OSU Joke of the Day

Since civil war week is upon it's time to bring back the ever popular OSU joke of the day. Here is today's joke.

Q : Why do OSU football players go to the movie theater in groups of 18 or more?
A : The sign says 17 and under are not admitted.

Week 12 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- Jeremiah Masoli is the man.

2. Oregon State- For the second year in a row the Beavers will head into the Civil War with a Rose Bowl on the line. For the second year in a row they'll come up short in the Civil War.

3. Cal- The have quietly turned around their season after a horrendous start.

4. Arizona- Normally fans wait until they have the game won before they rush the field.

5. Stanford- The Cardinal will have the honor of putting the final nail in Charlie Weis's coffin.

6. USC- I think we can safely say that the Trojans will not be in a BCS game.

7. UCLA- As bad as the Bruins are, they are now bowl eligible.

8. ASU- The last time ASU won a game was October 17, the next time they'll win a game will be in September 2010.

9. Washington- The Huskies last won on October 10, that streak will end Saturday.

10. WSU- I have nothing to say.

Week 11 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- The big worry for the Ducks is whether or not they return home with a healthy starting QB.

2. Stanford- I'm finally on the Cardinal bandwagon. They're good.

3. Arizona- The Cats have never to been to the Rose Bowl. That trend will continue.

4. OSU- The beavers get a virtual bye before playing the ducks. They might want to consider resting the Rodgers brothers so they don't risk injury.

5. USC- If the Pac 10 ends in a six way tie with Oregon, USC, CAL, Stanford, Arizona and OSU the trojans will represent the Pac 10 in the Rose Bowl.

6. Cal- Can the bears beat Stanford? Probably not.

7. ASU- Bad

8. UCLA- Worse

9. Washington- Even worse

10. WSU- The worst

Week 10 Pac Rankings

1. Oregon- A loss on the road to a good Stanford team wasn't enough to knock the Ducks from the top.

2. Arizona- The Wildcats in the Rose Bowl? Probably not.

3. USC- The Trojans have been unimpressive this year. From experience I can tell you that El Paso is nice around New Years.

4. Oregon State- Don't look now, but the Beavers are in the conference race.

5. Stanford- With their win over the Ducks the Cardinal are Bowl eligible. My guess is that they get two more.

6. Cal- Another mediocre year for a Jeff Tedford coached team.

7. ASU- I kind of feel bad for the Sun Devils. It's going to be ugly Saturday night.

8. UCLA- The Bruins finally got a Pac 10 win. They'll get win number two this weekend.

9. Washington- Remember when people thought the Mutts would go bowling.

10. WSU- No comment necessary

Week 9 Pac 10 Rankings

Here are my long awaited Pac 10 rankings for week 9.

1. Oregon- I called y my shot last week and I was right. Oregon beat USC.

2. Arizona- The Wildcats control there own destiny for the Pac 10 title. The problem is that they still have to play Oregon, Cal, and USC

3. USC- Could the Trojans go to El Paso? Probably not. My guess is that they win out and get a BCS bid.

4. Cal- The Bears have quietly gotten back on track after a horrific start. Next up the Beavers.

5. OSU- Beaver nation still thinks they can sneak into the Rose Bowl through the back door. That fantasy will end on Saturday.

6. Stanford- The Cardinal need just one win to become bowl eligible. The problem is they play Oregon, USC, Cal and finish at Notre Dame. They may get that sixth win but it will not come until the last week of the season.

7. ASU- I kind of feel bad for the Sun Devils. This week they face a USC team was embarrassed a week ago and next week they travel to Oregon.

8. Washington- Not long ago people thought the Mutts were a bowl. Looking at their schedule I cannot find three more wins.

9. UCLA- Bad

10. WSU- worse

Week 8 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- The Ducks will beat the Trojans on Saturday.

2. SUC- Last time the Trojans won a game in the State of Oregon was 2005. The next time they lose in the State of Oregon will have to wait until 2010.

3. Arizona- Nick Foles is good, it's the rest of the team that I'm not sure about.

4. Oregon State- I know the Rodgers brothers are great players, but the beavers might want to consider giving the ball to someone not named Rodgers from time to time.

5. Cal- Against the two best teams in the conference the Bears scored a total of 6 points. Against the two worst teams they scored a total of 94 points.

6. Stanford- The Cardinal need just one win in their final four games to be bowl eligible. The problem is they have Oregon, USC, Cal and Notre Dame left.

7. ASU- I think it's time for Dennis Erickson to retire.

8. Washington- The Huskies are not back.

9. UCLA- At one point UCLA was 3-0.

10. WSU- Is anyone else tired of seeing that stupid flag at GameDay?

Week 7 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- Big game against the Mutts before what could be an epic battle with SUC. The Ducks will roll.

2. USC- Last time USC lost to OS in LA the president of United States was Dwight D. Eisenhower. I am officially going on record as saying the next time the Beavers beat SUC in LA, the president will not be Barack Obama.

3. Oregon State- See above

4. Arizona- The Wildcats should cruise against the Bruins.

5. Cal- In their first two conference games they scored a combined 6 points. In the third game they scored 45.

6. ASU- The Sun Devils still riding high from the victory over the mutts travel Palo Alto for an epic battle with Stanford and a possible Hawaii Bowl bid on the line.

