Video Bites: Idaho bowling

The November 30th edition of the JustSON Video Bites. That's right, bite sized videos!

4A Washington Playoffs:
http://www.mywiaa.org/brackets/Football16.aspx?s=Football&c=4A&y=2009

3A Washington Playoffs:
http://www.mywiaa.org/brackets/Football16.aspx?s=Football&c=3A&y=2009

Eastern's Athletic site:
http://www.goeags.com

Idaho's Athletic site:
http://www.govandals.com/

Twilight sucks the blood (and money) out of people everywhere

Thanks to the pathetic single bookworms of the world, Twilight reigns supreme at the box office, taking in 42 million over the weekend. This basically ensures that guys around the country are now going to need a pale complexion and fangs in order to get laid. Crap...
 
The Box-Office Top Five
#1 "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" ($42.5 million)
#2 "The Blind Side" ($40.1 million)
#3 "2012" ($18 million)
#4 "Old Dogs" ($16.8 million)
#5 "A Christmas Carol" ($16 million)

2012 made just $18 million and after having a $200 million budget and pulling in $65 million during their opening weekend. Looks like they're not recouping their costs in that actual disaster.

The pleasant surprise is "The Blind Side", which gave Twilight a run for its money. This football movie shows that maybe some people out there have a brain, or aren't hopelessly single.

(This is from Media Chow)

Cheap Apple product peddler gets sued

Word of advice to tech companies, don't try to make knockoff Apple computers. Or power adapters.

Why? Because they'll go after you.

Apple is taking another company to court, once again over knock-off hardware. Media Solutions Holdings will face Cupertino in court over making power adapters for laptops, at least one model of which allegedly violates an Apple patent.

The company being sued peddles more than just Apple knock-offs, they sell adapters for numerous brand-name laptops, including HP, Acer, Sony, Toshiba and Lenovo. It's a quite common business, as most brand-name power adapters can be expensive.

Apple is often synonymous with pricey, which makes them a common target for manufacturers of clone hardware like Psystar, but the term "counterfeit" better describes this case. It seems that Media Solutions Holdings was attempting to pass its adapters off as genuine Apple hardware.

Do you think consumers were tipped off when they found an orange on the power adapter instead of  an apple?

(This is from Tech Rave)

Canada: where free speech is about as plentiful as sunlight

I wasn't aware that Canada was into bullying journalists... I though that reserved for third world countries, communism and PETA.

A reporter crossing the border into British Columbia was detained by agents fearful she might be coming over to criticize the Vancouver Games. After all, gotcha journalism is the worst kind of terrorism.

Amy Goodman, for those of you who aren't godless liberals, is known for hosting Democracy Now! on NPR. Heading to Canada for her book tour, she may not have realized that BC is quarantined from the outside world until February.

Has anyone listened to NPR? (Don't answer that, I know I'm the only one) Seriously, I don't think a huge expose on BC's Olympic Games is going to earn much attention much less top the shenanigans the Chinese pulled off during the Beijing Olympics. Apparently somebody didn't get their maple syrup in the morning...

Canada: where real men play football

Awww, look they play football in Canada, with pads and everything. How cute. If you were too busy watching the Pittsburgh Steelers have their season go down the drain than you probably missed the Canadian Football League's final game of the season - the battle for the Grey Cup.

CALGARY -- It took a lucky break on the final play of the game, but the Montreal Alouettes' run of Grey Cup futility is over.
 
Damon Duval, given another try due to a penalty after missing what could have been the game-winning kick, made good on his second chance from 33 yards to lift the Alouettes to a stunning 28-27 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a classic CFL championship game on Sunday.

It was a shock ending for most the sell-out crowd of 46,020 at McMahon Stadium, where the seats looked to be tinted Roughriders green from fans who had spent most of the game watching their underdog team outperform the Alouettes on a mild evening.

But quarterback Anthony Calvillo and the Alouettes, both shaking off a reputation for coming up short in the big game, battled back to erase a 16-point deficit in the final 10:52 of play and end a four-game Grey Cup losing streak over the past seven years. They posted their sixth Cup win overall despite not leading until the final play.

"Heartbreaking, happy, sad, suspenseful - it was everything wrapped into one," said Montreal's veteran centre Bryan Chiu. "I guess that's what the CFL's about - a game like that."

Any idea if the Als could beat the Seahawks at the moment?

Outdoor Photo of the Week: Big Horn Mountains

This is the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming on Thanksgiving 2009 and a deer that came during a Thanksgiving snow right up to the house. Photo by Lindsey Barnett/Issaquah, WA.

Click on the photos to make it larger.

Think you've got a great outdoor photo? Want to see it hosted on Just South of North? Send your submissions to justsouthofnorth@gmail.com.

Please include your name, a short caption about the photo (date, location, and what makes it special) and your location.

Check back each Sunday for a new Outdoor Photo of the Week.

Football Championship Subdivision playoffs

Yes, the Eagles lost. And that was sad. Very sad.

And Montana won. That was even sadder.

Yet, since you can't find a lot of information on the FCS playoffs here's how the weekend panned out:

Montana over South Dakota State: 61-48

Stephen F. Austin over Eastern Washington: 44-33

Richmond over Elon: 16-13

Appalachian State over SC State: 20-13

Villanova over Holy Cross: 38-28

New Hampshire over McNeese State: 49-13

Southern Illinois over Eastern Illinois: 48-7

William and Mary over Weber State: 38-0

That means that the Quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs, on December 5th, look like this:

Stephen F. Austin at Montana

Appalachian State at Richmond

New Hampshire at Villanova

William and Mary at Southern Illinois

You can find a printable bracket here.

