Spoiled Ducks

Well, we did it! Oregon won its second consecutive BCS game, this time at the Fiesta Bowl. I wasn't there. My husband wasn't there. My brother wasn't there. Thankfully, a good number of Ducks fans managed to show up, but I guess we are just a bunch of spoiled Ducks. I couldn't help imagine what would happen if we had a play-off this year, and Oregon played Notre Dame and Alabama played Florida and then the winners faced off. Now that, that would have been exciting.

If Kiara was still smarting from the Stanford loss the day of the Fiesta Bowl, it didn't show.

Ends up, there isn't a play-off this year and with a nine-month-old at home we didn't make the trip to Arizona. The best I could do is dress baby-girl up in her Duck gear. In fact, that is what I've been doing instead of contributing to my sports blog. Sorry. I'm a loser.


But here are some pics just to prove I am still being a sports fan. Motherhood hasn't changed that. I just haven't been very good about blogging about it. Anyway, Kiara says, go Ducks!

Kiara in her game day dress as if Oregon played in the SEC or something.

This shot is from summer, before the season started, but Kiara was already excited.

Kiara didn't get to watch the game this day and neither did we.
We don't get the Pac-12 Network :(

This was Kiara during the SC game. She was riveted. Notice Puddles, her duck.
Puddles is her favorite. No kidding.

Finally! The Oregon Ducks Win the Grandaddy of Them All!

2012 has already started off so much better than 2011. Last year there was the nasty taste of the Natty loss in Arizona and that Cam Newton smile. This year victory was finally ours. And what a game. I mean, really, that was a great game with all those lead and momentum changes, big plays and big hits. It was stressful, for reals, but winning the big game is so much better than losing and Oregon knows from their last two BCS Bowl games how much losing hurts. 

But after the dust settled around the game, and I looked back at the fan experience I must say the beautiful Rose Bowl is a far superior venue to the cement-covered stadium in Phoenix. The tailgating and the Southern California weather make for a perfect game day. The thing I'm not sure about though is why I liked the Wisconsin fans better than the Auburn or Ohio State fans. Maybe it's because we beat them or maybe they actually are nicer. The Ohio State fans at the Rose Bowl two years ago were pompous. The Auburn fans at the National Championship game represented the SEC well with their loafers and their, "You know, football, it's a way of life down here" mentality. But the Wisconsin fans were pretty nice. They didn't talk smack. They cheered appropriately. They lost with dignity.

To my surprise, the people who drove me crazy at this year's Rose Bowl were not the Badgers. It was the SC fans. I know some nice USC fans. I know they exist. But ever since Oregon lost to SC some of the more obnoxious SC fans have NOT SHUT UP. They insist they are so much better than the Ducks and they are the real Pac 12 champs. I know you beat us, Tommy Trojans, but you also lost to Stanford and Arizona State. And sorry, guys, but you actually have to win the Conference Championship Game to claim this. I would have loved a rematch up at Autzen with SC in the inaugural PAC 12 Championship game. That would have been awesome. But instead we got the Bruins. So please, take your "Fight On" to some other bowl game. This year the Rose Bowl belonged to the Ducks!

Favorite Sports Stories of 2011

Another year of sports is coming to an end. Last year I put together my top ten sports moments but this year I want to focus on the stories so here are my top ten.

10. The NCAA College Football National Championship Game: Yeah, Oregon lost, but it was great to be there. What an amazing experience to get to see the team you love play in the biggest of games.

9. Emerson Middle School Boys Basketball Buzzer Beater: Our boys got to play at the NBA All-Star Jam Session at the Convention Center downtown. They earned there way by winning several close games but the most dramatic was their come from behind victory over Gompers with Jordan hitting a jumper as time expired. "Jordan hits the game-winner!" Has a familiar ring to it, doesn't it?

8. Tim Tebow: I have not been a fan of Tim Tebow but his late game dramatics have been a pretty incredible story to watch and I love the Tebowing phenomenon.

7. Game Six of the MLB World Series: I was not all that excited about watching the Cards and the Rangers in this year's fall classic and at the start of game six, with all those errors, I wondered if either team really wanted it. But with the Cards down and the Rangers a strike away from the title, the Cards come up with the hit. And then they come up with more hits and in the eleventh they win it. And then they win it all. Pretty crazy and I was super happy for former Dodger, Furcal.

6. Matt Kemp's Triple Crown Run: There was not much to cheer for from the empty stands of Dodger Stadium this season. But with a Cy Young pitcher on the mound and Matt Kemp vying for the triple crown, I was still watching our boys in blue this past September. And as Dodger fans say, "Wait 'til next year."

5. Emerson Middle School Boys Flag Football City Championship: Once in a while a special team comes along. Five years ago it was a special Emerson girls basketball team who won the city title and this year our boys' flag football team made an incredible run. They finished their undefeated season with a come-from-behind win on a catch by Jordan with no time on the clock (yes, the same Jordan who hit the game-winning basketball shot at the All-Star Jam Session).

4. Uganda's Little League Team: My hometown of Bend, Oregon made it to the Regionals of the Little League World Series but their story wasn't as powerful as the one from Uganda, a team who never made it to the Little League World Series because of paperwork discrepancies. They are still playing baseball in Uganda and there is no doubt we will see them in Williamsport one of these summers.

