Hey, look at this!

Jimmy started walking awhile back. However, he never did so in front of an actual operating camera. Well, today, I finally got a video of him toddling out of our office. Pretty cool, huh?

Go get 'em Jimmy!

Monday Morning Meissnervations

Happy Monday y'all! Here's what's up....

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The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Atlanta Thrashers yesterday 5-1, finishing the preseason with a record of 4-1-2. Of course, ya really can't tell how a team's really gonna be by preseason results, since a lot of guys who aren't going to be with the big club get a lot of ice time. But, early signs might just indicate that the Lightning will be in the playoff hunt, while the Thrashers may be having fans of Atlanta's NBA team thinking "We really aren't the worst, and most unappreciated team in town."

Speaking of the Lightning, check out their radio broadcasts sometime. Dave Mishkin does a great job calling a game, and Matt Sammon does a very fine job in the studio. The more time I spend here, the more I find myself rooting for them, both on and off the ice.

Speaking of which, the ownership situation is still in a bit of limbo, but if reports are to be believed, Oren Koules may well have the lead in being able to buy out Len Barrie and take control of the franchise. Things got so hairy over the summer, that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stepped in and directed Koules and Barrie to find someone to help them buy the other out and stop their bickering. The process continues.

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Speaking of NHL fiascos, the mess called the Phoenix Coyotes continues. Wayne Gretzky resigned as Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations last week, after learning that he wasn't in the future plans of the two prospective owners. Of course, the NHL still thinks they can buy the team themselves, which everyone with 1/3 a brain knows is a move designed solely to keep the team out of the hands of Blackberry exec Jim Balsillie, who would promptly move them to Hamilton, Ontario. Undoubtedly, if the bankruptcy court overseeing this mess awards the team to either the league or Balsillie, the one who doesn't get it will sue like crazy. This may well be they only way that the team spends the entire season in the desert for sure. Ask those NHL players with the puppies on their shirts how much fun it's going to be playing in front of 5,000 fans a night. I really feel for the game night staff, who will have to carry on each home game like nothing's wrong. The situation there is likely to drag on for a long, long time. And it will leave a stink on the NHL crest that will be hard to get out.

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62,517. That's the number of people at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton Saturday, who watched the Saswkatchewan Roughriders edge the Edmonton Eskimos 23-20, to remain tied for first with Calgary in the CFL West. It is the largest regular season crowd ever for a CFL game, for which the fans and staffs of both teams deserve a great big pat on the back for. Scroll down for a complete recap of Saturday's game, okay?

The Riders are at BC this Friday. There could be a pretty big crowd at BC Place for that game too. CFL games will never draw what NFL games do, but it's good to see the crowds getting bigger.

My local cable provider's sports channel is showing the game this Wednesday. A bit late for sure, but I'm looking forward to seeing it. But why, tell me why we have to watch the same high school games replayed three or four times, while waiting four days for this game? Play at 3a.m. Sunday, I don't care. That's why I have a DVR!

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The Riders and Calgary are tied for first in the CFL West. They're both 7-5 for 14 points. Edmonton is 6-6 for 12 points, while BC is 5-7 for 10 points. In the East, Montreal is crusing at 10-2 for 20 points, Hamilton, who was blasted by the Als over the weekend is 6-6 for 12 points. Winnipeg is 4-8 for 8 points, after breaking a five-game skid with a win over Toronto, who is 3-9 for 6 points.

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The Oregon State Beavers dropped their second straight home game Saturday, losing their conference opener to Arizona 37-32. A glaring example of how it's much harder to win games when you can't block or tackle. Beavers at Arizona State this Saturday, 7:00p.m. EDT on the Versus network. This game suddenly is much bigger for the Beavers, if they'd like to avoid going 2-3 on the season, and 0-2 in the Pac-10.

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Baseball is in the stretch drive for playoff position. In the AL East, The Yankees have clinched their first division title since 2006. In the AL Central, Detroit leads Minnesota by 2 and in the AL West, the Angels lead Texas by 6. Boston leads Texas by 6 in the AL Wild Card. All other teams have been eliminated from post season play.

In the NL West, the Dodgers lead Colorado by 5. St. Louis has clinched the NL Central and Philadelphia leads Atlanta by 5 in the NL East. All other teams have been eliminated from the division title races. In the NL Wild Card, Colorado leads Atlanta by 2 1/2, with Florida and San Francisco 5 back. The Cubs are still alive, but trail by 6 1/2. All other teams have been eliminated.

BTW: The Tampa Bay Rays continue to struggle, sitting 20 1/2 games behind Boston in the East. Staggering to think about, considering they were fighting for the East pennant just a month or five weeks ago. They are 6-4 in their last 10, and recently gave up 11 runs with two outs in one inning against Texas. They sit at 79-76, with 7 games to go. They did beat Texas 7-6 yesterday, and host Baltimore tonight. The game could be a sell out, but only if the remove around 19,000 seats. They still fail to come up with a reason to get me out to the ballpark, a situation I don't expect to change anytime soon. And amazingly, they still seemingly have no clue as to why the average weeknight game draws fewer people than a gut wagon draws buzzards. But yet they think all will be well if they can just get a new ballpark.

Yeah, good luck with that thought.

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Play on the small lawn, a/k/a the NFL continues. Last Monday, Indianapolis beat Miami 27-23. Yesterday, Miami lost to San Diego 23-13. (I just don't like the Dolphins. Their fans think they really rebounded last season, after winning just one game the year before. Well, they haven't and they won't make the playoffs.) Detroit beat Washington 19-14. (Lions broke their 19-game losing streak, while Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn put one foot firmly on the banana peel). Baltimore blasted Cleveland 34-3(Larry the Cable Guy's joke about a bathroom visit is taking the Browns to the Super Bowl just might be more fact than joke).

The Jets beat Tennessee 24-17(I wonder when Jets fans are going to start calling their new QB hero Joe Willie Sanchez?). Jacksonville topped Houston 31-24(Yawn). Minnesota beat San Francisco 27-24, on a last-second desperation touchdown pass by Brett Favre, who passed for 301 yards(Jets fans are saying "Just you wait...."). New England steamrolled Atlanta 26-10(Suddenly, the Braves are once again that citie's best team).

Green Bay trounced St. Louis 36-17(My grandmother could trounce St. Louis, and she passed away 22 years ago!). Philadelphia beat Kansas City 34-14(My grandma reference applies to Kansas City as well. Michael Vick did play, but was nothing more than an afterthought. Kevin Kolb threw for 327 yards and this may just be the crack in the door the Eagles have been looking for to shove Donovan McNabb to the sidelines). New Orleans beat Buffalo 27-7(How's that Terrell Owens thing working out Bills fans?). Chicago edges Seattle 25-19(I'm not sure the Seahawks can win with Matt Hasselbeck out of the lineup).

Cincinnati upset Pittsburgh 23-20(No truth to the rumor that Roethlisberger asked McNabb's mom if she had any leftover chunky soup). Denver beat Oakland 23-3(Grandma's 3-0 this week).

And the mighty Tampa Bay Buccaneers rolled up a staggering 86 yards total offense and five first downs yesterday, in losing a heart breaker to the Giants at Ray J, 24-0(Way too many empty seats showing on my TV -- when I managed to stay awake -- to make me believe that Bucs management didn't buy out the unsold tickets, so that the game wouldn't be blacked out locally. Trust me, they'd be better off with a black out. Grandma finishes the week at 4-0. Next week, they'll travel to D.C. in an attempt to save Jim Zorn's job).

The Monday Night game(Can you really believe this is the 40th season of Monday Night Football? Wow!) this week is Carolina at Dallas(The Cowboys just aren't that good, but TV seems to think they have to show off Jerry Jones's billion-dollar sandbox).

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Another attempt at baseballing is on the schedule for me this evening. Hopefully our daily thunderstorm will have passed long before that, so that the field will be dry enough to play on. We get the kind of rain here that people who have never been to the Northwest think that area gets 24 hours a day.

Jimmy is really cranky, as tooth #9 has come in. Poor widdle guy! He is officially a toddler now. He's walking more and more and is really into exploring. What a cutie! And he turned 16 months old yesterday too. Our little baby isn't a baby anymore!

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Someone tell microsoft, that if you're going to continuously bash people over the head with how wonderful a new product is, then they'd better make it more readily available. 12 days after launching the Zune HD, there are STILL no units in 32gb available in the two(Why only two?) retail chains they are allowing to sell their product. I really wanted one(I have owned a Zune 30gb "brick" for two years and really liked it), but the amazing lack of availability of what I wanted(the 32gn Zune HD) drove me straight to the iPod Touch. As my wife so succinctly put it: "Another foul-up by microsoft."

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Well, time to go feed Jimmy and grab some grub myself. Have a great day everyone!

Poor tackling/blocking, late pick spell defeat for Beavers

An inability to tackle in the open field, or to protect their quarterback with good blocking spelled doom for the Oregon State Beavers in their Pac-10 opener Saturday night, as they lost at home to the Arizona Wildcats 37-32, in front of 42,119 fans at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

Arizona took the lead as Nick Foles flipped a 2-yard pass to Delashaun Dean for the touchdown. Alex Zendejas kicked the PAT with 6:25 left in the first quarter, putting the Wildcats on top 7-0. It was the first points allowed in the 1st quarter by Oregon State this season.

