculous, All Star games are for the best players, if a team does not have someone deserving of All Star appearence they shouldn't be represented. The 31-56 Kansas City Royals have no one worthy of being named to the All Star team however because of this rule a 6-4 pitcher with 5.27 ERA was selected to the All Star game.

My other problem is the fact that home field adavantage for the World Series is awarded to the winning league. An exhibition game in July should have absolutely no impact on the World Series. Home field adavantage should be given to the team with the best record, that's the way Basketball doesn't and it seems to work just fine for them.

If those two small issues could be corrected the Major League Baseball All Star Game would be great but for now it just very good which is more than can be said about the Pro Bowl or the NBA All Star Game.

Soccer: What a Joke!

I am so happy that this joke of a soccer tournament is finally over. Yesterday's final proved what I've been saying all along, "soccer sucks". How is it that a sport can end their biggest game, a game that only happens once every four years, in a shootout? Why not keep playing until someone scores a goal? Was the capri sun getting warm? Were the orange slices starting to dry out? Could you imagine baseball settling game seven of the world series with a home run derby? Maybe the NBA could settle a tie in the finals with a game of horse. A shootout is in no way is a test of skill, it is all about which team gets lucky. Neither team's goalie was able to get a stop yesterday, Italy won because a french player kicked a ball about an inch too high. Fortunately for all of us we don't have to hear about this riduclous sport for four more years, and maybe if we're lucky the US won't qualify for it!

Have I Gone Too Far?

Today I did something that I almost feel ashamed of. I went to lunch with my girlfriend, not having time to go to a sit down place we went to Wendy's. Fast food used to be one of the staples of my diet, I would pound a double cheeseburger, large fries and a big beverage almost daily. I used to laugh and make fun of the people that would walk into a fast food joint and order a salad. Today I became "salad guy"! For the first time in my life I ordered a salad at a fast food place! My lunch consisted of a chicken caesar salad and a diet pepsi. It was actually quite tasty but I'm worried I've gone too far. Two years ago most of my firends would have said there was a better chance of me cheering for the beavers in the civil war than me going to a fast food joint and ordering a salad. I may have to redeem myself tommorrow and go to Carl's JR and order the double western bacon cheeseburger, large fries and a large Pepsi (not diet).

Another Race

It's been one month and one day since I finished my first (of many, hopefully) marathon. Since then I've got a little lazy in my training, taking days off, running shorter distances and loading up on junk food. In order to achieve the goals that I've set for my next marathon, I'm going to have to step it up a notch. Meaning I'm going to have to eat better and train harder. Today I took my first step in that direction. I participated in the 33rd annual Butte to Butte, it's a little 10 k (6.2 miles) that starts at Spencer Butte Middle School and finishes at Skinner's Butte Park. This was the fourth time that I've participated in this Eugene tradition, the last time being 1990. Going into the race my goal was 44 minutes, a very attainable time but difficult, due to my laziness over the last month. I blazed through my first mile in 7 minutes 12 seconds, pretty fast considering that the first mile takes you up the infamous "hill". I ran the second mile which was all downhill in just over 6 minutes. After mile two I settled into the pace that would carry me to mile four. I hit a small wall between miles four and five, but caught a second wind that carried me all the way to the finish. My time was a decent 41 minutes 26 seconds good enough for 103rd place out of 1841 runners. I was happy with the time but a little frustrated that I missed the top 100 by just nine seconds.

2006 Butte to Butte Results

The World's Greatest Athlete?

One the most debated question in all of sports is, "Who's the world's greatest athlete?". I think we can finally end this silly debate, the world's greatest athlete is none other than competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi. Kobayashi is the five time defending champion in in the sport's most prestigious event, the annual "Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest". In 2004 he broke his world record by consuming 53.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes. In addition to hot dogs he also holds world records in cow brains, rice balls and krystal hamburgers. He is currently the number one ranked competitive eater in the world. Tommorrow he will defend his hot dog eating crown against a field that includes upstart American Joey Chestnutt and I believe in the end he will win the title for the sixth consecutive time, further solidifying his status as the "world's greatest athlete".

Back to Normal

I know that there were some concerned people when they came to my blog and saw the OSU Beaver logo just under my title and post entiled go beavers with the words to the OSU fight song. Don't worry I was just joking around it was similar to the load of BS that I gave you all back in January about being a seahawk fan.

