A look back at 2010...

This year will be remembered for a long time by Casey and I. It was the year Casey got married and the year I found a uncooked frozen pizza behind my couch. Let's take a look at some of the things that happened...

BP realizes that they should have invested in some sort of bathtub plug - As cool as it was for every person in the world to see a live internet feed of millions of gallons of oil stream up into the Gulf of Mexico, at some point people got a little pissed when it started showing up on beaches. Me? I was just angry that I had to pay three dollars for a gallon of gas when all I had to go was take a thermos and dip it off the coast of Louisiana.

(And I mean it's not like the people in the Gulf region have suffered enough because of Katrina, lets throw a man-made disaster at them and see what happens. And then have the cleanup effort consist of "well, we're just gonna shove a bunch of crap in that hole there and see what happens")

Tallest Man-made structure opens in Dubai, now they just have to figure out how to pay for it - If you look at this thing, it's a monster, but then you realize that Dubau was built entirely on speculation and borrowed money when in reality it's another desert middle eastern country. Then you realize that money speculation is pretty stupid. Then you realize that America is kind of speculating with their money.

Economy doesn't really get better - But hey! Casey and I have jobs! We cut down our panhandling to just three times a week.

People find out that Canada is a country after the Winter Olympics is held there - And unlike China, people can actually breath in Canada. The United States hockey team was a few gasps away from a gold medal in one of the best hockey games every played (against Canada no less). Americans went back to ignoring hockey after that.

Brandon gets to go inside a dam - One of the cooler things about moving to Montana was my chance to be able to go into a dam. The dam in question was Kerr Dam near Polson, MT and despite my lengthy legal record, I got checked out and even got a hard hat. You can see here that I didn't break anything and I actually got to go under one of the three large generators.

(Remember the game Half-Life and one of those creepy levels with long hallways and cat walks everywhere? That's what it was like sans the aliens trying to suck your brain out)

Casey on the other hand? He got to go to Barnes and Noble. He bought a book about Oscar the Grouch.

Europe finds out that planes can't fly in Volcanic Ash - We could have told you that here in the Northwest after Mt. St. Helens but does Europe listen to us? Nope they wear small bathing suits and refuse to shave. Perhaps its a good thing they don't travel.

Casey got married - And as you can tell, Joel (the guy in the red shirt) has the hops of Mark Madsen, formerly of the LA Lakers.

Wikileaks proves that America is just a bunch of a-holes - That's right Russia, we think your breath stinks.

Casey goes on epic Bike Ride - Casey went the entire length of the Oregon coast during the People's Coast Classic, meanwhile I was getting a burger from McDonalds. It was a good burger, and the fries were tasty too.

Along the way Casey camped at numerous locations while I stayed up late watching David Letterman drinking cheap beer. Despite bad weather, Casey was able to finish the trek and I remember that he won a free night in a motel instead of camping outside.

All in all, Casey went 367 miles over six days. All in all, I walked to the fridge twice in one week. Casey was also able to raise $7,500 for the arthritis foundation. I on the other hand beat up an old lady and stole her purse.

Casey finds the fattest bear ever - Just out of frame in this photo is the Starbucks this bear went to after Casey took his photo.

The New Orleans Saints pick up a whole bunch of bandwagon fans - Hey, I'm not one to discourage New Orleans, great city, but where the heck did all these Saints fans come from? Oh that's right, they won the Super Bowl.

I move to Montana - And at the time this photo was taken, regretted my decision...

Casey and I go to Glacier National Park - While Casey prepared all the outdoor gear, cooked several dinners, made sure our packs were ready for the trip and came dressed properly... I rolled out of bed half-hungover and asked every 20 minutes during the drive if we could stop for a McFlurry. But hey! At least the view was nice...

(Note my awesome shorts from high school and legs that could light the way to Pluto with their whiteness)

The Yankees don't win the World Series - Thank you Texas Rangers and Cliff Lee. Although one annoying side effect was how everyone in Spokane suddenly became a Rangers fan. Good thing San Francisco won.

The United States becomes the best team in World Cup soccer - Okay so that didn't happen but they did kind of good right? (Looks around at people wearing Brazil and Spain jerseys) oh nevermind...

Lebron James realizes that Cleveland does not rock - What twenty something is thinking to himself that he should stay in Cleveland for the rest of his career? What guy would love to go to work with a bunch of his buddies and be the best in the world?

Yeah lots.

