Friday, November 30, 2007

Civil War... Stand Firm Duck Fans!


I AM a Duck Fan! And I see a whole army of other Duck Fans, here, in defiance of a Beaver victory. You've come to yell as fans, and Duck Fans you are. What will you do at Autzen today? Will you yell?
Fan: Against the Beavers? No, we will stay home, and we will avoid embarrassment.
Duck Fan: Aye, stay and yell and you may may be embarrassed, stay home and you may avoid embarrassment ... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and beat the Beavers! Tell the Beavers that they may win the game, but they'll never be Duck Fans!!!

The "Civil War" Game!



The car is packed and "Ducked Out" and we are ready to roll! I hate the Beavers and so want to beat them tomorrow. Oregon is a team that has been a on a roller coaster ride this year and we are as low as we have been in a long time. Our 4th string quarterback is starting tomorrow against one of the best defenses in the Pac-10.Our receivers are for the most part injured. I have never seen Duck fans so low. It's time to rise up and strike the Beavers. Rally to Cody Kemp and lets leave everything on the field. It's not about a bowl game or rankings,it's about pride. Let's Go Ducks!

I get all the news I need in the weather report


The weather forecast for Saturdays "Civil War" game in Eugene Oregon between the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers is 39 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill factor of 31 degrees. Chance of rain 60 % with winds 10 to 20 miles per hour.The Oregonian is reporting a big storm with snow in northern Oregon and southern Washington with high winds. If that moves south to Eugene we could have snow during the "Civil War" game. That's what you get for scheduling a football game in Oregon in December for TV. I will be there unless the mountain passes between Medford and Eugene are closed. Go Ducks..... win the Day.

The "Civil War"


As I have said before Oregonian sports columnist John Canzano makes me so angry sometimes I swear I will not read his column ever again. However, today his column is about the fact the "Civil War still has meaning" and he writes about two soldiers stationed in Iraq. One a Duck and one a Beaver.He writes in part:

Someone tell me again how the Civil War has lost its luster. How a rash of frustrating injuries have reduced its meaning. Someone tell me how ugly, and how futile, and how much of a comedown the whole thing is.

Tell me.

Then, tell the two soldiers who climbed on the burned-out Iraqi tank this week at Baghdad International Airport and hung a couple of Ducks and Beavers flags.

ioned in Iraq. One a Duck and the other a Beaver. ....

Hill and Jee took their flags out of their bags this week, and they climbed on top of a destroyed Iraqi tank that was left behind from the 2003 invasion. And they hung the respective flags, and raised their weapons and posed for photographs. And they told each other they couldn't wait to watch Saturday's Civil War football game from the capital city of Iraq.

Never mind that the game kicks off at 12:30 a.m. Baghdad time on Sunday morning. They'll stay up and watch. And cheer. And it will feel like a tiny piece of home coming to them at some quiet hour of a real war.......

So tell me again that this year's Civil War game stinks. And that the injuries have deflated the run-up to kickoff for you. And that the rivalry suddenly feels decumbent, and less attractive, because there should have been a BCS berth on the line.

Tell me.

Then, tell the guys on the tank.

And duck after you do.

( to read the entire column click on the title for a link)

Life is funny


Yesterday afternoon my wife an I went out to the Medford, Jackson County International Airport to pick up our daughter who was flying in from Washington DC to go with me to the Oregon vs Oregon State "Civil War" football game in Eugene on Saturday. I even bought some "Club Seats" from a Medford fan who is unable to make the game for work reason to supplement our regular season tickets in section 13. Our daughter has never been in "The Club At Autzen."

Well last night after she had settled in we went down to my "movie room" to watch the Oregon Duck basketball game on ESPN 2. They were playing Kansas State from Manhattan Kansas. The Ducks won in overtime. As I was watching the game I was thinking back to my days as a young law student at the University of Oregon watching in "The Pit" a then young Ernie Kent (Oregon's current coach) as a player. He had a nick name of "Million Moves Kent." ( I am tempted to talk more of how that name has become even funner but that would be wrong)In any case, I wonder what I would have though if I had been told back then as I sat in "The Pit" that one day Ernie Kent will be the Oregon's Head Coach and I will be watching him coach a game with a grown daughter who works in government in Washington DC. on a cable TV network devoted entirely to sports, surrounded by my own personal copy's of 600 + of my favorite movies on little record like discs smaller than a 45 record.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Malt Shop Memories



As regular readers of this blog know, I purchased the Time/Life CD compilation set of 1950's and early 1960's rock music called "Malt Shop Memories" which is sold through infomercials on TV. I love this set. Because I have purchase a lot of music through Time/Life I get email ads from them regularly.

Today's ad suggested various music sets for various members of the family such as "For Your daughter" this set .... "For you Mother" this set.... " For you Dad" this set etc. For "Malt shop Memories it said "For you Grandfather" Did I feel old!

Henry Hyde, Dead at 83


A true gentlman died today. Former Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and a hero of the Right to Life movement, died Thursday. He was 83.


The death of the Illinois Republican was announced by House Minority Leader John Boehner's office on Capitol Hill.

Mary Ann Schultz, a spokeswoman for Rush University Medical Center, said Hyde died Thursday at 3 a.m. CST at that hospital. There was no immediate word on the cause of his death, although Hyde underwent open-heart surgery in July.

Hyde retired from Congress at the end of the last session. Earlier this month, President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White House praised Hyde, a leading foe of abortion, as a "powerful defender of life" and an advocate for a strong national defense.

"He was a gallant champion of the weak and forgotten, and a fearless defender of life in all its seasons," Bush said of Hyde that day.

Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement: "What often struck me most about Henry was his keen sense of our nation's history and of the gifts bestowed on our Republic by the Founding Fathers, whose actions and deeds were never far from his mind. In his respect for the institutional integrity of the House of Representatives, Henry took second place to no one. He was a forceful advocate for maintaining the dignity of the House and for recognizing the sacrifices and struggles members make while in its service. Indeed, when Henry spoke in Committee or on the House floor, Members on both sides of aisle listened intently and they learned."

Said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who heads the conservative Republican Study Committee: "Chairman Hyde was a pioneer in the effort to protect human life, and because of his tireless efforts, there are thousands of people living around the world today who remember his service to mankind."

"Henry Hyde was a credit to public service and to the House of Representatives," said Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. "He practiced the old school values like civility, which help make the legislative process work. And he knew how to defuse a difficult situation with humor."

The white-maned, physically imposing Hyde was a throwback to a different era, a man who was genuinely liked by his opponents for his wit, charm and fairness. But he could also infuriate them with his positions on some of the more controversial issues of the day.


I will never forget the speech he gave on the floor of the United States House of Representative when he led the debate in favor of the impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton , President of the United States. He said "catch the falling flag." The full text of his speech made December 18, 1998 is as follows:
"Mr. Speaker, my colleagues of the people’s House, I wish to talk to you about the rule of law. After months of argument, hours of debate, there is no need for further complexity. The question before this House is rather simple. It’s not a question of sex. Sexual misconduct and adultery are private acts and are none of Congress’ business.

It’s not even a question of lying about sex. The matter before the House is a question of lying under oath. This is a public act, not a private act. This is called perjury. The matter before the House is a question of the willful, premeditated, deliberate corruption of the nation’s system of justice. Perjury and obstruction of justice cannot be reconciled with the office of the president of the United States.

