My Beaver Blog

Omaha by the Numbers

2007-07-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

$720 - Cost for a last minute airline ticket to the final series, worth every penny.

13 - The number of hours before first pitch of the final series in Omaha that I left home for the airport and my adventure to the CWS.

8 - the inning in game 2 vs. UNC when I finally became convinced we were going to win. To that point, I hadn't been sure about any game the entire post season. Yes, I'm a pessimist.

1 - Tears that rolled down Jordan's cheek as we pulled up to Hooters on 11:45PM on Sunday night to celebrate and noticed the neon open sign was not aglow.

3 - Number of intoxicated college coeds in skimpy clothes that asked Jordan to pose on the statue with them after the beavs clinched.

.01 - time, in seconds, it took Jordan to say yes and scale the statue.

12 - unofficial time in minutes the Beavers trailed in the entire tournament. Trailing 1-0 after the bottom of the first in game 2, Canham reached to open the second then Barney hit a laser over the left field wall to make it 2-0. That means they trailed for two batters in 45 innings of work, not bad.

60 - Time in minutes it took for us to locate a steak joint (any steak joint, I just wanted meat). This is the Midwest right? Ended up being worth the wait, Anthony's had spectacular prime rib.

390 - Time in minutes, that I spent in PHX airport travelling home thanks to the wonderful people at US Air who had all night to clean the aircraft but waited until departure time to do so, thereby making the entire plane miss connections.

$10 - The amount of food voucher money we received, negotiated up from $5, to help ease the pain of our wait in PHX.

0 - The number of times I will fly US Air in the future and the number of times I'll return to Omaha or Iowa for any reason besides the CWS.

Random Quotes:

" Don't corrupt my grandson" - Bev as "custody" of Jordan was turned over to me after game 2 for the voyage home.

"Nothing" - the guy at the rental car counter when asked what's fun to do in town if you have a day to burn.

"Go Beavs" - random 7 year old kid from the backseat of his car as we crossed the street clad in Orange for breakfast

"I hope you lose today" - The manager at Perkins who had just bought out breakfast due to slow service. He wanted us to come back the next day to prove they could get it right.

"Are you a coach or something?" - the air headed blond next to me on the trip home as I explained to her what all the beaver championship gear was about on the plane. She thought we were "some sort of team."

"OK people, this is getting boring" - the goofy security guard standing on top of the beaver dugout to fans trying to get them to disperse as the team celebration continued on the field.

"I don't agree with their style" - UNC reliever "Nancy" Carignan about OSU's bunting and trying to slow the game down. He might not agree, but for the 2nd year in a row the scoreboard does.

Sun Bowl Road trip

2007-01-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

Having been officially bitten by Beaver fever on Jan 1, 2001 while sitting in the Fiesta Bowl watching the Beavs destroy ND, it was always a given that I would attend the Rose, Holiday and Sun Bowl when the Beavers qualified for them. The Rose and Holiday are just a given. There is no obstacle that would prevent me from being at either. For some odd reason the Sun was not very far behind for me. It worked out well this year as we were in Tucson for xmas anyway. Add my brother-in-law (a wildcat who was an honorary beaver for this trip and now referred to as BIL) and 4 more Beavs flying in from Oregon and the roadtrip to El Paso was on.

Thursday Dec. 28 - Tucson, AZ. Departure 9:30am
I expected to see many new things on this trip having never been to New Mexico or outside the immediate vicinity of the EL Paso airport. But the first thing I saw as we made our way East on I-10 was snow in the Desert. As we drove near Benson the snow was coming down in buckets and traffic was crawling along. Our 4 hour drive appeared as if it might take 8. We pressed on and in about 30 minutes were out of the snow and making good time. Our faithful chauffeur is a focused individual and had only one thing in mind, getting to El Paso as soon as humanly possible. The MDX snuck over 100 mph a few times as we hummed along.

Then hunger set in for me and we debated over stopping points for lunch. After seeing only an add fro Kranberry's Family restaurant we decided to pass on Lordsburg and press on while I woofed down some vanilla oreo's. Just under an hour later we had discovered a new place for Geo to retire. You know those Sally Struther's plea's on TV ..."for less than a dollar a day", well we found a place just like that here just outside of Deming, NM. You too could stay for $20 a month in your luxurious RV. And being only 4.5 miles from Wal-Mart, you have it all.

Anyway, a quick in and out at Wendy's, OK it wasn't that quick as there were some issues behind the counter, but I had food now and would survive for awhile. We buzzed through the last bit of the trip and there was beautiful El Paso. On the way to the fan fest we got a glimpse of downtown Juarez and were thankful we were on this side of the Rio (not so) Grande. Having seen the pre-game festivities at the Fiesta bowl I was disappointed by the Sun Bowl efforts. Seemed more like a family gameday type experience. Not bad, but when it's bowl season and not one TV to be found in the place, something is amiss. BIL and I wandered the streets and found a sports bar to eat and watch Cal thump A&M. The others stayed and took in the pageantry of the fan fest including the Beavs easily outnumbers Mizzou 3:1.

Friday Dec 29 - El Paso, TX
After a quick breakfast among several Beaver brethren in the hotel we headed to campus. There were locals everywhere and they had already had their tailgating in full swing. We found a spot and headed to the Beaver party. Arrived just in time to see the band and cheerleaders do their thing. Took some pics, browsed the sub-standard Sun Bowl gear and then started exploring. We climbed the hill behind the East side of the stadium that looked like part of it had to be blown away to fit the stadium in. Anyway, got some good shots of the field from this perch until we were asked by uniformed personal to vacate the area.

Now inside we move to our seats and are ready for game time. By now we all know what happened as the Beavs made us sweat it out, well more like freeze it out, before rallying back to win 39-38 on a late two point conversion. What a fitting end to a tension filled season that included wins over #3 USC, the quacks, Hawaii and Mizzou. The 2nd best season in school history and I was there.

Road trip Notes - My highlights from the trip. 6 people, 1 car, 2 stops (no bathroom breaks), 600 miles and the victory.

"Are they going to be here" - B.I.L. after seeing picture of Sun Bowl court at Fan Fest
"I would like to go to OSU" - Jordan to TV reporter as he's interviewed at Fan Fest. He didn't make the cut for the nightly news.
"I spent $2000 for this???" - Geo as the beavs trailed by 14 in the 4th.
"It was the last one" - B.I.L. as he returned form buying a beaver sweater and dreadlocks stocking cap to help fend off the biting cold wind.
"Where are they going" - me questioning beaver fans who were filing out midway through the 4th, serves 'em right for missing an ending like that
"He's going for two" - the entire west grandstand as MM and the offense went back out on the field.
Thanks to the B.I.L. for taking all the driving duties and the Blue BMW from Oregon who acted as our cover as we raced back to Tucson Friday night.

On to Baseball and defending our National Title.

Go Beavs!

I'm back!

2007-01-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been 6 months since I've posted and somehow I missed the entire football season. Well, I didn't miss it, I just didn't write about it. I was there for every home game, including the memorable wins vs. SC and the zeroes, as well as the sun bowl. I've got lots to say but I'll start with an apology and my key learning for the year.

First, I must apologize to Matt Moore and Coach Riley. I was not a fan of Riley's return even though I knew little of the Riley I era. My level of fandom kicked up with the DE era and I have been hooked ever since. That said he has been on a short leash with me and after the bad start I wanted him out. I'm now willing to consider I was wrong. The jury is still out as the team must continue to grow and perform next year, but Riley did things this year I didn't think he could do. Let's review a few:

Win against a highly ranked team - I'll put SC and Hawaii in this bucket given the latter was on the islands.
Rally team from behind late to win - Often we find ourselves hanging on late to win (SC, Hawaii) but twice this year the team rallied late to win (UO and Mizzou). This never say die type attitude is one I want my program to have
Show a giant pair of stones - now he didn't go crazy, and I think some more creativity could be shown in the playbook, but to first decide to go for 2, then to call the play he called shows the kind of confidence he has in the team and that can lead to bigger and better things

As for Matt Moore I just didn't believe he had it in him. I didn't think he could mentally handle it. After last years debacle and the poor start including some poor decision making in the WSU game I thought it was time to move on. Again, I was wrong. As if with the flip of a switch he transformed into a nearly perfect decision maker who put the ball where it needed to be, including the 5th row if needed. I don't know why or how he saw the light, but he did and man what a difference it made. Just imagine if this guy had been in our system for four years, oh how things might have been different. Regardless, I am grateful for the time he did give to us and I hope this change in his game leads him to bigger and better things in his future. Whether there are football related or not, I'm not sure it matters.

Now for my key learning. I still believe that every game in a college football season is critical, but probably only for a select few. Those with national title aspirations. Now we'd all like to believe that means our team, but let's be real, chances are it doesn't. What I've learned is that I need to judge players and coaches alike on a grander scale. While I may not agree with every gameday decision I tend to defer to the end result. Did we win or lose. Really that's what I care about. Taking that one step further, does it matter if we lose a game or three early in the season. Really all that matters is how the season is as a whole. Sure, there will always be what-ifs, but since the chances of a title coming to Corvallis are slim, it's healthier to focus on attainable goals. Bowl games, bowl games wins, wins vs. ranked teams, monster upsets, etc. Now the Fiesta Bowl in 2001 is my all time favorite day in the history of the planet. But given the season just completed, I don't think I could be more satisfied with the larger picture. Big wins, close wins, lots of emotion and a great attitude. I love the team, I love the characteristics of the program and I might be falling for Riley. For now I'll say I'm glad he's my coach and I look forward to his continues stewardship of the program. (Did I actually say that, wow)

Go Beavs

Up next: Sun Bowl Roadtrip (just for you BH)

Beavs win, likely to host supers

2006-06-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

The Beavers closed out another sweep in the Corvallis regional beating Hawaii 12-3 to advance to the super-regionals. With Stanford advancing out of the Austin Regional (more on this later) the Beavs will likely host the super-regional for the 2nd consecutive year. And for the 2nd consecutive year will face a Pac-10 foe. Last year they defeated USC in game three and this year will face the Tree. Locations for the supers are to be announced Tuesday morning.

