Stuck between a rock and a hard place...

No one reads these right?

*Crickets...

Hello?

Nobody?

Good. Cause I don't know who to talk to about this. Maybe if someone wants to step up and offer some help, that'd be great. Can't be anyone though, as I'm really conflicted right now... I can't even say what it's about. I've never been in this situation before, and I feel like I need to seek an outside opinion on it. Bleh. Argh. awdfawrgafasd. I mean its a pretty messed up situation, and I'm the only one who knows how really complicated it is. I haven't told anyone this, I haven't even spoken aloud to myself about it, but it's lingering around like a stale fart. So I guess this is sort of a cry for help (don't worry, I'm not in any danger or anything...) but there's so much on my mind right now that I need to rehash/debrief/unwind with someone else...

I need a hug...

There can only be one...

The NBA Playoffs! Where amazing happens... sure.

Western Conference 1st Round
Los Angeles Lakers 4, Denver Nuggets 0

Derek Fisher (Lakers) and Marcus Camby (Nuggets)

New Orleans Hornets 4, Dallas Mavericks 1

Jason Kidd (Mavericks) and Chris Paul (Hornets)

San Antonio Spurs 4, Phoenix Suns 1

Manu Ginobili (Spurs) and Steve Nash (Suns)

Utah Jazz 4, Houston Rockets 2

Tracy McGrady (Rockets) and Carlos Boozer (Jazz)

Eastern Conference 1st Round
Boston Celtics 4, Atlanta Hawks 3

Paul Pierce (Celtics) and Mike Bibby (Hawks)

Detroit Pistons 4, Philadelphia 76ers 2

Andre Iguodala (76ers) and Richard Hamilton (Pistons)

Orlando Magic 4, Toronto Raptors 1

Dwight Howard (Magic) and Chris Bosh (Raptors)

Cleveland Cavaliers 4, Washington Wizards 2

Antwan Jamison (Wizards) and Ben Wallace (Cavaliers)

Western Conference Semi-Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 4, Utah Jazz 2

Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Carlos Boozer (Jazz)

San Antonio Spurs 4, New Orleans Hornets 3

Tony Parker (Spurs) and Peja Stojakovic (Hornets)

Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
Boston Celtics 4, Cleveland Cavaliers 3

Kevin Garnett (Celtics) and LeBron James (Cavaliers)

Detroit Pistons 4, Orlando Magic 1

Dwight Howard (Magic) and Chauncey Billups (Pistons)

Western Conference Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 1, San Antonio Spurs 0

Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Tim Duncan (Spurs)

Eastern Conference Finals
Boston Celtics 1, Detroit Pistons 1

Kevin Garnett (Celtics) and Chauncey Billups (Pistons)

...all building up to:

You Don't Mess with the Zohan vs. Baron Davis

This weekend by the numbers

423 - times Brett and Brandon tried to get me in an accident on the way to the Block at Orange
$23.99 - money spent on dinner and $20 on a Dave and Busters card
1 - epic games of Skeeball played (see below)
1 - orange friendship bracelet redeemed from the ticket store (not gay at all...)
$12.50 - money spent on Iron Man, well worth it
1:00am - time arrived back home after the movie
$23 - money spent on a ticket to Six Flags Magic Mountain
6 - roller coasters rode at Six Flags
1 - set of cat ears won for finishing third in a carnival game
1 - awesome lemur won for winning a whack-a-mole game
100 - top speed hit on the 405 on the way back home
2:30am - time arrived back home after Six Flags
10:00am - time met up for the Society of Aerospace Professionals (SOAP) Pub Crawl
10:30am - time started the crawl
$16 - money spent to register for the crawl (to receive and awesome shirt, badge holder, and sharpie...)
4 - number of pubs we made it to (out of 6)
4 - number of people who started off in our group
2 - number of people who failed to make it to the end
542 - number of times Brett called someone a communist while drunk
1 - number of times one of us threw up in a urinal
6 - number of drinks I had (not including beer)
0 - number of drinks I had before this weekend (not including beer)
4 - games of flip-cup played
0 - games of flip-cup played before this weekend....
1 - long, but awesome weekend all around...


Oh, and that game of Skeeball, where Brandon, Brett, and I played, with second place having to consume one drink and third drinking two. We were going at our own pace until Brandon and I had rolled 8 out of 9 balls, each with a score of 200. Brett was far behind after 7 balls, with a score of 130. On his seventh, Brett rolled a 10, giving him 140 after 8 balls. In this skeeball setup, you could score 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or 100 on any roll, meaning Brett had to roll a 100 to put pressure on Brandon and me. And what do you know, he got to the 100 point hole in the left corner, giving him a total of 240.

Brandon rolled his 9th ball first, scoring 40 points to tie with Brett. But on my final roll, I hit the 50 point hole at the top to claim first! The final scores were:

Shawn 250, Brandon 240, Brett 240

Booya! Brandon and Brett had a roll off to see who finished second, which Brett did. Yeah, it may seem like a lame story, but if you were there, it was totally an epic game.

A question....

well, what do you do when you want something that you can't have? Whether its a new computer, a video game, a girl... what do you do? I think I'm kind of stuck in that situation... and it sucks. A lot.

Finally got that car though... and hopefully moving out of my roach infested apartment soon. Maybe some pictures of the car and all the sporting events I've been to since February 29th. Here's the list:

1. New Orleans Voodoo vs. Los Angeles Avengers (AFL)
2. UCLA Bruins vs. USC Trojans (NCAA Baseball)
3. Stanford Cardinal vs. USC Trojans (NCAA Basketball)
4. UCLA Bruins vs. USC Trojans (Pac-10 Tournament Semi-Finals)
5. Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB Exhibition @ Los Angeles Coliseum)
6. Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
   

It's March Madness!

And the Trojans are matched up against the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. What happened to the BCS schools being matched up against mid-majors in the first round of the NCAA tourney? Two years running, though it's hard to argue with the results from last year, where USC played three BCS schools, including Texas and player of the year Kevin Durant and top seeded North Carolina. This year, the Trojans open up with player of the year candidate, freshman Michael Beasley:





























One of his teammates, redshirt freshman Bill Walker, shown below, is one of O.J. Mayo's good friends.



























