New Oregon Ducks Black Helmets!

Check these out!





YES!

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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit (of coming home)

I haven't blogged in a while, and with a little push from Adam, I figured I'd get on here and try to spark my interest in writing again.

It's a little hard with my job now, because the office internet is ridiculously locked down, so I spend half my time looking for loopholes in order to post to twitter and read news and stuff. I still haven't found a way to update the blog, and when I come home, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer. The previous 9 hours of the day have kind of ruined it for me. Kind of like college and textbooks did with reading. I'm actually reading The Watchmen right now, and while it's only a graphic novel, I consider it a big step up from not wanting to read ANYTHING during college. Plus, The Watchmen is really good. I recommend it for anyone who liked Sin City and/or is interested in seeing the movie.

Anyways, life here in Texas has been pretty good. It's been cool lately (mid-70's), I've met some cool people, and I'm getting to the point of training where I understand a lot of stuff, so it's a lot more fun than it was 2 months ago. I'm going to Albuquerque this next week for a training trip with another employee who's been at it a lot longer than me. I'm heading home to Portland the weekend before (this weekend) and am really looking forward to it. I haven't seen Hayley in a while (or Bella!), as well as Mom and Dad, so this will give me a chance to see all of them. If anyone else will be in town, I would love to see you all, so just let me know and we'll figure something out. I'm only in Texas until Christmas, and will be home twice before that, so I think these next couple months are going to fly by, which is more than welcomed.

However, until then, I'm finding a lot of ways to enjoy my time in Houston. It's a pretty ridiculous city, and you'd have to be here to know exactly what I mean, but it has its perks. There is a LOT of good music that comes touring through here. I went to a Ben Kweller concert last week, which was great. My brother actually saw him this weekend in Eugene, so that's pretty cool. I also went to see The Kooks, but they canceled because the lead singer was "ill" (hungover), so the opening band The Whigs played as the headliners for free, and were actually pretty darn good. Next, I'm going to see Kings of Leon later this month, as well as Keith Anderson, and (hopefully) TV On The Radio. I thought Portland was big on live music, and they are, but not on quite the scale that Houston is. You can go out EVERY weekend and see good live music anywhere, as well as check out tons of concerts, so I've been doing that a lot.

I've also been exercising a lot with Allen, a buddy I met down here who's going to Orange County. He's the one I've been going to concerts with, too. But we've been getting up every morning to run and then going to the gym most nights after work. It gives me something to do, and keeps my mind off of missing home, as well as get me into shape, so it all works out. We are starting to drive out to Memorial Park by 6:00am, get a solid 30-50 minutes of running in, then head back in time to get to work by 8:00am. Running in the morning really makes me feel good at work. I'd never done it before, but it's a really nice way to wake up. It's relaxing for me, but also gets my body going.

Last weekend I played 36 holes of golf. The first 18 were in a company tournament. I helped my team to a solid last place finish, but it wasn't my fault. It was a scramble, but we had to use a certain portion of everyone's shots. First off, our A (best) player didn't show up, so we were already off to a bad start. But then, the guys I was teamed with were awful. I mean, we struggled to take any of their shots. We used almost all of my drives, approaches, and inevitably (after they missed) my putts. Anyone who has golfed with me knows, from those statements, that the team was pretty bad. I mean, I was our best player? Come on guys. Plus, I was using a friend's clubs, which weren't anything like mine at home except in the fact that both sets suck. But anyways, Allen, Rob and I decided to go out for a second round right after we finished the first. Rounds at this place (Blackhorse GC) were typically $75, but we got the "replay" rate, which was $16! We couldn't pass that up. However, we did go get a bottle of Pendleton and some beer. That helped us through the second 18. But when I come home, you better believe I'm going to be wanting to go out on the course. Anyone in for a round this weekend?

I have been trying to keep up on the Ducks, but aside from a few games that they have at sports bars, I haven't been able to catch many. Last week's was just ugly, so I played Big Buck Safari instead of watching the end of it. Franklin has done a pretty good job of keeping me updated, which I really appreciate. Him and Rob Moseley have been my only links out here. Oh, and if I have to hear anymore bullshit about the Texas - Oklahoma game this weekend, I'm going to shoot myself. I hate both teams, but that's all I hear out here. Ugh. I can't wait to get back to Oregon where I can watch football without all the stupid shit. Well, not counting FSN...

I can't wait to start watching Blazers games, too. Hopefully they will play the Rockets in Houston while I'm here. That would be awesome. Tonight they're beating Sacramento in their first pre-season game. Can't wait to see Oden in action!

This is an interesting time in America. The presidential elections are a month away, the economy is the worst it's ever been since the Great Depression, and yet here I am, displaced and feeling totally removed. It's a weird feeling. I am following the debates and everything, and will vote, that's a given. But I don't have any money invested in the stock market (if I have to hear Wall St. vs. Main St. one more time...), no house, no mortgage, not much money in general, so I really haven't felt the hit. And it's kind of scary. I know all this crap is going to affect me, especially when I go to get a mortgage, or eventually start contributing to my 401k, but I just can't make it seem real right now.

Alright, well, I've rambled on long enough. I want to keep up on the blogging thing, but a little nudge now and then won't hurt. I plan to come out with a Top 5 Albums of the Year list soon, as I've been listening to a LOT of music lately. Any other ideas? Just ramble about life or what?

You can always keep up on my life somehow. I'm always trying to find ways to communicate, and have a few methods:

• Twitter.com/KevinRegan
• KevsPix
• Facebook

Hopefully I can catch up with everyone somehow soon. I miss everyone and home, and am excited to come home soon. I'll do my best to keep you and this blog updated, but if not, yell at me (or just call...)

Ducks Stewart and Dixon in Uniform

Boom!





Looking sharp, gents.