The Beavers would grab the lead with a pair of touchdowns. Sean Canfield passed 11-yards to Damola Adeniji with 2 seconds left. Kahut's PAT tied the game 7-7. Then, Jacquizz Rodgers bulled his way across the goal line from a yard out, with 8:25 still to go in the first half. Kahut converted, putting Oregon State up 14-7. Arizona responded with a 19-yard touchdown run by Greg Nwocko. Zendejas kicked the point after, tying the game 14-14, with 3:39 to go in the half. Kahut's 22-yard field goal on the 2nd quarter's final play, gave the Beavers a 17-14 halftime lead.

Canfield threw his second interception of the season early in the third, setting the 'Cats up with a chance in Oregon State territory. Foles barged in from a yard-out on a quarterback sneak, capping a 7-play, 47-yard drive. Zendejas kicked the extra point and with 6:21 remaining in the 3rd, Arizona was on top for the first time, 21-17. Numerous missed tackles throughout the third hurt the Beavers, and Foles hit Juron Criner with a fade pass to the left corner of the endzone, from the 3. Zendejas's kick put the Wildcats on top 28-17, with 1:48 left in the 3rd, capping a 4-play, 80-yard drive.

To Oregon State's credit though, they drove for a big score to start the 4th quarter, Jacquizz Rodgers scored on a 2-yard run, then James Rodgers, who appeared on TV replays to touch a knee down at the 2, was given a huge benefit of the doubt, diving just barely across the goal line for the two-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 28-25, 1:16 into the final period. Terrell Turner caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Foles and with the Zendejas PAT, Arizona was back up by 10, at 35-25. The Beavers drew to within 3 once again, as Canfield passed to Aaron Nichols who did the rest, scoring a 13-yard touchdown. Kahut's PAT made it 35-32, with 4:13 remaining. Oregon State held the 'Cats on their next possession, but got the ball back when Canfield was picked off by Devin Ross near midfield. The Beavers stopped Arizona, but Keenyn Crier's punt bounced out-of-bounds at the 3-yard line. Earl Mitchell sacked Canfield in the back of the end zone for a safety with 31 seconds remaining, making it 37-32. Oregon State recovered the onside free kick just across the 30, but Canfield was sacked on the next two plays and with no time outs left, the Beavers couldn't stop the clock, losing their conference opener for the sixth-straight year, 37-32.

Nick Foles led the Wildcats, with 25-of-34 passing for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns and also ran for a score. Greg Nwoko rushed for a touchdown, while Juron Criner, Delashaun Dean and Terrell Turner caught touchdown passes. For Oregon State, Sean Canfield was 31-of-47 passing for 303 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, while also being sacked 5 times. Lyle Moevao, stepping on the field for the first time this season after off-season shoulder surgery, threw incomplete on his only play of the game. Jacquizz Rodgers rushed 16 times for 85 yards and 2 touchdowns, Damola Adeniji and Aaron Nichols caught touchdown passes, and James Rodgers caught a two-point conversion pass. Alex Zendejas kicked five conversions for Arizona, Justin Kahut has three PATs and a field goal the Beavers.

Oregon State had 30 first downs, was 7-of-14 on third down and 2-of-2 on 4th down. They had 406 yards of total offense, 2 turnovers and were penalized 7 times for 42 yards. The Wildcats had 27 first downs, went 5-for-11 on third down, while failing on their only attempt on 4th down. They racked up 388 yards of total offense, did not turn the ball over and allowed no sacks. They also committed 6 penaties, for 48 yards.

Arizona is now 3-1 on the season, 1-0 in the Pac-10. The Beavers, who lost at home for the second straight week, fell to 2-2 on the season, and 0-1 in the Pac-10.

Oregon State hits the road next Saturday to play former coach Dennis Erickson and the Arizona State Sun Devils. Kickoff is set for 7:00p.m. EDT, with the live broadcast on http://www.kpam.com, and the live telecast on the Versus network. The Wildcats next action is in Seattle against Washington on Saturday, October 10th.

Riders hang on, beat Edmonton in front of CFL record crowd

A determined offense and a solid defense were the difference Saturday night, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the Edmonton Eskimos 23-20, in front of a CFL regular season record 62,517 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta

Edmonton opened the scoring, as a Darian Durant pass was intercepted and returned 59 yards for a major score by T.J. Hill. Noel Prefontaine converted, putting the Eskimos up 7-0, with 6:45 remaining in the first quarter. Saskatchewan made it a 2-point game after one quarter, as Luca Congi botted a 26-yard field goal with 4:09 left, and Prefontaine conceded a safety touch with 2:33 to go, making it 7-5 Edmonton.

Prefontaine kicked a 22-yard field goal 1:53 into quarter number two, putting Edmonton up 10-5. The Riders would take the lead into the halftime locker room, as a 46-yard punt by Jamie Boreham was fumbled into the endzone, where it was recovered by Renauld Williams for the touchdown. Congi's convert, coming with 2:01 to go in the half, gave Saskatchewan a 12-10 lead.

The lead went back to the Eskimos just 1:56 into the third quarter, as Prefontaine drilled a field goal from 42 yards away. After a battle for field position between the two teams ate up the clock, Congi's 36-yard field goal with 3:18 still on the third quarter clock, giving Saskatchewan the lead at 15-13.

The lead changed hands for the fifth time, as Arkee Whitlock rumbled 55-yards for a touchdown. Prefontain's convert put Edmonton back in front, 20-13, with 1:20 gone in the final quarter. The Riders pounded it right back at Edmonton, regaining the lead with a 6-play, 65-yard drive. Wes Cates ran to the 1, where Maurice Lloyd forced a fumble. However, the bounce went the way of Saskatchewan, as Marc Parenteau recovered at the 1-yard line. Steven Jyles punched in the touchdown with a 1-yard run, then Durant passed 5-yards to Andy Fantuz for the 2-point conversion, giving the Riders a 23-20 lead, with 9:33 remaining in regulation time. after more battling for field position, the Eskimos took over at their own 39 with 2:10 left, looking for a comeback victory over Saskatchewan for the second time in a week. Edmonton advanced to their own 53, but Ray's pass for Jamaica Rector on 3rd and 3 fell incomplete, giving the Riders the ball back on downs with 59 seconds to go. Saskatchewan was able to run out the clock from there, holding on to the 23-20 win.

Darian Durant was 23-of-33 passing for the Riders, for 269 yards. He threw 3 interceptions and no touchdowns. Steven Jyles scored Saskatchewan's only rushing touchdown of the night, and Renauld Williams scored a touchdown on a fumbled punt recovery. Luca Congi had 2 field goals and a convert for 7 points. For the Eskimos, Ricky Ray was 15-of-29 passing for 244 yards. Arkee Whitlock's 55-yard score was Edmonton's only rushing touchdown, while T. J. Hill returned an interception for a touchdown. Noel Prefontaine kicked 2 field goals and 2 converts. The Riders had 381 yards total offense, allowed 5 sacks and committed 3 tournovers. They were penalized 5 times for 45 yards. The Eskimos had 321 yards total offense, allowed just 1 sack, turned it over only twice, and were penalized 8 times for 76 yards.

Saskatchewan and Calgary are tied for first in the CFL West at 7-5 for 14 points. Edmonton is a game back at 6-6, while BC is 4th at 5-7 for 10 points.

The Riders make the cross-country trip to Vancouver on Friday, October 2nd, to play the hated BC Lions. Kickoff at BC Place is 10:30p.m. EDT. The live broadcast, with Rod Pedersen calling the action at http://www.620ckrm.com/ begins at 9:30p.m. EDT. The Lions lost at Calgary 27-18 Friday. The Eskimos are at Winnipeg on Friday, October 2nd.

Sports Saturday

It's quite a busy day for me today.















First, it's off to just beyond the middle-of-nowhere, to umpire fall league baseball. I'm working today's game, plus the one coming up on Monday, with one of the association's "big dog's." Here's hoping I don't stink up the place! If I make it out of these two games in one piece, I'm hoping my quality of schedule, plus frequency of working, will improve. Wish me luck!

(Well, no such luck for today. About five minutes before I was set to leave for today's game, my assignor called and informed me that today's game was cancelled, because the field was under water. So? Swim fins and a snorkle and I'm ready to work! Oh well, it means I get to spend the day with my family. Time to go fire up the BBQ!!!!)









At 6:00p.m. EDT, it's CFL football at Edmonton between the Eskimos and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Canada's and Central Florida's team. (Not those hacks in Dallas!) The Eskimos won in Regina Sunday 31-27, scoring late to take the lead, then holding off a last-play chance in the endzone. Omarr Morgan of the Riders set a CFL record in Sunday's game, returning a fumble 108 yards for a touchdown. The live broadcast with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri begins at 5:00p.m. EDT at http://www.620ckrm.com/.











At 7:30p.m. EDT, the Oregon State Beavers open their Pac-10 conference schedule with a Reser Stadium contest against the Arizona Wildcats. The Beavers struggled a bit last Saturday against the Cincinnati Bearcats, losing 28-18. The loss snapped a 26-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents. Arizona lost 27-17 to the Iowa Hawkeyes last week and as a result, both teams enter tonight's game with 2-1 records. Arizona leads the all-time series with a record of 20-11-1. However, the Beavers have won the last three meeting and nine of the last ten. Oregon State's Justin Kahut nailed a 24-yard field goal on the final play of the game, to help the Beavers win last year's matchup 19-17.