An Amusing Video

This dude has some serious issues.

Go Beavers!!!

OSU, our hats are off to you

Beavers, Beavers, fighters through and through

We'll root for every man, we'll cheer for every stand

That's made for old OSU.

Watch our team go tearing down the field

Men of iron, their strength will never yield.

Hail, hail, hail, hail Hail to old OSU.

OSU BEAVERS 2006 NCAA Baseball National Champions

Softball Update

My team had a breakthrough game last night beating the "Cats With Bats" 17-12. I was tempted to wear my yellow shorts but in the end I went with black ones. I did go with a different pair of shoes, ditching the traditional black ones in favor of bright red ones. I also wore my sunglasses with orange lenses even though it was dark most of the game. I was 4-4 for the game all my hits were singles, two of them were infield singles that I beat the throw something that I could not have done a year ago. No game next week in honor of the fourth of July, so check back in two weeks for my next update.

Rodents 3 Tar Heels 2

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!

OSU still needs 11 National titles to catch up with the Ducks!

Carolina on my Mind

Here comes Carolina-lina.
Here comes Carolina-lina.
We hail from NCU.
We've got the spirit in it.
We've got the team to win it.
We wear the colors white and blue,
So it's fight, fight, fight for Carolina
As Davey did in days of old
As we gather round the Well
Cheer that Tar Heel team like hell
For the glory of NCU.

I'm a Tar Heel born.
I'm a Tar Heel bred.
And when I die I'll be a Tar Heel dead.
So it's rah rah Carolina-lina.
Rah rah Carolina-lina.
Rah rah Carolina-lina--go to hell State!

GO TAR HEELS

BEAT THE RODENTS!!!!!

OSU "Rodent" Baseball

The Oregon State "Rodents" as I affectionately call them are in the championship series of the College World Series. A lot of my fellow Duck fans are cheering for them, I am not. I've heard the arguements such Oregon doesn't even have a baseball team or the OSU team is loaded with kids from the state of Oregon. I honestly don't care how many kids on that team are from Oregon, I don't care that the U of O doesn't even have a Baseball team. As long as a team is wearing Balck and Orange uniforms that say Beavers on them I can't cheer for them.

"The Beautiful Game"

So I know I've been a little hard on the so called "beautiful game" on this blog, so this morning after my run I decided to give it another chance. I turned my television over to Univision since I don't have ESPN and sat down and watched Mexico play Argentina. It was 1-1 in the first half when I turned the game on, I thought this could be interesting. What I was subjected to was some of most boring television I've ever watched. For over an hour I've watch a bunch of dudes with bad haircuts kick this stupid ball around, I do not see how people can actually find this exciting. This makes two hours of Senate debate on CSPAN look exciting (Argentina just scored, Thank God it's finally over!!). Since (Wait they're still playing! Could someone please explain to me how this dumb overtime they use works?) I started watching the game I had time to walk to the local convience store, take a nap, talk to my girlfriend on the phone, make lunch and take a shower before I saw a goal scored. This sport is awful please give me football, baseball, basketball, nascar, poker, strongman competitions, hot dog eating contests anything but soccer!

0-3 (I refuse to recognize the tie, it's a loss!)

Congratulations to what was being touted as the best USA Soccer team ever. Their performance in that soccer tournament over in Germany has set soccer back about twenty years in this country and I couldn't happier about it. It was a brilliant performance by team USA and their coach Bruce Arena.

I must mention that I predicted a three and out on this blog on April 11, 2006:

"If the US doesn't step it up in 58 days (thanks Justin for the countdown clock) it's going to be three and out for Bruce Arena's boys in the World Cup."

Soccer Update Dennis' Daily Rant April 11, 2006


I know I was a little hard on my friend Justin on this blog earlier this week, actually it was his Braves but I feel like I would be doing a disservice to my readers if I didn't post his comment in response to my prediction:

"3 and out. Sounds like Jake Plummeter's Broncos, not the ranked-higher-than-England USA soccer program."

Justin Ubel April 11, 2006

Jake Plummer's Broncos were one win from playing for a championship while that "ranked-higher-than-England USA soccer program." performed about as well as Walter Mondale did in the 1984 Presidential election .

