WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? by ST

Not sure I get the local, regional and national horror over UCLA representing the South Division in the first Pac 12 title game. It's certainly not a feather in the cap of the league, but what would you have Commissioner Larry Scott do? We all knew the rules coming in, they've been followed and that's the deal. I'm not a Pac 12 fan. I'm about my team, and in the case of the NCAA hoop tournament, my bracket. I don't necessarily root for or against conference teams in bowl games or against other areas of the country. That said, if the Ducks dust the Bruins, it's forgotten and you have an elite team representing the Pac 12 in the Rose Bowl. Sometimes a basketball team wins their post season league tournament with a .500 record. Then they get buried in the 1st round by North Carolina and it's over. Last year in the NFL the stinking Seahawks went 7 & 9 and made the playoffs. It happens. In 2008 the 4 best teams in the ACC all lost 3 conference games. What the heck is that? Would you rather have top to bottom mediocrity or a trio of powerhouses that show off excellence. Last year UConn got the Big East BCS bowl birth with 4 losses! Granted, some of these cases are not as extreme as UCLA but it's the way things played out. On today's shows I'll throw out a scenario that hopefully will further this argument. Speak with you then!

Civil War, by Casey Mitchell

The Ducks loss last Saturday is the kind of loss that makes it fun to be a college football fan. It's not like the NFL where you can lose the last 6 games of the season, and still have playoff aspirations. Matt Barkley was looking like Joe Montana, and there were some calls at the end of the game that I disagreed with, but hey, it's hard to question the coaching of Chip Kelly. However, Oregon's season is in no way a lost cause. We have a big Civil War game coming up tomorrow, and if we can get by that, we will be playing for roses in the first ever Pac-12 Championship Game. The Ducks should be able to handle the Beavs for the fourth straight time. This is also the fourth straight Civil War with BCS implications. Oregon State standing at 3-8 overall is considering this game, their bowl game. They haven't beat us since the 2007 season, and they would love to knock us out of the Rose Bowl the way we did to them in 2008. I think that they will hang with us for a quarter or so, but we will pull away with it. Prediction -- Ducks 52 Beavers 27.

I would just like to reiterate that I am a guest blogger, and my thoughts and opinions do not reflect Steve's thoughts or opinions. I think that Joe Paterno deserved the punishments, but it is a shame that this is what he will be remembered for.

On another note, the MLB has slated some new rules to the game. Starting next season, there will be one more Wild Cared team, and they will have a one game playoff to see who advances to the Division Series. Also in 2013, the Houston Astros will be added to the AL West, and interleague will be played everyday like the AFC and NFC do it in football. I like the new rules, I have been waiting for the Astros to move for a while, and I like the idea of another Wild Card team and the one game playoff.

FACTUALLY SPEAKING by ST

Can't believe how many on a national level are expressing their doubt over the selection of the Tiger's Justin Verlander as AL M.V.P. Aside from bought and paid for politicians, the Baseball Writer's Association of America are the most arrogant, dismissive pickleheads I follow. There is no formula to gauge value. No slide rule or over the top Sabre-metrics. It's freaking baseball not splitting the atom. Without Verlander Detroit falls out of the race early and never gets a whiff of the post season. I love the decision!
Monday night football began with the Jets & Browns back in September of 1970. I can honestly say last night's game between the Patriots & Chiefs cost me the least amount of time ever. I maybe checked in three times. Giants & Saints this coming Monday will warrant my attention.
With the NBA bozos ripping the season away, I may refind my NHL roots. From the early 1970's through my relocating to Eugene in 1990, hockey was well up my list. My buds & I hit the Garden(Rangers), Nassau Colesium(Isles) or then Byrne Arena(Devils) at least 12-15 times a year. Here in the Valley I've switched up passions and those nights on frozen pond have been replaced by various forms of Pac 10/12 action. With no pro hoops, might be time to get on board with the NHL.
We will be taking your legendary Civil War moments the next 2 days on the big programs. Interesting that in the more modern era, Oregon State has not successfully played the role of spoiler. Their big win in 2000 was huge for them as it led to a BCS birth. In 1994, 2001, and last season the Ducks won. Only Oregon has entered the contest with no shot at a conference title or major bowl bid and cost their rival. That was 2008. Food for thought.

