WRONG, WRONG, RIGHT by ST

A classic coaches scream in basketball is the guy about to launch an ill advised 3 pointer from the parking lot. No! No! Then of course the shot catches all net and the coach yells YES! In the final minute last night, LA's Ron Artest took a horrible 2 pointer, then after Pao Gasol secured the rebound and kicked it back to the perimeter, supposedly to restart the offensive set as they had the lead, Artest immediately launched a three. He bricked badly and after Jason Richardson banked in a game tying 3 with just under 4 seconds left, the volatile Artest was wearing the game's goat horns. Then of course he followed Kobe's desperation shot with a game winning layup and he's the hero. Such is sports in the spotlight.
Lot of conversation about this Laker team and the current NBA team in general. I would not put anyone still standing or already dismissed in the "great" category or even remotely close. Some claim the LA group that won 3 consecutive titles from 2000 through 2002 falls into that category. Sure, Kobe in his prime, Shaq was a force, Robert Horry is one of the all time money players and Phil Jackson is the greatest playoff coach ever, but I don't buy them as an elite team in the game's history. I think the last team for the ages was the 96 Bulls who set the record with 72 regular season victories. In the playoffs, they swept the Heat in round one, dropped New York in 5 then swept the Magic in the East Finals. Seattle took them 6 games in the League Finals but Chicago won the first 3 and were never seriously challenged. We will crown a champion but they will soon be forgotten except by their loyal fans who will enjoy it. No way they join that elite club with Russell's Celtics, the 72 Lakers, 73 Knicks, 84 Celtics and those Magic led teams of the 1980's. Tonight I continue to ride the Magic bandwagon in the hope they bring misery and torture to the fans of Boston by forcing a game 7 after falling into that 3 games to none hole. Enjoy your weekend. Take a moment to give thanks to those who have defended this country.

IT MIGHT BE CLICHE BUT....by ST

In reference to umpires or officials you always hear the catch phrase that no one comes to see them. It's true. Yesterday(wed) we witnessed a couple of instances to back up this theory. In the White Sox win against the Indians, Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen was thrown out in the 2nd inning then his pitcher, Mark Buehrle in the 3rd for disputing balk calls. The ump is Cowboy Joe West who is gaining a rep as a ham and from my chair, completely unprofessional. He seems to desire the spotlight and as anyone knows, the best referees or umpires are invisible. He's an idiot.
Then in the Celtic loss to Orlando, dunderhead ref Ed Rush embarassed himself and the profession. He called a technical on Boston center Kendrick Perkins for an elbow when the replay clearly showed K.P's arm basically slipped. Then he made an even worse call when, after whistling Perkins for a very ticky tack foul against Dwight Howard, Perkins was upset, but walked away only to get T'd up again, thus kicked out for a 2nd technical. If Rush isn't suspended the league's already shaky integrity takes another hit. These guys need to shut up and call the game, period. They need to receive copies of the 1933 H.G Wells classic movie, "The Invisible Man", starring Claude Rains. We should not be this familiar with some of these clowns. They're doing a horrible job.
I have tickets for Duck Baseball this weekend, the Friday and Saturday game. I also have a couple of passes left for the Art & Festival courtesy of Chateau Lorane, along with tickets for the Wednesday and Thursday session of the fast approaching NCAA Track and Field outdoor championships. E-mail me at stevetannen@live.com.
Let me know which event you'd like to see and I'll need your name, address, phone # and date of birth. We will hold the drawing early today as you'll need to pick up your Chateau or baseball tickets by noon tomorrow. Good luck.

CHAT WITH THE KING OF DARKNESS by ST

Is it wrong to want others to be miserable? Game 5 of the NBA East Finals tonight. Boston won the first three then Orlando stayed alive with their overtime victory on Monday. Satan stopped by my place last night to check in. I expressed a willingness to make a deal involving eternity and a Magic win in this series. This way the Boston fans will have to deal with both their beloved Bruins and Celtics blowing 3 games to none leads in the same playoff spring. I realize this is a character flaw, but "Sportshate" keeps me warm at night.
Great talk on yesterday's show about bandwagons. A key point is that in a town like Eugene, people will pick a team from a pro league to root for. I don't count that as a bandwagon as long as you don't switch your allegiance based on the success of that given team. I still insist the post 2004 Red Sox bandwagon is thee most annoying and largest in the history of American sports. Take notice the next large gathering you attend. See if you see more Bosox gear. One Boston fan said it's the Yankees. No question that one is big, but they are the reigning champs which has a tendency to swell the population of a given bandwagon.
Oregon Track and Field stars Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen made the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the most recent Sports Illustrated for defending their Pac 10 titles in the decathlon and heptathlon. Pretty sweet. You want to see the NCAA championships at Hayward beginning on June 9th? E-mail the correct answer to stevetannen@live.com
The question? Yesterday you correctly recognized USC in 2006 as the only team who has dethroned the Oregon men in conference the past 5 years. When was the last and only time the Duck women won the outdoor track and field NATIONAL title? Good luck.