[thanks to Franklin for the pics]

"Please take that ugly OSU shit off." Love, Franklin

There's a story in some po-dunk news paper in Albany about a tour at the UO Athletic Department on Friday where the tour guide asked kids to take off or cover up their OSU crap. Well, it was our good friend Franklin [from Allow Me To Be Frank(lin)] and now he's famous! Check out the article in the Albany Democrat Herald.

I would just like to commend Franklin on his efforts. I think it's disrespectful to wear clothes with a rival's name and/or logo to that school. It would be fine if the Beavs were playing, of course, I would actually encourage that. But it wasn't. It was a tour, given by an unpaid intern, for free. Show some courtesy.

But this kid made a big deal out of nothing really. The teachers even said they didn't think anything of it. It wasn't like they were forced to take their stuff off, it was a comment playfully jabbing back at some kids who, by what they were wearing, were jabbing at him. How do I know? Franklin told me.

There is a lot of chatter on the eDuck forums about this. I like a lot of them (like "That tour guide deserves a raise."), and you should check them out if you need a laugh or a reminder of how dumb some people are, but I would just like to post one comment in particular that was relevant and that I liked a lot:

"I think it's humorous in many ways...

1. that you think there is something bad about it
2. that the tour guide takes his school and colors so seriously
3. that the kids "parents" take it so seriously that they made it a point to dress their kids up in osu garb prior to the field trip to U of O
4. That the teachers did not address something like that in a note to the parents prior to the field trip, like is normally done.
5. That you and I are even commenting on it."

So true buddy, so true.

Oh boy, those crazy Albanians (I assume that's what they're called), everything's a big story when you live in the sticks, I guess.

What do you think? After reading the story, is this a big deal or not?

Jonathan Stewart's Draft Day

The epitome of class:

Jonathan Stewart's draft day

If you didn't catch the draft, he went 13th overall to the Carolina Panthers. Congratulations Jonathan!

Inside Oregon Athletics: Part 2

The second episode of this video series pulling back the curtain on Oregon Athletics. Take a look:

What the hell is this? Inside Oregon Football

Franklin just pointed me to this video that is part of a series that is allegedly going to "pull back the curtain" on Oregon Football and expose it for what it is. I'm eager to see just what this thing has to say, and if this is real or not. Take a look, and stay tuned for the next episode:

Nike SPARQ Makes Pete Carroll Look Stupid

So, as a Ducks fan, I have no respect for Pete Carroll. Any respect I might have had for him vanished when Carroll mouthed "fuck you" to Mike Bellotti during the USC game this year. For those of you that don't remember, you can check out the YouTube video here. But don't worry, his shady recruiting tactics had my respect out the door a long time ago.

With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that I enjoyed how Nike's recent commercials for their SPARQ Training line made Pete Carroll look like an idiot. French toast and batteries; nice Coach. Idiot... Take a look:





I do like the commercials overall. Very Nike.

2008 NCAA Tournament Bracket

(click to enlarge)

There it is, your 2008 NCAA Tournament bracket. Start filling it out (even though you'll be beat by the only girl in your pool, it's inevitable). North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA, and Kansas are the #1 seeds, and Oregon squeezed in there as a #9 seed! North Carolina is probably the favorite, but they probably have the toughest road to the Final Four. Tennessee, Louisville, and Washington St... Wow. I've got a lot to go over before betting in Vegas!

Let me know what you think.

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Las Vegas, The Complete Story

After plenty of time to get over that "I don't want to talk about it right now" phase everyone goes through after a long trip, I am ready to write. So here goes: the complete stories of my trip Feb. 14-18.

I should mention first that it's always tough to remember details about a trip when so much happens, and I remember having that problem the last time I went to Vegas, so this time I made it a point to kind of jot notes down in my phone. That way, I could put it up here and, regardless of who reads it or not, I will always have it to look back at. Kind of like a diary, but slightly less "teenager girl" and a lot more "geek." Anyways, what that means is that you get a more accurate and complete take on the whole thing.

THURSDAY - Day 1
Our flight to Vegas was on Thursday night at 8:30, so I headed up to Portland after my last class that day, and my dad and I headed to the airport. There really is no other social setting like the airport. A million people from all over the world, not caring about other people, and all pissed off because everyone knows the airport never ceases to aggravate people in one way or another. For me, it's not ever a big deal to be at an airport, just kind of a means to an end for me, so I don't too caught up in it. However, I seem to be the only one, and for some reason when I go to airports and see people all pissed off, it just makes me want to fuck with them. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I want to find some way to push them over the edge. So I'll do things like talking to someone in the bookstore when they clearly want to be left alone, or keep walking past someone causing them to have to move each time to let me past, like in a bookstore, or get in their way and act like I have no idea. Nothing major, just little stuff that would normally be no big deal, but that in an airport is apparently really frusterating.

Anyways, while we were waiting in line to go through security, I was talking kind of loud about all the stuff people can't take on a plane, but may have forgot and me talking would spark an "oh shit" epiphany. Then I would say how retarded people are that do that and also how retarded the whole fluids rule is, hoping to push somebody's buttons. Making passing comments is actually a big part of this trip, come to think of it, but I digress.

We got through security just to learn that our flight was delayed about an hour. Awesome. Nothing better than having to waste time in an airport. We were meeting Scott, one of my dad's work buddies, at the airport, but he had checked online and showed up a little later. When he got there and met us, he suggested we start the trip with some drinks. That's good thinkin' Scotty. So we sit and have a beer or two, and then eventually board the plane. It was Valentine's Day, so there were little hearts all over the plane (Southwest's stock ticker symbol is LUV after all). That novelty wore off fast. After we take off the stewardess, or attendant, or drink lady, whatever you call them now, came around, and we all decided to have a few beers. Again, good thinkin'. (That's not foreshadowing, that's just the truth). Anyways, for some reason, when the lady came with our drinks, she didn't feel like breaking my dad's $100, so she just gave them to us for free. It was going to be a good trip.

