Boy, I can’t remember a time when a team has displayed as bad of sportsmanship as the Oklahoma Sooners football team.

For those not in the know, last Saturday they played a very tight game against Oregon.  The game went back and forth.  Late in the 4th quarter with the Oregon Ducks down by 13 points, the Ducks scored a TD to cut the deficit to 6.  On the ensuing kickoff they went for an onside kick and recovered.  But wait, there’s a rule for an onside kick that the ball must travel 10 yards before it can be touched by an Oregon player and the replay showed that it might have been touched after about 9 yards (which would give the ball to Oklahoma).  The instant replay team reviewed the play and decided the video evidence wasn’t conclusive and let the play stand.

To make a long story short, Oregon marched down the field, scored a TD and then blocked a last second field goal attempt by Oklahoma to win the game.

Oklahoma has been on a crusade the last 4 days to tell the world how large of an injustice has been committed against them.  Not only has the coach been on the rampage, the President of the University (not just of Athletics, but the whole University) wrote a letter to their conference asking that the game be declared void. (source – about 2/3rds of the way down)

Of course that is never going to happen, seeing as how this is the 4,394,328th game in which the refs “stole” the game from losing team, but thanks for the attempt.

Nevertheless, the Pac-10 conference reviewed the play in question and decided that Oklahoma was correct and that they should have gotten the ball.  They apologized to Oklahoma and suspended the refs in question for a game. (source)

So you’d think that Oklahoma would be satisfied, or at least placated, yes?

No.

Now they’re saying they’re not going to play any more games against Pac-10 teams including canceling an existing contract they have with the University of Washington in 2008 if they don’t get their way and get to pick their own refs for future games in the Pac-10. (source)

I’m sorry but this is just pathetic.  As a friend of mine says, if one call by a ref is enough to change the outcome of the game, the game was so close that any bounce of the ball could have had the same effect.  To claim that you were robbed is overstating.  If you want to keep fate out of the equation, you need to make sure that you’re victory is more decisive.

But beyond that, talk about being sore losers.  Apparently people at the University of Oklahoma don’t realize that football is a game.  I decided to file this both under the sports category as well as the morals category because it seems that we’re marching farther and farther down the road to where people don’t seem to realize the difference between a game and live and death issues.

I’m a very intense fan.  I cheer loud. I rant and rave during the game.  I call referees good judgement into question and whether they need a new optomitrist.  I question what kind of unprescribed medications the coaches are taking.  I even occasionally question whether a player deserves their scholarship.  But you know what, when the game is over, I remember that it is a game and it’s supposed to be fun.

Apparently those at the University of Oklahoma have lost sight of that.

I’m sure some of my readers have been reading about the bru-ha-ha that is growing regarding the Pope’s speech last Tuesday.  What most people have not seen is what the Pope actually has said.  Here is the pdf of the speech itself.  However I’ll go beyond that to show the quote that is the source of this outrage for those who don’t want to read the whole thing:

In the seventh conversation edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the holy war. The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: “There is no compulsion in religion”. According to the experts, this is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur’an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the “Book” and the “infidels”, he addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached”. The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. “God”, he says, “is not pleased by blood – and not acting reasonably is contrary to God’s nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats… To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death…”.

Note: Italized quote is what is drawing the criticism, bold is my emphasis.

I will not deny that the Pope chose a poor quote for the point he was trying to make considering today’s political climate.  However, it is clear from reading the document that the Pope’s intent was clearly NOT to defame Islam, but to stress the importance of dialogue over violence.  The Pope makes it clear that he is quoting someone else and both prepends and postpends a disclaimer speaking to the harsh language being used (see bolded phrases).

What strikes me about this is how much the Pope’s point is being made in the events since the speech.  While his speech calls for dialogue, those who codemn him have responded with violence and hatred.  One influential Muslim going so far as to say “Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence.” (source)

If that isn’t an ironic statement, I don’t know what is.

When I first read about this controversy, I didn’t think much of it.  I figured it would blow over in a couple of days.  Sadly this has not been the case and violence in the middle east towards Christians is on the rise.