7. Stanford- Is it just me or is Toby Gerhart a 12th year senior.

8. Washington- Washington's fight song is titled "Bow Down to Washington". By the end of the day Saturday the mutts will be bowing down to Oregon.

9. UCLA- Maybe one of these years UCLA will catch up to their crosstown rival. Probably not anytime soon.

10. WSU- I think the Pac 10 should just drop the coogs and be the Pac 9.

Week 6 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- No Masoli, no problem. The Ducks rolled UCLA and now have a much needed bye week.

2. USC- The Trojans have not lost to Notre Dame since 2001. I do not expect that trend to change.

3. Oregon State- The Beavers are a hot team heading into the bye week. The Trojans are next on 10-24.

4. Washington- A fluke victory (it was not an interception, the ball hit the ground!!!) puts the mutts in the number 4 sport.

5. Arizona- Even though it was a bad call on the interception the loss to the Mutts is on the coaches.

6. Cal- In two Pac-10 game the Bears have a total of 6 points. Nice offense Dudwig.

7. Stanford- The Cardinal had me fooled for awhile, their loss against OSU exposed them as frauds.

8. UCLA- The Bruins went from leading 3-0 to trailing 14-3 in about 30 seconds on Saturday.

9. ASU- The Sun Devils will beat the Mutts.

10. WSU- Duh

Week 5 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- Seriously if there's one more knee injury I'm going to scream.

2. USC- All seems to be right again in LA after the Trojans routed Cal.

3. Stanford- Nerds can play football.

4. Arizona- I still don't think the Wildcats are that good but they earn the four spot this week.

5. Washington- I hate the huskies but they got jobbed by the refs on Saturday.

6. UCLA- Kevin Prince returns this week. It won't help.

7. Oregon State- The Beavers are getting way too much love love for beating ASU.

8. ASU- It doesn't look like the Erickson magic will work this time.

9. Cal- The bears have scored 6 points over the last two weeks. That Andy Ludwig is quite offensive genius.

10. WSU- Paul Wulff is an idiot and I'll leave it at that.

Week 4 Pac 10 Rankings

1. Oregon- Was anybody expecting that they would destroy Cal?

2. USC- The Trojans looked unimpressive against the lowly Cougars.

3. Stanford- I not not completely sold on the Cardinal. So far they have accomplished what most schools in the Pac 10 have done in recent years, a sweep of the Washington schools.

4. ASU- I am not a fan of moral victories but the Sun Devils gave Georgia all they could handle.

5. UCLA- The Bruins are 3-0 but I am not convinced.

6. Cal- I was not the only happy Duck fan when Cal hired Andy Dudwig err Ludwig.

7. Arizona- They did beat Oregon State.

8. Washington- One thing was made clear last weeked. The Huskies are not back.

9. OSU- Congrats on losing back to back home games.

10. WSU- Only at WSU is a 21 point loss considered a moral victory.

Week 3 Pac-10 rankings

1. Cal- The Bears stay at the top will be a short one.

2. Oregon- I saw something that I haven't seen in years from the Ducks, Defense.

3. UCLA- The Bruins are 3-0 but I still don't know what to make of them.

4. Washington- This is the highest that I have had the Huskies ranked in the 3 years that i have been doing these rankings.

5. Stanford- Stanford and Washing will battle it out for first in the Pac 10 on Saturday.

6. ASU- The Sun Devils are 2-0 with victories over powerhouses Idaho State and Louisiana-Monroe.

7. OS- Way to go Beavs. Your biggest Non-Conference home game in years.

8. Arizona- The Mildcats could be in trouble this year.

9. WSU- I kind of feel sorry for the Cougs.

10. SUC- For being the first team for losing to Washington since 11-17-07 the Trojans get the last spot.

Week 2 Pac 10 Rankings

1. SUC- It was a struggle at times but the Trojans got it done against tOSU.
2. Cal- The Bears struggled for a bit but in the end destroyed powerhouse Eastern Washington.
3. UCLA- A nice road win for the Bruins but they face major problems ahead with the loss of their QB.
4. OS- The Beavs needed a late field goal to beat UNLV.
5. Oregon- The Ducks finally got the offense moving, 6 1/2 quarters into the season.
6. ASU- They looked ok in the one game they've played. Of course that was against Idaho State.
7. Arizona- The Mildacats have looked unimpressive so far in two games.
8. Stanford- Nice choke job against Wake Forest.
9. Washington- I thought about giving the Huskies more love for finally winning a game, but it was only Idaho.
10. WSU- The Cougars are terrible.

Week 1 Pac 10 Rankings

1. SUC- Looked good in their opener. Look for the Trojans to roll tOSU on Saturday.

2. Cal- Sorry Beaver fans but the best running back in the Pac 10 Jahvid Best.

3. Stanford- Looked good against WSU, bu I think everybody will look good against the cougs.

4. OS- The Beavs looked ok but they were playing Portland State.

5. ASU- Impressive victory over the mighty Bengals of Idaho State.

6. UCLA- Pretty unimpressive victory against San Diego State.

7. Arizona- Defense looked good but the offense had their struggles.

8. Washington- The Huskies look to be improved but there's no such thing as a moral victory.

9. WSU- I fully expect the Cougs to take their rightful place at the bottom of my rankings next week.

10. Oregon- At least the Punter was good.

2009 Pac 10 Predictions

1. Oregon- Yeah I said it!!!! This is the year that SUC finally gets unseated at the top of the Pac 10 It will happen and it will be the Ducks that end their reign.

