SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO? by ST

I finally got out to Mac Court to see Paul Westhead's Oregon women's team. At halftime I was thumbing through my newest edition of Sports Illustrated and saw even Seth Davis got in an opinion on Ernie Kent. In his weekly "Three-Pointer" section called the coaches prospects for remaining on his current job "dim". One of our local columnists recently wrote it was a done deal and a new coach would roam the sidelines in the new facility next season. I've taken numerous calls on air suggesting replacements. I remain unsold the most successful coach in program history is gone and I think the still new A.D may let E.K cut the ribbon at Matt Knight Arena. I believe if Pat Kilkenny were still running the show at the Cas Center Mr. Kent would be updating his resume. Mike Bellotti might have a new title since turning the football reigns over to Chip Kelly, but whose kidding who, the man is a coach. Not only that, but he knows what it's like to feel the heat of unreasonable expectations he created at Oregon. He's also a reasonable, razor sharp man who sees the big picture better than any fan or detractor possibly could. Like it or not, Ernie Kent should have the new court at Knight Arena named after him. I also don't think those blasting off nasty letter's to the editor or dial up radio shows calling for a change represent the solid majority they'd have you think. The logical among us have been of the opinion that if the team quits on the coach or tunes him out it's over. Obviously with their performance at USC & UCLA that's not the case. It's quite the opposite. They dug deep and pulled off the road sweep with the wolves howling at their door. As odd as this may sound, the Ducks are the only team in the Pac 10 to sweep two different road series this season. They've already tripled their conference win total from a year ago with two left and upped the victory total from 8 to 14 with at least 3 games remaining. It's marked improvement with a lot of youth plus some key injuries. Both Tajuan Porter and Mike Dunnigan have missed 4 games, 13 for Matt Humphrey, and of course their lone front court senior Joevan Catron has only played in 4. This is a cold, harsh business and I'm betting no decision has yet been made. I'm also real comfortable with the guy who will make that final call. Some are egging her on to fire up the song, but the fat lady has yet to even begin singing.

Really? by ST

At first I was astonished to hear the outcry over the members of the women's Canadian Hockey team having the audacity to celebrate on ice with beer & cigars? Then I realized what a hypocritcal, anal, self righteous moronic society we've created. The surprise quickly vanished. Obviously my opinion that it was no big deal was cemented when I heard Skip Bayles, one of the biggest idiots in the history of history say he was put off by their actions. We saw an athlete die in these games & we're worried about beer. Anyone who uses the term "Olympic Ideal" should be sadistically beaten about the face & neck with a wet noodle. For decades Eastern Bloc countries used their athletes as human guinea pigs. America flushed that down the drain when we began sending our pro's in the form of a Dream Team to Barcelona in 1992. The NHL started shutting down every 4 years since 1998 to send the best players on the planet to take part in the Winter games. Who is kidding who?
I know it's not the most macho of sports to admit liking, but the performance of South Korean Kim Yu-na in winning the gold last night was nothing short of dazzling. She is an amazing athlete and a sensational performer. I will actually use the word "breathtaking". If I met her, I'd drop to my knees and kiss her feet. Goosebump City!
Nice outing by the Oregon men to get a much needed win at USC. Showed some grit and played dynomite defense. The Duck women lost a killer at home to SC. A victory would have been a huge step in impressing the selection committe for an at large bid. The Trojans were 37th in the power rankings, but opportunity knocks again tomorrow afternoon with #25 UCLA in town. A win followed by a successful season ending road trip to the Washington schools would likely punch their ticket. Okay, I have a couple of $25 certificates to Mekala's Thai Restaurant in Eugene to give away. E-mail the correct answer to stevetannen@live.com to get in this afternoon's drawing.
When was the last time the Oregon Women were in the NCAA Tournament and what was the result of their final game? Good Luck!

