CALMING INFLUENCE by ST

After the incredible season saving win at Tucson, Duck quarterback Jeremiah Masoli claimed he never had a doubt they'd come back to win this game using the "had it in the bag" angle. Really? I wish the folks watching the game at my place were brimming with such optimism. There were 5 of us standing around my plasma with nervous wreck looks on our faces until JM took it in to ice the thing in the 2nd overtime. A great clutch moment in football took place in January of 1989 with the 49ers down 16-13 in Super Bowl 23 to Cincy. With the ball at their own 8 yard line the mood in the huddle was pretty loud & anxious. Joe Montana, aka Joe Cool got everyone's attention by pointing out the late comic actor John Candy in the crowd. The laughter apparently settled the guys who marched down the field and won the championship when Montana hit John Taylor with the game winning TD. I believe the phrase "keep your head while others around you lose theirs" applies. Masoli made a ton of mistakes against Arizona, but this young man never lets what happened get him down. He's always hitting that delete button and focusing on what he needs to do in the NOW! The thing about a game like this is as exciting and critical a victory as it was, the true value and where it will stand in Duck football history is to be determined. Win the Civil War, win the Pac 10 and get to the Rose Bowl and it's a masterpiece. Fall to the Beavs and while it will always send that tingle down the spines of Oregon fans, it lands as a build up to a major let down. So while we've seen a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line when these two have squared off in 1994, 2000 and last year, no one born since the Eisenhower administration has seen a "winner punches ticket to Pasadena" matchup. I haven't seen a number and assume we won't until after the weekend, but I'm making the Ducks a 6 1/2 to 7 point favorite. I make them a few points better and throw in another 3 for home field edge. This is a heck of an Oregon State team whose quarterback, Sean Canfield is playing better than anyone in the Pac 10 at the position. He's having one of those senior season's that pushes a guy with his size and gun into the NFL draft picture for sure.
I'm not a big NASCAR fan, but I do have a ton of admiration for athletes who put their tails on the line. Jimmie Johnson won the driver's title for the 4th consecutive season. That's unprecedented. Not Dale Earnhart, the King Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, no one. I think he's very much in the mix for that Sports Illustrated Sportsman/woman of the year. We've seen great accomplishments but I don't know you ignore history if it comes down to it. Be interested to see who else you'd put on the list.