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Stories From the Rest of the Sports

 

                    Stories from the rest of the sports

 

 

Side Bar

 

The OSU Men’s basketball team has officially started their practices. Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson had the guys doing a three minute drill of just passing the ball. His lines went like this:

 

“That’s too high….. Run through the line. Good….Good Seth…Good…That’s it!! It’s starting to look like something now.”

 

One of the first things Coach Robinson did was to become famous by talking at the Democratic Convention, and saying GO BEAVERS at the end of his speech. He did this on national TV with one of the largest audiences in history. OSU was shouted to the nation!! That caused enough stir that all the news stations presented it over and over again,

on national TV. OSU was shouted to the nation!! We will not know the ramifications of it for a while, but it sure didn’t hurt!!

 

You should get a real feel for OSU basketball by the end of this season. There are a record number of OSU basketball games televised this year. Seventeen games will be on the tube. Four of those games will be nationally on the FSN national network. Plenty of exposure, but what will people see?

 

They have their first official game November 14th against Howard University played at 4:00 P.M. at their court. They then play Big 12 teams Iowa State and Nebraska.

 

One highlight will be seeing Yale come to Gill on Monday November 24th. It will be played at 7:00 P.M.

 

Who do they play in their first PAC-10 game? None other than UCLA at home on January 2nd. It will be a 7:30 P.M. game. Might as well start at the top, don’t you think?

 

Did I tell you that Coach Robinson holds 5:30 A.M. practices? Yes, I said A.M. I can’t imagine college age kids even thinking about being awake at that time of the day. We will see how that works out.                       

I guess there is no sense hiding it any more. Bob DeCarolis is being considered for an opening at Ohio State University. Details are pretty sketchy at this point. I will just let you know it is happening, and we will see what unveils.

 

The Corvallis Gazette Times is covering it pretty closely if you want to check them out online.

 

News at eleven…..

 

Some past OSU baseball players are doing quite well in the minor leagues.

 

Tyler Graham had a banner year for the San Jose Giants. He stole 47 bases, and was injured part of the year.

 

Cole Gillespie has made quite an impact playing for the AA Huntsville Stars. He hit .281 with 14 home runs, and also had 39 doubles.

 

Kevin Gunderson pitched for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He was moved up to the Mississippi Braves in AA ball.

 

Jonah Nickerson had a 12-4 pitching record for the Lakeland Flying Tigers. He was named the Florida State pitcher of the week in May, and had one complete game shutout.

 

Olivia Vivian is a freshman in OSU Gymnastics. She was late to practice at the beginning of the year. Why was that? She was competing in the Olympics for Australia. She had to make it through two different grueling trials to be selected for the Australian Olympic team. She made it and had an experience of a lifetime, competing in the Olympics.

 

Do you remember that the Women’s Cross Country teams was not in existence about four years ago? Well, they have come a long way, baby!! They got the first votes ever for a cross country team in the national women’s pool. They list the top 30 in this poll. OSU is 32nd. I can’t be prouder of a program, not only for how far they have come, but I also marvel of the effort that Kelly Sullivan has shown to get the program where it is today.                                                                                               

Another OSU athlete has done well. Heinrick Barnes wrestled for OSU last year and had a 22-4 record even though his was injured part of the time, but he didn’t stop there. He competed for his home country of South Africa in the Olympics. He also had to go through several trials to make the team, but he did make it, and had a memorable experience.

 

The OSU Women’s basketball team is looking good this year. There are three seniors on the team, to give it some stability. Point Guard Mercedes Fox- Griffin; Shooting Guard Brittney Davis and Center Tiffany Tucker give the starting five lots of experience. That pays off when it comes to PAC-10 play. Coach LaVonda Wagner said, “We haven’t had that many seniors since my first year here.” She went on to say that she was excited about the year coming up, because of all the experience. I highly suggest that you check out this year’s team. There will not be any slow ball the whole game.

