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

Did you know?

The last time Cal won at Autzen Stadium was during the Regan Administration.

Week 4 Pac 10 Rankings

1. SUC- No explanation neccesary

2. Oregon- Rough second quarter on Saturday but the came out and destroyed Stanford in second half. Oregon WILL beat Cal.

3. Cal- An impending loss to Oregon means they'll drop next week.

4. ASU- Looks like Dennis Erickson is working his magic at ASU.

5. UCLA- Nice bounce back victory over Washington. I expect them to beat OS(U) this week.

6. Washington- Not a good team but everyone behind them is worse

7. WSU- See above

8. Stanford- Harbaugh has them heading in the right direction but they're still a long way from being competitive.

9. OS(U)- Memo to Sean Canfield: If you throw to players wearing Orange training bras you will be far more successful.

10. Arizona- Mike Stoops should begin cleaning out his office.

Thoughts from a road trip

As I stated in my previous entry, my wife and I took a road trip to watch our Ducks beat on the nerds from Stanford. Here are few of the highlights from that trip.

After work Friday night we headed to lovely Yreka, CA. Personally I would have preferred to stay in Weed but Yrkea won out in the end. On the way we took a bathroom stop at the Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, Or. Just for the heck of it we joined the players club which entitled us to $5.00 in free slot play. We took a seat at the "Deal or No Deal" penny slots and got work. In addition to free $5.00 I spent $5.00 of my own money and ended up leaving with $7.50. Carrie spent $5.00 of her own money and left with $20.00. In the end it was a profitable stop. After leaving the casino it was off to Yreka. In an effort to save money we stayed at a Motel 6. It may have been the smallest motel room that I've stayed in. The shower was so small that I could barely fit in it and the towels were the size of hand towels. Did I mention that Motel 6 doesn't provide shampoo? In the end the Motel served it's purpose and we got a good night's sleep.

After Breakfast at the Black Bear diner it was time to get on the road. At about Corning which happens to be the Olive capitol of the world, we were due for another bathroom stop. I saw a sign for the Rolling Hills Casino and figured that would be good stop. Of course we had to gamble while we were there. I put $5.00 in a slot and within minutes I was up to $35.00. I played it down to $30.00 and called it good. I believe that Carrie lost $5.00 but it was still a profitable stop. After the Casino it was back on the road. We stopped at an In N' Out Burger in Vacaville, Ca and I enjoyed a Double Double. Our next step stop was the Wild Palms Hotel in Sunnyvale, Ca. A big step up from the Motel 6, it was a trendy Boutique hotel. It had shampoo and full size towels, so I was happy. My only complaint was the sink which looked like a giant salad bowl sitting on the counter.

After checking into the hotel we headed off to Stanford Stadium. Parking was easy and since we had time we took a walk around the campus. I'm sure if someone had found out my SAT score I my have been kicked off the campus. Just being there made me feel smarter. We stopped by the bookstore to buy some souvenirs. My first observation was at the Stanford bookstore the first thing you see is books, you have to go upstairs for souvenirs. That is the exact opposite of the University of Oregon where the first thing you see is Duck apparel and you have to go upstairs if you want books. I was tempted to purchase a shirt that read "Stanford Alumni" but in the end I settled on a Nike shirt from the clearance rack. After a few snapping a few photos and some more wandering around we headed into the stadium. My first observation was that there was as much green and yellow as cardinal and white. After listening to the god awful "Leland Stanford Junior Marching Band" it was game time. In the beginning the game appeared to be a rout with the ducks going up 21-3. Stanford dominated the second quarter and went into halftime leading 31-24. I was never worried and did not panic once during the second quarter. The ducks came out and dominated the second half and ended up winning 55-31. During the game I decided that my first born son would be named Dennis, not after me but after Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon.

The trip home was pretty uneventful. We had a couple unsuccessful bathroom-casino stops and that was about it. In the end it was a great trip and most importantly the Ducks won!

Road Trip Time

This coming Saturday I will be attending my first duck game outside of the State of Oregon in four years. After work Friday we will load up the car and head to beautiful Yreka, Ca for the evening before heading on to Palo Alto on Saturday. I really wanted to stay in Weed but Yreka is cheaper. After watching the Ducks beat up on the smart kids Saturday we will head to a charming boutique hotel in Sunnyvale for the evening before heading home to Eugene on Sunday.

Pac 10 rankings week 3

1. SUC- Looked impressive against Nebraska. I expect the Trojans to keep rolling.
2. Oregon- Dominating non conference season, now the tough games start. Wait they play Stanford.
3. Cal- So far so good for the Bears. Take care of business against Arizona and it sets up a huge matchup against the Ducks on 9/29/07.
4. ASU- 3-0 but they still haven't shown me anything yet.
5. Washington- Hung tOSU for a half but in the end they just weren't good enough.
6. WSU- They suck but just not as bad as the four teams below them.
7. UCLA- Utah? Didn't OS beat Utah
8. Stanford- Nice win over San Jose State!
9. OS- So you beat up on Idaho State, big freaking deal!
10. Arizona- Mike Stoopid might want to start cleaning out his office.

A thought on conference loyalty

I hear this crap about conference loyalty all the time. Conference loyalty is that loony idea that one should cheer for a team simply because they play in the same conference as your team. The reason I bring this up today is because Washington plays tOSU (the Ohio Sate University). If I believed in this concept of conference loyalty I would be cheering for the Huskies. There absolutely no way that I am cheering for the Puppies today, I could care less if it is good for the conference. The Puppies are a hated rival and I avoid cheering for them whenever I can. There are four programs in the Pac 10 that I don't and I won't cheer for ever unless they're one another or they can somehow help the Ducks. Those four programs are OS(U), Washington, Washington State and Arizona. I don't think I need to explain my hatred for OS(U) and Washington but some may question my hatred of WSU and Arizona. I've never liked WSU and Arizona's coach is for a lack of a better term a butthole. So the whole point of this is that I won't be cheering for the Pac 10 today. I'm cheering for Oregon, tOSU and Idaho State!

Ripping on Notre Dame is Always Fun

I came across this evening and about spit my drink all over my keyboard.

www.jcspn.com

Rating the Pac 10- Week two

1. USC- Didn't play anyone but they're still the top team. They should roll the Cornhuskers this weekend.

2. Oregon- Impressive victory over once powerful Michigan earns them the number two spot.

3. Cal- Probably the real number two team in the conference but they drop due to their unimpressive showing and Oregon's impressive showing.

