THIS MAY BE THE SWEETEST WIN OF ALL

For fans of the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers, every year the "Civil War" football rivalry brings all kinds of anxiety. Families are divided, couples argue, hardcore fans sweat it out... Whoever wins gets to have bragging rights, and basically LIVE in the state of Oregon for the next year.

For quite a while, it was a given that the home team would win this annual contest. Last season, the Ducks were on their way to a Bowl Championship Series game until standout quarterback Dennis Dixon went down with a knee injury late in the season. Oregon folded, and the Beavers beat them in Eugene 38-31. Lots of "neeners" were going around from the OSU fans.

This year the Beavers were the team with the better record in the Pacific Ten Conference, and a win over Oregon would have made the Beavers league champions and would have landed them in the Rose Bowl. Just like we Ducks were talking about a BCS game last year, this year the OSU fans were big into the Rose Bowl talk. The Beavers were ranked #17 nationally, the Ducks were ranked #23, and the game was being played on the Beavers' home field in Corvallis. It was shaping up to be a close game, and most of the pundits were predicting an Oregon State win. I thought the Ducks would win, and my prediction was by 6 points.

Well... there is certainly no joy in Beaverville tonight!

Oregon stomped on the Beavers 65 to 38, and the drunks in Corvallis tonight will not be happy ones. Not only did their most hated rivals keep their beloved Beavers from going to their first Rose Bowl in something like 40 years, they did it in MORE THAN CONVINCING FASHION.
There is absolutely no doubt as to which is the best football team in the state of Oregon this year.

65 is the most points ever allowed by an Oregon State University football team, and they allowed that number to... the Ducks!!!

I know, I am rubbing it in here big-time, but oh well. I know the Beaver fans will all get their chance to rub our Duck beaks/noses in it again, probably sometime in the next year or two.

So I will enjoy it while I can!

Now, on to Bowl season!

FUN-FILLED WEEKEND AHEAD

Time to get away from this town for a couple of days and head west to the politically enlightened Willamette Valley. I'm leaving tomorrow about lunchtime. The weather should be good for a drive down the Columbia Gorge to Portland. I ought to get there about 5 p.m.

First things first! A late afternoon stop at my favorite CD store of all time. I will be looking for the new releases by Mercury Rev and Lambchop, and maybe I will luck into finding some shoegazer classic albums by Swervedriver and Slowride. You can check out their website at http://www.musicmillennium.com/about.html .

Then a Tex-Mex dinner with a very good friend at Esparza's, one of Portland's best! Salmon enchilada, here I come!

(photo from http://flickr.com/photos/eyeliam/2377773173/ )

After dinner, a listen to Medeski, Martin and Wood at the Aladdin Theater!

To see what kind of shows the Aladdin has, you can see their website at http://www.aladdin-theater.com/ .

On Saturday morning it's a visit to my daughters, and a trip to Costco for some household needs for them. Then it's on to Eugene with a very good friend to watch the Oregon Ducks play the University of Arizona Wildcats in an important Pac-10 game at Autzen Stadium at 3:30! Go Ducks!

(excellent panoramic photo by Curtis Reed)

Sunday it's more time to visit with the kids before the 4-5 hour drive back home. It should be fun, it should be relaxing. I will come around to your blogs next week and leave some comments!

To my Portland friends I won't get to see this weekend, if you are home on Wednesday or Friday around Thanksgiving, I may be begging you for housepest privileges. I will be driving to Portland to pick up my kids, driving them home for Thanksgiving, and then driving them back again.

Everyone, have a great weekend!