After another free beer and the end of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, we landed in Vegas around 11:30p. That is a book I definitely recommend to people who think reading about someone getting hammered, doing stupid shit and fucking lots of girls is funny. I do.

When we hit the airport terminal, Scott immediately "ran a $20 through" the machine. That would become his motto over the next few days. Hey, when the man had that feeling about a machine, it needed a $20 run through it, no ifs, ands, or buts. This rang true, because I think he won $60 bucks in like 2 minutes. So, we got our bags, got a cab, got to the hotel, threw our shit in the rooms, and hit the casino and started throwing money into machines. I sat down at the first machine I saw, and on the second pull, boom, up $100. Wow, that was fast. I took it and ran. Dad and Scott hit too, so we were all "playing on house money" (Another Scott original) right off the bat.

We played some more, walked around to other casino's and eventually hit the room around 5:30am. I was up $80 or so on the day. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay, which was real nice. We had adjoining rooms on the 19th floor or something, barely a view of the strip, and a flat screen in the bathroom. It was cool, until I noticed the bloody footprint of the carpet:

It's hard to see because it was kind of dark and my phone doesn't have a flash, but please look at that and tell me it doesn't look like a bloody size 10. It was between the beds pointed to the bathroom, which corroborates my murder scenario. How do you not clean that up, even if it's not blood? It was real noticeable, the size of a fucking shoe, and blood red. Anyways, went to bed, and that was the end of day 1.

FRIDAY - Day 2
We woke up around 11, got ready, and headed downstairs right about the time Bill, my dad's other work buddy, was supposed to come in. He took a later flight because, among other reasons, it's probably hard to tell your wife you're going to Vegas and skipping Valentine's Day. We didn't blame him.

Anyways, we gambled a little bit, played some craps, then got a few drinks in the casino bar. The waitress who served us was hot too, which isn't rare in Vegas, but is always nice. Then we needed to eat, so we hit up a buffet and gorged. It was delicious, as you can see:

Not the healthiest way to go, but fuck health, it's Vegas. After stuffing myself to the point of uncomfortably full, we hit the tables. Craps and blackjack put a little money in my pocket early, but then I tried a $25 blackjack table and proceeded to get my asshole ripped out. In about 20 minutes I was out $300. Fuck that. Not too happy and not wanting to blow more, I headed over to a sushi bar where Bill was and enjoyed a lot of really good sushi and watched Taylor vs. Pavlick 1, the first fight they had that was playing because part II was happening at the MGM Grand on Saturday. It was a good fight, but there'll be more on that later. I tried sake for the first time, and enjoyed it. The first little cup Bill poured me I took like a shot. He looked at me all funny, so I guessed that wasn't how you drink it. Hey, it looked like a shot glass. He pours me another one after saying, "Jesus, sip it" or something along those lines. The food and break from gambling put me back in a good mood.

We sat there until it was time to go change because we were seeing LOVE later that night. So we changed, taxied over to the Mirage and got our tickets. We had about an hour before the show actually started, so Bill and I sat down at a blackjack table to see if our luck had changed.

We had been playing a while when Dad shows up behind me having just won a couple hundred at roulette. He tells me to bet $50 next hand, and that it was insured. No arguments there, so I dropped $50 on the next hand. Deal comes 6, 5, with the dealer showing a 5. Wow, the perfect scenario. What can I do? I have to double down. I get a 6 or something, which is alright. She's going to bust after all, right? Nope, she pulls out a nice little 4 under or something and hits a 10 for 19. Fuck. Dad hands me my insured $100, but I was pissed. That's not how the game goes, the dealer is supposed to bust on that! So I'm out for blood now. A few hands later I drop that $100 down. I'm going to get this back. So the deal comes 6, 5 again, with the dealer showing a 6 this time. God damn it, here we go again. I double down, so I have $200 out there. This determines if my luck has changed. I nail a 10 for 21. That's how it's supposed to go! I think she busted, or might have had 18 or something, but I wasn't paying attention at that point. So I take my $400 off the table, hand my dad his $100, and get the hell out of there. Whew, it's time for LOVE.

LOVE was great, as it was the first time I saw it, but there was this guy behind us this time just yelling and being obnoxious the whole time. When it was over, my dad stands up and turns around to the guy and yells something like. "Hey, you're lucky you weren't thrown out tonight, you were being very rude." Not bad pops, still keeping it polite. Well played. But then this fat bitch he's with yells back, "hey, we paid for these tickets just like you." I hear this shit come out of her mouth and just get annoyed at how stupid some people can be. After a huge cup of frozen margarita, I don't really have that edit button in my brain, so I yell back, "Yeah, we paid for these tickets, but we didn't pay to hear your stupid mouth, bitch." Real smooth Kev, you got her good. I should have said something like "too bad the buffet doesn't serve Hot Pockets huh?" or "hey everybody, watch your leftovers", but whatever, it's the best I could do at the time. Then Bill, playing the role of mediator, tells us to chill out and just get going. We agree, and as we're walking out, people that were sitting around us kept commenting to us about how annoying that guy was. It was good to know we weren't the only ones. At this point, oblivious to us, Bill has got his arm around the guy trying to calmly explain that he was being disruptive. Apparently this guy had no idea he was obnoxious. He thought that was acceptable behavior I guess. Dumb ass. Anyway, we left and hit the Mirage floor for some more gambling. I got $300 in my pocket baby!

