Back in the USA

I'm sitting on a computer in the lobby of Amerisuites in Ontario, Ca. I returned to the United States today. I had a great time in Mexico and I promise I'll blog more later.

Gone-Zaga!!!!!

I know I said my last entry would be my last one for awhile but I couldn't resist commenting on the choke job by the Gonzaga Bulldogs tonight. Seeing the Bulldogs squander a nine point lead in the closing minutes brought some joy to what has otherwise been a miserable tournament for me. Once again Gonzaga has failed to prove the skeptics like myself wrong, what they were able prove tonight is that they still are not a legimate college Basketball power! Therefore I have no choice but to still call them the "Biggest Fraud in College Basketball"!

Dennis Cook: International Man of Mystery

This will probably be my final post for awhile. Tommorrow morning I'll be heading down to Mexico with a group of high school students from my church for a week. I thought about hiring a guest blogger to keep my blog alive while I'm gone but I don't think there's anyone out there that can blog to the high standards that this blog has set. So while I'm away go ahead and take a look at some of my previous posts. I will be back, I promise!

Soccer Update

Just to prove to everyone that I'm not a total soccer hater, here's a soccer update for all of you. The United States lost to Germany in an international friendly today 4-1. Bastian Schweinstager opend the scoring for the Germans with a goal in 46th minute. In the second half the Germans went a scoring barage scoring three goals in a seven minute period (Oliver Neuville (73), Miroslav Klose (75), Michael Ballack (79) ). Steve Cherundolo scored the United State's only goal in the 86th minute. It looks like coach Bruce Arena has a lot of work to do in the next 79 days to get these guys ready for the World Cup.

My Readers Have Spoken: Soccer is a Stupid Sport!

The voting wasn't even close, the readers of Dennis' Daily Rant unanimously voted that soccer is a stupid sport in my latest poll. This is the first time in the History of Dennis' Daily Rant that the voting has been unanimous in my weekly poll. Now I know soccer huligans like Justin will argue that my poll wasn't legit but I think the numbers speak for themselves. Seven people voted and they all agreed that soccer is a stupid sport. In the issue of fairness I've decided to post another poll asking if my previous poll was legit. I will announce the results before I head off to Mexico on Friday.

Another Random Fact about Calvin Coolidge

In 1890 Calvin Coolidge's father Colonel John Coolidge built the Plymouth Cheese Factory. The building still stands today in Plymouth Notch Vermont on the "President Calvin Coolidge Historical Site"

My Tournament Bracket

The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is over and I have ripped my bracket in half. Only eight teams that I picked made it to the sweet sixteen and two of my final four picks are allready gone. I have no idea why I waste my time filling one of these dumb things out every single year. It is a total waste of time!

A Random Fact About the Thirtieth President of the United States of America

Calvin Coolidge was sworn in on August 23, 1923 while vacationing in Vermont. His father a Notary Public administered the oath.

The World Baseball Classic

Because Justin requested it here's my take on the World Baseball Clasic:

How about team USA? Yesterday they were eliminated from the World Baseball Classic by Mexico. For the tournament they went 2-4 their only wins coming over South Africa and Mexico in first round pool play. The record will show that they also beat Japan in the first game of the second round but the 73 home runs Barroid Bonds hit in 2002 are more legitimate than that game. If I really cared or if this tournament actually meant something, I might be upset that the United States got their butt's kicked by the rest of the world in their national pastime. I'm only slightly more interested in this thing than I will be in that world soccer thing coming up this summer which gets less interest in this country than the Westminster Dog Show. So that's my take and this is the last time that you see the World Baseball Classic mentioned on this Blog.

Thank You CBS!

I'm sitting in my office at work watching the NCAA tournament on my computer, what a beautiful thing!

A Sad Day for Duck Hoops

AD Bill Moos has decided to retain coach Ernie Kent, this is a lousy descision that is going to do nothing but run the Oregon Basketball program into the ground. This program is sinking faster than the Titinac and by not making the move this year it's going to take years to recover. As an Alumn and an avid supporter of University of Oregon Athletics I'm outraged. If Ernie proves me wrong and turns around this program, I will gladly admit that I was wrong but I highly doubt that will be the case.

