Oh my God you're kidding really I can't believe it I mean wow: McGwire used steroids

Well, over a decade after he made history, Mark McGwire has admitted that he used steroids.

For those of you too young to remember, McGwire broke the single season home run record in 1998, beating Sammy Sosa in a year long fight to the finish. It should be no surprise that McGwire cheated--the rumor mill has been saying so for ages.

Now McGwire has taken the first step to re-sanctifying baseball by telling the Associated Press that he used steroids over a 10 year period. He admitted that his record was tainted. But he's not the first to admit he used steroids.

What then, makes McGwire's admission the first step down the road back to what baseball should be? It's the little part about him setting a record while juiced. Other players cheated, but McGwire's home run record was arguably the first major feat that can be attributed to steroids. It was the inspiration for Barry Bonds to start juicing--and once again I suppose I must say "allegedly"--and was one of the key parts of the steroid era.

What makes McGwire's confession so important, is that he sets a precedent for other retired athletes to admit they juiced. This won't make people forget that he used steroids, but it will very likely lead people, present company included, to have a shred more respect for McGwire than we otherwise did.

I might even go so far as to allow him into the Hall of Fame with my hypothetical Hall of Fame vote. We'll have to see what the others think when the next round of voting happens.

Actually, the Hall of Fame issue is a big one. If McGwire is inducted, then the laundry list of players implicated in the steroid debacle have reason to come clean. If not, well, we're very likely back to square one.

Civil War Postgame thoughts

Well, that was an experience. Oregon lost the game to Oregon State, and there's nothing I can say to make that fact any less depressing. The Beavers lead the whole way. They deserve to win. Sure, the refs didn't help but as much as I think we'd all like to we can't blame a game on the refs (other than the 1972 Olympics debacle).

But, on the bright side, I did win Fan of the Game and. Oh, and seated at the VIP table right in front of me were University President Dr. Richard Lariviere, his wife, and a United States Senator(pictured). The US Senator, Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) was literally directly in front of me. He complimented my fanhood.

As a result of getting Fan of The Game, I won an AMP Energy shirt, a Mountain Dew hat, a Diet Mountain Dew shirt, and an AMP Energy hat. Oh, also, an advertisment card for Pepsi. I liked that. While everything else was a subliminal advertisement, Pepsi just handed me a card that said "Pepsi" on one side, and had their slogan on the other.

Oh, America! (but that's another post)

Oh, did I mention that the Fan of the Game promotion was sponsored by Amp Energy!

Duck out

Image courtesy Mr. Wyden's senatorial web page (www.wyden.senate.gov).
This is the first time we've posted a photo because we try and you know, follow the law. Most other blogs would link tons of photos from ESPN, but we don't own those photos. The photo of Senator Wyden is available on his website, specifically for uses like this.

End of an era

This Sunday will be the final Civil War basketball game played at historic Mcarthur Court in Eugene. For those of you who don't know, Oregon will move into the $200 million Mathew Knight Arena, named for Phil Knight's son.

As for the game itself, Oregon comes in on a six game win streak, including a road sweep of the Washington schools. Overall, the Ducks sit at 10-4 (2-0 conference). Those two conference victories equal the total number of Pac 10 wins for the Ducks a year ago, and the 10 wins overall are two more than Oregon had last year.

Oregon State on the other hand comes off it's worse defeat in school history, a 51 point loss to Seattle University--in Corvallis. The Beavers look for their first win at Mac Court since 1993.

If you're in town, tickets are still available for Sunday night's game for $40. Student tickets are sold out. Otherwise, FSN will televise the game, and Jerry Allen will have the radio call for the Oregon Sports Network.

Since this is a Civil War game, I will leave you with my Oregon-State-Joke-Of-The-Day.

Did you know that an OSU fan lost $100 betting on the Oregon-Arizona game? He bet $50 on the Wildcats in the first game and another $50 on them in ESPN’s “Instant Classic” replay.
-this was an entry in a "post your best Oregon State Joke" contest.

Fancier is not always better

I should tread lightly on this one, because ESPN is--if all goes according to plan--my future employer. That being said, they are not perfect.

ESPN is planning to unveil a 3D TV station network in 2010. We have officially reached the point where we know more about technology than we have a reason to know. Call me a purist, but I think that ESPN has no real business making a 3D station. No doubt I watch HDTV over a grainy black-and-white model, but there is a point where "improvement" and "innovation" go a bit too far.

For example, this sentence is boring.
Because this sentence us bold, it stands out more
this sentence looks really cool, and was probably one of the first things you noticed when you loaded the page, but it is a bit tedious to read such a long sentence while it's flashing
This sentence has way too much going on and is very hard to read

Bottom line is, just because you can, doesn't mean you should. 3D is amazing in movies. Take Avatar, for example.

