[Posted from Eugene, Oregon…Sunday night…and with score of the Phils-Yanks tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth…make that 5-4. Damn that A-Rod! Now it’s 7-4…drat!!! And Mariano is in. This is horrible. I can’t go an entire offseason with the Yankees being the sole conversation in town. Game over…life over for Mets fans.]
NFL Rushing Quiz: 1) Jim Brown led the league in rushing 8 times. Name the five next in line with 4 titles each. 2) Who holds the record for yards gained in a single game? 3) Who are the only two to run for 200 or more yards in a game 5 times? 4) Who holds the record for 200-yard games in a single season with 4? [Not the same as No. 3] Answers below.
The Oregon Trail
Your editor’s version, that is. Boy, I love this state. Just beautiful, with few exceptions. I could easily settle on the Oregon coast, for example (I certainly met a lot of retirees with the same idea), and on Thursday took a nice drive up north on Highway 101 from my base in Newport, and then on my way to Eugene for the football game Saturday, I drove south along the coast before heading inland. The Oregon parks department has done an outstanding job and you can literally turn off about every mile or so to take in the vistas and beaches.
For instance, I’ve never been a great fan of the overrated sea lion, but when you see them in the wild, lounging in the surf, it’s really pretty cool. [You also know great whites are probably nearby, but more on that below.] The Oregon coastline is just full of so many contrasts with soaring forests and rocky cliffs that I can see how it would never get old. The roads are also fun to drive, save a few white-knuckle turns along the edge. And highway 126, which takes you from Florence on the coast to Eugene, is about the most beautiful, and fun, road I’ve driven in America. [It was also great because it was a way for me to avoid the crush of traffic for the game that was using the interstate, I-5.]
And so it’s time for….
College Football Review
What a great game I saw on Saturday night here in Eugene, No. 10 Oregon vs. No. 4 USC. Yes, the final score wasn’t close, 47-20, Ducks, but in reading a Los Angeles Times story on the game the reporter used the correct term to describe the 59,500 screaming UO fans… “delirious.” I know I screamed when Oregon was on defense every single play all night. I’m assuming the noise transferred onto the tube and I’ve never heard it louder at a college game. [I don’t know how to compare it to the Jets-Pats contest I went to in Sept. when the volume was also incredibly loud.]
I loved the fans sitting around me, including four Trojans supporters who I had fun with, and the little rain we had was not an issue because your editor, in a moment of sheer brilliance, remembered to pack his golf rain suit so I was better prepared than I’ve ever been.
By now you’ve seen the stats on the contest but for the archives, Oregon outgained USC 613-327 in what was the worst defeat for the Trojans since 1997 and the worst of the Pete Carroll era. That freshman running back LaMichael James is something else, all 5’7” of him. And quarterback Jeremiah Masoli may not ever play in the NFL, but he is the classic great college QB.
[Speaking of NFL QBs, following are some who played at UO… Kellen Clemens, Dan Fouts, A.J. Feeley, Joey Harrington, Chris Miller, and Norm Van Brocklin.]
Just a note on the students. They are a different bunch, certainly compared to the southern student bodies I grew up with when I was in school. It’s in keeping with the town of Eugene, which is quirky, to say the least, and hard to describe. The girls, however, are drop-dead gorgeous; a fact I learned when I came to the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials here. Just have to state facts.
And so we also have a new ranking for the cheerleaders in America.
1. Oregon
2. South Florida
3. USC
And then there are the rest.
Speaking of USC’s cheerleading squad, I was checking into the Hilton here on Saturday, about four hours before game time, when who should be assembling in the lobby right there but the USC girls. After all I’ve written of them over the years, I got quite a kick out of it. Yes, I was tempted to ask for a picture, but opted not to.
Meanwhile, funny how one week can make such a difference. What had been a highly disappointing college football season in terms of quality of play, including by superstars such as Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy, turned around in one day and these two in particular stepped up, so now, as you see below, the BCS is really taking shape and we could be headed towards a number of undefeateds come bowl time…perfect for those Christmastime, alcohol-infused arguments that make the holidays so special.
Aside from Oregon-USC, there were no big upsets (if you stretch to call the Ducks’ win an upset), so the new AP poll looks like this.
