7 years ago today

Seven years ago today the world was forever changed. It was a day in which we saw the absolute worst in humanity but through that terrible series of events 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 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!!!

Week 2 Pac 10 Rankings

1. SUC- I am almost ready to declare the Trojans the National champs.
2. Oregon- Set a school record for total offense but they were playing a high school team.
3. ASU- They accomplished what OS(U) couldn't, they beat the nerds.
4. Cal- I would be impressed but WSU is terrible.
5. UCLA- There first game was against No. 18 Tennessee. Their second is against No. 18 BYU.
6. Arizona- The Mildcats have outscored their opponents 111-16.
7. Stanford- I hear they have a good volleyball program.
8. OS(U)- Two of my co-workers told me on Friday that the Rodents were going to beat Penn State. Both of them were Mysteriously absent today.
9. Washington- As much as I hate the dawgs, I must admit that was lame call by the officials.
10. WSU- If this was European Soccer, the Cougs would be facing demotion at the end of the season.

Pac 10 Rankings- Week 1

1. Sarah Palin- The Next Vice President of The United States of America!!!!
2. SUC- Next week they will return to their rightful spot at the top
3. Oregon- Anything less than a 40 point victory over Utah State will be a dissapointment.
4. ASU- Sun Devils will roll Stanford
5. Cal- Impressive victory of Michigan State
6. UCLA- They got lucky
7. Stanford- I called it
8. Arizona- 70-0 over Idaho. Big deal!
9. Oregon State- Soon to be 0-2
10. WSU- They're terrible
11. Washington- They may be worse than the Cougs.

Preseason Pac 10 Rankings

Thank God football season is almost here. Now I can go back to blogging about I blog about best and that's the Great American Sport of Football. Being an election year, I may have a few random musings about the presidential election (which I'm saying is a tossup as of now) but the majority of my blog entries from now until January will be about football. Since weekly Pac 10 rankings were wildly successful last year, I've decided to bring them back for another year. So here are my first weekly Pac 10 rankings for the 2008 college football season:

1. SUC- The Trojans are just too good

2. Oregon- No Costa, No problem! Roper (Maybe Masoli) and the Ducks will shine in 2008.

3. ASU- Look for a big year out of Judy Carpenter and the Sun Devils but it won't get them any farther than El Paso.

4. OS(U)- Tough choice on Thursday night. OS(U)-Stanford or Barack Obama's convention speech.

5. Cal- Another mediocre year for the Bears.

6. Arizona- Mike Stoopid and the Mildcats finally go Bowling.

7. UCLA- The Bruins will struggle in 2008 but watch out for them in 2009.

8. Washington- The Dawgs will improve but not enough to save Ty Willingham's job.

9. Stanford- Watch out for my week one upset. Stanford will beat OS(U)

10. WSU- The Cougs will go for perfection in the Pac 10 but might just blow in the Apple Cup.

The 1:00 AM text message

I'll admit that curiosity got to me and I signed up to recieve Barack Obama's big text message announcement. There was a small problem with this whole text message thing though, his choice got leaked to the media last night. It was all over the news that Joe Biden was the choice last night. I figured that I would recieve a text message this morning around say 8:00 or 9:00 making the announcement but at 1:00 AM this morning I got the text message announcing what the whole world already knew! Why would a campaign wake people up at a ridiculous hour to announce something that everybody already knew? I must be honest and say that my phone was on silent so it did not wake me up but what about his millions of followers who signed up for this? Did it wake them up? Any chance of me voting for the Junior Senator from the State of Illinois (which allready was almost zero) has now been flushed down the toilet with the campaign's attempt to wake me up at 1:00 AM! I got a piece of advice for you Barack instead of being hip with the whole text message thing, next time just use an old fashioned press release or news conference because nobody wants to be woke up by old news.

Now a small thought on the pick itself. I wouldn't say he struck out with this pick but it certainly isn't a home run either. I'll score at a single and as a McCain supporter I'm quite happy with that.

A Text message?

Senator Obama is going to tell his supporters who his running mate is, via text message. I've got one response to that:

"LOL"

A word to runners

If your T-shirt hangs lower than your shorts, that means your shorts are too short.

Get lost Brett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know about any of you but I am sick an tired of Brett Favre. The guy held an an emotional press conference less than six months ago, saying that he was done. Now he says he wants to play again but his team doesn't want him back. Good for the Packers! For that alone the Packers are my new second favorite team after Denver. Brett Favre is a higher maintnence individual than Paris Hilton and I'm not exagerating when I say that. Personally I have no desire to watch "the old gunslinger" play again but if he does get traded and plays again I'll enjoy watching him as throws 20+ picks and destroys an entire franchise with his enormous ego.

The media love affair with a certain person running for President

This video pretty much sums it up.

Another political post

Here I go talking about politics again despite my pledge not to when I first started this silly blog. I guess you could call this a "flip-flop" on my part but I don't care because it's my blog and I can do whatever I want. I'm getting sick and tired of hearing about "hope" and "change". Before you left leaning individuals who read my blog get upset, I must mention that I'm not referring exclusively to Senator Obama. While Senator Obama's speeches seem to be pretty heavy on the "hope" and "change" rhetoric, I've also heard Senator McCain bust out with "change" rhetoric from time to time. I really don't want to here about about "hope" and "change", I want to hear real ideas on how you can make this great country even better. Enough of this "hope" and "change" crap, give me substance!

Training Update

In just twelve short weeks I'll be running in my fifth Marathon. Allergies, illness and life have negatively affected the early stages of my training. Now that two of those three things are in my rearview mirror (there's nothing that I can do about the third one) I feel that I'm good to go. Today I ran my first ever official half-marathon. Despite having not run a mile above seven in the past month, I went in with one goal and that was to finish in under two hours. I know two hours in half marathon really isn't anything special but the last three races of any distance that I've run, I've fallen well short of my target time. In order to finish under two hours, I knew that I had to keep my pace at around a nine minute mile throughout the race. Nine minutes feels really slow to me and my instinct was to crank it up a notch but I new if I did that I'd burn myself out as I have many times before. For much of the race I ran 8:40 splits. At mile 11 I hit a small wall but I regained my strength by last mile and cruised to the finish in a time 1:55:25. Not my best race by any means but a signal to me that I've still got something left.