2. SUC- Second place will still get them to a BCS Bowl.

3. Cal- A solid but unspectacular year lies ahead for the bears.

4. ASU- A decent year lies ahead for the devils. Vegas is cold in December.

5. OS- Questions on D, at QB and a drop in production from Quizz will lead to a disappointing year for the Beavers.

6. Stanford- The Cardinal will improve and possibly sneak into a Bowl game.

7. UCLA- The Bruins are still a year away.

8. Arizona- The Mildcats will fail to improve upon last years Vegas Bowl victory. It could be the end of the Mike Stoops era.

9. Washington- The dawgs will do better last year. They certainly can't be worse than 0-12.

10. WSU- The Cougs are bad.

So long old friend............

Thursday September 3 will mark the end era in Eugene. The Single A Eugene Emeralds will play their final game in Civic Stadium before moving to the brand new PK Park near Autzen Stadium. Civic was built in 1938 and has been home of Emeralds since 1969. While there might be a little bit of sadness to see the old stadium go it is a move that should have happened years ago in my opinion. Despite my feelings on the stadium itself I do have many memories of the place.

Over the years I have attended many games at Civic. I've seen players who would go on to great major league careers and some who never made out of Eugene. I have many fond memories dating back to my early childhood. My family used to head to the ballpark several times each year. During those games I wander the ballpark trying to get foul balls. After games I would often wander the stadium collecting plastic cups and the mini batting helmets that they served ice cream in. Looking back I can't believe that my mother let me do that.

One of the long standing promotions at Civic was the Prince Puckler's Sunday throw. Each game kids are selected to try to throw a ball through a hole and win free ice cream from Prince Pucklers. Now days they let kids stand something like three feet away and give them a tennis ball to throw. Even if they miss the still get free Ice Cream. When I had the opportunity to do as a kid I had to stand about 20 feet back and throw a real baseball and I got absolutely nothing when I missed.

One of my favorite activities as a kid was trying to get autographs. I remember passing up an opportunity to get an autograph from someone playing for Bellingham Mariners named Ken Griffey JR. My reasoning was that I didn't feel like waiting in line and I didn't think he would ever be as good as his dad, oops. The one Autograph I did wait in line for was from a pitcher was supposed to be the next Nolan Ryan. I waited for 45 minutes and when I finally got it I was the happiest kid in the stadium. When he made it big this was going be worth a lot of money. I think it's safe that Todd Van Popple was not next Nolan Ryan.

The happy memories are great but the bottom line is that the old stadium needs to go. The stadium is in disrepair and it lacks many of the things necessary to be a viable stadium for minor league baseball. The cost to make the stadium viable is just too great and nobody has the money to pay for it.

On Thursday September 3 prior to watching my Ducks play Boise State I will make one final trip to Civic Stadium to watch the Emeralds play. For some it will probably be an emotional day, but not for me.

A look back at my 2008 Pac 10 preseason rankings

Before I publish my annual Pac 10 preseason rankings I thought it would be fun to take a look back at my 2008 preseason ranking. So here they are with the expert analysis that you've come to expect from Dennis' Daily Rant.

1. SUC- The Trojans are just too good
Bingo, Bango, Bongo with the exception of one bad night in Corvallis the Trojans were the class of the Pac 10 in 2008.


2. Oregon- No Costa, No problem! Roper (Maybe Masoli) and the Ducks will shine in 2008.
Again I was right on. The Ducks were 3-0 before Roper got hurt and Masoli took the job over. After a few bumps in the road the Ducks finished strong winning their final four games. Including a 65-38 victory over OS.


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.
I was wrong.

4. OS(U)- Tough choice on Thursday night. OS(U)-Stanford or Barack Obama's convention speech.
For the record I choe the Beavers over Obama's convention speech and they didn't dissapoint. They help up their of my prediction below.

5. Cal- Another mediocre year for the Bears.
To quote Dennis Green "the Bears are who we thought they were"


6. Arizona- Mike Stoopid and the Mildcats finally go Bowling.
They finished one spot higher than I predicted, but they did go bowling.

7. UCLA- The Bruins will struggle in 2008 but watch out for them in 2009.
They finished one spot lower than I predicted, but again I think I was pretty close on this one. as for the second part of the prediction we'll see.

8. Washington- The Dawgs will improve but not enough to save Ty Willingham's job.
I was wrong they didn't improve, but instead got worse.


9. Stanford- Watch out for my week one upset. Stanford will beat OS(U)
I ranked them way too low, but I was right on with my prediction.

10. WSU- The Cougs will go for perfection in the Pac 10 but might just blow in the Apple Cup.
The Coogs were terrible, but the puppies were worse.


Overall a pretty good effort. We'll see how my 2009 rankings turn out .

I just want my dang sunglasses!!!!!!

This saga of my sunglasses began on a Saturday in June, June 13 to be exact. I walked into Rainbow Optics, a local eye wear store to inquire about a pair of prescription sunglasses. I settled on the Oakley Flak Jackets XLJ's much like the pair above. After crunching the numbers and figuring out how much my insurance would cover I decided to think about.

Two weeks later I went back and placed my order. I settled on a custom design with a green frame and yellow Oakley logos. I was told they would be ready in about ten days. That meant I would receive my sunglasses around July 7. I left the store happy and was looking forward to receiving my sunglasses.