Seahawks fans, this could be you

Seattle got the win over St. Louis today 27-17 in the early game of this NFL Sunday, and I couldn't be less excited.Seattle is pretty much looking at itself in the mirror with the St. Louis Rams. They were a successful franchise, but one that tried to hold on to long instead of rebuilding and now find themselves in a complete mess.

Ask yourself after this win these questions...

1. Is Seattle building for the future?
2. Do they have any clear direction?
3. What is this team's identity?

A couple of highlights are Justin Forsett, who has firmly established himself as the feature back for Seattle but quarterback Matt Hasselbeck doesn't have much time left under center (My roommate Colin said he can't remember the last time the QB threw a pass over 20 yards) and Seneca Wallace is not the answer. The defense has maligned corners, and the offensive line is shaky. Ugh, this is not a good combination.

Be careful Seahawks fans, things might be a lot worse next year.

Reasons why you're still single... you're a UW fan

I've been on the sideline of WAZZU games and have to say the student section might be one of the most entertaining in the country. Some of the banter they throw out on the field to other team's players and some of the costumes are just awesome. Love them.

And then I've been to a UW game and GASP! They really show their fandom by "wearing a UW jersey for gameday" and "cheering when something good happens" ... fantastic job UW student section, I think you just put Warren Moon to sleep.

As you gloat today after UW's victory over WAZZU while sitting in a Starbucks sipping your Eggnog Latte, think back about your completely unremarkable life, your bland apartment and your Jetta and keep telling yourself Oregon is your biggest rival.

Making fun of the Apple Cup

Good god, that was a terrible game. Sure the Huskies trounced the Cougars but they can't be too pleased about it because Jake Locker played like he was mildly drunk. In fact, I'd say that Locker's play in the first half kept WSU in the game. Why are NFL scouts so high on this guy? He makes poor reads, weak throws and can run the ball.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the next Jamarcus Russell!

Anyways, they took some photos at the game, and boy we're they funny... (Click on the title of this post for more photos)

"But the football tastes just like BAAACON! I want BACON!! BACCCCON!"

To give your dog something they want, try Beggin' Strips (aka Kevin Lopina) ...

(Again, click the title of this article for more photos.)

Are we ready for the Jeff Minnerly era at EWU?

Remember when Erik Meyer graduated from Eastern Washington after winning the Walter Payton award and we had to struggle through a bundle of Chris Peerboom starts before Wulff finally went with Matt Nichols. By all accounts, Peerboom was absolutely terrible and the Eagles struggled through a three win season. Well now that Nichols is graduated, EWU now has to look to somebody new to play quarterback. With Nichols taking the majority of the snaps for the past few years, whoever steps under center is going to be largely new to fans. After scouring the Eagles' roster this year, here's who it looks like will be taking snaps this year.


1. Jeff Minnerly, Sophomore 
He's handled the holder duties this year for the Eagles and has seen playing time under center as well. Since he was such a fantastic player at Ferris, was named scout team player of the year in 2008 for the Eagles and is young (meaning plenty of years playing for EWU), I'd have to say he's the front-runner for the QB position.



2. Scott Burgett, Sophomore
Burgett was listed as a backup on the depth chart along with Minnerly, although I can't say we've seen a whole lot from him. However, considering he's a young guy I'd imagine he would battle Minnerly for the starting position.

3. Anthony Vitto, True Sophomore
He has one less year that Burgett and Minnerly so I'd imagine he'd be the dark horse in this race, but a young guy with potential means that if the other two guys struggle, he'll probably be given the ball.







4. Nick Gauthier, Senior
This senior quarterback was a junior college transfer but I can't see them using Gauthier unless they think he's the best option they have to win, and the team is good enough to make another run at the playoffs. If that is true then they'll hold off on the rebuilding at quarterback for one year.






5. J.T. Levenseller, Junior 
I believe that due to Levenseller transferring from WSU to EWU, he loses one year of eligibility and will be a junior this upcoming season after sitting out the 2009 season. He's the most interesting piece of the puzzle here. Beau Baldwin may think Levenseller is the most talented and experienced of the bunch (He did get recruited by a Pac-10 school and he did play for the Cougs in the 2008 season). Playing for the Cougars should mean he has enough grit and moxie (I mean I'm surprised Levenseller isn't permanently injured from playing behind that atrocity of an offensive line) to play in the Big Sky Conference.

One thing is for sure, the Eagles will have plenty of options to go to in 2010.

EWU loses in first round of the playoffs

EWU dug itself a huge hole, finding itself down by as much as 37-12 in the third quarter, and couldn't get out of it despite an inspired effort to end the game. A missed field goal by the Eagles was the last gasp and EWU was knocked out of the playoffs 44-33 by Stephen F. Austin today.

Tomorrow... I'll have some posts on sports depression. Yay!

Big Sky in the FCS Playoffs live updates

Today marks the start of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Three teams representing the Big Sky Conference are in it. We'll keep you posted on how they do. And you can follow the Eastern game via Brandon's Twitter at this link.

Weber State

Final - William and Mary 38, Weber State 0

Montana

Final- Montana 61, South Dakota State 48 (Montana scored 41 unanswered to win)

Eastern Washington

Final -Stephen F. Austin 44, Eastern Washington 33

We'll have a complete FCS playoff picture results later today.