Oregon State has lost five-straight conference openers, while last season's 48-14 thrashing of Washington helped the Wildcats snap a seven-game losing streak in conference openers. A Beavers win tonight would give the team it's best four-game start since 2003, when they started the season 5-1.

Arizona's Nic Grigby's is the second-leading rusher in the Pac-10(133.3 ypg), while Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers(114) is third. Junior receiver James Rodgers is third in the Pac-10 for receiving yards per game at 77.7 and for all-purpose yards at 159, while Quizz is fourth in all-purpose yards at 152.7. The Beavers have committed just one turnover in it's first three game and have the second-best passing attack in the conference, averaging 240 yards per game, while Arizona has the Pac-10's second-stingiest pass defense, allowing just 157.3 yards.

You can hear tonight's game with Mike Parker, Jim Wilson and Ron Callan, at http://www.kpam.com/. Versus has the live telecast of the game, Oregon State's school-record 22nd consecutive live telecast. And, as they say, check your local listings for the proper channel in your area.

OSU, our hats are off to you
Beavers, Beavers, fighters through and through
We'll root for every man, we'll cheer for every stand
That's made for old OSU.
Watch our team go tearing down the field
Men of iron, their strength will never yield.
Hail, hail, hail, hail
Hail to old OSU!

Monday Morning Meissnervations

It's (YAWWWWWWWWN!) Monday morning. Here's what's up....

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Both "my" football teams lost this weekend. The Oregon State Beavers lost at home to Cincinnati 28-18 on Saturday. The Beavers just sputtered on offense, especially in the 4th quarter. And the ground game never got going either. Arizona is up on Saturday, in the Pac-10 opener in Corvallis. Kickoff is 7:35p.m. EDT and will be televised live on Versus.

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The Edmonton Eskimos hit a long pass play with just over a minute to go last night, beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31-27. The Riders, who played pretty well, were hurt by not being able to convert scoring chances into touchdowns more often. Saskatchewan threatened at the end, but a desperation pass on the games' last play fell incomplete in the endzone. Riders are at Edmonton this Saturday at 6:00p.m. EDT.

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Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Calgary are all tied for first in the CFL West at 6-5 for 12 points. BC is 4th at 5-6 for 10 points. Montreal is in firm control of the East at 9-2 for 18 points, with Hamilton second at 6-5 for 12 points. Toronto and Winnipeg are both 3rd at 3-8 for 6 points.

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Remember back in August, when Winnipeg rolled at BC, and the Bombers got 260 yards rushing from Fred Reid and 110 for Yvenson Bernard? Reid hasn't even gotten close to that in the past three games combined, going for just 18 yards on 11 carries at Montreal yesterday. Bernard, part of the Oregon State North group that plays for the Bombers, didn't run the ball once and caught one pass for two yards. Apparently, BC was that bad back on August 21st. I still say Winnipeg could have the best running back tandem in the CFL, but lately, it seems to be 1 step forward and 3 steps back in Winnipeg. Simply brutal.

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Major League Baseball is heading into the home stretch of the 2009 season and a couple of the races for post-season berths are heating up. In the AL East, the Yankees are 5 ahead of Boston, Detroit is 3 ahead of surging Minnesota in the AL Central and the Angels lead Texas by 7 1/2 in the AL West. Boston is 8 ahead of Texas in the Wild Card. In the National League, Philadelphia leads Florida by 8 in the East, St. Louis is 10 ahead of the Cubs and the Dodgers lead the West by 5 over Colorado. In the Wild Card, things remain a bit tight. Colorado leads San Francisco by 4 1/2 games, with Florida 5 back and Atlanta 5 1/2 behind.

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The Cubs suspended Milton Bradley for the rest of the season for running his mouth about how he views the state of business in Cubbie Land. Is anyone surprised? He's been trouble too many times. Seven teams in a ten-year career is a pretty telling sign.

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The Tampa Bay Rays beat Toronto 3-1 yesterday. They've won 4 in a row now, but a recent 11-game skid has left them 18 behind the Yankees in the AL East, and 13 behind Boston in the Wild Card. They've already been eliminated in the division race, and their elimination number in the Wild Card is down to 1. Oh well, better luck next year, I guess.

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The NHL pre-season is well underway. The Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Atlanta Thrashers this past Friday. We got free ticket vouchers through my wife's job. Upon arriving at the St. Pete Times Forum, we were greeted by a monster line at the ticket window. However, the Lightning(Who clearlt "get it" while the Rays and Bucs don't) had a representative passing out tickets to those who had the vouchers. We ended up getting seats three rows above the Tampa Bay goal. Way cool, eh? Jimmy had a great time at his first "Big Boy's" hockey game, which the Lightning won 2-1 on a Martin St. Louis power play goalgoal with 25 seconds left in overtime, shortly after rookie goaltender Dustin Tokarski stopped a short-handed breakaway.



The Lightning are 1-0-0-1, losing in a shootout at Dallas last Wednesday, then beating Atlanta in O.T. on Friday. The excitement of the game, the simple fun of just watching live hockey again, would make anyone jump, ya know?!?!

And if you think that's cool, look at the picture of the scoreboard, when they posted pictures of the two teams' starting goaltenders in Friday's game:











Before you start searching through the NHL record book to see when goaltenders with the same name have ever opposed each other, it was a mistake. Ondrej Pavelec played the entire game for Atlanta. Oopsie doodle!

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The Portland Winterhawks were an absolute mess the past three seasons. An incompetant ownership group, poor player selection and a major disconnect from it's fan base resulted in three-straight seasons with less than 20 wins and attendance that dwindled to the point where the life expectancy of the team was being measured by some in months, rather than years. But, three straight solid drafts, new ownership and a renewed committment from it's players, has resulted in a team that lost it's first game this pre-season and hasn't lost since, winning it's last five pre-season games, then winning it's regular season opener on the road, beating Seattle 5-0. The Hawks look like they may well have skipped at least two or three years in the rebuilding process, and could be championship contenders in the Western Hockey League this season. Now, if they can reconnect with the fan base(Raising ticket prices like they did after last season was an extremely questionable move), the franchise could recapture a meaningful place in the Portland market. Good luck to them.

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My old team, the Tri-City Storm, is 0-2-1 in the USHL pre-season. New owner, new coach, same results. Some teams just take longer to rebuild. I think, from what I've read, they'll get there. But, it may be another season of no playoffs before they get there. Now, like in Portland, they need to reconnect with a severely alienated fan base. I'm hearing they are making strides in that area as well. That's good. If they don't, then one skate is in the grave and the other is on a frozen bananna peel. But, that goes for every team in every sport. What I don't really care for though, is that they appear to have reported an attendance estimate of 1,500 for each of their two home games with Omaha. If the numbers were accurate, then I'd say they were encouraging. We'll see. A friend of mine, whose family held four season seats for several years but didn't renew last season, were FINALLY contacted and asked about rejoining the Storm "family." (Gee, what took 'em so long?) Now, the next move will hopefully come in a much closer administration of the Community Ambassador program. The concept is good, but it has been so mis-managed, that it has come nowhere near what they were hoping to accomplish with it. It sounds like they might be close to a radio deal too. That will be a HUGE positive for them.

The Storm simply have too many twenty-somethings in charge of things. I may well have worn out my welcome there, but if you really knew what sparked my frustration there, you'd have a much better understanding.

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Week two of the NFL is just about in the books. Backtracking to week one's Monday Night double-header, New England beat Buffalo 25-24 and San Diego topped Oakland 24-20.

Yesterday, the New York Football Giants won in Dallas 33-31, in front of an NFL record regular season crowd of 105,121(Field goal on last play of game was the difference). Byron Leftwich threw for 296 yards, but looked really shkaing at times, as Tampa Bay lost at Buffalo 33-20. Houston scored late to beat Tennessee 34-31, Cincinnati got a late score to win at Green Bay 31-24, Atlanta beat Carolina 28-20, and Washington outlasted St. Louis and Steven Jackson's 104 yards rushing, 9-7(Refunds available at the box office). Oakland edged Kansas City 13-10(How bad are the Chiefs if they lose to the Raiders? At home, no less? Forget the Lions, these are easily the NFL's two worst teams), the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets beat New England for the first time at home in nine years 16-9, Arizone beat Jacksonville 31-17(Gonna be a looong year for NFL fans in Florida North of Miami), New Orleans stopped Philadelphia(Despite Kevin Kolb's 391 passing yards) 48-22, Minnesota beat Detroit 27-13(Brett Favre's 271st consecutive start is a new NFL record, while the Lions lost their 18th consecutive regular season game, another new record), San Francisco(behind Frank Gore's 207 yards rushing, that including two TD runs of over 79 yards each) beat Seattle 23-10, Denver pounded Cleveland 27-6, Chicago beat Pittsburgh 17-14(236 yards passing for Jay Cutler) and Baltimore sli[pped past San Diego 31-26. The Monday Night game is Indianapolis at Miami. A win would finally push Payton Manning past Johnny Unitas for most QB wins in Colts history(They're tied at 218).

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Mark Martin won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Cup, outdueling Juan Pablo Montoya off a restart with seven laps to go. For a guy who's 50 years old and supposedly retired two or three years ago, this is a great story.