3. VCU V. Butler at the Final Four: When Number 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth was set to play against Number 8 seed Butler I didn't know which Cinderella to root for. But after watching VCU coach Shaka Smart getting his team fired up with his Iron Man drill, I knew who I was pulling for. 

2. The Japanese Women's World Cup Soccer Team: A devastating earthquake and tsunami, and a bunch of short soccer-playing girls. Yeah, I wanted them to upset the Americans in the World Cup Final and when it came down to PKs, Hope Solo couldn't make the save. A few key misses handed Japan the crown and I'll just try to forget all of the racist slurs that cluttered the twitterverse shortly thereafter.

1. The Final Day of the MLB Regular Season: Okay, so the scenarios on the final day: Boston and Tampa Bay were in a dead heat for the AL Wild Card, and Atlanta and St. Louis both still had a shot at the NL Wild Card. When the Braves lost to the Philllies, the Cards watched and waited after their own victory over Houston and then celebrated Atlanta's collapse. Then, in the course of moments, with the Rays down 7 in the eighth against the Yankees, it looked like the Sox had slammed the brakes on their fall skid, but then they blew the lead, and the Rays walked off on an Evan Longoria homer. The Red Sox were eliminated ending an incredible final day of the regular season.

My List of Top 5 Players...

You know how people have their lists: the celebrities they are allowed to fantasize about being with? Well, D and I both have our lists, but we tend toward athletes. I don't know who's on his list although he said Hope Solo but I think that was just to make me mad. So, as a counter the distasteful MILFs, I've come up with my list of PILFs (active players).

Feel free to gawk, sound off, and contribute your own PILFs to the list.

5. Jason Taylor: I love defense and those eyes, seriously. He lost some points a couple of years ago during Hard Knocks but he still makes my list.

4. Mark Sanchez: During the Jets' Hard Knocks season, Mark Sanchez won me over. I usually go for defensive guys, but he's an underdog (at least now that's he's not at SC anymore) and he's a prankster. And he cracks me up in press conferences.

3. Ray Allen: My only NBA pick, I've been crushed out on Ray Allen since he was Jesus Shuttlesworth. And Laker fans hate him which makes him all the more appealing to me.

2. Carlos Beltran: Although a little injury plagued, I love me some Carlos Beltran. That smile, come on. Charming. But I'll always have to imagine him as a Met. Now that he's a Giant, it's kind of over.

1. Matt Kemp: MVP stats, re-signed with my Dodgers, you had to know Matt Kemp would top my list.

PAC 12 > SEC In My Humble Opinion

I know the powers that be, so many sportswriters, pollsters, pundits etc... have a love affair with the SEC. I know they've won so many BCS titles... but after the past two weeks of football (in particular) I'll take the PAC 12 any day.

Yes, I'm an Oregon Duck fan and I've never pretended to be neutral or unbiased, but the SEC game of the season, LSU v. Alabama, ended 9-6 in OT with the favored team winning. BORING. Our game of the season, Stanford v. Oregon, ended in an exciting 53 - 30 upset.

They can take their Roll Tide/ War Eagle. I'll take the Oregon/Oregon State Civil War, "Fight On" from SC fans, a tree mascot, barking from those Dawgs at UW, and even that silly pitchfork from ASU.

Besides, I think I smell roses
again...

Told You So...

KEMvP! KEMvP! KEMvP!

Not sure if you've noticed, but as long as I've been alive, no baseball player has won baseball's triple crown. It's actually rare for someone to even come close. So during a season when Dodger fans have had very little to cheer about, I just have to point out that I called it. Like Babe Ruth calling a shot I saw that Matt Kemp was different this season (here's a link to that blog post in case you don't believe me). He might end up falling a few points shy of the triple crown, but I've been stalking him all season and during innings when I was able to make eye-contact, I'm pretty sure he hit over .500. If any other MLB players would like to book my stalking services for next year, please leave a comment including stats and your off-season training plans.

Going Back After 9/11

D and I joke that we belong to the church of baseball, but in September of 2001 baseball, like the rest of the sporting world, came to stunned halt. The attacks on 9/11 left so many of us shocked and scared and in the need of healing. So when baseball started up again, D and I made our way to Dodger Stadium.

From the stands above the field on that cool fall night, we watched the familiar palm trees sway in the outfield. We looked out on the sage hills of Chavez Ravine as the sky glowed like stained glass. Vin Scully’s voice cracked and echoed into the stadium and a hush spread across the crowd.  That steady, familiar voice calmed me as Vin's put the week's event in perspective.

Then, LA firefighters and police officers joined Dodger and Padre players unfurling a flag across the length of the outfield. We took a moment of silence and in that quiet, a quiet like none I’ve ever heard in Los Angeles, void of helicopters or planes in the distance, words, whistles or coughs, I saw how our country, our world, could come together again.  Among the crowd of 42,000 under empty LA skies, the ruffle of the American flag served as the backdrop to all the images of the past week and that night, I looked down through the twilight and thanked God for baseball.