Follow the Eagle playoff game on my twitter

I'll be tweeting updates for the Eastern Washington University vs. Stephen F. Austin playoff game, so follow along at...

http://twitter.com/BrandonwHansen

Just how bad is this year's Apple Cup? The Spokesman has you covered...

As if we needed anymore reinforcement about how terrible this year's matchup between the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars is going to be - the Spokesman lays out the numbers and their not good.

SEATTLE – The 102nd version of the Apple Cup – for the uninitiated, the annual rivalry football game between Washington State University and the University of Washington – will take place this afternoon in Seattle.

And for the second consecutive year it will match two of the nation’s poorest teams, if records and statistics mean anything.

In the challenger corner is WSU, 1-10 overall and winless after eight Pac-10 games. Out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, the top echelon of college football, the Cougars are in the bottom 10 in 11 of the 17 major statistical categories the NCAA keeps.

The home Huskies, who were winless last season, including a 16-13 double-overtime Apple Cup defeat in Pullman, are better at 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the Pac-10. Washington is in the bottom 10 of the NCAA statistics in just one category – kickoff returns – but is in the bottom 20 in three more, including total defense.

Ick. I might just end up watching a Big 10 game, this one looks ugly.

Let's take a break to make fun of Alabama

Alabama survived Auburn 26-21 to totally ruin the chance that the BCS would fall apart (Auburn beats Alabama, Alabama beats Florida, WSU makes the BCS National Championship via default). However, it did lead to some interesting photos.

"I believe your camera has a smudge right about hmeeere...."

(Click on the title of this article for more photos)

From our Flickr Group: Spokane, Wash.

Here's another photo from out flickr group, this one being the downtown area of Spokane, Wash. taken by Marshall Alsup - who no longer lives in Spokane, but who admits missing it in some ways :D.

College football in the northwest and its screwed up schedule

While BSU clinched the WAC championship with a win over Nevada last night, I am scratching my head over how they schedule their games. Basically, they're ESPN's poster team and usually get broadcasted on the World Wide Leader.

However, usually their games start at 7 p.m. pacific time, which is totally fine if they played in the pacific time zone. They do not, Boise is located in the mountain time zone, meaning that they actually start their games at 8 p.m. and don't wrap things around midnight. While everyone on the West Coast sees these games as kind of a prime-time matchup... Boise State fans kind of get the short end of the stick. Weird.

(Note: Listen to all the East Coast fans complaining when their baseball team plays till 1 a.m., now imagine if their team played till 1 a.m. every single night. Boy Boise St. fans sure are tough)

That being said, at least Boise St. is on ESPN, today I'm not sure if UW-WSU is even on TV, because don't you have to be a college football team to get on TV on Saturday?

And don't forget to listen to Eastern Washington vs. Stephen F. Austin today in the FCS playoffs at noon on 1510 KGA. That mid-day game is pretty much the only game that makes sense this Saturday.

Video Bites: Washington State Riots

The November 27th edition of the JustSON Video Bites.

Casey's in a tree.

Brandon's in Montana.

Oh those silly Northern Rangers.

Check out our YouTube Channel. And please subscribe!

The JustSON Video Bites happen every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So tune back in!

From our Flickr Group: Pike's Place Market

We've started a new Flickr group and will regularly feature photos from our group on the website. So please, join our group and submit those awesome photos that you've taken. Our first photo is from Panchenk and it's Pike's Place Market.

This was achieved using some HDR. Got to love it!

Epic Photo: Sunset in Spokane

Sometimes we get some pretty awesome sunsets in Spokane. I was lucky enough to snap these photos a couple of weeks ago. Keep in mind that I made some adjustments on the camera so the sky was super-colorful and everything else was dark and an outline.

Pretty eh?

Natural swimming pools

I'm having such a sports out right now because I'm watching Cincinnati destroy Illinois on the television right now. However, I did come across this awesome idea for a swimming pool. Now natural ecosystems such as lakes and ponds do have a somewhat natural system of filtering out all that crap. Ever wonder why your hot tub smells like poo and have green stuff growing on the edges while the local lake looks crystal blue and is great to swim in? Ladies and gentlemen, I present the natural residential swimming pool...

Look closely, as you can see it kind of looks like a lake-pool hybrid. Did this get overgrown? What happened? Here's a blue print of the natural pool...

As you can see, the pool has natural cleansers that ensure the swimming zone is clean. Plus it looks really cool in your backyard. Wow! If you're absolutely loaded with money and want one, check out total habitat.

How to tell if you've eaten too much for Thankgiving

Sorry about the lack of posting but I'm pretty sure you guys were too busy hanging out with the family and eating. If not, you were probably at IHOP devouring a turkey pancake (Don't ask how I know that). Anyways, here's how you can tell if you've eaten too much for Thanksgiving.

- Somebody says "hey! awesome Jabba the Hut costume!"
- The food you've eaten have gone to the UN to declare your stomach as it's own soveriegn state.
- Notre Dame and Kansas call you asking if you'd like to be their next head coach.
- This is you shopping during the after-Thanksgiving sales...

- Somebody says "Awwww you're having twins, how cute!" ... and you're a dude.
- You lost your Verizon Droid in your fat rolls.
- Your realized that you weren't sleeping on your pillow last night, that was your fourth chin.

Happy Holidays!