Here are the Wildcat team stats from ESPN.com:
Name - Position - Points - Rebounds - Assists

Michael Beasley	F	26.5	12.4	1.2
Bill Walker	F	15.8	6.4	2.0
Jacob Pullen	G	9.8	1.4	3.2
Clent Stewart	G	7.0	3.1	3.2
Blake Young	G	6.1	3.5	1.9
Fred Brown	G	4.2	1.3	0.7
Andre Gilbert	F	4.2	2.6	1.7
Dominique Sutton	F	3.2	2.5	0.6
Ron Anderson	F	3.1	3.5	0.5
Darren Kent	F	2.5	2.4	1.3
Luis Colon	F	1.2	1.1	0.2
James Franklin	G	0.6	0.7	0.6
Chris Merriewether	G	0.6	0.9	0.8

which knowing USC Coach Tim Floyd, we'll be seeing a lot of triangle & 2 defense on Thursday, with G Daniel Hackett probably getting the tougher draw in Beasley with Mayo defending Walker. Hackett had a similar assignment last year against Texas, where he "held" Durant to a "quiet" 30 points, but Beasley may be a harder matchup for the Italian Stallion, who is only 6-5 whereas Beasley checks in at 6-10. If Hackett can do the same job against Beasley as he did on Durant, SC should have a lot of success, especially since Kansas State doesn't have a lot of options outside of Beasley and Walker. Beasley is adept from 3-point range, shooting at a 39% clip, and he also leads the team in rebounding. This should be the most obvious use of the triangle & 2 for Floyd, so he might change up the defense considering that the Wildcats have a few days to prepare for it.

On offense, it's all about balance. Mayo can't score over 30 points if the Trojans want to be successful, as USC needs contributions from Davon Jefferson, Taj Gibson, Dwight Lewis, and any effort off the bench. Gibson can't lay an egg in this one, he needs at least 15 points and 8 rebounds to be a force, though he should expect double teams down low. Here's where Jefferson steps in. He can't hang out at the three point line, instead he needs to establish himself down low to give USC two options in the post and keep the double teams off of Gibson. If Lewis can continue his drives into the paint and hit the occasional jumper, he'll be doing his part. Hackett should concentrate on defending Beasley. And any effort off the bench, whether it be key minutes from Angelo Johnson spelling Hackett or Lewis, and Keith Wilkinson giving Gibson and Jefferson a quick breather while hitting outside shots and grabbing defensive rebounds, will be a plus. USC can't win if only four guys are contributing, no matter how Mayo is performing. If all seven guys can help out, SC should win this one and move on to the second round.

It's all about how the teams finished. USC finished the season winning 6 of their last 7 before their loss to UCLA in the Pac-10 tourney, and went 12-5 in their last 17 games. Kansas State finished 3-6 to end the regular season. All season long, the Wildcats were pretty inconsistent, going from a high of upsetting Kansas on January 30th to dropping the next game to lowly Missouri. Here's a comparison of the two teams:

Kansas State (20-11, 10-6 Big 12)
Key wins: Oklahoma, Kansas (Big 12 Champs), Texas A&M
Key losses: George Mason (Colonial Champs), Oregon, Notre Dame, Xavier, Missouri, Texas

USC (21-11, 11-7 Pac-10)
Key wins: San Diego (WCC Champs), Oklahoma, UCLA (Pac-10 Champs, #1 seed), Stanford
Key losses: Mercer, Kansas (Big 12 Champs, #1 seed), Memphis (C-USA Champs, #1 seed), UCLA (Pac-10 Champs, #1 seed)

Anyway... maybe more later... but my pick to win it all? UCLA, ugh...

USC fans suck...

First time at a USC-UCLA basketball game yesterday for the Pac-10 tournament semi-finals at Staples Center. Have to say, USC fans are TERRIBLE compared to UCLA fans. I first noticed this trend at a USC-UCLA baseball game a couple of weeks back, where their fans were fired up for the game, which was even more impressive since the game was at Dedeaux Field, the Trojans home field. Anyway, at a "neutral" Staples Center, USC fans were outnumbered 65-30, with the last 5 probably being Wazzu or Stanford fans for the following game. But even with the modest number of fans, it was hard to tell we were even there. UCLA fans, I'll give it up to you guys, you were into the game. Even in the first half, where USC dominated, you still did the eight-clap and UCLA spellout while the band played Sons of Westwood and the other song you stole from Cal. Meanwhile, we Trojan fans sat on our hands, cheering once for big plays while our band refused to play Fight On. It sucked.


SoCal Spellout


We Are SC!

Now I'm no spirit leader, but a response to the Bruin eight-clap would have been more SoCal spellouts or a We Are SC chant, even though that's supposed to be reserved for when we're leading at the end of games, but in an environment like last night, in a neutral arena, we needed to be heard. Every time UCLA fans finished their eight-clap, USC fans should have been right there with a Socal spellout or We Are SC chants. Instead, our lame ass response is to add "sucks" whenever the Bruin fans yelled UCLA. Pretty embarrassing. I think we did the SoCal spellout twice all night. Brutal. Screw saving "We are SC" for the end of games, if the team needs a rallying cry, that's it! The band yells "Go SC" all game long, and "U-S-C" is too short, but "We are SC" is perfect. That's what the SC faithful should have done instead of saying "sucks" after Bruin fans said UCLA. I hate Trojan fans...

It's not completely our fault though, as the USC band needs to play Fight On more often. I think they played it three times all game, once when the team came onto the court before the game, once when they came back from halftime, and when there were a few minutes left in the game. Weak sauce. I think the Bruin band played the Cal fight song several times, especially during their key 15-2 run to start the second half, The Trojan band response to our eight point lead in the first half? "All Right Now"? WEAK. If the band can play Fight On over 30 times during a football game, why can't we hear it more than 3 times during a basketball game? And what happened to playing Conquest? It's our freaking battle cry, and we don't get it before basketball games? That's the best part of the pregame routine in football, yet its nowhere to be heard in basketball? What the heck?

While I hate UCLA in general, I do like their fans. They care about ALL of their sports teams, not just the successful ones. They show up to baseball, basketball, football, volleyball in decent numbers compared to SC fans, who are truly bandwagoners. At least most are. I don't really consider myself a bandwagon fan, even though I did start enjoying USC when the football team won the national championship in 2003. Which, coincidently, was my freshman year here. Now while I haven't been to a whole lot of other USC sporting events, I do root for USC when I get a chance to. Freshman year, I went to the USC-Arizona basketball game when Desmon Farmar scored 40 as the Trojans upset a top-10 Wildcat team. I was there the following game when SC lost to lowly Arizona State, but I was there, even though it was quite a trek to get to the Sports Arena. My sophomore year, I went to two road football games. The first was a close one, where the Trojans rallied from a 11 point halftime deficient to win 31-28 against Stanford. The second was another close one, a 29-24 win over UCLA for a trip to the Orange Bowl, where USC won their second national championship in football. When I was in Hawaii for Winter Break, I went to the Rainbow Classic championship, where USC fell to Hawaii 81-78 under interim coach Jim Saia. I also went to a volleyball game between Hawaii and USC that year, though skipped out on basketball cause I lived sooo far away from the Sports Arena that year. Junior year, I went to the epic Rose Bowl game between USC and Texas. Senior year, I was there for the 13-9 debacle against UCLA at the Rose Bowl, as well as going to a handful of basketball games at the Galen Center. And this year, I traveled to Berkeley for the weekender game against Cal, and have gone to several basketball games and my first USC baseball game. This is on top of being at 30 consecutive home football games during my 5 years at USC. So me a bandwagoner? Hardly...