DO YOU CARE? by ST

2 weeks from tomorrow the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer tournament starts in South Africa. No question this is a monster international event. I've always believe that soccer in America has a cement ceiling. Pele and some of the greatest footballers ever grabbed some attention but the sport did not quite take off. For openers it stinks on TV to the average US sports fan who needs those established breaks to get another beer, use the john or check out the other games. I do believe if Team USA makes a deep run we might see a brief post-Cup spike in interest. From my chair, soccer is a terrific sport for kids. For the price of a pair of spikes and entry into a league, the youngsters gain the benefits of team sports and romping around outdoors. It keeps them off the couch, away from the boob tube and X-Box and we know when kids have less idle time, trouble tends to stay farther away.
Is it possible Orlando could become the 1st NBA team to dig out of a 3 nothing hole? Already this playoff season a Boston team, the Bruins, have blown one. The Celtics had a shot to send the Magic packing for the spring but a couple of terrible possessions, one at the end of regulation and another as overtime came to a close, extended this set. Here's hoping for a double dose of misery for Beantown.
The U of O is prepping for the NCAA Outdoor championships at Hayward Field starting on June 9th. Your Sportstalk friends will be giving away a pair of tickets all this week and next. Simply e-mail the correct answer to the following question to
stevetannen@live.com
Oregon has won 4 of the last 5 Pac 10 Track & Field Championships. Who won the other? Good luck.

THAT WAS QUICK by ST

As you board a plane for a long awaited vacation, 9 days seems like a long time. We arrived at the Eugene Airport about 6:45am on Thursday the 13th of May. This past Saturday, the 22nd my wife Kathy and I are on the down elevator at the same airport at 9:15pm, we look at each other like "was that a dream?" In the blink of an eye all the plans had been executed and we were back home. Squeezed an awful lot of New York City & Jersey in. From Yankee Stadium to Broadway to a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, to the Museum of Modern Art to Chelsea to subway trains A, C, B & D with some Carnegie and Stage Deli thrown in. All that in 3 terrific days. The Tuesday after the Yankees scored 4 in the 9th to beat the Bosox was rainy and windy in the city. After getting off the A train downtown we turned a corner and got hit with a gust that trashed Kathy's umbrella. We gave up and returned to midtown where the open umbrella's reminded my wife of an odd kind of symphony. Had an awesome time with the family and some long time friends and I even learned something sports related. We officially are all the same. Once upon a time certain fans had reputations, good and bad. I've always called the Boston Celtics fans crybabies, or felt Philly Flyer supporters were the biggest a-holes. We get calls on this show from Beaver fans ranking on the Ducks and the other way around. Time, information, relocation, free agency, NFL Sunday ticket, the MLB package and more have created a sameness. I could not believe how many fans left in the 8th inning of Yanks/Sox. It was 9 to 7!!!! Yankees & Red Sox on a beautiful night. Like I've harped on, most of the New York fans were great. A few drunk idiots screaming obscenities at Red Sox fans flying their colors, the team and the umps. Sound Familiar? Anyone who thinks their set of fans is superior to anyone or the other guys have a monopoly on jerks is clueless. Some OSU fans have complained of poor treatment at Autzen Stadium. DUH! You're in the midst of pretty much the biggest annual crowd of Oregon fans wearing Beaver colors during the Civil War. Didn't figure on some crap flying your way? Some thing for Ducks in Corvallis. Really stunned at some harsh treatment at that stadium? Especially the final game of the year which usually has huge meaning for both programs. For the record, at Boston/New York I wore my Yankees baseball cap with a green and yellow Oregon baseball shirt. Got my share of GO DUCKS! Good to be back, lot of catching up to do.