Scott and I hit a craps table, and I threw pretty bad, but Scott got hot, and then so did the guy next to him, so between the two of them, I got up about $200, and Scott even higher. We took our money and decided it was dinner time. At 1:15am. We went to the Carnegie Deli, where Dang from Saigon (you know how they all have those name tags with where they're from on them) served me the most delicious swiss cheese omelet I've ever had. After we ate, we headed over to Ceaser's Palace for some drinks, cigars, and relaxation. In Bill's case, more of the relaxation than anything else:

You can't blame him for being tired, he had flown in early, and was working on his 24th hour of being awake. We hung out here for a while, but right as we had showed up the piano player was leaving, so there wasn't much going on. However, Scott had brought these $25 or so cigars, which were really good, easily the best cigar I had ever had. I also had a Manhattan, which I have never had before, but tried since I am all about whiskey. This prompted a conversation about how Manhattans are alcoholics' drinks and that I apparently had a great aunt who loved them. Putting those two facts together means pops' aunt was an alcoholic. Cool. Glad it doesn't run in the family. (Seriously, it doesn't).

Anyways, when we were done with that, we decided to head back to the hotel so Bill could get some sleep. While we were waiting in the taxi line, I looked over into an ash tray on top of a garbage can and saw one of those slots receipts for $8.75. I picked it up and showed Scott. I know it's only $8.75 but it's just as easy to redeem one of those as it is to throw it away. You have to be really trashed or a high roller to just throw $8.75 in the garbage. So Scott takes it, runs inside and redeems it just in time to come out and catch the cab. Well played, sir. So we split it and taxi on home.

When we got back, Bill went upstairs, and we hit the floor for some more blackjack. I played for about an hour before I got a text from my dad saying they were all in bed. They just straight up left on me, but whatever. So I cashed out for the night and headed to the elevator.

When I got into the elevator lobby, there was this guy there, totally hammered, using the wall as a 3rd leg. He sees me look at him, which clearly meant I wanted to start a conversation I guess, because he starts right up with a slurred version of his night, or something. I thought it was hilarious, so I acted like I cared trying to encourage him. We got in an elevator, and before the doors closed, some black girl got in with these huge heels and gum in her mouth. Hmm, not too obvious I guess. Clearly a "pro" (short for prostitute, another Scott original), she kind of looks both of us over while I'm still listening to this dude ramble, and then asks me, "Are you two friends?" Whoa, that threesome request came pretty quick, take it easy lady. I laughed and shook my head no. He was way too trashed to notice I was mocking him. So she's clearly on her way up to do work, why else would she be in the elevator right? As I get out, she says to me, "Bye hottie." I start laughing, which I'm not sure she took as mocking either, so I turned around and said, "Night hooker." No I didn't, but the look on my face hopefully said that. Sort of a "I don't really want syphilis tonight, thanks" look. That was the first time I'd been picked up by a hooker, or whatever you call it, and I didn't really know how to feel about it. I should have asked her for a ZJ.

After that, I hit the pillow, and day 2 was in the books.

SATURDAY - Day 3
I woke up way late this morning, and only got up because we had an appointment to get royal shaves at The Art of Shaving. A guy named Craig did work on my face. I hadn't shaved in a few weeks, knowing we were going to do this, so he earned it. Craig was cool, dressed real nice, and had everything shaved himself. His face was shaved, his head was shaved, I bet his balls were even shaved, cause this man knew how to work a blade. It was amazing. It was about 30 minutes full of hot towels, hot lather, and almost falling asleep because it was so relaxing. Only thing missing was the reach around to finish it off, but since it was Craig, I'll let it slide. I kid. But seriously, I wish I could start every day like that. The shave was so close that we were told not to touch our faces with our palms for a while because "that part of your hand is contaminated and could irritate the skin with the oils" or something. I believed her, cause it was really close.

After that, we hit the buffet again, and then headed over to the sports book to bet on the Oregon and Oregon St. games. I bet $50 on the Ducks to beat Washington St. $50 on the the Huskies to beat OSU, and $50 on the over/under of that game's total score. The games weren't until later, so Bill and Scott went to the spa to work out a little while my dad and I spent some time gambling. We were up and down, mostly down, and then we went over to watch the games. Washington absolutely smoked OSU by about 35 points I think, which meant I won that bet, but because Washington put up 97 points, my under bet for the 135.5 point over/under was a loser. I was alright, I split. Then the Oregon game came on, and just like in the elite 8 game last year when I bet on them, Tajuan Porter decided not to show up and they lost. God damn it Tajuan, that's bad timing! Anyways, it was still fun to watch.

The Taylor vs. Pavlick fight was on tonight too, so I decided maybe I could get lucky and make my money back betting on it. I know relatively little about boxing, but had watched the fight the night before, so knew who these guys were and how they fought. I called Ryan, my go to boxing analyst, who told me basically it's a toss up and was going to be a good fight. The last fight, Taylor knocked Pavlick down early, and then in the 7th, Pavlick got lucky and knocked him out. So I figured I would take a chance and bet on Pavlick knocking him out. Odds were 20/1 that Pavlick would knock him out in rounds 7 and 8, and 12/1 for a knockout in the 9th, 10th, and 11th. So I put $20 down on each round, meaning if he did I would get either $400 or $240. It was a risk, but I wanted to do it. Then Dad bet against me, putting $200 on Taylor. Thanks for the support pal! It's never a good thing when two people are on opposite sides when money is involved. You may win, but then the other guy might be pissed. But it was cool, it's my dad. So, basically, the worst possible outcome happened: Pavlick won by decision. That means they went the length and Pavlick was judged the winner. So I lost all my money because he didn't knock him out, and Dad lost his because Taylor lost. Pavlick did knock Taylor down in the 7th, so I got close, but close doesn't pay.

We got over it though, because tonight we were going to miX, a really nice restaurant on top of the Mandalay Bay. The view was amazing. The picture at the top of this post is from the restaurant, and they have this huge chandelier made out of something like 20,000 individually hand-blown glass balls. Pretty impressive:

I had duck of some kind, which was kind of ironic. It was first time I'd had duck, and it was pretty darn good. We also had a $225 bottle of wine. Wow. I felt bad drinking it because I didn't feel like I could appreciate it. It was good, but that's meaningless coming from me. It ended up being an $800 dinner (wow), but the service was awful.

