Friday, December 28, 2007

You've come along way baby!


Beautiful Girl
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.
This picture was taken about 15 minutes after Evie was born, she is now 3 days short of her first birthday and her parents couldn't be more proud of her. The changes that you see occuring in your child in the first year of their life is truly amazing. I look forward to watching her grow over the next year!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Pac 10 Season Review

Due to some life issues I haven’t been able to update my blog for some weeks, and those weeks turned out to be some of the most shocking, and as an Oregon fan depressing, in my time of viewing college football which dates back to the early 1980's. When I last posted the Oregon Ducks were riding high as #2 in the country and Dennis Dixon was the clear front runner for the Heisman. Now Oregon has lost 3 in a row, were knocked out of the top 25, shut out for the first time since 1985 and became the first home team to lose the Civil War since 1993! To think that I was actually worried about finding a flight and hotel to New Orleans seems almost comical now. When I look back on 2007 and all that happened I will always remember how close that Oregon came. For the first time in their history I think they can argue that had Dennis Dixon not been hurt (and the injuries to Brian Paysinger, Cameron Colvin, Jeremiah Johnson and Brady Leaf were all very painful to the Oregon cause as well) Oregon had the best team in the country. Everything changed on that dropped touchdown by Derrick Jones for Oregon. I believe the players, especially Dennis Dixon have shown an immense amount of heart, this coming from a program that has been criticized for lacking heart since the departure of Jeff Tedford and Joey Harrington. In other news the Rose Bowl, by choosing Illinois over say a Georgia team, caused the ASU Sun Devils to not be invited to a BCS game. The Pac 10 had looked like a lock for 2 BCS bids and then ended up finding themselves with only one. The Trojans should eviscerate Illinois while ASU faces a fairly subpar Texas game in the Holiday Bowl in a game I would not be surprised to see ASU come out quite flat in. The last three weeks has seen the announcement that two of the Pac 10 coaches will not be returning next season in Bill Doba and Karl Dorrell. Neither of these are shocks while in news that may have seemed surprising 6 weeks ago Ty Willingham and Mike Stoops will be back with Washington and Arizona next season. All that awaits this year is bowl season and you could make the argument that every school that qualified for a bowl has to be a bit disappointed at where they ended up.

Awards:
Offensive POY: Dennis Dixon ,Oregon
Defensive POY: Sedrick Ellis, USC
Coach of the Year: Dennis Erickson, ASU
Freshman of the Year: Jahvid Best, Cal
Coaching hot seat rakings
1. Bill Doba – already fired
2. Karl Dorrell – already fired
3. Ty Willingham – Needs to go to a bowl in 2008
4. Mike Stoops – Ditto, with a senior QB no excuse not to
5. Mike Bellotti – Will not leave unless it is on his terms or if he did something to anger Knight, has lost a lot of the fan base over poor clock management, the Dixon injury and stupid comments in the press
6. Mike Riley – Back to back great years but the fans will always prefer Erickson
7. Jeff Tedford – I could only see him leaving on his own terms but losing 6 of 7 to end the year and losing to Stanford is just plain bad
8. Jim Harbaugh – He did something that no other team has accomplished since the 02 WSU Cougars, beat Cal and USC in the same season
9. Dennis Erickson – Riding high in Tempe we shall see how long he lasts there
10. Pete Carroll – The only thing that will make him leave is an amazing NFL offer or the Reggie Bush scandal blowing up big time

Bowl predictions

USC over Illinois
Texas over ASU
South Florida over Oregon
BYU over UCLA
Oregon State over Maryland
Air Force over Cal
LSU over Ohio State

I will get my first chance to see Oregon play live in basketball in 2 years tomorrow as I will be at the Pape Jam at the Rose Garden tomorrow.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Week 11 Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

Note: I wrote this on Monday before the events of Thursday's Oregon/Arizona game. My work internet now blocks Blogspot and my time at home during the week is pretty limited so I was late in posting this.

Oregon was the big winner this week and they didn’t even play. Thanks to Illinois knocking off an untested Ohio State squad Oregon slid in to the #2 spot in the BCS. However even if they win out they are not assured a spot in the Big Game in New Orleans as the winner of the Big 12 Championship game may jump Oregon. In other news the winner of the ASU/USC game on Thanksgiving has put themselves in great position to get to a BCS game likely either the Rose or Fiesta Bowl depending on where Oregon ends up. I want to make the point to say that I was very happy to see Jake Locker come back form that scary situation with a clean bill of health. The kid is a hero who will lead Washington back to respectability of he gets a surrounding cast. Not sure if Ty Willingham will be the guy who gets to lead him to that point however. As much criticism as Gordon Reice received last year for the Oklahoma/Oregon call I have to say that the botched call in the OSU/UW was even worse though it didn’t effect the outcome of the game. At worst case the ball should have been called dead at the 6 inch line, my opinion was that Bernard scored, not sure how they called it a fumble and how the play wasn’t reviewed. USC and ASU won hard fought games and WSU maintained a glimmer of hope for a bowl with a win over Stanford.

1. UO (1) – The Ducks can see the light at the end of the tunnel but need to keep their eye on the prize. Simply winning out may not be enough for the Ducks if Kansas wins out, if Oklahoma wins out the Ducks need to show some serious style points. Oregon faces Zona at the worst possible time in that they face a team on a hot streak who can throw the ball down the field, play a night game in the desert which is always a gamble and face the whole #2 and Thursday night curse. All in all I think the Ducks still win by 10 but this was should be a memorable game.
2. USC (2) – USC seems to have its power running game back, where was it against Oregon however? The play at ASU on Thanksgiving in what amounts to a BCS playoff game.
3. ASU (3) – Did enough to beat UCLA but I would have expected a larger win all things considered. Depending on how the year ends ASU could find itself as low as the Sun Bowl or as high as the Fiesta or Rose Bowl.
4. OSU (4) – Weird game that OSU frankly should have won by 20 but was much closer due to some bad calls by the refs, an emotional effort by UW after Jake Locker and a breakdown in the Beaver pass defense mainly caused by 3 key secondary members being kicked out of the game. I think the Pac 10 gave the Beavs some justice by not suspending the players for the first half of the WSU game.
5. Cal (6) – Played USC tough but just didn’t have enough. This team has dropped quicker than almost any team in memory from a high national ranking. At this point probably can’t hope for anything better than the Sun Bowl.
6. UA (5) – Still Bowl eligible for one more night. Stoops is safe from what reports are saying but I am not so sure.
7. UCLA (7) – Stung by injuries more than any team in the country I thought they played pretty tough against ASU. I think this is Karl Dorrell’s swan song, probably a great time for a bye week to give them time to prepare for Oregon.
8. WSU (9) – Once giving up for dead WSU is now a home win against OSU and a road win in Seattle from getting 6 wins, which this year, unlike last will get the Cougars in to a bowl game. The Beavs likely not having Yvensen Bernard and what should be dicey weather should help out the Cougars.
9. UW (8) – Good to see Jake Locker okay, Carl Bonnell actually played pretty well in relief but until this team gets a solid running back they are going to have problems.
10. Stanford (10) – Decimated by injuries they get a needed bye week before playing Notre Dame and Cal to end the year. Stanford could be a bowl team next year

Monday, November 05, 2007

Week Ten Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

The second week in a row of Oregon hosting a Top 10 opponent ended with the same result for the Oregon faithful, a Duck win with the eyes of the nation upon them. Oregon now is in the position of being the sole school to control their own Rose Bowl destiny. At this point if Oregon wins out against Arizona, UCLA and Oregon State the worst the worst case scenario is the Ducks spending New Years in Pasadena. Oregon, led by Dennis Dixon, has handled all the attention in a very business-like manner and I think this will aide the team in avoiding any issues of over-confidence. The Ducks are pretty dinged up so the 10 days off they get before the big game versus the now hot Wildcats is important. USC returned to form in dominating Oregon State at the line of scrimmage. The Trojan offense is clearly not at the same level that we have come to expect under Pete Carroll but the defense is top notch. USC is still in play for a BCS bid, the Fiesta Bowl versus the Big 12 winner would be a nice destination as would the Rose Bowl if Oregon gets to play in New Orleans. In other games Cal slipped by a Washington State team that lacked James Tardy at running back. Cal it appears is just playing the year out ala the 2006 Ducks. Washington went out and won a game for the first time since early September. Who knows what the make out of Stanford but the Dawgs could conceivably rally to 6-6 with the schedule they have remaining though getting past Oregon State in Corvallis would be pretty daunting. Finally Arizona beat UCLA in the battle of which coach will survive November. Karl Dorrell is clearly done at UCLA no matter what happens the rest of the year. Mike Stoops is likely gone as well but if he were to knock off Oregon and ASU to end the season at 6-6 you never know. For some reason Arizona just seems to play a whole lot better in November than any other month of the year. The Ducks and Devils need to be on upset watch. Kudos to the Midshipmen of Navy for beating Notre Dame.