Let's face it, Jim Tressel could have written that plot. It was stale, formulaic, and predictable. There were--and this is a true story--three or four times where I literally predictedverbatim what the next line was going to be.

But the movie was a superhit, because it was visually stunning. The masterful cinematography and use of technology made the movie amazing, even though the plot was--well not amazing.

But a World Cup match is not a fictitious war between 8 foot tall blue aliens and trigger-happy marines.

A World Cup match is reality. What is so captivating about watching professional sports is that it is real. It's actually happening. I don't need to see the ball flying out of my TV screen towards my face--I'm already equally captivated by the precision with which the ball was sent spinning just over the top of the wall and into the corner of the net.

Pro sports is not fiction. The Beautiful Game is beautiful because it leaves people speechless. Shown in 3D, it loses its grandeur because it is no longer reality.

You want to watch something in 3D, fine--but stay way from my sports or I'll start writing everything like this. And when we do video-podcasts, they will be shot with some obnoxious video affects--perhaps that photobooth affect that makes the image look like it's in a comic book?

(Civil) War for the Roses Preview

Duck will be on air with Keith Becker, aka The UO Sports Dude early this week to preview the 113th edition of the Civil War.

Ireland vs. France debacle raises questions

From everything I've read--there was no doubt about it. The Associated Press has used terms such as "clearly" and "obvious" to describe Henry's handball. As a journalism student, it is shocking to see a sentence like this in an AP article:

"In extra time, Henry twice handled the ball, then passed to William Gallas in the Irish penalty box for the deciding goal."

Normally, no matter how bad a call is, professional writers would say that Henry "appeared" to handle the ball-but that is not the case here.

So let's call it a missed call. What's FIFA to do with that information? Ireland is apparently calling for a replay, but is that really practical? The missed calls came in extra time--doesn't the old adage go that if you lose a game because of a missed call you didn't deserve to win anyway?

Besides, Ireland could have put the game away in regulation. Would a replay of the game even be justified? Imagine the hullabaloo if France won that game 3-0. The missed call would be largely forgotten, and soccer would be left vulnerable to have another situation happen again.

But then what if Ireland wins? A World Cup berth reversed? France would be outraged, and nobody wants the French outraged. In 2005, FIFA invalitaded the results of a World Cup qualifier between Uzbekistan and Bahrain--but the situation was entirely different as it was not a game that decided who qualified (neither team was in the World Cup).

It would seem then, that some kind of a rule change is in order. I've heard a few things tossed around. One suggestion has been to add an extra official behind each of the goals. Think back to the Zidane incident at the last World Cup. Had one of the linesmen not seen the headbutt, Zidane wouldn't have been sent off, so he'd have been able to take a penalty. This might have changed the outcome of a World Cup. So clearly, an extra pair of eyes can't hurt.

As with any missed call, replay has also been a suggestion, and it seems like it might be time--though it does pain me to say that. If ever there was a timeless sport, it is soccer, but how many more scenarios like this one are we going to need before we bite the bullet and implement replay.

Ducks vs ASU postgame

Forget about it
Homecoming. All black unis. The knowledge that Cal knocked off Arizona. There were plenty of things to take the Ducks' minds off of last week, and they all did. Oregon didn't look like they were stuck thinking about last week's loss to Stanford, and it showed as the took care of business against ASU.


Capitalize on opportunities
The Ducks had two field goals and a couple of questionable third down calls, but overall they did a good enough job to come away with the win.


Defense Defense Defense
The Duck defense looked nothing like the unit that game up 51 last week in the Bay Area. Coincidentally, Stanford's 34 point demolition of USC in Los Angeles made the Ducks nine point loss in Palo Alto seem, well, not as bad. And by the way. That best-rush-defense-in-the-Pac-10? USC had the best run defense in the conference until they came to Eugene. Anybody sensing a theme here?


Duck Out.

OSU-Iowa Postgame

ROSE BOWL. That is all.

Ducks vs ASU keys

Forget about it
The Ducks lost a tough game in Palo Alto last week, but they've got to bounce back from that. Their mantra all year has been that one game does not define their season, and that's as important as ever this week. Oregon still controls it's destiny as far as the Rose Bowl is concerned, but it's all down the tubes if they don't focus on ASU

Capitalize on opportunities
Arizona State has one of the better defensive units in the Pac 10. The held USC to just 14 points last week in Tempe, so Oregon had better make the most out of all the opportunities they get.

Defense Defense Defense
Last week was a bit of an off week for the Duck Defense. Okay, who am I kidding? Last week was a terrible week for the Duck defense. To score 42 points on 570 yards of offense and still lose just doesn't happen very often.

Duck Out.