Sports Guy (Bill Simmons) Cartoon

Should be studying, but instead, here's a bunch of Sports Guy cartoons to hold me(you) over...

The Christies


The Big Unit


21 Under


Tailgate


Cell Phone


The Dragon Lady


Smells Like Team Spirit


Gang Tackle


Train Wreck


Hay Fever


Lottery Ticket


Face Off


Halftime Show


Never Happened


The Shoe


Down Goes Brady


Christmas Day


Sunday Morning


The Juice


Tennis Ball


Videos courtesy of uva3021 on youtube: http://youtube.com/profile?user=uva3021

Paul Ogata

Comedian from Hawaii living in LA these days...

Russell Peters

Great show last night, he went a strong 2+ hours at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Here are some clips of his on youtube...


The 45 minutes that made him famous

Some highlights from his Outsourced DVD...











More later?

Kina Grannis, the new Michelle Branch?

You decide... I hope Kina doesn't mind, though go to her Myspace page for more info on her:

http://www.myspace.com/kinagrannis


Message From Your Heart


Good Day LA Appearance


Cambridge


Gotta Digg


Down and Gone (The Blue Song)


Ours to Keep


Bubbly (Colbie Caillat cover)


People


Strong Enough


Breathe Honesty


Stay Just a Little


These Magnet Hearts


After an Afternoon (Jason Mraz Cover)


I'll Be (Edwin McCain Cover)


Too Soon


20,000 Seconds (K's Choice Cover)


Memory


Try


Goodnight

There's a lot more out there... check her out. Fight on Kina!

Giants upset Pats in Super Bowl XLII

Well, after combining for 10 points through three quarters, New England and Jersey/A put on a hell of a fourth quarter. Giants QB Eli Manning, the MVP, threw for two touchdowns in the final frame as the New York defense held Patriots QB Tom Brady and WR Randy Moss in check all game. Giants rookie WR Steve Smith had a huge game, with 5 catches for 50 yards, though he did have a drop which led to a Pats interception. Here's Steve's game in pictures...























Former USC QB Matt Cassel warming up before the game.
























Smith with a catch in the first quarter.

















Smith making a key reception on the game's final drive.



















Smith being showered with confetti after the game.
























Smith celebrating with fans after the game.

But the best part of the big game is the commercials, right? Here are the ones I enjoyed/remembered:


USC '07 grad Kina Grannis won a Doritos competition to have her music featured between the first and second quarters of the game, and boy she didn't disappoint. Probably didn't hurt that she's really cute too. Fight on Kina!



Diet Pepsi Max ad featuring "What is Love" by Haddaway. Great to still see Chris Kattan getting some work in...



I kinda enjoyed this one too...lol Tony Romo and Justin Timberlake hitting on some high school girl ("Hey." "Hey you...").

The worst? Probably those Sales Genie ones. Those weren't totally racist...

Time for some reflection...

January 28th... its the day that my grandfather and one of my closest friends died. Not saying that I wasn't close to my grandpa, but the death of my friend probably hit me harder because of the circumstances around his passing. My grandpa was always in and out of the hospital for various bypasses and other stuff, plus he had lived a long life. He had a stroke on January 21st, 2003, which put him in a week long coma from which he would never wake from. He was removed from live support on January 28th, 2003, and that time of my life was really hard. College applications, recruiting trips, band rehearsals, and varsity basketball were all on my plate, not to mention finishing up my senior year, then that had to happen. But the worse part was that I had a feeling he would pass on the 28th, even as machines were keeping him alive for about a week. See, the year before, we got terrible news that I think changed all of my classmates lives forever.

January 27th, 2002, in the middle of basketball season, running around preparing for college entrance exams, sectionals for band, and of course basketball. It was probably the last day I lived without a feeling of regret. Before that, Greg Gaines had become a pretty close friend of mine. We shared a lot of common interests, the biggest probably being professional wrestling. He was one of the few people I could talk to about wrestling with out getting weird reactions from. He also enjoyed playing Pokemon, something I would pick up at the waaayy too old age of 17 and still played somewhat in college. We were both in band, he played the clarinet, while I was on the trombone. I believe 2001-02 was the first year that he was in Symphonic Band, the A-band of our school, which mean grueling 6-8pm rehearsals, which really put a grind on some of us who just had sports practices from 4-6pm. I remember helping him with his bow tie, it was such a struggle to put on, as his dress shirt collar didn't flip up, rather there were loops in the collar to thread the tie through. But we used to ride the bus home together. Sure, I would take a side track on the same bus he rode just to have someone to talk to, and funny, he was probably the last constant companion I've had on the bus. But we'd talk and enjoy the 20 minute ride from UH Manoa to Ala Moana, where I'd get off and continue on to Waikiki from there while he'd stay on until the bus reached Downtown. I remember he wanted to go to Wake Forest to golf, which many of us thought was a weird choice of school, if only because most of us had not made up our minds on what school to attend, me included. But that day, the 27th, I was late for basketball practice for some reason, probably because I was on the yearbook committee, and I was in such a rush, that I had noticed Greg returning to campus as I was headed for the gym, but did not acknowledge him or say hi or anything. I figured I'd see him the next day. Oh boy...

One of the girls came running into our class the next day, crying about something. The guys figured she was having some kind of boy problems. Well in a way, she was, and so were we. Death is a hard time to handle, whether you are 17 to 70. It's probably easier to face death when it's expected, like in the case with my grandpa, as it seemed to finally be his time to go. But death is unexpected when it happens to a high school junior. It was even more shocking to hear that he had jumped out of his apartment window. To this day, I don't know the entire story of why he did it. It's still hard for me to wrap my mind around that. He didn't seem like the type of person to do that. And I still think, maybe if I had said hi to him the day before. If I had given him a hug once in his life. If I could have been nicer to him. If I could have helped him. Maybe he'd still be here today, maybe playing golf, which was his passion. Maybe he would have went to Wake Forest or another great university and have a great job. Maybe he would be living a great, happy life with someone who he loves and loves him in return.