1. Florida 8-0
2. Texas 8-0
3. Alabama 8-0
4. Cincinnati 8-0…lovin’ the Pitt contest at season’s end
5. Boise State 8-0
6. TCU 8-0
7. Oregon 7-1
8. Iowa 9-0
9. LSU 7-1
10. Georgia Tech 8-1
12. USC
14. Pitt
But the Bowl Championship Series Poll has it thusly:
1. Florida .9918
2. Texas .9227
3. Alabama .9166
4. Iowa .8407
5. Cincinnati .8033
6. TCU .8008
7. Boise State .7863
8. Oregon .7651
If Florida or Alabama win out, and Texas does the same, there’s your national championship game, Florida and Alabama likely facing off in the SEC Championship game. [Or LSU could upset ‘Bama.] And remember, only one between TCU and Boise State can get into the other BCS bowls as they are both in non-BCS conferences. How about Notre Dame-Boise State, anywhere? That’s a decent matchup.
College Football Tidbits
USC will have its Pac-10 conference title streak snapped at 7, barring an Oregon collapse down the stretch, though the Ducks do have some tough ones left, like the Civil War with Oregon State at season’s end. [This should be a great contest.] And in the last three weeks, check out the yards allowed by the Trojans; 367 to Notre Dame, 482 to Oregon State, 613 to Oregon.
The record for most consecutive league titles, by the way, is a whopping 14, set by Oklahoma of the Big Eight during the Bud Wilkinson era, 1946-59, as the Sooners went an astonishing 76-2-2 in conference play.
What a horrible loss for Wake Forest, blowing a 27-14 fourth quarter lead to Miami and going down 28-27. This is turning into an absolutely awful season at the worst time possible for the program, unless you tell me we have a hot new quarterback waiting in the wings for next year, which we don’t. Wake outgained Miami, 555-356, but had four turnovers.
So much for Central Michigan and quarterback Dan LeFevour, who will still be a quality NFL signal-caller but had a rough time of it in the Chippewas’ 31-10 loss to Boston College.
Shu wanted me to make note of Elon wide receiver Terrell Hudgins, who in picking up 100 yards in the contest vs. Wofford, a 34-6 win for the Phoenix, Hudgins broke Jerry Rice’s record for most 100-yard receiving efforts, now 24, Rice having had 23 at Mississippi Valley State.
Finally, Duke is now 5-3 and could be headed to its first bowl game since 1994 as QB Thaddeus Lewis has had a great 4-game stretch of 300 yards+ in passing in each.
Sharks!!!
Before I hit the Oregon coast, I had seen a story where a local angler illegally caught a 12-foot great white shark near Depoe Bay, one of the places I visited on my Thursday drive north. The guy was trying to hide the fact he caught it so he was fined but it’s not a criminal charge. But the point was these monsters are out there…so I scanned the waters constantly but saw nothing except the aforementioned seals.
Then on Friday, I picked up the local News-Times of Newport and there is this front-page story:
“Close ocean encounters: Surfers say shark incidents are increasing in frequency”
“I’ve been here since the ‘80s and never, ever in all those years can I remember this many sightings or incidents occurring in the Newport area, ever,” said Ralph Meier, owner of Envision Surfboards in Newport.
As Larry Coonrod reported:
“Meier says that in the past, shark incidents seemed to occur about every seven-and-a-half years along the coast, but starting in September, he heard of a shark encounter happening about once a week.
“Most of the incidents occurred at South Beach [a little south of Newport]. One of Meier’s friends reported seeing a shark – whose tail fin and dorsal fin were at last 10-feet apart – swim between a group of surfers. A week later, another friend surfing in the same area saw a large shark explode completely out of the water and take a sea lion.” [That’s the kind of thing I was hoping to see.]
Another surfer was dragged off his board when a shark entangled itself in the board’s leash but he escaped being devoured, or launched 90 feet in the air (which had I seen something like that would have been a bit disconcerting).
“This is the time of year when great whites are closer to shore,” says a shark researcher at Oregon State Univ. “Good conditions for surfing also have more people in the water, increasing the chances of an encounter.” Oh baby. But I’m more upset than ever I didn’t see anything. I’m telling you I had a perfect perch from my hotel room.
Surfers say they normally don’t think about the sharks, except one noted “If you’re the last guy out of the water, and it’s getting dark, it usually crops into your mind,”
Great whites can live to be 30 years old, by the way. And the largest on record was 22.3 feet.
