Those freakin' Cougars!

Maybe I did jinx them.... who knows. Last week they played some sort of bizarre Football Blackjack against Arizona (2, hit me...3, hit me, 3 again, hit me, 6, uhh, hit me, 7, hey, that's 21, I'll stay) where they had a 5 with the dealer showing a 10 at halftime (and did an honor to the concurrent World Series with the following score progression: 2-0, 3-2, 5-3 in the first half.

Now, this week, a fight in the locker room over a... female type person (wouldn't you know it) has the PAC-10's interception leader, and a guy having an all-america type year, out for the season with a broken cheek bone, and a starting linebacker likely off the team for throwing the punch. What the....!??

So do I reverse the jinx by picking Arizona State in one of the marquee games in the country tomorrow? More and more, the Sun Devils look like one of those "teams of destiny" that seem to spring up in the PAC-10 every couple years (and a gig the Cougs know well from '97).

As for Dawg fans who seem to be losing their minds. You're having an off year... christ, it happens, okay...! You're playing a reeling team with a freshman QB this weekend, this oughta be a win.

I'm going to say it right here, that Oregon State is turning things around and will be a tough team to beat from here out. They had a "flash in the pan" start against four non-conference patsies, then dropped their first three league games. They have found themselves, becoming one of those "we're gonna run the ball and play tough defense" type teams that can be a nightmare to play, especially on the road.

Oregon over Stanford
OSU over Arizona
Washington over UCLA
WSU Fightin' (over) Pussies over Arizona State

and I solve my philosophical quandery by picking WSU in the 5-point game

I haven't the motivation for a Seahawks rant right now. But I will say that Drew Bledsoe might be the MVP so far this year. The Patriots had to trade him (or let him go) but maybe it was a mistake to trade him to a team in the same division. Yikes... it'll be a bit embarrassing when a jacked-up Bledsoe leads the Bills to a convincing win Sunday.

Green Bay over Miami
Buffalo over New England
NY Giants over Jacksonville
St. Loius over Arizona
Seattle over Washington (that's right, I'm picking the 'Hawks to WIN)