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98 days until first pitch....
It's a bye week, so there's not as much to post on. And I might get a little off-topic.
Kevin Cummings' absence is allowing Malik Gilmore to learn on the job. The Beavers are using the bye week to get their confidence back.
Trevor Romaine is tired of people harassing him on Twitter for missing two kicks against USC. I can't say I blame him, although quotes like this: "It's really not the alumni or the actual fans. It's more of the student body, and I could care less what the student body thinks," are not likely to help matters.
Athlon Sports produces some interesting stats from Week 10. Despite the Beavers not playing, the Pac-12 still plays games, and the Pac-12 blog predicts the outcomes.
The Pac-12 is a solid #2 in the ESPN conference rankings. Neil Abrew of OSU's Daily Barometer previews Arizona State's offense, and talks about the variety of the Pac-12's offensive styles. He quotes Ryan Murphy comparing the Sun Devils' Taylor Kelly to Eastern Washington's Vernon Adams. That's not a good thing.
I missed this last week somehow, but Steven Nelson is a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation's best defensive back.
For some reason, I've been asked if the Beavers can still win the Pac-12 North way too much the last couple of days. With Oregon losing Thursday night, that pretty much ends any chance of it happening, as Stanford would have to lose both at USC (possible) and home against Cal (unlikely), in addition to the Beavers winning out. Oddly enough, Stanford winning last night was very bad for the Beavs, as they would have had an easier path to winning the north. Even knowing that, it didn't change my opinion about who to root for in that game.
Former Beaver ace and current St. Louis Cardinal prospect Sam Gaviglio is in the Arizona Fall League, and his last two starts have been a marked improvement over the three before that. Andrew Susac (Giants prospect) is also doing well in the same league, for a different team.
The Beavers' mens' basketball team kicks off the regular season against Coppin State Sunday at 5pm.
Gary Payton II is a JuCO target for the basketball team. He's currently at Salt Lake Community College, and is entertaining offers from OSU, Utah, St. Mary's and Seton Hall.
The mens' soccer team comes home for games against Stanford and California this weekend.
Oregon Live previews the Oregon State wrestling team. They also preview the University of Oregon wrestling team.
The womens' volleyball team heads to LA for a couple of matches this weekend against the Bruins and Trojans.
A big congratulations to the women's soccer team, who beat the Ducks in the Civil War on Thursday, 2-0. Highlights:
Since it's the football team's bye week off, here's an unrelated video that piqued my interest. I have mixed feelings on this. The original movie was a big part of my childhood, but this movie actually looks pretty good.
And next time you're struggling for a quick comeback, perhaps you can memorize some of this. WARNING: very strong language.
The Illegal Participation podcast link was added late Tuesday, so here it is again, just in case.
As always, vote in the poll below. And go Beavers!