NOT THE TYPICAL DOWN TIME by ST

After the Super Bowl I noticed a common theme among many sports fans around here. It's time for a lull in sports. Didn't really happen. Of course depending on what you enjoy or look forward to, it doesn't exist, especially in a Winter Olympic year. I've found the action in B.C scintillating. I preached the amazing entertainment value of the hockey tournament before the games and I'm happy to report many of you have told me how much you've enjoyed it. Now we get Team USA in the semi's against a pretty dangerous, defense minded squad from Finland. In the other bracket, Team Canada showed some resolve by bouncing back from their loss to the Americans to thrash the Russians setting up a go-round with the Cinderella of these games, Slovakia. We'll get into more detail on SportsTalk, but to quote Flounder in Animal House, "Oh boy is this great!".
I just read that the folks from Nike have finally come out and will maintain their relationship with Tiger Woods. Once the news hit of his Infidelity-A-Thon, I was adamant the swoosh people would not jump ship. The fact is, and golfers will back me on this, Nike did not exist on the golf radar until Tiger switched from his Titleist driver and began using Nike balls. What ever amount of money they've forked over to Woods as an endorser can't even start to approach the impact he's had making them a viable player in the equipment end of the game on an international level.
The Duck men hoopers get back to work tonight at USC. Here's hoping for some magic to end the gloom and doom angle from many fans who follow the program. Great piece in today's Guard by Rob Mosely on the dynamic duo of the women's team, Taylor Lilley and Micaela Cocks, both now members of the Oregon one-thousand point club. They're also great friends who came to Eugene at the same time from very different locales. Cocks is from New Zealand while Lilley hails from Newhall, California in LA County. I had the chance to meet & speak with them a few weeks back. Just terrific young women and a credit to the 'mostly' amazing scholar/athletes who represent this university.

IGNORANCE & OTHER ASSORTED LOVE SONGS by ST

I must respond to a pretty nasty note I got a few days back in the 'comment' section of this blog. Actually it had nothing to do with what I wrote, but something I'd said on the air. A caller saw Tony Dungy at the Winter Olympics wearing Oregon gear. FYI, his son has signed a letter of intent to play football here. I said I'm not a huge Dungy fan for his involvement with a total useless piece of garbage like Michael Vick. The comment said I'm against Dungy because I'm anti-Christian. Really? So if his name was Tony Goldstein and he was a practicing Jew, or Mohammed Dungy and a Muslim or Ashok Dungy who was a Hindu, I'd be okay with his Vick involvement? What a moronic stance. Get a clue Kyle!
I read today that John Daly was offering advice on how Tiger Woods might have better handled his whole scandal. I'm allowing a moment for everyone to get off the floor because personally, I fell out of my chair laughing. How to even draw a parallel. Getting child rearing advice from Roman Polanski? Temper control via Rasheed Wallace? How to be a better teammate by Terrell Owens? It's a cliche, but opinions are really like A-holes, everyone has one. J.D. needs to go back to his trailer park and try to keep his own pathetic life from unravelling this week.
I was happy to read Derek Jeter has no interest in becoming a free agent once his 10 year, 189 million dollar deal expires after this season. He leaves the Yankees and I'll need more therapy than Woody Allen. Live from the O'Bar today on The Commons near Autzen Stadium. Gonna be fun. Lot of give-a-ways. Look forward to seeing you down there.

IS FOOTBALL SEASON OVER? by ST

I can't wait for football season to end. I thought it had when the Saints beat the Colts in the Super Bowl or at least after Letter of Intent Signing Day. Then a group of Oregon football players decided to go rogue. Guys, do us all a personal favor. After class the next couple of weeks, just go home, play with your X-box, workout, do homework and think twice before you act. We'd all appreciate it.
At some point we have to begin thinking about our brackets with Selection Sunday a mere 19 days away. Kansas started the season #1 and looked sharp but lost an odd game to a shorthanded Tennessee team before rebounding to reclaim their top spot. Last night they came out smoking & built a 29-6 lead against Oklahoma. Though the Sooners got back in it, eventually the Jayhawks pulled away and have clinched a share of the Big 12 title. This team has a near lock on one of those Big Dance top seeds. UConn beat #7 West Virginia last night to keep their Tourney hopes alive. They've had to deal with the absence of head coach Jim Calhoun to illness, but have rallied upon his return with attention grabbing wins at #3 Villanova and the Mountaineers. They're 7 & 8 in the Big East but have 3 winnable games to wrap the regular season. Accomplish that & I think they land on the right side of the bubble. Some bubble teams in action this evening with Florida hosting Tennessee and a 17 & 10 Illinois squad at Michigan.
History is taking a pounding this year. I consider the Pac 10, ACC & Big East to be the 3 strongest conferences year in and year out. Right now only Duke is ranked out of the ACC and no Pac 10 teams are in the Top 25. Odd.
Let's give away some loot. Two winners. E-mail your answer to stevetannen@live.com
When was the last year no teams from either the ACC or Pac 10 made the Final Four of the Men's Basketball Tournament?