4. UCLA- Nice win against BYU this could be UCLA's year but I doubt it because Carl Dorrell is still their coach.

5. ASU- Look for them to make their climb towards the top next year. Dennis Erikson will have them in a BCS game in the next two years.

6. Washington- Nice win against Boise State but the Broncos were last years story.

7. Washington State- If I hear one more person in Eugene say that Mike Bellotti made a mistake by not recruiting Alex Brink I'm going to throw up.

8. Arizona- I predict that Mike Stoopid will not be the coach of the Mildcats next year.

9. Stanford- Stick to academics.

10. OS- Because of their embarrassing performance last week they get the last spot. I hope they stay there.

People Can Be Delusional- Revisited

Back in May I blogged about a column that I found online comparing the 2007 "OS" football team to the 2004 USC football. I pretty much ripped the column apart and the author of the column actually comented on my blog. In light of "OS's" 34-3 loss to the mighty Bearcats of Cincinatti I figured it was time to revisit this gem by "OS" student newspaper writer Frank Hoaglin. So for your reading enjoyment here it is:

2007 The year?

People Can Be Delusional

PS- Frank, if you're still reading my blog please do not use profanity when commenting

The new "OS" Football Uniforms

I thought the new "OS" football uniforms were missing something. Problem solved.

An observation from the Oregon - Houston game

In this post I will not be talking about the actual football game on Saturday. I could write plenty about how crappy the defense looked but I'll save that for another time. I want to write about some horrible fashion that I saw at the stadium.

At halftime as I was walking back from the bathroom I saw gentlemen wearing green and yellow hammer pants, a tucked in game jersey from 1990 and to top it off he had a mullet. One of my yet to be published "rules for attending a live sporting event" is to maintain updated gameday apparel. If you can afford a ticket to the game, you can afford the $15-$20 it will cost you for a new t-shirt. Some retro stuff is cool but a game jersey with the 1990 Freedom Bowl patch and hammer pants are not cool. If you are going to a game you must maintain updated gameday apparel!!!!

9/01/2007 12:30 PM

It's almost here! Go Ducks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few observaitions from Canada

Canadian beer sucks

Slurpee's taste different in Canada

Budweiser and Coors are in the import section

There's a lot of bad drivers

They don't know how to spell. It's center, not centre!

Why are the police still called the "Royal Canadian Mounted Police" when most police officers are not mounted.

ATM's are called ABM's (Automated Banking Machines) and you can choose between English and French. I wanted Spanish!

My Last Bog as a single man

This is a historic post for Dennis' Daily rant. This will be my final post as a single man. Tomorrow at 2:00 PM PDT Dennis Micheal Cook, the founder, President, CEO and supreme dictator of dennisdailyrant.com will wed the lovely Carrie Marie Lintner. Will anything about my blog change after I get married? NO! You will still find the same blogging excellence that you've come to expect. In honor of my upcoming honeymoon in the nation of Canada, I leave you all with this:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/MP3/O-Canada-eng.MP3

I really don't know what to say about this one

Back in June I blogged about the $54,000,000,000 lawsuit against a laundry mat owner who lost a clients pants. At the time that was the most ridiculous lawsuit I'd seen. That all changed today when my soon to be wife emailed me a story from foxnews.com. A South Carolina prison inmate has filed a $63,000,000,000 lawsuit against embattled NFL Michael Vick. He alledges that Vick stole two pit bulls from him for his dog fighting operation and then sold them on ebay and used the proceeds to buy missles from the Iranian government. I'm assuming this lawsuit will be thrown out almost immediatley and if it's within the judges power I hope he can tack some more time on this dudes sentance for waisting everyones time. Here's the story from Fox News, please read it along with the pdf of the complaint filed in court.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293268,00.html

Wednesday Morning Thoughts

First I want to tell everyone that I hate going to the dentist. Problem number one is why do dentist and doctors offices have four month old magazines in the lobby? It's August 8 and I was reading all about the Florida Gators second consecutive National Title in Basketball. Problem number two is the strategically placed "Stages of Gum Disease" chart in the exam room. For forty minutes I had to stare at this chart that showed pictures of everything from healthy gums with nice white teeth all the way to puffy bleeding gums with black and yellow teeth. Problem number three is scraping. Having someone scrape at your teeth for thirty minutes is one of tortuous things there is. The good news is that I had no cavities!


Thought number two, Barry Bonds is now Baseball's all time Home Run leader. I have mixed emotions on this. Being a Giants fan I'll admit that there was part of me that was cheering for him. Did he use performance enhancing drugs? Probably. Is it a tragedy or a Dark moment in Baseball history like some have labeled it? No. It it is what it is, he's got more home runs than anyone who has ever played the game. The last twenty years have been "The Steroid Era" in Baseball and Barry Bonds is the best player of that era. If Baseball wouldn't have ignored the steroid problem in the beginning than we wouldn't have any problem. Bud Selig and friends are just as much to blame as Barry Bonds. Everyone who bitter and and angry about this can take comfort in the fact that Alex Rodriguez will break the record in seven or eight years but who's to say he didn't cheat?

Third thought is that it's almost football season. Three weeks from Saturday my beloved Ducks take on the Houston Cougars at Autzen Stadium. I'll return to my usual seats in section 24 row 24 along with Carrie and Justin when he decides to show up.

Fourth and final thought for the day is days of being a bachelor are numbered. Friday will be my bachelor party. I hear that we'll be playing video games, drinking diet Pepsi and eating carrots so nothing too crazy will happen. A week from Saturday is my wedding so that's pretty cool. Hopefully all the usual people are still in my section including the nice old ladies Harriet and Janet and the old guy that doesn't have a name. Go Ducks!!!

Ouch!!

The most amzing thing about this video is that guy walks away.

Farewell to a Friend

One of the hard parts of getting married is saying goodbye to certain things from my bachelor days. Last night I said goodbye to my favorite chair. The brown recliner has been a part of my life since 2000. It was one of three relics left from the old Chesterfield lane residence (see my post from May 2006). The chair has followed me everywhere I've lived since college and has been good to me. Unfortunatly there will be no room for the chair in my new place so I had to say goodbye. I put an add on Craigslist for $20 and within an hour I had ten email responses. In the end some college kids came by last night handed me $20 and left with the chair. I'll miss the chair and my one hope is that its new owners are as good to it as I was.