The Declaration of Indepence

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Track Town USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you missed it Monday night, here's the video of the Classic 800 Meter final from the Olympic Trials in which three runners that train in Eugene took the top three spots (note: it is not an Oregonian Sweep as the announcer says because none of the guys are Oregonians). While I didn't have a ticket for that particular night, I did watch it outside of Hayward field on a bigscreen with about 4000 other fans. Keep in mind that 20 year old Andrew Wheating of the University of Oregon did not run track until he was a high school senior.

A quote from John Adams...............

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."

John Adams July 3, 1776


I guess he was off by a couple days

On this date 232 years ago

The Second Continental Congress approved the Lee Resolution declaring the Thirteen Colonies independent from the British Empire. It was two days later that the document announing this action was approved.

A message to "some" Obama supporters

The other day I came across a facebook group which more or less makes light of the percieved Messianic qualities of Barack Obama. I laughed pretty hard at it but it also got me thinking. There are actually people out there that believe that he is something more than a man running for President. I have many friends and family that in all likelihood will be voting for Barack Obama in November. They have their reasons and that's fine with me, they're not the ones that I'm directing this toward. I'm directing this post to those people that think Barack Obama is more than he actually is.

As I took a stroll around the streets surrounding Hayward Field during the Olympic Trials on Saturday, I came across several street vendors selling Barack Obama merchandise. These weren't your typical Obama 08 items. I came across pictures of the guy looking to the heavens with the light shining on him kind of like the old pictures of Jesus with his neatly groomed mullet and beard. I came across T-Shirts that made him out to be some kind of savior for this terrible world. Now I am sure that some these vendors are capitalizing on an opportunity to make a buck and don't really believe the crap they're selling but the fact that people will buy this stuff is sad. Thousands of people flock to see this guy and you hear people talk afterwards you would think they attended some sort of Religious Revival and that to me is scary.

Barack Obama may be a charismatic individual that can deliver some inspiring speeches but lets not forget what he is. He's not a savior, messiah or even a religious leader, he's a politician. He can't walk on water, give us salvation and he won't change the world. No president in the 232 year history of this great nation has been able to do what some Obama supporters think he's capable of and Barack Obama is no different than any of the men who held the office before, he's a politician and nothing more than that.

One rule if you are attending a live Baseball game this summer

If you are over twelve and you do not have a child with you, do not under any circumstances bring a glove with you.

A bit of History

231 years ago today the flag of the United States was adopted by resolution of the Second Continental Crongress.

Things that annoy Dennis: Volume IV

After taking a few days off I'm back with more things that annoy. Today's item is Target. Now I really have nothing against Target, it's actually a good store. My issue is their advertising campaign. Shame on Target and whoever that lame band is attemping to sing the classic Beatles song Hello, Goodbye on their commercials. It is painful to listen to a bunch of hacks ruin a great song.

Things that annoy Dennis: Volume III

Today's thought is on the outdated political bumper stickers. I have no problem with people who have Obama or McCain stickers on their cars, it's the ones who have stickers from past elections that annoy me. Living in fairly liberal town I see way too many Kerry-Edwards still on cars, get over it people that was four years ago and you lost! Get a life and move on. I also see a handful of Bush-Cheney stickers still on cars as well, those annoy me too. Get over it people, that was four years ago and you won! Get a life an move on.

Four years is bad enough but I regularly see much worse. In recent months I've seen a number of bumper stickers for former Oregon Governers John Kitzhaber who last ran for office in 1998 and Barbara Roberts who last ran for office in 1990. Eighteen years is a lot of years but the oldest one I've seen was actually four summers ago when I was following an old beat up car with a sticker that said "Reagan-Bush 84" at the time that sticker was twenty years old. Any of my readers who have outdated political bumper stickers on their cars please do everyone a favor and remove them. The general rule should be that you have one week after an election is completed to remove your bumper stickers.

Things that annoy Dennis: Volume II

Today's item of discussion is that annoying window paint bragging about a child's athletic accomplishments that you see on minivans and SUV's all over town. Don't get me wrong, I think parents should be proud of their children but I could care less that Tommy wears #14 and plays for the South Willamette Valley regional all star soccer team. When Junior (my yet to be named possible future son) is kicking butt on the football field, you won't see me driving around an oversized SUV with window paint saying something like "Go Junior Quarterback #11, Northeast Eugene Thunderbolts football". This trend needs to stop now!

Things that Annoy Dennis

Those who know me, know that there are many things that annoy me. Because of that I'm starting a regular blog entry called "Things that Annoy Dennis". Today's item of discussion is drivers who don't yield to pedestrians. The following comes from the Oregon Driver's Manual :

"A green light means you may proceed,
but first you must let any vehicles, bicycles, or pedestrians
remaining in the intersection get through before you move
ahead. All movements—straight ahead, left or right turns—
are permitted. Remember, if you are making a left or right
turn, you must yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians"

I'm an avid runner and on numerous occassion have almost been hit by a driver who blatantly disregards the law. It is really starting to annoy me, so drivers please obey the law and yield to pedestrians before sombody gets hurt.

Training update

Today I ran the "Ridgeline Ramble" 20K race as a part of my ongoing Marathon training. The majority of my running is done on flat roads or paths, so this was something entirely new for me. There were very few flat spots on the course, it was mostly uphill and downhill. The course kicked my ass, but I pressed on and finished in an extremely slow 2 hours and 20 minutes. I think for now I'm going to stick to nice flat runs.

Thank you

Thank you to all the men and women who have served or are currently serving this great nation in the armed forces. A special thanks to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, you are the true American Heroes.

You can't alway trust technology

For Christmas this year I got the Nike + for my Ipod. It's a pretty cool thing that I attach to my Ipod and then put a chip into my shoe and it tracks my time and distance on my runs. When I finish my run I just sync it to my computer and it uploads the data to A website in which I can track my progress. Yesterday I finished a 12 mile run in 1 hour 38 minutes, a pretty reasonable time and I know I went the full twelve miles because because I have measured that route out before. When I synced my Ipod and visited the website it showed the details of my run time and all. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I looked at some of my mile splits. According to my Ipod, I ran mile four in 4 minutes and 6 seconds. The world record in the mile is 3:43.13, so if my Ipod is to be trusted (which it can't be), I ran a mile that was only 23 seconds slower than the world record in the middle of a twelve mile run! If that is the case then I shoud be training for the Bejing Olympics.