I didn't hear from them in the ten days I was told. I decided to give them two weeks before I called. On Monday July 13 just as I was about to call them my phone rang. Great I thought, my sunglasses were ready! Instead of being told they were ready I was told they were on backorder and it would be another week or two. Backorder? Why did it take two weeks to tell me something they should have told me in two days? I voice my displeasure but decided to be patient and just wait for my sunglasses to get here.

Two weeks passed and I decided to call and see where my sunglasses were. After two phone calls I was told that they would be shipped overnight on August 1, meaning that they would be ready for pickup on Monday August 3. Once again I voiced my displeasure but this time I wasn't so nice about it.

That brings us to today August 4. After not hearing anthything I decided to call again. After two calls I was told they were being made and they would be shipped in 3-5 days. This time I was furious. Not wanting to say something I would later regret I decided to just act pleasanty pissed off. Tomorrow I will call again, not to yell at someone but to cut a deal. I know it's probably unrealistic to expect them to eat eat my entire out of pocket expense of $135 but that's what I'm going to ask for. If they don't counter with something close to that I will walk away entirely and stick them with a pair lenses with my prescription that have allready been made and they will also lose a long time customer.

The Declaration of Independence

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

Happy Independence Day

On this day 233 years ago the Second Continental Congress approved the Lee Resolution declaring that the the 13 colonies be Independent of British Empire. It was two days later that the document formally announcing this action was approved. On July 3, 1776 John Adams wrote the following to to his wife Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch 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 shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

I guess John was a couple days off on his prediction.

Memories from a great day

Back in training

After a week off from running it was time to get back in the saddle. I woke up Saturday morning with the plan to run 10 miles. After about three I realized 10 wasn't a possibility so I turn around and went home. A six mile run was good enough for me. No it's time to get back into full fledged training because marathon seven is only 16 weeks away. In between now and then I have two races planned, the annual Butte to Butte 10k on July 4 and the Coburg Run in the Country Half Marathon on July 19.

Marathon Madness Part 6

Saturday I set to accomplish something that I have done five times before, finish a marathon. The day started at 5:28 AM. I woke up two minutes before my alarm was set to go off. As I do before every marathon I took a shower to help wake me up. My racing attire consisted of black Nike dri-fit shorts, my lucky blue Nike dri-fit shirt , my most comfortable pair of running socks, a pair of size 13 Nike Structure Triax 12 running shoes and a Timex Ironman watch. After getting dressed and putting my black Oregon Duck pullover on, I sat down to enjoy my tradional pre-race breakfast. The breakfast consisted of oatmeal with brown sugar, vanilla yogurt, black coffee and water. After a quick bathroom break it was time to head to start line.

Near the start Carrie and I met with our parents and walked the rest of the way to the start line. After some pictures and a quick goodbye kiss from Carrie it was go time. At 7:07 AM the start gun sounded. As usual the first mile was slow due to it being crowded and slower runners not starting towards the back. At the mile one marker there was an annoying guy yelling "looking good only 25 miles left". Every Marathon that I've run there has been someone doing that and every time I've wanted to punch that person in the face. At mile two I was finally able to settle into to my pace.

Everything was going great until my stomach started growling at about mile four. I knew that I was going to eventually need a bathroom break. The first port-a-potty was still two miles away. At this time I happened to be running right by my hotel. Instead of waiting until the port-a-potty I made the decesision to run off the course and up to my hotel room to use the bathroom. The whole ordeal cost me about me about three minutes but I considered it well worth it.

After the bathroom break I settled back into to my stride. I made small talk with several runners along the way. As I passed the halfway point I was feeling great. My time at 13.1 miles was about 1:56 which if I maintained that I would finish safely under my goal of 4 hours. Everything was great until mile 18 when I realized I couldn't hold my pace. Instead of trying to push myself I settled into a slower pace. By mile 20 my buffer was gone and I knew 4 hours was out of the question.

For the last 6 miles I adjusted my goal. I wanted to finish under my last marathon time of 4:12. I started counting down the miles as I always do. At mile 22 I knew that I would easily finish under 4:12. The last 4 miles were painful but it was a good pain. As I passed the 26 mile sign a big smile crossed my face. I sprinted the last .2 miles and as I crossed the finish line I through my arms up in the air. My time was 4:06:45, not my best time but certainly not my worst.

After making my way through the recovery area I met up with my wife and enjoyed a few quality minutes with her. Then it was time to sit down and enjoy a couple adult beverages courtesy of one the fine sponsors of the event, Rogue Ales. As I sat down and drank my cold beer a smile crossed my faced as I had just done something for the sixth time that only .1% of the world's population have ever done once, run a marathon.

I'm back!!!

After a three and a half month layoff I'm happy to announce that I am re-entering the world of blogging. I 'm not sure how long it will last or how often it will be but I do pledge to update on a semi-frequent basis.

A Letter to Pat Kilkenny

Dear Mr. Kilkenny,

Fire Ernie!!!!


Sincerely,

Dennis M. Cook
President, CEO and Master Blogger
dennisdailyrant.com

I will blog again soon

I'm just not sure when

Fourth Annual DCS Championship

USC 27
Florida 24

Congratulations to the USC Trojans on their third DCS championship in Four years.

Semifinal Results

USC 35
Oklahoma 31

Florida 31
Texas 30

Playoffs Round 2

Oklahoma 35
Penn State 14

USC 28
Virginia Tech 14

Texas 42
TCU 24

Florida 42
Texas Tech 38

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A great day to be a DUCK!!!!!!!!!