"Softball Guy"

Every slow pitch pitch softball league around the country has at least one guy that I would refer to as "Softball Guy". "Softball Guy" is that guy who played baseball in High School 15-30 years ago, and thinks if it weren't for some coach that screwed him over years ago he'd be playing in the big leagues. While most slow pitch softball players show up wearing tennis shoes, shorts and a t-shirt, "Softball Guy" shows up wearing his baseball pants from high school, cleats, wristbands, two batting gloves an official looking uniform or some sort of pullover like the pros wear in batting practice and he's usually carrying a bag with three or four fancy bats. The picture above is a guy that I would refer to as "Softball Guy". While his teammates are probably wearing t-shirts and shorts , this clown has the full get up going. Cleats, socks, pants with the belt, batting gloves, wristband above the elbow and he even threw in the under armor. While I can't tell for sure, I'm assuming that his bat is some fancy $300 bat while everyone else on his team is probably using a $30 bat.

Why do I write about "Softball Guy" ? Tonight, my team faced "Softball Guy". He was probably in his mid to late 30's, he had the pants, pullover, shoes, batting gloves and bat. Before every at bat "Softball Guy" would do some Ichiro like routine, where he would stretch and adjust his jersey several times before he would step into the batters box. Sometimes in between pitches he would do his routine over again. To make things worse "Softball Guy" was also the pitcher and he would try to throw curve balls and change ups and this was coed D-League softball which is the lowest level of Softball in Eugene. Unfortunately we lost to "Softball Guy's" team and as you would expect from "Softball Guy" he was very "humble" in victory.

If any of you out there know "Softball Guy" please have an intervention, it's not too late for them to change. If you're reading this and you are "Softball Guy", please stop! No one is impressed by you, so just give it up.

Socks With Sandals

I posted the following entry on May 14, 2006 but after seeing way too many people wearing socks with sandals I felt compelled to post it again.

As the weather is getting nicer more and more people are wearing shorts, which is perfectly ok. Here in Eugene, I'm seeing a very disturbing trend though. I have seen way too many people wearing socks with sandals. Under no circumstances should anyone wear socks with sandals! If any of my readers are doing this please stop. If you see someone on the street doing this please tell them to stop. If we all work together on this we can stop this!!

More Baseball Trivia

Which active Major League manager has the highest career winning percentage?

That question won me another $30.00 at my "favorite" restaurant. That's the second time this season I've won the trivia contest at Civic Stadium. I can't take all the credit for this one though, I was unsure of the answer so I fired a quick text message to my friend and bastion of useless baseball knowledge Justin, who promptly responded with the correct answer.

Soccer Update

It's been a while since I've provided you with an update on "the beautiful game", so here it is. A washed up player from England named Beckham is set to make his debut for the LA Galaxy this weekend. Apparently this is a big deal but I have yet to encounter a single person who cares. People keep on telling me that Soccer is alive and well in the United States but I have yet to see any evidence of that. Soccer might be the sixth most popular sport after Football, Baseball, Basketball, Nascar and Golf but that's about it. If soccer is so big in the United Sates then why does www.mls.com take me some real estate site intead of the official website of Major League Soccer? The NFL, NBA and MLB don't seem to have that problem, heck even the NHL doesn't have that problem. Face it soccer fan, soccer is not bigtime in the USA and it never will be!

Play Ball!!!!

Friday it was announced that the University of Oregon is reinstating Baseball in 2009 after a twenty six year absence. While I've never been a huge college baseball fan I am excited about this. Oregon was the only school without a program and that's just sad to me. After Football and Basketball it could be argued that Baseball is the number three sport in college athletics (personally I prefer Track and Field but that's because of Oregon's rich track heritage). Adding a baseball program didn't come without some cuts, it was also announced that the U of O would be dropping its wrestling program. While I feel bad for those athletes and coaches, I feel the right decision was made. College wrestling has absolutely no income potential whatsoever. While a Baseball program will probably lose money, the potential to be a revenue producing sport does exist. In a perfect world they'd just have every single sport but with financial concerns and gender equity issues that is not feasible. If the University of Oregon wants to be an elite athletic department then adding baseball was necessary. I commend Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny for having the guts to do what no other Oregon Athletic Director in the last twenty six years would do and that's to say "play ball!!!"

Man arrives at wedding a year early

This story is just one more reason why I don't believe in long engagements. A man flew from Toronto all the way to Wales for a friends wedding only discover he was a year early. For all of you who are attending my wedding I can assure that it is August 18, 2007.

Man arrives at wedding a year early

What does this look like to you?

I laughed when I read this story. The city city of Keizer is receiving complaints over the look of these cement posts meant to protect pedestrians from traffic. Here's the story:

Residents of Oregon town say shape of traffic posts is offensive

My Next 10 Songs

I have been tagged by Aaron to list the next 10 songs that come up on my iPod or iTunes on shuffle. For the record I despise these kind things but I'll go ahead and play along anyways. So here is what came up:

1. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - The Beatles
2. Lamu- Michael W Smith
3. My Baby's in Love With Eddie Vedder- Weird Al
4. Anakin Defeats Sebulba- Star Wars Episode One
5. Maybe I'm Amazed- Paul McCartney
6. I Hear Leasha- Michael W Smith
7. Truce- Jars of Clay
8. A Time for Glory- The Music of NFL Films
9. Long, Long, Long- The Beatles
10. Place in this World- Michael W Smith

I can't say that I would pick any of these songs if I was picking ten of my favorites from my Library and I don't believed I've listened to any of them in the past two years but that's what came up. So I guess I will tag Andrew if he's reading.

Do I look like a High School Student?

Saturday I was at local convinience store when I decided to purchase a lottery ticket. I've purchased a few lottery tickets since I turned eighteen twelve years ago and I don't think I've been carded once in about the last ten years. I was absolutely stunned when the clerk asked to see my ID. I'm 30 years old! I realize that I do look a little younger than thirty but is there any possible way that I could be 17 years old? Here's a picture a from a year ago, I'll let you decide.

for yourself.

The worst junk email ever

I've received some pretty bad junk emails lately. Viagra discounts, hot stock tips and discount software are some of the junk emails I get on a regular basis. Today I got quite possibly the worst piece of Junk email that I've ever received. I received an email from the OS ticket office offering me the opportunity to purchase single game football tickets. Why on earth would I buy OS football tickets? I would probably be more likely to buy a bunch of shares on one of those hot stock tips than I would buy any tickets to an OS game that doesn't involve the Ducks.

Trivia Question

The following question won me $30 at my one of my least favorite restaurants tonight at the Eugene Emeralds game:

Which current US Senator managed the Eugene Emeralds in 1973?

Got any guesses? Please post your answer. The first correct answer will win a prize.







please note: There will be no prize awarded for the first correct answer, the statement was a lie.