Satement from AD Bill Moos

March Madness

March Madness starts Thursday and if you're like me you'll be stuck at work all day and unable to watch much of the first round. CBS has come up with the ultimate solution, they're offering all the first and second round games on the internet for free! That means on Thursday and Friday I'll be able to watch the tournament right from my desk at work. They have a limited number of spots available and they're going fast so if you want to sign up go to http://www.ncaasports.com/mmod today

Audio of my Jim Rome Email

Here's the Audio Clip of my Email from the Jim Rome Show with his comments regarding my "Wars".

Jim Rome Email Clip

Ernie Kent Haiku

Ernie Kent can't coach

Fire him Bill Moos must do

Replace with Mark Few

Dennis Goes National

For over a year I have been emailing a local sports radio show and have established myself as the show's best emailer. I've made a few attemps in the past year to go national and email the Jim Rome Show but my emails never got read. Today that all changed the following email got read on the show, I will advise you that if you've never listened to the Jim Rome Show you probably won't understand the email:

Dear Jim

What do you mean the play in game doesn't matter?

The Womens NIT

War Oregon Firing Ernie Kent, War Mike Bellotti growing back his pornstache

Dennis
Eugene, OR

My Top Five Coaches to replace Ernie Kent

Even though I doubt Bill Moos will do the right thing and relieve Ernie Kent of his coaching duties, I've still decided to post my wish list of the top five coaches to replace Ernie Kent. Here they are no particular order.

Mark Few- Gonzaga
A 1987 graduate of the University of Oregon and a native of Creswell, Oregon. In seven seasons as Gonzaga coach the Bulldogs have made seven NCAA tournament appearences and have won six WCC championships. He excellant talent evaluator and an outstanding X's and O's coach. I have been critical of Few's Gonzaga program at times but that has nothing to with his coaching ability. He has taken Gonzaga as they can go and I believe that he would be an outstanding coach in Pac 10 conference





Mike Montgomery- Golden State Warriors
A proven winner in the Pac 10, closed out his tenure at Stanford with ten straight NCAA Tournament appearences. Also madeone final four appearence and has been named National Coach of the year. He's an outstanding recruiter and talent developer. He's currently the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the NBA but is considered to be on the hot seat. Would be an excellent choice.





Mark Turgeon- Witchita State
The former number one assistant at Oregon under Jerry Greene, he should have been hired to replace Greene however Moos went with Ernie Kent. Considered by many to be the most sought after coach in college basketball this offseason. NBA head coach Larry Brown called him the best X's and O's coach he's eever worked with.




Don Newman- San Antonio Spurs
Spent one year as an assistant at Oregon before moving on to the NBA. Has spent the last two years as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs and was an assistant with the Milwaukie Bucks prior to that. Served one year as the interim head coach at Arizona State but was mysteriously passed up for the full time possition. Considered a great teacher, he would make an outstanding head coach at the college level





Jeff Bzdelik- Air Force
Has done an outstanding job at Air Force leading them 24-5 record this year. Prior to Air Force he was the head coach of the Denver Nuggets and has also worked as an nba assistant under Pat Riley and George Karl. He's a workaholic and runs a very disciplined style of basketball. He may be exatly what Oregon needs.






Two other coaches who may warrent some consideration are Greg Graham from Boise State and Bobby Braswell from Cal State Northridge. Both are former Oregon assistants who have had some success as head coaches. However I wouldn't put them in the same class as my top five.

Cal 91 Oregon 87 2OT

No Comment

Starbucks or Dutch Bros. ?

Last fall I switched from Starbucks to Dutch Bros. and the switch had absolutely nothing to do with coffee. I eventually went back to Starbucks, today I went back Dutch Bros. and realized why I made the switch in the place. So I'm happy to announce that I am once again a Dutch Bros. guy and I don't see myself switching back anytime soon. Again this has nothing to do with the coffee.