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Fall baeball is trying to get underway around here. My first game, scheduled for last Wednesday was rained out when a thunderstorm dumped two inches of rain on Jack Russell Stadium. (JRS is the former spring training home of the Cardinals and Phillies, but is mostly just a field these days, with most of the old grandstands gone.) I'm looking forward to working with my new umpire's association. They look like a highly skilled and committed group. And, of course, as a general rule, most baseball fields in Florida are palaces, compared to most states. Hopefully, the rain holds off for next Saturday's game.

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That's it for now. Have a great week everyone!

Late touchdown pushes Edmonton past Riders

A 68-yard bomb with 69 seconds left in the game spelled the difference, as Ricky Ray found Maurice Mann for the winning score, as the Edmonton Eskimos beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31-27 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Edmonton had the first scoring opportunity of the day, moving to within 4 yards of the Riders goal. Saskatchewan stopped the Eskimos on 3 straight plays, but were called for too many men, giving Edmonton a fresh set of downs from the 1. After holding the ball for almost 10 minutes, Arkee Whitlock punched it in from a yard out on second down to cap the 14 play, 61 yard drive. Noel Prefontaine added the convert with 4:52 left in the first, putting the Eskies on top 7-0.

The Riders tied the game 7-7 on the first play of the second quarter, as Wes Cates scored on a 4 yard run and Luca Congi converted. Whitlock's second major score of the game, this one from 3 yards out. Prefontaine's convert put Edmonton back on top at 14-7, with 9:38 left in the first half. Congi booted a 22-yard fieldgoal with 5 minutes remaining in the second, cutting the Eskimos lead to 14-10. Fred Stamps caught a 10 yard touchdown pass from Ricky Ray with Prefontaine converting again as Edmonton scored on it's third consecutive possession, taking a 21-10 lead 1:45 before halftime.

The Eskimos threatened to blow it open early in the third. However, Saskatchewan caught a huge break, as Jerell Freeman forced Whitlock to fumble at the 5, where Omar Morgan scooped it up and went 108 yards in the other direction for a major score. Congi's convert made it a 4 point lead for Edmonton at 21-17, 2:43 into the third. Morgan's play was the longest fumble return for a touchdown in CFL history, breaking the previous record of 104 yards by Ottawa's Al Washington against Calgary in 1984. Jamie Boreham conceded a safety on the Riders' next possession, increasing the Eskies' lead to 23-17, with 7:14 still on the third quarter clock. Edmonton couldn't capitalize with a short field on the change of possession, getting just a single point after Prefontaine missed a 38-yard field goal attempt wide left with 4:37 to go in the third. The point however did increase the lead to 24-17 in favor of the visitors from Alberta.

Saskatchewan scored early in the 4th to tie the game. Chris Getzlaf caught a screen pass from Darian Durant and did a masterful job of finding room to run, scoring on the 20-yard pass-and-catch play. Congi's convert knotted the game at 24-24 with 13:13 to go in regulation time. The Roughriders took the lead on their next possession, aided by a Jamie Boreham 3-yard run for first down on a fake punt and a pass interference call against the Eskimos, as Congi kicked a 21-yard field goal with 7:13 to go, putting Saskatchewan on top 27-24. Edmonton stunned the sellout crowd of 30,945 with a 68-yard touchdown pass from Ray to Maurice Mann late in regulation. Prefontaine's convert gave the Eskimos a 31-27 lead with 1:09 left in regular time. The Riders started their final possession at their own 42 with 60 seconds to go. Edmonton, on third-and-6, took a penalty, giving Saskatchewan a new set of downs at the Eskies' 45. Durant moved his club steadily down the field, reaching the Edmonton 17 on a great catch by Robb Bagg with 7 seconds to go. Durant's desperation heave on the game's final play landed between Getzlaf and Dressler and the Eskimos held on for the 31-27 win.

Ricky Ray led Edmonton with 25-of-34 passing for 315 yards and 2 touchdowns. Fred Stamps had 8 catches for 119 yards and a major score, and Maurice Mann had a touchdown amomgst his 7 catches, which netted a total of 128 yards. Arkee Whitlock had a solid day running the ball, with 19 carries for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Noel Prefontaine had 4 converts and a single for the Eskimos. For the Riders, Darian Durant was 23-for-35 passing for 234 yards and one touchdown, while Steven Jyles threw an interception in his only pass attempt. Wes Cates rushed 12 times for 45 yards and a touchdown, Chris Getzlaf caught 5 passes for 53 yards and a touchdown, Omar Morgan returned a fumble a CFL record 108 yards for a touchdown and Luca Congi kicked 2 field goals and 3 converts. The Eskimos had 410 yards total offense to Saskatchewan's 285 and each team allowed one sack and had one turnover each.

There is now a three-way tie for first in the CFL West, as the Riders, Edmonton and Calgary are all 6-5 for 12 points. BC is 4th at 5-6 for 10 points.

Saskatchewan has a chance for revenge this Saturday, as they travel to Edmonton for a rematch with the Eskimos. Kickoff is set for 6:00pm EDT. Catch the live broadcast with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri beginning at 5:00pm EDT at http://www.620ckrm.com/.

Cincinnati outlasts Beavers by 10

An inability to get the ball in the endzone, plus the play of quarterback Tony Pike spelled defeat for the Beavers Saturday night, as the Cincinnati Bearcats beat Oregon State 28-18 in front of 41,909 fans at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

The Beavers moved the ball well starting the game, but were held to a pair of Justin Kahut first quarter field goals, the first from 46 yards with 12:13 left and the second from 39 yards with 6:11 to go.

Quarterback Tony Pike scored on a seven-yard scramble 33 seconds into the second quarter, with Jake Rogers' PAT giving Cincinnati a 7-6 lead. Oregon State started struggling offensively, but did regain the lead. After Brandon Hardin down a Johnny Hekker punt at the Bearcat 1, the Beaver defense swarmed Jacob Ramsey for a 2-yard loss with 12:13 remaining in the half, putting Oregon State back on top at 8-7. Cincinnati cranked up the offense after that. Isaiah Pead scored with 6:40 left, then Pike hit D.J. Woods with a 45-yard catch-and-run with 26 seconds on the clock. Rogers converted after both scores, giving the Bearcats a 21-8 halftime lead.

Jacquizz Rodgers brought the Beavers within a touchdown by scooting around right end for 9 yards and a touchdown to open 2nd half scoring. Kahut's PAT made it 21-15 Cincinnati with 2:24 gone in the third.

Oregon State had a first-and-goal at the 6 early in the 4th, but couldn't punch it in, settling for Kahut's 23-yard field goal with 13:22 left on the clock. Then, a bad break went against them, when forward progress being stopped negated an apparent fumble recovery. The Bearcats capitalized, as Tony Pike passed to Mardy Gilyard for 18 yards and a touchdown. Rogers made the PAT with 8:03 left, increasing the lead to 28-18. A deflected pass with 5:24 to go, the Beavers' first turnover of the season, gave Cincinnati a firmer grasp on the game. A field goal miss with 1:28 left made no difference, as Oregon State could only get out to around midfield, and the Bearcats held on for the 28-18 win.

Tony Pike led Cincinnati with 31-of-49 passing for 329 yards and 2 touchdowns, while being intercepted once. Isaiah Pead rushed for a touchdown, while D.J. Woods and Mardy Gilyard caught touchdown passes. For the Beavers, Sean Canfield was 30-of-46 passing for 245 yards, while being sacked 5 times and being intercepted once. Jacquizz Rodgers rushed for a touchdown and Justin Kahut kicked 3 field goals and an extra point. The Bearcats had 409 yards total offense to Oregon State's 351. Oregon State had a 22-21 edge in first downs, Cincinnati was 6-of-14 on third down, the Beavers 5-of-17. Each team turned the ball over once.

The loss snapped Oregon State's 26-game, non-conference home winning streak, and dropped them to 2-1 on the season. The win kept the Bearcats unbeaten at 3-0.

The Beavers open the Pac-10 season next Saturday at Reser Stadium against the Arizona Wildcats. Kickoff is set for 7:35p.m. EDT. The live broadcast can be heard at http://www.kpam.com/, with Versus having the telecast. Arizona brings a 2-1 record to Corvallis, following their 27-17 loss at Iowa. The Wildcats beat Central Michigan 19-6 and Northern Arizona 34-17 to start the season. Cincinnati hosts Fresno State next Saturday at 12:00p.m. EDT.

Beavers vs. Bearcats

The Oregon State Beavers host the #18 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats tonight at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers, ranked #24 are 2-0 after wins over Portland State(34-7 on September 5th) and UNLV(23-21 last Saturday). Cincinnati is 2-0 entering play tonight, having beaten Rutgers 47-15 and Southeast Missouri State 70-3. This game mark's the first time that the Beavers have been ranked and hosted a ranked non-conference opponent in Reser Stadium, which opened in 1953. The Bearcats beat Oregon State 34-7 in Cincinnati in 2007, in the only previous meeting between the two schools.

Game time tonight is 6:58p.m. EDT. You can listen to the game at http://www.kpam.com. CBS College Sports has the live telecast of the game. Check your local listings.

Go Beavers!

Monday Morning Meissnervations

Holy Jumpin' Up and Down Martha....It's Monday already! Here's what's up....

