Pac-12 Week 10 Quick Picks

Oregon vs. Washington in Seattle. An improved UW has a shot at beating Oregon for the first time in a long time...and they might. But, I think the Ducks still have an advantage because their offense and speed matches up very well against a pretty weak Husky D. More so than the UW offense vs. the UO defense. So, I'll say both teams score plenty and it's close into the third quarter, but then Oregon pulls away and wins 42-28.

Stanford vs. OSU in Corvallis. Stanford will toy with Oregon State and win big 54-21...and those 21 for OSU will come in junk time.

WSU vs. Cal in Berkley. Two unpredictable teams. You'd think Cal would win this one at home and that WSU would be unmotivated after losing three straight, so that's why I'll say WSU wins 21-17.

ASU vs. UCLA in L.A. Could be interesting, but probably won't be. ASU wins 31-10.

Arizona vs. Utah at Salt Lake City. Arizona wins on the road 21-10.

USC vs. Colorado in Boulder. This will be another wipeout for the Buffs. USC wins 48-3.

Comparing UW and UO Smack Talk

Smack talk is hotting up between Oregon and Washington fans this week...and it's only Tuesday!

I'm seeing a couple primary lines of smack that I think bear a little reality check from both sides.

Husky smack against Oregon

A common line of argument:
"Win a Rose Bowl and then come back and pop off about how good you are."

Implication:
Despite Oregon's success over the past 10-15 years, the Ducks have not won a Rose Bowl and therefore really don't have much to brag about. And further, in that time frame, even the Huskies have won one Rose Bowl (following the 2000 season).

Reality check:

• Since the 1994 season, Oregon has won the Pac-10 title outright four times (1994, 2001, 2009, 2010) and split the crown once (2000). That's four more outright league wins that the Dawgs. Twice the Ducks did go to the Rose Bowl and it is true that in 1994 and 2010 they lost those games.
• HOWEVER, following the Duck's 2001 season crown, the Rose Bowl was the designated BCS National Championship Game. In those days, that meant only the #1 and #2 team in the BCS played in the Rose Bowl. Therefore, if the Pac-10 league winner was not #1 or #2 in the BCS rankings, they would be diverted to another BCS game (Fiesta Bowl). Controversially, the 11-1 Ducks were #4 or #5 in the BCS standings, so they played in the Fiesta Bowl - a game they won by beating a highly ranked Colorado team to finish the season as the consensus #2 team in the nation.
• Also, last year after winning the Pac-10 title, the Ducks were #2 in the BCS standings. So, they got the invite to play in the national title game - which as of a few years ago is now a separate game than the other big bowls. Of course they wanted to play for the title, so they went there instead of the Rose Bowl.

Conclusion:
While the Husky line of argument is technically true, it is completely ignorant as any real fan of the Pac-10 and college football know the Ducks had no say in the fact that they could not play in the Rose Bowl following the 2001 season AND last season they played in the national title game instead of the Rose Bowl.
Smack talk rating:
Really weak stuff - willfully ignorant of what's happened in 2001 and the last 10 years. A real reach.

Duck smack against Washington

A common line of argument:

"The Huskies are a joke and irrelevant to anything important in the Pac-12. We've clobbered you seven times in a row, and unless you forgot...your team went 0-12 in 2008."

Implication:
The UW football program has been so bad over the past 9-10 years that any thought of equity with Oregon is laughable. Start winning some games and then come back and we'll talk.

Reality check:

• It is true that the Huskies have not had a good run between 2002 and 2010, and indeed they have not won a league title in that time frame. It is also true that the Ducks have beaten the Huskies seven season in a row by large margins.
• HOWEVER, UW had a decent year last season, and they won their bowl game against a good Nebraska team. This year, they're bowl eligible already. All told, the Huskies are clearly improving steadily.

Conclusion:
Again, the insults are technically true, but ignorant - in this instance ignorant of recent events. Because the Ducks have beaten  UW so regularly recently, Oregon fans like to dismiss the resurgence going on at UW...and they do so at the risk of being shocked come Saturday evening.

Smack talk rating:
Feeble - UW fans know how bad their team has been. Reminding them of that at a time when their team is actually improving rings particularly hollow.

Big upshot...

• Until UW beats Oregon and/or wins a league title, Washington fans should stop tyring to undermine Oregon's recent success.
• Until Oregon wins a BCS Bowl game again, Duck fans need to temper claims to greatness or reminding the Huskies of their recent woes.

It's THAT Time Of Year

It's THAT time of year again. No, not fall transitioning to winter. Not dark mornings and increasingly dark late afternoons. Not Halloween and costume parties.

No, it's that hallowed time of year in which pride, ambition and anticipation mix with hate, jealousy and a little bit of fear.

Just what warped season am I talking about?

Of course it's that green, yellow, purple and gold week that comes around every 12 months for the big University of Oregon vs. University of Washington football game. That's right, it's interstate football rivalry week in the northwest - and I ain't talking about Oregon State or WSU.

It's a week more about the fans and alumni of UW and UO than the players and coaches. On a purely football level, those actually involved on the filed get less worked up about the rivalry. Sure, a rivalry, but nothing compared to how the fans feel about it.