Back in training

After a week of being lazy and eating anything I wanted, I decided that it was time to get back to work. After getting home from a weekend in Portland, I put on my running shoes and shorts and went out for a five mile run. Despite my feet feeling like there were cinder blocks strapped to them, I managed a nice easy eight minute mile pace. My training aproach for my next marathon will be a little different as I'm including more races this time. My next race is on Memorial day when I will run 20K (12.4 mile) Ridgeline Ramble along Eugene's famed Ridgeline Trail. After the Ramble I will run the 35th annual Butte to Butte (10k) on July 4 and nine days later I will run in the Coburg Run in the Country (Half Marathon). I may throw in a few more races in the summer as I prepare for the Portland Marathon on October 5th.

One more thing on workplace coffee

When you make a pot of coffee it should not look like tea. Make it strong, if you don't like your coffee strong you can always add a little hot water to your cup to dillute it. Please don't ruin it for everyone.

Coffee Etiquette

I know that I've blogged this before but since this is a subject that is near and dear to me, I find it neccesarry to blog about it again. This morning I went to get my cup of coffee as I normally but when I pressed the button on the coffee pot nothing came out. That really upset me because I had to make a new pot wait several minutes while it was brtewing before I could enjoy my fresh hot coffee. If the last person hadn't been so lazy, I wouldn't have had to wait for my coffee. There is an unwritten rule in the workplace that if you take the last cup of coffee, you're supposed to make a new pot. I call on everyone to please follow this unwritten rule, It will make the workplace a better place!

It just wasn't my day

Today I ran my fourth marathon. I knew going in to it that it wasn't going to be my best run. Two years ago I ran a 3:25:07 which to this day stands as my PR. My training for this one didn't go as well as my first and I'm a lot heavier than I was two years ago. I went out with a goal of four hours and for about 17 miles I was right on pace for that. Shorthly after mile 17 I hit my wall and for nine miles I struggled in pain. I crossed the finish line in 4:30:49, well short of my goal but hey I finished. I'm fully committed to pressing on and doing this again in Portland on October 5. Eventually I'll get back near 3:30 mark and I do believe that some day I'll get that Boston qualifier. The big question is do I do it now or do I wait until I'm 35 when it gets easier?

Vote for Me

Ok Republicans that reside in the 4th Congressional District in the State of Oregon, I've got a challenge for you. Since our party has no canidate for congress filed, I ask that you all write-in my name. When your ballot arrives in the mail, simply write-in Dennis M. Cook for Congress. Let's get me the nomination and then we can take down Defazio in the fall!!!!!



paid for by Cook for Congress 2008.

Quote of the week

I read today that former major leaguer and current "author"Jose Canseco is about to have his 7300 square foot home foreclosed upon. Should I feel sorry for Jose? Absolutely not, especially considering this wonderful quote:

"You know my life, this financial thing, is a very complicated issue. Obviously when you make all that money people think that, OK, let's assume it is $35 million. People have to understand that $35 million, you're paying the government 41 percent. That leaves you with about $17 or $18 million, not even. Then you're taking care of your whole family."

Obviously math is not one Jose's strengths because if you pay the gorventment 41% of $35 million that leaves you with $20.65 million. Since I'm a nice guy I'll give Jose the benifit of the doubt and say that he had only $17 million to live on. I can't imagine what it would be like to support your whole family on only $17 million, that's got to be tough on the guy. Poor Jose...................

Some random thoughts

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately, there really is no excuse other than I haven't felt like it. I have a few things on my mind that I would like talk about today, so here it goes.

My wife is leaving me home alone for the next five days. She decided to take a mini vacation to go see her sister in Missouri while I'll stuck at home working. This will be the longest time that we've been apart probably since we started dating two years ago. It will be just like my bachelor days for the next five days with a few exceptions. First and foremost is that I'm married, second I no longer live in the world's smallest apartment and third there's candles all over my apartment. I just wish that I still had my old brown recliner so I could sit back with a cold beer and watch sports like I often did in my bachelor days.

This Saturday I will return to Autzen Stadium for the first time since that horrible day back in December of 2007. While the spring game isn't a real game, it will give me something that resembles football and might be enough to get me through the next few months.

I woke up on Sunday and there was snow on my car. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but Sunday was April 20! It's spring dangit! I want sunshine!

That brings me to my next subject, global warming. I haven't really researched it enough to have an opinion one way or the other but I do question what makes Al Gore an expert on it. The dude has degree in government and journalism or maybe it's the year of divinity school that he attended, I don't know. Now to my main point here. Why did Time Magazine see it fit to change one of the great photographs in American history for their special environment issue? The Raising of the Flag at Iwo Jima is an Iconic photo and the fact that Time replaced the flag with a tree for the cover of one their issues is disgusting and the editors should be ashamed of themselves. It's not the fact that it was used for an issue on global warming that makes me mad, it's the fact that they changed a great American photo.

Next Sunday I will be running my fourth marathon in the last two years. I'm not in peak Marathon shape, actually I'm kind of fat to be running a marathon right now but I'm going to do it anyways. I have no illusions of beating my pr of 3 hours and 25 minutes, actually if I can get my fat butt across the finish line in four hours, I'll probably do cartwheels. Realistically I just want to finish, which should not be a huge issue.

That's all I've got for now, I promise that I'll try to update my blog more in the future.

Holy Crap!!!!!!!!

My wife's blog

My wife has finally updated her blog please visit.

Politics

For the most part I've stayed away from politics on my blog, it was a decision that I made early on for many reasons. That being said it is an election year and I do have some strong opinions so I am warning you now that from time to time I may express a political opinion. You won't see long rants about a particular person or issue but you'll probably see little blurbs every once in awhile between now and November.

Whith that in mind I have a made a decision on who I will be supporting in November. If you look at my links you can probably figure it out and I doubt it will surprise those who know me. He wasn't my first choice but of the three remaining major candidates, I feel that he is best prepared to be president and will do the best job leading this country through this all important time. One final thing, my candidate is NOT too old to President.

Snow?

