Studs

Portland Trail Blazers

The fall season means one thing for Portland fans: our beloved Trail Blazers are lacing up their sneakers again. After the first four games it’s tough to tell how the season will turn out for the Blazers. With a young team once again, it seems as if the decisions made in the off-season were the right ones. Rookie of the year? Brandon Roy seems to be the real deal so far, and so does former All-Star acquisition Jamal Magloire.

Michigan, Ohio State

The college football season is winding down and two teams are becoming the clear front-runners for the National Championship: Michigan and Ohio State. The only problem is that they have to play each other Nov. 18. After watching the season unfold and seeing the majority of the 1-loss teams go down, Texas to Kansas State, California to Arizona, USC to Oregon State, Auburn to Georgia, it makes my point even stronger. A USC team that has barely beaten half of the Pac-10 does not deserve to be in the championship,and neither does a Florida team that got punished by two-loss Auburn. So the way I see it, Nov. 18, Michigan vs. Ohio State is the National Championship.

Duds

NCAA Soccer Selection Committee

I know most of my readers will not be too interested in reading a story about the boring sport of soccer. But, I felt compelled to insert a little something about the extreme mistreatment of the University of Oregon women’s soccer team. Finishing 12-6-2 on the season and in second place in the Pac-10 to UCLA (who Oregon beat during the season), the Ducks, nevertheless found itself on the outside looking in when the tournament field was selected. Who got in? Third place Stanford and fourth place USC. I just don’t even know what to write about this, it’s beyond my comprehension. The selection committee must have been doing some hard-core crack before making its selections.

Dennis Dixon

In his last five games, he has thrown for two touchdowns and eight interceptions, while fumbling two times. Is it time for a little Brady Leaf magic? I think so. Dixon does not have what it takes to be a Division-1 quarterback; his skills of reading the defense are not there yet, he is a terrible option quarterback because he weighs 20 pounds and cannot decide when to pitch the ball, and he is continuously throwing into double coverage. Belloti, a word of advice if I may: Dixon belongs on the bench.