OS Parade Photo

Thank you to the friend who emailed me this exclusive picture of the OS championship parade.

Congrats Rodents! Just 10 more National titles to go before you catch the Ducks

Congrats to OS on their second consectituve national title in baseball. This national title is just the third National title in any sport. The Univeristy of Oregon on the other hand has thirteen national titles, which still isn't impressive but it is a lot better than three!

GO Tar Heels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In honor of my favorite Univeristy for the next three days, I have changed the background color of my blog to Carolina Blue. This is to show my support for the North Carolina Tar Heels as they battle the OS Beavers in the championship of the College World Series.

Is this what an OS education does for someone?

Happy Birthday to a Legend

Today marks the 65th birthday of former Beatle and music legend, Paul McCartney. In honor of Sir Paul's birthday, here's Sir Paul performing "Birthday"

shoes

The Scripps National Spelling Bee

Last Thursday night I had the wonderful opportunity to watch the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. I will just say that I am not a fan of this event being televised. It just doesn't make for good entertainment. That being said I did find a clip from a previous years spelling bee that I found humorous. So here it is for your enjoyment.

10 Sports Personalities that annoy me

1. Michelle Wie- Five years from now she'll be featured on some sort of "where are they now?" segment.

2. Billy Donavan- Don't accept a job, sign a contract and tell everyone how excited you are about the challenge on Friday and then change your mind on Saturday.

3. Danica Patrick- I keep on hearing how good she is but she' won the exact same number of races as I have, 0!

4. Tim Duncan- Boring, overrated and a crybaby

5. Peyton Manning- Tom Brady is better

6. Roger Clemens- Please do us all a favor and retire

7. Brett Favre- See above

8. Adam Jones- I refuse to call him by his nickname because he hasn't accomplished anything in his pathetic career. Anyone who has something like twenty run ins with police in the last three years, gets suspended for a year and then has the nerve to appeal his well deserved suspension is a loser.

9. Michael Vick- I won't even touch his off field issues. The reason he makes my list is because he's not that good.


10. Lou Pinella- When your over 60, you shouldn't be throwing your hat and kicking dirt on people.

Middle aged men acting like three year olds

You gotta middle aged men acting like three year olds. The following are two clips of minor league baseball mangers having complete meltdowns. First is a clip from last weekend involving Mississippi Braves Manager Phillip Wellman. The second meltdown is from last season involving Asheville Tourists Manager Joe Mikulik.

$54 million for a pair of pants?

This is perhaps the most ridiculous lawsuit I have ever seen. Washington DC Administrative Court Judge Roy Pearson JR, sued the owners of a Dry Cleaners for $67 million over a lost pair of pamts. After thinking things over Pearson apparently has had a change of heart and is only asking for $54 million. The pants were a part of suit that cost $1100 originally.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2007/06/dc_judge_pearson_now_wants_54.html

Marathon Update

After spending a mostly sleepless night in a smoking room at the Econo Lodge in Newport, I ran my third marathon Saturday morning. Fighting allergies (yes they followed me to the coast), a bad knee and probably most importantly a lack training, I crossed the line in four hours and four minutes. The time wasn't all that important, I really just wanted to finish. After briefly contemplating retirement from marathoning, I've made the descision to get my butt back into peak shape and train for Boston in 2009. My plan will be to the run Portland marathon in Octobober in three hours and twenty seven minutes . Then after a winter of intense training a much lighter version of me will run the Eugene marathon in a time of three hours an seven minutes thus qualifying for the Boston marathon. A month after running Eugene I'll run the Newport race again just for fun. That's my tentative Marathon schedule for the next year

Memorial Day

A grateful thank you to all those men and women who served, and to those who serve now. I specially thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that the rest of us can enjoy the freedom we share.

A random fact about the Indy 500

According to US census bureau the most common last name in the United States is Smith. In 91 runnings of the Indy 500 there has never been a driver with the last name Smith to qualify for the race.

Hypocrite of the Week

A California State Senator who voted in favor a law that bans talking on a cell phone without a hands free device while driving reportedly caused a car accident last weekend while talking on her cell phone. Carol Migden D- San Fransisco was driving a state issued SUV when she rear ended another vehicle. Here's the full story.

Senator Who Favors Cell Phone Ban Caught Using Hers

Some Advice for Runners

Don't go out for Chinese food at 9:00 PM on Friday and then try to run eight miles at 8:00 AM on Saturday.










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Blazermania!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seven years ago I sat in the living of my friend Justin's place watching on a 13 inch Daewoo television as my beloved Blazers imploded in the fourth quarter of game seven of the Western Conference finals. That Sunday afternoon was the beginning of the dowmward sprial that saw the Blazers go from one of the elite teams in the league to the league's worst team one year ago. The once proud franchise was dead, there was no hope and longtime fans like myself were wondering if the Blazers would ever be back. Things started to look up on draft night last year in which the Blazers picked up Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. This season was a struggle but there were signs of life and the team won eleven more games than it did a year ago. There was hope but there was still a missing piece.

Last night on what some are calling the greatest night in franchise history since the championship season, the Portland Trail Blazers won the NBA Draft Lottery. Meaning that they will have the number one pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. They will have the choice of two of the best players in the NBA draft in recent memory, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. In all likelyhood they will select Oden, which I believe is the correct pick. Durant wouldn't be a bad pick either but I think Oden would be the better fit and he could be the guy that'll bring the Blazers their first title since 1977.

Softball

Tonight marked the beginning of my second season on the company softball team. As was was the case last year, I am once again wearing the #7 as a tribute to the man who I think is the greatest quarterback ever to play the game of football, John Elway. I started at my usual position, First Base, committed no errors in the field and was 2-2 at the plate with two singles. We won 16-9 tonight and appear to be much improved from last year.

Alberto Gonzales a Portland Trail Blazer?

What does attorney general Alberto Gonzales have to do with the Portland Trail Blazers? The answer is nothing but for some weird reason when you enter http://www.albertogonzales.com in your browser it takes you to the official website of the Portland Trail Blazers. The following is courtesy of Oregonlive.com:

Alberto Gonzales a Blazer?
Posted by Casey Holdahl May 21, 2007 13:21PM
As you may or may not know, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been in some hot water lately regarding the firing of a number of federal prosecutors. If you'd like to talk more about that, we've got a lovely politics forum.
So right now you're probably saying to yourself, "This is a Blazer blog Casey. What's the big deal bringing up this political crap?" Well it turns out that the Blazers and AG Gonzales have a strange connection on the World Wide Web:
For some reason, typing the domain "www.albertogonzales.com" into your browser's address line takes web-surfers to the online home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. A quick online search shows that the Attorney General's name is registered to InterCosmos Media Group of New Orleans, and was registered on Feb. 3, 2005, just as Gonzales was up for Senate confirmation.
An attempt to reach InterCosmos for an explanation was unsuccessful. But the BLT's private theory is that the link between the nation's top-law enforcement officer and the Blazers may have something to do with the team's well-documented history of blazing things other than three-point shots.
And it's true. Click on http://www.albertogonzales.com/, and sure enough, you're re-directed to Blazers.com. If anyone's got an explanation for this, I would love to hear it. My guess is that Alberto can really stroke the three.