Here is how the bracket looks so far, with 5 spots still to be determined today. After 15 of the 16 #1 seeds advanced last year, 5 #1 have already done down this year. 3 of those, including the only national seeds to be eliminated so far (Texas and Nebraska) coming from the mighty (weak) Big XII. The 3rd #1 from the dirty dozen to go out fell to the #4 team in their bracket. Twice. That allowed perennial power Oral Roberts to advance. Well done Big XII, you sure showed you deserved those seeds. Not to worry though, everyone will forget by next year and you'll get 8 teams in the tourney again.

It was great sitting there on Saturday looking across the diamond at the fans from Big XII tourney champ Kansas it utter disbelief as the Beavs had run up a 9-0 lead through 3.

Super-regional sites and ticket info should be available Tuesday AM.

CW will be Friday at 12:30

2006-06-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.osubeavers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4700&ATCLID=289854

From a fans perspective I don't like it. While I can appreciate the benefits of TV exposure, I prefer the traditional experience of Saturday football. I'll still be suffering from a tryptophan hangover at kickoff.

#5 beavs slighted for national seed

2006-05-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

The east coast bias strikes again. The #5 ranked Beavs were skipped over for a national seed and will need some serious help if they wish to host a super-regional again this year. According to the bracket if it holds to form OSU will advance to play #3 seeded Texas, which means the selection committee in all their wisdom has OSU seeded #13 nationally after winning the Pac-10 by 3 games. East coast bias? Well this report from USF seems to support the claim. Not to mention the fact that MSU got in as a #3 seed after losing 16 of their last 24 games and 7 of 8 series. Oh yea, the MSU AD was the president of the selection committee. Good ol' boys network at it's finest.

Enough complaining. They've all go to lose sooner or later so lets get the first three teams out of our way beginning with Wright St. on Friday. The Beavs draw seems winable, but will likely come down to a match-up with Big XII tourney champ Kansas. Suspensions from the Big XII championship game could impact player availability for Kansas and then it could end up being Hawaii. This might not bode well for the Beavs who have a 4-15 record against UH.

Last year 15 of the 16 regional hosts advanced to the supers. Let's look for that trend to continue this year, at least in Corvallis.

Updated Baseball Standings

2006-05-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

Defending Pac-10 champs hold a 2 game lead with 6 to play. Magic # is 5, no other team can win more than 16. Beavs travel to WSU this weekend for 3 before ending the season at hoem vs. UCLA.

Beavs 12-6
ASU 10-8
UCLA 10-8
USC 11-9
WSU 9-9
Stan 10-11
UW 9-12
Cal 9-12
UA 7-11

Mothers Day Thought

2006-05-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

Why is it that on Mother's Day my wife wants to spend the day with the family and on Father's Day I want to play golf with the guys? Is this the norm?

Vicks signs, will compete with Joey 5 pick

2006-05-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

I really hate the idea of talented athletes getting limitless chances after making mistakes, probably because I am not a talented athlete. However, it's often the severity of the action being overlooked that bothers me. Marcus Vick signs a free agent deal with the Dolphins, presumably to compete with Joey for backup duty if and when Daunte returns. Now don’t get me wrong, I hate everything to do with the lightning and green, but I hope Joey wins this battle. Vick has proven repeatedly that he is just a bad guy who doesn’t understand what the right thing is, let alone actually making the choice to do it. Joey is a standup guy who deals with whatever comes his way. He survived 4 years in Detroit, the guy deserves a break for that alone.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-dolphins-marcusvick&prov=ap&type=lgns

Spring Game = Boring

2006-05-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

I thought I was a big football fan. I was wrong.

I have attended every home game for the past 4 years, a handful of road games including that windy night at rainy Seattle last year. Have taken in the Fiesta and Insight bowls in person. I live for Saturdays in the fall. However, the spring game a few Saturdays ago bored me to no end. Thank god there was an exciting baseball to follow or the whole day would have been for not.

It's not that I'm no longer a fan. Just that it's hard when you can't root for or against somebody. In the scrimmage I wanted everyone to do well (and no one to get hurt). Not exactly the same feelings that pulse through my veins in September. I was glad to see Joe back in action and Matt Moore throwing to the right colored shirts. All in all I think we looked good, but it's hard to tell until we line up against someone from another school.

This was my first spring game and I was hoping it could help fill the void until kick-off in August. It didn't. I guess I'll have to keep on visiting beaver blogs, chat sites, etc. 50 times a day until then. Seems to be the only thing that remotely meets my need for a "fix". That and following the baseball team pitch by pitch via gamecast. Man, how did I ever survive without the net.

It's time

2005-11-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

OK, I've had almost a week to get over last weeks loss and am looking forward to the game tomorrow. I still put our chances at slim, but both the Duck QB's are young and inexperienced as well. If we can have a defensive game along the lines of the Cal game we might have a chance. Problem there is neither Ayoob doesn’t play QB for the ducks. No need to hold Gunderson back, not many people are expecting much from him anyway. I look for several shots down field with the important thing being the O-lines ability to give Gundy time. He is certainly not as mobile as MM. YB will have to have the ball a bunch and be productive with it. On D, we are going to get beat deep. We must tackle well and minimize the big play.

Think good thoughts. Channel the energy of the '98 team. Be looking for a visit from the ghost of Joey-5-Pick. How about avenging the Howry punt return from 2002. The mountain is steep, but considering the character this team showed early in the year, who knows. It's unfortunate that it has come down to this, but here we are. Enjoy the day regardless, it could be the last time we get to see #28 sporting orange. Mike, it's been our pleasure. Now go out and have a legendary day.

Go BEAVS!

No prediction, it's clear by crystal ball is dysfunctional.

The 2004 CW

2005-11-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

Let's think good thoughts. Here was my debrief of last year's CW. Appropriately titled "The Un-Civil Beating"

http://gobeavs.blogspot.com/2004/11/un-civil-beating.html

Riley's Report Card

2005-11-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

Year three of Riley II will soon be behind us. First a disclaimer. There was no bigger fan of DE than me and I have been an admitted skeptic of OSU's decision to bring Riley back for a second stint. That said, I have attended every home game of the Riley II era and cheered my team on just the same. With that, here are my thoughts on his work to date.

Recruiting (Grade: B)
Admittedly Riley is at a disadvantage here recruiting to Corvallis and against the likes of SC, UCLA, nike U and the Arizona schools. That said he is continuously able to land the top talent out of Oregon (hey, it worked for the baseball team) and has landed some key guys from Hawaii. (How do I get the Hawaii recruiting gig?). According to those who judge like rivals.com our recruiting classes have improved in quality but still languish towards the bottom of the Pac -10. Not sure there is much a head coach can do to improve this. He doesn’t control the weather or the city of Corvallis. We will continue to depend on the diamonds in the rough (Jonathan Smith, Mike Hass, etc.) in order to be successful. As a result sometimes we'll get hits, other times we'll strike out. This is one area where Riley's demeanor probably plays well for him. This is a guy that is easy for parents to like and to trust with their kid for the next 5 years. Or so you would think, see team leadership below.

Play calling (Grade: C-)
Where do I start. He can’t take all the blame because clearly execution has a lot to do with this, but there have been some ridiculous choices made in this department this year. Need proof, watch the last 5 minutes of the UA game and tell me this isn't a glaring weakness of our team. Several times a game we are scrambling to get plays off before the play clock expires often because the play doesn’t get in to MM in a timely manner. Indecision? Confusion? Whatever it is it isn’t good. Have a plan. Know what you do well and go do it. Trust in the kids and put them in a position to succeed. Make sure to protect them from themselves (i.e. MM late in the UA game after already throwing 4 picks). I've never stood on the sideline at this level so I'm sure there's more to it then there appears. But if I can pick up on trends and patterns from watching a few games from row 5, don’t you think an experienced coach pouring over filmsfor hours can do the same thing.

In game adjustments (Grade: D)
This is easy, do we seem to get better over the course of a game? NO. Why? We are not making the proper adjustments. If games lasted only a quarter we would be solid, unfortunately there are four. Here are some opening drive summaries from Beaver games this year. As you'll see getting a good start if often not our problem.

Opp______ Drive Duration____ Result
L'Ville .................4:55..................... 7
WSU ..................3:50..................... 7
UCLA .................1:37..................... 7
Zona ...................2:50.................... 3
Tree ....................1:24.................... 7

While the Beavs got off to quick efficient starts in all these games, they ended up losing 4 of these 5 with the offense often sputtering after these quick starts. Why? Are other teams adjusting to what we are doing? Do we go away from what is being successful. Hard to tell. But what I do know is that this happens way to much. That and for all this offensive prowess, the #1 receiver by yards in the county (Hass), the #6 by yards per game running back in the country (Bernard), a Groza finalist for the countries best kicker (Serna) and yet the Beavs have only scored more than 30 points against a D1-A opponent once all season. That being the 44 they posted in that wild game against WSU. And don’t blame this on the OC, remember Riley calls the plays.

And wasn't he a defensive coach for the Saints prior to his second stint with the Beavs? Then how come we are 10 weeks into the season and have been burned in the same manner since week 2. Maybe he's just too stubborn. I'd like to think putting the kids in a position to succeed is more important than sticking to his scheme. It's not about style points coach, it's about winning.