This is a time for prayer:

Heavenly Father, forgive me my sins and help me to rise above my weaknesses.  Help all of us to see the precious gift of life that you have given us all.  Help us to see that violence in your name is not your Will but an offense against your Will.  Give us all the strength to forgive those who have wronged us and that same strength to those we have wronged.  Lead us to peace in your Holy Name.

Gee, I really don’t know what I want to say about this game.  As I was telling one of my friends at Chruch this morning, Saturday was about the most boring Cal victory I’ve ever been in attendance at.  I mean, even when Portland St. had just intercepted the ball in the 1st quarter and were threatening to score, was the outcome ever in doubt?  I guess one had a little bit of doubt, but that was quickly ended when Portland St. called for a run play on 3rd and goal from the 6.  Didn’t the coach realize that he had to strike hard and quick if he hoped to turn the tide against the Bears?

In any case, I think there are a few things we can take away from this game:

1. Marcus O’Keefe deserves more playing time.  I’ve been pretty unimpressed with Forsett so far and O’Keefe showed he’s as good as I think he is.
2. Levy is more popular than Ayoob.  While they both got an ovation when they entered the game, Levy’s was louder.
3. Neither of them are the QB we need.  Didn’t they both stink?  We’d better hope that Longshore stays healthy if we want that shot at the Rose Bowl.
4. We won’t be seeing any of Kyle Reed this year.  If there was a moment he was going to get some time, it was Saturday.  (Too bad, I was hoping to see him play.)
5. Syd Thompson continues to improve.  He gave up that one touchdown play, but he was in position and made a reasonable play at a ball the reciever made a great catch on.
6. Instant replay is meaningless when Comcast is doing the TV coverage.  I watched the TV coverage last night and today.  I can now see why they didn’t overturn that Forsett “fumble”.  They only had two angles, the bad one and the worse one.
7. There is an upside to Comcast covering the game: When ABC or FSN would be going back to headquarters for their “impressive” halftime show, we were treated to meaningful stuff like an interview with Sandy Barbar in the press box about the stadium renovation.
8. The new bus tickets that are for sale at the BART station are a HUGE improvement over the old cash situation.  Now everyone can load the bus quickly and all of the “what’s the fare?” or “Do I need exact change?” obstructionists are out of the way.

OK, that’s all I have for this week. Thankfully, next week’s game is shaping up to be a lot more challenging, although one I am very hopeful will turn out in the Bear’s favor.

It’s interesting how things work out.  Just when I think I am much better at projecting the over/under than the margin of victory, I have a week where it’s exactly the opposite.  My worst game was the Cal game where I was 24 points off of the margin of victory, but just about every other one was within two touchdowns.

So here are the updated metrics:

• MVD: 16.3 (down big from 19.3 with new scores of 7, 7, 14, 4, 16, 9, 3, and 24)
• TPD: 14.7 (up big from 12.0 with new scores of 35, 1, 12, 24, 14, 41, 29 and 4)
• Winning percentage: 79.2 (up from 75% by going 7-1 this week)

OK, tune in late this week for predictions for the upcoming games including as detailed analysis of ASU as possible for the Bear’s first conference game.

Well, it’s that time of the week again: Time for me to show why it’s really hard to make money in Vegas.

Cal 56, Portland St. 6: I keep hearing about how tough Portland is and that it isn’t the cakewalk everyone thinks it is.  I’m glad that Tedford has that much control over the media to keep his players focused, but I’m not buying.  Cal is going to crush this team, tough defensive line and all.

Oregon 21, Oklahoma 17: I had a wider margin in this game, but the injury report coming out of Oregon is as ugly as the 2nd quarter of last year’s Sac. St. game.  I still think Oklahoma is a fundmentally unsound team and Oregon’s front seven will be strong enough to slow down Adrian Peterson enough to put another hash mark in the ‘W’ column.

WaZoo 42, Baylor 31: This game has shootout written all over it.  Thankfully, that’s where WaZoo is at it’s best and they’ll help the Pac-10 to regain some of it’s pride after so many conference losses to the BCS conferences

Washington 20, Fresno 35: Poor Washington.  They just can’t seem to catch a break.  They’re going to play a Fresno team that is just aching for revenge after a tough loss to Oregon.  Washington is just not going to have what it takes to beat this team.