The personal fate of the president is not the issue. The political fate of his party is not the issue. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is not the issue. The issue is perjury ---- lying under oath. The issue is obstruction of justice, which the president has sworn the most solemn oath to uphold.

That oath constituted a compact between the president and the American people. That compact has been broken. The people’s trust has been betrayed. The nation’s chief executive has shown himself unwilling or incapable of enforcing its laws for he has corrupted the rule of law ---- the rule of law ---- by his perjury and his obstruction of justice.

That and nothing other than that is the issue before this house.

We have heard ceaselessly that, even if the president is guilty of the charges in the Starr referral, they don’t rise to the level of an impeachable offense.

Well, just what is an impeachable offense?

One authority, Professor Stephen Presser of Northwestern University Law School said, and I quote, "Impeachable offenses are those which demonstrate a fundamental betrayal of public trust. They suggest the federal official has deliberately failed in his duty to uphold the Constitution and laws he was sworn to enforce." Close quote.

And so we must decide if a president, the chief law enforcement officer of the land, the person who appoints the attorney general, the person who nominates every federal judge, the person who nominates to the Supreme Court and the only person with a constitutional obligation to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, can lie under oath repeatedly and maintain it is not a breach of trust sufficient for impeachment.

The president is the trustee of the nation’s conscience and so are we here today. There have been many explosions in our committee hearings on the respective role of the House and Senate. Under the Constitution, the House accuses and the Senate adjudicates.

True, the formula language of our articles recites the ultimate goal of removal from office, but this language doesn’t trump the Constitution, which defines the separate functions, the different functions, of the House and the Senate.

Our Founding Fathers didn’t want the body that accuses to be the same one that renders final judgment, and they set up an additional safeguard of a two-thirds vote for removal. So despite protests, our job is to decide if there is enough evidence to submit to the Senate for a trial.

That’s what the Constitution says, no matter what the president’s defenders say. When Ben Franklin, on September 18, 1787, told a Mrs. Powell, that the founders and framers had given us a republic if you can keep it, perhaps he anticipated a future time when bedrock principles of our democracy would be mortally threatened as the rule of law stands in the line of fire today.

Nothing I can think of more clearly illustrates that America is a continuing experiment, never finished; that our democracy is always a work in progress. Then this debate today ---- for we sit here with the power to shake and reconfigure the charter of our freedom, just as the founders and framers did. We can strengthen our Constitution by giving it content and meaning, or we can weaken and wound it by tolerating and thus encouraging lies under oath and evasions and breaches of trust on the part of our chief executive.

The president’s defenders in this House have rarely denied the facts. They have not seriously challenged the contention of the independent counsel that the president did not tell the truth in two sworn testimonies. They have not seriously attempted to discredit the facts brought before the committee by the independent counsel. They’ve admitted, in effect, he did it. But then they’ve argued that this does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense.

This is the "so-what" defense, whereby a chief executive, the successor to George Washington, can cheapen the oath, and it really doesn’t matter.

They suggest that to impeach the president is to reverse the result of national election, as though Senator Dole would become president.

They propose novel remedies like a congressional censure that may appease some constituents and certainly mollify the press but, in my judgment, betray a lack of seriousness about the Constitution, the separation of powers and the carefully balanced relationship of checks and balances between Congress and the president that was wisely crafted by the framers.

A resolution of censure, to mean anything, must punish if only to tarnish his reputation. But we have no authority under the Constitution to punish the president. It’s called separation of powers.

As you know, we’ve been attacked for not producing fact witnesses. But this is the first impeachment inquiry in history with the Office of Independent Counsel in place, and their referral to us consisted of 60,000 pages of sworn testimony, grand jury transcripts, depositions, statements, affidavits, video and audio tapes.

We had the facts and we had them under oath.

We had Ms. Lewinsky’s heavily corroborated testimony under a grant of immunity that would be revoked if she lied.

We accepted that and so did they. Else why didn’t they call any others whose credibility they questioned as their own witnesses? Now there was so little despite on the facts, they called no fact witnesses and have even based a resolution of censure on the same facts.

Let’s be clear. The vote that all of us are asked to cast is, in the final analysis, a vote on the rule of law.

Now the rule of law is one of the great achievements of our civilization, for the alternative is the rule of raw power. We here today are the heirs of 3,000 years of history in which humanity slowly, painfully, at great cost evolved a form of politics in which law, not brute force, is the arbiter of our public destinies.

We are the heirs of the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic Law, a moral code for a free people, who, having been liberated from bondage, sought in law a means to avoid falling back into the habits of slaves.

We are the heirs of Roman Law, the first legal system by which peoples of different cultures, languages, races and religions came to live together in a form of political community.

We are the heirs of the Magna Carta, by which the free men of England began to break the arbitrary and unchecked power of royal absolutism. We’re the heirs of a long tradition of parliamentary development in which the rule of law gradually came to replace royal prerogative as a means for governing a society of free men and women.

We’re the heirs of 1776 and of an epic moment in human affairs, when the founders of this Republic pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honors. Think of that ---- sacred honor ---- to the defense of the rule of law.

We are the heirs of a hard-fought war between the states, which vindicated the rule of law over the appetites of some for owning others. We are the heirs of the ah century’s great struggles against totalitarianism, in which the rule of law was defended at immense cost against the worst tyrannies in human history.

The phrase "rule of law" is no pious aspiration from a civics textbook. The rule of law is what stands between all of us and the arbitrary exercise of power by the state. The rule of law is the safeguard of our liberties. The rule of law is what allows us to live our freedom in ways that honor the freedom of others, while strengthening the common good.

The rule of law is like a three-legged stool. One leg is an honest judge, the second leg is an ethical bar, and the third is an enforceable oath. All three are indispensable to avoid political collapse.

In 1838, Abraham Lincoln celebrated the rule of law before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, and linked it to the perpetuation of American liberties and American political institutions. Listen to Lincoln, from 1838: "Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the revolution never to violate in the least particular the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of ’76 did to support the Declaration of Independence, so the support of the Constitution and laws, let every American pledge his life, his property and his sacred honor. Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father and to tear the character of his own and his children’s liberty.

"Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in the schools, seminaries, colleges. Let it be written in primers, spelling books, almanacs. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls and enforced in the halls of ---- in the courts of justice."

So said Lincoln.

My colleagues, we have been sent here to strengthen and defend the rule of law ---- not to weaken, not to attenuate it, not to disfigure it. This is not a question of perfection; it’s a question of foundations.

This isn’t a matter of setting the bar too high; it’s a matter of securing the basic structure of our freedom ---- which is the rule of law.

No man or woman, no matter how highly placed, no matter how effective a communicator, no matter how gifted a manipulator of opinion or winner of votes, can be above the law in a democracy. That is not a counsel of perfection. That is a rock-bottom, irreducible principle of our public life.

There’s no avoiding the issue before us, much as I wish we could. We are, in one way or another, establishing the parameters of permissible presidential conduct.

In creating a presidential system, the framers invested that office with extraordinary powers. If those powers are not exercised within the boundaries of the rule of law, if the president breaks the law by perjury and obstructs justice by willfully corrupting the legal system, that president must be removed from office.