IMPERFECTION CONTINUES TO RULE by ST

And then there was one, well 2. LSU and Houston remain the lone unbeatens at the FBS level. The Cougs are 8th in the BCS and need 6 teams to lose in order to qualify for the title game. But once again we learned to take nothing for granted. It's been questioned who suffered to worst loss this weekend, Oklahoma State, Oregon or Oklahoma. Really? It's not obvious that the Cowboys who held fate in their hands was most damaging. The Ducks and Sooners would have needed to play scoreboard or hack a few computers. OSU just had to beat Iowa State, who'd never beaten a team ranked in the top 5 then Oklahoma and pack for the natty.
Really impressed with the Oregon fans I've heard from since the post game and via text and email. With the heartbreaking defeat in the rear view mirror, lot of credit to USC, a solid understanding of all this team has accomplished and still can.
From the it's okay to disagree file, I'm not on board with the lack of timeouts on the fateful drive to end the USC call. Here's my angle. If the game is tied and you have the defense on their heels, maybe just roll. Trailing I take nothing for granted. Time is to be treasured. 2 plays. Both Rahsaan Vaughn and Kenyon Barner made 9 yards meaning the clock continued to run. Gotta call time outs in each of those situations. From my chair. Once again the Civil War has monster implications. Beavs get to play spoiler like the Ducks did in 2008.

Back In The Hunt, by Casey Mitchell

Well, it's taken a little longer than I thought, but the Ducks have worked their way back into the National Title hunt after their big win over Sanford last week. If we want to stay in the Natty race, we have to take care of business this week vs. the Trojans at home. USC has a very explosive offense, averaging almost 400 total yards per game, but the Ducks defense has been playing lights out as of late. LaMichael James has diffidently worked himself back into the Heisman discussion. He has put up some very impressive numbers considering he missed two games due to his elbow injury. The only thing that worries me, is that it seems that Darron Thomas isn't playing to his full potential this year, but that's just my opinion. This year, Thomas has thrown for 1704 yards and 22 touchdowns, but he has thrown 5 picks. If the Ducks defense can continue to play the way they have been playing, we should be able to take care of business this week. Prediction -- Ducks 42 Trojans 28.

The Denver Broncos went from 1-4 and dead in the AFC West with Kyle Orton, but ever since they converted to Tim Tebow, they have gone 4-1 and right in the midst of the Playoff race. At the beginning, no one thought that he could make it as a pro, but with the option offense, Tebow had a statement game this Thursday vs. the Jets, who have a very good defense but if there's one thing Tim Tebow knows how to do... It's win.

MIDWEEK by ST

I've seen a few polls about the Packers and their shot to repeat as Super Bowl champ. A reason I like their chance is simple. They're in. I've said for years that in MLB and the NFL, it's huge just to qualify. Then you get hot and win the whole thing. Green Bay's offense is frightening. They won and in essence add a horse like TE Jermichael Finley who was hurt during last winter's run. Jordy Nelson has joined Greg Jennings to form a killer 1-2 punch with James Jones a more than capable 3. James Starks & Ryan Grant are a very potent combo running it and Aaron Rodgers has now pulled alongside Brady as thee man at QB. On defense Desmond Bishop went from special teams demon and rotation guy at linebacker to a beast. Had more than 100 tackles last year and is on pace for about 135 or 140 in 2011. 2nd year man Morgan Burnett has emerged at safety and even though he just broke his hand, the kid from Georgia Tech is a stud. What I love about this team put together by Ted Thompson is no one else is loaded up with more of their "own" draft picks. These guys are Packers. They have an excellent shot of become the 1st Green Bay team to win back to back Super Bowls since the Lombardi group won the 1st two! Just wanted to focus on something positive. Enjoy your Wednesday.