MORE JUICING by ST

It's the story that never loses legs. Each day something related to another jock going the performance enhancing route. All those years of denial and legalities, and now Floyd Landis admits he doped. But does he take the bullet and take his medicine like a stand up guy? Not quite. He's trying to play the implication game. As we know, if everyone is doing it, it's not a big deal, right Aroid? What a piece of garbage.
Been keeping an eye on the Hanley Ramirez mess. So he dogs it, then says it's no biggie because some of his teammates go half assed at times and his manager didn't play big league ball so shouldn't have the right to drop the hammer. I loved when the skipper, Fredi Gonzalez, says "not everyone can be Derek Jeter". Fact is Jeets is hitting like crap and left about 14 guys on base last night.
I've noticed a completely different attitude when visiting a major city. The sports fans are totally immersed in the locals and nearly oblivious to everything else. I get odd looks when visiting friends and asking to put the NHL or NBA playoffs on because none of the NY teams are involved. Some guys I grew up with don't even know who is playing and of course, I'm obsessed. Looks like our theory about not seeing a team out there capable of beating LA 4 times in a series. Ain't gonna be Phoenix. Despite the makeover of this team to be a bit more defense and rebounding oriented, they still don't make stops, especially against a top flight offense like the Lakers.
Can't believe I'll be on a plane back to Eugene in 48 hours. Time does fly when your having a ball.

TRADEOFF? by ST

So Monday was the perfect day in Manhattan. About 70 degrees, mostly sunny. Got to Yankee Stadium and caught one of the great regular season Yanks/Sox matchups possible. On Tuesday it was miserable. Like our Eugene spring, only colder with lots more wind. My wife and I had one of those big city comic moments. Walking downtown in the rain, coming off the A-train near ground zero, we caught a gust of wind that turned our umbrellas inside out. Brrrrr! Sometimes in the midst of the skyscrapers, certain locations in the Big Apple become wind tunnels. We actually had to cut our time on the street down. Got over it and saw a terrific show on Broadway, The Addamms Family musical. The Lunt-Fontanne Theater was packed to the gills with Nathan Lane playing Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth of "Cheers" Lilith fame as Morticia. The critics haven't been kind, but the critics are self righteous imbeciles because it ended with the entire crowd giving a standing "O".
Yanks blew another 5 nothing lead, fell behind 7-5, pushed one across in the 9th but left the tying run on third so after 2 dramatic games with Boston, we get a split. Unfortunately for the Bosox, they remain 8 1/2 behind Tampa for the lead, and 5 1/2 back of the Bombers. Both teams have huge issues with their middle relief and Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon isn't right.
Really pleased to read the Duck baseballer's paid back Portland at their place for the defeat here a couple of weeks back. Pushing the win streak to 5 they've done well to get over that heartbreaking series with OSU. With 35 wins, only a disaster can keep them from that amazing birth in the post season. Gotta love the fact they visit Washington this weekend. Not to take anything for granted, but you know them Dawgs would love to put one on their rivals from the South & it must be driving them nuts up there to see the Oregon success. They'd put together a nice little run but hit the skids ending a 5 game losing streak by taking the finale versus the Beavs Sunday. UW did not have a midweek game so all their arms will be fresh for their final homestand of the season. The Saturday and Sunday games will be on TV so that's cool. Gotta run, we're leaving the city(sad) and heading back to my insane family in Jersey.

NICE PICK by ST

When my wife and I were making vacation plans sometime in late January or February we decided to hit the East Coast in Mid May. As always when venturing back to my old domain in North Jersey near NY City I tweak it to hit a Yankee homestand. We chose this week because the Red Sox were in town. Because Broadway is dark on Mondays we got tickets to a show for Tuesday(tonight) and a high school buddy hooked us up for Yanks/Sox last night. Not sure in my 40+ years of attending baseball, hoops, hockey or football I've been at a more spectacular regular season game. Was really disappointed in the amount of fans who bolted when the Boston's took a 9-7 lead, but my dad, wife and friend were there when Aroid tied it with a 2 run shot in the top of the 9th followed by the walkoff bomb by Marcus Thames. Literally dancing in the aisles dishing out high fives to complete strangers as Sinatra's "New York New York" blared over the loud speakers. Then it was a celebration into the streets of the Bronx and onto the "D" train to take us back into our rented place in Manhattan. WOW! I must mention running into one guy in my section with a green & yellow Duck golf style shirt. We obviously made a connection as I was wearing my own Oregon shirt with a Yankees hat. My wife kept count and during the course of the day & night I got 4 different "Go Ducks". Gotta love it.
Missed it but I see the Lakers dusted the Suns. Again, like I've harped on since Halloween, be really surprised if there is a team out there who can beat LA 4 times. I thought maybe Orlando, but they're obviously vulnerable and might not even represent the East. I think in the end they will. Enjoy your Tuesday!