Cafe opens its doors despite theft

One World Spokane is a really cool place. It's a non-profit community kitchen and taking a look at the decor, it's one of those cafes that you would love to sit down in with a laptop and enjoy the day. Anyways, in a recent weekend they had $1,200 stolen from their office which is pretty devestating considering how close their operating margins are. However, despite this, they'll still offer a Thanksgiving dinner to the underprivledged. Wow, what a place.

They're located at 1804 E Sprague Ave in Spokane, so if you ever get a chance, stop in and have a bite to eat then give a big donation. It goes to a good cause. 

Happy Thanksgiving

From all of us here at Just South of North, we wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

I always knew Macs were crap

First that little OS snafu where all user files were deleted, and now Apple is shipping defective or broken machines. What the heck is happening at the World Wide Leader of Cute Computers?

Scattered reports around the Web indicate that there may be one or more design flaws with Apple's 27" Core i7-powered iMac. Many users claim that their high-end iMac systems have cracked screens out of the box, and some units are completely dead on arrival. Among the affected are editors at Engadget, who recently received a new i7 model that refused to boot -- though, a different i7 iMac was fine.

Customers have piled into the Apple Support forum to complain about their busted machines, but Apple has yet to determine the root of the problem. It would seem most likely that the cracked displays are a result of insufficient packaging, poor handling -- or both. The DOA machines could also stem from improper shipping practices, though it is less probable.

Is the guy shipping all these Macs Ace Ventura? I mean a few cracked screens is one thing, but widespread cases of that along with dead machines is not a good sign for quality control at Apple.

(Got this from Tech Rave)

Huskies Suck

Since it is Apple Cup Weekend and Casey decided to p-off Washington State fans with his "Cougar jokes" I've decided to turn the table on the lamest team in Div. I. Ahem... here we go.

Oh that's right, the Huskies went 0-12 last year. I mean the Cougars may be terrible, they might have their worst team ever, but at least the beat somebody earlier in the season. UW last year was officially the worst team in the country. Why? Because your First-Round-Bust-In-The-Making had a brain fart in a near victory over BYU. And that pretty much explains the Jack Locker era at the Dub.

You're the Huskies. You wear these Notre Dame wannabe uniforms that would make Charlie Weis blush. You play in Husky Stadium which should be condemned for public safety reasons. Oh and remember when you were ranked in Top 25 earlier this year? Yeah that wasn't an over-f***ing-reaction. Good job. 

And you guys forget... YOU SHOULD OF WON LAST YEAR. And you didn't. In fact you've lost quite a few to the Cougs lately, a true testament how you're college football's doormat now, a far cry from your glory days in the early 90s.

So please, shut the heck up, Oregon is a waaaay better football program anyways.

JustSON Numbers: Looking at Gonzaga's win and Eastern's loss

Okay perhaps nobody in Spokane really noticed that Eastern Washington was playing out in Cheney against old Big Sky opponent Boise State. It ended in a 82-69 loss for the Eags, largely because they got off to a cold start and pulled to within one in the second half after eventually succumbing to the Broncos.

How cold was their start? Well look at this...

TOTAL FG%
1st Half: 11-42 26.2%

Ick. Need to shoot better guys, and don't just try to jack up a bunch of threes all the time.

And now on to the Zag game that I'm sure you all missed. Good win for Gonzaga over a quality Wisconsin team, and it looked like they were in control for most of the game. I think that you have to credit it to the Zags ability to hold the Badgers to just 39 percent shooting as it seemed that they never got it going. Meanwhile, Matt Bouldin actually showed up in a game against a solid opponent, scoring 18 points. 

Lots of college basketball, who's happy we're in season now?

Video Bites: Apple Cup Jokes

More Apple Cup jokes:
http://www.huskyfan.com/wsu.html

Eastern Washington University:
http://www.goeags.com

Gonzaga Basketball:
http://www.gozags.com

Things I'd rather watch than this year's Apple Cup

Boy is this year gonna suck in Seattle for the Apple Cup, where you have a crapalicous WSU Cougars team versus a stinkerpile UW team in the bragging rights for the best football team in the state of Washington. Whoopdedoo, I wan't the Seattle Sonics back.

Now, I'll probably skip the game altogether and end up watching these things.

1. EWU playoff game - Oh wait, better scratch that best football team in state of Washington thing with UW and WSU. I would venture to guess that Eastern and Central Washington are much better football teams regardless.

2. The View - Yes, I would rather watch Starr Jones talk about childhood obesity than Paul Wulff talk about his 120-pound halfback and how much promise he's showing

3. Big 10 Football - You know, they haven't figured out this who "passing" thingy or this whole "scoring more points than your opponent" gimmick, but at least Jim Tressel wears a cool sweater vest.

4. Baseball - Who wants to watch the Arizona Fall League with roughly 20 people in attendance at the games? Oh Goodie! Me!

5. Golden Girls - Hey, it's a good show.

6. Televised Scrabble - Can you imagine the calls? "Oh Good God! That's a double word score! A double word score! Go crazy folks, go crazy!"

7. TCU Football - At least this team in purple is actually good at football.

8. Gonzaga Drinking Games - Sure every student is drunk after two beers, but that's what keeps the Gonzaga Drinking Games ticket prices down. Thank god for preppy students with no alcohol tolerance.

9. ESPN's Latest Game Show "Who's going to get fired next for sleeping with a chubby intern?" - I hear Bill Clinton is on the show.

10. This YouTube Video - ...awesome

See what happens when Brandon doesn't nerd out and buy a new computer?