300 Posts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my 300th post to my blog. In celebration of that milestone, let's take a look back at some of my favorite posts.

World's Strongest Dad- The inspirational story of Rick and Dick Hoyt. A story that everybody should read and I guarantee that you'll get choked up at the very least.

Why not a Playoff?- My annual argument for a playoff in college football.

Valentine's Day, What's the point?- A classic post from back in 2006 which was my last ever Valentine's day as a single man. Yes Carrie, my opinion of Valentine's Day has changed since then.

59 Things a Man Should Never do Past 30- A list from esquire magazine and no I don't think that I've been in violation of any of them.

3:25:07- My post following my first marathon last year.

Marathon Time

On June 2 I will be running my third marathon. For the second year in a row I'll be running the Newport Marathon. This year I'm not the slim trim Dennis that I was a year ago but I'm also not the fat Dennis that I was two years ago. My goal of qualifying for Boston is temporarily on hold, if I can finish this one under four hours I'll be ecstatic. Once I get this one out the way I plan on upping my training and getting back into my peak condition to make a run at Boston in Portland in the fall or back home in Eugene next spring.

The NBA

For the past couple years I have been completely uninterested in the NBA. The style of play, the teams and the players just didn't interest me. I started watching a little NBA during the playoffs and enjoyed it. That all ended tonight because the last remaining team that I enjoyed watching the Phoenix Suns was eliminated. As of tonight I am officially uninterested in the NBA until either the Blazers start winning or next years playoffs.

Three months from today

Can anyone guess what's happening on that day?

The Greatest Athlete Ever to Come out of the State of Oregon

Someone once asked me who I felt the greatest athlete to come out of state of Oregon was. Now we're not talking someone from California who went to college for four years in Oregon, we're talking the best Oregon raised athlete. To me that answer is simple and it cannot be debated. The greatest athlete ever to come out of the state of Oregon is Steve Prefontaine.

Born and raised in Coos Bay, Oregon Pre was the greatest American distance runner ever. In his college career he won seven NCAA titles, three in Cross Country and four in the three mile becoming the first athlete to win four consecutive titles in one event. In his college career he set nine collegiate records and never lost a race of a distance more than one mile. He raced in thirty eight races at historic Hayward field from 1970-1975 and won thirty five of those, the three that he didn't win were all at the one mile distance. In his only Olympics at the the age of 21 he finished fourth in a field that he was at least two years younger than everyone else. Had he race in 1976 he would have been the favorite to win gold.

In 1975 Pre was killed in a car accident. At the time of his death he held every American record from 2000-10000 meters.


Information from goducks.com was used to complete this post

Buying a card

Tomorrow is my father's birthday so tonight I went to the store to find my dad a birthday card. I figured I would find the card I want an be out of there in two minutes, I was wrong. I spent thirty minutes and I must of looked through every birthday card the store had. All I wanted was a classy and simple birthday card. I didn't want a card with crude sexual humor, no card with a sappy poem telling my dad how special he is and absolutely no card with puppies or kittens wishing my dad a happy birthday, again all I wanted was a simple and classy birthday card. I found one card that said simply "happy birthday" by it looked like it was designed by a five year old using really bad clip art.

The funny cards either not funny, contained references to bodily noises, contained crude sexual humor or all of the above. I just don't think it would be very appropriate to buy my dad a card that references bodily noises or sexual humor.

Some people like to buy cards that contain a sappy poem or something a long those lines. For my mom I can get away with that but dad is a different. My dad is an old tough guy who spent twenty years in the military, buying him a card with poem telling him how special he is would just be weird.

The most disturbing cards to me are the ones with puppies or kittens. The store I went to had a whole section of these cards. Who came up with the brilliant idea of putting a pet on a card. I just don't see the point.

After looking at all the cards I left the store with nothing. Tomorrow during my lunch I'll try again and hopefully this time I'll be more successful.

Sizzler

For nearly a year, I have been on the board of directors for the Lane County Creditors Association (It's not as prestigious as it sounds). On the the third Thursday of every month we have a board meeting at Sizzler. No matter what I order off the menu I always feel sick after eating there. I've tried burgers, steak, chicken, salad bar, shrimp and fish but it doesn't matter, I always leave with this nasty feeling in my stomach. Today I ordered the chicken strips which I thought would be safe, I was wrong! Since 2:00 today I have felt ill, after work I went for my six mile run that normally takes 45 minutes, tonight it took an hour and fifteen minutes. The point of all this? Never eat at Sizzler!

Pac 10 Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure one of you knuckleheads is going say something like it's only Track and Field but I don't care what you think. Eugene, Oregon is Tracktown USA and personally I think it's great that the storied track and field program at University of Oregon is returning to its rightful place amongst the nation's elite.

Something

It's been a couple days since I blogged so I figured I should give you all something. The problem is there's nothing really new to report, it's been a slow week in sports and making fun of "OS" is getting old, actually making fun of "OS" never gets old but you get the point. So with nothing blog about I figured I'd give you guys another YouTube video. This time I ventured out of the world sports into the world of music. The following is one of my favorite performances in recent years. It's a tribute to the late George Harrison performed by Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and others. I give to you "Something".

People can be delusional sometimes

The beginning of each season brings new hope to sports fans. Some can be realistic and some can be downright delusional. I tend to be on the realistic side, meaning I don't pick my teams to win a championship every year. Then there are people like Frank Hoaglin of the Barometer which happens to be the "OS" student newspaper. I'll just let you all read the column for yourselves and you'll see what I'm talking about. After reading then you can read my commentary on some of my favorites points.

2007
The Year?

"The Beavs look to revisit those days this year, and from the looks of practices, scrimmages and the Spring game this year, OSU has the potential to be a force to be reckoned with this season."