Team leadership (Grade: D)
Let's see sheep stealing, the taxi driver pot incident, assault and a team captain failing to make grades. These things don’t make me feel good about my team or the University. Add that to the corny Hip Hip Hooray cheers and complete lack of discipline rearing its ugly head on the field again and it seems to me the Beavs are not headed in the right direction. Beavernation let me introduce you to Mr Mediocrity. Wanting to avoid a repeat of the Pettibone years, then you have the right guy. Want a repeat of the Fiesta Bowl year, ain't gonna happen. Riley does not convey the right attitude to make this team a Pac-10 champion. He will beat the teams he supposed to, most of the time (see UA and Stanford this year) and lose the games he is supposed to most of the time. As noted in recruiting we are not always going to have the top talent so we will be only be favored in about half our games in each. Looking for 6-6, then Riley is your guy. He is not able to coach a team up or inspire a team to be greater than they are. That's just not him and that's OK if you are average Joe. But that's not what I'm looking for in my football coach. At this level it is about the little things. Act with conviction and demand perfection from the team. Riley does neither and it has shown nearly every Saturday this fall.

It's Over

2005-11-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Ugh! That was enough to put me over the edge. Poor punting, missed FG's and ridiculous penalties (both on the part of the Beavs and the refs) lead to another close home loss. For those keeping track that is 3 home losses this season (ASU, UA and Stan) after going the prior 6 seasons with a total of 7 home losses. The curse of a raised Reser? Probably not. But this does spell the end of the Beavers season.

I drink more Orange kool-aid than most, just look at my predictions, but there is no way the Beavs stay with the Ducks next Saturday. With Moore, maybe. With Gunderson, no. Let's review. The Ducks are 9-1 and dreaming of a BCS bowl birth (which they won’t get but frankly deserve), the game is at Autzen, they have a chance to keep the 5-5 Beavs at home for the holidays, and of course we beat them 50-21 last year to keep them home. This has giant payback written all over it. That and the Beaver offense looked ineffective at best after Moore left and a week of preparation won’t make things much better. They will be able to abuse us in the slot all day, like most teams have. 3 wide receivers, slot to either side, Sabby matches up man to man against the slot and then the slot guy runs by him. Watch for a repeat of the long TD to Jordan Kent. As a result of this impending doom and untimely end to the Beaver season I'll concede and start looking forward. In the immortal words of my favorite duck fan, "It's basketball season!". No more CW discussion for me (Ducks - 51, Beavs - 8). I just don’t have the energy left after this taxing season.

Here's what coming up:

X-mas wish list
Riley's report card
An east siders perspective on fans

Thanks seniors and best of luck to you all.

Tree Preview

2005-11-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

OK folks, this is for all the marbles. I believe in this team but who really wants to travel to Eugene at 5-5 needing the win after the pasting we put on them last year. Let's just get this bowl eligibility thing out of the way now and be able to play loose next week and see where that gets us.

The Beavs have had recent success against the tree winning the last four including the last two at Reser by a combined score of 81-9. Wouldn't it be nice to be on the good side of a blowout for a change? It's senior day, dad's weekend and bowl eligibility on the line so there's plenty to be fired up about. Stanford is on a two game slide giving up a 21 point fourth quarter lead before falling in OT to the Bruins, then last week getting whacked by where they trailed 37-0 in the second and had 5 turnovers.

Stanford had gone four straight games without a turnover prior to the SC game, so we can’t expect a lot of gifts in this one. The Beavs will have to protect the ball, but should be able to move it up and down the field on Stanford who's defensive prowess rivals our own. They have a very week secondary but run a 3-4 front seven, therefore MM will have to be aware of LB's dropping into coverage and minimize mistakes. On offense QB Trent Edwards is a threat to run as well as pass. His leading receiver is out hurt and against SC last week was continuously flustered by pressure. The Beavs need to bring the heat from Ellison and Bray and play solid D behind the receivers. Their running game is weak and our running D is strong so if Stanford is to pull it out it would have to be through the air. Hence the need for the Beavs to minimize big plays. Haven't we been saying that all year?

Honestly, this appears to be a game that the Beavs can win handily if they can just play a complete game. Solid D, keep the turnover battle to no worse than -1 and play off the emotion of this big day. Oh yea, and as much as I love Serna, a few touchdowns wouldn’t hurt our effort. Note to Riley, when you're inside the five, give it to YB. Ellison, Bray, Hass, Anderson, Palescu and others play the final home game of their career. With that elusive 6th win this Senior class will become the first in OSU history to play in 4 straight bowl games. These guys make sure that the Beavs take care of business.

Beavs - 37
Tree - 24

UW Review

2005-11-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

Two tickets to the game…free
Non stop flow of Hot Chocolate…$20
Gas for roundtrip to Seattle…$40
Seeing just how bad the Huskies are in person…PRICELESS

Don’t get me wrong. I was elated with the win as it was a must if the Beavs want to extend their season into December, but the huskies are B-A-D BAD. It wasn't the most entertaining game to watch and I don’t think the weather could have been worse (wet and a biting wind coming off the lake). Their defense is adequate although the apparent hole in their secondary was left unexposed thanks to the weather and the resulting conservative play calling of the Beavs. Some of which might have had to do with MM's performance last week, but the wind was just miserable. By the way the two deep balls Moore did through hit Hass right in his hands. Both were dropped. The first he was jockeying with the DB, but the ball still made it to him. The seconds he just missed. It’s not something you'll see very often.

The Husky offense though is pathetic. The home crowd got excited as Deroucher came out to start the second half thinking their savior had arrived. He seems a better passer than Stanback, certainly less mobile. But when you hit guys in the hands and they drop it what does it matter? Listening to the pre-gamer talk on the way up the Husky announcers were commenting on how well Simms ran the ball last week and how this might be a game where the Huskies have two 100 yard rushers. Have these guys seen us play at all? If we can hold Cal to 74 yards rushing, what chance do these jokers have? The result was a net 19 yards rushing by the dawgs and 15 tackles for a loss. Included in that was Keith Ellison doing his best impersonation of a missile destroying both QB's seemingly on every play. Deroucher was so beat up after playing a half that he couldn’t shake the guys hand who did his post game interview. They are young, but this team is a long, long, long way from being competitive. Note to Husky fans - Deroucher is not the answer. Take the cougs in a laugher in the Apple cup.

As for the Beavs. Game ball goes to Serna. 6-6 on FG's in weather that was less than conducive to the kicking game. It's so comforting to know this guy is on our side and that anything inside 50 is a given. On defense, Ellison was everywhere again and here's hoping we bring a similar pressure package in this week against the trees or we could be in trouble. On offense YB pounded out another 100+ yards on 35 carries and show no sign of slowing down. Lastly to the loyal fans in orange that braved the trip, the crappy weather and the unfriendly confines of Husky stadium to cheer on the Beavs. If you made it to this one you are definitely a Fan(atic).

Here we stand at 5-4. Get plenty of rest between now and Saturday as this is a GIANT game. While the Ducks seem beatable with their QB issues, I don’t want to have to rely on that W for a bowl birth. It's Senior day, dad's weekend and the last home game of the year. You'll have 9 months to recoup so get out and get loud. Let's really see what 43,000 crazy people in orange can really do.

GO BEAVS!!!

UW Preview

2005-11-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

OK, so far the Beavs are 0-2 when I do these stupid predictions. But, like Mike Riley, I don’t plan on making any changes. The Beavs are 3-25 in their last 28 games against the Dawgs, but come off a win in Seattle last year. The Huskies are winless in the Pac-10 again and have a grand total of 2 wins dating back to the start of last season. Kick 'em while they're down!

The weather forecast is dreary, wet and windy. Hopefully this plays into the Beavs hands by letting them focus on the ground game and limiting MM's "opportunities". If MM gets off to another rocky start we need to see Gunderson. MAJOR SIDEBAR AHEAD - If not now, when? 4 TD's to 16 picks in Pac-10 play, can it get any worse? The most disturbing thing about this week was MM admitting he wasn't paying attention to the situation (clock, score, yard line) when he fumbled inside the UA 20 last week. "I'm just trying to make plays". Sometimes making a play means not doing anything stupid. Try it sometime. End Sidebar.

Sorry, I'm having a tough time getting over last weeks game.

This game is scary as the Huskies come in looking similar to UA last week. Struggling but hungry and at home. The Beavs need to win 2 out of the final 3 to secure a bowl birth. This one is a must as Stanford and UO await. Let's just keep this one simple. The Beavs have a good enough run D and a potent enough offense that if they are at worst -1 in the TO battle they win. If MM decides to play catch with the UW DB's again, the Beavs get rolled. Here's hoping MM snaps out of it and plays smart.

Beavs - 26
Dawgs - 20

UA Debacle

2005-11-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

Haven’t stopped thinking about this one since it ended.

Well I was correct on the number of Picks to be thrown (6), just way off on my distribution. Matt Moore dominated the true Freshman out-picking him 6-0. Moore had more picks than balls that hit the turf (5). So many things went wrong in his game yet the Beavs had two chances in the last 5 minutes to secure the lead with a FG. One ended in a Moore fumble on a scramble while carelessly wielding the ball at his hip. The other on a deep ball from the UA 40 with still over a minute to go. In both cases bad decisions were made, both in the play call and by the QB. You're not going to win every play.

The defense is going to win some and that's OK. The key is to minimize both the number of plays they win and the significance of the impact. A run for no gain, fine. An incomplete pass, OK. A sack, not great, but sometimes not disastrous. A turnover, the worst case scenario. 7 times on Saturday Matt Moore let the defense win a play and aided in the worst case scenario happening. Often when the Beavs were in or near scoring range. IT'S ABOUT THE SITUATION. I appreciate Moore's ability to keep plays alive trying to make something happen, a skill lacked by his predecessor. But he doesn’t always make the best decisions in these cases and sometimes I wish he would admit defeat and live for another down. Don’t judge success one play at a time, but as a whole over the entire game. 654 yards of total offense wasted due to some ill advised decisions.