We cannot have one law for the ruler and another law for the ruled. This was once broadly understood in our land. If that understanding is lost or if it becomes seriously eroded, the American democratic experiment and the freedom it guarantees is in jeopardy. That and not the fate of one man, or one political party, or one electoral cycle is what we’re being asked to vote on today.

In casting our votes we should look not simply to ourselves, but to the past and to the future. Let’s look back to Bunker Hill, Concord, Lexington. Let’s look across the river to Arlington Cemetery where American heroes who gave their lives for the sake of the rule of law lie buried. And let us not betray their memory.

Let’s look to the future, to the children of today who are the presidents and members of Congress of the next century. And let’s not crush their hope that they too will inherent a law-governed society.

Let’s declare unmistakably the perjury and obstruction of justice disqualify a man from retaining the presidency of the United States.

There is a mountain of details which are assembled in a coherent mosaic in the committee report. It reads like a novel, only it’s non-fiction. It really happened. And the corroboration is compelling. Read the report and be convinced.

What we’re telling you today are not the ravings of some vindictive political crusade but a reaffirmation of a set of values that are tarnished and dim these days, but it is given to us to restore them so our founding fathers would be proud.

Listen, it’s your country. The president is our flag bearer.

He stands out in front our people when the flag is flowing. Catch the falling flag as we keep our appointment with history."


Thanks for your service and Rest in Peace. I wish we had more like Henry Hyde in Washington DC .... but I am afraid he is a dieing breed!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Clinton Dirty Tricks!



Tonight I watched the CNN-YouTube Republican Presidential debate in CNN hosted by Anderson Cooper CNN anchorman.One of the most dramatic moments was when Keith Kerr a self proclaimed Gay man and a retired U.S. Army Colonel submitted
a YouTube question to the Republicans about gays in the military. It turns out he is actually a member of Hillary Clinton's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual Americans For Hillary Steering Committee. All of the questions were submitted electronically through YouTube. However, after the Republicans had answered his question, Anderson Cooper, introduced Kerr who was sitting in the audience and ask him if he had gotten an answer to his question. Keith Kerr was given a microphone and launched into a speech and CNN let him continue for long time....longer than Anderson Cooper was allowing the Republican candidates to answer questions. Cooper had no hesitancy interrupting the Republicans if they went too long on an answer but let Kerr continue without interruption. It turns out that Kerr was a plant from the Hillery Clinton camp. In the final seconds of the post-debate coverage, Anderson Cooper acknowledges that CNN messed this up and states that CNN did not know that Kerr had or has a position within the Clinton campaign and that had they known, they would have disclosed the association if they had used his question. At best CNN was negligent at worst there was complicity with the Clinton camp. I find it interesting that the Democratic candidates refuse to appear on FOX News for debates due to pressure from their loony left. On the other hand Republican candidates willingly appear on CNN and are treated unfairly either by negligence or on purpose.As far as I could tell from watching the debate Kerry was the only YouTube questioner who was introduced from the audience and let offer a rebuttal! Why the exception? For more information on Anderson Cooper pictured above click on the title above for a link to his page on Wikiedia the Internet encyclopedia.

UPDATE:David Bohrman, a CNN senior vice president and executive producer of the debate, said: "We regret this, and apologize to the Republican candidates. We never would have used the general's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."

Kerr told CNN that he had not done work for the Clinton campaign, and CNN verified before the debate that he had not contributed money to any candidate, the broadcaster said in a blog post after the debate.

Kerry told CNN he is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans and was representing no one other than himself, CNN said.

A Nov. 11 press release retrieved from the website of the non-partisan magazine Campaigns & Elections lists Kerr as one of nearly 50 co-chairs of “Veterans and Military Retirees for Hillary."

Clinton’s campaign did not respond to an e-mail asking about Kerr’s role in her campaign or whether he was acting on behalf of the campaign.

Kerr also was on 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s National Veterans Steering Committee, according to a campaign press release retrieved from the website of George Washington University.

And Kerr appears to be an active opponent of the U.S. military’s current stance on gays and lesbians serving the military, the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

"Civil War" Week




Here in Oregon this is Civil War Week. That is the Week of the University of Oregon vs Oregon State University football game.. Some one said this game "is for the right to live in the state of Oregon" or at least the right to live in the state of Oregon with your head held high. This is one of the oldest college football rivalries. Here in Oregon Ducks and Beavers can be found in most offices, families and neighborhoods. It's brother vs brother, neighbor vs neighbor and coworker vs co worker so it truly is a Civil War.

One of my favorite Civil War stories is from World War II. One of the Band of Brothers featured in the HBO mini series, Don Malarkey, is a University of Oregon alum. His studies were interrupted by WWII and he was in the paratroopers in England preparing for the D- Day invasion. Eisenhower and Churchill came to view his unit before the beginning of the invasion and Ike asks Malarkey what he did before the war. He said he was a student at the University of Oregon in Eugene, and Ike asks him who won the last Oregon vs Oregon State Football game. Of course Ike played football for Army at West Point.

It is fun to walk around the tailgate parties before the game because you see Ducks and Beavers together. There is a scene in the movie Gettysburg where a confederate general tells a British Army officer who is there as an observer just before Pickett's charge that "All Virginia is here today". At each Oregon vs Oregon State Football game I like to think "all Oregon is here today."

Jon Wilner, of the San Jose Mercury news in California rates the rivalry football games in the Pac-10 and rates the "Civil War" game as the #1 rivalry game when he says:

1. The Civil War.

These days, Oregon-Oregon State has the best combination of passion, significance and competitiveness.

The passion takes the form of hatred — much closer to the Arizona-ASU situation than a healthy dislike.

OSU looks with jealousy at its richer, more-famous, more hip neighbor and wonders what might have been if Phil Knight had gone to OSU. The Ducks hate OSU because they’ve been told to hate OSU for decades.

The games are usually high scoring, although not always close, and the home team has dominated this decade.

Most importantly, you can’t go more than two or three Civil Wars without the stakes being high — sometimes for both teams.

Five times this decade, the Ducks have won at least eight games. The Beavers are on the verge of doing it for the fourth time.

Without question, Oregon and Oregon State have been the most successful natural rivals in the conference in recent years. And that makes the Civil War the league’s best rivalry.

For now.
( To read about the other Pac-10 Rivalry games click on the title above for a link to Wilner's column)

I learned to hate the Beavers a long time ago in the late 1960's and early 1970's when the Beavers regularly under coach Dee Andros,( The Great Pumpkin) beat the shi* out of Oregon Duck Teams and did it with such relish.


A few years ago Dee, long retired, not too long before his death, came to a joint Duck/Beaver "Civil War" lunch in Medford and gave a passionate speech about the "Civil War" game that made me want to strap on a helmet and start playing right there. When Dee Andros walked into the banquet room he was wearing a god awful bright orange blazer and a black and orange striped tie. A local young TV sports reporter, who had probabley just moved to this area, walked up to him and asked him if he was an Oregon State fan and it brought a smile to my face.
(Dee Andros was a veteran of World War II where he served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was awarded the Bronze Star and spent more than a month under heavy fire on Iwo Jima. He was present at the famed moment when six soldiers raised the American flag on Iwo Jima.)