1. UO (1) – With ESPN Gameday in town and a national audience watching the Ducks delivered. The Heisman is Dennis Dixon’s to lose. The Ducks get 10 day to prepare for the surging offense of the Wildcats in what you know will be a hard hitting game.
2. USC (3) – Nice rebound win versus the Beavers. USC still can play for a BCS bid but the Pac 10 championship is all but out of the question.
3. ASU (2) – The Sun Devils were perhaps just not tested enough to play the caliber of team as Oregon at this point in the year. ASU needs to rebound against UCLA this week if they hope to have a hot at a BCS at-large bid
4. OSU (4) – Got completely shut down in LA but they should get back on track against UW in a game that gets them the needed 6 wins for bowl eligibility.
5. UA (7) – Back to back wins after the disaster of losing to Stanford at home. Surviving this year will be tough for Stoops but the cupboard won’t be bare for whoever is coach next year. I expect they will give Oregon quite the battle.
6. Cal (6) At this point this team will only win games against teams they have way more talent then, they gave up a lot of yards in the air to Brink and the Cougs and had a sub-par offensive performance, still Cal should be considered up with ASU and USC the team to beat in 2008 with a senior QB in Longshore.
7. UCLA (5) – Though they have been injury depleted this year UCLA is among the biggest disappointments nationally (Notre Dame, Louisville and Nebraska are up there as well).
8. UW (10) – Got off the snide with it’s first win off the year down on the Farm. Will it be enough to save Willingham?
9. WSU (9) – Played tough in a loss in Berkeley. Doba and company could conceivably rally to get to 6 wins, that would be a great accomplishment.
10. Stanford (8) For some reason Stanford is much better on the road than at home.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Nine Review

The unit that the media wasn’t talking about, the Oregon defense, was the star of the show in the Oregon/USC battle at Autzen Stadium. For those that watched the game you could tell that Oregon beating USC was not a fluke, for all of the future NFL talent on the Trojan side of the ball the Ducks were and are the better team. USC now finds itself at a crossroads that they haven’t seen since 2002. Pete Carroll chained the culture at USC but the question remains of whether he can get his team to rally or whether USC will split apart at the seams when the going has gotten tough which was the downfall of Paul Hackett. Realistically the Trojans, pending a complete collapse by Oregon are playing for a BCS at large bid at best at and with a very tough slate of upcoming games things won’t be easy. USC is now only 6-4 in its last 10 Pac 10 games and of those wins only two of those were against teams with winning records. Just like Miami, Nebraska and Florida State before them USC has seen their reign over a conference end. All four schools raised the bar in their conference won, national championships and completely dominated conference opponents over a multi-year stretch only to be undone by having to face everyone’s best shot every week and probably getting just a bit too comfortable in their environs to put in all the work that is needed to win championships. The schools I listed above all not returned to championship form the question begs if USC can reverse that and whether Pete Carroll sticks around to see it. Oregon it seems has now returned itself to the position they were in 2001, playing very meaningful games in November. In other news ASU drove a final steak in to the Cal Bears who have now experienced the first three game losing streak by a Jeff Tedford coached team since he was a coordinator at Fresno State. ASU now travels, along with College Gameday, to the third “game of the year” at Autzen Stadium this season. Kudos to the WSU Cougars who beat an undefeated in Pac 10 play UCLA squad in Pullman. UCLA was playing on borrowed time and the Cougs are a better team than their record shows. Will it save Bill Doba, not bloody likely but it was nice to see Doba and Brink get a quality home win in their final season. Oregon State put them-selves in to position to make a bowl game and someway, somehow Mike Stoops lives to see another day with an amazing comeback win in Seattle to send the Dawgs to their sixth straight loss.

1. UO (1) – I predicted that Oregon would win this game only if they scored 32 points or more, turned out I was wrong. The Ducks picked a great day to have their defense play an A++ game. Autzen has never been louder and the Ducks are the talk of the nation. With a much higher SOS than LSU you wonder how long the Ducks will be held behind the Bayou Bengals in the human portion of the BCS poll. LSU at best will face a 2 loss team in the SEC Championship game. Of course all of this is mute if Oregon and LSU can’t win out. Game of the Year Number 3 at Autzen comes next week and it is full of great story lines. I predict the Ducks win by 10 and Dennis Erickson goes to 0-5 in Autzen Stadium.
2. ASU (2) – ASU got down early but put on another spectacular second half performance in putting a final nail in Cal’s once storybook season. Cal was clearly jinxed by its fans chanting “Were #1” after seeing the LSU-Kentucky score. The Sun Devils face their first true road test of the year in the most hostile of environments now.
3. USC (3) – I can’t question Carroll’s decision to start Matt Sanchez, had John David Kosar started he would have been sacked 7 times by the speedy Oregon defense. Sanchez forced a few throws and it cost him. What I can question Carroll for is the slow hitting play call on the 4th and 1 on his first drive, not using enough of Joe McKnight in general and his calling a timeout with 8 seconds left in the game. For those with long memories Carroll in 2003 at Autzen Stadium called the Oregon staff classless for not pulling their starters when USC put in their backups and in turn Oregon pulled within 11 at the end of the game. Well considering the Ducks were still at the time in contention for a Pac 10 title and receiving votes in the Top 25 why would they not keep trying to win. Where does it say in the rule books that a team that is being beaten badly should stop trying to not show up the team that is beating them. Typical Trojan arrogance. Where that rant from Pete Carroll came from I have no idea but it proved all I need to know about Mr F You. He seems to think his team deserves special consideration and is just allowed to do things no one else can. Too bad your false reality is over jerk. Have fun in El Paso you classless piece of dung.
4. OSU (5) – The Beavs top notch front seven shut down another teams running game and in the process put themselves in great position to ensure a bowl game this year. Mike Riley is silently waiting in the wings for what could be the Civil War of all Civil Wars. Beating USC without Yvensen Bernard in the Coliseum seems all but impossible but I can’t discount the mental state of Trojans right now. A Beaver win is a possibility though highly unlikely. I bet that the Trojans have 30 no shows after all the jumping off the bandwagon occurs by USC “fans”.
5. UCLA (4) – Putrid performance on the Palouse which was aided by yet again more injuries to the UCLA offense. Had this team been healthy all year they might be undefeated right now. At 5-3 with a road game at Arizona, and match-ups versus ASU, Oregon and USC still on the horizon winning 7 games and ensuring a bowl game doesn’t look so hot in Westwood right now. Karl Dorrell needs 7 wins to stay as coach I think.
6. Cal (6) – Cal’s collapse is very reminiscent of the 2002 Oregon Ducks. Look out below but thankfully for them they play the Cougars at home and they should be able to win by 30 to at least for a week stop the bleeding.
7. UA (9) – How bad is Washington’s defense to allow Wily Tuitama to go for over 500 yards passing? Mike Stoops is like Michael Myers you think you have seen the end of him and he just keeps coming back. They now get a very winnable game versus UCLA at home. Arizona can’t win more than 6 games this year but they will have an effect on who wins the Pac 10 since they play the three remaining squads with one conference losses to end the season.
8. Stanford (7) – Did absolutely nothing in Corvallis last weekend but get good news in that they get to play the conference’s worst defense (Washington) in a game that should be a shootout.
9. WSU (10) – The Cougs got a Pac 10 win and ruined the prefect conference record of UCLA as was predicted in this column. The winning streak will end at 1 as they will be cannon fodder for a Cal team that needs to awake from their nightmarish October.
10. UW (8) – I like coach Willingham I want to see him stay at Washington to get a chance to see what Jake Locker can do for him over the next three years however I think that the guy will have major problems surviving this season. Could Jim Mora Jr be the Husky coach next season? This may be the worst defense ever seen in Washington football history.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Eight Review