The coaching staff is not off the hook on this one. Some "interesting: play calls that put MM in a position to fail. Already having thrown 5 picks how about letting YB (190+ yards and 2 scores) continue to pound it. Let’s see 1st and goal at the 3 = 3 runs. Instead incomplete on first down, predictable run on second leads to a hold and we settle for 3. 1st and 10 at the 19 trailing by two. Routes in the end zone + pressure = scrambling QB who fumbles. The game should have been in the O-lines and YB's hands not MM. It wasn't necessary. Look, there is no bigger fan of a high powered passing game then me, but in this case it wasn't necessary. Sometimes I wonder if we are too infatuated with the pass. What if one game we actually ran for more yards than we passed for. Ball control, time management, less opportunities to abuse our D. Sounds like a fair plan to me. They have proven in the last 3 games that out running game is good and getting better. Now if Riley will only choose to use it correctly.

We'll see.

UA Preview

2005-10-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Admittedly I have not seen UA play yet this year so much of this is based on past experience and reading reviews form their games. Here is what I do know. The Beavs are playing at home and are facing a true freshman starting his first game. Ask Alex Brink how that worked out for him. While UA brings in a tough D, they are the only team in the Pac-10 to yield less than 200 yards passing per game, they should be able to stop the Beavs. This is the home debut of the newfound running game, Mike Hass is still Mike Hass, and Jason Vandiver is starting to emerge as a viable option at TE. If Moore can handle the zone blitz package of the cats and not through too many balls to the guys in white the Beavs win comfortably. If turnovers become an issue the cats are good enough to get their second win.

Once again injuries will play a role. The cats lose their punter who was leading the nation in yards per kick and their starting left guard. I look for the Beavs to be aggressive on D and look to apply pressure and make the frosh make quick decisions. That should lead to some inefficiency and some turnovers. Beavs have the edge in the kicking game with the cats K making only 3 of 6 on the year while Serna is 14 of 16 with both misses being outside 40. The weather play into this as well as cool wet conditions are forecasted for Saturday. Not something the boys from the desert are used to dealing with.

This is a big one. With Stanford looking tougher by the week and the status of UO unknown as the Dixon era starts, the next two weeks are must wins for the Beavs to have the kind of season they are hoping for. I think they play well in front of the home crowd and get it done. MM throws two picks but the D picks him up by getting 4 TO's for us.

Prediction:
Beavs - 30
UA - 15

PS - It's Halloween, how about breaking out the Orange pants with black tops.

World Series Thoughts

2005-10-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

- I think I could have pitched against the 'stros and held them scoreless for the past 19 innings. I truly never thought they were going to score and I was rooting for them.

- When did Prince Charles become so interested in baseball and why do they have to show him every two minutes?

- If this is what baseball is going to look like now, BRING BACK the ROIDS!!!

- Those final two plays by Uribe were spectacular.

- I hate the Houston center field configuration with that hill. What???

- What were they thinking with those old rainbow striped uni's?

- Remember when Robin Ventura charged Nolan Ryan after being hit and Ryan put him in a headlock and pounded on his crown. That was awesome.

vs. U.C.L.A. we were U.G.L.Y.

2005-10-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t have been more excited 90 seconds into the game as after 4 plays the Beavs were up 7-0. Mike Hass already had two catches including a TD and it was clear he wasn't going to be shut down again. He wasn't and ended with 7 for 199 and 2 scored. However it didn’t take long for UCLA to tie the score and then the next thing I knew it was 24-7 and over. Don't get me wrong at 4-3 the Beavs are better off than I thought they would be at this point, but I still have problems with this team. Most notably is that in our 3 losses we have gotten pummeled. L'ville, ASU and UCLA dominated us. Are they that much better? Maybe. Do we have the skill to compete with them? Absolutely. I'll give you one of those types of games a year. Sometimes it just happens. But three in seven games is too much.

Now I'm no coach but I know that Mo Drew and Mercedes Lewis are key guys in the UCLA offense. Maybe I take one away a'la Cal taking Hass away. Instead we repeatedly let them get Drew against a LB in pass coverage and Lewis go 1:1 against a corner 7 inches shorter at the goal line. These are matchups we were all aware of going in, yet it appeared that we didn’t defensive plan for nor adjust to during the game. For UCLA, if it ain't broke don't fix it. And we certainly gave them no reason too. I leave this behind for now but should things go sour in the final four weeks we can look back at these games as symptoms of larger problems.

Beavs are at 4-3 and now face UA, @UW, and Stanford prior to the CW against the KC-less ducks. Wins against UA and UW which seem likely if the Beavs play a solid game will take some pressure off as they qualify for a bowl. A loss in one of those two and things could get interested. Stanford is shaping up as a tough battle as the spanked a struggling ASU team this last week at one point leading 45-7. Another QB that might cause us issues.

After 4 weeks between games I am fired up and ready for Saturday to get here. I'll be there in orange and with my voice well rested and ready to go. Let's welcome the boys back and get them fired up for this important stretch.

UA preview to come.

UCLA Forecast

2005-10-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Details:
Beavs(4-2) @. #8 UCLA (6-0)
4:00 PDT on TBS
Rose Bowl

This is a BIG one for the Beavs. Coming off a big win at Cal and riding a four game conference road winning streak dating back to last year. Meanwhile the cubs have rallied from 10, 12 and 17 down in the fourth quarter of their last 3 games to win. In the two games against the Washington schools the Bruins lead for a grand total of 1 minute. Of course it was always when it mattered.

Keys to the game:

Run the ball - UCLA has given up 330 yards rushing in each of their last two games and the Beavs are coming off a dominating run performance versus statistically the #1 defense in the Pac-10. Keep in up and keep the ball away form the potent UCLA O. If YB gets another 40 totes, the Beavs win.

Stop Mercedes - Mercedes Lewis is a big talented tight end. He is the core of the passing game and must be contained. Our safeties will have to do a good job of monitoring the center off the field and the corners need to make a good showing on the perimeter to allow that.

Kick it OB - I'm not a big fan off ducking a guy, but after the Reggie Bush experience in the SC game last year I'm not taking any chances. All punts must be out of bounds. Mo Drew is averaging 30+ on returns and single handily rallied the cubs back against Cal two weeks ago. Sam is the man so just boom it away and get it out. Anything 30 yards or more is good by me (and apparently coach Riley too). No touches for Mo and I'll take my chances with a D that has been playing well of late.

Prediction:
Beavs - 31
Bruins - 23

Heisman Gibberish

2005-10-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

In the local paper today on the front of the sports page was a headline that contained the words Clemens and Heisman. Noticeably absent were the words "no way in hell." Look, I hate the Ducks as much as the next Beaver fan so my stance is no surprise. But this is just absurd. First of all, any reasonable Heisman discussion starts and ends with Reggie Bush. End of discussion. A vote for anyone else is a travesty. Second, Clemens is lucky if he is in the top 5 in the Pac-10, let alone the country. Let's see Bush, Leinart, Mo Drew, Jarrett, Hass, Hagan, etc. Now do I think Hass deserves a look for the award, no. I'm no that much of a homer. They are quality players, but Bush is without question the best. Lastly, it's a little known fact that you can’t win the Heisman without throwing a pass more than 10 yards down field. Sorry, rules are rules.

Beavs Read the Script

2005-10-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

Stop the run - check. Make Booya pass - Check. Booya makes mistakes - Check, Beavs win - Check.

Well it wasn't quite that simple, but wow, it was much more impressive than the final score indicated. Beavs 23-20 in a game that they never lead by more than six. A game in which they had four turnovers and converted 4 first half red zone trips into a measly 9 points. A game in which all world receiver Mike Hass had 4 grabs for 17 yards. Don’t think that Hass didn’t have a lot to do with the success we had elsewhere though. Their plan was clear, stop Hass, stop the Beavs. 3 guys rush and 8 guys follow Hass wherever he goes. OK not that extreme, but you get the point. Except YB busted loose for 194 on 42 totes and 2 scores. Now to be honest things did seem to get a lot easier when Cal lost their started D tackle, but still. This was a Steven Jackson like performance. The Beavs simply manhandled the Bears on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. And as a spectator I agreed with YB's halftime quote when asked when they knew they were going to win the game. His response "Halftime". If was clear that we were better and this was a game we needed to win. It wasn't sealed until Booya's final lame duck hit the turf, but it was certainly deserved.

Thanks to Jeff Tedford for offering Booya a scholarship so he could turn the OSU one down, thus leading us to MM. We definitely got he better end of that deal.

BTW, Cal's all world running game was held to 75 yards rushing on 34 attempts. Ending Cal's strak of 18 straight games with a 100 yard rusher. The 75 yards is about 170 yards below their season average. OUCH! How's that for a stout run D.

If the running games looks anything like this going forward and MM can avoid doing his best DA impersonation (which made an appearance today) then this team could turn in a major, major season. I'll still target 7-3 headed to the CW, but 8-2 would not surprise me at all. Setting up a battle for 2nd place in the Pac-10. I've already got my tickets. Do you?

Bruin preview to come later.

PS - That shot to the YB's package by the Cal defender was bogus. What the heck is the dude thinking?

Pinella is pathetic

2005-10-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

Will someone please give Lou Pinella a managerial job so I don't have to listen to his ridiculous commentary. Great baseball in the ALCS is being overshadowed by his elementary analysis and horrible timing. Just zip it!