A Few Thoughts

Can the Ducks pull off a miracle? They're one step closer to making it to the big dance with an 84-73 victory over the #12 Washington Huskies. Now they're just two victories from making the NCAA Tournament and 8 victories away from a National title. Next up is the Cal Golden Bears Friday night at 8:50 PM. I must note these last two games have not made me change my opinion on head coach Ernie Kent. However if they win two more games I'd be willing to give him another year.

Since I'm such a huge soccer guy I figured sure another ridiculous story from the world of soccer. The New York Metrostars of the MLS have been sold to Red Bull. I have no problem with a corperation purchasing a professional sports franchise however the new owners have renamed the team "Red Bull of New York". I've come to accept corperate names on stadiums but renaming a team is going to far. I just hope that this doesn't start a trend in American Sports. Otherwise we'll soon be seeing teams selling off their names to make a buck or two.

Finally a good friend of mine brought it to my attention that I omitted two phrases that I commonly use in regards to my dating life in my blog about internet dating. The first is the "Two Date Wall", which refers to my inability to land a third date. It's been two dates and done for me with the last several gals that I've dated. The second phrase is "kicked to the curb" which describes what happens to me after the second date. She decides she wants nothing to with me and she kicks me to the curb like the trash from her kitchen.

Snow?

It's March 9 and it's snowing! That's ridiculous, I'm ready for spring!

My Internet Dating Experiences

Before I get to my long awaited blog about the world of internet dating, I do have a few business items to take care of. First the Oregon Ducks are now just nine wins from a national title, the beat Washington State tonight. Tommorrow they face the hated Washington Huskies at 8:30 PM on Fox Sports Net. Second item of business is my NCAA tournament pool that I previously announced, sign up today. It's only $10 bucks and if you live outside the greater Eugene-Springfield Metropolitin area you can pay via paypal or US mail.

Now as promised my long awaited blog on Internet Dating

As a single 29 year old Christian male there aren't many places to meet quality women. There's the bar scene, but I'm not really into that and I don't of too many single Christian women who are either. There's church which can be a good place but it seems like everyone at my church is either married or way too young. There's the career group, more commonly known as the singles group at the church, but those groups always seem to be filled with a bunch of socially awkward people who don't understand what a personal bubble is. There's friends, but it seems like everytime a friend has tried to set me up it's been a failure. Then there's the internet. Years ago I thought internet dating was just for desperate losers but I've come to realize it 's actually a good place to meet people.

On and off for the past seven years I've been of member of least one internet dating site. In fact just moments ago I was sign on at Eharmony.com. Three times in my life I've actually meet someone in person off of one of these sites. I can't say any of them were a success in fact I would I consider all three complete failures.

First there was Alexis who I met on matchmaker.com seven years ago. We met for coffee at the campus Starbucks and talked for awhile, it went ok. We actually agreed to get together one more time, for our second meeting we went to a Duck Football game. It was at the game that I realized she wasn't right for me. After the game we walked back to campus and at the end day I told her I'd call her later on. I never called, I was a jerk! Several times that school year I saw her but I managed to avoid her seeing me. That was until one day in March at the U of O bookstore. I was leaving just a she was coming in. It may have been the most awkward 30 second conversation I've ever had. It was pleasant and we went our seperate ways and I never saw her again.

Second there was Melissa whom I met six years ago on yahoo personals. She lived in Salem, so one Friday night I made the one hour drive up to Salem to meet her. We had dinner at Red Robin it was an OK time, except for the fact that three of her friends happened to be at the same restaraunt that night. After that night we emailed a couple more times but it just wasn't meant to be. She just kind of dissapeared after a couple emails.

Finally there was Andrea who I met on eharmony last June. We met for dinner one night and had a great time. After a few emails and a two hour phone conversation we had our second date, again we had a great time. As we said goodbye we discussed date number three, it was definatly going to happen or so I thought. The phone calls and emails went unreturned until about to weeks later when I got an email that read something like this "I really enjoyed getting together and you seem like a really neat guy but I don't see us being anything more than friends". That was the last time I ever heard from her. That may have been the best thing to happen to me though because it was after that that I made some changes. Even though I made that pledge to cut a few pounds several months earlier, it was only after Andrea booted me that I started running 800,000 miles a week. I wonder what she'd think if she saw me now.