The week’s top story has to be the return of a viable quarterback to the UCLA Bruins and how this lead to Cal going from thinking they were the #1 team in the nation to being 3 games (considering that UCLA would own the tie-breaker due to their win over Cal) behind UCLA for the race for the Rose Bowl. Cal is all but dead in the water unless they can win out, get some luck and have UCLA only win 2 or less games this year. Cal could easily find themselves playing in the Fort Worth or Vegas Bowl which has to be one of the larger falls from grace we have seen nationally in the last few years. Amazingly, UCLA, who has suffered embarrassing losses to winless teams, is atop the Pac 10 with a 4-0 conference record. If Patrick Cowan can stay healthy they can beat anyone in the conference, with Bethel-Thompson at QB they can’t beat anyone. The Dawgs must be yearning for the days of Steve Emtman after surrendering over 450 yards rushing to Oregon. If you went back in time and told a Husky fan in 1991 that an Oregon Duck team lead by a running back from the State of Washington would lead an attack that set the Oregon school rushing record on Husky Stadium soil they would likely have you committed. Times do change, 1991 seems like ancient history, no internet, no cell phones or DVD or spread shotgun spread offenses for that matter . In other new Stanford won their second road game of the conference schedule but still hasn’t beaten anyone outside of San Jose State on their own field. Finally it appears that USC has gotten past their injury issues after wood-shedding Notre Dame in South Bend and now will face Oregon in the first match-up between two Top 10 (coaches poll not BCS) teams in the history of Autzen Stadium.

1. UO (1) – The bad news first, Oregon had some breakdowns in coverage that allowed Jake Locker to show he can throw the ball down the field and keep pace with the Ducks for 3 quarters. The good news is that Oregon ran for 456 yards, completely dominated the line of scrimmage offensively in a matter that has not been seen in Eugene in well forever. Had Oregon been able to play USC two weeks ago I think they would have beaten the Trojans by 14, but now that USC has had time to heal the game will be much closer and I would make the Trojans a small favorite. Oregon won’t be able to run laterally well against the speed that the Trojans posses so they will need to play smash-mouth football and win it between the tackles. Dennis Dixon obviously must avoid the picks and the Ducks can’t afford to let Stefon Johnson or Joe McKnight break long runs. Should be an epic, glad to have a seat for it!
2. ASU (2) – ASU was on bye week, which is a good thing because they will finally start to play some real teams. We well find out now if ASU is a true contender or whether they were beating up on creampuffs since they face Cal, Oregon, UCLA and USC in the next month. The Devils could go from being #4 in the BCS to out of the Top 25 in a short amount of time. Cal is sputtering but has never lost 3 games in a row under Jeff Tedford, this should be the second best game of the day but could get widely ignored with the national and conference attention on the game in Eugene.
3. USC (4) – Getting healthy at the right time. My opinion is that Matt Sanchez gives them a better chance at winning against Oregon than John David Booty. The o-line and defense are as healthy as they have been this year so Oregon could be in for a rude awakening.
4. UCLA (9) - I had UCLA 9th last week because the injury status of Patrick Cowan was up in the air, now that they have a functional quarterback again they are fully capable of being the Top 10 team that they have the personnel to be. They face a reeling WSU team but I would consider this one to be on major upset watch, especially with the Cougars having two weeks to prepare.
5. OSU (5) – On bye week last week after the big win in Berkeley. The Beavs got bad news with the loss of Tavika Thompson by decree from the NCAA. The reason for his eligibility being revoked is not yet known but we should stay on the lookout for further news. The Beavs should be able to end Stanford’s two game conference winning streak as the Cardinal shouldn’t be over looked anymore by anyone.
6. Cal (3) – This is where Cal shows whether they can rally and play themselves back in to the top of the Pac 10 and compete for a possible BCS at large bid or whether the wheels fall completely off. They no longer control their own destiny for the Rose Bowl but still will have a major effect on who ends up playing in it. They are more tested than ASU but need to do a better job running the ball to keep teams from teeing off on Nate Longshore (no speedster to begin with) who has the mobility of Bernie Kosar right now.
7. Stanford (7) – The Trees won another Pac 10 road game and certainly deserve much credit for that but unless they can stretch that streak to 3 games I don’t see them getting bowl eligible this season. Stanford under Jim Harbaugh is playing much smarter and once they increase their talent pool should be able to compete for a lower tier bowl every year as long as Harbaugh is in the fold. His enthusiasm is changing the culture in Palo Alto which will be a good thing with the gem of a stadium they have.
8. UW (8) – The Huskies played very hard for 3+ quarters but as has been typical in their now 5 game losing streak the Dawgs don’t have the conditioning or talent to stay with good teams for 60 minutes. Jake Locker broke out the long ball with some great success versus Oregon but the run defense is beyond atrocious. I couldn’t think of a better team for them to play right now than Arizona however and the Dawgs could further drive a steak in to the chances of Mike Stoops remaining at Arizona.
9. UA (6) – Losing to Stanford at home is always a huge letdown. Will they be the team that end Washington’s long losing streak? The decimated Husky front seven should be pretty vulnerable to a steady diet of runs.
10. WSU (10) - Just playing for pride now, but still have a very dangerous offense at home at least. They have a great shot at beating UCLA.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Seven Review




Obviously the big story was Oregon State knocking off Cal, had the Bears won they would be the number one team in the country and likely #1 in the BCS as well. The Bears still control their own destiny to win the Pac 10 conference title which is something that only ASU and USC can also claim but clearly the loss will be one that will sting in Berkeley for years. Oregon State has to wonder what life would have been like this year had they had an experienced quarterback and a healthy Samie Straughter, the front seven for Oregon State has been stellar. Arizona State continued to win quietly but I still feel this team is untested. Oregon won big but their chances of going the rest of the year unscathed were dealt quite a blow by the losses of Jeremiah Johnson and Cameron Colvin. Wide receiver depth at the slot position is now very thin, Derrick Jones and freshman Aaron Pflugard need to step up big. Stanford’s win streak ended at one and Arizona put a scare in to USC before Joe McKnight (Reggie Bush Jr?) put the game away. USC should get McKnight more touches, after the bye week this week at Notre Dame they go to a hornets nest in Eugene to end out October.