Beavs at 3-2

2005-10-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

OK, after a busy opening 5 weeks of the season, including 4 home games, I finally have time to sit down and talk about this years Beavs. At 3-2 with big come from behind wins over BSU and WSU the Beavs are poised for yet another bowl birth. At this point I think we get Zona and Stanford at home, leaving just one more victory to get. The likely candidate is at Washington as UCLA, Cal and Oregon seem to be playing at a level that we have yet to achieve. For this group 6-5 and an extra month of work would be great. Still can't run, can't stop the pass and yet have found a away to compete with everyone except L'ville. Let's take a look at this week.

Beavs @ Cal
Saturday 12:30 PDT on ABC

Cal is coming off a loss to UCLA and is all about the ground game. The good news is that the Beavs run defense has been good so far giving up 3.5 ypc. However, teams have had so much success against us in the air that running isn't always on their mind. Alex Brink from WSU put up 531 yards in a game that WSU led into the 4th. Our only hope in this game is to get Cal into a passing game. Booya hasn't been great yet and I think we can force him into some mistakes. If he is just able to turn around and hand off to Lynch (6.1 ypc) and Forsett (8.3 ypc) then we are in for a long, long day. Surprisingly I think we can stop the run and I give us a decent chance in this game. We have won the last two trips to Berkley and have two weeks to prepare revenge for last years whoopin in Corvallis. No Aaron Rogers this time and I think it will matter. This would be a giant win and setup the Matt Moore homecoming the following week at UCLA. Stay tuned.

Pure Genius

2005-10-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

The more I think about it, the more I just can’t even grasp the genius of Mike Riley's new defensive scheme. Put to the ultimate test, a team coming off a bye week, it passed with flying colors. What's the strategy you say? Let the offensive team run themselves tired. Not just merely tired, but near exhaustion. The adrenaline of scoring on nearly every play will wear off soon and that's when we make our run. 30 minutes of non-stop scoring leaves teams breathless, dizzy and just plain worn out. If WSU coming of a complete week of rest runs out of steam, what chance does Cal and UCLA have in the next two weeks. Some might say the worst passing D in the country, I say the most creative defensive scheme known to man.

Go BEAVS!!
Stats for this week:
Comp Att YDS TD INT
BYE 19 29 390* 2 2
*Hey, at least this lowers our defensive per game average

Pac-10 Instant Replay Bites

2005-10-10T14:15:00.000-07:00

I am getting tired of these official conferences on the field in the interest of "getting the call right". Prior to instant replay I saw very few of these types of meetings if any. Certainly they were of shorter duration when they did occur. Does this imply that formerly the officials didn't care as much about getting calls right? Weren't all game videos reviewed by the conference anyway? Is it worse to be publicly humiliated or disciplined by your employer?
Was the real intent of replay to turn call making into a science project including data gathering, processing and getting inputs form several subject experts prior to forming a hypothesis that will then be validated or rejected by a slow mo video replay anyway. It would all be much more convincing if you just made the freakin' call and let replay step in as necessary.

The year that was for Beaver Nation

2005-06-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

The following is a list of Beaver sports highlights for the 2004/2005 seasons. The one common thread for all events was that I WAS THERE.

The Fog Bowl vs. USC:
After a dreadful 1-4 start to the season the Beavs win 3 straight to even their record at 4-4. An evening game against #1 and defending national champ SC awaits. An eerie fog settles in the valley and becomes thicker as the 7:00 start time approaches. At kickoff we can't see the fans on he other side of the field. The eerie evening continues as the Beavs take an early lead and go toe to toe with the champs. A late first half pick preserves the halftime lead and Beaver Nation is ready for the upset. Early chances that ended in a FG instead of TD's end up costing the Beavs when that freak Reggie Bush takes a great punt that pinned him on the sideline all the way back. He's within arms length of almost every Beav on the field but no one brings him down and SC gets the lead for good. The Beavs play well, but fall short losing 28-20.

Keeping (Bowl) Hope Alive :
A week later the Beavs and some faithful fans roadtrip to the farm for a matchup with the Cardinal. Solid Beaver offense in the first half and the typical tough D in the second half allow the Beavs to escape with a 24-19 win that didn't seem that close. The Beavs now head to the civil war at 5-5, same as the ducks. Winner goes to a bowl, loser goes home.

The Civil War:
In the ultimate winner take all showdown the beavs leave no doubt as to who was best on this day. After trailing early 7-3 and having to listen to the quacks in the crowd the Beavs exploded with 17 unanswered and took a 27-14 lead at the half. From there the game was never in doubt as DA finished with 5 TD's including one on the ground. The only question remaining as Duck fans filed out at the end of the 3rd quarter was if the Beavs would get to 50. Serna 5th FG of the day with just over 8 minutes left made the final Beavs 50 Ducks 21.

Beaver basketball hosts an NIT game:
There first postseason birth in 15 years. The fall in OT at home to CSF 85-83 when the beavs lose steam after a fierce second half rally. Bobby Brown throws in seven 3's in the first half to post CSF to a big lead and "Ralphy" hits the game winner after getting by with a travel.

Beaver Baseball in the CWS:
After a memorable season on the diamond the #2 ranked Beavers were one game from going to Omaha and the CWS. Their opponent appropriately enough was the Trojans of USC. After blowing an 8-3 lead in the eighth the prior night no one was sure how the team would respond. Well they responded favorably. Andy Jenkins was 5-5 and hit for the cycle and Dallas Buck got the final four outs after winning game one two days earlier to secure a 10-8 win. The Beavs mobbed each other in a mass of orange just off the mound after the final out was made.

Wow, what a year! I now look forward to kickoff on September 3rd and watching from my new "throne" in section 214 of the east side.

GO BEAVS!

Good Job Dad!

2005-06-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Ahh parenting. How many other adults get a "good job daddy!", just for "going peepee in the toilet".

Beavers in the CWS

2005-06-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

53 years after their last trip to the College World Series the OSU Beavers are headed to Omaha after a 10-8 victory over USC in the 3rd game of the Super Regional.

Yes, I was there. Sitting in the front row of the right field bleachers. Andy Jenkins first inning two run double hit the wall right in front of us. ESPN cameras captured us, clad in orange of course, jumping up and down as the SC right fielder tracked the ball down. This game seemed much like the other two. It always felt the Beavers were the better team but sloppy pitching, walks and hit batsman, kept the Trojans in it. The Beavs out hit SC 17-6, but SC offense was more along the lines of the 6th inning when 6 of the first seven batters reached and 4 runs were plated, all with one hit. A mere single at that. If the Beavs pitching can be around the plate the fielding and bats could make them dangerous in Omaha.

We open with Tulane this Saturday. Here is the CWS bracket.

The entire effort of getting tickets and arriving early to secure seating was worth it when a giant pile of orange formed just off the mound as the final out was made. I was never as emotionally invested in this game as I am for football, but I did feel a tear creep up as the orange pile rolled around the infield. That was the site I had waited to see all along. Now all I need is a Final Four and a Rose Bowl and my Beaver sports dreams will be complete.

Club Throwing

2005-05-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

This should explain a lot to the other members of my foursome. All those times the club left my hands, it was simply a practice method. A way of releasing the tension in my swing. Yea, that's what it was.

Now if only the trees will buy this.

Stadium Update

2005-05-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

102 days from kickoff and the expansion at Reser looks great. The new turf is in, although it's tragic the end zones are black instead of orange. The lower bowl seats are in, also black. Word is the bleachers being installed in the student section, running the entire length of the new east side, will be orange. That I'm looking forward too.

We finally bit the bullet and anted up for seats on the new side. Front portion of upper deck near the end zone. Can't wait to finally see where they are. Looking forward to an actual chair and not having to fight for my fair share of a bleacher.

"The Amazing Boo"

2005-05-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am perpetually amazed by both of my kids, but "the Boo" has hit me with a couple of memorable moments in the last few days.

First, last Saturday was girl scout Father/Daughter skate night at the local rink. We went of course because there is nothing more important than getting another patch for the vest. This would be the Boo's second time skating (the first time we never made it on to the main rink) so expectations were low. We wanted to have fun, make sure no one got injured and get that patch. Well for one of us it became much more.

I'm not sure when she became so competitive or who she got it from? OK there have been signs since birth. Who can forget the time a two year old Boo had the toilet seat fall on her hand only to quickly have her mom lift it to relieve the pain. The Boo responded with "myself" and proceeded to slam the lid on her hand again so SHE could be the one to remove it.

Here is the skating particulars.

After a brief stint in the learners rink we made our way to the main rink. With one hand on the rail and the other firmly in dad's hand we slowly made our way around the rink. She was doing very well, but her eyes were continuously glancing towards the center of the rink to those skating much faster and you could see the desire appear quickly in her eyes. The following exchange followed shortly thereafter;

B - "Daddy, I want to go fast like them."

D - "You will baby, your doing good"

B - "But I want to skate fast"

D - "You will, we just need to skate more so you can learn"

And then her spitfire attitude shone clearly.

B - "We are going to skate everyday until I can skate fast"

And she was dead serious. Now of course we haven't been, but we have agreed to skate more. I know that she is very competitive, but this even surprised me. The world is certainly not the friendliest place, but I don't think I have to worry about folks taking advantage of this one when she grows up. God help the guy that ever crosses her. As for her youth, I hope she can learn to enjoy herself and the activities she participates in no matter what her skill level happens to be. You can't be the best at everything.

Secondly, there was swim class last night. She has been in lessons for some time and is progressing well. Last night though was certainly the most memorable session so far. Towards the end of class the instructor motioned towards the deep end of the pool. Occasionally they will kick to that end of the pool using kickboards and do their final jumps to end class. Well this time there were no kickboards. I watched as my little Boo went right, left, breath, right, left, breath repeatedly. She was very rhythmic and it was the best I had ever seen her swim. She was moving quickly towards the wall at the deep end of the pool as I felt a smile appear on my face. She began to tire as she approached the wall and her form began to diminish. However, as noted above, she wasn't about to stop. I whispered words of encouragement and she continued trudging towards the wall. She grasped on with one final stroke of her left hand and had made it. She exited the pool and sat on the edge clearly proud of what she had done. Meanwhile I provided a quiet applause that she didn't notice, but one she certainly deserved.

