Catching up

Hi there everybody. Sorry I've been away for awhile, but I'll try to do better.

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The Oregon State Beavers lost 37-33 to the Oregon Ducks on December 3rd. The game was a hard fought, back-and-forth contest, with Oregon overcoming a 9 point 3rd quarter deficit. LaMichael James ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns for the Ducks, who ended USC’s seven-season reign atop the league. Oregon’s 8-1 conference record gave them their first Pac-10 title since 2001, when they went to the Fiesta Bowl. The Ducks will face Ohio State on New Year's Day. Sean Canfield threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns for the Beavers. Jacquizz Rodgers, who finished second to Pac-10 rushing leader Toby Gerhart of Stanford, rushed for just 64 yards and a score.

The Beavers(8-4 overall, 6-3 in the Pac-10) will face BYU(10-2 overall, 7-1 in the Mountain West) in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl on Tuesday, December 22nd. Kickoff is set for 8:00pm EST. The game can be heard on http://www.kpam.com/ and the Beaver Sports Network, as well as the Sports USA Radio Network and Armed Forces Radio. ESPN will televise the game live. For the Beavers, it is their 9th bowl appearance in the past 11 seasons.


OSU and BYU have met eight times previous, but not since November 15, 1986 when the Beavers upset the Cougars 10-7 in Provo. In that game, current BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall was a junior starting safety for the Beavers and made four tackles. OSU also has victories over the Cougars of 34-0 in 1955, 35-0 in 1961, 29-3 in 1972 and 24-19 in 1977. BYU’s victories include 31-13 in 1967, 37-14 in 1973 and 10-6 in 1978.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have gone 2-8-1 since our last report, with their lone wins coming on December 5th against the Islanders(4-0) and last night against St. Louis(6-3). The Lightning are now 12-14-9 for 33 points, 4 points back of third place Florida in the Southeast. Tampa Bay, Montreal, the Islanders and Rangers all trail Florida for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Poor play, struggles on special teams and spotty goal tending have plagued the team, forcing coach Rick Tocchet to bench some players. Hopefully, last night's win at St. Louis will help point the team in the right direction.

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In the NFL, week 12 ended with New Orleans beating New England 38-17. In week 13, the Jets beat Buffalo 19-13, Philadelphia topped Atlanta 34-7, Carolina slipped past Tampa Bay 16-6, Chicago beat St. Louis 17-9 and Cincinnati beat Detroit 23-13. Indiana knocked off Tennessee 27-17, Miami edged New England 22-21, Jacksonville bested Houston 23-18 and Denver blasted Kansas City 44-13. Oakland squeaked past Pittsburgh 27-24, New Orleans did the same to Washington 33-30, San Diego beat Cleveland 30-23, the Giants bested Dallas 31-24, Seattle edged San Francisco 20-17 and it was Arizona over Minnesota 30-17. Green Bay beat Baltimore in the Monday Night game, 27-14.

In week 14, Cleveland tipped Pittsburgh 13-6, New Orleans edged Atlanta 26-23, Baltimore steamrolled Detroit 48-3, Green Bay beat Chicago 21-14 and Houston beat Seattle 34-7. Indianapolis beat Denver 28-16, Miami edged Jacksonville 14-10, Buffalo tipped Kansas City 16-10 and Minnesota stomped Cincinnati 30-10. New England doubled Carolina 20-10, the Jets beat Tampa Bay(probably the most inept team in the NFL) 26-3, Tennessee blew away St. Louis 47-7, Washington knocked off Oakland 34-13 and San Diego edged Dallas 20-17. Philadelphia out slugged the Giants 45-38 and, in the Monday Night game, it was San Francisco over Arizona 24-9.

Week 15 started on Thursday with Indianapolis staying unbeaten, thanks to a 35-31 win over Jacksonville.


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Jimmy continues to develop his vocabulary at a steady pace. He has said his name once, his favorite word these days seems to be cookie and now, he is also beginning to communicate with us in a more direct manner. He points to something he wants and when he's hungry, he'll walk over to his high chair, grab the legs and start shaking it. He sure is a cool little guy!

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Florida now has the second highest unemployment rate in the country and the Tampa Bay area, where we live, is nearly a point higher than that. Leaving here for greener pastures is becoming a more desirable idea with each passing day.

Yeah, that change we were promised in the last Presidential election sure is working out great, isn't it?

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BTW: Have I mentioned lately how very much I love my wife? Just thought I'd let you know.

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We continue to look for answers as to what ails me. Constant abdominal pain of one degree to another, that varies in intensity and location, has baffled each doctor I've visited. At the suggestion of the the first surgeon we consulted with, we scheduled an appointment with the surgeon who did my colon resection three years ago. Upon arriving at his office this past Monday(after a two-hour drive from our home), we were told the appointment had been cancelled, because the doctor was out of the office all week. Turns out, when my wife scheduled this appointment three weeks earlier, the person in the doctor's office failed to enter our new information into their system. So, when they tried to contact us, they used a phone number we haven't had in three years. Oh well, we did manage to turn it into a day out as a family, which was fun. We'll try it all over again next Wednesday. Hopefully, this visit will yield the answers we seek, which will lead to a plan of action. Simply put, I'm ready for this pain to go away. Your thoughts and prayers are be most appreciated.

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Our "new" car, a 1990 Ford Escort, is doing well. It has a red grill and red left front fender, while the rest is white. We've named it "Snowball, the Red-Nosed Escort." It's nice to have a car that gets 10mpg more than our previous one, that's for sure!

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Oh, in case you missed it earlier, I love my wife!




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Snoopy and Smoke are doing great. And, thankfully, they "tolerate" their little two-legged brother. Part with our four-legged boys if times get tougher than they are now? NEVER! NEVER, I say!!!!

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Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. See you soon and Happy Holidays to you!!!!