1. UO (2) – The Ducks absolutely crushed Washington State but suffered two major injuries to key skill position players. They face what is most certainly a major trap game for them with the trip to Seattle. This is, amazingly, only the second time (1999 and 2003) in ten season that Oregon has played in Husky Stadium.
2. ASU (3) – Still untested and if there were a strange occurrence of events ASU could find itself the final BCS conference school undefeated after this week as they are on a bye week. ASU has very strong computer numbers but not much respect from voters.
3. Cal (1) – Will the OSU 2007 game be remembered like the 2001 Stanford game for Oregon? Cal should take care of UCLA pending that Patrick Cowan doesn’t play, if he does all of a sudden this one could be interesting particularly if Nate Longshore has to sit again and if Riley can’t shake the criticism from not throwing the ball away at the end of the Oregon State game.
4. USC (4) – USC’s defense was again stellar versus the run but there is major concern about the offense. This game was won on the special teams play of Joe McKnight, teams would be smart to not kick to him. USC gets Notre Dame at a good time, they shouldn’t be tested much and then they have to go up north for a revenge minded Duck team that wants to deliver a death blow to a USC squad that has owned them since 2002.
5. OSU (7) – The Beavs somehow just seem to pull out a win like this every year but rarely is it on the road. They were fortunate to avoid having to play against Longshore but they deserve much credit for beating a very talented team on the road. The Beavers now have the momentum to play themselves in to a bowl game, that looked like a distant memory after blowing early leads in previous games.
6. UA (8) – All in all the Cats defense dominated the Trojans, Mark Sanchez throwing the ball was not a factor. Had the Cats had better coverage on special teams and they could have easily knocked off USC. They have a very winnable game at home against Stanford, again the Cats are showing late season improvement like last year but a loss to the Trees would likely be too much for Stoops to survive.
7. Stanford (5) – They played tough against TCU but it was in the end a let down game after the huge win, Stanford had an outside shot at getting to 500 but the TCU loss cripples that I think.
8. UW (6) – UW’s murderers row schedule continued with a loss to the Devils. The Huskies would love to ruin the Ducks season but remember there is no rivalry!
9. UCLA (10) – If Patrick Cowan can play they have a shot against Cal, if Bethel-Thompson starts this one is over before it starts.
10. WSU (9) – Cougars fans are singing “Goodbye to You” in honor of Bill Doba’s farewell tour. They can’t get blown out by bye this week.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Six Review

Many folks including myself argued that Michigan being defeated by Appalachian State was one of the biggest upsets in the history of sports but if you examine the disparity in Sagarin ratings Stanford beating USC was a much bigger upset. I believe in the history of this poll USC has spent only one week not ranked #1 but that will be changing now. USC needs to recover with three very challenging road games still on the slate. I’ve never thought Pete Carroll was the greatest game coach and in the games that USC has lost in the last 4 years they have been undone by some arrogant choices by the coaching staff and players. USC had no reason to be throwing late with the personnel they have on the defensive side of the ball on the drive that was ended by John David Booty throwing an interception that led to the final Stanford touchdown. Had they ran and punted Stanford would have only won the game with a hail-mary as the Trees would have lacked the time to get down the field to score the winning points. In other news Oregon State re-grouped nicely to defeat Arizona who played more like Arizona we have come to know than the one who grilled Washington State’s porous defense. Oregon State had a good enough defense to win 9 games this season and even compete for a Pac 10 title for horrific special teams play, quarterback play and injuries have crushed this squad. Washington State played the relatively untested ASU pretty tough but they lack a kicker with a strong enough leg to have much chance of hitting a field goal past 35 yards and this fact help undo them. Finally UCLA had the unfortunate problem of losing Ben Olson to a knee injury, UCLA’s walk-on QB had no chance and Notre Dame got some plays on defense to shock the Bruin faithful. Until UCLA gets Patrick Cowan or Ben Olson back at QB they will have problems beating any Pac 10 school.


1. Cal (2) – For Cal’s sake they have to hope that Nate Longshore can play. They should be able to beat Oregon State on special teams play alone but to beat ASU and USC they will need their QB back and healthy.
2. UO (3) – The question that faces is Oregon is whether they will recover from a hard loss like the 2001 and 2005 Ducks did or whether they will fade away like the 2002, 2003 and 2006 versions did. I think the Ducks should be able to score big points against Wazzu’s soft pass defense.
3. ASU (4) – Not that impressive against WSU but they did win and the previous week beat Stanford 41-3. The face a Washington team that is rested but whose stellar QB Jake Locker is getting schemed much better by opposing defenses. ASU will soon face a three game stretch of Cal, USC and Oregon and they will need to not make the mental mistakes that have plagued many Dennis Erickson teams in the past.
4. USC (1) – USC losing to Stanford was shocking, they went from controlling their own destiny in the BCS to facing the strong possibility of having to win out to even win the Pac 10 title. Pete Carroll will need to rally the troops and stop the bickering between John David Booty and the receivers.
5. Stanford (10) – Jim Harbaugh has instilled his players with confidence, that was something that was completely lacking under the regimes of Teevens and Harris. Stanford now hosts a highly disappointing TCU squad at home in front of what I have to assume may be more fans than Stanford usually has.
6. UW (6) – The Huskies hopefully used their bye week to heal up and figure out how to get their running backs more involved in their offense. They will face a tough task playing in Tempe where the Devils have been untouchable this year.
7. OSU (8) – The Beavs put together their best performance of the year in beating Ariozna. They face a huge task in Cal next week. I’d recommend Alex Serna punts every ball out of bounds to avoid Desean Jackson.
8. UA (7) – Well the offense returned back to what it had been most of this year and you really have to wonder how the Arizona defense could allow over 30 points to a Sean Canfield led squad. Playing an incredibly irate USC team will not add to the dismal chance of Mike Stoops retaining employment in Tucson.
9. WSU (9) – The Cougs played by far the best game they have played in the Pac 1o this year but came up short. The homecoming for Alex Brink could be pretty ugly in Eugene, sadly the Eugene kid will never get to experience playing in a bowl game.
10. UCLA (10) – As long as Bethel-Thomson is playing QB the Bruins cannot win a game in the Pac 10. Ben Olson appears to be out for 4 weeks and the status of Patrick is up in the air. They are quite lucky to have a bye week.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Five Review

Oregon/Cal was a classic game, that, I unfortunately left with a heavy heart. Both teams played tough but in the end turnovers did in Oregon. I would have liked to have seen the Ducks stay with the run when they were up in the fourth quarter but they got greedy and forced some throws. Give Cal credit for win these teams are about even as the score proved but the Ducks have to be kicking themselves for losing in a game they were in control of. The Arizona schools routed at home and the LA schools picked won in the north as well in what was a 0-4 day for the schools of Oregon and Washington. The top of the Pac 10 has shown to the nation that they belong up there with anyone in the country. Some poll voters such as Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit actually moved Oregon up in the rankings after a loss. Next week is fairly blasé in the Pac 10, the best game will likely be what now may be a resurgent Wildcat squad playing a reeling Beaver team who gave up 40 unanswered points to UCLA which included a total breakdown in special teams play in the 4th quarter.

1. USC (1) – They played likely their worst game since early 2002 and still won. Maybe worries have out there due to health issues. The Trojans need to get healthy for the second half because they have some tough road match-ups with Oregon, Cal and USC looming. I just don’t see the Trojans winning out with this murderers row schedule. Luckily they face Stanford this week and should be able to rest a bunch of players.
2. Cal (3) – Tedford coached a smart game but his team will have some major problems if Longshore misses any games. I’d rank Cal, Oregon and USC as 1A, 1B and 1C but the Bears won on the scoreboard and that is all that matters.
3. Oregon (2) – A heartbreaking loss but to be minus 4 in turnovers and almost win shows you that if Oregon doesn’t turn the ball over they are pretty much unstoppable. A bye week might be a good thing here before they play the Cougars who should be all but filleted and gutted by the time they arrive in Eugene.
4. ASU (4) – It is kind of hard to judge this team as they haven’t played much competition this year (though that Colorado win now looks much better). As long as the weather doesn’t do something really weird in Pullman the Devils should take care of business and be approaching the Top 15 by the time they play UW in two weeks.
5. UCLA (5) – Well the Bruins didn’t start out well but they sure finished with a bang and rejoined the Top 25 in the media poll. They were really helped by the F minus special teams effort by the Oregon State Beavers. I expect them to run rough shot all over Notre Dame this weekend sending the Domers to 0-6.
6. UW (6) – A couple of breaks go the other way and the Huskies have their biggest win since beating Purdue in the anti-climatic 2001 Rose Bowl and biggest regular season win probably since the Wammy in Miami. A bye week will be well appreciated for the Dawgs who probably face too high of an uphill battle when they go to Tempe in two weeks.
7. UA (10) – As well as the top of the Pac 10 has played the bottom is playing awful. The Wildcats found an offense and crushed WSU. Are the Cougars that bad or has UA turned the corner? The Cats get to play Oregon State at the perfect time and can get to 500 on the season with a win next week.
8. OSU (8) – I’d put them lower but with the way that WSU and Stanford played last weekend not sure I can do that and the Beavers at least played pretty solid on defense. The Oregon State special teams played like they though that Jerry Pettibone was the Head Coach again.
9. WSU (7) – Letting Arizona score 40 on you is an awful sign. I think we can safely say that unless WSU pulls a miracle and wins at least one of their next two games versus ASU and UO there is hardly any chance that WSU can get to a bowl game this year which is needed for Doba to continue to coach.
10. Stanford (9) – Back in their usual spot and getting to play a likely very motivated USC team after their poor performance in Seattle will only add to the Cardinal woes.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Four Review