One of the coolest parts about this restaurant was, believe it or not, the bathroom. So you walk in, and everything is black, so it's initially hard to see, and the layout isn't traditional by any means, so you don't exactly know where everything is when you first walk in. But, when you finally get your bearings, you see there is a stall tucked away with the toilet turned around. Like, backwards. When I first walked in there it was confusing. I wasn't sure why it was turned around until I thought about sitting on it. Then you notice the floor to ceiling window. So you can shit with a view! It was at the top of the hotel, and the windows were obviously tinted, so nobody could see you. Pretty damn cool. No picture of that though, the combination of other people in there plus a bathroom guy standing basically over my shoulder made that idea a little uncomfortable. You'll just have to see it for yourself.

After dinner, we went back into the casino, and Bill and I decided we were going to play poker. So we sat at a $1/$2 no limit table and dropped $200 to buy in. About 5 minutes into it Scott came in. He couldn't help himself. So we must have sat there for about an hour and a half, and I swear the best cards I got were A J off suit, which is the hand I got taken out on. After just pissing my money away without getting cards, Bill and Scott had gone out, and I had A J. I raised it to $10 before the flop, only one caller. The flop came A 7 3. I, like an idiot, checked it. So did the other guy in the hand. The turn came A. So I had a set and about $40 in my stack. This was my all-in hand, had to be. But, again, I checked. This guy had been folding a lot, and with a set, I was trying to suck anything out of him, hoping if I check-raised all-in, he would call his chips away. Anyways, he went all-in, so I called. I turned over my A J, he looked at them and I figured I had him beat. But then he turned over A 3. So he had a full boat. I said fuck that, asked myself why I didn't raise more before the flop, but seriously, A 3? Fuck that shit. The lucky bastard had me the whole way too. I rationalized my loss away by telling myself I got no cards the whole night, which was true, and really frusterating.

We all decided to go over to Bally's because there was this spot right next to a stage you could see while playing blackjack, and the music was good. Bill stayed and went to bed, he was tired. But we hit the table running.

We were up pretty quick, I got up to about $300 at one point, but the whole time we were drinking vodka cranberries. Scott convinced me I needed the antioxidants in the juice. What were you trying to say Scotty? But Scott, my Dad, and I were all tipping the drink lady really well, so she was bringing them out quick, and they quickly went from monarch vodka crans to Kettle and crans. We were getting some pretty good vodka. We were all being loud and getting into it, in the good way, because the whole table was winning. It was easily the most fun I've had playing blackjack. The dealers were all great, but one was named Rosalina, and she was hilarious. She was spanish, so she had an accent, and she was pretty cute for a 38 year old that works at a casino. But she came along when we were pretty far into the bottle of Kettle One, and she just egged us on. She asked Scott his name right off the bat, and then said oh, you look like my ex-husband. Lady, you just opened up a can of worms with Scott. They're going back and forth shooting shit the whole night, everyone is cracking up. At some point, she asked the guy next to Scott his name, which was Shane. She said "uh oh, that was my ex-boyfriend's name." I think she was being serious too, which made it even funnier and just encouraged Scott more. We ended up all losing our money, but I think we made it up in liquor and entertainment.

So we're all pretty trashed, but decide to go out a little more and have a few more. We lose a little bit, and then head back to the hotel and hit the bed right before the sun comes up around 6am:

Needless to say, we slept in the next morning.

SUNDAY - Day 4
When my dad and I eventually got up, we decided to take it easy this morning, for a number of reasons. We taxied out to the middle of the strip with the ultimate goal of finding somewhere to eat after I nixed the buffet. We had the buffet 2 mornings in a row, I was not about to hit that again.

We checked out the new Venetian hotel and the Planet Hollywood casino, which was new since we were their last. We checked out the Flamingo and the pool because that's where we're staying when we go for Spring Break. Then we decided we really needed to get some grub.

The last time we were in Vegas we ate at Margaritaville, which I really liked, so we decided on that. While we were walking there, we saw a dude laying on the ground with his head on his friend's knee like he had just fallen down. His friend was yelling, "God damn it!" over and over, and there was puke EVERYWHERE. For those of you who remember that bum in Canada that puked his whole life out, this was more. And it was everywhere. All over the sidewalk, him, his friend, the garbage can, everywhere. There were cops standing around him already, so he was jail-bound. But as I was looking at the whole situation, I had to step over one pile of puke, only to almost step in another one. Everywhere. It was 3pm. What kind of night did he have?

So we got over that, I thought it was funny, Dad thought it was not. To each his own. But we hit up Margaritaville for another delicious experience, and all was good. We could now go gamble again. Scott wanted to check out Hooters because it was one casino on the strip he hadn't been to, so Dad and I decided we'd head over there and he could meet us. Well, it was definitely a waste of a trip. Hooters sucked. It was disgusting looking, was totally cluttered with slots and other stuff, and the girls weren't even hot at all. There were no hooters at Hooters. Probably because all the hot girls can make way more money working somewhere else. But we called him, told him not to come, and that we'd meet him back at the hotel.

Today was kind of a down day. It's right about this point that I think we all realized maybe this trip was one day too long. I mean, we were still having a lot of fun, but there's only so long you can go with no sleep and lots of alcohol before you just kind of die out.

We got back to the hotel and just kind of chilled out until dinner. We were going to see another show tonight, O. It gets its name from the French word for water, "eau", which is its theme. So we decided to check out a Mexican place in the Mandalay Bay. Just like at miX, the service here was pretty crappy, but the food was good. We had a nice view of the hotel from the patio too.

After dinner we taxied over to the Bellagio for the show. This was the second Cirque du Soleil show I had seen, so I would finally have something to compare LOVE to. On the taxi ride over, we had the encyclopedia of Vegas as a driver. He knew everything, including that Wynn's new tower is costing $2.4 billion and Trump is struggling to get a gaming license. Good to know. Right when we walked it it was a different experience. The theater was big, with a huge red curtain hiding the stage, which was essentially a big pool of water. Some dude took a picture and an usher came up and told him no pictures, which just made me want to take one:

This curtain was huge. We were sitting there, and some pretty huge dudes came in a sat near us, and Dad made a solid crack about the Packers being in town. Good one, Pops.