Once March rolls around I'm ready for spring, it's time to get the shorts out and enjoy the sun. This morning I got up to go to the eye doctor and I walk outside to go to my car and it was snowing. It's March 29! Why the heck was it snowing? If I want snow, I can get in my car and make the short drive to Willamette Pass. I don't need snow in the valley, especially when it's almost April. I thought that fat guy that used be vice president said the earth is getting warmer? What gives? I want sun dangit!!!

Who needs a movie?

Thank you to my friend Jeff for bringing this amazing piece of work to my attention. Watch and enjoy.

Going Dancing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After three days of waiting, my Ducks are in the dance! I was expecting a twelve but we got a nine seed and face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday!

Perfection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know this is a little late but I want to congratulate the OS(U) Beavers on becoming the first team in Pac 10 history to go 0-18. The Beavers have now lost 20 straight Pac 10 conference regular season games. The record of 21 is held by the University of Oregon Ducks, so you can bet that I will be cheering for USC and UCLA when they play the Beavers next January when the Pac 10 season opens.



please note that if you include their two Pac 10 tourney losses the Beavers have already lost 22 straight Pac 10 games, however most Beaver fans still say the record belongs to Oregon. Hopefully the Beavs remove all doubt next January.

Life on the Bubble

For the first time in my lifetime the Oregon Ducks are a "bubble team". The previous five times they made it to the tournament in my life they either had a an automatic birth or they had done enough to be a "lock". Tomorrow will be the first time I've ever tuned into the tournament selection show not knowing whether or not the Ducks are in. Hopefully their bubble does not burst.

Another coach goes crazy

This Michigan Women's basketball coach Kevin Borseth. Not quite as good as the Mike Gundy rant from football season but still good.

Duck Basketball

One of my favorite whipping boys over the past couple years has been Oregon Head Basketball Coach Ernie Kent. Two years ago I called for him to be fired and was outraged when then AD Bill Moos decided to keep him. Last year I laid off a bit as the Ducks made a run deep into NCAA tournament but even with that run I wasn't giving Coach Kent a ringing endorsement. That brings us to this year, as it stands now the ducks will not be playing in the NCAA tournament. With four starters returning from a team that made it to the elite 8 a year ago this is unacceptable. With Knight Court opening at the start of the 2010 season something needs to change. One good year every four years isn't going do much to help fill the new arena. If the Ducks finish strong, I'll be okay with him getting another year but If they don't I'll have a "Few" reasons why a coaching change is necessary.

A Big Purchase

On October 31, 2007 I took Carrie's car for a quick trip to the Grocery Store. That trip ended up not being so quick as the car died right after I pulled out of the store parking lot. The car was on it's last leg anyway but we were hoping it would survive just a bit longer. Not wanting to put another dime into "Carcia" as Carrie so affectionatly called it, it sat parked in the parking lot of our apartment until I finally sold it to someone on Craigslist. From October 31 until today we were a one car family. I can honestly say that it sucked only having one car, since I went back to work in January I've been walking to work most days which isn't fun considering that I have to be to work at 6:00 AM. We've been looking for a second for a while now and after visiting a couple shady dealerships I was tired of car shopping.

Yesterday my wife found a car online, she called on it and scheduled a time to go look at it. I ran some books on it and determined that we were getting a pretty good deal on it. We showed up at the dealership after work, took the car for a test drive and decided to go for it. When we walked inside the nice salesman named Jerry got us started on the paperwork. Then came the nervous moments waiting for the financing to come through, which I knew would be no problem whatsoever but I still hated sitting there waiting. Once the financing was all approved Jerry passed us off to the finance manager Will to close the deal. Since Will was a former Duck Offensive Lineman I like him right away. He went over all the terms of the deal, tried to sell us on backend product (industry lingo for extended warranties ect)which I respectfully declined and then closed the deal. We signed all the paperwork and Carrie got her new car a 2005 Mazda 6 and I get my 2002 Protege back. Here is a picture of Carrie's (mine too) new car.

Why you shouldn't propose in front of large crowds

While I do feel bad for the poor guy but unless you're absolutely 100% sure she'll say yes you should never propose in this manner. One more thing, I understand she didn't want to marry him but she have said yes and then told him no later when 20,00 people weren't watching.

OS(U) Basketball

I've resisted ripping on the OS(U) basketball team because it would be too easy. OS(U) is so bad most of their fans deny the existence of a basketball program. As of today the beavs are 0-13 in the Pac 10 and are on track to become the first 0-18 team ever in the Pac 10. Personally, I am cheering for them in their pursuit of history. 0-18 would be an impressive accomplishment that the whole state of Oregon could take great pride in. With all that success they've been having up Corvallis, one would think that their players would lay off the trash talk. Not the Beavers, instead of me rehashing what happened last weekend I'll let Jim Rome tell you. You'll have to hear about Kelvin Sampson and Coach K first but it's worth watching.

What's wrong with this picture?

I purchased this from the dollar section at Target but there's something that I find really disturbing about it. Can you figure out what I'm referring to?

Who will I vote for?

Since my party's nominee for President will have long been decided by the time I vote on or around May 20, I've decided that I will write someone in on my ballot. First I don't want anyone critcizing me for not taking the proccess seriously because I do take this proccess seriously. I'm just a little ticked that unless I switch parties my vote on May 20 will be completely meaningless. After much thought and consideration I've made a decision on who I will be voting for. I guess you could call this the official dennisdailyrant.com presdential endorsement.

The individual I'm voting for resides in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has arguably been the most successful person in his line of work this decade. Considered a genius by many he is the finest strategist there is in his line of work. Although he recently suffered a stunning defeat, I feel he is the right man to lead this country. Through his career shown the abilty to be an outstanding leader. On top of those qualities he has always been on the cutting edge of fashion. I ask all members of my party in the State of Oregon to join me on May 20 in voting for Bill Belichick for President of the United States of America.

Marathon Update

While I haven't forked over the entry fee yet, I have made the decision to run the Eugene Marathon. I've been training for now for three weeks and while I not entirely happy with my progress I'm making strides and I feel that I can certainly beat my my time from Newport a year ago. A PR will have to wait until Portland in the fall. My goal is to get myself back to my 2006 form, to accomplish that I'm using the same formula I strategy that I used back then which is to reduce calories and increase my workout volume (for the record I'm drinking a beer while typing.