CORRECTION by ST

Got a comment from Friday's blog. For clarification that was our "guest" blog and not my opinion. I apologize for any confusion. I've been pretty clear I think Joe Paterno is completely culpable in any vile acts committed by Jerry Sandusky since finding out what a pig he is as early as 1998. I was also disgusted by NBC & Bob Costas for giving that pedophile air time last night. Are they that desperate for TV ratings? I had to turn it off. He really needed to think about his answer to "are you attracted to young boys"? This guy is a classic predator. Charming, dishonest, selfish and dangerous. I do not understand why he's not behind bars! That's all for today!

MONDAY THOUGHTS by ST

Rather than continue to rail against all the Penn State slimebags, I'm just going to take solace knowing their level of humiliation will only grow and get further exposed as this whole nightmare warrants further investigation and reveals more shame!
I've heard from folks who were a tad surprised the Ducks are a 15 point favorite for this USC game. I figured it would be about 12. USC's 2 best games were forcing OT versus Stanford and this past Saturday when they punished the Dawgs. Both were in Troy. Now they come here. Monte Kiffin has been the Trojan defensive coordinator the past 2 years. He's an NFL guy and the Oregon offense has torn him apart. In 2009 it was 613 yards and 47 points in a route. Last season Southern Cal surrendered 599 yards and 53 points. What have you seen that makes you think 2011 will be much different? Me either.
The NBA players union has rejected the latest offer and it's likely the union will next disband. At times it seems I've favored the owners in this dispute but it's not like when I favor the Yankees over the Red Sox. I'm like 51% for the owners and 49% for the players. They both make me puke with their egos and selfish nature, but the owners are dug in. I think the game & league need a financial restructuring. I'll miss the NBA for sure, but with football into college hoops and hockey into baseball, I'll get over it.

Gameday, by Casey Mitchell

If the Ducks want to have any shot of making the Natty again, we need to take care of business this weekend in Palo Alto. Even if another National Championship shot isn't in the card this year, this is still a huge game regarding the Pac-12 title and a Rose Bowl appearance. From what I saw last week, it looks like Darron Thomas is getting back into his regular self, but still needs to work out a few kinks. Last week at Washington LMJ had 25 carries for 156 yards, which already put him over the 1000 yard mark for this season. As you all know, Stanford has the best QB in the game in Andrew Luck, but that doesn't mean we can't contain him! So far this season Luck has thrown for 2424 yard with 26 touchdowns and only 5 picks. That's pretty darn good.... Heisman good. But when I was watching him against the Beavs last week, he started out a little shaky and was having a little trouble with his accuracy. I'm telling you, if the Beavers could have gotten some good calls and some breaks to go there way, that ballgame could have went either way. So I think if the Ducks can get it rolling at the beginning, we'll come out with a W. Prediction -- Ducks 34 Stanford 28.

When I turned on Sports Center on Wednesday evening, I was shocked to see that Joe Paterno had been fired. I mean, I knew that there was going to be consequences for what had happened, but I didn't think anything would happen to Jo-Pa. At first I didn't agree with the decision, but then I got to thinking that this incident is something way bigger than sports, and something had to be done. It's just a shame that Paterno's legacy will be tarnished by this horrible chain of events.

3 DAYS 3 IDIOTS by ST

I'm really proud of the callers, texters, and emailers the past 3 days. We only averaged one complete and total moron per day. The 1st had the audacity to act as if the players getting prepped to play Nebraska should get priority. Really? Over innocent children raped? Then some yo yo said they're tired of Joe Paterno getting vilified. Dude, that's what happens to VILLIANS! Supposed men who sit idly by while kids are getting molested are evil. No excuses. Then the topper to close yesterday's(wed) show. Some rocket scientist felt it was time to grandstand about sexual predators getting young women pregnant while Planned Parenthood allows them to get secret abortions. Aside from the trio of dummies I think you all should take a bow for your heart, passion and intelligence. Thanks!
That's all I have today except to say "The pedophile protecting king is dead"!!