LIVE FROM NEW YORK by ST

It's 7:35 as I sit in my sister's kitchen about to journey into Manhattan for the next couple of days. Yanks/Sox tonite, Broadway show tomorrow. How about Mariano Rivera walking in a run versus the Twins yesterday then serving up a grand slam to blow the game? That's as rare as Haley's Comet. We caught a break with the announcement Javier Vasquez was not starting this evening and Phillip Hughes will get the ball to duel with Dice K. This cancels my potential plans to storm the field and be the next taser victim.
I guess Orlando was a tad rusty after the long layoff following back to back sweeps. Celtics capitalized with some great energy and a willingness to play physical ball. Gotta credit Doc Rivers with some solid coaching. Also a doff of the cap to Orlando for not rolling over and making a game of it. Now game 2 becomes a must for the Magic. No way Rashard Lewis clangs again like that and Dwight Howard has to play smarter. He seemed intent on forcing the issue a bit rather than kick back out when it simply wasn't there, not to mention turning it over 7 times himself. I'd also assume Matt Barnes, who has been so good for them will show he because he was awful.
Have had the chance to speak with lot's of friends and family who are college football fans. It's amazing how many were wired into with what happened with Masoli. Some expressed surprise to see the Ducks still ranked so high in some of the early polls. I explained about the rest of the offense returning, a beast of a secondary and the speed on defense. Also handed out some Oregon gear so the green & yellow will fly colors here in North Jersey come kickoff this September.
Look for me with my "BOSTON SUCKS" red T-Shirt in section 214A at the New Yankee Stadium tonight. Catch ya tomorrow!

GREETINGS FROM THE EAST COAST by ST

I tried to check in yesterday from the Frisco airport but was unable to get my wireless connection. I thought, "no way I'm spending $7.99 just to post a blog". Then later I thought, "yeah, like that 8 bucks was going to matter". Anyway, my 1st observation upon landing and sitting at the San Francisco Soup company was the odd array of team hats and gear being worn by passengers getting on and off planes. I was flying my Duck colors. You had a fair share of Cal & Stanford(duh), but then a flight landed from what must have been Raleigh/Durham because off came the UNC, Wake Forrest and even a NC State Wolfpack hat. Also represented was Cincinnati, Texas, and a Harvard sighting. In keeping with my theory that they're like weeds, the Red Sox "B" was prominent along with a few NY's and of course Niners, Giants and a couple of A's headgear. Obviously I'd be the worst Homeland Security employee ever. Others would be noticing suspicious characters, I'm keeping an eye out for Husky purple.
Very important series with East Tenn State this weekend at PK Park. No, that's not my Jersey sarcasm, it's real. After this set wraps, only 8 regular season games left. This is enormous for the Bucs as they've never ventured this far west and can make a big national splash with success versus a ranked Pac 10 opponent at their place. Oregon's assault on San Diego Tuesday was a key first step in getting past the heartbreaking sweep at Corvallis and get back on track for the post season. With 31 wins already, they take 2 of 3 this weekend and play even .500 ball the rest of the way home, they qualify for the regionals and easy. Nice to lean on a horse like Tyler Anderson to get the ball rolling tonight.
Didn't get a chance to see the Celtics send Cleveland packing for the summer as we were somewhere over Canada for most of the game, but a few thoughts. I don't believe it's a done deal LeBron is leaving Cleveland. I do think it's the end of the line for coach Mike Brown. With the season on the line your team scores 18 points in both the 3rd & 4th quarters? Not acceptable. I also think GM Danny Ferry might be out the door. No way he did enough to provide James adequate help. Having a wrecking crew like that with some decent talent in a pretty weak conference will make for a strong regular season. When the bell sounds for the playoffs, you best not be so top heavy with one guy. The better defensive teams you face this time of year have easily exposed their limitations the past 3 years. Since making their lone NBA Final in 2007, they've been bounced in round 2 twice and run in the East Finals last year. And let's face it, they nearly got swept by Orlando so it wasn't close. Someone is going to pay for another Mistake By the Lake disappointment. Enjoy your weekend! Speak with you Monday live from that big ballyard in the South Bronx.