A Thought on Primaries

For the most part I've stayed away from Politics on this blog however something is really annoying me right now so I am going to blog about it. On May 20, 2008 the state of Oregon will hold it Presidential primary on or around that day (Oregon is vote by mail state) I will cast a vote for the particular person I want representing my Party in November. Here's the problem, yesterday someone practically wrapped up my Party's nomination, meaning that when I cast my vote for President in May it will be meaningless. Hopefully something changes is the next four years because this is ridiculous. If it doesn't I might move to Iowa in 2012 so that my vote actually means something (don't worry Carrie, I'm not really considering a move to Iowa).

So Long Bobby Knight

Today the legendary and highly contreversial Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight resigned. In honor of coach Knight here is a collection of some of his memorable soundbites.

Brady

Here is the very disturbing you tube video that I posted a year ago.

Super Bowl prediction

Keeping with long standing tradition I have once again changed the color scheme of my blog to represent the team that I'm cheering for in the Super Bowl. This year year I'm cheering for the Patriots and predicting not only a win but a huge win. The third born son of Archie Manning has no chance against the Patriots. The score will be Patriots 42 Giants 13.

Back in training

Over the last few months I've seen myself begin to revert back to the 2004 version of Dennis or fat Dennis. In order stop this I've decided to do another marathon. So this week I began my training for the 2008 Eugene Marathon on May 4th. This is going to be tough because I'm not in the great shape, the most I've ran in the past four months is six miles. So instead of jumping right into this, I'm easing my way into it. This won't be about getting that elusive Boston qualifying time this is about finishing. Did I forget to mention that I might run the Newport Marathon which on May 31st as well?

A new blog

My lovely wife Carrie has ented the wacky world of blogging. I'm not sure how often she'll blog but I definately urge you check out her blog at carriemcook.blogspot.com

I'm Back

I want to apologize for my lack of blogging lately. I've been taking in so much new information at work that by the time I get home at night my brain is on overload. Those who know me know that I am not a techie. I know how to turn a computer on and surf the internet and that's about it. A week and a half ago if you would have asked me what an Exchange server is I would have said "I have no clue". It's safe to say that I know a lot more now than I did a week and a half ago. I'm by no means an expert nor will ever be but I do know the basics of a network. Once my training is complete and brain isn't overloaded I will resume blogging more regularly.

The Long and Winding Road

Eleven or so weeks ago I was called into my boss's office at work and was let go (I hate the term fired). As much as I would like to rip apart my former employer I won't but I do reccomend that if you have an account with them that you close it. That meeting started an eleven week trip down this long and winding road.

After the initial shock of being let go, I actually kind of enjoyed the time off work. Of course there were a few stressful weeks when my unemployment was initially denied, however after a successful apeall to the state I was granted the benefits. Many days were spent looking for work, applying for jobs left and right with no luck. I must of tweaked my resume about 27 times before I finally found a version I was happy with. My wife referred to me as her "house husband" as I attempted (not always successfully) to do household chores such as laundry, taking out the trash, doing the dishes and running errands such as grocery shopping and going to the dry cleaners. I saught out work with a temp agency in order to supplement my unemployment. They were supposed to find me jobs closely related to the skills that I have but they didn't. I spent one day in December at a factory that makes cereal and three days this week at the same place working graveyard. That was loads of fun spending eight hours a night pouring buckets of dried fruit and other products into big bins and stirring them. Through that I kept thinking to myself this is why I went college so I didn't have to do jobs like that. I was scheduled to work there all week however this morning while I was sleeping the temp agency called and said they didn't need me anymore this week and needless to say I am happy about that. Now I can just sit back and enjoy these final days of unemployment because earlier this week I recieved a job offer for a job that I believe will be much better than the one I lost eleven weeks ago. The best part I'll no longer be a bill collector!

At the end of this week it will be eleven and a half weeks that I was without a job. That was longest period time since I started working as a Junior in High School that I was without a job. While I enjoyed not working at times I hope to never be in that position again until I retire or win the win the lottery. It will be weird returning to the 9-5 world on Monday but I'm ready to do it and happy because I finally reached the end of this Long and Winding Road.

dennisdailyrant.com National Championship Game

USC faced West Virginia in the third dennisdailyrant.com national championship game. Pat White and Steve Slaton were no match for the Trojan defense. On offense John David Booty had a career day, throwing for 412 yards an four tochdowns as the Trojans routed the Mountaineers 45 to 10. Cogratulations to the real champions of college football the USC Trojans.

Victory

It's not what I had envisioned less than two months ago when the Ducks were 8-1 and #2 in the nation but yesterday the Ducks won a bowl game for the first time since 2002 Fiesta Bowl. While the Sun Bowl is nothing special it's a win and I'll take it. The future is bright in Eugene and I honestly believe that sometime in my lifetime I'll see a Duck national championship in the greatest sport in existence, football (I'm talking about the American Variety so shut up Soccer fan!).

National Championship Semifinals

Here are the long awaited semifinal results for my National Championsip Tournament:

USC 41
ASU 17

West Virginia 35
Georgia 24

Stay tuned for my championship game results on Tuesday.

Merry Christmas!!!

Luke 2:1-20

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
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.

Vote for Brandon Roy

The Portland Trail Blazers have not had an NBA All Star since 2001. This needs to change, I challenge all the readers of my amazing blog to go to NBA.COM click on the All Star game vote link and vote for Brandon Roy. You can vote once every twenty four hours. The odds are long in the Guard heavy Western Conference, however with your help we can do this. Vote for Brandon Roy, he deserves it.