Ohio State-Penn State Postgame

This weekend's game was a big stepping stone for the Buckeyes and Terelle Pryor in particular. With the commanding win over the Nittany Lions and Iowa's loss to Northwestern earlier in the day, all that separates Ohio State from a trip to the Rose Bowl is a win this week against the Hawkeyes. That's right, though it once seemed like the best the Bucks could hope for was the Outback Bowl after losing at Purdue, they don't even need to show up against Michigan if Iowa is defeated. 

The three things that stood out in this game were Ray Small, Terelle Pryor, and the Buckeye defense. Small had a great game returning kicks, as evidenced by his Big Ten Player of the Week nod. Two of his returns were a broken tackle away from being touchdowns, one of which set up the Buck's first score. When he holds on to the ball, Small is a dangerous weapon who has really helped out the struggling offense this year with good field position. 

Though Pryor's stats may not have been very impressive, he did what he had to do to win. His first quarter touchdown run was a good example of what he can do with that 6-6 frame. His decision-making continues to improve week by week, and that's the first step to becoming a good quarterback.

The Silver Bullets are firing on all cylinders. If Penn State had not scored their only touchdown, the Bucks would have had their 5th shutout of the season. Darrell Clark was contained well and threw 2 interceptions. A win like this is a great confidence boost for what will essentially be the Big Ten Championship game this week in Columbus, when the Hawkeyes come to town. OSU is peaking at the right time.

Buckeye out.

Ducks vs USC Postgame

47-20. That is all.

Keys to the Game Revisited: Oregon @ Washington

Contain Locker
Well done, Ducks. Strong defense and Locker never looked 100%. That interception on the fourth and goal was great. Locker doubled his season high in picks and never was able to get much together running the football either.

Control the ball
The Ducks made it look pretty easy on offense once that got clicking, didn't they. LaMichael James played a role, as did a healthy looking Masoli (who threw his first touchdown pass to somebody not named Dickson). We've known it all year and tonight was another example. When these Ducks get rolling, it's fun to watch.

Not your older brother's Washington/Don't look ahead
I group these together because they're basically one in the same. The Ducks dominated the game and continued the streak against the Huskies.

Keys to the Game: Oregon @ Washington

Contain Locker
The Ducks defense has been scary good these last few weeks. A look at the numbers…
1 touchdown
2 field goals
1 scoring drive over 1 yard
Those are the numbers the Ducks have put up on defense since they trounced Cal. If the quack attack defense can do this again, they are in good shape. Locker may just be the best arm in the Pac 10, and is one of the better quarterbacks in the country. Washington fans are champing at the bit to see Locker attack the Ducks injury plagued defense, but so far this year even without Walter Thurmond III and Willie Glasper, the Oregon D has been great.


Control the ball
LaMichael James has got to have (another) big game. Reports are that Masoli was practicing in full pads by the end of last week, but I’ve still yet to hear anything 100% confirming he’s starting. Even if he is, he may be a little bit, tentative, so it’s likely that James will see a lot of the ball. The better game James has, the less work the defense has to do, and when your defense is fresh, you’re always in good shape.


Not your older brother’s Washington
A certain podcaster said on a college football season preview show, that when it comes to the Pac 10, “the Washington schools though, I think we can pretty safely put at the bottom of the heap.” Now, this particular podcaster/blogger/me didn’t realize something about the Washington Huskies, namely that these are not, repeat NOT the same Huskies that went winless just a year ago. USC was kind enough to demonstrate to the world just how wrong I was about Washington. Oregon had better realize that Washington football is relevant again.

Look at USC, but don’t
So after I’ve spent all this time saying the Ducks should think about what happened to USC, I’m now saying that Oregon can not, must not, think about their date next week with USC. They’ve got to concentrate on the task at hand before they worry about next week’s Halloween throwdown with the Men of Troy. USC’s loss to Washington came because they were still thinking too much about their win the week before at Ohio State. Oregon can’t afford to lose because they’re thinking too much about their next game.

Time for Buckeye to Rant

Earlier this week, the LA Galaxy announced that it would play a friendly on Thanksgiving against FC Kaiserslautern of Germany. This marks the third consecutive season in which the club has played a "postseason tour," obviously for the purpose of growing the Galaxy brand on a global stage. 

Though it is common for European clubs to take preseason jaunts around the world, playing extra games after the season has concluded is quite rare. These postseason tours are unfair to the players, not only because they have to be away from their families on a holiday (the game is in Germany), but also because they deserve a break between the end of the season and the beginning of their offseason workouts. Should the Galaxy reach the MLS Cup Final this year, they would have to fly out the very next day for the Kaiserslautern game. 

A postseason tour does nothing for players trying to make a case for more playing time the next year because they have not had the opportunity to improve over the offseason. I know that everyone in the Galaxy front office is anxious to get all the can out of David Beckham while he's still on the team, but he'll probably be on his way back to Milan anyway to rejoin the Rossoneri in the middle of their season. 

