The End of an Era

We all knew this streak would end eventually, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. The lead picture above, taken from the LA Times, says it all; the dejected Joe McKnight walks off the field with specter of the Grim Reaper looming over his shoulder. On a frightening, wet, and loud Halloween night in Autzen Stadium the Oregon Ducks handed Pete Carroll his worst USC loss . . . ever. It was the worst loss by the Trojans in over a decade (since 1997). A defense that was in the top 10 in the nation against run found itself run over. Duck quarterback Jeremiah Masoli looked better than Vince Young ever was as he threw and sliced the Trojan D on the way to 44 points. In the third quarter, I found myself looking up the date for the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.



The big winner last night was Boise State. Now their opening night victory over Oregon looks even better. The human pollsters recognize this and put Boise just behind Cincinnati, and ahead of Oregon by a couple spots. But the computers were apparently switched on after September 5th and never saw the Broncos dominate the Ducks. 5 of the 6 BCS computers rank the Ducks ahead of Boise State! As a result, Boise State has virtually no chance at the BCS title game. But an at-large bid is looking increasingly likely (the automatic bid for a non-BCS league team will get taken by TCU if they win out).



Texas and Florida silenced their critics with big wins on national TV, rolling on toward the BCS championship. Iowa, however, insists on thrilling their fans by spotting a lead to each of their opponents then scrambling back in the second half with deep passes and a blistering defense. It kinda makes you wonder how well they would do if they ever managed to play a complete game. They are firmly in the driver’s seat for the Rose Bowl and will likely face Oregon on New Year’s Day. Considering how well the Ducks played last night, I seriously doubt that Iowa would survive the bowl game if they surrendered a lead of any kind,



Despite the devastating loss for the Trojans (talk about elevated expectations- 2 losses and the season is considered a disaster), I had a great weekend. Sophie, Kristi and I went to Pennsylvania to spend Halloween weekend with Sophie’s aunts, uncles, and cousins. Sophie got to go on her first trick or treating experience, which she thought was pretty much the coolest thing ever. For more on that, check out her blog at http://www.sophiehouse.blogspot.com/. We stayed at the Spring Creek Inn, a lovely Victorian mansion on the shores of a serene fly fishing creek. The lodge is run by underdog pooler Mike Gruendler (MG@PA). Also in attendance was your commissioner khouse, plus Geodog, GopherGirl, MiniMike, and, of course, Gran. The Spring Creek Inn was originally built in 1860 as a brewery, and, nestled into the nearby hillside, has a deep beer-aging cave not unlike a wine cave you might find in Bordeaux or Provence. We gathered up our champagne and candles, and journeyed into the cave to toast the season and toast the family.

The next night is when Sophie discovered the joy of trick or treating, especially the candy that comes with it. But all the sweets in her bag couldn’t erase the bitter taste in my mouth after that Oregon game.



Fight On,

Hans