Bowl Predictions

The College Football Bowl season kicks off tomorrow with the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. I can hardly contain my excitement for that Utah-Navy matchup. Among the thirty two bowl games being are such tradition rich games as The Papajohns.com Bowl, The Meineke Car Care Bowl and the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. I can honestly say that I'm interested in about three Bowl games but as a service to my loyal readers here are my predictions for every bowl game.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Navy 27 Utah 24

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Florida Atlantic 35 Memphis 31

PapaJohns.com Bowl
Cincinnati 42 Southern Miss 17

Mew Mexico Bowl
Nevada 35 New Mexico 24

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
BYU 34 UCLA 24

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Boise State 42 East Carlina 10

Motor City Bowl
Purdue 31 Central Michigan 14

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
ASU 24 Texas 17

Champs Sports Bowl
Boston College 31 Michigan State 28

Texas Bowl
Houston 45 TCU 42

Emerald Bowl
Maryland 24 OS(U) 21

Meineke Car Care Bowl
Wake Forest 24 Connecticut 21

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Mississippi State 24 Central Florida 20

Valero Alamo Bowl
Penn State 31 Texas A&M 21

PetroSun Independence Bowl
Alabama 24 Colorado 17

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Cal 35 Air Force 21

Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
Fresno State 31 Georgia Tech 21

Brut Sun Bowl
Oregon 35 South Florida 31

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Kentucky 42 Florida State 17

Insight Bowl
Oklahoma State 31 Indiana 24

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Clemson 27 Auburn 21

Outback Bowl
Tennessee 21 Wisconsin 20

AT&T Cotton Bowl
Missouri 42 Arkansas 28

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
Texas Tech 42 Virginia 35

Capitol One Bowl
Florida 35 Michigan 21

Rose Bowl presented by Citi
USC 45 Illinois 10

Allstate Sugar Bowl
Georgia 45 Hawaii 31

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma 31 West Virginia 28

Fed Ex Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech 24 Kansas 21

International Bowl
Rugters 31 Ball State 21

GMAC
Tulsa 49 Bowling Green 21

Allstate BCS Championship Game
LSU 31 tOSU 28

Two years of Blogging Excellence!!!

It was two years ago today that I launched this silly blog and despite all the changes in my life and in the world Dennis' Daily Rant is still a powerful force on the internet.

Quaterfinal Results

First I want to apologize for my lack of blogging lately, there's really no excuse since I have a ton of time on my hands. Here are the long awaited quarterfinal results from my tournament to crown the real national champion of college football.

West Virginia 34 tOSU 21

Georgia 28 BYU 24

ASU 17 Virginia Tech 10

USC 35 LSU 31

It wasn't a good round for the favorites as only Georgia survived. This sets up two compelling matchups for the semifinals. ASU will have revenge on it's mind as it faces USC and West Virginia's high powered spread attack will go up against the Georgia Bulldogs.

First Round Playoff Results

Here are the long awaited first round results of my third annual College Football national championship playoff.

1. tOSU 42
16. Florida Atlantic 9

8. Kansas 21
9. West Virginia 42

5. Georgia 35
12. Florida 31

4. Oklahoma 28
13. BYU 31

6. Missouri 24
11. ASU 27

3. Virginia Tech 21
14. Central Florida 6

7. USC 35
10. Hawaii 24

2. LSU 35
15. Central Michigan 21

The second round matchups are as follows:

1. tOSU
9. West Virginia

5. Georgia
13. BYU

11. ASU
3. Virginia Tech

7. USC
2. LSU

Final Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- This getting really old
2. ASU- Should be in a BCS bowl.
3. OS(U)- They owe a big thank you to Oregon for the poor game management at the end of Regulation.
4. Oregon- SPIKE THE DAMN BALL!!!!!!!
5. UCLA- I can hear the celebrating in Westwood, Dorrell is gone!!
6. Cal- What the heck happened to the Bears. I guess Jeff Tedford isn't the genius Cal fans want you to believe he is.
7. Arizona- Mike Stoops saved his job for another year.
8. Stanford- Jim Harbaugh may be the Pac 10 coach of the year
9. WSU- Look for WSU to stay near the bottom for years to come.
10. Washington- Last time the Huskies finished higher than ninth in the conference was 2003

The BCS Fraud

Yesterday the BCS pairings were announced and of course I have issues with them. Lets first start with the National Title game. How can anyone say conclusively that LSU and tOSU are the two best teams in the country? What about USC? What about Georgia? They both have the same number of losses as LSU. As for the other games I have issues there as well. How can Kansas lose to Missouri a week ago be ranked lower than Missouri and still get picked for a BCS game? And 9-3 Illinois going to the Rose Bowl as an at large selection? You've got to be kidding me, this is a joke and this year more than any in the past proves that we need a playoff. So I am happy to announce for third consecutive year my bracket for a playoff to determine the real national champion in College Football. The format is the same as years past , eleven conference champions and five at large selections determined by a committee of one. Here are the first round pairings.

1. tOSU (Big 11)
16. Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt)

8. Kansas (At Large)
9. West Virginia (Big East)

5. Georgia (At Large)
12. Florida (At Large)

4. Oklahoma (Big 12)
13. BYU (Mountain West)

6. Missouri (At Large)
11. ASU (At Large)

3. Virginia Tech (ACC)
14. Central Florida (C-USA)

7. USC (Pac 10)
10. Hawaii (Wac)

2. LSU
15. Central Michigan (MAC)

My Civil War Prediction

Oregon State will go on top early with a touchdown but Oregon will answer with a punt return for a touchdown right before half to tie the game up. The third quarter will be a battle of the punters before fourth quarter fireworks begin. Oregon State will score to go up 14-7 early in the fourth quarter. Leading 14-7 the Beavers drive deep into Oregon territory and ready to put the game away when Patrick Chung intercepts an Oregon State pass and takes 83 yards for a touchdown. A botched snap will allow on the PAT will allow the Beavers to stay on top. The Beavers will begin to wear down the Oregon defense with a power running game and will drive into Oregon territory. With fifty seconds left the Beavers will fumble on the Oregon 34 yard line. Oregon's offense will struggle as it did all day and with 35 seconds left on fourth and ten Cody Kempt will connect with Jaison Williams who will bobble the ball before hauling it in and taking it all the way to the Oregon State 30 yard line. After one running play up the middle for no gain Oregon use its last time out with five seconds left. Matt Evensen will line up for a 47 yard field that goes through the uprights as time expires. Oregon wins 16-14!!!!