There's a reason nobody watches the NFL's Pro Bowl-once the Super Bowl has ended, fan interest shifts to other things. Once the MLS Cup has been played, the Galaxy's interest should do the same. 

Buckeye out.

Good News and Bad for USA Soccer

Let's be clear about one thing: whether or not Charlie Davies plays in the World Cup is not really relevant, the most important thing here is his good health.

That being said, the US team would have liked to have had Davies as part of their attack in South Africa, but will almost certainly be with out his services.

The good news however, is that Davies is now out of the ICU and is now able to receive visitors. Davies will have surgery next week on his elbow and may need facial surgery as well.

Davies was injured in a car accident last week. He broke several bones, including two in his right leg, and also lacerated his bladder.

It is possible, although very unlikely, that Davies will be able to play with the team in June. He should need anywhere from six months to a year to recover from his injuries, so while it is possible he will be able to play in June, it would take a miracle for him to be in game shape.

But when he next plays is not important at all; what matters is that Davies is alive, and out of the ICU, although he still has a long road ahead of him

Duck out.

Detroit Shock move to Tulsa

According to espn.com a team official for the Detroit Shock has told the associated press that the team is moving to Tulsa. The WNBA's 37 fans have been notified. The news comes as a joyous announcement to the one womens' basketball fan in the state of Oklahoma.

Duck out.

Time for Duck to rant

Why do people STILL give ND credit for "keeping up" with USC. They LOST! 4-11 in their last 15 games against ranked teams! Why are they still relevant? Why?

Duck out.

Now, traveling in the NBA really is more than two steps

An NBA rule change  will allow players to take a full two steps before they are called for traveling. To the casual observer, this won't make a difference at all, because NBA refs have been calling it that way for millennia, but now, it's actually legal, according to the rule book, to take two steps with the ball. 

Duck out. 

Keys to the Game: Ohio State @ Purdue

This week the Buckeyes take their show on the road to West Lafayette, IN to face the 1-4 Purdue Boilermakers.

Get Offensive

Last week, defense and special teams were responsible for 2 of the Buckeyes' touchdowns, with the offense struggling and doing little to show improvement. This all starts with the quarterback, Terelle Pryor. If Pryor cannot establish a competent passing game, then the defense will always play the run and force him to complete a pass. OSU needs to develop confidence in their young QB before they get to the meat of their schedule in November. 

Trick Plays

If a conventional game plan isn't working for Pryor, then Coach Tressel should throw in some trick plays and get away from his typical conservative game plan. Utilizing Pryor's unique talents is the key to making the offense fire on all cylinders.

Tough D

The Bucks' defense has been nothing short of outstanding this year, lead by playmakers Kurt Coleman, Brian Rolle and Chimdi Chekwa. Hopefully the offense can sustain some drives and give this unit some more time off. Time of possession was heavily in Wisconsin's favor last week until OSU got the ball late and was able to run the clock. 

Look for me on TV!

I will actually be making the trip to Purdue with 49 other members of Block "O," Ohio State's official student fan group. This will be the 8th college football stadium I have visited.

Buckeye out. 

Keys to the, um, not game. Oregon's bye week

The Ducks get a much needed week off this week, and it comes at a pivotal time in their season. A week from Sunday, the Ducks travel up north to take on the Washington Huskies, and then return home for a Halloween date with the USC Trojans.

Bye weeks can be tricky--they can give a team too much time to think about a loss and they can kill momentum. But bye weeks also give a team time to take a break, and for Oregon, this could be a key.

I almost hate to say this, but I'm beginning to be a little worried about the status of Jeremiah Masoli. When he left the Washington State game early, most people in the crowd thought it was simply because of the blowout.

Then, in the week before the UCLA game news slowly started to leak out of Eugene that he was hurt. You know the rest, Nate Costa played in Masoli's place against UCLA, but Masoli did make the trip down (yet he was not in pads).

Knee injuries always worry me, because they can be extremely misleading. A player with even a serious ligament injury can walk with little to no limp, but when they try and plant their leg, that's when things go wrong.

For Masoli to be an effective quarterback, he needs to be able to have that threat of taking off down the field, and with a bum knee that threat is gone.

A week off before a key game against Oregon's neighbor's to the north gives Masoli plenty of time to rest that knee. The general consensus among the blogosphere is that Masoli will be fine, and I don't disagree at all--I'm just getting uneasy about the fact that we haven't heard anything for sure yet.

I'll close with the ultimate bye week paradox: Oregon needs to stay extremely focused while enjoying the week off. If I knew how to do that, I'd be a coach, not a blogger/podcaster/aspiring broadcaster/you get the point. It's on Chip Kelly to keep the Ducks relaxed and focused on football.

Duck out.