Go Ducks beat the Beavers.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

"And A Rock Feels No Pain"



To night my wife and I went to the Oregon Club of Southern Oregon's annual "Civil War" dinner at the Rogue Valley Country Club. University of Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny and Assistant AD Jim Bartko came down from Eugene for the dinner. Football Coach Mike Bellotti spoke from Eugene on a telephone speakerphone. We had a nice time and it's always good to get together with Duck Fans. The Dinner had the feel of a reception after a funeral. The kind where people celebrate the life of the deceased rather than morn the deceased. As some one said it's hard work being a Duck Fan. When I got home I found a nice column from today's Eugene Register Guard by non sports, lifestyle columnist Bob Welch. He talks about where he was when he heard the news that Dennis Dixon had torn his ACl and would never play for the Ducks again and compared him to Steve Prefontaine in the mythology of Oregon sports history. He talked about what it was like being a Duck fan. He says in part:

.....Amid the absolute best — and, at the moment, worst — Oregon football season in history, I’ve been thinking about those of us who consider ourselves sports fans. And I’ve concluded that hitching your wagon to a team or player is a lot like hitching your wagon to anyone or anything.

In every relationship, there’s a price to pay for the benefit you receive. For Duck fans, the bill simply came at the worst possible time — Oregon positioning itself for a run at a national title and quarterback Dennis Dixon for a run at the Heisman Trophy. And was far higher than the usual we-lost-a-game variety......

Against the odds, Duck football had arrived this fall. And so when Dixon went down, I found myself thinking: Is this really happening?

After the Ducks’ loss to UCLA last Saturday, the answer was as stark as a visitor’s “0” on the Rose Bowl scoreboard: Yes, it is.

Our worst nightmare.

It’s not fair, some have said about the Ducks’ riches-to-rags season. Nope. But, then, if sports is a microcosm of life, why would we expect it to be?

Some deadbeat dad wins the lottery while model parents lose a child. Hurricane Katrina hammers the poor while O.J. beats the rap.....

And so it is that some choose, in the Simon-&-Garfunkelian model, to not commit or de-commit, because “a rock feels no pain.” True, but a rock also feels nothing. Ever.

After the 2002 Seattle Bowl, in which Oregon was humiliated by Wake Forest while Husky backers laughed in our rain-splattered faces, I returned home thinking this fan stuff just wasn’t worth it.( My son and I were there and felt the same way as we drove from Seattle back to my sisters home in Portland..... it rained so hard on the trip down I-5 I though God must have been crying I know I felt like it..... we stopped in a McDonald's about an hour from Seattle on the freeway and It was full of Duck fans and the place was sooo quite)

But four games later, I watched UO beat Michigan in endless Autzen sunshine. It felt like a perfect day. This season alone, I’ve watched or heard three unbelievable wins over Michigan, USC and Arizona State.....

I’ve seen Dixon emerge from the depths of despair to join Pre and the two Lukes as UO athletes for the ages......

But what will never bedoesn’t wipe out what was. Or preclude Duck fans from hoping for better days, be it next year or Saturday.

On paper, of course, there’s nothing to suggest Oregon can muster the offense to beat Oregon State in the Civil War. But the wonder of sports is that you never know.....



He ends by essentially saying we keep coming back because we want to know what happens next.

Our daughter is flying out from Washington DC for the weekend and will go with me to Eugene for the game. She made her reservations before Dennis Dixon when down. We know the odds are against an Oregon win which will make a victory all the more sweet and will dull the feeling of defeat if the Duck do go down. Regardless of the score we will spend the day together and in the grand scale of life that is a win.

Beat the Beaver....... Let's go Ducks!


( To read Welch's full column click on the title for a link)

Monday, November 26, 2007

"The First Churchills"



This weekend after the Ducks lost to UCLA I was looking for something to take my mind off the Ducks loss detailed elsewhere on this blog and ended up watching the first 8 or so hours of the mini series "The First Churchills" on DVD. Some of what follows is from Wikipedia.

The First Churchills was a BBC miniseries from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. It starred John Neville as the duke and Susan Hampshire as the duchess and was directed by David Giles. The series was broadcast in the United States in 1971 and was the first program of Masterpiece Theater shown on PBS

The miniseries presents the lives of John and Sarah Churchill from their meeting in 1673 until a time shortly before the first duke's death in 1722, and shows, along the way, much of the context of English politics at the same time. Like many BBC miniseries of the era, it was made on a low production budget, with sound studio sets, and generally avoided battle and crowd scenes out of inability to stage them in a convincing manner. The series is based on the the book on Marlborough's' life by his famous descendant Winston Churchill' and as such presents a very favourable portrait to Marlborough.



The closing credits theme is the second piece, a Rondeau, of Henry Purcell's incidental music, composed about 1695, to Aphra Behn's 1676 play Abdelazer, or The Moor's

The Duck of Marlborough was a great English military leader who defeated the French at Blenheim and as a reward Queen Ann gave the Churchill family the money to build Blenheim Palace which ever since has been the ancestral home of the Churchills.

The mini series covers a period in English History that is unfamiliar to most Americans. It covers a large part of the period between Queen Elizabeth I and the King George III of the American Declaration of Independence fame. With a little research I was able to follow the political maneuverings that covers a period during which six successive monarchs held the English crown. Most interesting was the political battles between the crown and the English Parliament. There were issues that are still relevant today such as how large the army should be and the desirability of foreign wars.

To read more about the mini series click on the title for a link to the IMDB page for the series.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Stand Tall Duck Fans


I have tried to find the words that express how I feel as a Duck fan with very a wounded team facing the "Civil War" Game with Oregon State on Saturday. Oregon will enter the game with it's 1st, 2nd and 3rd string Quarterbacks gone with injuries and most of it's wide receivers out for the season. The first string running back is playing injured and the 2nd string running back is out for the season. So what's a fan to do, not go to the game, stay home? With apologies to Thomas Paine

These are the times that try Duck fan's souls. The bandwagon fan and the sunshine supporter will, in this late season, shrink from the support of their team; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Football games , like hell, are not easily won; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the circumstances , the more glorious the win. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as beating the Beavers should not be highly rated.

I will be there at Autzen on Saturday when the Seniors are introduced for the last time. I will be there when Dennis Dixon comes on the field for the last game at home and I will cheer him for the last time. Wild horses could not keep me away. I will be there until the final buzzer blows even if the Beavers have scored 60 point and the Ducks have scored none.

I will come back season after season until age or death prevent me from attending and when that time comes I will be, if alive, watching on TV or listen on the radio or if deceased, I will be there in spirit. Let's Go Ducks it's "Civil War Week"!

"Growing up Giuliani"



Newsweek magazine has an interest article on Rudy Giuliani's early years growing up in New York in an Italian/American family that is quite good. One quote that intrigued me is as follows:
he has a ripe sense of his own, and his nation's, magnificence and destiny roughly on par with that of Winston Churchill's, whose works Giuliani recommended to his schoolmates, along with his favorite operas by Verdi. Just as Churchill's character was shaped by the myths of his forebears in his ancestral home, Blenheim Palace, seat of the Duke of Marlborough, Giuliani's was forged by the moral ambiguities of his upbringing and the eternal American melodrama of rising above one's past while honoring, or at least accepting, it.


To read the entire Newsweek article click on the title for a link.