We're talking about spring practice here, spring practice is never a good indication of how a team will look in the in fall. I remember attending the 2002 Oregon spring game and thinking afterwards that the Ducks were going to be great and Jason Fife was going to better than Joey Harrington. The ducks went 7-6 and got crushed by Wake Forrest in the Seattle Bowl and I think that it is safe to say Jason Fife was not better than Joey Harrington.

"Even after losing quarterback Matt Moore to the NFL, the Beavers have enough depth at the position to make Urban Meyer look jealous down in Florida"

A Redshirt Freshman and a Sophomore with no meaningful minutes wouldn't make the coach at New Mexico State jealous let alone the coach of of the defending national champions.


"Much like former Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart, Canfield has the mechanics and delivery to find any receiver at any point on the field and deliver a precision pass to their numbers."


Comparing an untested Sophomore QB to a Heisman trophy winner who led his to two national titles is just plain ridiculous.

"While USC had the weapons in the forms of Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith, the Beavers could potentially counter the Trojans easily with Sammie Stroughter, Yvenson Bernard, Anthony Brown, Brandon Powers and Brady Camp. While no player in football history will match the play-making capabilities of Reggie Bush (Along with Gale Sayers and Barry Sanders), Stroughter is definitely close. If you had the privilege to watch Stroughter return kicks during spring, you were probably reminded of a certain OSU/USC game last October in Corvallis. Sammie has the speed, agility and field vision to break a touchdown on any play, much like Bush."

Sammie Stroughter's abilities are not even close to those of Reggie Bush. Reggie Bush is arguably the greatest college football player ever, Sammie Starughter while very good is not even in the same galaxy as Reggie Bush. Yvenson Bernard is sturdy workhorse running back but is nowhere near the back Lindale White was. As for Anthony Brown, Brandon Powers and Brady Camp, well I haven't even heard of two of those guys.

"And who knows, we just could have a dynasty on our hands. What do ya have to say to that, USC?"

Umm, I don't think so.

I could be wrong but I doubt you'll be seeing "OS" in a BCS bowl anytime soon.

"Of all the dramitic I things I've ever seen"

Yesterday during the seventh inning stretch of the Yankee-Mariner game, forty five year Roger Clemens announced that he was returning to the New York Yankees. That didn't come as huge surprise to anyone. I did think it was kind of ridiculous that it was announced over the PA in the middle of a game, but that's a subject for another time. After the announcement Yankee Broadcaster Suzyn Waldman started screaming a bunch crap and then she makes the statement "of all the dramatic things I've EVER seen". Now don't get me wrong, Roger Clemens is a great pitcher maybe the best ever but to use the "of all the dramatic things I've ever seen" in reference to a forty five year old pitcher announcing his return is a bit ridiculous. Apparently Ms. Waldman hasn't seen many dramatic things in her life but as a baseball broadcaster you'd think she would see more dramatic things on a daily basis such as a game winning home run. Heck I even see more dramatic things on my drive to work every day. Here's ESPN Radio host Colin Cowherd's take on this.

Something to think about before your next glass of water

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli) bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of Poop.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine (or rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health

Carrie

As most of you already know on August 18, 2007, I the man that many people labeled a "bachelor til the rapture" will be getting married to a wonderful girl named Carrie. It took twenty nine years of getting "kicked to the curb" and running into the infamous "two date wall" before I finally met the right girl, and all I have to say is that it was worth the wait.

Another Oregon State Logo

When I first saw the new "OS" logo, I thought it was boring, unimaginative and just plain ugly. Because of that I commissioned a local graphic designer to come up with yet another logo for Oregon State. I wanted this one to be original, bold and something that truly represented that fine institution in Corvallis. After much hard work the product is finished and I couldn't be happier with it. While the guy that designed the "OS" got $50,000 for that High School-like logo he designed, the designer I hired did it for free and I think his work is much better than the guy that got paid $50,000. It is with much excitement that I present the new Oregon State logo.

Some subtle changes to the new "OS" uniforms

I came across this photo on educk.com. I think the subtle changes are appropriate.

This should put an end to "OS" fans commenting on Oregon's Uniforms

Are they going to have football players direct traffic before games? One fan of opposing school saod the part looks like a training bra that is too small, I'd say that's an accurate description.

He strikes again

The person that I reffered to in my last post is at it again. This time he identified himself as "Nigel Herringbone III" which is not his real name. This time he simply replaced the word hippie with Republican, wow that's classy. While I am flattered that people outside my circle of friends read this blog I do need make you aware that profane and abusisive language will not be tolerated on this blog. Anyways it's time to get back to work.

Those Classy "OS" Beaver Fans

Today as I was reading through the comments on my blog, I came across one from an "OS" fan in response to one of my posts. The comment read "go **** yourself hippie".

There are two things that I wish to address here. First you need to grow up and have sense of humor about things. When your school comes out with an ugly logo, you're going to get a little crap about. As a Duck fan I get crap all the time over our ugly football uniforms. Instead telling people off, I laugh at it an move on. "OS" fans are very good about dishing it out but when some one gives an "OS" fan a little crap they respond much like this anonymous reader did. Sometimes they just can't handle the truth.

Second thing I want to address is refering to me as a hippie. There are a few things that would disqualify me from being a hippie. I am a registered republican, I've never smoked pot, I've never protested a war or the cutting down of trees and I bathe every day. There are many more things that I could mention but I think you get the point.

Now the point of this whole post. There really isn't one other than it's after 5:00 PM on Friday and I'm bored.

Question of the day

How come when you owe the government money at Tax time they want your money right away, yet when they owe you money they can take up to eight weeks to give it to you?

102 Year Old California Lady Hits Hole in One

This may be one of the craziest things I've read lately. I'm thirty and I've never even come close to hitting a hole in one but then again I am one of the worlds worst golfers.

102 Year Old California Lady Hits Hole in One

Another thought on the "OS" Beavers

Since is OSU is now known as "OS" they're going to have to make some changes to their most popular chant and their fight song. First there is the chant, the one where the fans shout out "OOOOOO,SSSSSS,UUUUUUUUUU, Oregon State, fight, fight fight" while doing a Village People like thing with their arms. Now they'll have to go "OOOOO,SSSSS, Oregon State, fight, fight, fight". If you know how the chant goes please try it, it doesn't work, does it? However since they no longer want to be know as OSU they're going to have to change it.

Now onto the fight song, the name of the song is "Hail to OLD OSU", that's not going to work anymore. The Lyrics to the song are as follows:

"Hail to Old OSU"

OSU, our hats are off to you

Beavers, Beavers, fighters through and through

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

That's made for old OSU.