“The last documented shark attacks in Oregon occurred between July and October of 2006, when three people were attacked – none fatally.” Yeah, but they ignore the 3,000 that go missing every year.
Cougars!!!
In these parts you also can’t help but think of cougars, or mountain lions. Evidently, I missed a recent story in the state papers that stirred up a controversy. The writer said the numbers of cougars in Oregon are huge and they need to be hunted aggressively before people are eaten alive (he put it a little more delicately).
So check out these letters to the editor in the Oregonian today concerning the previous week’s story.
“That was a significant article in The Sunday Oregonian about cougar, and I wanted to share my experiences with you to confirm what you wrote.
“We live near Brightwood, and I have a ranch that boarders the Sandy River and the mountains on the north, which means that our property is just south of the Bull Run Water Shed. My neighbor has 10 trail cams in our area, and he has kept great track of the wildlife movements during the past year, such as deer, elk, bear, and cougar. There is a large cougar that comes through about every two to three weeks, and when that happens, the elk all completely leave the area for a while. This cougar has killed almost the entire calf crop of this past year, as well as adult elk and deer. I do not have to mention the possible threat to neighbor kids and my grandkids that this situation poses.”
–R.C.
“We live in Wasco (Sherman County). I read the (column) and I believe (the Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife) are way off in their cougar population estimates. I think they don’t want to frighten the general public with the true numbers.
“Here in Wasco, one year, we had five sightings really close to town…I was driving about one mile outside of Moro one day and saw a big cat go into one of the mature wheat fields. It took two steps and it was totally invisible. Needless to say, I won’t be walking right next to a mature wheat field!….
“A rattlesnake may make you really sick, but a cougar will kill you, and with little effort.”
–C.M.
So I’m at a local museum in Waldport, Oregon, and see this brochure from the Oregon State Parks organization, “About Mountain Lions” and what to do should you ever encounter one.
“Never approach a lion [this is the furthest thing from my mind], especially if it is feeding or with its young.
“Stay calm. [Are you kidding me? I’d have a heart attack and die right there.] Do not run, because this may trigger the lion’s instinct to attack.
“Appear Large. Try to appear larger by raising your hands. Pick up small children so they don’t panic and run. [Hell, if I saw small children around I’d be trying to outrun them!….not that I’m a bad person.]
“Fight back if attacked….Since a mountain lion usually tries to bite the head or neck, try to remain standing and face the attacking animal.” [“Here…take my leg, please!”]
Basically, the gist of the brochure is mountain lions are everywhere in the state, their population is growing, and man doesn’t stand a chance. And, once driven into the water, the great whites are lying in wait for us…it’s all very depressing.
But if you thought the above was bad enough….there’s always….
Tsunami!!!
Yes, I was surprised at the constant “Tsunami Hazard Zone” signs along highway 101. So I asked a woman at this museum in Waldport when was the last time Oregon had a tsunami and she said 1964. In fact, Waldport suffered extensive damage.
Of course it’s all about how high the town is and the Oregon coast is up and down, up and down, so you have these individual zones in the low-lying areas.
And Waldport has its own “Tsunami Evacuation Map” with tips on what to do when an earthquake strikes, including, “Do Not Wait for an official warning,” panic.
By the way, “Typical wave heights from tsunamis occurring in the Pacific Ocean, over the last 80 years, have been 20-45 feet at the shoreline. However, because of local conditions a few waves have been much higher – as much as 100 feet or more.”
These latter ones strike with little warning following a local quake. Don’t tarry over your beer when the earth begins to shake. Run for your life! And if you see a mountain lion, make yourself large in the process.
Coyote Attack!!!
Lastly, we have the tragic tale out of Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia, as told by Rob Gillies of the AP.
“Two coyotes attacked a Canadian woman while she was hiking alone in a national park and authorities said she died Wednesday of her injuries.
“The victim was identified as Taylor Mitchell, 19, a singer-songwriter from Toronto.
“She was hiking solo on a trail when the attack occurred….
“Wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft said coyote attacks are extremely rare because the animals are usually shy…. ‘We shouldn’t assume that coyotes are suddenly going to become the big bad wolf.’”
Easy for you to say from the comfort of your office, Mr. Bancroft.
I’ve been on the trails where the attack occurred, a long time ago when I was a little kid. Back in those days (the ‘60s and ‘70s) it was as if there was no wildlife left anywhere in North America. I mean back home in New Jersey we’d get excited when we spotted a rabbit. Now we have coyotes killing the rabbits, rumors of mountain lions, and a plethora of bear. One thing is for sure…coyotes are nasty and the one thing I’m on the lookout for when jogging in certain spots back home.