By the way look at the picture above taken in the hours after the 9/11 attack .... who would you pick as a leader in a time of crisis when leadership and courage are needed? Yes, I know it's only a picture but sometimes pictures say a lot! Yes, that's Hillery behind the breathing mask with her hands folded and .....

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Turn out the lights the party is over!



The Dream has Died!

No National Championship.... No Rose Bowl.... No Heisman..... looks like the Ducks will go to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.( I don't think the Vegas Bowl will have us after we stunk up the place last year in the game with BYU... and I pray we don't go back to El Paso and the Sun Bowl) Without ANY offense it will be a long week and a likely loss in the "Civil War." (note I said "likely") Thanks to the team for a fun year but the offense just ran out of gas (and players) on offence. The defense battled to the end. They will never take the wins against Michigan, U$C and Arizona State away from you.

Time to get ready for Oregon State.... they should be really over confident! It's "Civil War" week and anything can happen in the Civil War!

I have already ordered my ticket for the Emerald Bowl! The Holidays in San Francisco isn't so bad.

They will always be my Ducks! Let' Go Ducks!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Beat UCLA



Tonight U$C defeated Arizona State to put the Oregon Ducks back in control of their quest for the Rose Bowl. If Oregon now beats UCLA on Saturday there and beats Oregon State the next week at home at Autzen then Oregon will go to the Rose Bowl. However it will all go for not, if the Ducks do not defeat UCLA. Brady Leaf and Johnathan Stewart will lead us to victory Brady Leaf, now is the time!"BeLeaf" Win the Day.... Let's Go Ducks!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving

USC FAN for a Day


Tomorrow is a big day! No, not because it's Thanksgiving but because USC is playing Arizona State on nationwide TV on ESPN starting at 5 pm PST. Why should a rabid Duck fan like me care? Because if USC beats Arizona State then Oregon will control it's own fate in it's quest for the Rose Bowl. If USC wins on Thanksgiving night and if the Ducks beat UCLA on Saturday and then beat the Beavers in the Civil War game the next Saturday the Ducks will be headed to the Rose Bowl. One day at a time and that day is tomorrow on Thanksgiving night when USC plays Arizona State. So you Sun Devils have that second helping of gravy and stuffing! Go Trojans.... Go Ducks! There will be plenty of time for "Thanksgiving after the game!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Two Brothers and the Rose Bowl




THE OLDER BROTHER

Ryan Leaf was born in Great Falls, Montana, and led his high school to the 1992 Montana state title. After high school, Leaf played college football at Washington State University, playing in 32 games for the Cougars and starting 24 of them. He averaged 330.6 yards passing per game in his junior year and threw for a then-Pac-10 conference record 33 touchdowns. He also helped the Cougars defeat the University of Washington Huskies, 41-35, for the first time since 1994. Leaf ended the school's 67-year Rose Bowl drought and helped bring the Cougars their first Pac-10 championship in school history. Despite a strong early showing by Leaf in the Rose Bowl, the Cougars were defeated 21-16 by eventual co-national champion Michigan Wolverines.

That year, Leaf was a finalist in balloting for the Heisman Trophy.

Following the Rose Bowl, Leaf announced that he would forgo his senior year at Washington State and turn professional.Ryan Leaf was selected second in the first round of the NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. Lief was a disaster in the NFL and drifted to several teams before he was retired for good. The sports network ESPN listed Leaf first on their list of the 25 Biggest Sports Flops between 1979 and 2004.[29] MSNBC commentator Michael Ventre went so far as to call Leaf "the biggest bust in the history of professional sports."The sports network ESPN listed Leaf first on their list of the 25 Biggest Sports Flops between 1979 and 2004.[29] MSNBC commentator Michael Ventre went so far as to call Leaf "the biggest bust in the history of professional sports."(From Wikipedia the free Internet encyclopedia.)

To say the least Ryan had a volatile personality

THE YOUNGER BROTHER

Brady Leaf the younger brother of Ryan was also a star high school QB in Montana who was recruited by colleges to play football at the next level. In order to be his own person and get out of his older brothers shadow he chose the University of Oregon Ducks for his college career over the Washington State Cougars. However, he ended up being being in the shadow and a back up to another talented QB, Heisman candidate, Dennis Dixon. Now Dennis Dixon has gone down with an ACL injury to his knee and and his college career has ended. The University of Oregon Ducks with two regular season games left are still in the hunt of a Pac 10 title and the Rose Bowl. In a large part Brady Leaf will shoulder the responsibility of that quest. I have watched Brady, look very good as a QB and also look very bad. I will not forget the night in the Holiday Bowl in 2005 when he combined to complete 26 of 41 passes (63.4%) for 246 yards and two touchdown to almost bring Oregon back back against Oklahoma. In several spring games he has appeared to be superior to Dennis Dixon. While Dixon is a fast QB who is suited for the "spread offense " Brady is more the drop back QB. He injured his ankle in the Arizona game last week and it was very difficult for him to run and he became very immobile. How serious is his ankle? I don't think we will know for sure until the UCLA game in the Rose Bowl on Saturday. If I were writing a script for a movie, Brady in this his final year of college football, would escape the shadow of both his brother and Dennis Dixon by leading the Ducks to a victory in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day 2008. He would start out slowly and help the Ducks beat UCLA next Saturday in the Rose Bowl where UCLA plays their home games.He would would then return home to Autzen Stadium in Eugene to lead the Ducks to a big victory against the Oregon State Beavers in the "Civil War "game. Oregon would then win the Pac -10 title with a little help form USC on Thanksgiving night and would return to the Rose Bowl on New Years Day and defeat Ohio State for Oregon's first win in the Rose Bowl in my lifetime. Now that would be a Dream Season. It could happen. Go Ducks Win the Day. Beat UCLA

Monday, November 19, 2007

The Optimist




Last Friday speaking to the Federalist Society's Annual National Lawyers Conference Rudy Giuliani said the following:

"I get very, very frustrated when I . . . hear certain Americans talk about how difficult the problems we face are, how overwhelming they are, what a dangerous era we live in. I think we've lost perspective. We've always had difficult problems, we've always had great challenges, and we've always lived in danger.

Do we think our parents and our grandparents and our great grandparents didn't live in danger and didn't have difficult problems? Do we think the Second World War was less difficult that our struggle with Islamic terrorism? Do we think that the Great Depression was a less difficult economic struggle for people to face than the struggles we're facing now? Have we entirely lost perspective of the great challenges America has faced in the past and has been able to overcome and overcome brilliantly? I think sometimes we have lost that perspective.

Do you know what leadership is all about? Leadership is all about restoring that perspective that this country is truly an exceptional country that has great things that it is going to accomplish in the future that will be as great and maybe even greater than the ones we've accomplished in the past. If we can't do that, shame on us...

Every single problem that I solved in New York City that people thought were impossible to solve, I solved it because I'm an optimist, because I refuse to accept defeat, because I refuse to accept that intelligent people with the kind of advantages we've been given can't solve any problem that we're faced with.

Dixon finalist for Maxwell and Davey O'Brien QB Award


Injured Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon is one of three finalists for the Maxwell Award as college football’s best all-around player and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award. Those are two of the awards handed out at ESPN’s college football awards show on Dec. 6, and the network released the list of finalists for all of them today.

Congratulations Dennis!