Playoffs Round One

I apologize for my lack of updating you all on my playoffs. Here are the first round results:

Oklahoma 59
Buffalo 12

Penn State 24
Boise State 21

USC 35
Cincinnati 14

Virginia Tech 24
Alabama 17

Texas 55
East Carolina 10

Utah 17
TCU 20

Texas Tech 49
tOSU 21

Florida 49
Troy 7

Playoff time

Since the very start of this lame blog of mine I have pushed for a playoff in college football. My very first post three years addressed this exact subject. Now even the President Elect is calling for a playoff. No disrespect to President-Elect Obama, but my 16 team playoff is better than his 8 team plan. The plan is quite simple. Each of the eleven conference champions will get an automatic birth, and there will be five at large teams as well. I have taken the time to seed all sixteen teams and ever I will post the winners. On New Years Day I crown the Champion.

1. Oklahoma (Big 12 Champion)
16. Buffalo (MAC Champion)

8. Penn State (Big 11 Champion)
9. Boise State (WAC Champion)

5. USC (Pac 10 Champion)
12. Cincinnati (Big Least Champion)

4. Alabama (At Large)
13. Virginia Tech (ACC Champion)

3. Texas (At Large)
14. East Carolina (Conference USA Champion)

6. Utah (Mountain West Champion)
11. TCU (At Large)

7. Texas Tech (At Large)
10. Ohio State (At large)

2. Florida (SEC Champion)
15. Troy (Sun Belt Champion)

My Final Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- I'm getting really sick of them winning the Pac 10 every year
2. Oregon- Early prediction for 2009: Oregon Ducks Pac 10 Champs!
3. Oregon State- I have a couple of things here. Mike Riley did not deserve Pac 10 coach of the year. My second complaint is How is Jaquizz Rodgers the pac 10 Offensive Player of the year when he's only the third best running back in the State of Oregon?
4. Cal- Memo to Jaquizz Rodgers: Please send Jahvid Best his Pac 10 Offensive player of the year award.
5. Arizona- I finally found a coach that's crazier than Mike Stoops. It's Kansas State Basketball Coach Bill Martin.
6. ASU- Weren't the Sun Devils supposed to be good?
7. Stanford- The Cardinal improved this year but....
8. UCLA- It won't be long before the Bruins rise to the top but NCAA may be knocking on their door shortly after that.
9. WSU- Co-Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach Chris Ball was on the staff at Western Oregon during my brief career with the Wolves. I didn't like him. Washington State ranked 97th in scoring defense, 67th in rush defense, 93rd in pass defense and 85th in total defense out 119 teams.
10.Washington- 0-12 is quite the accomplishment.

In Honor of the Duck's opponent in the Holiday Bowl

Highlights from a Butt Kicking

Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- If the Trojans somehow lose to UCLA then the rodents would go to the Rose Bowl. Please don't let that happen USC.
2. Oregon- 65-38!!! One of the most satisfying Civil War victories in my lifetime.
3. OS(U)- I saw a bunch roses on the ground after Saturday's game.
4. Cal- The Bears are the only thing that stands between Huskies and perfection.
5. Arizona- Looks like the mildcats are heading to San Francisco for Bowl Season.
6. ASU- The Sun Devils are the Pac 10's most dissapointing team.
7. UCLA- The Bruins have an opportunity to really mess things up in the Pac 10. I doubt they do it.
8. Stanford- They have pretty good Women's Volleyball team.
9. WSU- I didn't bother to check if they beat Hawaii or not. I'm assuming they didn't.
10. Washington- One defeat away from perfection.

Another Great Picture from the Civil War

Oregon 65 OS(U) 38

Needless to say, I'm in a much better mood than this guy.

OS(U) Joke of the Day

A young man hired by a supermarket reported for his first day of work. The manager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him a broom and said, "Your first job will be to sweep the store." But, I'm a OS(U) graduate," the young man replied indignantly, "I even played football
there!" "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," said the manager. "Here, give me the broom, I better show you how"

OS(U) Joke of the Day

One day in an elementary school in Corvallis, OR, a teacher asks her class if the OS(U) Beavers are their favorite football team. The whole class says yes, except for Little Jimmy.

The teacher asks, "What's your favorite football team Jimmy?"

Little Jimmy says, "The Oregon Ducks "

The teacher asks, "Well, why is that?"

Little Jimmy says, "Well, my dad is a Duck fan, my mom is a Duck fan, I guess that makes me a Duck fan."

The teacher angered by his reply says, "If your dad was a moron and your mom was an idiot what would that make you?"

Little Jimmy says, "Well, I guess that would make me a OS(U) fan."

OS(U) Joke of the Day

A guy in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and says, "Wanna hear a Beaver joke?" The guy replies, "Well, before you tell that joke, you should know something. I am 6' tall, 200 lbs. and I am an OS(U) graduate. The guy sitting next to me is 6'2", 225 lbs. and he is an OS(U). The guy right next to him is 6'5", 250lbs. and he is also an OS(U). Now, you still wanna tell me that joke?"

The first guy says, "No, not if I'm going to have to explain it three times"

OS(U) Joke of the Day

It was reported that OS(U) head football coach Mike Riley will only be dressing twenty players for the Oregon game. The rest of the players will have to get dressed by themselves.