THE IMAGE IS TOUGH TO REMOVE by ST

Got an e-mail this morning. One of those sarcastic, home-made type that makes the rounds. It's gist was members of the Oregon football team were about to star in the newest remake of "The Longest Yard", comprising most of the inmates. Ouch! Unfortunately with what's happening on a nearly daily basis, this is the newest public perception of this program. The LeMichael James situation will run through the legal system and hopefully the truth will come out. The most recent mess involves a DUI for linebacker Kiko Alonso which lead to a nasty Facebook posting by Jamere Holland which got JH kicked off the team. Nice timing. Coach Chip Kelly holds a press conference, the president of the university issues a statement regarding player conduct and this is the follow up? Yuck! I guarantee the folks in Seattle, Corvallis and other anti-ducks points are eating this up.
As for the loss against Cal at home on Saturday, it's starting to be like a broken record. Play a team dead even for about 34 of the 40 minutes of game time, but then hit a period of invisibility. I guess this was worse considering Oregon didn't make a bucket the final quarter of the game. The harsh fact is when this team needs to score, they have very, very limited options. Malcolm Armstead is just about the only guy able to create his own shot and his offense is far too inconsistent.
Gotta comment on the USA victory over Canada in Olympic Hockey. It's still early, but the Americans are playing pretty inspired hockey and getting solid work in the net from Buffalo Sabre goalie, Ryan Miller. Across the board, the Yanks are putting on quite the show in Vancouver. I was looking forward to these games with a high level of anticipation and they've delivered thus far with lot's of drama and some big time entertainment. Hope you're enjoying them as much as I am.

BRAND NEW LIGHT by ST

You always hear that parents believe each of their children has a special gift. It might not be true in all cases, but it was in mine. It just took until I was in my early 30's to realize what it was. You can contact my wife Kathy for verification, but for now, you'll have to take my word for it. I have this ridiculous ability to judge a person's character within a few minutes depending on the circumstances and conversation. When I see TV shows about reading a witness or possible perpetrator involving body language, darting of the eyes or other "tells", it makes a connection. For years I never bothered to attempt this on Tiger Woods because his game threw me off and I had no reason to care or wonder about what kind of guy he is. Since his Thanksgiving night car crash and the ensuing circus and revelation he's a selfish, cheating pig, I now see him in a brand new light. Today's laughable press conference hit me. I barely heard any of the words coming out of his mouth. I just watched his face, expression and demeanor. He's a douche! Simple as that. He's a robot. I don't buy one single aspect of anything he has to offer. I admit to being completely duped by him. I see clowns like Rasheed Wallace, lots of politicians, actors or actresses and they all have this look on their face like we should be honored by their presence. They just wreak of insincerity. Woods is that to a tee(pun intended). From this point forward, watch his facial expression when he speaks. You're seeing a manipulative, dishonest, self righteous p***k! End of story. Like Pete Rose, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Swaggart and all the other high profile slime bags, Woods is sorry for one reason and only one reason. He got caught. Anyone who believes anything else is a complete and total moron! If his wife takes him back and buys into this sex addiction crap, she's a mindless bimbo and deserves all the misery that will come her way in the future. When Woods hugged his mom at the end of this staged puppet show I almost threw up.
Drop me a line at stevetannen@live.com about this. I have some Oregon/Cal tickets for tomorrow afternoon at the Pit. Offer up your opinion on Tiger. Care? Don't care? Buy his apology? Get in on the drawing. I'll keep you posted during today's show. We'll also get into last night's disaster against Stanford. Hate to be the bearer of more negativity, but this team pretty much iced a 2nd consecutive last place finish in the Pac 10.