Why I Don't Tape Sporting Events

Last night due to prior commitments I was unable to watch the Duck Basketball game. Before I left home I stuck a tape in the VCR and recorded the game with the idea that I would avoid hearing the score and watch it when I get home. Every time I tried this in the past I've failed, either I see the score or someone blurts it out. The function I was at had two televisions showing the game. For an hour and a half I successfully avoided looking at one of the televisions or overhearing someone talk about the game. After the function my wife and I headed to the mall, the mall was dead so I wasn't too worried about finding out about the game. So confident we even took a walk through the Duck Store in the mall and again heard nothing. Success! I had succeeded in my mission. All we had left was a nice stroll to the car and a short drive home, then I could watch the game like it was live. Think again! As Carrie and I were exiting the mall some random guy noticed my duck hat and said something like "hey how about those Ducks, they won tonight".

OS Joke of the Day

How do you get an OS Grad off your front porch?
Pay for the Pizza

Giving Him the Business

This video is from last weekend Maryland-NC State game, listen to the refs explanation of the penalty.

Oregon vs Oregon State-Part 2

Today we're going to talk about Pro Football Hall of Famers. There are ZERO players who attended Oregon State in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Such football powerhouses as Regis College and North Carolina A&T have players in the Hall of Fame but ZERO for Oregon State. Oregon on the other hand has five Pro Football Hall of famers. There are only seven colleges that have put more players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Advantage- Oregon

OS Joke of the day

What's the only sign of intelligent life in Corvallis?
"Eugene 47 miles"

The OS Fight Song

I came across this version of the OS fight song that includes some special sound effects.

http://pacifier.com/%7Eghcreate/osu_fight.mp3

OS Joke of the day

What does the average OS football player get on their SATs?

Drool

Oregon vs. Oregon State- Part one

This is the first installment of my comparison of the two schools. Today we'll take a look at wealthy donors.

Phil Knight












Representing Oregon we have Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight. Knight along with former U of O Track Coach Bill Bowerman started selling shoes from the back of a VW bus now Nike is the worlds largest Athletic Apparel company. Knight has donated millions of dollars to the University of Oregon, including a $100,000,000 gift this summer to set up an Athletic Legacy Fund.

AL Reser










Representing Oregon State we have Reser's Fine Foods chairman Al Reser. The Reser family have given several generous gifts to Oregon State University and the football stadium is name in his honor.

The Verdict
This one is easy, crappy potato salad and frozen burritos or cutting edge Athletic shoes and apparel?

Advantage Oregon

OS Joke of the day

How many OS Freshman does it take to screw in a light bulb?

They can't, it's a second year course

OS Joke of the Day

Civil War week is here which means it's time for my OS joke of the day segment.

Why do OS fans wear Orange?

So they can go to the game Saturday, go hunting on Sunday, and return to work picking up trash on Monday.

Pac 10 Rankings

After the worst offensive performance by the U of O football team in twenty five years I had thought about going into hiding, I even shutdown my blog for awhile but I'm happy to announce that I'm back.

1. USC- After everything that has happened this year the Trojans appear to be heading to the Rose Bowl.

2. ASU- If they beat Wildcats they should be a BCS team

3. OS- Ugh!!! Could this be the year the road team finally breaks through in the Civil War? Stay tuned for my prediction on Friday.

4. UCLA- If UCLA beats SUC and Arizona beats ASU the Bruins at 7-5 are Rose Bowl bound.

5. Arizona- For the lack of a better team the Mildcats make my top five.

6. WSU- Great win against the Huskies but I doubt it's enough to save Bill Doba's job.

7. Cal- They should beat Stanford.

8. Washington- They suck

9. Stanford- It's kind pathetic that two of Notre Dame's three wins came against Pac 10 teams.

10. Oregon- No comment.

25 Year ago today

It's called "The Play" and it is one of the craziest finishes ever in college football.

Week 12 Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- After all that has happened the Trojans could still end up in Pasadena.

2. ASU- The Sun Devils control their own destiny but I doubt they get it done.

3. Oregon- It sucks to lose Dixon but I have a feeling the Ducks will rally together and get it done. Rose Bowl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. OS(U)- The Beavers must feel real good heading into the Civil War. Remember a team with Brady Leaf at QB almost beat a much better OS team in Corvallis a year ago. This year it's in Eugene and Brady Leaf and the Ducks will get it done.

5. Arizona- Good win for the Wildcats, too bad it won't get them into a Bowl

6. Cal- 2007 Cal = 2006 Oregon

7. UCLA- The Bruins face a banged up Oregon team, the problem is that the Bruins are just as banged up and they have Karl Dorrell as their coach. Advantage Oregon.

8. Washington- Nice win over Cal but you still suck.

9. WSU- I expected a little more from the Cougs against the Beavs.

10. Stanford- There's always womens basketball!

More fun with Gundy

Everyone remembers Mike Gundy, right? In my boredom today I scanned google videos to see what I could find. So here's the Original meltdown along with a couple other videos that I found humerous.



Gundy Prank Calls



Mike Gundy Remix


Mike Gundy Coors Light Commercial

Week 11 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- Illinois is my new second favorite team.

2. USC- Win out and a BCS Bowl awaits

3. ASU- See above

4. OS- I guess

5. Cal- Haven't done much since losing in Autzen

6. UCLA- The Bruins are the only team to lose to Notre Dame

7. WSU- My guess is that the Cougs beat the Beavers this week in Pullman

8. Arizona- A beatdown on National TV from Oregon awaits the Mildcats on Thursday. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that Mike Stoops is a jerk.

9. Washington- Got a gift from the Pac 10 officials but stll couldn't beat the Beavers.

10. The Cardinal have the highest average SAT score in the Pac 10.

Dixon for Heisman

I found this video somewhat amusing.

Week 10 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- I thought the Ducks would have a good year but never in my wildest dreams would have predicted this. I will be a big fan of Oregon and whoever is playing LSU and tOSU (the Ohio State University) in the coming weeks.

2. ASU- A BCS bowl is still possible for the Sun Devils

3. SUC- I'm still waiting for the Trojans to play up to their potential

4. Cal- The three game losing streak finally ended!

5. OS(U)- The rodents suck but there are five teams that suck even more

6. Arizona- The Mildcats have been playing better lately but they still have a lot of work to do.

7. UCLA- How many QB's can a team play in one year?

8. Washington- Three years for Ty Willingham and no signs of improvement

9. Stanford- Basketball season is here!

10. WSU- See above

A Great Day to be a DUCK!

What a day!!!!

More Fun With Notre Dame

Real Men of Genius: Notre Dame Fan | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Common Sense Prevails!!