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First things first: Yesterday, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, we celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of our Rector(That's church speak for Head Priest) Joe Diaz and his lovely bride Jan. Seven years ago, when she was in her last days, my wife's mother Mary Barrows, asked Joe and Jan to take care of her daughter Kimberly(Her only child). The Diaz's agreed and kept an eye on her thereafter. They became Kim's "adopted" parents. He walked her down the aisle at our wedding four years ago and she stood in as Kim's Mother. Now, they fill the role of "Gampa and Gamma" for Jimmy and are a very important part of our lives. Yesterday, they also repeated their vows, with their whole family in attendance. (I thought I was gonna cry!) Papa Joe and Mama Jan, we love you very much!











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Yesterday was the annual Banjo Bowl game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. (Say what? Banjo Bowl? What's that? Well, read all about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Bowl)

The game was tied 7-7 after one, then the Riders reeled off 35 straight points and won in a rout, 55-10. Darian Durant was steady at quarterback, Wes Cates scored three times and Luca Congi kicked six field goals and five converts. On the other side of the ball, Winnipeg's numbers were very ugly, especially in the turnover column, where they hung the number 8.(Youch!) Fred Reid, who rushed for 260 yards against BC, hasn't approached 100 since. And Yvenson Bernard, who rushed for 110 against BC, has touched the ball 5 or 6 times since and lost 2 fumbles yesterday against Saskatchewan. The Bombers could have the best running bnack tandem in the entire CFL(by miles and miles) with Reid and Bernard, but it's just mystifying how they're being used. Winnipeg, at 3-7 with two straight against Montreal on the horizon, are a team desperately looking for answers. They'll get 'em only if they ask the correct questions.

Meanwhile, the Riders are 6-4, tied with Calgary for first in the West and play Edmonton twice next week. The Eskimos have lost two straight, but will present a much stiffer challenge than the Bombers did. Game time in Regina next Sunday is 4:00pm EDT and 6:00pm EDT the following Saturday in Edmonton. Catch the games on http://www.620ckrm.com/.

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In the CFL West, Saskatchewan and Calgary(They don't meet again until October 17th in Calgary) are 6-4 for 12 points, Edmopnton is 5-5 for 10 points and BC is 4-6 for 8 points. In the East, Montreal is 8-2 for 16 points, Hamilton is 5-5 for 10 points and Toronto and Winnipeg are both 3-7 for 6 points.

Speaking of Toronto, they beat Hamilton 23-21 in overtime, to break their 10-game home losing streak(They hadn't successfully defended the Rogers Centre turf since August 8th of 2008) and their 5-game 2009 losing skid. Congratulations Argos.

And the CFL again proved they have things right. In overtime(Toronto-Hamilton was the league's first O.T. game of the 2009 season), they play it like in the U.S. colleges: Each team gets a crack at offense, starting at the 35. If they're tied after one "mini game"(as they call it), they go again. If it's still tied, it then goes down as a tie. I caught the replay on Saturday and it was fun to watch the celebration.

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A pork chop and mashed potatos walk into a bar. The bartender says: "Sorry, we don't serve dinner."

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NHL preseason opens tonight, with the Vancouver Canucks playing the New York Islanders. NHL Network has the game at 10:00pm EDT.

Portland Winterhawks finished the WHL preseason at 5-1. After winning less than 20 games in each of the past three seasons, they are dramatically improved and could challenge for some hardware this season. Some great touch up front and a very mobile defense could spell trouble for opposing teams this season.

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Stick a fork in the Tampa Bay Rays, they're done. They lost twice at Boston yesterday and have now lost 11 straight, the longest losing streak in the majors this season. They now trail the Yankees by 19 1/2 in the AL East and trail Boston by 12 1/2 in the Wild Card. On local sports radio, one talking head even raised the thought of the team perhaps needing to change managers after the season, saying that the popular skipper Joe Maddon may have taken this team as far as he could(Remember how wonderful he was at his job last season, when he piloted the Rays to their first-ever post season appearance? I guess it might be time to play "What have you done for me lately?"). Personally, I think unloading Maddon would be a knee-jerk or panic reaction. Now, if the team struggles out of the gate to start '10, then maybe. But now? No. This team already has loads of problems with drawing fans, and relating to the ones who do attend. A managerial change before next season would just make things worse.

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In the American League, the Yankees lead Boston by 7 gam,es, Detroit leads the Central by 5 1/2 over Minnesota and 6 over the White Sox, while in the West, the Angels are 6 in front of Texas. Boston leads Texas in the Wild Card by 4 games. In the National League, Philadelphia leads Florida by 6 1/2 and Atlanta by 7 1/2, while St. Louis is 9 1/2 in front of the Cubs in the Central. The Dodgers lead the West by 3 over Colorado and 7 1/2 over the Giants(who beat the Dodgers 7-2 yesterday). Colorado leads the Wild Card race by 4 1/2 over San Francisco, 5 1/2 over Florida, 6 1/2 over Atlanta and 7 1/2 over the Cubs.

Go Giants! They host the Rockies for three games starting tonight.

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Oh, can't forget: Derek Jeter passed Lou Gehrig to become the Yankees all-time hits leader this past weekend, while yesterday's game one base hit made Ichiro Suzuki the first player in Major League history with nine straight 200+ hit seasons. Ichiro Mania lives in Seattle!

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A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says: "Why the long face?"

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The NFL opened their regular season yesterday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to Dallas 34-21. I'd comment about the game, but I slept through most of it(Some things are just more important).

The Broncos beat Cincinnati 12-7 on a miracle-deflection 87-yard touchdown with 11 seconds to go; Brett Favre(YAWWWWWWWN!) "led" the Vikings past the Browns 34-20(Adrian Peterson rushed for 180 yards) and the Seahawks beat St. Louis 28-0. Pittsburgh opened the season Thursday with a 13-10 overtime win over Tennesee, who never got to touch the ball because the NFL stubbornly holds on to their archaic OT rules. Atlanta thumped Miami 19-7(Big game for QB Matt Ryan); Baltimore beat Kansas City 38-24; Philadelphia rolled past Carolina 38-10(But may have lost QB Donovan McNabb for awhile with broken ribs); the Jets beat Houston 24-7(I wonder if Jets QB Mark Sanchez would trade that win, for a USC win over Oregon State last season? Uhhhh, probably not. But it was funny to see him hand the game ball to the referee after time expired, then, when the referee gave him the ball back, the look on Sanchez's face, when he realized he got to keep the game ball from his first NFL win, was priceless. Good for him!). Indianapolis beat Jacksonville 14-12(Payton Manning tied Johnny Unitas for most wins in Colts history....but don't say that outloud in Baltimore); New Orleans beat Detroit 45-27(6 TD passes for Drew Brees, decent debut for Matt Stafford); San Francisco held off Arizona 20-16; the Giants edged Washington 23-16(Payton Manning was solid for the New York Football Giants, while you still have to like an NFL team with an actual fight song, instead of something that sounds better performed by a Vegas supper club band); and Green Bay held off Chicago(and new QB Jay Cutler) 21-15(Only neat thing about spending last winter in Wisconsin: Brats on Sunday in front of the TV while watching the Packers). Tonight, the NFL holds it's annual(?) week one Monday Night twin bill, with Buffalo(Shut up about T.O. already, will ya?) at New England and San Diego at Oakland(The Raiders are quite possible the worst franchise in all of pro sports, not just football).

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Did Serena Williams make a complete and total fool out of herself at the U.S. Open? She blew all her gaskets yesterday after being called for a foot fault, subsequently being docked a penalty point(It was her second code violation of the day, after breaking her racket in the first set), which turned out to be the winning point of the match for Kim Clijsters, who went on to win the title. Serena and her sister Venus are in the Women's double finals, but if possible sanctions are levied, it could be Serena's last Grand Slam appearance ever. Another case of a rich, spoiled athlete thinking they are bigger than the GAME they PLAY. Will it send a message if she's barred from future Grand Slam events? Probably not. But it would be a refreshing change of pace, wouldn't it?

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And in closing, how 'bout them Oregon State Beavers? Almost let Saturday's game slip away, but with the help of a pass interference call late, rallied to win 23-21. Jastin Kahut, who earlier hit the left upright on a long field goal attempt(Gotta be the windiest stadium in all of football!), ad to withstand a maddening clock mismangement by his team, then two straight UNLV time outs, before drilling a 33-yard fielod goal into a firece win with 7 seconds left in the game. Not pretty, but a win is a win.

The Beavers, off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2005, host Cincinnati next Saturday. The Bearcats destroyed SE Missouri 70-3 this past Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6:46pm EDT, with the Beaver Radio Network(and http://www.kpam.com/) and Fox Sports Net(TV--Check your local listings) carrying the game.

Go Beavs!

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That's it for now. Have a great week everyone!

Riders blast Bombers in Banjo Bowl

The Saskatchewan Roughriders, tied 7-7 after the opening quarter, reeled off 35 straight points on their way to an impressive 55-10 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers today in the annual Banjo Bowl game at Canad Inn Stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The Riders hit the scoreboard on their third possession of the day, as Darian Durant hit Wes Cates with a 10-yard touchdown pass, capping off a 5 play, 51-yard drive. Luca Congi kicked the convert with 4:47 to go in the first, putting Saskatchewan up 7-0. The Bombers tied the game late in the first, as Fred Reid sprang a 35-yard run for the major score. Alexis Serna converted to tie the game 7-7.