Pac 10 Rankings

1. Washington State- As pathetic as the apple cup was, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Cougars beat the Huskies.
2. USC- They may the best team in the country but they're not going to get a shot at a National Title.
3. OS(U)- Only the Ducks stand between the Beavers and the Rose Bowl.
4. Oregon- The Ducks will spoil the Beavers Rose Bowl dreams on Saturday.
5. Cal- The Bears have an extra week to prepare for the Mighty Washington Huskies.
6. Arizona- When did Mike Stoops start taking defensive pointers from Nick Allioti?
7. UCLA- As bad as they are the Bruins could still go to a bowl.
8. ASU- See Above
9. Stanford- Basketball Season is here!!!
10. Washington- One game from perfection!!!!!!

OS(U) Joke of the Day

Q: What's the only sign of intelligent life in Corvallis?

A: Eugene: 47 Miles

OS(U) Joke of the Day

Q: Why do OS(U) fans wear orange?

A: They can wear it to the game on Saturday…They can wear it

hunting on Sunday…and they can wear it to work on Monday

when they’re picking up garbage at the roadside!

OS(U) Joke of the day

In honor of Civil War week my "OS(U) Joke of the Day" segment returns for the third consecutive year. So here is my first OS(U) joke of the Day for 2008:

Q: What does a OS(U) grad call an Oregon grad?

A: Boss

Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- I don't care that the Trojans lost to OS(U) early in the season, they're still best tean in the Pac 10 and it's not even close.
2. OS(U)- The Beavers are dangerously close to Rose Bowl. I think they'll blow it.
3. Oregon- The Ducks are still mathmetically alive for the Rose Bowl. Please click here to see what it would take.
4. Cal- Losing to the Beavers helped the ducks.
5. Arizona- I got sick of that number 48 on Saturday.
6. UCLA- If UCLA beats ASU and USC the Bruins will go bowling.
7. Stanford- The Cardinal need to just beat Cal and they're going bowling.
8. ASU-They were considered a threat to challenge USC at the beginning of the season.
9. Open
10. WSU and Washington-I cannot justify ranking either school 9th.

Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- No explanation needed
2. OS(U)- The Rodents are three wins from making my worst nightmare a reality. I have faith that they won't do it.
3. Cal- The Bears could end the Beavers run for the roses. I think they will.
4. Oregon- The Ducks have yet to beat anyone with a winning record. That will change on Saturday.
5. Arizona- Stoops is an idiot.
6. Stanford- The Cardinal are one win from Bowl eligibility but I don't think they'll make it.
7. ASU- I guess they belong here.
8. UCLA- Nice second half against Rodents.
9. Washington- I think they should just cancel the Apple Cup this year.
10 WSU- " "

A brief thought on the election of Barack Obama

Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. It has been a remarkable rise for a man that just over four years ago most people outside of Chicago had never heard of. I did not vote for him, but on January 20, 2009 he will become my President for at least the next four years. I look forward to what the next four years hold for this country and I wish the President-elect nothing but the best.

Senator McCain's concession speach

November 4, 2008

Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

My friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer in my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day, though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural tonight to feel some disappointment, but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought as hard as we could.
And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends. The road was a difficult one from the outset. But your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I am especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my family and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign. I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign. All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude, and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I have ever seen and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength. Her husband Todd and their five beautiful children with their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign. We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly month after month in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life. And my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

I would not be an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.

And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history, we make history.
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- The Trojans continue to roll
2. Cal- The Bears are in control of their own destiny
3. OS(U)- The Beavs Rose Bowl pipe dream will come to an end soon.
4. Oregon- Please give Justin Roper a shot
5. Arizona- The mildcats appear to be headed to a bowl this year.
6. Stanford- The Cardinal will lose big this weekend.
7. UCLA- I am actually cheering for the Bruins this weekend.
8. ASU- Judy almost lead the Sun Devils to victory against OS(U).
9. Washington- The Huskies are four losses from perfection.
10. WSU-The Cougs have been outscored 350-33 in Pac 10 play.

Special Color Scheme

In honor of the upcoming election I have changed my background color to red. Hopefully we'll see a lot of red on the Electoral map come Tuesday night.

Vote Cook

If you live in the 4th Congressional District in the State of Oregon, write-in Dennis M. Cook for Congress. Peter Defazio is only facing token opposition from two minor party candidates so why not vote for me?

Weekend Picks

After a long hiatus the weekend picks. I'm never right on these so please don't use these for gambling purposes. There are to picks that I sincerely hope I'm right on this week. Try to guess which two those are.

NFL
Buffalo 28 Jets 21
Chicago 35 Detroit 17
Jacksonville 21 Cincinnati 10
Baltimore 21 Cleveland 17
Tennessee 24 Green Bay 21
Tampa Bay 28 Kansas City 17
Arizona 24 ST Louis 10
Minnesota 17 Houston 14
Denver 35 Miami 28
Atalanta 24 Oakland 21
Giants 31 Dallas 27
Philadelphia 35 Seattle 31
New England 24 Indianapolis 21
Pittsburgh 28 Washington 24

Pac 10
Oregon 31 Cal 21
Stanford 45 WSU 10
USC 59 Washington 17
Oregon State 45 ASU 35

Top 25
Texas 42 Texas Tech 38
Florida 31 Georgia 28


Upset Special
McCain-Palin 273 Obama-Biden 265

Week 8 Pac 10 Rankings

Washington and Washington State are back in my rankings. I'll explain below.