Week four was the first week where all games were played within the conference and the haves appeared to beat up on the have nots. Oregon was dominating except for a very strange fifteen minutes that occurred in the second quarter. Somehow Stanford put up 31 straight points mainly due to fumbles by Ducks going for extra yards. Give Stanford credit for staying in it for awhile but it appears that unlike many previous Bellotti regimes this one responds well in the second half of games. The Beavers has ASU on the ropes before poor QB play did them in. UCLA played much better defense but also lost starting QB Patrick Cowan so if Ben Olson can’t go next week they will have to play in Corvallis with a freshman QB. USC rolled up WSU as expected, not much to say about that one. This week the big game is Oregon versus Cal at Autzen with the boys from ESPN Gameday making their first appearance in Eugene since 2000. Whichever team can force some stops on defense should win this one. Oregon would be wise to punt it away from Desean Jackson every time they punt (which of course may not be very often . . .)

!. USC (1) – Rolling, rolling, rolling. Another week another ABC 5 PM special for USC. This week it will be in Seattle and UW doesn’t have the defense to contain USC’s offense. Husky Stadium will be rocking but it will all be in vain.
2. Oregon (2) – Outside of bad quarter the Ducks rolled Stanford. The good news was that the turnovers were all fumbles all caused by guys trying to make the extra effort. Dixon still hasn’t thrown a pick. The challenge next week will be whether the Oregon d can force a few turnovers. They will score against Cal’s defense. The winner may need 40 points on Saturday.
3. Cal (3) – The offense is top notch but questions remain on defense. The Cal-Oregon game will be the Bears second game on the national stage this year and in effort number one versus Tennessee they delivered in spades.
4. ASU (4) – I didn’t get to see this game as it like the Oregon was not on live TV. ASU from all appearances could have easily lost this game save for the moronic QB play of Sean Canfield. Makes you wonder that if OSU had not attempted a pass in the second half and milked as much clock as possible they could have won. ASU appears to be a solid 4 in this league but hasn’t faced much competition yet. Stanford won’t be the cakewalk it may have appeared so ASU could be on upset special lookout now that they are in the Top 25.
5. UCLA (8) – The Bruins came back strong from the debacle in Salt Lake City. With Cowan and Olson on the mend they may be playing a 3rd stringer in Corvallis next week. UCLA has dominated Oregon State in recent games and as long as the Bruins can force OSU to throw the Bruins will win.
6. UW (5) – Playing a murderers row schedule is likely starting to wear on UW as they faltered down the stretch. Having to play USC will only add to that problem. UW should however be able to put a nice run together late in the season when the schedule eases up.
7. WSU (6) – Clearly outclassed by USC the Cougs will travel down to the desert in a game of coaches on the hot seat. I’d wager the loser of this game will not be a Pac 10 coach next year, but then again we might have to say that about the winner too.
8. OSU (7) – The Beavs would be a Top 15 team if they had good quarterback play, they don’t and now it seems very unlikely that OSU will win more than 3 more games going down the stretch.
9. Stanford (9) – Give them credit for playing with some fire for the first time in who knows how long. Kimble ripped the Ducks up and the defense. They could sneak up on ASU this week.
10. UA (10) - Was putting up 24 points against Cal because the Wildcats found their offense or was it from the bad Cal defense. They host WSU this week in a must win game to have much chance to get to 500 this year.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Week Three Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

The big story of the week has to be UCLA losing to a previously winless Utah team by a score of 44-7. Though certainly there is no shame in losing to Utah in most years in Salt Lake City (Oregon lost there in 2003) losing 44-7 to a team without its starting backfield by 37 is beyond shameless. With the amount of returning starters UCLA brought to the table this result confounds me. UCLA has dropped further in two weeks than any school in the history of my pool I would be willing to wager. I will hand out kudos to Oregon, USC and Cal for rolling but my biggest props actually go out to Jim Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal who shut out the always pesky Spartans from San Jose State. After going zero for Mountain West and losing at home to neighboring New Mexico it will take a major miracle for Mike Stoops to be in Tucson in 2007. To assure the job saving bowl invite the Cats are now in the position of having to win 6 Pac 10 games to get to 7 wins. Starting out the league slate in Strawberry Canyon is a horrible way to kick that off. Karl Dorrell lost all the good will he built up with winning 10 games in 05 and beating USC last year with that horrible Utah performance. Look for Stoops, Dorrell and possibly Doba if the Cougs struggle in league to be on the unemployment line come December . . .

1. USC (1) – Went out and did what they do, the running game is dominant, outside of some injuries in the back 7 and inexperienced wide receivers this team looks lethal.. LSU is probably the better team now but give USC another month and they will deserve their #1 ranking. I see no issues with them facing WSU at home this week. Brink will get some numbers but the WSU defense can’t hold the Trojans down.
2. UO (2) – Finally blew out Fresno State. I am glad to see that series end, the Bulldogs always put up a fight and seemed to leave the Ducks with a series of injuries. Oregon shouldn’t have too much problem with the Trees so hopefully they will be 4-0 heading in to the match-up with Cal.
3. Cal (3) – Blew out La Tech and should have revenge on their mind next week for Arizona which cost them a Rose Bowl bid last year. If I could put both UO and Cal at 2 I would but I decided to keep my ranking the same from last week.
4. ASU (5) – Didn’t have much trouble with San Diego State now they will face an emotional home game versus Dennis Erickson’s old Beaver squad. ASU hasn’t been challenged much this year and I don’t see the Beavs putting up much of a fight either.
5. UW (6) – Somehow they lost by 19 and went up a spot. Well no shame in losing to Ohio State and the Dawgs were ahead at halftime. UCLA all of a sudden looks very vulnerable, I think the Dawgs go down to the Rose Bowl and put up a W next week.
6. WSU (7) – The Cougars put up big numbers versus Idaho but again they should do that. The defense is too shaky to have any shot at USC.
7. OSU (8) – If you are going to schedule a 1-AA team at least play Portland State to give that program a little green and keep it in state. The Beavs will face a much better defense at ASU than Idaho State and unless Canfield has drastically improved the Beavs will get get shredded in the desert.
8. UCLA (4) – Not much more I can say. Dropping from 2nd to 8th in two weeks takes talent but the Bruins pulled it off. They now face a very tough home game versus UW. Better not drop any more winnable games Dorrell or you’ll find yourself an NFL assistant next season.
9. LSJU (10) – When was the last time Stanford shut someone out? Don’t celebrate too long boys the Ducks are coming to town.
10. UA (9) – Hey Mike, better call up Bob to see if he has a spot on his staff for you in 2008.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week Two Review

Well obviously the big story of the week was Oregon steamrolling Michigan in the Big House. Even the biggest Oregon fan wouldn’t have predicted a 39-7 drubbing that frankly could have been a lot worse had the ducks not put on the brakes a bit and had some unlucky breaks in the redzone. Michigan looked slow and confused and I think they will struggle to be bowl eligible. Luckily they get to play Notre Dame next week who I would be shocked gets to 6 wins this year either. The second biggest story of the week has got to be the resilient Washington Huskies led by freshman Jake Locker. The Dawgs ended the nation’s longest winning streak and with TCU losing left Hawaii as the only team with a shot out there of being a BCS Cinderella (and Hawaii was on life support in Ruston). UCLA and Cal had to be a bit disappointed with their play against Mountain West foes while the Beavs need to seriously upgrade their QB play if they have any hope of making a bowl game.