The Riders regained the lead at 8-7, as Winnipeg conceded a single after a 55-yard punt by Jamie Boreham 2:36 into the second quarter. The lead grew to 11-7 after a Bomber turnover, as Congi booted a 40-yard field goal with 8:10 remaining in the half. Another turnover combined with a penalty on Winnipeg's next possession led to more points for Saskatchewan, as Durant ran it in from 10 yards out. The Congi convert with just over 6:00 left in the second put the Riders up 18-7. It was 19-7 less than a minute later, as Boreham booted a 76-yard kickoff single. Yet another Bomber turnover, led to Cates scoring on a 4-yard run. Congi converted with 4:00 to go in the 1st half and Saskatchewan found themselves up 26-7.

Fans in Canad Inn Stadium were reportedly already heading for the exits, as Congi opened second half scoring with a 33-yard field goal 2:33 into the third, to up the Rider lead to 29-7. It was 32-7 as Congi booted his second 40-yard field goal of the game with 9:10 left in the third. The blow-out continued not quite four minutes later, as Andy Fantuz made a spectacular catch on a 34-yard pass from Jason Armstead with 5:30 left in the third. Congi's convert increased the Winnipeg suffering to 39-7. Yet another Blue Bomber turnover, combined again with penalties gave Saskatchewan another scoring opportunity, which they gladly took advantage of, as Congi kicked an 8-yard field goal for a 42-7 lead with 1:38 still on the third quarter clock.

Serna kicked a 49-yard field goal 4 minutes into the final frame for Winnipeg's first points since the closing moments of the first quarter, cutting the deficit to 42-10. Congi kicked his fifth field goal of the game halfway through the fourth, connecting from 40-yards out, increasing the Rider lead to 45-10. Saskatchewan wasn't done yet however. After an Omar Morgan interception return gave the Riders first-and-goal at the 1, Cates walked into the endzone for his third major score of the day. Congi's convert gave Saskatchewan a 52-10 lead, with 5:49 to go in the game. After a touchdown was called back due to an offsides penalty, Congi came on to boot his sixth field goal of the day, this one from 29-yards out with 1:54 to go, putting the Riders by what would be the final score, 55-10.

Darian Durant was solid at quarterback for Saskatchewan, going 18-for-36 passing for 225 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, while also rushing for a major score. Steven Jyles was 3-for-3 passing for 39 yards, while Jason Armstead completed one pass for 34 yards and a touchdown. Wes Cates had a huge game too, rushing for two touchdowns, catching a touchdown pass, all while rushing 12 times for 83 yards. Andy Fantuz caught 2 balls for 64 yards and a touchdown and Jamie Boreham had a kickoff single. Luca Congi had an outstanding day, kicking six field goals and 5 converts for 23 points. For the Blue Bombers, the numbers weren't pretty. Michael Bishop was just 9-of-21 passing for 98 yards, with 2 interceptions. Brian Randall was 2-for-9 passing for 26 yards, while also throwing 2 interceptions. Fred Reid rushed 11 times for 72 yards and a touchdown, while Alexis Serna had a field goal and a convert. The ugliest number of all came in the turnover category. Winnipeg coughed up the ball 8 times, while the Riders gave it up just once. The Bombers also gave up two quarterback sacks. Total yards were decidedly in favor of Saskatchewan as well, 462-215. The Riders were penalized 10 times for 110 yards, Winnipeg 11 times for 127 yards.

Saskatchewan improves to 6-4 for 12 points, tied with Calgary for first in the CFL West. Winnipeg slips to 3-7 for 6 points, 10 points behind first place Montreal(who beat BC 28-24 Sunday) in the CFL East.

The Riders meet Edmonton twice next week, hosting the Eskimos next Sunday at 4:00p.m. EDT, then traveling to Edmonton on Saturday, September 26th for a 6:00p.m. EDT start. The Eskimos, 5-5 for 10 points in the West, have beaten Saskatchewan twice this season, winning in the pre-season 45-12 on June 17th and 38-33 in Regina on July 25th. Catch all the action with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri on http://www.620ckrm.com/.

Riders at Winnipeg today

The Saskatchewan Roughriders travel to Winnipeg today, to meet the BlueBombers in the annual Banjo Bowl Game.

The Riders are 5-4 after last week's 29-14 win over the Bombers in Regina. Winnipeg enter's today's contest with a 3-6 record. Saskatchewan trails first-place Calgary by two points in the West standings, while the Bombers are 8 points behind East-leading Montreal.

Game time is 4:00p.m. EDT, with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri calling the action. Link to listen is on the right side of this blog.

Kahut rescues Beavers at UNLV

Justin Kahut drilled a 33-yard field goal into a fierce wind with 7 seconds to go Saturday night, to help the Oregon State Beavers beat the UNLV Rebels 23-21 at Sam Robb Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The first quarter featured the two teams pounding each other in the Vegas heat for field position but not being able to reach the endzone, with the Beavers' Justin Kahut hitting the left upright on a 47-yard field goal attempt, that turned out to be the only serious scoring threat for either team in the opening 15 minutes.

UNLV threatened halfway through the second quarter, but Oregon State's Lance Mitchell forced a fumble after a completed pass, and Keaton Kristick recovered at his own 18, taking the ball out to the 32 to halt the Rebel advance. The Beavers moved the ball straight down the field, converting a couple of third downs and getting a big run by Jovan Stevenson down to the UNLV 1, setting up a first-and-goal. Jacquizz Rodgers was stopped twice, then on third down, Sean Canfield lofted a play action pass into the right quarter of the endzone and into the waiting arms of Brady Camp for the games' first points. Kahut hooked the PAT wide left, but Oregon State had the lead at 6-0.

After the second half kickoff went out-of-bounds, the Beavers took the ball at the 35 and scored 5 plays later. Jacquizz Rodgers, who started the drive with a 45-yard run, scored from 3 yards out just under two minutes into the third quarter. Kahut kicked the extra point and the lead was 13-0. The Rebels ran the kick back 61 yards, then scored shortly thereafter. Omar Clayton hit Rodelin Anthony with a 19-yard scoring strike, to cap a 5-play, 36 yard drive. Kyle Watson kicked the PAT and UNLV drew to within 6 at 13-7. Oregon State quickly moved back into scoring position. After 10 1st half carries for just 35 yards, Jacquizz Rodgers broke a 46-yard scamper to the left side, down to the Rebel 28. On second-and-goal from the 4, Canfield threw a slant pass to James Rodgers coming from the right for the touchdown, to cap the 7-play, 75-yard drive. Kahut drilled the extra point and the Beavers lead was 20-7, with 7:17 remaining in the third, a lead they would take into the 4th quarter.

The Rebels scored 4:07 into the final stanza, as Anthony scored his second touchdown of the night on a 14-yard pass from backup quarterback Mike Clausen. Watson's PAT sliced the Oregon State lead to 20-14. UNLV took the lead six minutes later. After stopping the Beavers near midfield on 4th-and-inches, Clausen threw a lob pass into the right corner of the endzone to Phillip Payne from 11 yards out. Watson kicked the point, putting the Rebels up 21-20 with 4:16 remaining. Oregon State's offense sputtered on their final possession, but facing 3rd-and-26, a critcal pass interfernce penalty against UNLV kept the drive alive. The Beavers moved the ball stadily down the field after that, nearly scoring on a swing pass to James Rodgers, who was stopped at the 16-yard line just as he was ready to break away for a score. OSU nearly made a monumental mistake by not being on the ball with 17 seconds to play, allowing the clock to run down to 10 seconds, before calling a timeout. However, Kahut kept his cool, in the face of two straight Rebel timeouts and in the shadow of his earlier missed PAT and field goal. He calmly drilled the ball through the uprights from the left hash, then watched as his teammates stopped a desperation play as the clock ran out, preserving Oregon State's 23-21 win.

Sean Canfield led the Beavers with 26-of-32 passing for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jacquizz Rodgers had a huge night, rushing 26 times for 166 yards and a touchdown, while catching 10 passes for 64 yards. James Rodgers caught 7 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown and Brady Camp caught a one-yard touchdown pass. For UNLV, Omar Clayton was 18-of-26 passing for 170 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, before leaving due to injury. Mike Clausen came in and went 6-for-9 for 59 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Rodelin Anthony caught 5 passes for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns as well as losing a fumble that led to Oregon State's first score of the night. Phillip Payne caught 5 passes for 43 yards and a score, and Ryan Wolfe caught 9 passes for 92 yards.

The Beavers ran 66 plays for 384 net yards to the Rebels' 60 plays for 309 yards. OSU had the edge in first downs 22 to 20. The Beavers were 6-for-11 on third down, while UNLV was 6-for-10. Oregon State was penalized 8 times for 55 yards and the Rebels were called for 4 penalties for 41 yards. UNLV committed the only two turnovers of the night.

Oregon State starts the season 2-0 for the first time since 2005, while winning their road opener for the first time in seven years. The Rebels slip to 1-1.

The Beavers return home next Saturday to face the Cincinnati Bearcats at Reser Stadium in Corvallis. The Bearcats are 2-0, after blasting SE Missouri Saturday 70-3. Game time next Saturday is set for 6:58p.m. EDT. The live broadcast, with Mike Parker, Jim Wilson and Ron Callan can be heard at http://www.kpam.com/. Fox Sports Net will televise the game, Oregon State's school-record 21st consecutive televised game. UNLV hosts Hawaii next Saturday at 11:00p.m. EDT.