1. USC- Survived a scare from Arizona. I don't expect Washington to put up much of a fight.
2. Oregon- Could this year be the opposite of years past? Slow start, Strong finish.
3. OS(U)- I would love to see ASU go into Corvallis and get a victory.
4. Arizona- The Wildcats put up a fight against the Trojans but fell short.
5. Cal- The Bears got a win but they were playing UCLA
6. Stanford- Could the Cardinal go Bowling this winter? Yes, there is strong possibility that some Stanford football players will go to a bowling Alley this winter.
7. UCLA- The Bruins just aren't very good.
8. ASU- I thought Judy Carpenter was supposed to be good?
9. Washington- They fired Ty Willingham. That alone gets them back into my rankings.
10. WSU- The Cougs didn't lose!!!!

Week 7 Pac 8 Rankings

1. USC- My gut tells me they'll be in the BCS Title Game
2. OS(U)- I wish someone in the Pac 10 would beat the rodents so irrational beaver fan will shut up.
3. Oregon- Oregon is something like 13-1 coming off bye weeks in the Bellotti era.
4. Arizona- The Mildcats are one win from Bowl eligibility
5. Cal- Memo to the Bears- They play two halves in college football.
6. UCLA- The Bruins finally showed up for a game.
7. Stanford- Stick to Academics!!!
8. ASU- Bad news for the Sun Devils, Oregon is 13-1 coming off of bye weeks under Bellotti.

Running Update

It's been over a week since I completed the marathon and my body is mostly healed. On Saturday I ran in the Duck Dash 5k. I ran it about 24 minutes, which is really slow but since I was sick and still recovering from the Marathon I'll take it. My next race is a half marathon on October 25 in Phoenix, AZ. I was planning on leaving the running shoes at home when I went Phoenix but I discovered there was a race so I figured I'll give it a shot. You can keep track of all my running adventures on my new page on athlinks.com.

Week 6 Pac 8 Rankings

Neither Washington or Washington State has earned their way back into my rankings, so for the third straight week it is the Pac 8.

1. USC- Duh
2. Cal- Should have no problem with the lowly Bruins
3. Stanford- This the highest the Nerds have been ranked in my weekly rankings
4. OS(U)- Great win against Pulman Community College
5. Oregon- They may be 5-2 but they've beat five terrible teams.
6. Arizona- The Mildcats are two wins from Bowl eligibility
7. ASU- Judy Carpenter and the Sun Devils were supposed to compete for the Pac 10 title. now they'll be lucky to play in a bowl game.
8. UCLA- If not for a gift from the officials the game in Eugene wouldn't have been close.

Week 5 Pac 8 rankings

Last week I excluded the Huskies and Cougars from my weekly rankings. I have decided to continue that this week because neither team has showed they belong in the Pac 10.

1. USC- The Trojans made quick work of Nick Aliotti's pathetic defense.
2. Cal- The Bears look to be the team to beat in the Pac 10 after the Trojans.
3. OS(U)- Nice choke job against Utah!
4. Oregon- If Mike Bellotti won't fire Nick Aliotti then Pat Kilkenny should fire Mike Bellotti.
5. Arizona- The four teams the Wildcats have beat are a combined 4-17.
6. Arizona St- The Sun Devils are the biggest disappointment in the conference.
7. Stanford- At least they beat the Beavers.
8. UCLA- I must admit that I enjoy watching a Rick Neuheisel coached team struggle.

26.2 x 5

Most people will never run a single Marathon in their lifetime. As of today I have completed five of them. This one was nothing impressive. I ran it in four hours and twelve miute.s but I finished. It was short of my goal, but 18 minutes faster than my disasterous Eugene Marathon. Eventually I'll get back to running them in 3:30 but for today I'll take 4:12.

Weekend Picks

Before I get to my picks I have another rant on OS(U). Enough of the Thursday night games, Beavers!! College football is played on Saturdays. I can think of four duck games in the last ten years played on Thursday. The Beavers are playing their third Thursday game this season.

NFL
New York Giants 30 Seattle 14
Philadelphia 24 Washington 21
Miami 24 San Diego 20
Carolina 31 Kansas City 17
Tennessee 35 Baltimore 20
Indianapolis 17 Houston 14
Chicago 13 Detroit 10
Green Bay 24 Atlanta 14
Denver 35 Tampa Bay 31
Dallas 45 Cincinnati 14
Buffalo 24 Arizona 21
New England 17 San Fransisco 14
Jacksonville 17 Pittsburgh 10
New Orleans 21 Minnesota 20

Pac 10
Utah 31 OS(u) 14
Stanford 24 Notre Dame 21
Cal 24 ASU 21
Arizona 31 Washington 24
Oregon 35 SUC 31 (Homer pick of the week)
UCLA 17 WSU 3

Top 25
Auburn 17 Vanderbilt 13
Wisconsin 21 tOSU 17

Week 5 Pac 10 Rankings

Before I get started I'm got a few words for Beaver fan. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You played and beat the number one team in the country on national TV and you still could not sell out your stadium. There's a reason why you're still considered "little brother" by Duck fans. Sell out your freaking Stadium for once!