The show was really good, with a lot of diving and acrobatics and straight up talent. Plus, the "stage" of water and platforms and all the synchronization and "water management" was really impressive. It's probably the most expensive stage out there.

After the show, Bill and Scott decided to call it a night. Bill had to leave early the next morning, and Scott felt a little cold coming on and didn't want to lose anymore money. Who can b
lame him for that one? So Dad and I decided to hit up Bally's again because we both really like that area we were at earlier.

When we get there, we sit down at a $15 table with three other people and start playing. In the span of about 30 minutes, we had both doubled our money. We couldn't lose. I probably hit five 16's and didn't bust on one of them, and the dealer was busting on everything. The guy sitting in the very middle of the table was playing SO bad, but it didn't matter. It was like he was a cooler hired by the casino to play awful. He was hitting 14's against 6's and all this ridiculous bullshit. However, the guy playing 3rd base couldn't do anything wrong. When he stayed, it worked out. When he hit, it worked out. It was all perfect. Plus, he was playing the "pair in the hand" spot and hitting it all the time. It paid 12 to 1 I think. He was money. Dad played really well too, besides splitting 10s once. It worked out though, he got 10s on both and the dealer still busted. That's the kind of crap I'm talking about though, we couldn't lose!

Eventually, after about 2 hours, I had $600 in front of me and Dad had $500, so we got up and walked away. We went back to that cigar bar in Caesar's and I, for the first time all trip, bought my dad a drink. He bought cigars, and we enjoyed a nice relaxing break with huge wads in our pockets.

When we walked into the place though, before we sat down I noticed soccer was on the TV, which made me then notice the 3 English guys watching it in the corner. They had a bunch of Budweiser's in aluminum bottles, so I figured they were pretty drunk. I don't notice them for a while, but then one stands up. He takes a beer, pours it over his head, which gets all down the front and back of his shirt, and yells, "That's what I feel, nothing!" His friends just kind of sit there stunned, so I wasn't sure if it was a joke or what. His friends tell him to sit down, to which he replies, "Fuck off!" a few times, then gets his stuff and starts walking off. One friend yells at him to "sit the fuck down, don't be a twat!" He just leaves. It was fucking hilarious! Especially since they were stereotypical English guys: they had accents, were watching soccers, and called each other twats. Awesome.

After that, we hit the hotel and get in bed pretty early. We flew out around 3 the next day, so we had to get up kind of early.

MONDAY - Day 5
We got up, packed our shit, and headed out. Bill had left earlier that morning, so while Scott and Dad checked out, I picked up a few items in the gift shop. Then we taxied to the airport.

We had Sbarro, my favorite pizza ever, and then got on the plane. Seamless flight, went through Reno, which is beautiful, and didn't have to wait at all. Got home, got to the car, got back to Portland, and then I headed back to Eugene.

It was a GREAT trip, I had a TON of fun, and can't wait to go back for Spring Break! Thanks for reading.

Jonathan Stewart Prepares for the NFL Combine

My GOD! This is a video of (former) Oregon Ducks running back Jonathan Stewart training for the NFL Combine; lifting weights, doing drills, and practicing his interviewing skills. Holy shit this man is a beast. Check out the part where he's doing bicep curls while laying on the ground. He is huge! Even the trainer, a guy who sees huge NFL prospects every year, said he "looked like a He-Man figure." It's ridiculous.



In other news, I got back from Vegas yesterday, after a great trip. I had a lot of fun, and pretty much caught up on my sleep last night, which is surprising given the amount I DIDN'T get in the last 5 days. Anyway, I decided against daily updates, but I'm ready to write a big post covering the whole trip, so look for that, probably tomorrow.

Terrelle Pryor Does Not Commit, Will Visit Oregon

Today is signing day. It's the first day high school football prospects can sign their letters of intent, finalizing where they will play their college ball next year. This means that it's one the biggest day in recruiting, and everyone in college football is watching.

For those of you who don't know, Terrelle Pryor is the biggest name in high school football right now. He's a senior at Jeannette High School in Pennsylvania, plays quarterback, and is the #1 prospect in the nation. His decision has seemingly been the most anticipated of all prospects, and today he declared... that he wasn't declaring.

That may seem like a letdown to some people, but not if you're a Ducks fan. In that case, it's one of the best things that could have happened to us.

Every school in the nation went after this guy, and after months, he narrowed it down to basically Ohio St. and Michigan, with Oregon hanging around. The real problem for us was that, being from Pennsylvania and a dual sport athlete (football and basketball), it was difficult to get him out here to see us. We are a very attractive school if you take a visit. So much so that other programs are afraid of losing recruits to us due to our amazing facilities, coaching staff, relationship with Nike, and winning program. So with Pryor, Ohio St. and Michigan were both furiously campaigning for him to make a decision today without seeing Oregon.

Well, I'm happy to say, they lost that battle.


Pryor announced today that he will wait to sign his letter of intent because he feels he hasn't done enough homework, due to sports and school, to make the best decision. Basically, he doesn't know where he wants to go yet. In a statement made to ESPNU this morning, Pryor gave everyone an insight into some of the reasoning behind this decision, and it should have Duck fans very excited:

"No, I will not make my commitment today, I’m delaying because no one really knows this, but I play football, we won the state championship and two days later I jumped into basketball, so I haven’t had too much time to get involved in the recruiting process. I’d like to be fair to the coaches, they’ve put a lot of time into me."

He went on to say this about his choices, and this is the good part,

"It’s Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Oregon’s still in it because I have time, so I can visit now so I can head out there and check it out."