I quickly made my way down for the poolside pickup and there was another "parenting moment"in store for me. When I arrived poolside I found the Boo in line at the diving board. She has never been on one before and the pool has strict policies on it's use. Her prior perfomance had apparently qualified her for a "treat". When it was her turn she slowly inched her way to the end of the board and paused. She looked at the water, over at the instructor, and then back at the water. This is when I expected her to freeze or turn and retreat. Instead, she plopped right of the end of the board and entered the water feet first. She popped up quickly and returned to the side and was back in line for another go.

For the second time that night a big smile appeared on my face. The kind of smile that can only be generated by the "amazing" accomplishments of your child. You know the one that is accompanied by a warm heart and a general glow beaming from the effected parent.

Then I realized that I spend entirely too much time critiquing and noting what my kids can't do (or can't do well) and not enough time noticing how amazing those little creatures are. 5 years ago the Boo was a clean slate. Now she's a bike ridin', roller skatin', book readin', lap swimmin', monkey bar swingin', seat belt fascinin', computer game playin' fireball. Simply amazing.

My New Favorite Website

2005-04-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

My love for Notre Dame is has been well documented in past blog entries. In support of that, this is now my new favorite site on the web.

Insurance coverage

2005-03-30T09:42:00.000-08:00

Some free advice.

Call you insurance agent and ask about your liability coverage and an umbrella policy. Do it now! I was under-insured and unaware simply because at the time I took the policy I had nothing. Want to sue me? Go ahead, take my 10 year old car and student loans and be on your way. What I didn't know was that future earnings could be at risk. Kinda like liable alimony.

After a five year legal battle the issue has been resolved and thankfully there won't be significant financial impact to me. The better news is that I am now in a much better position regarding my insurance coverage and it actually cost me less than $100 a year to restructure and increase my liability coverage more than 10x (on my vehicles and home). I hope I never need it, but this could save me and you from serious financial distress should the unthinkable happen.

March Craziness - Elite 8

2005-03-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

Wow, that was indeed probably the best four days of basketball I have seen. And as noted below I correctly picked 11 of the 12 games correctly. My final four is intact so well see how the Final Four pans out. UNC is still my pick (yes the fact that I would get free golf if they win has something to do with it).

Elite 8 thoughts:

Who didn't know, especially after the way the other games had gone, that Patrick Sparks would hit a 3 for Kentucky to tie at the end of regulation given the free throw miss he had a minute earlier.
The shooting display from UWV and L'ville was fun to watch, do those kids ever miss?
Up 8 with 60 seconds to play, game over, right? Right? Arizona was better for 39 minutes, but all they get for that is a return trip to sunny Tucson.
Pitino and Louisville are in, Tubby and Kentucky are out. That's gotta hurt the cat faithful.
Whoever prefers the NBA over college is smokin' something. The teamwork, shooting skills, passion and desire displayed in college far outweighs the product offered by the NBA. If you think otherwise you need to be examined.
I get worked up over these games and have little allegiance to any of these schools, we'll need to have the paddles on standby if my beloved Beavers can ever make a run in March.
On the beaver front: why is the statement "back in the final four for the first time since 2000" said so dramatically. How about " in the final four for the first item in generations!". Almost as bad as the sad truth "there are 4 year olds in New York who have yet to see the Yankees win the world series", tragic indeed.

Counting down to tip-off on Saturday.

March Madness Commentary

2005-03-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

48 down 15 to go. This is unquestionably my favorite time of year. And by no coincidence my wife's least favorite. Here are my random takes on the tourney and college hoops in general;

Salim Stoudamire is the best shooter in college period. And whoever is in second (My vote goes to T.J. Sorrentine of Vermont), it's not even close. All this JJ Reddick talk is just that, talk.
Free throw shooting wins games
Washington is better than people thought, and better than I want them to be. Let's hope L'ville can knock them off.
Turnovers are a killer
TiVo is the best invention ever!!
Toughest region huh? Well now all that's left for UNC is Nova, then the NC State/Wisconsin winner. Looks like a done deal to me.
The SEC wasn't that good (see Alabama, Florida, and Miss St. to a lesser degree)
The Big 10 wasn't that bad (see Illinois, Mich St., Wisconsin)
Bucknell's win was the biggest upset I can remember in the tournament. They only have 5 scholarship players on the team. First tourney win ever for the conference and it comes against a stroried program. It also killed the much anticipated UNC-Kansas duel.

Can't wait for Thursday. Here are my picks for the rest of the way.

Chicago
Ill. over UWM
Zona over OSU

Illinois over Zona

Albuquerque
L'ville over Wash
W. Va. over TTech

L'Ville over W. Va.

Syracuse
UNC over Nova
NC St. over Wisconsin

UNC over NC St.

Austin
Mich St over Duke
Kentucky over Utah

Mich St over Kentucky

FINAL FOUR
UNC over Mich St
Illinois over Louisville

UNC over Illinois

Letter of Intent Commentary

2005-02-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

February 4th marked the first day that players could sign LOI's to play DI football for the 2005 season. The Beavers did their usual signing JC players to fill immediate needs and expanding the talent pool with some skilled guys out of high school. No superstars according to all the rating experts who picked the Beavers class as 8th to 10th out of the 10 Pac 10 schools. Not that that means much. These are the same guys, along with most schools, who underrated receiving stud Mike Hass when he walked on at OSU.

Here is how the 2005 class shapes up.

With the departure of Browner and Williams there was a glaring hole at CB. Consider it resolved. Riley and Co. signed two JC studs to plug those holes immediately. One, Edorian McCullough, was originally a Texas signee and passed up offers from others this year including Oklahoma. The other, Aaron Miller, was a former Oklahoma signee and is bigger at 6'2" and 205, but can still run a 4.5 40. He turned down offers from USC and Cal in favor of the Beavs.

Also out of the the JC ranks the Beavs signed another stud TE in Jason Vandiver. While he can catch he is known as a great blocking TE, something the Beavs could use to bolster the pathetic running game of 2004.

The Beavs landed 3 home staters in LB Kevin Maher, OL Michael Marks and LB Bryant Cornell. Maher played for state runner-up Lake Oswego and was the 4A offensive player of the year. Marks played 8 on 8 out in Burns and has good size at 6'5" and 300.

The only area the Beavs feel like they failed was at DE. Needing to replace Swanny the Beavs were hopeful of landing the #1 DE in the country in Grants N. Suh. He opted for Nebraska instead.

Here are the bios of all the recruits and Riley's comments.

Go Beavs.

New England Wins, T.O. Amazes

2005-02-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

New England won their third Superbowl in four years, once again by 3 points. It was a good competitive game to watch, which is becoming commonplace with NE. Philly's clock management at the end of the game was poor at best and the decision to onside kick with 1:48 and two timeouts left was iffy. This game should have ended up in OT, but give credit to the Pats, they made the plays when they had to and are once again the champs.

My favorite play of the game was the downing of the NE punt with under 1 mintue to go in the fourth. NE was punted from the Philly 35 and was just looking to give them a long field for the Fg to tie. The punt was up and landed at about the 10 and started to roll towards the goal line. Instead of getting cute and trying to down it at the .00001 yard line, the NE player got inside the five and setteled at about the three. He placed himself between the ball and the goal line and as the ball approached he pounced on it. Mission accomplished. No fighting for extra inches that didn't matter, no misstep on the goal line and putting it out on the twenty. A good smart play at a critical time. Seems to be the trademark of this team.

The most shocking thing about this Superbowl, aside from the rather bland commercials, was the performance of Terrell Owens. Now let me be clear, I hate TO. I despise his antics and me attitude and frankly could do without him altogether. When he had screws put in his ankle 6 weeks ago everyone, save TO, was saying there was no way for him to play again this year. Even the doctor who performed the surgery was unwilling to provide him with a waiver to play. But TO insisted he had been healed. Like most I thought this was his way to stay in the spotlight and get more attention. I figured if he did play it would be along the lines of the pathetic effort Randy Moss made earlier this year to keep his consecutive games played streak alive. TO's effort was far from that. He had 9 grabs for 122 and was on the field for 62 of the 72 offensive snaps. He was able to regulary beat the NE DB's and even run away from them at times. Again I don't like the guy one bit, but this was a stellar effort and was honestly courageous. It almost has me believing he was doing it all to help his team win a title instead of for personal gain. Almost.

Browner to the NFL

2005-01-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

All the speculation has turned into a formal announcement from the university. Brandon Browner has decided to enter the NFL draft. Actually, this doesn't really bother me. I keep reading about how big and fast this guy is. How he has the potential to be great. How Aric Williams got so much work because teams avoided Browner. Ehh... I just don't buy it. Did teams avoid Browner? Yes to a degree. Did teams have success when they through at him? More than he would want to admit. Did it mean a completion? Not necessarily. Browner has an uncanny ability for not locating the ball and as such got caught, quite regulary I might add, grabbing, holding or otherwise interfering with a receiver as the ball passed right over his shoulders. For his career he had 15 passes defended. This season alone he had 17 penalties against him for holding/interference. Heck, in what turned out to be his final collegiate game he turned into Notre Dame's most effective offensive weapon. It went something like this; 3rd and long, throw in the direction of Browner, defensive penalty, 1st down. Potential, maybe, NFL ready, not yet.