Watch our team go tearing down the field

Men of iron, their strength will never yield.

Hail, hail, hail, hail

Hail to old OSU.

Usually the song is played through twice and in between the fans chant "OSU, fight, fight, fight". That's not going to work anymore either. To help out "OS" fans, I've taken the initiative to revise the lyrics and the title to their fight song. So here ar the lyrics to "Hail to Old OS":

"Hail to Old OS"

OS, our hats are off to you

Beavers, Beavers, fighters through and through

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

That's made for old OS.

Watch our team go tearing down the field

Men of iron, their strength will never yield.

Hail, hail, hail, hail

Hail to old OS.

With the new lyrics fans will sing it through twice and now chant "OS, fight, fight, fight" in between. If you know how the song goes I invite you to sing through with the new lyrics.

The "OS" Beavers

It's been awhile since I've blogged about the "OS" Beavers. This week they unveiled a new logo for all sports which they say will create a brand identity that will be recognizable nationwide. Apparently they no longer want to be known as OSU because people hear OSU and automatically think Ohio State University, which they should because Ohio State actually has a successful athletic department something which "OS" doesn't have (unless you count baseball or gymnastics but those are minor sports) and never will have. The key to a successful brand identity is actually having a product that people care about and "OS" does not have that. Oregon Sate football is coming off one of it's most successful seasons in school history but a ten win season in which you had to play fourteen games to get there, third place in the Pac 10 and a victory in the Sun Bowl is hardly impressive. Last I checked no one cares about the Sun Bowl. In the other sport that people care about which is men's Basketball "OS" is an embarrassment to Pac 10.

When the University of Oregon unveiled the "O" logo in 1998 they backed it up with the most successful era in Oregon Athletic history and is because of that that people nationwide identify the "O" with the University of Oregon. That will not happen at "OS" and therefore "OS" will always stand for "Other School" to me.

Final thoughts on Josephinekimberly Noah

I am thankful to report that Joakim Noah announced that he is entering the NBA Draft . This makes me excited because now I will never have to see him play again
(I don't watch the NBA). I hope he enjoys his NBA career from the bench.

The first pitch

Congratulations to Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory for what may have been the worst ceremonial first pitch in baseball history. In the Reds opening day game, Mallory missed home plate by about twelve feet throwing from the front of the mound. I don't care who you are if you can't reach home plate from the front of the mound then you have no business throwing out the first pitch. I have horrible throwing motion and a messed up throwing shoulder but I can still throw a ball across home plate from the top of the mound. Say what you want about President Bush's politics but the guy the guy knows how to do first pitches or as Joekimsanjaya Noah would say "he do it huge". In game three of 2001 World Series he walked out to the mound at Yankee Stadium and fired a perfect strike from the top of the mound while wearing a bullet proof vest, that is how it is done. For comparison sake I've posted the video of Mallory's first pitch and President Bush's first pitch. I do apologize that I couldn't get a clip of just the President's pitch so you do have to put up with a few minutes of extras dealing with the pitch.

Bizzare news item of the week

We've all known for years that Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has done his share of drugs but this story that came out this week is downright disturbing. In a recent Richards admitted to snorting his father's ashes mixed with cocaine. He's the story for you all to read.

Keith Richards Snorted Father's Ashes With Cocaine

Is this what a Florida education does for you?

In case you missed it, here's Joakim Noah's post game comments. I'll just let the video speak for itself.

A Crazy Ending to a Basketball Game

While the Division I championship game was pretty boring, the Division II championship game which was played last week between Barton and Winona State had an unbelievable ending. The video picks with 45 seconds left and Winona State up by 7.

Joakim Noah vs. Sanjaya

I really can't decide who's more annoying, that "no talent ass clown" from American Idol Sanjaya or Florida Gator forward Joakim Noah. At this point I'm calling it a tossup.

Predictions for the 2007 major league baseball season

I don't care much for Baseball but I offer you the following predictions.

1. Barry Bonds will hit Home Run 756 on Friday July 13 in San Francisco against the LA Dodgers.
2. Roger Clemens will be a member of the Boston Red Sox by seasons end.

My division winners are as follows:

NL West- LA Dodgers
NL Central- Milwaukee Brewers
NL East- New York Mets

NL Wild Card- Philadelphia Phillies

AL West- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
AL Central- Cleveland Indians
AL East- Boston Red Sox

AL Wild Card- New York Yankees

Playoffs

NLDS
Mets over Brewers
Dodgers over Phillies

NLCS
Mets over Dodgers

ALDS
Red Sox over Angels
Yankees over Indians

World Series
Red Sox over Mets

My NCAA Championship game prediction

Although I really don't care about the game I feel obligated to make a prediction. Ohio State led by 37 year old Freshman center Greg Oden will put up a gallant fight but in the Florida led by Josephinekimberly Noah and friends will be too much for the Luckeyes. Florida wins 77-70.

Within a week after the game Florida head coach Billy Donavan will be introduced as the new head coach at Kentucky , Florida Juniors Josephinekimberly Noah, Al Horfod, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green will all declare for the NBA draft. Thirty Seven year old Greg Oden will declare as well. My final prediction is that Josephinekimberly Noah will be a bust in the NBA and be out of the league within five years.

Thoughts on the final four

After last weekend I lost interest in the NCAA Tournament, that being said I watched significant portions of both games and have the follow thoughts. This is the type of expert analysis that you won't find anywhere else on the internet.

Game 1- The Ohio State Vs. Georgetown
Much has already been written or discussed on Ohio State center Greg Oden's age. He supposed to be 19 but I'm still not convinced. I've posted two pictures below, one of Oden and one of me. Looking at those pictures there is absolutely no way that I'm eleven years older than this dude.


Game 2- Florida Vs. UCLA
Though it probably did not matter today it seems to me that Florida gets a lot favorable calls. Much like the Ducks last week several key players from UCLA were in foul trouble. While the refs are calling ticky tack fouls on their opponents , Florida players constantly push shove and elbow their opponents and never get called for anything. I guess I could be a little biased but it really seems like Florida has the refs on their side.

I also feel compelled to comment on Florida Forward Joekim Noah, he may be the most annoying athlete I've ever seen. His on court antics are flat out childish, after every made basket he celebrates like he just won the national title and after every call that doesn't go his way he acts like my two year old nephew does when his older brother steals a toy from him. Here's a collection of pictures that shoes just how annoying the guy is.

this image is courtesy of larrybrownsports.com

"I dung wet my britches"

My friend Andrew posted this video on his blog a couple months ago , it's got to be the craziest ending to football game I've ever seen. The video picks up with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter and John Tyler High School leading Plano East 41-17.