So those are my experiences in the world of internet dating. It hasn't been too so successful but neither has using more traditional means. So I'll keep on trying, not real hard though because I actually enjoy being single for now.

Dennis' Bracket Challenge

I'm putting together a NCAA Tournament Pool and I'm extending an open invitation to all of my readers. I've set everything up using CBS Sportsline's Bracket Manager. Ten Dollars gets you in and once the tournament selctions are announced on Sunday you'll be able to make your picks. If you want to participate please send me an email at superduckdc@hotmail.com and I will send you instructions on how to get set up and how to get your money to me, I do have options for you out of town folks. I need at least ten people to make it work which I don't think will be a problem and feel free to invite your friends. More People=More Money.

Soccer

Before I begin my rant about soccer, I need to address Gonzaga Basketball. After watching them escape with another narrow victory over powerhouse Loyola Marymount, I think we can put to rest rest any talk of them being a legimate college basketball power. They've proved in recent weeks that they deserve no better than a five seed in the big dance. I have my doubts whether they'll even win a game in the big dance. I don't know who that person is who voted in my poll that they'll win three or more games but I sure hope you're in my tournament pool because that's one less person that I have to worry about winning the whole thing.

Now onto soccer. Those who know me well, know that I always plenty to say about a lot of things. In fact that's one of the reasons why I decided to start this blog. One those subjects that I have a lot to say about is Soccer. I'm a huge sports fan, I will watch football, baseball, basketball, cycling, golf, tennis and even an occasional Nascar race but one sport that I won't watch is soccer. Why is that? There are numerous reasons but the bottom line is that I hate soccer.

I haven't always felt this way about soccer. In fact from first through third grade I was an accomplished soccer player. Every Saturday in the Spring and Fall me and my friends would pile into my parents 1972 Chevy Impala and head off to a soccer game, after every game we would enjoy Capri Sun and orange slices. My team was terrible but our goalie kept us in every game. No one could get anything by him, he was a stopper unfortanatly he did not get much help from the offense. Our goalie became so frustrated that he gave up soccer after third grade in order to pursue a football career. That goalie happened to be me.

After college I moved up to Portland and soon I started following soccer. A couple of my friends got me hooked on the sport. I found myself watching English Premier league games on Fox Sports world, I was checking for soccer news on ESPN.COM and I started going to Portland Timbers games. I remember watching the first game of 2002 World Cup between France and Senagal at a friends house at 5:00 AM on a Friday. It only got worse after that, I stayed up until 3:00 AM on a work day to watch the US play South Korea. For much of the World Cup I was in Ecuador, when the US played Germany in the quaterfinals I was listening to it on a radio in Spanish with someone translating all the action for me. I remember being so dissapointed when I was unable to find a Ecuador jersey in a size XXL, apparently there aren't any fat people in Ecuador. After Ecuador my love for soccer didn't die. I found myself going to more Timbers games, Thursday's were always my favorite because they had $1.00 Bud and Bud Light. It couldn't get any better 8 Bud lights and a Soccer game. I started watching more soccer on TV and even purchased a jersey of my Favorite team Manchester united. On a couple occassions I went to an English pub called the Horse's Ass or something like that on a Saturday morning to watch Soccer and enjoy an authentic English Breakfast. On a summer night in 2003 I went up to Seattle with a few friends to see Manchester United take on Glascow Celtic (?). Shortly after that I had an intervention with myself, I realized that if I didn't change my ways soon that there would be no hope for me, I would become a full fledged soccer hoodlum. After much personal reflection I came to the realization that I hated soccer.

Now that you know my background, I'll try to explain to you why I hate this sport. I often hear soccer lovers refer to the sport as the "Beautiful Game". There is nothing beautiful about the sport of soccer. Games are too long and too slow. It's not uncommon to see a soccer game finish in a 0-0 tie. When a goal is scored players act like complete fools often ripping their jerseys off in celebration. There's also the haircuts, you'll see more mullets a soccer field than you'd see at an NRA convention. And these mullets aren't the dry feathery American mullets, they're the oily, drippy Euro Mullets.