Stuff
–Can it have been a worse Sunday for New York area football fans? Some are blaming injuries but, all together now, every team in the NFL is hit with injuries and the Jets and Giants have two healthy quarterbacks. The Jets outgained Miami, 378-104, yet lost 30-25 as Miami’s Ted Ginn became the first in the NFL to have two kickoff returns for touchdowns in one quarter (100 and 101 yards). And the Jets had a fumble returned for a score. Geezuz, you can’t suck enough.
As for the once 5-0 Giants, they are now 5-3, the Eagles having dismantled them 40-17. Fans of both New York teams could be jumping off the top of the Meadowlands before long.
Plus us Jets fans have to deal with the spectacle of Brett Favre throwing four TD passes against Green Bay while leading Minnesota to a 6-1 start.
And now…your lousy team watch.
Cleveland 1-7
St. Louis 1-7…following a 17-10 win over Detroit, now 1-6.
Tennessee 1-6…having defeated the team I labeled the worst 3-3 franchise in the history of the league, Jacksonville, now the worst 3-4 team in history.
Oakland 2-6
Tampa Bay 0-7
Kansas City 1-6
Only two undefeateds remain…6-0 New Orleans (plays Monday night) and Indianapolis, 7-0.
–Well, the NBA season is underway and it’s clearly going to be a long one for local fans in New York / New Jersey as the Nets and Knicks are a combined 0-6. The Knicks have the potential to be mildly entertaining, at least, but the Nets are absolutely unwatchable. So the thought here is the Knicks go 24-58 and the Nets 9-73….for a combined 33-131. By the way, I imagine you can get courtside tickets to a New Jersey game for about $22, and they’ll probably throw in a coupon for a free hot dog.
–College Basketball Polls…season starts for some in a week.
USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches’ Poll
1. Kansas
2. Michigan State
3. Texas
4. North Carolina
5. Kentucky
6. Villanova
7. Purdue
8. Duke
9. West Virginia…look out…these guys are good
10. Butler! Wow…but they really do return a lot
14. UConn…[for Jeff B.]
28. Siena…if you carry out the votes
43. Wake Forest…where we should be
AP Poll
1. Kansas
2. Michigan State
3. Texas
4. Kentucky
5. Villanova
6. North Carolina
7. Purdue
8. West Virginia
9. Duke
10. Tennessee
11. Butler
12. UConn
27. Siena
35. Wake Forest
Next week…your EXCLUSIVE title pick! [I have a clue up above]
–I agree with the following sentiment on Mark McGwire, as expressed by USA TODAY’s Christine Brennan.
“When Commissioner Bud Selig found out disgraced slugger Mark McGwire was coming back to the St. Louis Cardinals as their hitting coach, he fairly busted his buttons, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday that he had ‘no misgivings about this at all,’ that McGwire ‘is a very, very fine man’ and that ‘the Cardinals are to be applauded.’
“Sadly, the commissioner blew his lines. He shouldn’t have welcomed McGwire with open arms. From his bully pulpit, Selig should have sent a message throughout baseball, and to the millions of children who follow the game, that McGwire’s stunning lack of cooperation in the nation’s struggle to address the scourge of steroids would face serious consequences.”
Among other things, Ms. Brennan suggests that “Selig…should have told Big Mac that his attendance would be required at a televised news conference in which he would have to answer every last question on the topics of performance-enhancing drugs, home runs – and him.”
–Deflation Alert…plus a kicker: In that other column I do, I made mention of the New York Jets dropping some top tickets for their new stadium next season from $400 to $195. But I also saw that “mezzanine goal line tickets” are being dropped from $400 to $245.
This last nugget is highly significant for those of you still on the fence about ponying up during such tough economic times. So let me give you some advice.
GO FOR THE MEZZANINE GOAL LINE TICKETS! The Jets Flight Crew cheerleading squad is stationed between the goal line and the 10 in all four corners of the stadium. Funny how the stories I read didn’t mention this critical fact.
[Guys, if you like Jersey Girls, you’ll love the Flight Crew.]