Duck Cross Country Team wins NCAA Title



The University of Oregon men’s cross country team won the NCAA title Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Ducks were led by the second-place finish of Galen Rupp in capturing their first team since 1977. They Ducks had 85 points, besting Iona, which had 113, followed by Oklahoma State.


Congratulations Ducks . "Track Town" USA is back in Eugene, Oregon. The "Whole World is Watching" this summer for the United State Olympic Trials at Hayward Field.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Rose Bowl and Heisman for Dennis Dixon!



There is a picture of Dennis Dixon in the Eugene Register Guard with Dennis sitting on the sidelines after he went down for the last time in his college career in the Arizona game last Thursday night. Tears are running down his cheeks and it breaks my heart. I chose to use the above picture because it is the way I want to remember him as a Duck! It's been three day and I still can't get over that his college career is over.

I may be biased but if I were a Heisman voter he would get my vote and I have heard similar comments from some of the commentators over at ESPN. (see Ivan Maisel's comments at ESPN by clicking on the title)I remember turning to my wife during the Michigan game and said I can't believe what I am seeing. His performance on the field was a thing of beauty and artistry that I have not seen in football in a long time. ( Gail Sayers comes to mind) The way he could fake out me and everyone else including the TV camera man with his hand offs was a gift. The "Statue of Liberty" play!!!! I loved thay play!!!

I know it's trite but the Oregon team should dedicate the balance of this season to Dennis so he and the team can go to the Rose Bowl. I don't know about you but I would put Dennis in for at least one play as the guy deserves a Rose Bowl Ring.If the team can't be motivated by that, nothing can motivate them. I suspect they are already motivated to to get rid of that sick feeling we all feel in the pit of our stomachs on UCLA, Oregon State and whoever we meet in the Rose Bowl. I can't wait till Saturday and the UCLA game.

It just can't end with that picture in the Eugene Register Guard!

Let's beat UCLA and win the day. Let's Go Ducks!

Movie: "Redacted" by Director BRIAN DE PALMA & paid for by MARK CUBAN


The following is a transcript of a movie review of the movie "Redacted" by movie reviewer Michael Medved

MEDVED: ... I am actually one of the few people in the country who has seen the new movie. It is called "Redacted" ... And let me just tell you, before I go to actually reviewing it: It could be the worst movie I've ever seen. I mean, the out and out worst, most disgusting, most hateful, most incompetent, most revolting, most loathsome, most reprehensible cinematic work I have ever encountered. This is having reviewing movies for more than 25 years. [It] covers a lot of disgusting ground, but none more disgusting than 'Redacted,' which portrays the Marine Corps, one of the finest organizations ever assembled by human beings, portrays the U.S. Marine Corps, as corrupt, vicious, racist killers and rapists ... (snip) ...

It portrays the members of our Marine Corps in the most disgusting way imaginable. They hang out in barracks, drunk or stoned, with Confederate flags all over the place. And the head Marine, who is the leading rapist and murderer, is a big fat guy, I mean, hugely out of shape, right - just the typical Marine (sarcastic) - Marines tend not to look like that - big fat guy, overhanging belly, cigar-chomping, loud-mouthed, sort of fair-complexion. His name is Rush. Nothing in movies is an accident. They're clearly trying to indict and smear Rush Limbaugh by saying that secretly he wants to rape and abuse 14-year old girls and murder them and then burn their bodies ... (snip) ...

The film is atrociously acted. It's incredibly badly done ... (snip) ...

Look, I never say this. I don't believe in boycotts. I don't. But I actually think Bill O'Reilly, I know has been going on about this movie even though he hasn't seen it. O.K. I've now seen it. Bill, Bill - hey. It's worse than you think.

This film is an atrocity. It is zero stars as far as I'm concerned. It's very much Rated R. I honestly was close to vomiting when I saw the film. I have seen a lot of unspeakable garbage in years and years of reviewing movies. Nothing quite like this. It is a slander on the United States of America. It is a slander on the Marine Corps. It is a slander on our troops. Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, paid for this entirely. Now he elsewhere has given money to support the troops. I know he has. He ought to be ashamed. Everyone associated with this film ought to be ashamed. I will never see a Brian De Palma film in the same way again. This is a veteran Hollywood director. What is he trying to do with this kind of thing? Will it inspire future terrorists? Of course it will! Because it portrays the United States troops in Iraq as sick, murderous, deviant losers.


I am censoring myself from saying what I really think....DISGUSTING!!!

Friday, November 16, 2007

"They wouldn't be the Ducks if they didn't break my heart"





The above quote is from a Duck forum and is so true! Oregon Fans it's time to lighten it up. At times like this I remember a speech made by Bluto (John Belushi) in the film made at the University of Oregon..... "Animal House" which I have made a few changes, to fit the situation:

"What did you say it's over? NOTHING'S over till we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl harbor? Hell, No! And it ain't over now. When the going get tough the tough get going. Who's with me? Let Go!

What the f*** happened to the Oregon Ducks I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where is the guts? Stewart are you with me? Lief... up big fella! Let's go go go! Everyone ... follow me!

You pus***s.

This could be the greatest season of our lives and you're gonna let it be the worst. Oh, we're afraid to go with you , we could lose. Well you can just kiss my a**. From now on. Not me! I'm not taking this! UCLA... their defeated! Oregon State... their defeated! Bowl opponent... defeated! WE'VE GOT TO TAKE THESE BAST***s. And we're just the Ducks to do it! Let's do it! Lets Go Ducks!


I ordered my Rose Bowl Tickets tonight!!!!

Hear Hear Dennis Dixon !



Denis Dixon's college career is over. He will not play in another Oregon college football game and that includes a bowl game. At a press conference this after noon Coach Mike Bellotti said that in the Arizona State University game almost two weeks ago he "completely tore the ACL in his left knee." He, Dixon, made the decision to keep the news from the public and his own team mates and led the Ducks to a touch down against the University of Arizona last night before he went down for the last time.. He is a true warrior. As Teddy Roosevelt said:


"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."


Before he went down he and Johnathan Stewart working together were a thing of beauty this season. They gave us an exhibition in football that will be remembered by all Duck fans and will be part of the lore of Duck football which will be celebrated for a long time. His games against Michigan, U$C and Arizona State will not be forgotten. Thanks for the memories .... you deserved a better ending !

For more information on Dixon click on the title for a link to the Register Guard blog.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Too Bad


Oregon lost to Arizona after QB Dennis Dixon was injured in the first quarter. Time to get ready for UCLA . Still playing for the Rose Bowl.... if Dixon can come back against UCLA. Without Dixon Oregon will be lucky to win one of it's last two games. Coach Bellotti in the post game show thinks QB Dixon is done for the year! Could he come back for a Bowl any Bowl? In the event Oregon can beat both UCLA and Oregon State and ASU loses to U$C there would be a three way tie for the Pac-10 title and Oregon who beat both U$C and ASU would go. How much fun would the Rose Bowl be without QB Dennis Dixon?

We Oregon fans owe a big thanks to Dennis Dixon for a great run this season. You made Duck Football oh so much fun.

BIG GAME TODAY!



This today from John Canzano's column in the Oregonian:

When you talk about college football, you use words like emotion, passion, and perseverance, forgetting that they also belong to you. And you invest income, and family time, and schedule your lives around game day.

You arrive early. You leave late. And when you can't be there, you shout at your television, because what happens feels like it belongs to you, too.