Beaver football tonight

The Oregon State Beavers look for their second win of 2009 tonight, when they travel to Las Vegas to meet the UNLV Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The Beavers opened the season with a 34-7 win over the Portland State Vikings, while UNLV opened with a 38-3 win over Sacramento State.

This is the fifth meeting between the two schools, with UNLV holding a 3-1 series lead. Oregon State won 47-17 in Corvallis in 2002, with UNLV's three wins coming in 1983 (35-21), 1990 (45-20) and 1991 (23-9 - the only previous meeting in Las Vegas).

Kickoff is set for 11:00p.m. EDT with the live broadcast available at http://www.kpam.com/. CBS College Sports has the live telecast. Check your local listings for the channel in your area.

Where were you 8 years ago today?

It was 8 years ago today, on September 11th, 2001, that terrorists hijacked, then flew passenger jets into both of the tall towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and into a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people(including the hijackers) lost their lives in the attacks, in the worst case of terrorism on American soil.

I was with my Dad outside Portland, Oregon and he woke me up that morning, saying: "New York's being attacked!" I then, like so many Americans, watched the TV reports in utter horror, wondering why someone would do such a dastardly thing.

Now, 8 years later, we are, as a friend of mine put it this morning, "living like it's 9/10." Back then, we never imagined it could happen, and now some imagine it could never happen again. We can all hope and pray that it never does, but we must not become complacent and must guard against such acts of terrorism and prevent them from happening, NOT expect it won't happen.

Never, ever forget that day. Never, ever forget the innocent people who died that day. Never, ever forget the cowards who did this.

Never, ever forget.

God bless America!

Time for a big ol' pat on the back....

....to my wife's boss. His name is Mark Wise. He’s a fantastic guy and a great manager who really cares about his team. Mark is a former Marine. He leads by example, goes to bat for his people, has a great sense of humor, and is every inch the kind of professional you want to work with.

Hey Mark, when can my wife bring Jimmy to work for the day with her?

She really likes her job because of you and I appreciate that very much. Semper Fi. Carry on!

Monday Morning Meissnervations

Happy Labor Day Monday, named in honor of all the expectant mothers in our town(Labor Day. Get it?). Here's the latest....

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College football started this past weekend. The Oregon State Beavers beat the Portland State Vikings 34-7. Both teams played hard and it was a fun game to watch. The Beavers Sean Canfield found James Rodgers deep over the middle for an 97-yard touchdown on the Beavers' first scrimmage play of the season. Jaquizz Rodgers ran for over 100 yards and the defensive backs played well. It could be a pretty good season for the orange-and-black. The Beavers play at UNLV this Saturday. The game will be on TV(check your local listings) beginning at 11:00pm EDT.

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The Oregon Ducks lost 19-8 at Boise State last Thursday. It was an ugly game, with an even uglier post-game. Ducks appeared totally unprepared and some reports claim that new Head Coach Chip Kelly doesn't have the respect of both his team and the man he succeeded, A.D. Mike Belotti. Oregon started the season ranked in the top 20, but may be in danger of imploding already. The Ducks host Purdue this Saturday. Suddenly, they're faced with a must-win in week #2.

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The Saskatchewan Roughiders beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers yesterday 29-14. Neither team had played since August 21st, but were ready for this one. The Riders took control early and forced the Bombers to virtually abandon the running game that worked so well at BC in their last game. Darian Durant had a solid game at quarterback for Saskatchewan, and the 30,945 fans left happy. Riders play at Winnipeg next Sunday at 4:00pm EDT.

There are two games on the CFL schedule today: Toronto at Hamilton and Edmonton at Calgary. If Calgary beats Edmonton tonight, there'll be a three-way tie for first in the West between the Riders, Calgary and Edmonton, all of whom would be 5-4. BC would be just one game back, at 4-5. Heading into tonight's action in the East, Montreal is 7-2, Hamilton is 4-4(They won just 3 games all of last season), Winnipeg is 3-6 and Toronto(who has lost 10 straight home games and hasn't won at home in over a year) is last at 2-6.

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The Tampa Bay Rays lost to Detroit 5-3 yesterday, after entering the 9th with a 3-1 lead. The bullpen has apparently taken September off and as a result, the Rays are all but out of the Wild Card race. Manager Joe Maddon looked almost comically panicked, coming out of the dugout several times in the 9th inning, changing pitchers in a futile attempt to hold onto the lead. The Rays are now 14 games behind the Yankees in the East and 7 back of Boston in the Wild Card. As the team searches for answers this off-season, including how to get people to come to week-night games, how to raise revenues to be able to hold onto their better players, and the possibility of a possible new Mayor for St. Petersburg who doesn't think replacing the crap-hole that is Tropicana Field is necessary, this could be the single-most important winter in team history.

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In the American League East, the Yankees lead Boston by 7 1/2 games and Tampa Bay by 14 1/2. In the Central, Detroit leads Minnesota by 7 and the White Sox by 8 and in the West, the Angels lead Texas by 5 1/2 and Seattle by 10 1/2. In the Wild Card race, Boston leads Texas by 3 games, Tampa Bay by 7, Seattle by 8, Minnesota by 11 and the White Sox by 12.

In the National League, Philadelphia leads the East by 6 1/2 over Florida and 8 1/2 over Atlanta. In the Central, St. Louis leads the Cubs by 11 1/2 and in the West, the Dodgers lead Colorado by 3 1/2 and San Francisco by 5 1/2. In the Wild Card, Colorado leads San Francisco by 2 games, with Florida 5 games back, Atlanta 7 and the Cubs 8.

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Derek Jeter is just 4 hits behind Lou Gehrig on the Yankees' all-time hit list, and Ichiro Suzuki is the second-fastest to 2,000 in MLB history. Those are two big accomplishments for two classy players.

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Bright House Sports Network now feels that with football underway in the good ol' USofA, they don't need to carry CFL games any longer. I hate it when they don't consult me on things like that. Yesterday, they showed a lot of what I would call "filler" programs, instead of the Saskatchewan-Winnipeg game. Boo, Hiss. Time to fire off a nicely worded letter of complaint.

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Jimmy is still trying to push out tooth #8, which would explain the case of the fussies he had yesterday. Poor widdle guy. As I write this, he is just waking up and I can hear him through the baby monitor. I love listening to him through the monitor we have dubbed "WJIM Radio: All Jimmy, all the time."

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Snoopy, our Miniature Schnauzer and Smoke, our Chihuahua, continue to provide us with love and entertainment, and a target for Jimmy and his special brand of "baby terrorism." Smoke spends most of his time in a box of clothes in Mami's closet, or under the covers on the bed. He must always be warm. He kept escaping when we'd let him out back, but Mami found and plugged the escape route yesterday. Snoopy loves to stretch out and sleep on the arm of the couch. But, he's fallen off twice already this morning. Our boys(all three of them) are pretty silly.

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Oh, have I mentioned hockey season is underway? Most of the Junior leagues are already playing pre-season games. The Tampa Bay Lightning open their pre-season schedule on September 16th at Dallas. After that game and a September 18th home game against Atlanta, the team gets an early start on building their frequent flyer miles. The Lightning play in Regina, Sakatchewan against Ottawa on September 21st, in Everett, Washington on September 22nd and Loveland, Colorado on September 23rd, both against Phoenix, then travel to Winnipeg on September 24th versus Edmonton. They close out the pre-season in Atlanta on September 27th, then open the regular season in Atlanta on October 3rd. The Lightning open their regular-season home schedule on October 8th against New Jersey.

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The NHL continues to muddle through a couple of "sticky" situations with ownership problems in Phoenix and Tampa Bay. Guesses are things will be settled in Tampa sooner, rather than later. Meanwhile, the Phoenix situation continues to slowly wind it's way through the court system, with Blackberry guru Jim Balsillie still attempting to purchase the team and move it to Hamilton, Ontario this season, while the NHL does it's best to deny him the opportunity to purchase and move the franchise. Stay tuned to this one. It's a soap opera on ice.

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The NFL pre-season is finally over. Thank goodness. There is nothing more boring and unexciting than NFL pre-season games. Nothing. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have anointed Byron Leftwich as their starting quarterback, traded Luke McCown to Jacksonville, and have kept Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson as backups to Leftwich. Sports radio in Tampa Bay generally predicts the Bucs to have a significantly unsuccessful season in 2009, winning MAYBE 4 games. We'll see. But certainly, I saw nothing in the pre-season to think those predictions are far from wrong. The Bucs open the regular season at home against Dallas this coming Sunday and the game still isn't sold out. Of course, when the team expects personal seat licenses above the cost of game tickets, it's not surprising that "good seats are still available." This could be the year across many NFL cities, where the economy finally catches up with them, and tickets at or below face value, will be available right up to game time.

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I continue to wind my way through the health system. Fortunately, nothing serious or life-threatening has been found. Now, it's just a matter of finding out how to best treat what's been found. Also working on my right pinky finger and shoulder, to try and avoid surgery. Fun times.

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My wife is the greatest wife in the world. Why else would I, in the midst of a sleepless night, get up and clean the kitchen and living room? If that isn't love....well, you know. I love you dear!

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That's it for this week. Have fun everyone!