1. USC (1) – They didn’t play and have had two weeks to prepare for a hostile crowd in Lincoln, the Huskers avoided losing the trap game in Winston-Salem (had Riley Skinner played Wake wins) but will have major issues offensively hanging with USC. Nebraska is still a year away from getting back to where they could compete against a USC team at home.
2. Oregon (5) – I’ve been watching Duck football for almost my whole life and never has there been a better offensive half of football by an Oregon team than the first half in Ann Arbor. Michigan looked lost on defense and doesn’t have the game plan or personnel to come back once they get down early. Even though this Michigan team has proved its self to be as huge of a disappointment we’ve seen in recent memory this win for Oregon has to go down among its best road wins ever.
3. Cal (3) – Cal’s defense has some holes, they played a pretty mediocre CSU team and never put them away. This was a classic let down game for the Bears after the big, emotional win over Tennessee. La Tech should score a lot of points against Cal but not nearly as many as Cal will score against the pathetic defense of La Tech. Look for Desean Jackson to put up numbers to try and get up their in the Heisman rankings.
4. UCLA (2) – I really only put them here because they played at home rather than on the road. BYU is a tough team coming off a 2 game winning streak against Pac 10 opponents. UCLA should be able to handle a beat up Utah teak this week. It is hard for me to differentiate much between UCLA, Cal, ASU and Oregon right now.
5. ASU (5) – Got down 14-0 early to CU at home then received nicely to destroy the Buffs. Ryan Torain continues to put up good numbers and Rudy Carpenter looks like he is making better decisions. San Diego State shouldn’t present any issues to ASU this week.
6. UW (7) – The second most impressive win of the week and the best win of the Willingham era in Montlake. Locker now faces what is likely too large of a test when Ohio State comes to town but I wouldn’t completely count the Huskies out. Ohio State is sputtering on offense and managed only 20 points in a home win versus Ohio.
7. WSU (8) – Nice bounce back win for the Cougs in a game they needed to win to have any shot at getting to a bowl game this year and saving Bill Doba’s job. The annual battle with Idaho awaits and the Cougars can’t be over-confident, Idaho played a solid game at USC all things considered and have upgraded their talent a bit over the last two years.
8. OSU (6) – The Beavs were downright awful in Cincinnati, without some massive improvement at QB the Beavs will struggle to get to 500 this year. They should be Idaho State 55-7 or so but that game won’t do much to prepare Canfield and understudies for the Pac 10 schedule.
9. UA (9) – They beat a 1-AA school , can’t say that means much and this week New Mexico invades with perhaps their best team in the last 3 decades. Arizona needs to find some offense and soon or they will lost to New Mexico in a game that would require the Cats to win 5 Pac 10 games to ensure a bowl bid, and Stoops must get that bowl bid to continue his employment.
10. LSJU (10) – If Stanford can’t beat San Jose State with two weeks to prepare then they are hopeless.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Evie and I in front of Autzen Stadium

Wow how bout them Ducks!?! Polar difference from the first half of the Houston game to Michigan. The Wolverines looked slow and confused the while the Ducks played their greatest half of offensive football in putting up 32 in Ann Arbor. There is a golf course calling Lloyd Carr's name . . .

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Pac Power Poll and Week 1 Review

Overall a pretty solid day for the Pac 10 with only Arizona really being a disappointment by taking a loss to the Mid-Major BYU team but I can’t really call that result much of an upset. Cal’s impressive win over Tennessee was of-course overshadowed by what has to go down as one of sports biggest upsets ever in Michigan losing to Appalachian State.

1. USC (1) – I watched part of their game against Idaho, you’d probably expect more points for the offense but nothing should be a red flag here. It was a bit scary for them to see Brian Cushing taken off on a cart but it appears as if his ankle is just a sprain and he shouldn’t miss any games. USC has a bye week to prepare for the road test at Nebraska and mend up Cushing. I am assuming Carroll didn’t show much of his hand for Idaho and kept a tight reign on the offense. Those who took the under and Idaho with the points got a nice parlay.
2. UCLA (2) – No problems at all in their visit to the Farm. Beating Stanford is not really much to get to excited about compared to Cal beating Tennessee however UCLA didn’t do anything wrong so I can’t justify knocking them down behind Cal yet. A game at home against BYU should be a bit tougher as the Cougars shut down Arizona.
3. Cal (3) – Looked like they had all the explosiveness we’d expect from I would say could be the nation’s best triad of offensive players in Longshore, Forsett, and Jackson. Cal shouldn’t have too much trouble with Colorado State on the road because they just don’t have the speed to handle the bears. Of course going in to Fort Collins is never easy but this CSU team is not the one of the late 90’s that was the cream of the Mountain West for a bit.
4. ASU (5) – Didn’t see a lick of the game versus San Jose State but looks like Ryan Torrain had a very solid game with 123 yards on only 17 carries with 3 Tds. You probably can’t judge too much based on a home game versus San Jose State but the Spartans were a bowl team last year and have made some strides under Dick Tomey. The challenge should rise a bit next week with CU in town but I’d expect that the Sun Devils will throw in a lot of blitzing to try and confuse true frosh Cody Hawkins and the Buffs.
5. UO (4) – The good for Oregon was the rushing numbers and Dennis Dixon finding his short passing game in the second half along with much improved kicking and coverage on special teams. The Oregon secondary played fairly well save for some missed tackles. The bad news is that Oregon’s front seven was walked all over the field by a C-USA team with a QB playing his first game and the Ducks still lack the ability to complete anything other than short routes. Defensive coordinators should be stacking the box against Oregon and using press coverage to dare Dixon to beat them deep. Michigan losing to Appalachian State did nothing good for Oregon. The Ducks will face a bunch of embarrassed Wolverine’s with a good game plan for stopping Oregon. Interestingly enough App State and Oregon run a very similar system, this game should be a shootout and if the Ducks can avoid throwing picks and fumbling they can win. In the end I think Big Blue will mot lose twice in a row at home to teams not named Ohio State so the Ducks will come back to Autzen 1-1 for the match-up versus the always pesky Fresno State Bulldogs.
6. Oregon State (7) – The Beavs won a grind them out game against Utah who looked pretty solid early until they lost their starting tailback and quarterback to injuries and after that lost any offensive momentum they had. The Beavers are clearly raw at QB right now and dropped a lot of balls too. Bernard looked stellar and I’d expect them to ride him a lot this year especially if Stroughter doesn’t play. A solid win at home but this team has the look of a 500 squad to me unless there is some major improvement from Canfield and/or Moevald. A trip to Cincinatti on Thursday will be a challenge, going east is always hard and the Bearcats can put up points.
7. UW (9) – The big mover on the board the Huskies look great in a win that saw them have to travel all the way across the country for a 9 am Pacific start. Jake Locker looked about as impressive of any Pac 10 freshman QB I can remember in his debut. The schedule is probably too much to ask for Washington to make a bowl game this year but I could see them beating a few mid range Pac 10 teams this season and possibly get to 6 wins. Boise State is probably a bit much for UW to handle right now but there is, for the first time in many years, a reason to have hope for the future for Husky football and that is because of Jake Locker.
8. WSU (6) - No shame in losing in Camp Randall Stadium to a very good Wisconsin team but there are clearly some major issues with the Cougars defense that need to be resolved. With the next two games being against SDSU and Idaho I’d expect to see WSU be 2-1 once Pac 10 play starts and hopefully the experience they got playing in Camp Randall will help them prepare for their Pac 10 schedule.
9. UA (8) – I saw none of the BYU Arizona game but for the Wildcats to only score 6 points against a MWC defense is a very bad sign. They should mend up nicely with NAU in town this week but I warn the Cats to not look past their Championship Division brethren.
10. LSJU (10) – Glass half full thought is that they scored 17 against a Top 20 team in UCLA. Unfortunately they gave up 45 points and UCLA toyed with their defense all day. Harbaugh will make things interesting on the farm at least and that really can’t be said for any Stanford coach since the days of Bill Walsh and Dennis Green.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

College Football is Back!