Granted the rules in college permit face guarding (being able to raise your arms and deflect a pass without locating the ball), but to think this sort of game will fly in the NFL where face guarding is not permitted is ludicrous. Add in the new stricter rules on DB's and contact with receivers and this guy is toast waiting to be burnt. He would have better served himself by staying another year and really working on his ability to locate the ball while in the air. If he has all the speed it should be no issue for him to run with receivers and locate the ball as they have to in order to catch it. I think he's been getting some bad advice from someone looking to profit from this (agents). I know everyone situation is different and perhaps he has good reason to chase the $ at this point. I just think he is being short sighted and I believe with another year and improved ability he could have greatly improved his value to the NFL. Only time will tell. Best of luck BB.

What Game? (Insight Bowl Commentary)

2005-01-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday I tuned in to watch my beloved Beavers play in the Insight bowl but instead was treated to a 3 hour commercial for Notre Dame University. It was really rather touching. Do you remember the movie Rudy? Apparently someone has formed a university based on the school that Rudy played for in the movie. Cute concept. Complete with Gold Helmets and everything. They are even using the same name, Notre Dame. Now like any university they are experiencing those early growing pains, and apparently had some issue with their football coach. I actually felt sorry for these poor guys. Then in the background I saw George Gillett catch a TD pass from DA and it was 7-0 Beavs. Wait a minute this is ND, and we are OSU, this is supposed to be a mismatch. And it was yet again.

A blocked punt and TD catches by Joe Newton and Dan Haines and a mere 10 total yards by ND over the next 15 minutes made it 21-0 Beavs and the mismatch was made clear. Yet again the Beavs were superior in every aspect of the game (OK except for running the ball, but who cares). They knew we were going to pass and still could do nothing about it. If the normally spectacular Mike Hass snags two balls that go off his normally reliable hands this game is even uglier. yet, the blah, blah, blah about ND goes on. How many times did I have to look at that stupid leprechaun? Where was Benny? You know the mascot for the team that was winning. The school that for the first time in school history was in their 3rd consecutive bowl. The team in their 5th bowl in 6 years after being shutout for 38. The team with the QB with the second most yards ever by a Pac-10 QB. Hardly a word about any of this because we were wearing black, not green and gold. For the record the final was 38-21 but the game never really seemed this close.

After playing ND twice in the past four years and outscoring them by a combined 79-30 I have made some observations. First, on both occasions the Beavers were clearly the better team. Second, on both occasions the Beavers got little to no of the commentary and when they did it was mostly negative (2001 Fiesta Bowl). Trust me, there is no better day in my life than that sunny January 1st of '01 as the Beavs embarrassed this historic program, but now I'm done with them. I would be happy to take the 2-0 record and never see ND again. Not because we can't beat them, but there is nothing left to gain. Now, I am not saying that we have passed ND as a program, far from it. But always having to deal with the history of ND and them getting 90% of the focus win or lose won't work. The Fiesta bowl was a monumental game, one that helped propel the program to where it is today. But this latest matchup didn't cut it. I'm elated with the win, but would have rather taken my chances against a better Purdue team and at least get a 60/40 split on the air time. Then maybe if we win at least some of the focus is on our team and institution.

Am I jealous of ND, of course. I would love to have KBEV cover every Beaver game on national TV with homer type announcers. In fact, I'd be first in line for the job. But, ain't gonna happen. So here's hoping to more evenly matched bowl games in the future. I'm referring to exposure of course, still dreaming of blow outs on the scoreboard.

Great finish guys!!! Here's looking forward to 2005.

2005 Projected Starters

Separation of Church and State?

2004-12-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

After reading this I am frightened about the future of my planet. How can people actually believe that complete destruction of this world will lead to a better place? What if their timing is bad? I am unsure of what follows this life, but I'm personally pessimistic that there is anything. So I ask, how can it be a good strategy to totally destroy the world and the opportunity I have to live and enjoy what has been provided for me here? What if this is it? Talk about a lost opportunity.

Outsourcing and No Child Left Behind

2004-12-10T13:11:00.001-08:00

This has nothing to do with the Beavs or sports for that matter but is based on an editorial I read today on education and my own experience in outsourcing.

Being a father of a child who is about to enter the public educational system it has been important to me and my wife to explore the options for her education. Should she start early or wait and be old for her class? Should she go to a public school or private? One thing that has disturbed us most is in regards to the "No Child Left Behind" program, which has been described to us by others with children already in the educational system as "No Child Gets Ahead". This alone is disturbing enough, but then as I look around at work and the landscape of American business this becomes even more frightening. Allow me to elaborate.

First the schools. Due to the stiff penalties and/or labels a school might get for not achieving defined levels of "success" in this testing the curriculum has become focused on preparing students for success on standardized tests. Not success in college or the real world. The focus being on getting every student to a specific level of achievement, no matter how much time/energy/focus it takes for the teacher to get that last student to that level. What happened to getting all students to the highest level they are capable of achieving? What happened to teaching children how to learn? The answers for these tests are known and a teacher can use this to get a child to be successful. The answers in the workplace, and the real world these students will someday occupy, are unknown and will require thought and creativity to solve.

Speaking of the workplace, over the past five years I have been around, and in fact have driven some projects where the result was the loss of U.S. jobs to low cost countries (LCC). Now personally I do have some conflict with this, but being a fiscally responsible employee I was unable to justify otherwise and moved ahead with the projects. Now the concerns sets in when I look around to what my future employment might look like, not to mention my kids.

Whenever outsourcing is talked about the common answer is that this frees up more creative American minds to develop new technologies, products, gizmos, whatever, that can then be built cheaply overseas and sold for bottom dollar from WalMart. Don't get me wrong, I am like 99% of the rest of America. I want as much stuff as I can possibly squeeze into my house, and I want it for cheaper than the other guy paid for it. LCCs enable me to do so. However, my problem is believing this creative revolution will drive us and our economy forward for the next 100 years just as Henry Ford did when he set off the industrial revolution at the turn of the last century.

Do you see the conflict yet? Banking on independent thinking, creative minds to be our major contribution to the global economy, yet having an educational system that rewards conformance and minimum level achievement for all. Where is the drive to succeed? To be better and to frankly be the best and brightest at anything?

I have the same issue with youth sports and not keeping score, but I'll save that for another blog and just summarize by saying; we are not all created equal, sometimes someone needs to lose. Ideally it will push them to be better and in turn raise the level of competence for the entire population. Think survival of the fittest. Is it fair? No. Does it allow for the best chance of a species prolonged existence? Yes. If we are all driven to be equal, where is my incentive to be better? Let's just keep the bar low and that will be the least amount of work for me.

This is not the kind of thinking we need to lead us forward and not the kind of thinking I want my children to grow up with. Of course my kids won't have that luxury, at least at home. I don't care if it's old maid, chutes and ladders or candyland, daddy is playing to dominate the dojo. Yes, I feel sorry for them too.

The BCS is BS

2004-12-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

First, let me admit that I am a homer. I think the Beavers can and will win every week and get physically ill when they don't. I am also a big believer in the Pac-10 and think the brand of football played "out here" rivals any collegiate football in the country. Some even used data to say the Pac-10 was the toughest conference in the country. That said, how does the 2nd best team in our conference, and possibly the country, get snubbed from getting one of the eight births in the BCS bowls? BTW, this snub cost the conference about $4.5M. That money is instead bound for Texass and the rest of the Mediocre 12.

How good is the Mediocre 12? You needn't look further than their "Championship" game to decide. But I will. Oklahoma is good, yes, but Colorado mustered 46 total yards, IN THE ENTIRE GAME! What exhilarating football that must have been. If that is the best you can do in a championship game in your conference then you have issues. Meanwhile the Pac-10's championship game, not formally of course, was USC vs. Cal on October 9th. It ended with Cal's final drive stalling at the USC 20 and the score 23-17. Cal outgained SC 437-209 and never punted. Their downfall was 3 lost fumbles. Now if you believe SC is the best team in the country, which I do, how can Cal be far behind? How can they be 6 or 7 teams behind as some coaches voted this last week? So they eeked one out at S. Miss, who by the way is 6-5 and bowl bound. USM was jacked up to be on national TV and have a chance to play a nationally ranked team and they came out and played like it. Cal took their best shot and still won by 10, 17 if you ignore that ridiculous clipping call that negated JJ Arrington's TD scamper in the final two minutes. Did Tedford do the right thing by kneeling at the end of the game? Yes. The game was over and one more TD would do nothing to change the outcome or their season. Not impressive enough you say? What about Texas' impressive 22-20 win over Arkansas in September? Arkansas finished 5-6, no bowl. Too early in the season you say, OK, how about that 27-23 thumping of basketball power Kansas on November 13? BTW Texas trailed 23-13 with 7 minutes to go in this game and had to rally to win, certainly a less than impressive victory.

The fact is that it worked out this way because of where Cal plays. Mack Brown was all over the TV begging for votes and got them, most likely from the Big 12 and SEC. Even better is the news that we'll never know which coaches made the following questionable final votes, keep in mind that no one had Cal ranked lower than 6th the prior week.

4 voters slid Cal to 7th
2 voters slid Cal to 8th
1 voter put Texas #2, likely ahead of SC and Auburn
3 voters put Texas #3, ahead of SC or Auburn

Does this all sound fair to you? Pac-10 commish Tom Hansen has called for the votes to be made public, but the chances of that are slim. Oh how I would love to get that list and get those teams on Cal's schedule in the near future. So for the time being the best we can do as a conference is to schedule every OOC game against the Big-12. Anytime, anywhere we'll show them on the field who the best is. Don't be afraid to schedule their patsies either, after all those are the same teams that the shorthorns plays every week in conference. If that doesn't work I say we just take our Rose Bowl and go home.