What's wrong with this picture?

If you can't figure it out click here for an explanation

The Bonehead of the Week

This week's bonehead of the week is Washington Wizards forward Michael Ruffin. Just watch the video and you'll see why.

The day my bracket died

Thanks for blowing it Kansas and Memphis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elite Eight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Ducks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bracket update!!

Another perfect night means that for the first time ever I have all eight teams in the elite eight! In addition to leading my personal pool, I'm in first place out 374 in Oregonian columnist John Canzano's pool, I'm in first place out of 75 people in the educk bracket challenge, I rank fifth in the nation in radio host Jim Rome's contest, I rank 249th in the nation in cbs sportsline's contest and I rank 1622 in the ESPN.com contest and that puts me in the 99.9 percentile. Will it last? Time will tell but I'm enjoying it while it lasts!!

Update on my Bracket

A perfect 4-4 tonight, ok 3-4 depending on which bracket. I accidently picked Tennessee over Ohio State in my pool that I put together, however even with the mistake I'm still in first place. Every other bracket that I submitted I had Ohio State picked. Currently I'm the leader in three different bracket contest including my. As of Monday I was in third place in a local sports radio shows bracket contest. That's the one that I want to win because the grand prize is a pair of season tickets for duck basketball. Hopefully I keep on rolling but I'm sure it will all fall apart sometime. If everything goes as planned on Friday, I will be forced to actually cheer against a team that I have picked in my bracket on Sunday. That's because I picked Florida to beat Oregon and in the end the Ducks are far more important than any stupid prize that I may win.

My Tournament Bracket

One Shining Moment

Since 1987 CBS has finished its NCAA tournament coverage with a highlight montage played to the song "One Shining Moment". The song written by David Barrett and recorded most notably by Tony Pendergrass and Luther Vandross has become known as the anthem of college basketball. There's something about this song, I don't what it is but it always one of my favorite parts of the NCAA Tournament (except last year click here if you really need to know why it wasn't too enjoyable for me) sometimes it even gets me a little choked up. Hopefully the 2007 version will have plenty of Duck highlights but for now here's the 2006 version which can actually enjoy now.

An update on My Bracket

While I did not enjoy the success that I had yesterday, I still got six of eight games right today. That means that I correctly picked 14 of the 16 teams playing in the Sweet Sixteen. That is my best early round performance ever!

Here's my bracket if you need proof of how good I am

Sweet Sixteen!!!

For just the second time in my life the Ducks are headed to the Sweet Sixteen. Is a Final Four in this teams future? We'll see about that. Please take a moment to read my score prediction in my previous post, I guess I overestimated Winthrop!

Thoughts on March Madness

Division 1 college basketball has the greatest postseason in all of sports. The first four day of the tournament is all basketball, all day. My one problem is CBS's coverage of the event. It seems that everytime I start to get into game they switch over to another game. Yesterday I took a long lunch so I could watch my beloved Ducks play the Miami of Ohio Redhawks. As I was sitting at a table at Noho's Hawaiian Cafe, enjoying my lunch and watching the ducks, those brilliant people at CBS decided that we should treated to some "bonus coverage" of Creighton-Nevada. Bonus coverage my butt! I don't care if the ducks were up by 30 and Creighton and Nevada were involved in a one point game, I don't want any "Bonus Coverage". In fact 99.99999 percent of the people watching the tournament in Eugene, Oregon could care less about the Creighton-Nevada game. Tonight I was enjoyning UCLA-Indiana which was the game the regional choice for the Eugene area but for about half the second half I was treated to "Bonus Coverage" of Michigan State-North Carolina. I could go on forever about all this stupid "Bonus Coverage". Just give the game I want and stay there there, when I need an update on another game I can get on the internet. I'm sure tommorrow during the Oregon-Winthrop game I'll be treated to plenty of "Bonus Coverage". In order to avoid the "Bonus Coverage", I may go to a local watering hole to watch the game because they'll have all the games on so I won't be subjected to any "Bonus Coverage"

(In case you were counting the term "Bonus Coverage" was seven times in the above paragraph)


Now onto my bracket. Today I had my first perfect day in the first two rounds of the tournament ever! That's right, I was eight for eight. Three days into the tournament and all the teams that I had picked for the sweet sixteen are still in. That has has never happened. If I have another perfect day tommorrow, I will have picked correctly all sixteen teams in the sweet sixteen.

While the success of my bracket is exciting the only thing I really care about is my ducks. I will gladly lose my pool if it means that my Ducks make a deep run in this tournament. While I'm a huge Duck fan, I'm also a realistic duck fan so I was unable to pick the to advance past the elite eight. Tommorrow they face the Winthrop Eagles who the media is hyping as "this years George Mason". I've never really understood why the media seems to embrace the little guy. There are people out there that claim America loves the underdog but that just isn't true. TV ratings for Gerge Mason's appearence in the final four last year sucked. If America was so in love withe underdog it seems to me that TV ratings would have been great. Give me the favorites unless one of those underdogs is the Ducks. My prediction for the Oregon-Winthrop game is Oregon 75 Winthrop 63. The Ducks will advance.

In Honor of March Madness

I give to you "Jesus Christ: Basketball Star"

Pac 10 Tournament Champs!!!!!!

The Ducks completed their domination of the Pac 10 tournament today by beating USC 81-57. They won their three games by an average of 20 points. Now it's on to the big dance for the first time in four years.

Major announcement!!!

Tonight I asked Carrie if should would marry me and she said yes! So Carrie and I will be getting married on August 18, 2007. Stay tuned for more details. Here's a picture of the ring I gave her, it's not a great picture because I took it with my phone.

Jesus played Hockey?

I don't know what to say about this, maybe it's just me but this just seems a little weird.

Another trip back in time

This week's trip back in time takes us to WrestleMania III in 1987. At the time Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant was the most anticipated wrestling match ever. I was ten years old at the time and I remember begging my mom to let us get the Pay Per View but she wouldn't let us get it. I had to wait two months for it to come out on video and on the day that it came out video, even though I already knew the results my friend Kenny and I rode our bikes to 5 Star Video to rent it. In the one night we had it, we watched all three hours of WrestleMania III twice. It was awesome!! So for all my loyal readers, here's a condensed version of Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant from WrestleMania III.

Dennis' Bracket Challenge

I'm putting together a pool for this years NCAA tournament, it will cost you $10 to get in. If you're intersted in participating please send me an email at dmcook05@gmail.com and I will forward you the details.