I won't have a chance to post my full season preview until Friday night I think but I wanted to at least put my picks down on the blog before the Oregon State - Utah game comes on. So here it goes:

1. USC 12-0 (9-0) BCS Champ game
2. UCLA 10-2 (7-2) Possible at large in Rose or Holiday
3. Cal 10-2 (7-2) Sun or Holiday if UCLA moves up
4. UO 7-5 (5-4) Emerald Bowl5. ASU 7-5 (4-5) Vegas Bowl
6. WSU 6-6 (4-5) Armed Forces Bowl
7. OSU 6-6 (3-6)
8. UA 5-7 (3-6)
9. UW 3-10 (2-7)
10. LSJU 2-10 (1-8)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Isn't she cute!


At Dinner
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.
Summer is starting to roll down and I have to say it has been a good one outside of not getting much time away from the office. Evie is really at a fun stage where she is learning more and more each day. She is so close to crawling it could be any second now before something just clicks and she starts scooting around. The first half of the summer saw all of my immediate family visit us for at least some amount of time. Kurt lives in San Pedro, California now, Heidi is in Eugene but likely moving to Boston or Santa Fe soon and my folks are in Taiwan for one last year. Emily and I have been able to have some fun this summer, we've gone to 3 weddings, went camping and the last two weekends we have gone wine tasting because we have hit up every brewery in the area that is currently open so not any new ones to crank off that list. I am not as excited for Oregon football as typically but I am quite excited for football in general. The Ducks have the potential but who knows if they have the heart and tougness to do much better than 7-5. We shall find out soon . . .

Thursday, July 26, 2007

NCAA 2008



Well been busy with work, new house and the little one lately. Emily was very kind to me and bough me a Xbox 360 for my birthday. The day it cam out I used a gift card to Best Buy to get NCAA 2008. The game is sick, I played a little bit of Campus Legend before my roster file was procured and I really enjoyed how it would sim until your player actually made it on the field. Well as for the game play I have to say this is the best job of making a realistic football game (or maybe even sports for that matter) that I have seen. The AI is out of this world, actually I should say realistic, makes for a more fun game. No longer will throwing bombs and constant sending 5 WR's then running with your QB every play work, the AI will adjust to your tactics. At the time it is realistic so if you show a certain tendancy then switch it up you can burn the defense. I've found this works quite well, pound the ball in the line a few times on runs to get the safties up then go deep on third and short, works well!

Well I will spend the next month or so playing the game, researching up on the 2007 season and then will do my preseason predictions in late August!

Friday, March 30, 2007

Tourney Time

Some thoughts on the 2006-2007 Oregon Ducks, the NCAA tournament and a sprinkling of randomness.

I’ve never been one to claim that Ernie Kent is the best thing since sliced bread. I’ve been continually frustrated with his inability to recruit a decent big man, his failures in close games and his, if you believe the rumors, hypocritical personal life while he claims the moral superiority of being a “good Christian” (not that this is anything new from what we have from men in positions of power). However, I think Ernie deserves a boat load of credit for this year’s run, I think the man took some personal inventory, took some major risks like signing Tajuan Porter and going to a small-ball line, didn’t play the blame game (paging Mike Bellotti you have a call on line 1) as much and became more human in the process to his players. This had to have rubbed off on the players a bit. The victories in the tournament may not have been as impressive as the 2002 run however, the talent level on this team is not at the same level and Oregon gave Florida a better game in 2007 than they gave Kansas in 2002. I have thought for well over a year that 2007 would be the end of the Kent era, whether that be from firing (Pat Kilkenny just politically can’t do that right now I think) or Kent leaving on his own to take a “better” job. I don’t think that will happen now. I think he will be here another two years at least but the bar has been raised again and not going back to the NCAA’s in the next two years could mean the Pat’s man Mark Few is brought in.
On another topic I have to mention that I was quite thrilled with the Duck’s run to the Elite 8. The Ducks played 4 very different teams and played all of them with pride, character and brought respect to Oregon from fans across the country. Many Oregon fans were a bit upset with the officials in the Florida game. I can see where they are coming from, on many of the offensive boards the Gators got, (Richard did this at least 3 times) there was contact between the shorter Duck defender and the taller Gator. One could say that the contact was the Gator pushing off, another view, which the officials took it that it was the Oregon player being out of position and forcing the contact. I thought the refs were full of excrement on at least three of these calls but at least they called them the same way every-time and what I most want from a ref is a consistent call. If something is a foul in the first minute it should be a foul in the last minute, that was the case in the game. That Oregon was in a deficit in fouls was not a surprise they were facing a tall and athletic team however the disparity reminded me of the 1995 Western Conference finals where in Game 7 the Sonics had something like a 73-12 disadvantage in foul shots over the course of the game and still almost won the game (this performance as well as the travesty of the final four games of the Mavs-Heat series last year is all the proof I need to have to show that the NBA under David Stern does what they can to influence who wins games, they don’t outright fix games but they sure make sure that refs they select fit the situation they want to see, ie extending series, having the more “marketable” team win, and showing up Mark Cuban). Refs arguably have more impact on basketball than any other major team sport due to the differences in interpretation of fouls and the speed of the action. It seems to me that in virtually every game this tournament the higher seeded team got the benefit of the doubt from the officials. Maybe that is the way it should be, who knows? This tournament was great in-part because the higher seeds advanced but try to tell that to Vanderbilt or Xavier both of who you could say pissed away surefire wins with their own foolish play down but also could argue that had a key call in the final seconds been called accurately would have advanced on to the next round.
Finally a personal note. Emily and I put in an offer to buy a house this week. If all goes well with the inspection we should be able to move in at the end of April. It is much bigger and I will have my own space to do my own thing from time to time which I really need. Our current abode is way to small for 3 people, letting alone two have any space, so this is a great thing.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

The Littlest Duck


The Littlest Duck
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.
This is Evie in her Duck top. The first time she has somewhat fit in to it. She wore it for the Oregon-Winthrop game which the Ducks thankfully won. Getting 3 teams to the Sweet 16 is pretty good for the Pac 10 and if the Cougs did about all you can do but not win against Vanderbilt. This has been an odd tournament, Friday and Satruday had a good share of great games highlighted by Xavier-Ohio State and WSU-Vanderbilt but thursday and Sunday were rahter blase outside of the Duke-VCU game and UNLV-Wisconsin. I think Oregon is in a great spot to get to the Elite 8 and have been fortunate to had the easiest route to the Elite 8 of any team in the tournament in terms of opponent seeding.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

NCAA Tournament Day One

Wow I've pretty much watched the first two days of the NCAA tournament yearly going back to about 1986 and I can't recall a more boring first session of games as the early games have been today. I guess the tourney seeded well but it makes for a boring day. Round one going to seed will likely mean a ton of upsets in round 2 because there will be so few low seeds left. Favorites going 8 for 8 and only one game finished with a margin of under 10. Interestingly we are able to wtach games on 2 channels on our Comcast Digital Cable (Emily figured it out that channel 306 is something like local CBS 2) so I am flipping back between Duke/VCU and Ohio State/CCSU. I picked VCU as one of my upsets but I think the refs are doing whatever they can to ensure Duke wins this one. I've seen 3 awful calls that have bailed out Duke, call it a a conspiracy or don't but Duke gets more calls than any other team in the country. I figure David Stern is behind it (just kidding commish!). Well Duke has just gone on a 7-0 run to make this a 9 point game, with UCLA and Ohio State rolling looks like the only chance for an "upset" is Mich St over Marquette (zero points in the first ten minutes by the way and no McNeil due to his thumb injury). Hopefully the night ends with some good games.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Holding Evie


Holding Evie
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.
Just enjoying such bonding time with my daughter. We are excited to watch the NCAA tourney this week. I am off from work and the Ducks are back after a long 3 season drought.