 

The football game on the 1st of November is Homecoming Week. It will be not only a great game to watch, but is also a great time to connect with people you went to school with. There is a theme of “Benny for President.” Coach Robinson may have something to say about that.

 

A profile of Coach Robinson will air on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” this coming Sunday. The problem is that it is being aired at 6:00 A.M. Pacific time. You may want to tape it and wait until you eyes are up and “at ’em.”

 

Greg Laybourn was named the PAC-10 Defensive Player of the Week. He had 12 tackles in the game. He leads the PAC-10 with 62 tackles.

 

Jacquizz Rogers leads the PAC-10 in rushing at 116 yards a game. He has a week off to rest his body, and play ASU who isn’t too good on rushing defense. BTW…… ASU is also terrible with their rushing offense. Looks good on paper, but we have to go into that game knowing they will not lay down and go to sleep for us. We will have to play hard.

 

This Saturday night it is “Fill Gill Night,” for volleyball. They play ASU. The admission is only $1.00. Got to take advantage of that!!!

 

The Women’s Softball team finished the fall schedule with a perfect record!!

 

I would like to close with one more plea for you to subscribe to the online newsletter. I challenge you to find any source, newspapers or otherwise to have as much variety of information in one spot. This is what you will get by just taking a couple of minutes to go over to the subscription icon, just below the Amazon icons. You click on that, put in your email address, and you are set to get tons of information about OSU sports and other colleges all through the year. This will be a year round newsletter.

 

Do it tonight, and be done with it….

 

OUT!

 

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The Top 15 Ways to Save Money in a Down Economy

 

 

The top 15 Ways to Save Money in a Down Economy

 

Ok! It is time to fight back!! The economy is going down, down, down! It is time to learn some ways to save money, and still have close to the same quality of life.

 

I saw an article in the Oregon Statesman Journal that has some great ideas for cutting corners, and help you to not feel like you are in “Skid Row”

 

1.     Reduce the number of trips in your car. There should be a bus route near you somewhere.

2.     Maintain your car, including tires and tune-ups. I go as soon as it shows, “time to change oil.” This really saves you gas and you don’t have to spend a lot on a broken car.

3.     Check your insurance policies to make sure you are getting the best deal. Quite often your deductable can also be adjusted to give you less amount you owe for the premium.

4.     Plan your meals, and stick to your shopping list. Never shop for groceries when you are really hungry. I have and it is far more costly.

5.     Clip coupons, and use those store loyalty cards. This one can be a huge savings. Some of the coupons are as high as $1.00 off. Get organized and do a file small enough so you can carry with you to the store. Have the coupons arranged for in the best way for you to find them quickly. It actually can be fun. You pick up the thing you want to buy, see what it costs, and then you look at the coupon. You say, “There is another 75 cents I have saved!”

6.     Stay away from pre-packaged and convenience food.

7.     Buy in bulk. Some stores do not have this available. Tell them you want it, and that you are going shopping else where that does have them. Win-Co, Cost-Co, Roth’s, and Safeway have them. I do not know about the others. MUCH CHEAPER BY THE POUND!! Make sure you can store it properly.

8.     Get a little less expensive meat. All you have to do is cut the extra fat off. That is the only difference with some of the cuts you buy.

9.     Buy retail store brands. I can’t emphasize this enough. I worked in the grocery business for eight years during my college days. (I know the earth was still cooling then.) What I found out and tried to tell my costumers, was that the store brands as just the better brands with a different label on them. The retail store “hires” Heinz, Dole, De Monte, Nabisco, and Kellogg’s, etc. to package large shipments of their product, except they have put the retail stores name brand on the label. Why pay $3.95 for a box of cereal when you can get the same thing for $2.75 if you buy the store brand. Think about it.

10.                         Shop farmers markets for you produce. Not only is it cheaper     most of the time, but it is certainly a lot fresher.