We've been hearing a lot of good news lately from the tech sector in terms of dollars and cents, however it seems that the PC industry market value will shrink this year.

According to a report released by Gartner today, worldwide PC shipments will grow 2.8% this year -- though, revenue will fall 11%. The firm's preliminary fourth-quarter forecast indicates that global PC shipments will total 298.9 million units in 2009, and may reach 336.6 million units in 2010, a 12.6% increase from this year.

This news comes after less optimistic research in September, which claimed there would be a 2% decline in shipments for 2009. Gartner said the growth is due to higher-than-anticipated sales in the third quarter, but despite that boost, the market value is still expected to decline. The outfit predicts that the market value of global PC shipments will total $217 billion in 2009, 10.7% less than 2008. That figure may increase by 2.6% to $222.9 billion in 2010.

With all things considered, an 11 percent drop seems about on par with the way everything is going. Growth in 2010 looks promising as everyone starts to pull themselves out of this recession.

(This is from Tech Rave)

Epic Photo: Who the heck invited all these Cranes

"Wow, who invited all of us? If I were to guesstimate I would say there's about a thousand of us. Who the hell invited a thousand of us?!?!"

Here's the answer...

Thousands of sandhill cranes, snow geese and other migratory birds gather at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge south of Socorro, N.M., Monday. The refuge wrapped up its 22nd annual Festival of the Cranes on Sunday. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

What the heck got into Vince Young?

The Tennessee Titans are my favorite team in the NFL, and after going a painful 0-6, they've turned it around and have now won four straight. A large part of that turnaround has been Vince Young starting at quarterback... but how? Wasn't he washed up? Wasn't he a headcase? What is going on? Here might be some reasons...

- He stopped drinking tequila... and eating hot pockets (in between snaps).

- He realized that the object of the game is to throw the ball to recievers with preferable the same jersey that he was wearing which was actually a problem in preseason since he was wearing a different red jersey than everyone else so he wouldn't get it. The "Cut Me" sign on the back didn't help either.

- A snuggie awaits the underside of his Christmas tree if he keeps winning.

- He started listening to Fireflies by Owl City. Then the other team started making fun of him. He got quite angry.

- Jeff Fisher said John Madden would eat him if he didn't play better.

So there you have it! Go Titans!

JustSON the Numbers: Gonzaga's Defense

While it's nice for Gonzaga fans that the Bulldogs pulled out the 76-72 win over the Colorado Buffaloes, there are still some question marks that arose from the game. Namely the defense of the men's basketball team since the Buffs shot 53 percent from the field and 46 percent from three point land. Factor in that Colorado only went to the line 18 times means that this team isn't exactly as physical as billed.

Now, I don't want to go all "2012: End of the World" on Zag fans because they won the rebound battle while Steven Gray and Matt Bouldin both had nice games. One thing I've been hearing about this team is how "gritty" their play has been and even though today's game was decidedly sloppy, I heard a lot of good things about the teams effort.

And effort, something that last year's team was lacking until the WCC Tournament, is exactly what the Bulldogs need an influx of.

Video Bites: Dirty Birds

Email: justsouthofnorth@gmail.com

Eastern Washington Eagles football in FCS Playoffs:
http://goeags.com/sports/m-footbl/200...

FCS playoff bracket:
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/ts...

University of Montana tunnel pre-game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YlCEE...

Eastern Washington Eagle volleyball:
http://goeags.com/sports/w-volley/200...

Check out our Twitter pages:
http://twitter.com/CaseyKnopik

http://twitter.com/BrandonwHansen

Further proof that Pittsburgh Steelers fans are douchbags

Michael Vick would be horrified right now. Who the hell in their right mind DOES THIS?

A witness called Bridgeville police at 1:09 p.m. after a suspect, who was supposed to have been walking the dog, was kicking it down the street instead, according to a police affidavit.

Ms. Gielarowski told police her boyfriend kicked the dog because the pup would not walk with them. When the near lifeless dog no longer was able to move, Mr. Woodson walked away from it and his girlfriend, she told police.

"He admitted the dog would not behave prior to the Steelers game and that he became upset at it," according to the affidavit.

Listen, I know west coast sports fans might not be as passionate as their east coat counterparts, but instances like this show you just how screwed up priorities are by meat heads in the Rust Belt cities. I would never want to live in a sports culture like that. Grow up and realize it's just a stinking game.

Are you ready for the Microsoft-Google Clone Wars?

Well this whole Bing-Google search engine war just took an interesting twist. Look for the cannonballs to start flying after Microsoft is in discussions with News Corp to stop indexing their content with Google News. That's the same News Corp that owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and The Sun. Uh-oh.

Microsoft has had discussions with News Corp over a plan that would involve the media company being paid to “de-index” its news websites from Google, setting the scene for a search engine battle that could offer a ray of light to the newspaper industry.

The impetus for the discussions came from News Corp, owner of newspapers ranging from the Wall Street Journal of the US to The Sun of the UK, said a person familiar with the situation, who warned that talks were at an early stage.

However, the Financial Times has learnt that Microsoft has also approached other big online publishers to persuade them to remove their sites from Google’s search engine.

News Corp and Microsoft, which owns the rival Bing search engine, declined to comment.

One website publisher approached by Microsoft said that the plan “puts enormous value on content if search engines are prepared to pay us to index with them”.

Things just got really, really ugly. We're about to see an all-out brawl. And I think newspapers are really kidding themselves if they think that selling the rights to their stories is going to save the industry. That's like saying a sports league could survive on TV rights sales alone. Not gonna work.