March Madness

Well it has been a bit of time since I last posted here. Home life has been great and Evie is really starting to grow and become aware. You can see the changes daily, she is quite mature for only being 10 weeks old. The job has gotten quite a bit busy with some folks moving on some I am trying to survive and thrive in that the best I can. When I last posted Ernie Kent and the Ducks were in a free fall. Nice to see what a home sweep of the Northwest schools can do for a team but even then I think that prior to the Pac 10 tournament Oregon looked liked a likely 7 or 8 seed. Fast forward three games and the Ducks and their hot shooting find themselves a 3 seed in the easiest bracket in the country and have a great line to get to the Elite 8. Oregon’s domination of the rest of the Pac 10 in the tournament was unprecedented though they sure lucked out without having to face UCLA. The Ducks have regained their sea legs and swagger and with a Friday game in Spokane should be quite well rested before they play Miami and then the winner of Notre Dame/Winthrop. I don’t think the Ducks could have asked for a better position than they got. I don’t foresee an issue with Miami and I’d actually rather face Notre Dame than Winthrop who has the better front court. Wisconsin is a vulnerable 2 seed though a better team than Memphis in my opinion. If someone like an Arizona or Maryland can knock off Florida (who I think the Ducks would just not match up to very well) you can’t discount Oregon actually making a Final Four. Had Oregon lost to WSU at home and then to Arizona in the tourney you have to think they would have been sweating out Selection Sunday just like Stanford did. Kudos to the Committee for rewarding dominant play in the tournament, both from Oregon but also for schools like UNC, Kansas and Florida. There is no doubt that UCLA losing to Cal played themselves out of the #1 spot in the West. Thankfully for the Bruins they didn’t get shipped out of California and I still like their chances to get back to the Final Four. I’d be surprised to see any other Pac 10 teams outside of UCLA and Oregon in the Elite 8 and I think that WSU is particularly vulnerable to being the first 3 seed knocked out.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Duck's Slide



After starting the year with quite a bang the Oregon Ducks have taken somewhat of a slide the last two and a half weeks. Some around the country may be suprised about this but I am not. Oregon really isn't that much better of a team this year than they were last year, and last year they were just not as bad as it appeared. College basketball these days is top heavy with about 10 teams having a legit shot to win a national championship. Then there is a second group of teams who are ranked anywhere from in the Top Ten to not even on the map but in terms of skill and talent they are in a vast middling of squads who may either find themselves in the NCAAs, NIT or staying at home. The Oregon Ducks of 2005/2006 finished 9th in the Pac 10 and just short of .500 for the season. They, just as this year, played many close games, in fact they were 0-8 last year in games decided by one basket. Fast forward to 2006/2007 and the Ducks started out fast in their "close games" managed to defeat all but USC in the first half of the season. Each of these games in both years really came down to a final shot, in 05/06 the Ducks had no luck, in 06/07 they seemed to be having all the luck. I think part of what has been shown with Oregon the second half of the season has been what should be the norm. Average high major teams will win about 50% of their games against similar competition and now the Ducks are being pulled back to the pack. My pre-season thoughts on Oregon the last two years has been this is a bubble team that will make or not make the tournament based on the outcome of a few games. They should still make the tournament but they are not the 2 or 3 seed that many saw a few weeks ago. As Dennis Green so eloquently said "They are what we thought they were!"

So the last 6 months I have become a Flickr addict! I think it has helped my photography and it is a great way to kill time!










Digg!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Things to do in Pullman when you are dead . . .

Well there isn't much to do in Pullman outside of getting blasted at Shakers or The Coug. For those who watched it Oregon - WSU ended up being one of the most exciting games of the year in the Pac 10. It was a pretty remarkable comeback win for Oregon and to acheive it they needed to come back from 8 down quite late in the contest. Aaron Brooks banking in of a three after the Ducks had missed two shot and gotten the o-board both times dropped the defecit from 5 to 2. Oregon then got another stop on defense and ran a pretty ugly set before Maarty Leunen got hacked with all but no time left. Clutch free-throws by Maarty tied and then the Ducks should have run away with in OT but the heroicvs of Derrick Low made it close. The Coogs had three shots to tie it up and take it to a second OT but they didn't fall. Can't wait fot the rematch down in Eugene. This week Oregon gets a chance to put a headlock on the conference championship if they can beat UCLA in Pauley Pavilion. I think UCLA beats the Ducks but the Ducks beat USC keeping Oregon in second. Stanford is clearly improving greatly, after watching them play Oregon tough at Mac Court I had a feeling that Stanford would put up a nice second half of the season run and play thmeselves in to the NCAA's. The sweep of the LA schools puts that as a great possibility and put some pressure on USC to stay in the field. I'd officially drop Cal from the NCAA talk, they will join UW in the NIT.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Oregon Washington




It is has nothing to do with hoops but Lamar Latrell always makes me laugh. How did that guy make it in to Cobra Kai. Has he been in anything else outside of any of the painfully bad Nerds sequels? Might have to check Imdb on that.

Well Oregon had a late run to get the game almost tied but then there was just too mcuch size and Justin Dentmon down the stretch and the Dawgs pulled away. Dentmon choose a great night to have a have a career day. It seems that Oregon had the scoring to win this game but were killed on the defeonsive boards and Tajuan Porter was exposed defensively by Dentmon. The Ducks may have missed Aaron Brooks more on the defensive side of the ball. I thought Ray Schaefer gave Oregon some pretty good minutes and that not having Zahn to spell Maarty hurt the Ducks a bit but had he been out there I don't think it would have meant Oregon would have won.

There has been a lot of crowing from USC fans that they deserve to be in the Top 25 (polls are meaningless I know) but Stanford handled them solidly last night showing that the Trees may be able to play themselves in to the NCAA's. USC needs to salvage their weekend with a win versus Cal who you can pretty much count out of even any NCAA consideration if they lose to USC on saturday. The Trojans have pretty ugly computer numbers but do have wins versus Oregon and Arizona. USC is really being hurt by scheduling 3 +300 RPI teams in the preseason.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Daniel Larussa's Gonna Fight!?!




I am sure many of you read Bill Simmons from Page 2 on ESPN.com, a guy who when he is on really is pretty damn funny and has that smart-ass every man appeal that is endearing to many in my generation. The guy also knows his pro sports but outside of bracket time he seems to all but ignore college sports. That's okay with me, because he definitely is up on his pop culture. I love his write up of the Karate Kid series so I have linked it so everyone can read it too. I recentely purcased the Karate Kid Special Edition Box Set for $12 (war Target!). Quite possible my best purchase ever, Evangeline has already wacthed Part 1 with me.




I'll post something tomorrow after I get a chance to watch the Oregon-Washington game. Ducks will have a tough time particularly if Hawes plays.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

It's January!



Well it is late January now and as you can tell from the photo I have my hands full these days! Here I am holding my beautiful baby daughter Evangeline Rose who was born on 12/31/2006. She has already sat through 4 duck games with me and her viewing record is 3-1 with a last second loss to USC. Becuase I haven't been able to watch much hoops this year outside of Oregon I won't be doing a power poll for basketball, hopefuly I'll be back at it next season though and up on my game again. Well as anyone who knows me well knows I have been quite down on Ernie Kent for about 2 years now but I have to give him and more so the Oregon players credit for turning things around. Going in to the year I thought tthis team would be around a 20 win team with about 10 wins in the conference and borderline NCAA but from the performance so far the Ducks have to be judged as perhaps the nation's biggest suprise on the upside (could be the boys from Pullman too, no one saw that happening) in what tunred out to be a very strong league. Obviously there is a lot of basketball to be played but the Pac 10 should bag at least 5 bids to the NCAA's with another 2 teams on the bubble. For a league that usually gets 4 bids , 5 or even 6 bids is monumental. The league is tops in OOC RPI which is quite a feat. I expect more of the same everyone in the Top 8 beating eachother up with 4 schools gaining top 6 bids and two more in the 7-11 range.