John Canzano can write a column that makes me so mad I vow to never read him again. Then, as in today's column, he can write something that is very touching. To read his entire column click on the title above for a link.



OREGON DUCKS....WIN THE DAY!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Oregon Ducks vs Arizona Wildcats in a football "shoot out"


A little more than 24 hours to kick off! This is the most important game of the season. The nation will be watching on ESPN tomorrow night. Ducks need to concentrate and get ready for this tough game in Tuscon. It should be a real western shootout in an old western town. "Old Tuscon Studios" an old western town made for movies and also a theme park , where John Wayne made Rio Bravo, and other westerns is right next door. Go Ducks Win the Day

"Beaver Nation" third world country?


In today's Oregonian, Oregon State University Athletic Director Bob De Carolis is quoted as saying this about Oregon State fans after a bad call in last weeks Oregon State game with the University of Washington.

"God forbid if we had lost," De Carolis said. "I had about 30 people use the same words with me. They said we would have had a riot on our hands. It would have been like a soccer game in some third-world country. That's how dangerous it could have been with the night, the alcohol, and the total frustration with the mismanagement of the game."


Bob De Carolis is sounding like the President of the University of Oklahoma David Boren after Oklahoma lost to Oregon.

Go Ducks beat Arizona.... Win the Day!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Dennis Dixon for Heisman !



Time to lighten it up. Check out a cute video on You Tube about a baby learning to talk and his first words. Click on the title above for a link. Go Ducks Win the Day!

Ducks are # 2 in the BCS


"Heavy is the head that wears the crown," Arizona Thursday on ESPN. Go Ducks.... Win the Day!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Birthday Weekend



This weekend we planed on traveling to Portland to visit my sister for a milestone birthday. However, my wife came down with a bad cold so we decided I would drive to Portland without her. As much as I missed not having her accompany me it was an opportunity to play my new Time/Life CD compilation of Rock music called "Flower Power" in the car as loud as I wanted. A great collection of music from about 1965 to 1972. I watched ESPN GameDay TV, Saturday morning, before I left and listened to the music from Medford to Eugene. I stopped at Best Buy in Springfield and looked at DVD's and then tuned the car radio to ESPN radio GameDay from Eugene to Portland. Just as I got into Portland it was announced Ohio State had lost meaning Oregon would probably move up to 2nd in the BCS college football standings. I called my wife and then our son on my cell phone with the good news. I then went to my sister's house and we visited for a while and I showed her our pictures of our trip to Europe. I have put in three scarp books. I then got a call from our daughter who had just heard the news about the Ohio State upset. On the way into Portland I stopped at a Safeway to get my sister a birthday cake. I then took her out to a restaurant near Clackimas Town Center Mall for a nice meal. We then went to the mall and spent some time at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. While there I found a CD with the soundtrack of the 1963 movie "How the West Was Won" I originally bought the record of the Soundtrack of the movie in 1963 (I still have it) and the tape cassette of it in the 1990's. However, until last night I was unable to find it in CD. Unfortunately, this soundtrack unlike the cassette tape does not have the voice over narration of Spencer Tracey. After shopping we went back to my sister house for cake and then she went to bed while I used her computer to check on football scores. This morning we had a nice breakfast and I said goodbye. It was nice seeing her again. She has recently repainted her living room and dinning room and they looked very nice. I stopped at the outlet shops in Woodburn on the way home. There were a lot of Oregon State Beavers and Washington Huskies there . Both teams played last night in Corvallis. The Beavs won. When I got to Eugene I stopped by Borders Books at the Oakway Mall and purchased a DVD set of "The First Churchills." This was a BBC TV series about Winston's great ancestor the Duke of Marlborough who Winston idolized.
From Eugene to Medford I listened to my new CD set of the Soundtrack to "How the West was Won". When I got home and was talking about my trip with my wife they announced on TV that the Ducks were #2 in the BCS. A good Weekend and Happy Birthday Sister..

OREGON DUCKS 2nd in the BCS


That's right, the Oregon Ducks had a bye this week and moved from 3rd to 2nd in the BCS college football standings based upon the loss of Ohio State to Illinois. Oregon will play Arizona in Tuscon on Thursday night and the game will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN. This season has now become a CRUSADE for the DUCKs. We MUST beat Arizona or all of this dream season will disappear into thin air. One game at a time Beat Arizona .... Win the Day!

Friday, November 09, 2007

Oregon "O" Line on the Jim Rome Radio Show


Click on the title for a link to an interview of Jeff Kendal on the Jim Rome Radio Show as posted on you tube. After listening to it I am pumped up..... Lets Go Ducks!

Friday Night Lights... (UPDATE) South Medford Wins 42 to 19



Tonight my wife and I will be at the Oregon state 6A high school playoff football game between the South Medford Panthers and the Barlow Bruins here in Medford at Spiegelberg Stadium. Go South. The following is the Oregonians preview of the game


This first-round game will feature a contrast in styles. Barlow is run-first and, at times, run-only. No. 8 South Medford boasts one of the top passing offenses in the state. Both schools' losses were to playoff teams. The Bruins, the Mt. Hood Conference No. 4 seed, are led by workhorse Malcolm Johnson, who ran for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns last week during a 41-17 win over Reynolds. The junior scored on runs of five, 36, 65, 44 and 19 yards. Johnson leads the state this season with 2,299 yards rushing for 21 touchdowns. "He is the real deal," South Medford coach Bill Singler said. "They are physical and happy gaining four or five yards a pop. If they break one then that is just icing on the cake. Either way they are controlling the clock and keeping the other offense off the field." South Medford, the Southwest Conference runner-up, has won four in a row and recently has shown offensive balance. Running back Patrick Thibeault ran for 228 yards and a touchdown last week in a 21-12 win over North Medford. The junior has rushed for more than 600 yards in the last four games and provides a counterpoint to quarterback A.J. Palazzolo, who is second in the state in passing with 2,348 yards and has 21 touchdowns and a 63 percent completion rate. Receiver Mitch Singler caught seven passes for 167 yards against North Medford. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder has caught at least one touchdown and gained 100 yards receiving in every game this season. He leads the state in receiving yardage with 1,094 yards and 14 touchdowns on 53 receptions. Cousin E.J. Singler also has 53 receptions for 816 yards and six touchdowns.


The teams regular schedule records are as follows:


SOUTH MEDFORD HIGH PANTHERS(7-2)


9/07 Summit 48 - 15(W)

9/14 at Tualatin 38 - 41 (L) OT

9/21 Sunset 28 - 21 (W)

9/28 at Wilson 28 - 14 (W)

10/05 Sheldon 13 - 34 (L)

10/12 at South Eugene 26 - 14 (W)

10/19 Grants Pass 44 - 22 (W)

10/26 at Roseburg 28 - 21 (W)

11/02 North Medford 21 - 12 (W)

11/09 Barlow 7 p.m. (playoff game 11/9/07)


BARLOW BRUINS (5-5)


8/31 Oregon City 21 - 14 (W)

9/07 at West Salem 0 - 42 (L)

9/14 Clackamas 24 - 55 (L)

9/21 at Sandy 52 - 18 (W)

9/28 Central Catholic 10 - 16 (L)

10/05 David Douglas 34 - 35 (L)

10/11 at Hood River Valley 20 - 7 (W)

10/19 at Gresham 24 - 7 (W)

10/26 Centennial 15 - 43 (L)

11/02 at Reynolds 41 - 17 (W)

11/09 at South Medford 7 p.m.