(This is from Tech Rave)

What I want for Christmas

That's soooo awesome...

Justson the Numbers: Rodney Stuckey

I was wondering how EWU great Rodney Stuckey was doing in the NBA these days and had to actually get off my butt and look up stats. However I was pleasantly surprised that he's actually doing pretty well this season. Check out his line:


Rodney Stuckey (Detroit Pistons) 2009-10 Statistics

PPG
17.2
RPG
5.30
APG
3.9

Not too shabby, maybe not Lebron-esque numbers but definitely serviceable. Problem is, the Pistons are 5-9 in the East and currently out of the top eight in the East which would mean no playoffs if the season ended today. Not that it matters though, considering the season is young, but the same could be said about Stuckey's line.

We'll have to check in with him throughout the season to see how he's doing. Lord knows he has a better jump shot than Casey and I.

Reasons why you're still single... Saints fan

I was unaware the Master Chief was a Saints fan.

Gray wolf hunting

I found this on OutdoorNews.com.

Montana is shutting down its first public hunt for gray wolves since their removal from the endangered species list, after state officials said they expected to meet the season's 75-wolf quota by Monday evening.

The order to halt the hunt came after state wildlife officials said the quota had been met across southwestern Montana and was expected to be met in northern Montana.

Wolf hunting in the southeastern portion of the state closed Oct. 26. The quota equaled about 15 percent of a statewide wolf population estimated at 500.

Whether the hunt will be repeated next year is uncertain. A lawsuit to return the predator to the endangered list is pending before Judge Donald Molloy U.S. District Court in Missoula.

Now the thing I find strange is that this animal is pending for being put back on the endangered list. Yet, they still killed 75 of them. 425 wolves doesn't seem like a lot for one animal.

Brandon wrote about this back in January of this year.

Epic Video: Man vs. Wild.

Sunday means Man Vs Wild on DVD at my place. Football and Bear Grylls. Can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday.

Eagles in the playoffs

After starting the season with no hopes due to NCAA sanctions, the Eastern Washington Eagles are now in the postseason. How bout them apples?

Hope became a reality for the Eastern Washington University football team as they were selected Sunday (Nov. 22) as one of 16 teams in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs, and will play at Stephen F. Austin next Saturday (Nov. 28).

Located in Nacogdoches, Texas, SFA is 9-2 and won a share of the Southland Conference title by edging Northwestern State 19-10 last Saturday. The Lumberjacks defeated co-champion McNeese State 16-13 back on Oct. 10 to break the tie and earn them the league's automatic berth.

All I can say is... awesome.

Best EWU Team Ever?

EWU defeated Northern Arizona yesterday, probably punching themselves a ticket to the FCS playoffs and capping a season that started off with no hope and now has plenty of possibilities. There's something about this team - they have IT - not sure what that is but they have that swagger about them.

Think about it, the Eag lose one of the most prolific scorers (Aaron Boyce) in the history of EWU and the team continues to roll even after refs screwed them out of a victory in Montana.

They have a hall-of-fame quarterback Matt Nichols who might go down as the best signal caller the Big Sky has seen. I thought I had seen the best QB in Eagle history with Erik Meyer, but I think Nichols probably holds that crown now but he'll have to cement his legacy with another post-season run.

They have an explosive running back in Taiwan Jones, who's a danger to score every time he touches the ball. A megatron tight end in Nathan Overbay.  Tony Davis, Nicholas Edwards, are just some of solid guys on offense.

I could go on and on, the depth of this team is amazing, the defense is jam-packed with playmakers like Matt Johnson and JC Sherrit. Head coach Beau Baldwin is doing well and has completely erased Paul Wulff in the mind of people at the school.

Best team ever at Eastern?

Reasons why you're still single... emails you send out

The subject line on your emails are the following...

"Little Suzzie needs a new liver and will get one if this is sent out to 1,500 people"

"If I send this email out to 100 people, send the company 20 bucks, I will in turn get 100 bucks"

"150 things you didn't know about me - SUPER SECRET STUFF! You're mentioned in this 40,000 word email"

"FWD:FWD:FWD: Teeeeheeee cute kitty photo"

"FWD:FWD:FWD: A funny religious joke that is also thought-provoking"

"FWD:FWD:FWD: Foward this email or you will die"

"FWD:FWD:FWD: You wont believe this story that was probably made up by the opposing political party anyways"

Outdoor Photo of the Week: Hurricane Ridge

"These pics where taken on our trip up to Hurricane Ridge near Sequim WA. It was an amazing trip, the deer come right up to you and the view was amazing." Photos by Lindsay Z./Covington,Wa.

Click on the photos to make it larger.

Think you've got a great outdoor photo? Want to see it hosted on Just South of North? Send your submissions to justsouthofnorth@gmail.com.

Please include your name, a short caption about the photo (date, location, and what makes it special) and your location.

Check back each Sunday for a new Outdoor Photo of the Week.

Video Bites: New Moon

Here it is! The newest feature at Just South of North! JustSoN Video Bites.

Hope you enjoy.

*I promise they'll get better as the weeks go on. Pinkie promise.



Eastern Washington University men's basketball schedule:
http://goeags.com/sports/m-baskbl/2009-10/schedule

Chicken man story:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/apheadl...