SPIN CITY by ST

This whole deal with the Mariner players lashing out at a reporter from a Tacoma newspaper is a joke. The guy did his job, quoting players, that Ken Griffey Jr was asleep in the clubhouse and unavailable to pinch hit. Griffey never flat out denied he was napping though his manager Don Wakamatsu now claims Junior wasn't catching some Z's and he simply decided against using him. This team sucks guava jelly and rather than man up and accept their shortcomings, they turn their venom on a reporter. Not that some in the media don't deserve to get ripped, but not in this case.
Lot being made of LeBron James tanking last night in the Cavs devastating blowout loss at home to Boston. I don't think that was the case. Certainly his body language was not good, but sometimes the opposition just has it and you don't. If a running back has no room to operate and has one of those 16 carry, 33 yard games, is he dogging it? Not necessarily. No question the effort and result was a disgrace but LeBron James throwing in the towel? I don't think so. FYI...I could care less, it's freaking Cleveland, but I think many in the national media are getting a tad melodramatic. The fact is this team is overrated because of their regular season performance. We've learned over time that things change in the playoffs. One thing that's obviously not changed, the Cavs are not a championship caliber team.
We get a pair of biggies in the NHL Eastern tonight. The Cup champion Penguins are home for Montreal in a game 7 while the Flyers hope to force a game 7 against Boston at Philly after dropping the first 3. To quote Flounder in Animal House, "Oh boy is this great"!

TIME TO MOVE ON by ST

Remember a few weeks back there was a bit of a hullabaloo when after popping up, Alex Rodriguez committed a baseball faux pas by running across the mound on his way back to the dugout. Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden went nuts, cussing out Aroid. Most felt it wasn't earth shattering, just another case of Rodriguez being clueless. That was more than 2 weeks ago yet a story today reads Braden still in a huff. Dude, might be time to move on especially since you've lost your last 2 times out. I guess some guys just refuse to let go of the spotlight, regardless of how little they actually did to have it shine their way.
Had 3 great talks on the KUGN show today. Chad Barlow of Oregon Track and Field who will run the 200 at tomorrow's twilight at 5pm @ Hayward Field. What a great young guy. Then we spoke with UO baseball coach Mike Kirby who offered up a wise word of caution regarding game one of this Civil War series at Oregon State. Forget the won/loss record, OSU's starter Greg Peavey is all that. Kid has big league stuff. Then it was time to chat with Lacrosse coach Jen Larsen. She was a 2 sport star(Lax & Field Hockey) at the University of Virginia. Obviously she has a heavy heart over the recent tragedy where a men's lacrosse player is accused of murdering a women's player. Jen is a total class act and a pleasure to hear her speak about this program she's building, the 1st D-1 for the sport in the Pacific Northwest.
Another thought on the Lawrence Taylor arrest. A court report says the 16 year old child actually told LT she was 19. AND??? He's married and 51 years old. She's a freaking kid. What a disgrace. Makes me sick.

SAY IT AIN'T SO by ST

The phone rang this morning a few minutes before I usually get up. It was my dad from Jersey. He informed me Lawrence Taylor had been arrested for raping a 16 year old. I'm far from naive and via knuckleheads like Tiger and Ben Roethlisberger we've learned we don't know these people beyond how they play. That said, it's sad my reaction didn't include the emotion of surprise. LT's history is pathetic. He's a spoiled lowlife who might be the best football player ever. I've said many times, watching Taylor day in and day out, maybe 30-35 times in person was as much fun as I've ever had as a sports fan. Turns out, if he played in the information age and wasn't afforded special treatment our opinion of him would have been altered. He'd have made Big Ben, Tiger, Pacman and the like appear to be choir boy like people. He's a disgrace. What the heck is he doing in the company of a 16 year old CHILD?
I saw the NBA fined former North Eugene high, BYU and Celtic stud Danny Ainge 25 large for his towel tossing incident against the Cavaliers the other night. He was the ultimate pest when he played. The kind of guy you loved on your team but wanted to smack as an opponent. The problem is he hasn't suited up since 1995. He's a 51 yaer old executive for the Boston Celtics. He's sitting courtside and to distract a Cavalier free throw shooter he throws a towel up in the air? When they're up 23 points? Some people just never grow up. Nice example D.A! Looking forward to today's show. Gotta a lot of baseball, hoops, hockey and digressions to get to.