It was announced today that the Oregon-ASU game will be televised nationally in 48 states (Oregon and Arizona will get local feeds). That is great news for everyone. That being said I still think Tom Hansen sucks!

Pac 10 Rankings Week 9

1. Oregon- With four games left I am making the following bold prediction: Oregon will play for the National Title this year.

2. ASU- The Sun Devils run ends on Saturday

3. SUC- The Trojans will bounce back big against OS(U).

4. OS(U)- As much as it pains me to put them this high, I am left with no choice.

5. Cal- Once the trendy pick to play in the National title game, now they're fighting for the Vegas Bowl.

6. WSU- The Cougars don't deserve to be this high but no one else does either.

7. UCLA- Losses to WSU and Notre Dame should put them at the bottom but it get a lot worse from here.

8. Stanford- Much improved from last year but still not a good team.

9. Arizona- Come from behind victory over Washington moves the Mildcats out of the cellar.

10. Washington- Does anyone remember the days when the Huskies were good?

Do you know who this man is?

If you are a fan of a Pac 10 team then you should know who this man is. This is Pac 10 commissioner Tom Hansen and if he is allowed to stay in his position much longer the Pac 10 is in danger of fading into obscurity. Under Hansen's leadership the Pac 10 conference has signed the worst TV contract among the major conferences and has the worst bowl alignment amongst the major conferences. This coming Saturday there will be a game featuring the number four and five ranked teams in the country and a Heisman Trophy candidate, however as things sit right no one outside of Oregon or Arizona will be able to see this game. This is ridiculous and it only seems to happen to the Pac 10. This needs to change and the only way this will happen is if there is a change at the top.

The most unbelievable ending to a football game that I've ever seen

Just for Andrew

Pac 10 Rankings Week 8

1. Oregon- We'll find out over the next two weeks if the Ducks are truly a national title contender.
2. ASU- Undefeated but who have they played? A severe beat down is awaiting in Eugene on November 3.
3. SUC- Prediction of the week: Oregon 38 SUC 24
4. UCLA- It's hard to believe but the Bruins are tied for first in the Pac.
5. Cal- In a matter of two weeks the Bears have slipped from the BCS title game all the way to the Vegas Bowl
6. OS(U)- This team is still a mystery to me
7. Stanford- They just tripled their win total from a year ago. Prediction #2 Stanford 24 OS(U) 17
8. Washington- Their defense gave up 465 yards rushing to the Ducks on Saturday!
9. WSU- Bill Doba is a nice guy but nice guys don't always make good football coaches.
10. Arizona- Loss to Stanford was the nail in Mike Stoopid's coffin

In Honor of the Duck's "Stormtrooper" Uniforms

What Political Party am I a part of?

Since I recently moved I had to register to vote again. As I always do I filled out my voter registration card and marked the Party that I have been a part since I turned 18. Today I received my notification card put it in the mail pile and left it. A couple minutes later my wife asks me why I am a part of the Constitution Party. I looked at my card and sure enough under political part it says CON which would be the abreviation for the Constitution Party. Apparently the people processing voter registrations in Lane County aren't very smart, because there is absolutely no way I could of marked that on my card. For those who don't know what the Constitution Party is, it is an Ultra Conservative party whose views would probably make me look flaming liberal. For now I'm going to keep it through the November Election and I'll be sure to change it before the primaries in 2008.

Pac 10 Rankings Week 7

1. Oregon- Pac 10 champs? National Champs? Anything is possible
2. ASU- 7-0 but I'm still not convinced
3. Cal- You can't lose to OS(U) at home!
4. SUC- The Trojans in the Vegas Bowl? I'd love it!
5. UCLA- By default they're number 5
6. OS(U)- Great win over Cal but the Beavs have a ton of work to do
7. Washington- Things don't appear to be getting any better in Seattle
8. Arizona- Tough loss to USC but there are no moral victories in sports
9. Stanford- It appears that the Cardinal were one week wonders
10. WSU- Does anyone still think the Mike Bellotti made a mistake not offering Alex Brink a scholarship

Pac 10 Rankings Week 6

1. Cal- Could they play for the National Title?
2. Oregon- All I can say is "what if?"
3. Arizona State- The Devils are rolling at 6-0 but don't expect it to hold up
4. Washington- By default they move to #4
5. Stanford- Huge win over SUC by the Cardinal but I don't think they'll remain here
6. OS(U)- They still suck
7. WSU- Nice effort against ASU but remember the old saying "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades"
8. Arizona- Get your resume ready Stoops
9. UCLA- Thanks for ruining Notre Dame's bid for a perfect season
10. SUC- Losing to Stanford earns them the number ten spot for this week

First Major Purchase

Tonight Carrie and I made our first major purchase as a married couple. We went to Best Buy and purchased a brand new HDTV. We've been talking about it for weeks and after looking at our different options we finally decided on a Phillips model that happened to be on sale. Now my next step is to call the cable company and upgrade our package to an HD package so that we may fully enjoy the HD experience.

Grow up Gundy!

I know that Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy's rant is last week's news, but after watching it again I felt compelled to write about totally completely out line and childish it was. For a coach after a big win to spend his entire post game press conference after a big win yelling at reporter for writing a negative column about one of his players was not only out of line but it took away from the outstanding team effort displayed on the field and for that alone Gundy should be ashamed. Secondly Division 1 athletes a public figures and if they're going to accept the praise from the media then they are going to have to accept the critisism. I have a hard time feeling sorry for a kid who gets a free ride through college because some one in the media wrote something bad about him. Here's the video of the rant again and then audio of comments from Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins from last February which I think would be an appropriate response to Gundy.



Dan Hawkins remarks

Pac 10 Rankings Week 5

1. USC- Unimpressive win over Washington but they're still the top team in the conference.

2. Cal- Nice win in hostile environment

3. Oregon- Tough loss but still a dang good team

4. ASU- Dennis Erickson has them rolling

5. UCLA- This team confuses the heck out of me

6. Washington- Moral Victory against USC doesn't make them a good team

7. Arizona- A win over WSU doesn't make them good and Mike Stoops is still on the hot seat

8. WSU- Embarrassing performance against Arizona

9. OS(U)- Way to show up at home

10. Stanford- Stick to Academics