I don't think I handled his death properly. Then again, I hadn't faced death with a person so close to me yet. Sure, older relatives had passed away, but I always figured it was their time. But at the time, he was probably the closest thing I had to a best friend. And now, I don't know if there's anyone I know who I can call a best friend or who could do the same in return. I remember we used to do Secret Santa for Christmas gifts, and by some luck, we drew each other and he gave me a wrestling calendar while I gave him a couple of wrestling figurines. But I like to remember that I hung out with him a lot at the university Campus Center and the arcade. I didn't go to his home or anything, don't get me wrong, I hadn't been to many of my friend's homes at all. But ever since, I don't think I ever really got close with one or two people, rather I have a lot of acquaintances that I know and can talk to. But there isn't that one person I can really trust with my feelings and I can be really truthful with.

I've been thinking about this question for a while as I see some of my high school classmates having children while others are married. If you had to choose, would you rather be wealthy and have a great job or be with someone who unconditionally loves you? I'm not saying in either position, but I do enjoy my job, probably for the people that I work over the kind of work I do, while I still haven't found a girl in the right situation. Every time I think I'm close, something comes in the way, work, other commitments, etc. Two people on my project are not married and they seem fairly old. I know I'm only 23, but I do not want to end up like them. They may live wonderful lives, but me, I feel like I need to share my life with someone else. Even right now, I feel pretty lonely in my apartment, with no one I know within a 10 mile radius of me. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever find the right one. I felt like I have several times, but it has never panned out. Maybe I need to change my life, and do it fast. Then again, I don't know how to go out and meet people outside of work and school. I've never figured it out, like how all of the girls in high school had a boyfriend not in our class, yet the guys were stuck out of luck. Hmm, maybe I need to have a conversation with someone about this. But again, who do I go to with questions like this? It's a vicious cycle that can't seem to be broken.

I also need to stop building up some girls only to be shot down. Well, not really shot down, just either I run out of time or something better comes along (to them, not to me). I admit, I was intimidated by girls before. Now, not so much, but the more I talk to one, the closer I feel to them, and soon I get attached. Then all I think about is spending more time with the girl, though now if that thought pops into my mind, I try to quickly squash it, knowing its not going to pan out into anything that I imagine. I try to be around the girl as much as possible, but now again, I've learned to stop obsessing with being around her and try to just let things happen. I don't want to go into the specifics, but my mind has not been on work at work recently, just on someone else. It's hard to concentrate sometimes, and I have to go for a walk just to clear my mind.

Well, that was quite a sidetrack. I just needed to vent/release some stress, and I feel like writing is the best way to do it. Blogging allows me to see and reflect from wherever I have internet access, as I can't write by hand, my penmanship is terrible. It doesn't matter, no one reads this anyway. What do I need? I need a nice long hug...

Lindsay Soto!

Um, yeah, my (unhealthy) obsession with Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket anchor/reporter Lindsay Soto...

Just like football!

Well, USC can say that in all sports against UCLA so far this year. In fact, USC has either won or split the season series with UCLA in all head-to-head sports so far this year. USC is also the first school to have won a Women's national championship in soccer, reach the final four in Women's volleyball, and for the football team to play in a BCS game. The Trojans have a dominating 37.5-10 lead over the Westwood Bruins after sweeping them in basketball last weekend. It was a great win by the men's team, who somehow pulled away from UCLA in the final minutes with a 9-0 run, capped by Davon Jefferson posterizing Kevin Love for a three point play:























Here's the clip:


USC has rolled off four straight wins after a dismal 0-3 start in conference play. The team looks a lot more confident, with O.J. Mayo not jacking up wild shots, Daniel Hackett as the glue of the offense, Taj Gibson staying out of foul trouble, Dwight Lewis stepping up on the offensive end, and Davon Jefferson growing out of Mayo's shadow. The only worry about the team is the same that I had last year, the lack of depth, which really shone bright in the North Carolina game, when Gibson picked up his fourth foul, the Tar Heels took the game over. This year, Coach Tim Floyd is constantly using 7-8 players per game, with the starters playing at least 30 minutes per game, with Mayo closer to 36. It's not really Floyd's fault; Kyle Austin started the season opener before transferring, Kasey Cunningham played with some promise before going down for the season with an injury, Mamadou Diarra looks like another stiff, or a homeless man's Abdoulaye N'diaye, Keith Wilkinson is a poor man's Rory O'Neill, and RouSean Cromwell scoring 0.7 points per game. Angelo Johnson is the only one off the bench that has played in every game and is in for more than 20 minutes per game. Wilkinson is the only reliable post player off the bench, but that's not saying much. It didn't help that Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt left for the draft last year. I can't really blame Nick, but Gabe is slumming in the NBDL right now instead of leading the team as our lone senior. Then again, Pruitt still wouldn't be the solution to our big man problems. One answer would have been this guy:































Here's a clip of the big man in action:


7-7, 360 pound Kenny George. I'm sure he can only play for a few minutes at a time, but anything is better than Cromwell roaming the floor, right? And wouldn't he be giving Kevin Love, Brook/Robin Lopez, and Ryan Anderson fits for years? Oh well.

The Trojans' win streak is at risk this week against the sizzling Chase Buddinger and the Arizona Wildcats and the frisky Jeff Pendergrapf and the Arizona State Sun Devils. Hmm, if these winning ways continue, look for some basketball previews...

Back to the title of the post, "Just like football!" I have a feeling the USC fans started the chant after the end of basketball wins when the team wasn't very good. Now, it's starting to backfire, starting with our loss to Stanford in football. At the end of a thrilling (...) 52-46 loss to the Cardinal, their fans (deservingly) started a "Just like football!" chant, which I'm sure hurt a lot of USC fans. We do deserve that, as I've found we have used that chant when the basketball team beat a weaker team instead of pulling off an upset. I have thought of a few rules to use this chant to not make the fans sound like assholes:

1. The football team pulled off an upset, regardless of the rankings during the basketball season. (E.g., UCLA beat #2 USC 13-9 in football then swept them in basketball last year.)
2. The basketball team pulled off an upset, regardless of the rankings during the football season. (E.g., Arizona beat Washington State 48-20 in football then upset them in basketball 76-64 this year.)
3. The football team won in a National Championship game, regardless of the rankings during the basketball season, with a lasting life of 5 years. (E.g. USC beat Oklahoma 55-19 in the 2005 Orange Bowl then beat them in basketball in December 2007.)

If there's more I'll post them later. But I like the "We are SC!" chant much better. I get chills when I hear it at the end of huge wins, like in the NCAA Tournament against Arkansas and Texas, as well as the Cal and UCLA wins in football this year. Here's a sample of it:


Anyway... time to do some homework... ugh. Is it even worth it anymore?

Yes please...