THE BIG LIE by ST

We've witnessed some great fibs in our lifetime. Here's one you get every day. You're speaking with someone or perhaps listening to sports radio and the voice says "I hate to say I told you so". WRONG! I love to say I told you so! Mariner fans, what the heck was your front office thinking bringing in a P.O.S like Milton Bradley. At what point to you apply the "shame on me" theory? Did they really think this was the stop where he man's up? Was Ken Griffey Junior and his .200 batting average going to erase the complete lack of character as a ballplayer and human being. Last night he looked at a called 3rd strike right down the middle. Manager Don Wakamatsu pulled him from the game, and Bradley left. Not the field. Not the dugout. But completely. Bolted from Safeco Field. The hysterical part is as of this morning, no one quite knew where he was. Here's an interesting question. Who Cares? On yesterday's show I said I'd be stunned if Bradley were still on this team when the leaves turn brown. Check that, I meant when we were having our Memorial Day cookouts. For different reasons, Griffey has to go. He can't hit. He's an easy out. It's over. Time to retire, and I don't mean after this season ends, I'm talking about at the end of the month. What a car wreck. Sad because the starting pitching, defense and parts of the bullpen are as good as any in the American League West.
Speaking of nice efforts, how about Atlanta mailing in their effort to the Magic Kingdom in game one of the NBA's East semi finals. My protest is personal. I love to get home just before 6:30, do some stretching, then begin my workout with the end of the early games on the tube. By the time I clicked on the TV it was a massacre. The first score I saw posted on TNT was 83-44 Orlando. It was like one of those Kidsports games where it's so lopsided they flip the scorecard over to avoid embarrassing the losing team.
Lot of baseball, Oregon hoops, your calls and obviously the hockey and hoop playoffs.

MAN AT WORK by ST

So Dana Altman has been on the job a whole week and already has landed a pretty nice looking recruit in Vegas point guard Jonathan Loyd. Young guy is apparently a ridiculous athlete having led his high school to back to back state titles in hoops and contributed as an elite returner for a team who made the finals. Now fans will wait to see if D.A can land another quality player. They're waiting on Dwayne Polee Jr who was the sectional player of the year at his L.A area school. The kid's dad and coach Altman have apparently known each other for about 8 years.
The baseball team has climbed to 15th in the Baseball America. They entertain Portland this evening at 7 o'clock at PK Park. The Pilots have caught fire and bring a 10 game win streak into the fray. Looks like Joey Housey will get the start for the Ducks. In many ways, he's been the most dominating arm with a dirt low .96 era, and a superb ratio of 17 strikeouts versus a mere 3 walks. Joey did not appear in the Washington State series over the weekend but versus Oregon State last week made his 1st start and tossed 3 shutout innings of 1 hit baseball. Oregon will be in Corvallis this weekend for a set with OSU.
I have a pair of tickets for tonight's game and a final pair for the Toby Keith concert on July 23rd in Clark County. Want in on the drawing? E-mail the correct answer to the following to me at stevetannen@live.com
We're all aware Oregon State won back to back baseball championships in 2006 & 2007. Who was the last Pac 10 team prior to the Beavs to win the National Title in baseball?

THE "I LOVE SPORTS" WEEKEND by ST

I'm happy I didn't drop down the 50-60 bucks for Mosely/Mayweather. I read where Sugar Shane nearly dropped the favorite in the 2nd round but it was a route from that point forward. Every judge had Floyd winning rounds 3 through 12. The Kentucky Derby nearly padded my retirement account, but I paired the top 2(Super Saver & Ice Box) with the wrong 4 or 5 others and did not include Paddy O'Prado so I tanked. Fun race, I really love that jock, Calvin Borel, nickhamed Bo-Rail because of his penchant for staying inside to win big races.
Oregon baseball has officially become an amazing story. After Tyler Anderson's outing and tough loss Friday, the guys showed their resolve by taking the final 2 lead by more dazzling pitching to win the series versus Washington State. This team started Pac 10 play by dropping 2 of 3 to the Arizona schools. Then, 2 & 6 in conference. Since? Taken 2 of 3 in all four league sets along with the 2 game sweep at Gonzaga and the demolition of Oregon State. It adds up to a nice 11 & 4 roll and they've hit the 30 win mark. Obviously George Horton is the greatest hire in the history of organized sports. He's not?
Here's my take on the Oregon Spring game. Well done by the university and the community. Record crowd, honoring those serving in the military and accumulating a bunch of food for the needy in our area. Football wise? No one got hurt. It's all I care about this time of year.
We haven't even touched on the NBA or NHL playoffs or major league baseball. What a great weekend. Hey! Country music fans? You want in on a shot at tickets for Toby Keith at the Sleep Country Ampitheater about 20 minutes north of Portland. The show includes Trace Adkins and James Otto and will roll on Friday, July 23rd.
E-mail the correct answer to the following to get into our drawing.
stevetannen@live.com
In 2005 Keith began his own record label. Name it!