Send your muffin recipes to: justsouthofnorth@gmail.com

Oprah leaving TV:
http://www.oprah.com/index

New Moon Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYBF3HKzrmE

Epic Video: Further proof Americans are douchebags

Scott Niedermayer of the Anaheim Ducks is a nice guy. Tries to throw his stick into the crowd for a gift to someone. Pretty cool huh? Nope, because two guys and a blond woman start fighting over it. Ladies and Gentlemen, America...

I've noticed something about Tim Lincecum

Here's a photo of Tim...

And now...

Yep, he's PeeWee Herman with long hair.

Craigslist: My Dream Job

I'm trying to find some actors to dress like Star Wars characters and maybe reenact a fight a sequence. Anything with emperor a big plus. Would prefer a group who has their own costumes and could reenact the last fight scene between Luke and Vader on the second Death Star. Fight sequences do not need to be fantastic. I have a large space for the actors to perform in. I would only need the performance to be ten to fifteen minutes long. Pay is negotiable. This is for a birthday gift for a big fan of star wars. Looking for a performance this Friday afternoon/evening. Thanks.

You can read the full post here.

Video of Google Chrome OS in action

Here's a video of the Chrome OS, kind of gives you a better idea of whats going on (and you don't have to slog through my writing).

The lowdown on the Google Chrome OS

Google unveiled its plan for its new operating system yesterday and I'm sure nobody is still sure what to expect. Since I'm a huge nerd, and Google actually plays a large part in driving traffic to this website, I had to take a long look at it. Here's the basics about the Chrome OS...

1. Google Chrome OS is essentially a web browser on 'roids - This is something hard to get my brain wrapped around but essentially the Chome OS will be based largely on web applications (meaning no desktop apps) and a tabular navigation system much like the Google Chrome browser already in existence. This may seem weird but considering how much work people already do online and how many applications are online these days, this is just another way to be speedy on the computer (a webpage opens up quicker than a program). However, despite it's browser roots, it still will be able to handle multiple tasks at once, you'll just have to get use to the navigation.

2. It will update and fix itself constantly - Tired of those "Patch Tuesdays" that Microsoft always rolls out? Chrome OS will always be updating itself to the latest version for security and convenience reasons meaning that everybody will have the most up-to-date versions. If it does find some malware or other problem in the operating system, it will basically just re-download the latest version of itself, bug-free.

3. All your data is online - Everything will be stored online, not locally on a hard drive. While this seems scary at first, if your computer is stolen or broken you can just get a new computer and access all your old files. However, if you're not connected online, that's a different story. This is how they'll be able to pull of the constantly updating and re-imaging of the operating system since your files will not be on a hard drive, hence they wont be swept away when you OS refreshes itself.

4. Chrome OS will only work on Google-approved PCs - Google is looking for very specific types of machines for their OS. They're also going to do away with traditional hard drives and move on to "flash" or solid state hard media, meaning no moving parts. This would mean a boot-up time of around seven seconds on the machine.

5. It should work offline, but I'm not sure how well - You might be able to play games, but if you're not connected and can't access files, I could see this being a serious issue.

(This is from Tech Rave. Modified for Just South of North - of course)

Mozille makes a buttload of cash

Mozilla Firefox, better known as the browser you download with IE after you buy your computer because it runs quicker than that slug Microsoft saddles you with, reported some interesting financial numbers for the year 2008. They are another tech company that has seemed to be able to ride out these economic times and grow in profit.

Our revenue and expenses are consistent with 2007, showing steady growth. Mozilla’s consolidated reported revenues (Mozilla Foundation and all subsidiaries) for 2008 were $78.6 million, up approximately 5% from 2007 reported revenues of $75.1 million. The majority of this revenue is generated from the search functionality in Mozilla Firefox from organizations such as Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, and others.

2008 revenues include a reported loss of $7.8 million in investments in the Foundation’s long-term portfolio (approximately 25%) as a result of economic conditions and investment values at the end of 2008. Excluding investment gains and losses, revenues from operational activity were $86.4 million compared to $73.3 million in 2007, an annual increase of 18%.

With Google Chrome, the latest version of IE grumbling in the background, Opera and Safari - there is a lot of competition out there for Mozilla. Although don't count out the devoted fanbase of Firefox, which seems to be growing all the time.

(This is from Tech Rave)

Epic Photo: I'm sure this would scare children

Santa Claus meets Chyskhaan, Lord of the Cold, in the village of Tomtor in the remote Sakhar region of Russia

Russia is weird as hell.

I might have to become a closet Gonzaga women's basketball fan

Because there's a lot to like about this coach, starting with the coach and going down to all the players. Oh and they're good. They just knocked off Pac-10 opponent USC and made it look fairly easy.

There wasn’t much the Gonzaga women’s basketball team did wrong in its home opener Thursday night, other than letting USC score the final eight points of the game.

But all that did was make the Trojans’ 70-58 loss before 3,206 fans at McCarthey Athletic Center – the fifth-largest crowd for the women – look closer than it was.

“This was a good win,” Bulldogs coach Kelly Graves said. “I was really proud of our team. I thought we played a good basketball game, especially defensively. I thought the first half we did about as well could have done defensively. I loved the energy.

Looks like Spokane is getting behind their team.

Fred is a genius

I'm back! Well kinda. Thank you internet at coffee shops. I don't even drink coffee. So instead I bought a muffin. Mmmm....muffins.

Anyway, sorry for the delay in the new features at JustSON. I'll get them going as soon as I have my own internet.