Early look at next season's OCC schedules

...of the BCS schools (teams in bold do not have complete schedules, more on that later):

Atlantic Coast Conference
Boston College - vs. Kent State (@ Cleveland), vs. Rhode Island (FCS), vs. Notre Dame, Central Florida
Clemson - vs. Alabama (@ Atlanta), vs. Citadel (FCS), vs. South Carolina State (FCS), vs. South Carolina
Florida State - vs. Colorado, vs. Florida, vs. Western Carolina (FCS), vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga (FCS)
Maryland - vs. Delaware (FCS), @ Middle Tennessee, vs. California, vs. Eastern Michigan
North Carolina State - @ South Carolina, vs. South Florida, vs. William & Mary (FCS), vs. East Carolina
Wake Forest - @ Baylor, vs. Mississippi, vs. Navy, vs. Vanderbilt
Duke - vs. James Madison (FCS), Northwestern, Navy, @ Vanderbilt
Georgia Tech - vs. Jacksonville State (FCS), Mississippi State, @ Georgia, TBA
Miami (Florida) - Charleston Southern (FCS), @ Florida, @ Texas A&M, vs. Central Florida
North Carolina - vs. McNeese State (FCS), @ Rutgers, vs. Connecticut, vs. Notre Dame
Virginia - vs. Southern California, @ Connecticut, vs. East Carolina, vs. Richmond (FCS)
Virginia Tech - vs. East Carolina @ Charlotte, vs. Furman (FCS), @ Nebraska, TBA
Percentage of FCS teams - 13/46 (28.3%)

Big East Conference
Cincinnati - vs. Eastern Kentucky (FCS), @ Oklahoma, vs. Miami (Ohio), @ Akron, @ Marshall, @ Hawaii (6 games!)
Connecticut - vs. Hofstra (FCS), @ Temple, vs. Virginia, vs. Baylor, @ North Carolina
Louisville - vs. Kentucky, vs. Kansas State, vs. Middle Tennessee, vs. Tennessee Tech (FCS), TBA
Pittsburgh - vs. Bowling Green, vs. Iowa, @ Navy, @ Notre Dame, vs. Buffalo
Rutgers - @ Navy, vs. North Carolina, vs. Army, TBA, TBA
South Florida - vs. Tennessee-Martin (FCS), @ Central Florida, vs. Kansas, @ Florida International, @ North Carolina State
Syracuse - @ Northwestern, vs. Akron, vs. Penn State, @ Notre Dame, TBA
West Virginia - vs. Auburn, vs. Marshall, @ Colorado, vs. Villanova (FCS), @ East Carolina
Percentage of FCS teams - 5/37 (13.5%)

Big Ten Conference
Illinois - vs. Missouri (@ St. Louis), vs. Eastern Illinois (FCS), vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, TBA
Indiana - vs. Ball State, vs. Murray State (FCS), vs. Western Kentucky (FCS trans.), Central Michigan
Iowa - vs. Maine (FCS), vs. Florida International, vs. Iowa State, @ Pittsburgh
Michigan - vs. Utah, vs. Miami (Ohio), @ Notre dame, vs. Toledo
Michigan State - @ California, vs. Eastern Michigan, vs. Florida Atlantic, vs. Notre Dame
Minnesota - vs. Northern Illinois, @ Bowling Green, vs. Montana State (FCS), vs. Florida Atlantic
Northwestern - vs. Syracuse, @ Duke, vs. Southern Illinois (FCS), vs. Ohio
Ohio State - vs. Youngstown State (FCS), vs. Ohio, @ Southern California, vs. Troy
Penn State - vs. Coastal Carolina (FCS), vs. Oregon State, @ Syracuse, vs. Temple
Purdue - vs. Northern Colorado (FCS), vs. Oregon, vs. Central Michigan, @ Notre Dame
Wisconsin - vs. Akron, vs. Marshall, @ Fresno State, TBA
Percentage of FCS teams - 8/42 (19.0%)

Big 12 Conference
Colorado - vs. Colorado State @ Denver, vs. Eastern Washington, @ Florida State, vs. West Virginia
Iowa State - vs. South Dakota State (FCS), vs. Kent State, @ Iowa, @ Nevada-Las Vegas
Kansas - vs. Florida International, vs. Louisiana Tech, @ South Florida, vs. Sam Houston State (FCS)
Kansas State - vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, vs. Fresno State, @ Louisville, vs. North Texas
Missouri - vs. Illinois (@ St. Louis), vs. SE Missouri State (FCS), vs. Nevada, vs. Buffalo
Nebraska - vs. Western Michigan, vs. San Jose State, vs. New Mexico State, vs. Virginia Tech
Baylor - vs. Wake Forest, vs. Northwestern State (FCS), vs. Washington State, @ Connecticut
Oklahoma - vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga (FCS), vs. Cincinnati, @ Washington, vs. Texas Christian
Oklahoma State - vs. Washington State (@ Seattle), vs. Houston, vs. Missouri State (FCS), vs. Troy
Texas - vs. Florida Atlantic, @ Texas-El Paso, vs. Arkansas, vs. Rice
Texas A&M - vs. Arkansas State, @ New Mexico, vs. Miami (Florida), vs. Army
Texas Tech - vs. Tulsa, @ Nevada, vs. Southern Methodist, vs. Massachusetts (FCS)
Percentage of FCS teams - 7/48 (14.6%)

Pacific 10 Conference
Arizona - vs. Idaho, vs. Toledo, @ New Mexico
Arizona State - vs. Northern Arizona (FCS), vs. Nevada-Las Vegas, vs. Georgia
California - vs. Michigan State, @ Maryland, vs. Colorado State
Oregon - vs. Utah State, @ Purdue, vs. Boise State
Oregon State - @ Penn State, vs. Hawaii, @ Utah
USC - @ Virginia, vs. Ohio State, vs. Notre Dame
Stanford - @ Texas Christian, vs. San Jose State, @ Notre Dame
UCLA - vs. Fresno State, vs. Tennessee, @ Brigham Young
Washington - vs. Brigham Young, vs. Oklahoma, vs. Notre Dame
Washington State - vs. Oklahoma State (@ Seattle), @ Baylor, vs. Portland State (FCS), @ Hawaii
Percentage of FCS teams - 2/31 (6.4%)