Riders beat Bombers by 15 in Labour Day Classic

Two interceptions by Tad Kornegay, plus touchdowns from Weston Dressler, Wes Cates and Steven Jyles, powered the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a 29-14 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Sunday in the Labour Day Clasic game in front of 30,945 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Winnipeg scored on the opening kickoff, as Jason Armstead caught the kickoff from Alexis Serna ten yards deep in the end zone, giving the Bombers a single and a 1-0 lead. Saskatchewan came right back on their opening possession to take the lead. Darian Durant led the team on a 9 play, 75-yard drive, with short yardage quarterback Steven Jyles taking it in from one yard out. Luca Congi converted, put the Riders up 7-1 5:08 into the game. Winnipeg cut it to 7-4, as Serna punched through a field goal from 48 yards out with 6:22 left in the opening quarter. Saskatchewan moved quickly downfield on their next possession, with Wes Cates scoring on a 3-yard run up the middle. Congi converted with 1:58 left in the first, putting the Riders up 14-4.

Saskatchewan got their next chance to score, after Tad Kornegay recovered a fumble at the Winnipeg 35. Congi kicked a 21-yard field goal with 11:12 to go in the first half, giving the Riders a 17-4 lead. It was 18-4, after Jamie Boreham booted a 53 yard punt single with 6:52 left in the half. As time wound down, the Bombers stopped a Saskatchewan drive with an interception and moved quickly the other way, reaching the 1 yard line with 1 second remaining, but were denied points as the Riders' Luke Mollinder stopped Fred Reid for a 2-yard loss on the final play of the first half.

Winnipeg's Serna kicked at 17-yard field goal to open second-half scoring, cutting his team's deficit to 18-7, just 3:20 into the third quarter. Moments later, Saskatchewan caught a pair of breaks when an apparent interception was overturned on review, then they recovered a fumble on a punt return near midfield, but the season-long 3rd quarter woes continued and the Riders were unable to capitalize and increase their lead. After getting the ball back at their own 16 on a Boreham punt, former Saskatchewan quarterback Michael Bishop moved his team 94 yards in 5 plays, with Adarius Bowman catching an 18-yard touchdown pass. Serna's convert made it 18-14 Riders, with 6:02 to go in the third. Kornegay breathed some life into the Mosaic Stadium crowd, intercepting Bishop and returning the pick to the Bomber 14. Two plays later, Durant found Weston Dressler with a 13-yard scoring strike. Congi converted as time expired, giving Saskatchewan a 25-14 lead heading into the final quarter.

A Congi 29-yard field goal with 7:22 left and a Boreham 88-yard single on the ensuing kickoff were the only points of the final quarter, giving the Riders a 29-15 win and a 27-16 record all-time in CFL Labour Day Classics.

Darian Durant was 23-of-37 passing for 246 yards and one touchdown for Saskatchewan, with one interception. Weston Dressler caught a touchdown pass, Wes Cates and Steven Jyles rushed for touchdowns, Luca Congi kicked 2 field goals and 3 converts and Jamie Boreham added two singles, one on a punt and one on a kickoff. Tad Kornegay had 5 tackles and 2 interceptions, while John Chick had 4 tackles and 2 sacks. For the Blue Bombers, Michael Bishop was 20-of-33 passing for 329 yards and a touchdown, plus 3 interceptions. Fred Reid, who rushed for 260 yards in his last game was held in check, carrying the ball 12 times for just 41 yards. Yvenson Bernard, who exceeded 100 yards in the last game was Mister Invisible, with no rushes and just one reception for 13 yards. Adarius Bowman caught a touchdown pass, while Alexis Serna kicked 2 field goals, a convert and a kickoff single. The Riders had 344 yards total offense to Winnipeg's 353. Saskatchewan benefitted from a case of sticky fingers, forcing 6 turnovers, while giving up the ball just once. Each team allowed two sacks.

With the win, the Riders improve to 5-4 for 10 points, tying Edmonton for first in the CFL West, pending the outcome of the Eskies' game at Calgary Monday night. The Bombers slip to 3-6 for 6 ponts, 8 points behind Montreal in the CFL East.

The scene shifts to Winnipeg next Sunday for the annual Banjo Bowl, with kickoff set for 4:00pm EDT. The live broadcast on CKRM Radio begins at 3:00pm EDT.

Riders in action today

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are back in action today after having last weekend off, as they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Labour Day Classic at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

In their last action back on August 21st, the Riders lost at Montreal 34-25. The Bombers also had last weekend off, following their impressive 37-10 win in Vancouver over the BC Lions on August 21st. Saskatchewan enters today's game at 4-4 for 8 points, 2 points behind Edmonton in the race for first in the CFL West. Winnipeg is 3-5 for 6 points, 8 points behind Montral in the CFL East.

Kickoff on the Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium turf is set for 4:00pm EDT. Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri have the call on 620 CKRM, with the link to listen on the right side of this blog.

After today's game, the teams meet again next Sunday in Winnipeg, also set for a 4:00pm EDT start.

Beavers beat Portland State to open '09 season

A solid, workman-like effort led the Oregon State Beavers past the determined Portland State Vikings 34-7 today in the opening game of the 2009 college football season for both teams.

After allowing the Vikings to move into Oregon State territory to start the game, the Beaver defense stiffened and forced a punt. After taking over on their own 13 to start their first possession, OSU went the distance on their first play from scrimmage. Sean Canfield threw deep to a streaking James Rodgers for an 87-yard touchdown. Justin Kahut kicked the extra point and the Beavers took a 7-0 lead 5:22 into the 1st quarter. They expanded the lead to 14-0 on a 5-yard run by Jaquizz Rodgers and a Kahut kick with 5:53 left in the first.

Oregon State built the lead with 10 points in the second quarter. Kahut booted a career-best 50-yard field goal 1:49 into the quarter, then Jaquizz Rodgers punched it in from one yard out, with Kahut converting 2:32 away from halftime.

The Beavers, who won the toss and deferred to the second half, wasted little time expanding the lead some more. After running the kick into Portland State territory, Jaquizz Rodgers went up the middle for 43-yards and a touchdown just 9 seconds into the second half. Kahut kicked the PAT and the OSU lead was 31-0. Kahut's 24-yard field goal with 1:24 left in the third, gave the Beavers a 34-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Vikings had an excellent chance to get on the scoreboard early in the final period, but failed on four-straight plays from the Oregon State 2-yard line. Later in the quarter though, Portland State finally broke the shut out. Connor Kavanaugh, who like his brother, the Beavers' Tyler Kavanaugh, is his team's place kick holder, came in at quarterback and led Portland State on a solid drive from near midfield, and finally scored from one yard out with 2:51 remaining. Robert Truax booted the PAT and that was all the scoring for the day, as Oregon State ran out the clock for the win.

For the Beavers, Sean Canfield was 8-of-11 passing for 158 yards and a touchdown, while backup Ryan Katz was 7-of-12 for 125 yards. Jaquizz Rodgers rushed 16 times for 103 yards and 3 touchdowns, and James Rodgers caught 2 passes for 95 yards, one of those the 87-yard catch-and-run touchdown on OSU's first play from scrimmage. For Portland State, Drew Hubel was 20-of-37 passing for 250 yards, while Connor Kavanaugh was 2-of-4 for 22 yards, and added 35 yards rushing and a touchdown on 5 carries. Ray Fry had a fine day receiving, with 10 catches for 146 yards.

The Beavers had 433 yards total offense(7.3 yards per play) to the Vikings' 349(5.3 yards per play). Each team had 18 first downs and showed solid proficiency on 3rd down, with OSU going 8-of-14 and PSU 6-of-15. The Vikings' one lost fumble was the only turnover of the day.

The Beavers, 1-0 on the season, travel to Las Vegas next week, for a matchup with the UNLV Rebels. Kickoff is set for 11:00pm EDT. The live audio stream can be heard on http://www.kpam.com/. The game can also be seen nationally on CSTV. UNLV opened their season with a late-night home game this week against Sacramento State. Portland State opens their home season next Saturday at Portland's PGE Park with a 4:05pm EDT game against Southern Oregon. The Vikings game can be heard at http://www.kpdq-am.com/.

Beavers open season today against Portland State

The Oregon State Beavers open their 2009 college football season today, as they host the Portland State Vikings at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

The Beavers are ranked #25 to start this season(after finishing last year at #18), while Portland State(4-7 last season) still tries to find their way under the leadership of Jerry Glanville. The Beavers and Vikings have met just twice on the football field, with the Beavers taking a 51-14 win in Portland back in 1983, then winning 41-14 in Corvallis in 2005. The Beavers, heading into today's action, also have a 25-game non-conference home game winning streak.

The Beavers will once again feature the one-two punch of the Rodgers brothers, Jaquizz and James, while Sean Canfield is expected to get most of the snaps at quarterback. The most notable conncetion between the two Oregon schools lies in the Kavanaugh family. Senior Taylor Kavanaugh is a punt returner/holder/reserve receiver for the Beavers, while his brother Connor, a sophomore, is a backup quarterback for the Vikings. They are both #1 place kick holders for their teams as well. Vikings sophomore defensive end Carl Sommer, junior kicker Jake Webber and sophomore quarterback Justin Engstrom all started their collegiate careers with the Beavers.

Kickoff is set for 11:30am PDT(thanks to TV of course), belived to be the earliest start time for a Beaver football game at Reser Stadium, which opened in 1953. Mike Parker calls the action on the Beaver Sports Network, with the radio broadcast's internet stream available here at http://www.kpam.com. The game can also be seen on Fox College Sports Pacific(Channel 802 at my house).