11.                         Eat at less expensive restaurants. My new favorite restaurant is Applebee’s. They have some great food and their prices are usually lower than other restaurant for the same type meals. They also have special diet items on the menu, for people on Weight Watchers.

12.                         If you are over 50, get your AARP card now. I know some people think it is silly to get one, but I have used it more times then I can name. I have saved up to 25% by showing my card. Especially for traveling, and you KNOW I love to travel!

13.                        Try to turn your thermostat up or down a few degrees to save on heat or cooling.

14.                         Here is a big saver! You do not need to heat every room in your house. Close those doors to rooms you seldom go into, or use. Close the vents in those rooms too.

15.                         Let the clerks/servers everywhere know you are a senior. Department stores, grocery stores, or theatres give discounts.  Restaurants, both fast food and sit down, give discounts to seniors, but they need to know you are a senior before they can give it to you. They seldom ask, because management feels that some patrons may be offended if the server asks you if you are a senior. Tell them you are and be proud of it.

 

OK, you have had the class: Saving money 101. Now go out there and save money!

 

Send me an email to let me know if you would like more of this on this site. Make comments on this site to let others know what you did and how much you saved.

 

Doug

 

OUT!

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More Sports Information Than you can Ever handle

More Sports Information you Can Ever Handle

For those people who are coming here searching the wide world of cyberspace, the post today will be about sports. Some of it you may not understand who, or what I ma talking about, but bare with me. I have to appease the Oregon State University Beaver fans with some more trivia, and ramblings from Beaver sports. Stay with me, there will be a newsletter coming out soon that will be for everyone.

The online newsletter will have three pages. The front page will be about a new book that is near completion. There will be excerpts from the book in the newsletter. The second page will be a travel/resource page and the third page photography (for now).

On the travel page I will be telling about the many travels I have been on. I have been to Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Canada. In the U.S.A., I have been to Phoenix and watched spring training; Palm Springs, and watch pro tennis people like Andy Roddick, Andre Aggasi, the Williams sisters, Lindsey Davenport, etc. I have a special story about Andre. I have been through many states including Hawaii, and I have some great memories to share.

The other half of that same page will be a resource page. I will put information there that will help people a great deal. One that is coming up is; 15 ways to save money in a falling economy. Is that timely or not? It will be coming real soon.

The third page will be used for photographs for now. I have many photographs from my travels, sports, and just plain beautiful photos of lakes, mountains, etc, that I have loved over the years. You will be free to download any you want.

To get started getting the newsletter, just go to the upper tight hand corner here on this site. The subscription form is right there above the side bar. Click on it, and it will take you from there. This will be a fun newsletter so don’t miss out!!

Side Bar

Ok beaver fans let me share some little nibblings of the “other,” things I saw at the game on Saturday.

There were several great signs around the stadium, but the winner for the game was, “Are you ready for a POP Quizz?” Obviously WSU was not.

Well, it is time to put up or shut up!! There is voting going on for the freshman of the year in football. Jacquizz Rogers is one of the people to vote on. At the moment he has 80% of the vote. Sounds fantastic, but people tend to “cram,” the voting at the last minute. I know, not fair. So go to the site below, and vote (as many times as you want) for Jacquizz. Why??? We need to get his name going for the Heisman Trophy. Yes, I think he will be that good!!! I am not talking about this year. The Heisman Trophy voter’s usually only pick juniors or seniors. This is a long range build up to get his name really known by the time he is a junior. Go to:

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/freshmanwatch

Vote! Vote! Vote!

I am not making this story up!! Before the game started, there was a band coming in to play. It was an opposing team band. Was it the Cougars band? Nope! It was the UCLA band!!! The band leader thought the Bruins were playing at OSU, not at U. of O! OOOOOPS! They had to scurry out of there quick and take the 45 minute drive to Eugene. How embarrassing is that? What did the band leader tell the President of the college when he got back. “Oh I thought we would take a side trip to Corvallis, and play some songs for the fans there before we went to the Oregon game.” Not going to cut it. He may have a smaller pay check next month.