Southeastern Conference
Florida - vs. Hawaii, vs. Miami (Florida), vs. The Citadel (FCS), @ Florida State
Georgia - vs. Georgia Southern (FCS), vs. Central Michigan, @ Arizona State, vs. Georgia Tech
Kentucky - @ Louisville, vs. Norfolk State (FCS), vs. Akron, vs. Temple
South Carolina - vs. North Carolina State, @ Vanderbilt, vs. Wofford (FCS), vs. Alabama-Birmingham
Tennessee - vs. Alabama-Birmingham, @ UCLA, vs. Northern Illinois, vs. Wyoming
Vanderbilt - @ Miami (Ohio), vs. Duke, vs. Rice, @ Wake Forest
Alabama - vs. Clemson (@ Atlanta), vs. Tulane, vs. Western Kentucky (FCS trans), vs. Arkansas State
Arkansas - vs. Western Illinois (FCS), @ Texas, vs. Utah State, TBA
Auburn - vs. Louisiana-Monroe, @ West Virginia, vs. Southern Mississippi, vs. Tennessee-Martin (FCS)
Louisiana State - vs. North Texas, vs. Troy, vs. Tulane, TBA
Mississippi - vs. Memphis, @ Wake Forest, vs. Samford (FCS), vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Mississippi State - @ Louisiana Tech - vs. Southeast Louisiana (FCS), @ Georgia Tech, vs. Middle Tennessee
Percentage of FBS teams - 8/42 (19.0%)

And for help with filling out those TBAs without the use of FBS teams...maybe later when the ACC and Big East regular season schedules are finalized...

And for ten OOC games to watch for...

1. 9/13 - Ohio State @ USC
2. 9/6 - Auburn @ West Virginia
3. 9/20 - Georgia @ Arizona State
4. 9/6 - Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
5. 9/6 - Tennessee @ UCLA
6. 9/13 - Arkansas @ Texas
7. 8/30 - USC @ Virginia
8. 8/30 - Alabama vs. Clemson @ Atlanta
9. 8/30 - Illinois vs. Missouri @ St. Louis
10. 9/27 - Virginia Tech @ Nebraska

Smelling like Roses...

Well, I'm glad I was wrong again. USC demolished Illinois, 49-17, after the Fighting Illini had a costly fumble in the red zone while down 21-10. The Trojans benefited from 4 Illinois turnovers, which they converted into 28 points. USC scored early and often, opening with an impressive drive capped off by a QB John David Booty touchdown pass to RB Chauncey Washington. After a Rey Maualuga interception, Booty lateraled to WR Garrett Green who lobbed a pass to RB Desmond Reed for Reed's first touchdown since 2005. The Illini defense solidified, though, picking off Booty, but the offense was no match for the Trojan defense, as they were held to a field goal in the first half. USC added a Washington run for a 21-3 halftime lead. In the second half, true to form, the USC offense sputtered and punted to Illinois, who vaulted back into the game on a 79 yard TD run by Rashard Mendenhall. The Fighting Illini again forced USC to punt and reached the red zone before LB Kaluka Maiava punched the ball out of the Illinois receiver's hands, and LB Brian Cushing recovered the fumble in the end zone. USC marched right down the field after a fortunate fumble bouncing right into RB Joe McKnight's hands, who ran it 63 yards. A few plays later, Booty found his favorite target, TE Fred Davis for the touchdown and the route was on. McKnight, WR David Ausberry, and RB Hershel Dennis all found the endzone for the Trojans. Here's the pictures of the scoring recap:
















Chauncey Washington 8 yard pass from John David Booty (David Buehler kick) - USC 7-0
















Desmond Reed 34 yard pass from Garrett Green (David Buehler kick) - USC 14-0

















Chauncey Washington 3 yard run (David Buehler kick) - USC 21-3



















Fred Davis 2 yard pass from John David Booty (David Buehler kick) - USC 28-10
























Joe McKnight 6 yard run (David Buehler kick) - USC 35-10

















David Ausberry 15 yard pass from John David Booty (David Buehler kick) - USC 42-10

















Hershel Dennis 3 yard run (David Buehler kick) - USC 49-10

And for the game balls:
Offense: John David Booty























In his final game as a Trojan, he played pretty efficiently, throwing three TDs, with his lone interception being due to a receiver slipping. Many have called for his head (I might have as well...), but with the receivers not growing into a new Dwayne Jarrett or Steve Smith, Booty really used the weapons he did have, the Mackey award winner in Fred Davis, and FB Stanley Havili, who needs to work on his hands in the offseason. But best wishes to Booty on his NFL future.

Defense: Rey Maualuga
















Three sacks, all in the second quarter, and a interception will win you honors. Maualuga really played well, staying in his lanes and position. The entire defense played good, as forcing 4 turnovers will lead to a lot of praise from the public.

Special Teams: David Buehler























(Yeah, the pic is not from the Rose Bowl, but if I find one, I'll put one here...) 7-7 on PATs and several touchbacks on kickoffs in a stellar performance on the anniversary of Mario Danelo's final game. Buehler played well all year in his first year as the kicker.

Other thoughts from the Bowl Season:

Sugar Bowl, sorry to see Hawaii get blown out by Georgia, but coach Mark Richt really had his team focused. The Warriors didn't have a chance after Boise shocked Oklahoma last year, and it seemed Hawaii was a step slow the entire game. QB Colt Brennan was sacked eight times and failed to throw a touchdown while tossing three picks and fumbling twice. And I'm even more sorry to see coach June Jones to leave Hawaii, but I can't really blame him, with the sorry state of the facilities there and AD Herman Frasier dragging his feet on offering Jones an extension. Sad to see while being in Hawaii for the last two weeks. All the best to Jones at SMU or wherever he ends up.
Orange Bowl, not too surprised to see Kansas winning, and it does prove that they did belong in the BCS. The Hokies looked uncomfortable the entire time, even if they did lose by only 3 points. And this guy:










does deserve credit for leading the Jayhawks to a great 12-1 season. With a lot of pieces returning, Kansas looks to be the favorite to win the Big 12 North and maybe the Fiesta Bowl next year. Speaking of which,
Fiesta Bowl, wow Oklahoma, you did it again. It seems like when the Sooners lose in the BCS, they lose on the big stage, being blitzed by LSU in 2003 in the National Championship, blown out by USC a year later, tricked by Boise last year, and losing to a coachless West Virginia team. Damn.

For now, my top 25, with the top 2 teams being safe. For now. All I can say, the LSU-tOSU winner may not be #1 after the BCS National Championship... Basically, double digit win teams in top tier, then remaining nine loss teams.