For now, let's talk about Fred. If you've ever surfed around on Youtube, then I'm sure you've heard of Fred Figglehorn. He is the creation of Lucas Cruikshank. And it was the best idea a kid could have come up with. Sure Fred's voice is annoying and sure his episodes are silly. But people watch. And by people I mean millions. He's the 2nd most subscribed to partner on Youtube and his videos have incredible amounts of hits.

He even came out with his own Christmas album. Here's the video. What do you think? Is Lucas a genius or just catering to a young, easily entertained generation? Either way, he's making "cash money."

Watching movies makes you fat

No seriously, really, really fat. All that popcorn and other wonderful menu items are so packed with calories, you'll have to spend a couple days at the gym just to work it off. Eww.

The real drama in movie theaters these days isn’t happening on screen.

It’s at the concession stand.

When moviegoers plunk down the bucks for snacks at the nation’s theaters they may be putting themselves at greater risk than any character in the flick.

ABCNews.com reports that, according to a new study by the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest, the offerings at concession stands contain an alarming amount of sugar fat, and calories. Even the smallest bag of popcorn has 700 calories and three days' worth of saturated fat.

The CSPI report studied concessions sold at the nation’s top three movie theater chains: Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Theaters and Cinemark.

“A combo at Regal (meaning a medium popcorn and medium soda) has 1,610 calories,” wrote the study’s authors. “That’s like eating six scrambled eggs with chedder cheese, four bacon strips, and four sausage links before the lights come up.”

Sixteen hundred Calories? That makes McDonalds look like weight watcher. Looks like if I'm going on a diet I won't be watching movies anytime soon...

(This is from Media Chow)

Epic Photo: Football players like pudding

Apparently sports nutrition has come a long ways...

Epic Video: The Microsoft DOS Rap

Wow... computers use to suck.

The guy that Bill Bavasi passed on...

Good thing Mariners fans have their Brandon Morrow bobbleheads because that's all their getting out of him. Since Seattle royally screwed with Morrow's head and development he's turned into the most terrifying force on the mound... for the fans, not the opposing team.

And the guy former Mariners GM passed on to get Morrow? Tim Lincecum just won his second NL Cy Young Award.

NEW YORK -- Giants ace Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young Award on Thursday for the second consecutive season to become the first repeat winner since Randy Johnson, emerging from one of the tightest votes in the history of the honor.

Lincecum led the NL with 261 strikeouts and tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts. The wiry right-hander, nicknamed "The Freak" for his giant stride, went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA.

Only 10 points separated the top three vote-getters. Chris Carpenter was second and St. Louis teammate Adam Wainwright was third, despite getting the most first-place votes.

I don't blame Morrow because it's not his fault Seattle couldn't make up their mind where to put him (see the Joba Chamberlain saga) but can you imagine if Felix and Lince were on the same rotation? My god...

WSU plays against a school I've never heard of

After squeaking by Eastern Washington a few days ago, the Washington State Cougars men's basketball team continue their (cough cough) tough non-conference schedule against...

University of Indiana - Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Huh? Is this school like in five different places at once? I'm so confused.

I understand that WSU plays in the Pac-10 and expects a down-year, so they don't need to nor want to play a tough non-conference schedule but didn't you already play two cupcakes in Eastern and Mississippi Valley State?

Who's up after this game? Central Washington University - Colville Branch?

On second thought, maybe the football team should schedule some of these teams.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 pretty much rules the earth now

Fighting terrorists and other countries apparently ranks high in the minds of people as Modern Warfare 2 has raked in truckloads of cash. In fact, its raked in more cash in a five day period than any game or movie. Ever.

Wow.

Despite a bit of controversy in Russia, Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 has taken the video game world by storm, and now it is breaking sales records across the entire entertainment industry. The title reportedly generated $550 million in sales during the first five days available, beating all other video game launches and raking in more cash than any movie in the same timeframe.

By comparison, the current worldwide box-office record-holder is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which earned $394 million in its first five days. The Dark Knight holds the US box-office record with $203.8 million. The title has even successfully trounced Grand Theft Auto IV, which pulled in $500 million over the first five days of sales.

Hear me know, there will be no studying on college campuses for the next three months. (This is from Tech Rave)

Things arent going well for the UFL

Apparently America doesn't have heart for minor-league football. Ticket sales were so bad for the Los Angeles game planned by the UFL between their New York and Las Vegas franchises (here's an idea, the UFL should play in its actual home cities), that they just moved it back to LV. Here's a little snippet about overall ticket sales.

Like a stack of leftover turkey sandwiches, the UFL championship game is set for the Friday after Thanksgiving, also in Las Vegas. The Locos, who have already qualified for it, could have spread the news about this so-called NFL D-league to parts this side of a Carrot Top monologue.

We also could have shown the league that we had the ability to support professional football. Because at the moment, the UFL greatly overestimated its usefulness.

Initial plans were to get about 20,000 fans a game, but its announced crowd counts are closer to 12,500. Those actually in attendance would guess it's closer to less than half of that each game.

Back in 2001, the eight-team XFL in its only season averaged 23,000-plus, and the L.A. Xtreme (the one and only champion) did respectable with a Coliseum turnout. The USFL, during a three-year, springtime run with about 20 teams in some incarnation during the mid-1980s, would regularly get crowds in excess of 25,000, even for the L.A. Express, again at the Coliseum.

The USFL, at least, had some name players. The UFL is far more uneventful.

When the XFL is drawing more people than you, there's some serious issues going on. My guess would be the fact that JP Losman is your best player and your uniforms look like bad FUBU knockoffs.