–There has been such a plethora of coho salmon this year along Oregon’s North Coast and Columbia River that up to “2,000 fish a day” are being put on ice and turned over to the Oregon Food Bank, which is one of the few good news stories I’ve come across these days.
Interestingly, an estimated 703,000 coho are forecast to enter the Columbia at Astoria this year compared to 472,000 in 2008.
–I went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport again, one of the better ones of its kind for a smaller operation, and they have these Japanese spider crabs, the world’s largest, with a leg-span of 13 feet! They have to be seen to be believed. Very creepy. And they can live to be 100!
–Newport has a cool fishing village and I had lunch at Mo’s, an institution in these parts. Rustic place, but with great food and cold beer. So I ordered “8 Giant Baked Oysters” and I don’t know what I was really expecting but my word, these were really 8 humongous oysters. I mean to tell you, I walked out of there and I was….oops, better not go there.
–No trip to Eugene is complete without paying homage to Steve Prefontaine and making the pilgrimage to Pre’s Rock, as I did last year when I was here, so I drove out again this afternoon to see the marker where he crashed on May 30, 1975. Check the archives for his full story
–We have us a true “Idiot of the Year” contestant…Glen “Baby Doc” Davis of the Celtics who is out five weeks with a broken thumb suffered in a fight with “a childhood friend” late one night, as Davis described it. The Celts’ Danny Ainge observed, “Nothing good happens after midnight.” Ain’t that the truth. Like last night after the game, it was still early, and Halloween, so I was out until about 1:00 a.m. and….well, err….
–I met some nice guys from the ESPN Game Day crew in a bar. They have a pretty fun job, but, no, I didn’t ask about Steve Phillips or Brooke Hundley, and the real story of Bristol, Conn.
–Can someone please tell me why the Knicks’ Jared Jeffries is still in the NBA, and, with career averages of 5 points and 4 rebounds, why he is also being paid $6.4 million?! Goodness gracious.
–North of Newport, Oregon, along the coast, is the town of Lincoln City, home to the Chinook Winds Casino Resort which I forgot to check out. But I saw in the papers they had some decent concert action for us older folk.
Like Eddie Money & Loverboy, together! [That would be a decent show because the performers’ voices should still be OK.] And The Charlie Daniels Band. And on Dec. 4 & 5… “Teen Idols: Peter Noone, Micky Dolenz and Mark Lindsay!!!” It doesn’t get any better than that, sports fans. I’m guessing Mark Lindsay’s voice is still in good shape, and I’ve heard from sources that Peter Noone’s is very good.
[I’m also guessing some of the younger readers are thinking about now, ‘Who the heck are Peter Noone and Mark Lindsay?’ Think Herman’s Hermits and Paul Revere & The Raiders, kids. I’m assuming you knew Micky Dolenz was a Monkee.]
–I drank a fair amount of Dead Guy Ale on the trip, “Dedicated to the Rogue in each of us.”
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/3/73: #1 “Midnight Train To Georgia” (Gladys Knight & The Pips…just not a Gladys Knight fan…and The Pips were vastly overrated) #2 “Angie” (The Rolling Stones) #3 “Keep On Truckin’” (Eddie Kendricks)… and…#4 “Half-Breed” (Cher) #5 “Paper Roses” (Marie Osmond) #6 “Heartbeat – It’s A Lovebeat” (The DeFranco Family…good gawd…this was awful) #7 “Ramblin Man” (The Allman Brothers Band…helps save the week) #8 “Let’s Get It On” (Marvin Gaye…as does this one) #9 “Space Race” (Billy Preston) #10 “All I Know” (Garfunkel)
NFL Rushing Quiz Answers: 1) Five to lead league in rushing 4 times: Steve Van Buren, Philadelphia, 1945, 1947-49; O.J. Simpson, Buffalo, 1972-73, 1975-76; Eric Dickerson, L.A. Rams, 1983-84, 1986; Indianapolis, 1988; Emmitt Smith, Dallas, 1991-93, 1995; Barry Sanders, Detroit, 1990, 1994, 1996-97. 2) Adrian Peterson holds the record for yards in a single game with 296, 11/07. [Jamal Lewis had 295 for Baltimore] 3) O.J. Simpson rushed for 200 yards in a game 6 times; Tiki Barber did it 5 times. [Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson all did it 4 times.] 4) And Campbell is your answer to the question ‘who did it 4 times in a single season.’
Next Bar Chat, Thursday. It’s for mature audiences only.