THE PASSING OF SMOKIN JOE by ST

Beyond the disgust decent people should feel over the Penn State horror, I was able to muster up some sadness over the passing of Joe Frazier. I was an Ali guy, but loved Frazier. The brawler from Philly with the devastating left hook could end a fight in the blink of an eye. Ali had the bicycle. Frazier had the tank. Ali was all over the ring. Joe just moved forward and was willing to take, 2 or 3 or 4 to get his licks in. Though the 3 bouts with Ali were legendary, I'll never forget one of Joe's worst moments. January 22nd, 1973. It was a Friday night. Frazier had defended the title he'd taken in the first Ali fight twice. There was talk of a rematch. As an afterthought Joe was taking on a well known but lightly regarded fighter named George Foreman. Big George had won the gold medal for America in Mexico City in 1978. Famously he waved little American flags in his corner after the victory. Talk about another time. That fight with Foreman was on free TV on Metromedia Channel 5 in the New York City area. My parents were out for the night with friends. My little sister was at my aunt & uncles in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. I was home alone watching the fight. Three words from announcer Howard Cosell ring enternally. "Down Goes Frazier". The loss to Foreman set up the 2nd Ali fight for the right to face George for the title. Ali nearly kayoed Frazier in the 2nd round, but ended up taking a unanimous decision. Then we got the "Rumble in the Jungle" where Muhammad stunned Foreman via the "rope a dope". That brings us to "The Thrilla in Manilla". Frazier/Ali III. Those two guys nearly killed each other. Two incredible warriors whose lives were inseparable. Sadly Ali would be diagnosed with Parkinson's. Frazier died at 67 in hospice care of liver cancer. They ignited sports fans over that incredible period from the first fight on March 8th, 1971 until the finale on the 1st of October in 1975. RIP Smokin Joe.

MONDAY THOUGHTS by ST

By now the horror at Penn State has made the rounds. The story. Long time Joe Paterno defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky arrested and charged with multiple counts of child-sex allegations. Already the athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz are out for lying to a grand jury and failing to notify authorities when they got wind of these disgusting misdeeds. It's also alleged Paterno was told about an incident involving a 10 year old boy and told Curley. That's it? He reported the incident and failed to follow up. I'm not saying JoPa should be arrested, but if he was made aware and didn't follow up, call the cops and grab Sandusky by his throat and demand an explanation, he should be fired today, NOW!
Not to be mean, but anyone who thinks Alabama deserves a rematch is a moron. They had their shot, at home, and blew it. Unless everyone else with zero or one losses gets defeated from this point forward, the Tide is out of the natty picture from my chair.
Now that I got all that off my chest, it was close to a perfect weekend for me! Ducks beat the Dawgs in the Land of Satan. Jets win. Giants win. Patriots lose because the Giants beat them! Wanted to end this blog on a happy note!

Quackin' Out Loud, by Casey Mitchell

With Oregon's win over WSU last week, the Ducks face a true road test this weekend at Washington. It's going to be a night time game and that Stadium will be hopping with thousands of screaming Husky fans. A lot of people have been talking about the quarterback controversy with Darron Thomas and Bryan Bennet. Listen, my thoughts are that it's possible that Chip wasn't even planning on playing DT the whole game, but Thomas didn't have his best game so he decided to give Bennet some more snaps. Thomas led us to a National Title shot last year, and I think he's our guy. But so far with Bennet, I like what I see for the future. The Huskies have really improved over the last few years, they are 6-2 overall and 5-0 at home. This could really be tough game for the Ducks, but I think In the end, we will prevail. Prediction -- Ducks 48 Huskies 31.

This week in the NFL, Ndamukong Suh met with Roger Goodell to discuss penalties and fines going against him. When I saw this I was thinking that maybe this could be a new thing in the League that could help with the rules. I know that Suh kind of has a reputation as a dirty player, but instead of tweeting how much he hates the rules, he dealt with it like a real man and talked face to face, and I heard it was a successful meeting. I think that all of these rules in the NFL are getting out of hand. Like the whole continuation rule for catching a ball in the end zone. If you catch the ball and have two feet in with full possession, it should be a catch. It should be interesting to see if there are as many late hit calls on Suh in weeks to come