You hear that? Pryor is going to visit! We've been trying to get this guy out here for months, and now it's finally going to happen. And the news came out of HIS mouth this time, specifically calling us out to come visit. Now we have to put on a show for this kid. I think he would be a great fit here. He plays now like Dixon played last year, so he should fit perfectly into Chip Kelly's "Spread 'em and Shred 'em" offense. Hopefully he knows that, at least from us, he'll get honesty and respect in his plans for college. We just want him to do what's best for him. Hopefully that means come to Oregon.

Read the Pryor story from Scout here.

So far today I count 18 guys who've signed with us, and adding the Pryor announcement, it's been a good day so far. GO DUCKS!

Jonathan Stewart #2 RB in NFL Draft says SI

Sports Illustrated recently released their NFL Draft prospect rankings by position, and ranked Oregon's Jonathan Stewart #2 among running backs. They think he'll go behind Arkansas' Darren McFadden, which is most people's clear #1 (but not me). This was not a poll, like the one Zach mentioned last week, so it can be taken with as much weight as you give SI's NFL Draft crew. Stewart's coming off a career year, which you can read about here.

So, it's one of those picture countdowns, and the little caption they have next to his picture says,

He's a strong interior runner with surprising speed and the ability to make defenders miss.

Anyone who's seen him play knows that's true, but kind of an understatement. Jonathan Stewart is one of the more talented backs in this draft class, and it's nice to know he's getting some recognition for that, even if it's behind McFadden who only had the numbers he did because he WAS Arkansas' offense. But I digress.

The real reason for this whole post isn't so much to praise Stewart, or SI for that matter, but rather to give Michigan and all their fans even more shit this year. I like giving Michigan as much shit as possible, so when the opportunity arises...

First off, the picture SI has for Stewart, the one above (which you can click for large version to send your Michigan fan friends), is of him dominating 2 D-linemen, including Terrence Taylor, a junior D-tackle who was contemplating the NFL Draft himself (what a joke). Nice tackle TT, but you don't get credit if it's your own guy. The second thing is that, if you take a look at the list of backs on SI, you'll see that Michigan's precious Mike Hart is ranked at #8, 6 spots behind Stewart. The caption by his picture calls him "a solid third-round choice" that "will fit in as a third-down back." Basically, he's on the bench. Michigan's poster boy is an NFL washout, and Stewart is a first rounder. That makes me smile. Thanks SI.

Jonathan Stewart Declares for the NFL Draft, I Cry

Today, Oregon Ducks star running back Jonathan Stewart declared that he will forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. He's coming off a record setting Sun Bowl with 253 yards rushing, a new career best and Sun Bowl record, plus he was awarded Sun Bowl MVP, as well as a record setting season with 280 rushes for 1,722 yards, a new Oregon best. And he's had an amazing 3 years with 2,891 yards for 27 touchdowns, so, obviously, it's very sad to see him go, but we all know that this is his decision and are rooting for him no matter what.

On the decision, Coach Bellotti said,

"We appreciate Jonathan's contributions over the past three years although we wish it could have lasted one-year longer, but I fully support his decision and believe he will be a first-round draft choice and represent the University of Oregon with the class and character he has demonstrated here."

There's no doubt about it that he's going to be a first rounder, I even think he'll go higher than Darren McFadden. His body type and rushing abilities are just ungodly. Pound for pound, he's got to have the biggest thighs in all of college football, that's just a fact. The man is a beast, and hopefully he'll go to some team that knows how to use him. I'm excited to see how he does. Hopefully his story turns out better than Joey's. I mean, I love the guy, but he just hasn't been able to do anything.

Not sure which sport Dixon is going pro in yet. I think he can do both, and should, but if he does go to the NFL, it will be a really exciting draft day for the Ducks.

Jonathan, we all love you and wish you would stay, but wish you all the luck in the world in the future, and hope you are successful in whatever you do, even if it's being a state trooper someday. It's been amazing watching you play. Thanks, and we'll miss you.

Oregon Ducks #2 in all polls!

After the win against Arizona St., the Ducks jumped to #3 in all polls. With a bye this week, we would need someone above us to lose to move up, and sure enough, Ohio St. went down. It was only a matter of time. But now, the Ducks are #2 in every poll behind LSU.

The only thing that worries me is Kansas, who's 10-0 record have put them in the #3 spot in the BCS rankings. They need to lose, and then it's all on us. If we win out, there's a damn good chance we will be heading to the National Championship game. My new Christmas wish: tickets to New Orleans!

GO DUCKS!

Gameday is Coming Back for ASU @ Oregon

ESPN College Gameday announced earlier today that they will be coming to Eugene this Saturday for the Arizona St. game. They should have made it out here this weekend, but they're making up for it with this one. The game right now is scheduled for 3:30pm, but if ESPN picks it up, which they should, it will probably be at 12:30. Either way, Gameday will roll cameras at 7:00am (10:00 ET). There was a line of tents outside Autzen today at 10:00am, waiting for tickets tomorrow at 9am, so I'm sure there will be plenty of people there Saturday early.

The top 5 BCS rankings didn't change this weekend, so it will be the #4 Sun Devils against the #5 Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Hopefully we can win convincingly and jump a bit in the polls, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Just wanted to get that out there.


Type rest of the post here

USC @ Oregon Is The Best Game In The Nation

It's too bad ESPN didn't get the memo. College Gameday will be at the Ohio St. - Penn St. game this Saturday. Granted, Ohio St. is the #1 team in the nation, but really, that's a technicality. They have to be because they're undefeated. #24 Penn St. is the first real team they play, and I smell an upset.

#5 Oregon plays host to #12 USC this weekend, and by god that's going to be one exciting game. Two marquee QB's (if Booty starts), a heated recruiting rivalry, and both team's BCS bowl game futures. Not sure there's as much on the line for both teams in any other game this weekend. Not to mention there are going to be points all over the place.