Our OSU band is looking great!! OSU has the oldest band program in the PAC-10. 118 years!!! They have added 35 new players to the band. It shows. Now if they just could get a large as Penn States band of 300!

There was an impressive half time show with a “band,” that was playing Brazil music, and the OSU band were dancing all over the place. What really impressed though, were the 420 student athletes that came out onto the field. These were all Everyday Champions. You can find out what Everyday Champions are, by going to www.oregonstateathletics.com.

These were mostly kids that had over a 3.0 grade point average. Yes these are student athletes. You would think some of them had to have L and R on their shoes to know what foot to put them on. This is not true anymore. The OSU sports program is second only to Stanford, for All American All Academic teams in the PAC-10.

I think the OSU sports videos are superb! They had some great ones on the Jumbotron. (I think that is what it is called) You can see one of them by going to www.oregonstateathletics.com or Google Oregon state athletics. The site opens up with a bang with the video it has.

The volleyball girls are doing great. There are ranked for the first time since 1996 at # 24, and the beat the # 4 team in the nation. Who was it? You got it. USC!! We love to have USC to come to our house.

This is something I do not always do and should. The officiating for the game on Saturday was excellent. Oh sure, there were a few boo bears, but as I watched the replays on the ones they were booing, I thought they made the right call. The head official Jack Wood, did absolutely the best job of any “white hat,” I have seen come to OSU. (Enjoy these praise’s fellas it may not happen much.)

The back-up running backs did a wonderful job. Francis and McCants did miss a beat. They both ran over the defense just like their leader Jacquizz did. I am pleased with the depth we have there.

Speaking of depth….. Sean Canfield came in and showed the fans he is ready to play!! He marched the team down the field and scored a touchdown.

In closing… I told you in the Comcast newsletter that three OSU teams won on Saturday. It is true.

Oklahoma State University 28 Missouri 23

Ohio State University 16 Purdue 3

Oregon State University 66 WSU 13

The team that had the biggest point spread in victory? O – S -U beavers.

The Beavers already have their schedule set for next year. They have shuffled the PAC- 10 schedule around a little bit. The non-conference schedule is as follows:

Home with Portland State

Away at UNLV

Home with…..Cincinnati! Should be a great game!!

The rest of the schedule is like this:

Home with Arizona

Away at Arizona State

Home with Stanford

Away at WSU

Away at USC

Away at California

Home with Washington

Away at Oregon

This is a tough schedule for the PAC-10 games. All the “upper half” of the league will be away games. We only have 5 home games and 7 away games. (We’ve got em right where we what em!!)

2010??? WE have Louisville coming to town. Great game!!!

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In the last newsletter I said that Ken Humus was the new tight ends coach. WRONG! Senior moment!! It is Tim Euhus. Remember him? He was a great tight end for the Beavers a few years ago. What a great addition to the coaching staff!

The time is running out. I am slowly shifting to an online newsletter, and you will not be able to see it here on the site. It will come to those that subscribe only. I DO NOT want to lose you. There are actually 723 Beaver fans getting the newsletter through Comcast. That will be stopping when I move to the online newsletter. I now have 145 of you that have subscribed. That is wonderful, but that means 578 of you are still holding out. Why don’t all of you take care of it today? Right now! Then you will be done, and you will have peace of mind that you will continue to get sports news as long as I have a breath. (Not sure if that will be a long time, as many of you know my problems.)

Just go up to the right hand corner above the side bar; click and you are on your way.

BTW…… I looked at all of you that have subscribed. I recognized many of your emails, BUT some of you are there but not “confirmed.” You got an email from Constant Contact Emailing that asked you to confirm by clicking on the “Confirm subscription,” or what ever they have there, to let them know you are subscribed, and confirmed. Why do they do this; SPAM. They do not know you are really the email address they want unless you tell them. Check your emails and find an email from Constant Contact, and clear this up so you are really in and not sitting in purgatory

OUT!