USC 38, Nebraska 24: I want so badly for a good team to come in a beat USC on their home turf.  Sadly, Nebraska is NOT that team.  They’re going to be very soft after two powder-puff games at home and are not going to be able to cover the speed and raw talent of USC.  Looks like we’re going to have to wait a while for that USC upset because they don’t play another ranked team until 10/14 (and even then it is the under-achieving ASU at home) and don’t hit their tough stretch until 11/11 when they start their series against Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame and UCLA in order.

Stanford 10, Navy 24: This is a team that can’t figure out how to move the ball nor how to stop others from moving the ball.  They’re facing a very consistent team that isn’t going to blow anyone away, but will put up 20+ points every week.  Stanford doesn’t have a chance and their new stadium will be spoiled right out the gate.

Arizona 31, SFA 6: Thank goodness for Arizona that the scheduled whoever the heck SFA is.  They need a repreive after the LSU debacle.

ASU 42, Colorado 17: Colorado is 0-2 versus teams that suck… somehow I don’t think they’ll be able to win this one.  ASU is consistently putting points on the board but their defense is a little pourous.  They’ll win easily, but Colorado will put some points on the board.

OK, that’s it for this week.  Tune in on Monday for a Bears game review and updated metrics.

Wow, I really didn’t think this would happen.  I mean, they’ve done so many things before without being actually disciplined (lots of stern warnings however).  But I guess every rope has its bitter end and the Stanford Band has passed it.

The short of the matter is that they won’t be able to play at any event, not even the home opener for their brand new stadium until the end of September and they won’t be able to travel to any events for a year.

Way to go Stanford Band!

Sorry about that.

Let this be a lesson to any of you who forget to pay your ISP bill.

I thought this was an interesting story.  Turns out that the Pope’s parents met through a personal ad in the paper.  It’s funny to hear the ad from today’s perspective:

Middle-ranking civil servant, single, Catholic, 43, immaculate past, from the country, is looking for a good Catholic, pure girl who can cook well, tackle all household chores, with a talent for sewing and homemaking with a view to marriage as soon as possible. Fortune desirable but not a precondition.

Anybody think a woman today would answer that ad?  More likely the man would be beat by an angry mob of women.

But to all those who use a dating service, have hope: you just might find that perfect someone who will join with you to have a future Pope!

The Cal Bears website has posted a short blub stating that the Cal vs. ASU game will start at 12:30 PM.  The game will be televised nationally by FSN (can we really can that nationally?).

Also of note is that the Washington game now shows up on the schedule and results page as a 12:30 PM game even though no TV contract has been announced with it.  That seemed odd to me so I called the ticket office and they confirmed that on their computer it is a 12:30 PM game.  I still feel odd about it and would expect that a TV contract would change the game time, but I wanted to make sure the info was out there.

As most of my readers know, I take my two children (both boys 3 and 1 1/2) to the Bears games.  Some people think it must be really difficult but it’s really not.  There is so much excitement for them.  Other than occasionally having to get up to let them walk around, they’re no bother at all.

In fact, it’s a great joy to take them.  Everything is SO big to them.  Those steps inside the stadium up to the stands are their personal Mount Everest.  Plus, the public transportation that is a big hassle for you and I are the thrill of their trip (we had been in the stadium for less that a half hour when the older one was already asking for another bus ride… and don’t get me started about the potential BART rides).

Then, everything comes alive for them once the bands start to play.  They love the music and jump and clap their hands.  The whole experience is a big party to them.

Is it a bit long?  Yeah, it is.  Sitting there for 3+ hours is tough on them.  But if you take the time to walk them around (I highly recommend going up and down the stairs: you can catch a glimpse of the game while they get a vigorous workout) and to bounce them on your knee and hold them up high when there is a big play… all of these things make the game a joy to them.

So: bring your kids if you’ve got ‘em.  It doesn’t matter if they’re 3 months old or 30 years old, going to the Bears games is a great joy.