Football Fashion

Since I have a ten minute break I've decided to take a moment and comment on the new Duck Football uniforms which were unveiled today. This is third major redesign of the Duck Uniforms since 1999. I'm sure most people will think these are ugly much like they did the previous uniforms but I actually like them. They're different and I think that's why I like them. Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of the simple traditional uniforms that you see at USC, Notre Dame, Penn State and Michigan, the Oregon uniform style would never work at one of those schools but for Oregon they work because as we all know Oregon is different.

Oregon Takes Next Step in Uniform Development

Atlanta Braves Progress Report

About a month ago Justin Ubel promised periodic updates on the progress of the Atlanta Braves. Since that post I have yet to see another update on the braves on his blog. I know he's been busy with the kitchen and vacation and all so I figured since our blogs have a lot of common readers that I would go ahead and provide you all with an update. As of right now (5:27 PM PDT June 20, 2006) the Braves sit in last plast in the NL east only 13.5 games behind the division leading New York Mets. It's also worth noting that they have lost seven straight. It looks like this will be the year that their meaningless streak of 14 straight division titles comes to an end. If Justin fails to provide updates on the braves in the future don't worry because I will gladly keep all of you up to date.

Softball

We got waxed 25-9! An all around frustrating game where I went 0-1 for the game, committed an error in the field and had a brief venting of my frustation during the game. Hopefully I get more than one plate appearance next week otherwise I may ask for a trade to a contender.

On a related note despite my readers voting for the lightning yellow shorts I ended up wearing black shorts last night. In the end there was only one vote that counted.

Sometimes I'm an Idiot

When I do something stupid I have no problem making fun of myself for it. Before work today, I decided it was time to empty my trash. So on my way out the door I grabbed the trash bag and in my other hand I was holding my lunch. When I got to the dumpster I threw away not only my trash but also my lunch. Instead of dumpster diving for my lunch I decided to pack another lunch, what a waste! I guess I shouldn't take my trash out while carrying my lunch next time.

Another Reason I Don't Like Soccer

The US played Italy to 1-1 tie today, which raises the question why isn't there overtime in soccer? I've never gotten a soccer apoligist to give me a legitimate answer to this question. Football, Baseball, Basketball and hockey all use some sort of overtime. A tie is meaningless in my mind it's not any better than a loss. Hey soccer people you could make your sport far more exciting if you added a sudden death overtime to break ties.

Tony Dungy: Amazing Grace

I found this story on espn.com. I have to admit I was never much of a fan of Tony Dungy or the Indianapolis Colts but after reading this story I had to ask myself, how can I not cheer for this guy? Here's the link to it, I definately think it's worth checking out.

Tony Dungy: Amazing Grace

And Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It happened again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How hard can it be to start a new pot of coffee?

Coffee

Something has happened to me twice this morning at work that has me so upset that I'm taking my morning break to complain about it. Twice I've gone to pour myself a cup of coffee this morning and both times the pot has been empty. It is common courtesy at the workplace that if you take the last cup of coffee from the coffee pot that you put on a new pot. Twice I've had to make a new pot because the last person to take take coffee was too lazy to do so. If you work in an office and you pour the last cup of coffee please put on a new pot!

Play Ball

After months of anticipation I made my long awaited city league softball debut last night. This my first appearence on the Softball field since intramurals at the University of Oregon in 1999. For my debut I wore my lightning yellow Duck Basketball shorts and a blue and gray jersey with the number 7. My wonderful girlfriend Carrie gave me a little flack for my shorts and jersey not matching but It's softball I don't think my clothes need to match. To keep everybody happy though I have decided that I will wear my black shorts next week. I started at first base and hit a single in my only at bat, we lost 8-2. I will continue give you all updates as the season goes on. Hopefully next week we can score a win over the "Agate Crushers".

Soccer Update

Just as I predicted the US lost 3-0 to Czech Republic in that soccer tournament over in Germany. Tomas Rosicky Led the Czech Republic with two goals, the other goal was scored on Jan Koller's header. After the game the US players had Capri Sun and Orange slices provided by Landon Donavan's mom. It is believed that Demarcus Beasley's mom was in charge of the pre and post game carpool in her 1999 Ford Windstar.

The US plays Italy on Saturday, I'm predicting another 3-0 loss for Bruce Arena's boys. In a related note the domain www.firebrucearena.com is still available.

The Missing Link

I recently removed a link to a certain website from my blog. That link had been on my blog since the very beginning. I'll let you all figure out what link it was and why I took it off.