Until then, root for SC to lay the wood to Oklahoma, pack the rose bowl in blue and gold (Cal colors anyway) to cheer on the Wolverines and unleash all the bay area anguish on TT in the Holiday bowl. Oh yea, and how about a repeat of the 2001 Fiesta bowl in Phoenix as the Beavs trounce ND again!!!

The un-Civil Beating

2004-11-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Formerly known as the Civil War this was anything but civil. The Beavs took out the BIG STICK on Saturday and used it repeatedly on the Ducks. After trailing briefly 7-3 the Beavs scored the next 17 to go up 20-7. The quacks answered and closed to 27-21 early in the third after DA's only INT of the game, but that was it. What followed was 23 straight from the near flawless Beavers and a lifeless, un-imaginative effort from the quacks. The OSU offense moved at will against Phil's boys and the defense was stellar as usual. Final: BEAVS 50, Ducklings 21

Where do I start, so much good stuff to talk about. First, how about MR? It took him 11 games but we actually saw some efforts at misdirection with multiple fake end arounds and yes even a successful fake field goal. I didn't think he had it in him. Well done Mike!!! Player of the game is a tough call, DA played outstanding, nearly flawless in the first half completing 15 of 20 for 200+ yards. He did get rattled early in the third on a scramble when he was "hit" by a 5"9' CB. The hit left DA on the ground for some time and had him out of the game for one play. Upon his return he had one horribly thrown ball and then the INT. I was worried that he had been rattler and this might have been the end for the Beavs. Not to fret, following the ensuing Duck TD, DA drove the Beavs for a TD that them back up 13 and never looked back. 4 TD passes and another on the ground to go with at least 3 scrambles for first downs and this was clearly his best game of the year. I have previously been hard on DA, but only because I think this is the way he could have been playing for the past two years. Well better late than never, and better against the Ducks than anybody else. Great game, great career!! I think DA will be someone Beaver fans look back on and won't fully appreciate until we have to live without him.

However, the player of the game award goes to Swanny. 3 sacks, one forced fumble, an INT on a shuttle pass and one reception for 17 yards and a first down. It was clear that with him on the field at Reser for the final time and against the hated Ducks there was only one possible outcome to this game. He looked like he could have played 1-11 and still got the job done on D. Well done, your spirit and energy will be sorely missed.

Not even mentioned in this are the 10 (5FG and 5 EXP) kicks made by Serna on the day. All this lead to a Beaver sweep of Pac-10 weekly honors. Only the 2nd time since the award system started in 1983 that one team has won all 3 awards.

Reser said goodbye to seniors whose names are all over the record books. The career TD and yardage leader in DA, the career sack leader, by far, in Swanny and the career interception leader in Meeuwsen. Hmmm, what do these guys have in common? They are all from Oregon!!! Do we have a budding football hotbed forming here? OK, I don't think so either, but this is good to see. Especially for recruiting.

We now get a few weeks to reflect on the what-ifs of the LSU, ASU and SC games. We also get to look forward to one more game from this years Beavers and at this point I don't care who the opponent is. I hoping for a date in El Paso with Kyle Orton and Purdue. Of course I am a huge fan of the pass and Kyle and DA combining for 100 attempts would be entertaining if nothing else. Wow, we have come so far from the days of half empty (yes I am a pessimist) stadiums and Pettibone running the triple option on 3rd and 12. I actually might be changing my tune with regards to my satisfaction level of this season. If there is such a thing as a really good 6-5 year, this just might be it. No we didn't beat anyone with a winning record, yet, but we did claw back from 1-4 and beat all out NW rivals for the first time in 30 years. Slowly all these "haven't done whatever since whenever" streaks are being erased from the Beavs past. We''ll never be a perennial powerhouse, but we have reached a point of respectable and occasionally spectacular. I think I could live with that. But I reserve the right to change my mind. Hey, I pay a lot each year for that right and if I ever see the wishbone from the boys in black again you can be sure I won't hesitate to exercise it. Passion, heart and creativity is all I'm after in win or in defeat. I think this years group exemplifies these traits and I hope the tradition continues.

Some interesting game notes:

DA outrushed the other 5 Ducks to carry the ball excluding Terrence Whitehead (49-48)

He did so on fewer carries (12-22)

Serna scored more points than the Beavs did in 5 games this season (20)
The 50 points scored by the Beavs is the most in CW history
The 29 point victory is the Beavs largest in CW history
For the first time in school history the Beavs are going to a bowl for the 3rd consecutive year
Team Nike had their first losing season since 1993
OSU is 33-9 at home in the past 7 seasons

GO BEAVS!!!

A Trip to "The Farm"

2004-11-15T09:52:00.000-08:00

OK, stop me if you've heard this one. Beavers off to a good start, offense starts to sputter, play calling predictable, DA hitting defenders in the chest repeatedly and the Beaver defense beginning to yield as they spend all day on the field. Even after losing the turnover battle 4-1 the Beavs were able to hang on, mostly thanks to the Stanford shanker, I mean kicker who was 2-8 kicking. OK really 2-5, but 3 other times the tree was 4th and goal outside the 10 and went for it because shanks was the only other option. Of course all 3 times the Beaver D held them to 0. Final: Beavs 24 Tree 19.

Riley did pull one misdirection play out this week and guess what? It worked. A fake hand off to Love as he went in motion and a screen back the other way to Wright. 43 yards and a TD. Then nothing for the rest of the game. I'm hopeful that closed practices for CW week will mean we might actually see a little more creativity from the OSU offense this week. Mike, please tell me you have just been saving all this up to unleash on the Ducks at the most opportune moment.

Now for the civil war. Winner goes bowling, loser stays home. Can it get any better? I might not sleep for a week. Beavs are an early 4 point favorite at home with the Ducks coming off another home loss, their 3rd of the season, this time to UCLA. Both teams are 4-3 in the Pac-10 with all combined 8 wins coming against the same 4 teams (UA, Stanford, UW, WSU). The Beavs beat 3 of the teams on the road, shockingly rare for the beavs who are a combined 2-10 on the road in the Pac-10 the prior 3 seasons. The Beavs played well in a loss to SC while the quacks were a mere extra point and/or 4th down catch from beating Cal in Berkeley. Whoever comes out on the short end on Sunday will definitely be spending a great deal of time thinking about the "what-ifs" of the 2004 season. My main concern for this game is the Beavs ability or inability to contain Clemens. I remember watching him run amuck last year in Eugene and if he is able to do that again the Beavs are in trouble. If we are able to contain him and minimize turnovers we will be victorious. I think the home crowd and the Orange uni's put the beavs over the top. OSU 27 UO 20.

Some links that might be helpful in conversation with Ducks this week.

Road Trip Recap - My favorite quotes from the Roadtrip to and from Palo Alto. 7 folks, 1 car, 8 stops, 1200 miles, and an all important Beaver Win.

"I can't hear squat" - Justin as the CD player loses battery power
"How can you serve breakfast then?" - Beverly after being denied hashbrowns for dinner by the waiter at Denny's
"We have a few more problems with your order" - Waiter at Denny's informing us he is also out of dippers and root beer (roast beef)
"Whoooshh" - the sound of shards of broken plate as they move past Geo's head at Olive Garden
"What channel is the Sprague game on?" - Justin wanting to dial up the Sprague playoff game on AM radio
"I'm never eating again" - Laurie after every meal
"Nice hair" - Some random beaver fan to Jordan sporting his new Orange do
"Beat the Ducks" - OSU crowd shortly after the gun in Stanford stadium
"THAT is a lot of orange!" - Girl behind the counter and Carl's Jr. as 7 weary travelers clad in gameday attire wander in for dinner
"I love this bar" - Some country guy on Bryon's CD. I can't get this song out of my head.
"SNZZZZ!!!!" - Who else? All night, every night. Thanks god for ear plugs.

SC 28 OSU 20

2004-11-09T13:40:00.000-08:00

OK, Reggie bush is a freak. Every time he touched the ball I would cringe and hold my breath. We just gave him one too many chances on punt returns and he hurt us. Like LSU, I would have been fine with a butt kickin', hey they are frankly a better team than we are. But to see them on that night, SC was beatable. Missed opportunities in the first quarter lead to only a 6-0 lead, but through 3 we still only trailed by one. The Bush return and no life from our offense (more on this to come) lead to the final result. A good effort, especially from the D, but once again falling short.

Let's talk about Mike Riley. A friend of mine made a comment and it seems to ring more true the more I watch the Beavs play. To quote him "Under Riley the Beavs will never win a game they aren't supposed to." Now, LSU aside, I mean how many times do you miss 3 extra points in one game (Serna nominated for national kicker of the year), this just keeps happening. See ASU, USC, Cal, etc. I mean when you are playing the #1 team in the country you are going to have to do something special to win. You are not going to do it on skill alone. Where is some miss-direction, fake FG, on-side kick (See Belotti's consecutive on-side kicks vs. Cal)??? Hey, look is that Dwight Wright running outside the tackles??? Hey that worked nice, too bad it took us 8+ games to give that a shot. Show me some creativity and fire. And how about those pre and post-game talks. Come on Mike, just once show me that losing hurts and that you will do whatever it takes to avoid that feeling in the future. Looks like there is a bigger club already established that is a little more extreme on this stance.

Well, the path forward is clear. Win two games and go to a bowl, possible even the Sun bowl. End with a 6-5 record, with all 5 loses being to top 20 teams, and lots of what ifs. At this point I think the season is a failure regardless of what happens from here out. Riley is wearing on my patience. We took a chance at LSU and lost, we had #1 on the ropes and didn't take advantage and lost to mediocre ASU. I don't think anything of significance happened this year that could springboard the program going forward. A win over the quacks never hurts, but we had better opportunities that again passed bye.