1. Louisiana State (11-2)
2. Georgia (11-2)
3. Southern California (11-2)
4. Missouri (12-2)
5. Kansas (12-1)
6. Ohio State (11-1)
7. West Virginia (11-2)
8. Virginia Tech (11-3)
9. Oklahoma (11-3)
   
10. Texas (10-3)
11. Boston College (11-3)
12. Brigham Young (11-2)
13. Tennessee (10-4)
14. Arizona State (10-3)
15. Cincinnati (10-3)
    
16. Hawaii (12-1)
17. Michigan (9-4)
18. Auburn (9-4)
19. Florida (9-4)
20. Oregon State (9-4)
21. Oregon (9-4)
22. Illinois (9-4)
23. Texas Tech (9-4)
24. Wisconsin (9-4)
25. Clemson (9-4)
    

It's been a while

...and it's time for my bowl preview, albeit one game into the bowl season. Good game between Navy and Utah tonight in San Diego, with the Utes surviving the scrappy Midshipmen, 35-32. Before I go into the actual matchups, here's the BCS games that I predicted/wanted to see:

BCS National Championship: LSU vs. Ohio State
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Arizona State
Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Hawaii
Rose Bowl: Southern California vs. Missouri

That's a little better... Now it's time for some lists:

Top 5 Non-BCS games:

1. Capital One Bowl - Florida vs. Michigan
2. Cotton Bowl - Arkansas vs. Missouri
3. Holiday Bowl - Arizona State vs. Texas
4. Chick-fil-A Bowl - Clemson vs. Auburn
5. Outback Bowl - Tennessee vs. Wisconsin

Worse 5 Bowl Matchups

1. International Bowl - Rutgers vs. Ball State
   
2. New Mexico Bowl - New Mexico vs. Nevada
3. Motor City Bowl - Purdue vs. Central Michigan
4. Armed Forces Bowl - Air Force vs. California
5. Independence Bowl - Alabama vs. Colorado

BCS Games to Watch For:

1. BCS National Championship - LSU vs. Ohio State: Can the Buckeyes avoid a blowout like last year's 41-14 loss to Florida in the championship? A less spectacular offense will have trouble scoring on the Tiger defense, but Ohio State's D is their strength. LSU coach Les Miles gambled so many times this year, but will a fourth down gamble swing the game into the Buckeyes' favor? The winner becomes the first two-time BCS champion. I think the Tigers pull it out after Miles goes for the win late on fourth down. LSU (-4) 35, Ohio State 28
2. Allstate Sugar Bowl - Hawaii vs. Georgia: Will we have Boise State/Oklahoma part deux? The Warriors have the offensive firepower, but let's be honest, no defense they played this year can hold the Bulldog defense's jock. Georgia also features a solid running game which Hawaii has struggled to contain in the past. It will be another fun game, but even in a season full of upsets, Georgia will restore some order to the college football scene. Georgia (-7.5) 45, Hawaii 42
3. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs. West Virginia: Probably the best team not playing in the national championship, the Sooners look to beat up on a Mountaineer team that went from being four quarters away from New Orleans to losing coach Rich Rodriguez to Michigan after a disappointing loss to Pittsburgh. Pat White has to do his best Vince Young impression, and Steve Slaton has to do his best Steve Slaton impression just to keep this one close. The balanced Oklahoma offensive attack and defense will keep West Virginia at bay. This would be lower, but even the Rose and Orange Bowls are less intriguing. Oklahoma (-6.5) 49, West Virginia 28
4. Rose Bowl - USC vs. Illinois: This game isn't higher than the Orange Bowl just because the Trojans are playing in it; I really don't see much in the VT/Kansas matchup. Also, the the Rose Bowl committee trying to preserve the Pac-10/Big-10 matchup, well what the hell happened in 2004, when Texas played Michigan as Cal watched from the sideline. The Rose Bowl had the first pick that year (USC played in the Orange Bowl for the national championship) and instead of tradition, they picked Texas. Ugh. And in 2002? They had the first pick (Ohio State played in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship) and again, instead of taking Iowa, who tied for first in the Big Ten, to play Washington State, they took Oklahoma, while the traditional matchup took place in the Orange Bowl. Fuck man. I would have enjoyed a USC/Missouri matchup (it seems like the Rose Bowl likes having the Big 12 as the at large replacement), especially after the Tigers beat the Illini earlier in the year. At least stay consistent with your decisions. A three loss Illinois team over the Big East champion West Virginia? Undefeated WAC champion Hawaii? The hottest team in the land Georgia? Two loss Missouri, who beat Illinois? Geez, no logic at all.
   Back to the game, USC is the biggest favorite of this bowl season at 14 points, but I have this weird feeling that Illinois will show up while the Trojans start sluggish. Then again, coach Pete Carroll coaches his team for this game every year. And Vince Young isn't playing for the Illini, though they do have a similar spread offense and a running QB in Juice Williams. It's always hard to figure out which USC team will come and play; the focused ones running on all cylinders like the one who played Nebraska, Washington State, and Arizona State, or the one that played Stanford, Arizona, and Washington. Here? First to 24 wins. USC (-13.5) 27, Illinois 17
5. FedEx Orange Bowl - Virginia Tech vs. Kansas: A picture is worth a thousand words? Here's mine...
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Kansas played well all year, but who have they played and beat? Central Michigan, I guess, who won the MAC championship. Texas A&M? Please. The Hokies, other than that 48-7 showing against LSU, played well, though their offensive struggles will have even more problems against the Jayhawks' solid defense. Virginia Tech (-3.5) 17, Kansas 13
   
   
   

Ugh, it's bowl season...

Well, the dust has settled and it's Ohio State against LSU in the BCS National Championship game. Fine. Sure, you could have made an argument that Oklahoma or Virginia Tech could have been in there, but as it is, I'm all right with the Buckeyes taking on the Tigers in New Orleans. Beats Kansas or Missouri against West Virginia. But the rest of the bowl games are pretty suspect. Other than the BCS conference champions and Hawaii, the three other BCS at large bids were literally up for grabs. The Sugar Bowl was the only one to get it right, probably because it used its last pick to select Hawaii and kept Georgia from the SEC, leading to another David/Goliath showdown like last year's Fiesta Bowl between Oklahoma and Boise State. Speaking of Oklahoma, they return to Tempe as Big 12 Champions to play the Big East champions, West Virginia, who choked their season away USC-style (circa 2006). That is also fine, but this is due to the fact that the Rose Bowl chose tradition over a great game. Sure, Illinois played out of their minds this year and handed Ohio State their only loss of the season. But it was a very down year in the Big Ten, where Michigan lost to Appalachian State, Illinois was the second best team ahead of a bunch of 7-5 or 6-6 teams, and Minnesota went 1-11. The Big Ten is a joke, as out of the FBS conferences, it is the only one where either the teams don't play each other nor do they have a conference championship. What a joke. That's how you got two 11-1 teams and a 12-0 team last year, as Wisconsin lost to Michigan, who lost to Ohio State. They did not deserve two BCS bids. Screw tradition Rose Bowl. Missouri says thanks for sending them to the Cotton Bowl, which I will get to next. Georgia is stuck in a no-win situation against Hawaii. And West Virginia plays a hot Oklahoma team. Again, thanks Rose Bowl committee, though we may be crashing in Pasadena next year for home games, which is another issue. And Kansas? With this guy:











somehow made it to a BCS game. So both Illinois and Kansas get into BCS games while Missouri, who beat both on neutral fields, gets the shaft and plays against a coachless Arkansas team in the Cotton Bowl. Bullshit! I know they got blown out by Oklahoma, but still, they were #1 last week, ranked higher than Illinois and Kansas this week, and won their division in the Big 12, and were left out of the BCS. Bullshit! And they were penalized heavily for losing a game most figured (including Vegas, where gambling is legal) that they would lose. Yet LSU, who lost last week to an unranked Arkansas team at home makes the leap from #7 to #2 in the BCS for beating a subpar Tennessee team that feasted on the weaker teams in the SEC. Bullshit! If anything, the Sooners deserved to be in the national championship over LSU. But I digress. How in the world did the Orange Bowl take Kansas over Missouri? I am dumbfounded. What else is bullshit? Hawaii started the season off ranked #23 in the AP, while Kansas was not on anyone's radars. Both teams got to 11-0, the difference is that Kansas was #2 in the polls; Hawaii was #12. Bullshit! You can't say Kansas played a tougher schedule than Hawaii. In fact, here's a comparison of the teams both played:

Kansas--------------------------------Hawaii
Missouri (11-2) - LOSS----------------Boise State (10-2)
Central Michigan (8-5, MAC Champs)--Fresno State (8-4)
Texas A&M (7-5)----------------------Nevada (6-6)
Oklahoma State (6-6)------------------Louisiana Tech (5-7)
Colorado (6-6)-------------------------San Jose State (5-7)
Nebraska (5-7)------------------------Washington (4-9)
Kansas State (5-7)----------------------New Mexico State (4-9)
Toledo (5-7)----------------------------UNLV (2-10)
Iowa State (3-9)------------------------Utah State (2-10)
Baylor (3-9)----------------------------Idaho (1-11)
Florida International (1-11)------------Charleston Southern (5-6, FCS)
SE Louisiana (3-8, FCS)----------------Northern Colorado (1-11, FCS)

Kansas' schedule was better, but not by much. And they lost to the best team they played. Plus, the records of the WAC teams are lower than the Big 12 teams because a lot of the WAC teams were scheduled as cupcakes for other teams, like Utah State against Oklahoma, Idaho against USC, Louisiana Tech against LSU, and Fresno State against Kansas State (oops! forgot about the highest ranked team that Kansas beat was beat by Fresno. Sorry about that.).

Other screwy bowls, Boise leaving the smurf turf and the Humanitarian Bowl to play in the Hawaii bowl, the highly anticipated UCLA/BYU rematch in the Vegas Bowl, and the best non-BCS game is not the Capital One Bowl between Florida and Michigan (Gators win big) but the Holiday Bowl, where the Fiesta Bowl snubbed Arizona State Sun Devils play the second best (oops, fourth best) team in the Big 12, Texas.

Also, the Pac-10 All-Conference team was named, and in the first time since before Carson Palmer, no USC QB made either team. In fact, Booty didn't even get honorable mention. But I can name at least two QBs better than Booty this year: Dennis Dixon, Oregon, Rudy Carpenter, Arizona State, Alex Brink, Washington State, Jake Locker, Washington, Tavita Prichard, Stanford (oh sorry, the QB who directed the biggest upset in college football history doesn't get any love here...). Here's the complete list of the All-Conference team:

Offensive Player of the Year: QB Dennis Dixon, Oregon
Defensive Player of the Year: DT Sedrick Ellis, USC
Freshman of the Year: QB Jake Locker, Washington
Coach of the Year: Dennis Erickson, Arizona State

First Team
QB Dennis Dixon, Oregon
RB Jonathan Stewart, Oregon
RB Justin Forsett, California
WR Mike Thomas, Arizona
WR Brandon Gibson, Washington State
TE Fred Davis, USC
OL Alex Mack, California
OL Max Unger, Oregon
OL Chilo Rachal, USC
OL Roy Schuening, Oregon State
OL Sam Baker, USC
OL Mike Pollack, Arizona State
DL Sedrick Ellis, USC
DL Lawrence Jackson, USC
DL Nick Reed, Oregon
DL Dorian Smith, Oregon State
LB Spencer Lawson, Arizona
LB Keith Rivers, USC
LB Robert James, Arizona State
LB Rey Maualuga, USC
DB Antoine Cason, Arizona
DB Patrick Chung, Oregon
DB Kevin Ellison, USC
DB Chris Horton, UCLA
PK Thomas Weber, Arizona State
P Keenyn Crier, Arizona
KR Matthew Slater, UCLA
PR Kyle Williams, Arizona State
ST Jahvid Best, California

Second Team
QB Alex Brink, Washington State
RB Yvenson Bernard, Oregon State
RB Louis Rankin, Washington
WR DeSean Jackson, California
WR Lavelle Hawkins, California
TE Jed Collins, Washington State
OL Geoff Schwartz, Oregon
OL Juan Garcia, Washington
OL Andy Levitre, Oregon State
OL Ebon Britton, Arizona
OL Alex Fletcher, Stanford
OL Fenuki Tupou, Oregon
DL Bruce Davis, UCLA
DL Dexter Davis, Arizona State
DL Lionel Dotson, Arizona
DL Jeff Van Orsow, Oregon State
LB Joey LaRocque, Oregon State
LB Alan Darlin, Oregon State
LB Derrick Doggett, Oregon State
LB Zach Follett, California
DB Terrell Thomas, USC
DB Justin Tryon, Arizona State
DB Brandon Hughes, Oregon State
DB Troy Nolan, Arizona State
PK Alexis Serna, Oregon State
P Jay Ottovegio, Stanford
KR Jonathan Stewart, Oregon
PR DeSean Jackson, California
ST Wopamo Osaisai, Stanford

Honorable Mention, USC: LB Brian Cushing, DE Everson Griffen, DB Cary Harris, DB Taylor Mays, RB/PR Joe McKnight, OL Drew Radovich, OL Matt Spanos, RB Chauncey Washington, LB Thomas Williams.

Few observations, I think that Thomas and Ellison should switch teams. Griffen was solid late, probably sealing his fate as an honorable mention. Tough for Chauncey to not make the second team, but those four RBs ahead of them were solid and were not stuck in a rotation. Nice to see Spanos and T-Will get some love as honorable mentions. Obvious picks for Dixon, Ellis, Locker, and Erickson. Ranking the coaches in order: Erickson, Riley, Bellotti, Harbaugh, Carroll, Stoops, Doba, Dorrell, Willingham, Tedford.

Oh well, maybe more ranting later. Beat the Illini!