UPDATE

South Medford spotted Barlow 13 points in the 1st quarter before they woke up and took over the game. Barlow ran the ball much of the game and gained a lot of yardage. South scored quickly with a passing game that Barlow could not defend. South Medford now moves to the second round of the Oregon State 6A football playoffs and will travel next weekend to Tualatin a suberb of Portland.
Earlier in the season South Medford lost to Tualatin in overtime in their second game.

Important games for the Ducks this weekend



The Oregon Duck football team has a "bye" this weekend but there are a lot of important games that could help the Duck in the Rose Bowl and or National Championship quest. So get out that TV tuner and have a fun weekend watching college football. The Games are as follows and all times are PST in the order of their starting time on Saturday.

Michigan at Wisconsin 9:00 a.m. ESPN

Oregon beat Michigan so Oregon wants Michigan to win to strengthen our strength of schedule in the BCS ratings

Texas A&M at Missouri 9:30 a.m. FSN

Missouri is three teams below Oregon in the BCS at # 6 so we want Texas A&M to win.

Houston at Tulsa 12:00 p.m. (No TV)

Oregon beat Houston so Oregon wants Houston to win to strengthen our strength of schedule in the BCS ratings

Illinois at Ohio State 12:30 p.m. ABC

Ohio State is #1 in the BCS ratings so Oregon at #3 wants Illinois to win. Not likely, but could happen

Arizona State at UCLA 12:30 p.m. ABC

Oregon and Arizona State are tied on top of the Pac-10 standings but Oregon has the tie breaker due to our victory over ASU last weekend. UCLA is right behind Oregon and ASU so this is a hard one to pick but Oregon will play UCLA next in Pasadena so I will hope Arizona State wins. I also think ASU will lose to U$C so again it helps Oregon a little for Arizona State to win this game.

Stanford at Washington State 3:30 p.m. FSNW

Two bottom of the Pac-10 teams. This game has little effect on the Ducks. I like Washington State over the "rich kids" as Stanford. There ought to be some joy to those who have to live in Pullman, Washington other than drinking beer. The kids at Stanford have already gotten the brass ring of life. Am I sounding like a Democrat?

Kansas at Oklahoma State 5:00 p.m. ABC

Kansas is right below Oregon in the BCS standings at #4 and is undefeated. They could leap over Oregon in the BCS so Oregon wants Oklahoma State to win.

USC at California 5:00 p.m. ABC

There is a division of opinion on this one. Since Oregon beat U$C it helps our strength of schedule on the computer portion of the BCS calculation if U$C wins. Oregon lost to Cal so a Cal win could help with the real people who vote in the poll portion of the BCS calculations.I want Cal to win because I want to keep U$C out of the Rose Bowl and a loss here would give them 3 losses.

Louisiana Tech at LSU 5:00 p.m. ESPN

LSU is #2 in the BCS just ahead of Oregon at # 3 so this is a no brainier Ducks are for Louisiana Tech to win. Unlikely as that may be.

Washington at Oregon State 7:15 p.m. FSN

Can we hope that both teams lose? Oregon has already beat Washington and Washington is #9 in the Pac 10 standings and OSU is #6 so my vote goes to Washington as the lesser of two evils. Sorry Beaver friends.

Fresno State at Hawaii 8:00 p.m. ESPN2

Oregon beat Fresno State so it helps Oregon's strength of schedule if they win over #16 BCS team Hawaii.

Happy Birthday Sister



Happy Birthday to my sister on a milestone Birthday. We will celebrate together this weekend. Good thing the Ducks have a "bye". For many years my sister has had to share her birthday with the Oregon Ducks but not this year. Yes, this is the sister who when we were kids would always fall asleep at the drive in movie theater during the second feature when we went with our parents. She still likes to go to bed early and I am still a night hawk. Happy Birthday!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

John Ford & John Wayne



The Oregon Ducks football team has the day off so I thought I would post about something else. Surprise! I was cruising around the Internet today and found a wonderful essay by John Kaufman ( click on the title for a link) about my favorite movie Director John Ford and John Wayne. A few quotes from the Essay:

Between 1928 and 1962, John Ford and John Wayne made twenty pictures together Their films changed the role of the hero in American film, transformed the ways in which we saw ourselves and turned a druggist’s son from Iowa into the greatest movie star of the postwar era....

John Ford was Oscar nominated as Best Director for Stagecoach (1939) and The Long Voyage Home (1940). He won the award for The Informer (1936), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and The Quiet Man (1952). Ford’s four Oscars were more than has been won by any other director.

John Ford and John Wayne made films together over the course of four decades. In doing so, they wrote an important chapter of The Great American Myth. We are a young country minus the ancient tales of older lands. Films like those of John Ford have become our legends.

Just as sure as the turnin’ of the Earth.


Read the rest of the essay because it has a good summary of the 20 movies they made together.

When college football is over for the season I will have their movies to get me though the dark days of winter, AND the 2008 Presidential election..... how long till The New Hampshire Primary! How can people get bored in life there is so much going on.

PS check tomorrow because I will be listing the college football games Oregon Duck fans should care about this weekend even though the Ducks have a "Bye" on Saturday.... and about South Medford's state of Oregon, high school playoff game Friday night with Barlow here in Medford. We have our tickets!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

The Oregon Duck



I know it is outdated but my favorite symbol of the Oregon Ducks is the above picture of the Duck coming out of the "O." The Oregon Athletic Department with the help of the folks at Nike have been promoting the new "O" as the symbol that they want to use to identify University of Oregon Athletics. They believe it has more universal appeal particularly to young "out of state" athletes. They also don't need to pay royalties to Disney. I like he new "O" but I still love the Duck coming out of the "O".

This year I promised myself I would just watch the Oregon football games and relax and enjoy the moment and not focus too much on winning and loosing. Ha, right!

Oregon needs to be prepared for the game at Arizona!

Arizona will play Oregon very tough next Thursday in Tuscon on ESPN TV

The following is from Bob Rickert's blog over at the Oregonian which he posted a year ago before Oregon played Arizona in Pac-10 football:

"We lost but at least we took out a couple of their quarterbacks." That's what Stoops said after Oregon used third string quarterback Brady Leaf to beat them anyway last year.....
His team ended Clemens' career last year and gloated about it. Then knocked out Dixon with a cheap shot to the head when it looked like he was sliding to protect himself.


Yes, Mike Stoops, the Arizona Wildcats coach is the brother of that guy at Oklahoma. Must run in the family.

To read the entire post over at the Oregonian web site click on the title for a link.

Oregon needs to just Win The Day!

The Dennis Dixon Watch


Click on the title above for a link to a report from a Register Guard blog on Oregon's football practice tonight ( Wednesday 11/7/07) Looking Good! To be quite frank I am very worried about the game at Arizona. This could be a trap game. The Arizona Wildcats are coming off two wins. They have a good passing QB. They will be coming after Dixon and Stewart. There coach is as wild man and he is trying to save his job. Two years ago when we went down their they took out Kellen Clemons and gave Dennis Dixon a concussion and their coach bragged about it. Oregon better be prepared for the game. Win the Day!