Say Oregon wins. They move to 7-1. I pick Ohio St. to lose to Penn St., Boston College to lose to Virginia Tech, and Arizona St. to lose BIG to Cal. That means 3 of the top 5 teams lose and are all 7-1 as well. LSU will be #1 (they have a bye this weekend), and since the Ducks' strength of schedule is much higher than the other 3, we jump to #2. Then, later on down the road, if we beat UCLA (while winning out), we win the PAC-10 and go to a top BCS bowl game.

Then, maybe Tim Tebow goes down, like I've been hoping for all season, Dixon stays on par and wins the Heisman. What a season that would be. Plus, we just brought in the best recruiting class we've ever had, so we have a bit of a dynasty brewing. Well, maybe the last parts are just wishful thinking, but hey, it's my last year at Oregon!

But I honestly think that Gameday is going to the 2nd best game in the nation this weekend, and even then, I think the Cal - Arizona St. game will be better than that, so maybe the 3rd best game in the nation. Too bad. Watch for me on the field on Saturday! GO DUCKS!

Ducks Put the Huskies Down, 55-34

Sporting new white helmets, the Ducks rolled over the Huskies yesterday, 55-34. Despite putting up 34 and keeping it close for a while, Washington proved to be no match for the Ducks.

Jonathan Stewart finally had a big game, rushing for a career-high 251 yards (second highest in program history) with 2 touchdowns on 31 carries. Plus, with Jeremiah Johnson out for the season, it's good to know our backfield didn't miss a beat as Andre Crenshaw stepped up with 113 yards and 2 touchdowns.

While the Ducks played great, they also looked great. Read about the pearl helmets after the jump.


This weekend the Ducks added yet another facet to their uniforms: the white helmet. The green helmets, some of the prettiest in college football, are the classics. You've also seen the yellow helmet in last year's Las Vegas Bowl. But now, after months of testing and tweaking, the white helmets are here.

There was a little problem early in the year with the white helmets in that, when the NCAA tested the durability of the helmets with a "cold test" in which they freeze the helmet and then drop it from a few feet, the helmets shattered. As you can imagine, that would be bad news on the field. But they got them approved and now they're another bullet in the Ducks uniform arsenal.

I've heard that some people said we looked like stormtroopers from Star Wars (can you say mailout idea?), and maybe they did, but I think they looked badass. Especially with the white uniforms and the white shoes. And they didn't turn shit brown like Hawaii's uniforms. I loved them.

With the BCS rankings coming out a bit later, the Ducks jumped to #5 in both the AP and USA Today polls. Let's hope the BCS doesn't fuck us again.

Ducks Debut at #10 in BCS Poll, #7 in AP

The BCS poll came out for the first time this week, and the Oregon Ducks fell into the #10 spot. With the convincing 53-7 blowout of the Cougars yesterday, I had higher hopes for our BCS standing, but there's still a lot of football to be played this season. The 3 undefeated teams, Ohio St., USF, and Boston College, took the top 3 spots, LSU stays atop the 1-loss teams at #4, and Oklahoma rounds out the top 5.

The fact that we are #10 doesn't really bother me, especially in this crazy season. In my opinion, the 3 undefeated teams on top right now are very beatable, so I am confident that two 1-loss teams will be playing for a national championship. I don't think Hawaii will be in there, even if they win out. They'll be the Boise St. of this year. Hopefully we can win out and be in the thick of the BCS race, but we have to go through USC first.

If USC can beat Cal, and then we can beat USC, we win the PAC-10 championship. I don't think Arizona St. will be sticking around, as they still have to play both of those 2 and us. I think they'll be 9-3. We did suffer some big injuries to big guys yesterday, but I think we're deep enough to bounce back. We can't have any more guys go down though.

Anyways, enough of my ranting about the Ducks, check out the week 7 rankings here.

Concert Tonight, Ducks vs. Cal Tomorrow

This weekend is going to be crazy! Tonight, I'm going to see the Arctic Monkeys and Voxtrot at the McDonald Theater here in Eugene. Tomorrow, I have to get up early for the Ducks game, and that's going to take up my whole day. Plus ESPN Gameday is going to be there. Tomorrow night, I'm sure I'll do a little bit of celebrating if the Ducks win. Then Sunday, I hope I can get a haircut, and then get the rest of my shit done, all while Halo 3 lurks in the corner, calling my name. Thank God it's only week 1.


The concert tonight should be awesome, because I really like both the bands. For those of you who haven't heard of either, it might be worth your while to check out their Myspace accounts or something and hear some of their music. Both of these bands are favorites of my brother, so he was a little jealous when I told him I was going, but he's already seen Arctic Monkeys in Portland.

But tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day that will determine the future of the whole Oregon Football Department for the rest of the year. Here's why: If we win this game, and Dennis Dixon does not throw an interception or do anything else terrible, he is automatically in everyone's Heisman radar, so he will get national exposure by himself. But also, if we win, we will be vaulted into the middle of the top 10, which will then give the entire team national exposure. And everyone knows that national exposure can bring a lot of pressure and a lot of problems to a football team. We've been there before, but that just makes every game tougher.

Then, win or lose, we play USC in 2 weeks. USC will most likely still be #1 in the country (though LSU deserves it right now), so no matter what, that game game change our season as well. I'm thankful it's at home, but still, USC is a very good football team, and no matter what happens this weekend, that may be an even bigger game. If we win this weekend, ESPN Gameday may even be back. It's unlikely, but I can't think of a bigger game than #5/6 Oregon going against #1 USC. What a game that would be.

If you're going to be at the game tomorrow, WEAR YELLOW! We're trying to make it a "yellow out" because Cal fans will most likely wear yellow, so with Oregon fans wearing yellow, the whole stadium will be drenched in our color. It should be great, I'll try and get a picture tomorrow.

As you can tell, it's going to be a busy weekend. I'll see you on the other side. GO DUCKS!