1. SUC- Sure they lost to OS but I still can't justify putting any one else in this spot
2. Oregon- The Ducks just edge the Beavers this week.
3. OS(U)- Stop complaining about being number three, you still to Stanford.
4. Cal- Not much to say about the Bears
5. ASU- Same as a above
6. Stanford- I guarantee that the Cardinal will remain atop the Pac 10 for another week.
7. Arizona- Can't begin to tell you how excited I am about that epic battle in Tucson with the Huskies this week.
8. UCLA- I will almost guarantee a Bruin victory this week over WSU.

please note: Due to the inept play of both Washington Schools I've decided to leave them out of the Pac 10 rankings.

Weekend Picks

Before I give you my picks for the weekend I have to call out Beaver fan. You guys have the number one team in the nation coming to your house tonight and as of this morning there were still 2800 tickets left! I don't want to hear any excuses about it being too expensive or it being a Thursday night. Get off your lazy butts and get to the game Beaver fan!. Oregon had a sellout against one the worst teams in college football, I see no reason why you can't get sell out against USC!.

Now onto my picks. Last week was another crappy week so I'm not even going to bother adding my record up. Here are the picks:

NFL
Tennessee 35 Minnesota 21
Denver 42 Kansas City 14
New Orleans 24 San Fransisco 17
Arizona 24 New York Jets 10
Green Bay 31 Tampa Bay 21
Carolina 21 Atlanta 10
Jacksonville 24 Houston 7
Cincinnati 17 Cleveland 10
San Diego 35 Oakland 14
Buffalo 24 ST Louis 10
Dallas 28 Washington 21
Philadelphia 28 Chicago 14
Pittsburgh 14 Baltimore 10

Pac 10
USC 42 OS(U) 17
Fresno State 24 UClA 10
Cal 31 Colorado State 24
Oregon 45 WSU 10
Stanford 17 Washington 13

Top 25
Oklahoma 42 TCU 10
Alabama 24 Georgia 21
Penn State 35 Illinois 24

Week 4 Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- The only Pac 10 team worthy of anything.
2. BYU- Two wins over Pac 10 competition gives them the number two spot.
3. Penn State- The Nittany Lions made Oregon State look like, well a Pac 10 team.
4. Boise State- The Broncos may be cheap shot artists but they still beat the Ducks.
5. Georgia- The Bulldogs are overrated but they still beat ASU.
6. Maryland-Beat up on Pac 10 pretender, Cal.
7. TCU- A win over Stanford isn't too impressive but it's still a win.
8. Oklahoma State- "Come after me! I'm a man! I'm 40!"
9. UNLV- I didn't know they even had a football program.
10. New Mexico- I'm not sure Mike Stoops will have a job past this year.

Weekend Picks

Last week I was 16-11 with my picks. This week I promise better results so here it goes:

NFL
Atlanta 10 Kansas City 3
Buffalo 31 Oakland 17
Tampa Bay 21 Chicago 10
Carolina 17 Minnesota 10
New England 21 Miami 13
NY Giants 24 Cincinnati 3
Tennessee 21 Houston 10
Arizona 31 Washington 28
San Fransisco 17 Detroit 13
Seattle 20 St Louis 13
Denver 24 New Orleans 14
Philadelphia 38 Pittsburgh 35
Indianapolis 24 Jacksonville 20
Baltimore 14 Cleveland 10
Green Bay 31 Dallas 28

Pac 10
UCLA 13 Arizona 10
Oregon 31 Boise State 20
Portland State 24 WSU 21
ASU 27 Georgia 24
Stanford 31 San Jose State 21

Top 25
LSU 24 Auburn 17
Florida State 21 Wake Forest 20

I never realized our next President is such a talented singer

Week 3 Pac 10 Rankings

1. USC- DUH
2. Oregon- A win is a win
3. ASU- How do you lose to UNLV at home?
4. Cal- I guess they belong here but how the heck did they lose to Maryland ?
5. Stanford- They lost to TCU but there's really no one else I can put.
6. OS(U)- One of three Pac 10 teams to win but lets be honest here, Hawaii sucks.
7. Arizona- New Mexico?
8. Washington- I hope Ty Willingham has his resume updated.
9. UCLA- Did the Ruins forget they had a game on Saturday?
10. Washington State- Portland State is all that stands between WSU and perfection.

Weekend Picks

This season I am going to pick every NFL, PAC 10 and college games matching two top 25 teams. Keep in my mind that I am not an expert and you shouldn't be laying down bets based on my picks. I'm just a hack that loves football.

NFL
Cincinnati 24 Tennessee 13
Green Bay 35 Detroit 10
Kansas City 13 Oakland 6
New York Giants 17 St Louis 10
Indianapolis 24 MinnesotA 21
New Orleans 31 Washington 24
Carolina 17 Chicago 10
Buffalo 24 Jacksonville 17
Seattle 10 San Francisco 7
Tampa Bay 21 Atlanta 13
Houston 17 Baltimore 13
New England 21 New York Jets 20
Arizona 17 Miami 10
Denver 35 San Diego 31
Pittsburgh 24 Cleveland 21
Dallas 42 Philadelphia 38

Pac 10
Cal 31 Maryland 7
Baylor 17 WSU 10
Oregon 31 Purdue 20
UCLA 21 BYU 20
Oregon State 28 Hawaii 14
Stanford 21 TCU 13
Oklahoma 42 Washington 14
Arizona 28 New Mexico 7
ASU 42 UNLV 10
USC 42 Ohio State 17

Other NCAA
Kansas 31 South Florida 20
Fresno State 28 Wisconsin 24

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.