In recent years I've read many bizarre stories involving the sport of soccer. These include stories of fan violence, players shooting refs and most recently a player being traded for meat. A Romanian second division team sold their best player to another team for fifteen kilos of meat. However that player decided to retire, so the team lost their best player and lost out on a weeks worth of food for the team. I don't think you'll be reading about an NFL team shipping off a player in exchange for 30 pounds of Prime rib anytime soon.

One thing I've never been able to figure out about soccer is how the clock works. Normal sports have quarters or halves where the clock counts down and stops when the situation dictates. Not soccer, the clock moves up and doesn't stop. At the end of every half the ref arbitrarly adds some time to the games. Wouldn't it be easier if they kept time like a real sport does.

Those are just a few reason I don't like soccer, there are many more that I didn't even go into. Perhaps as we get closer to the world cup I can give you a few more reason. This just in, The Philadelphia Eagles have traded Terrell Owens to the Broncos for three cases of Coors Light.

10 Wins From a National Title

If the Ducks win 10 games in a row starting Wednesday in the first round of the Pac 10 tournament they will be the 2006 National Champions. If that happens I'll take every thing I said about Ernie Kent in recent weeks back.

A Preview of the Week Ahead

Last week I put a poll up to let my readers decide what I should blog about. The results are in and the response was overwhelming. There was a three way tie in the voting so I've decided to give my readers what they want. So this week I will be blogging about soccer, online dating and 80's Christian music. In addition to that I'm planning to blog again about my favorite college basketball coach, Ernie Kent.

Disgraceful

Oregon State 65 Oregon 62

A memo to Ernie Kent-
Thank you for ruining the University of Oregon Basketball program. On Monday morning please walk down the hall to Bill Moos' office and submit your resignation. You owe it to all the fans and alumni of this fine institution. Do the right thing Ernie!

A memo to Bill Moos-
If you don't have Ernie's resignation on your desk by 10:00 AM Monday please call him to your office and tell him that his services are no longer needed. You owe it to all the fans and alumini of this fine institution. Do the right thing Bill!

PS- If you ever want that new arena you know this has to be done.

Marathon Training Update

This morning I ran sixteen miles, that is two miles longer than my previous high of fourteen. It was rough at times but I finished in a respectable 1:57.08. Next week it goes up to eighteen miles and then in two weeks the big twenty miler before I shut things down for a week to go to Mexico.

Here's one more reason the Ducks need a new basketball coach, they are 1-23 vs. teams in the RPI top 50 over the last three seasons. I think with my basketball knowledge I could have at least coached them to two wins!

Goodbye Ernie?

Another dissapointing Men's basketball season at the University of Oregon will soon be over. Anything short of winning the Pac 10 tournament should result in head coach Ernie Kent losing his job. I could probably stay up all night listing all the reasons coach Kent should be shown the door but Im not going to bore you with that. I'll just give you a couple reasons why I think a change is needed.

In his nine seasons (that includes this year) at Oregon, the Ducks have made the NCAA tournament just three times. With the resources that the Athletic department has, I see no reason why the Ducks can't be playing in the NCAA tournament almost every year. Now I understand Oregon is not Kansas, Duke, U Conn or even Arizona but three tournament appearences in nine years is pathetic.

Since the elite 8 run of 2002 the performance of this team has been in a steady declince. In 2001-2002 they went and 26-9 overall and 14-4 in conference, in 02-03 they went 23-10 and 10-8, 18-13 and 9-9 in 03-04 and 14-13 and 6-12 in 04-05. With a win over Oregon State on Saturday they'll finish 13-16 and 8-10 in conference. The slight in improvement in the conference record can be attributed to the Pac 10 being a very weak conference this year. Of their twelve wins this year only came against teams with a winning record (USC, Arizona and Pacific). I look at these numbers and I see a disturbing trend. I've heard several people argue that they lost three players to NBA from the 2002 team and that's why their record has declined. Good programs are able to replace talent on yearly basis and continue to play at high level.

I've got a bunch of other reasons that I can share with you at a later date. I sincerely wish Ernie Kent the best on all of his future endeavors, I just hope none of them are at the University of Oregon.