No...indeed, this week is about fans and their expectations, their projections and their desires. You can read about some of my memories of this rivalry in my post from last year HERE.

All too often it is a time when one school's fans are sick and tired of hearing about the dominance of the other school over theirs on the football field - and each school has had the advantage in stretches over the last 20 years. It's a week of "this year it's going to be different," or if you're on the currently prevailing side of things it's the year of "we're going to wipe you out again just like last year." Both sentiments usually peppered with a little bit of profanity.

Lets face it. Neither school's fans can stomach losing to the other.

UW fans usually take the perspective that theirs is the more historically dominate squad given their nice run of success in the 1980s and early 1990s, the half national championship for the 1991 season and an overall historical advantage head-to-head against Oregon. From this perspective, Husky fans are still able - despite fielding horrible teams over the past decade - to take a position of superiority over Oregon fans. (Left: a picture from days gone by when Washington held the clear upper hand in the rivalry.) 

Oregon fans typically take the perspective of the here an now - or at least the here and since 1994. Since that year, Oregon has fielded teams that have posted a 12-4 winning record against UW - starting with that famous pick six in Eugene in 1994 to seal a victory and all the way up to a string of seven consecutive eviscerations of the Huskies leading up to this year's game. Any Duck fan under the age of about 30 has only seen majority Oregon wins against Washington. This recent dominance, combined with some really, really bad UW teams gives Oregon fans the ability to take a position of superiority. (Right: a picture from the more recent era in which Oregon has dominated.)

And so it goes. And so it will be this week and into Saturday for the game. After all, it is THAT time of year again.

I'll be going to that game by the way. I'll make some mental notes and perhaps take a few pictures and report back next week.

But regardless, fans of both schools this week will indulge in this crazy ritual, this predictable but also unusual time of year. As they make their plans, lay in supplies for tailgating, work up some new insults for their rivals and generally prepare for the game, fans from both schools will be pondering...will this be the year that UW gets back on track against Oregon with a big win or will Oregon once again step on the collective Husky throat in a multiple touchdown win?

We shall see.

(NOTE: Pictures in this post were not taken by me. They are not mine.)

If Land Were Divided Like Wealth

Here is an interesting visual analogy for the inequities of wealth in the United States today....

Background on this is in a post HERE, but the facts are that wealth inequity is a reality and a problem any way you try and represent it. 

And it did not spring up overnight. Rather it is a predictable and inevitable outcome of the prevailing political-economic practice of our country over the past 30 years of lowering taxes on the wealthy and corporations, deregulation in key sectors of the economy, "free trade" agreements, incentives for outsourcing and off-shoring jobs and a lack of investment in education. These moves over a sustained period of time have lined the pockets of the already wealthy and corporations while simultaneously eliminating jobs and opportunity for most Americans. 

Sure, these things were most aggressively championed by the Republicans (Reagan, Bush, W and Republican controlled Congresses), but the Democrats are not blameless either. Clinton and Congressional Ds did roll over on these issues many times. If the Rs made it happen, the Ds let it happen.

In any case, it's real. My feeling is that if your someone in the middle or lower class and you're defending tax cuts for the rich and corporations, free trade agreements and feel that "the 1%" should get all they can...well, I humbly suggest your head is in the sand and you are advocating things that are directly hurting you. 

Food for thought.

Pac-12 Week 9 Quick Picks

Oregon vs. WSU in Eugene. Did you see the Oregon game against Colorado last week? Did you see the WSU game against OSU last week? If you did, you know how this one is going to come out, but just in case I'll say it...Ducks win 52-21.

Washington vs. Arizona in Seattle. Night game. "Black out." Huskies rebound to beat UA, but it isn't a thrashing as the Wildcats are improving. I'm saying UW wins 27- 24.

Oregon State vs. Utah in Salt Lake City. OSU continues to improve and wins 21-10 on the road against a hapless Utah team.

Stanford vs. USC in L.A. Now this could be interesting. If this was at Palo Alto, I'd for sure pick Stanford. Being in L.A. against a talented USC team...hmmm. Well, I can't pick against Stanford yet. I think they eek out the win 24-17.

ASU vs. Colorado in Tempe. Another beat down for the Buffalos. ASU wins 49-3.


UCLA vs. Cal in L.A. UCLA on the downswing, Cal on the upswing. Cal wins big 31-10.

Public Nudity Legal in San Francisco? Yes

File this one under "you learn something new every day"...

Turns out, public nudity is legal in San Francisco. Yep, you can walk around and do whatever completely nude inside the boundaries of the city of San Francsico as long as you are not "in a state of arousal."

This is just not something I was aware of. Strikes me as pretty out there. It also strikes me that despite this freedom, 99.99999999% of people in SF must not be nudists becuase I've been their MANY times over the decades and never seen anyone in the buff out on the streets.

I learned this bit of info in a story that reports how SF nudists will be required to cover up when entering or dining at restaurants if a new ordance is passed.

Equally entertaining are the reader comments below the story.

Glasvegas Update

An update on one of my favorite bands of recent years, Glasvegas, is HERE.

Looks like a new album may be on the way in 2012.

It also looks like main man James Allan (second in from left) is back to wearing black...