So sorry Cleveland, but your reaction to the Decision proves just what a horrible place your city is. I mean I'd much rather live in Spokane than Cleveland? (Even though ironically I don't live there anymore) You know why? Does Cleveland have a large Radio Flyer wagon? I think not.

Somebody won the Stanley Cup, I'm not sure who because I don't watch hockey - Sorry guys.

EWU beats Montana - Casey will now be immortalized as the Eagle fan surrounded by Griz fans jumped on the field and pointing at the wide reciever that scored the first touchdown on the red turf in history. I can remember the moment vividly because I was at a Montana bar jumping up and down going "I KNOW THAT GUY!?!!?!?!" while Griz fans secretly plotted to stab me when I left the bar.

I'm not done though because...

Eags advance to national championship game - AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH!  GO CRAZY FOLKS GO CRAZY!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

North Korea tries to start WWIII - But stop when they realize they probably wont win with sticks and sharp rocks.

I sit court side for NCAA Tournament - With PJ Carlisimo and Dave Sims. What a freakin' hoot. AND I got to talk to Grevous Vasquez for approximately two seconds.

Casey goes to Hawaii - And I still have a bone to pick with him for becoming a Hawaii fan.

Shock become Kings of the World -

Whoever said that Spokane is minor-league is probably from Seattle.

Thank you everyone who reads our blog, we doubled our numbers from last year and had over 78,000 readers this year! Woo!

Good god, I can't believe I watched an entire half of women's basketball

Well that was exciting.

As much as we brought down UConn for their seemingly "meaningless" winning streak, when Stanford threatened to end it, people took a genuine interest in the game.

Judging from the tweets, facebook comments and people in the bar I was at that stopped what they're doing to watch the game, UConn's greatest did stand for something. Or at least it made women's basketball watchable. (Although the watchable part was making fun of how many open layups UConn missed)

Here's the thing I've always said about sports, no matter what sport it is, no matter who is playing in it, if there is a genuine emotional interest in what's going on, then people will pay attention. Take soccer for example, just a few years ago I would have told you that I'd rather go to the dentist than to a soccer game.

Then the Sounders came along, and I had a team from Washington that I could root for instead of some suburb town squad in England. The Sounders made things much more interesting and then I found out that the game of soccer is actually much more dramatic than I had originally thought.

With Stanford beating UConn, I think it makes the streak look even more impressive. Plus it allowed me about an hour to make Condoleezza Rice jokes about how she was clapping her hands way too much. Also judging by the lack of her talking to anyone sitting next to her, did Rice go to the game by herself?

In fact, I wasn't the only one making jokes. Everyone at the bar was throwing out their one-liners. (Now at this point you would say "Why are you making fun of the girls game?" We were not. We were making fun of it like any other men's game and that's half the fun of sports) With the way ESPN blew this up being the greatest Stanford win in history, the awkward post-game interviews with the 6'10" basketball players and Stanford's coach about to kill the sideline reporter for just continuing to ask questions about UConn, I'd say it was just as entertaining as any college bball game and certainly more exciting than the Bowl games that were on.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a letter to write to Diana Taurasi.

The new Batman has been announced

Something tells me this won't be as good as the first two...

Spiderman musical an absolute disaster

Spiderman the movie was awesome. Well 1 and 2 were good, the third one was flaming dog doo. However I would say the popularity of the series probably spawned a $65 million broadway show, that just so happens to be going off without a hitch...

Christopher Tierney, the stunt actor who was injured after falling 30 feet during a performance of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, was released from Bellevue hospital and transferred to a New York City rehab facility for inpatient rehabilitation.

On Tuesday, Tierney was able to walk with the help of a full-torso brace before his hospital discharge.

On December 20, he fell during a performance of the problem-riddled musical. His injuries included a "hairline skull fracture, four broken ribs, a bruised lung, internal bleeding and cracks in three lumbar vertebrae," according to the Associated Press.

He is one of four people connected to the $65 million Broadway show to sustain significant injuries due to the production.


Having been in a theater production or two, I can tell you that the effects, stunts and even choreography don't always go off perfectly. Somebody who thought that you could have somebody flying around on wires is an idiot.

What the heck Seahawks fans?

Apparently a lot of Seahawks fans are hoping that their team loses this weekend to spare the city the embarrassment of having a 7-9 playoff team. But come on! It's against the Rams! The playoffs are much more satisfying than the sixth pick in the draft! Why the heck would you want your team to lose anyways? I don't understand it...

No one aspires to be the first nine-loss playoff team.

And it's fair for you to wonder whether an NFL team that has lost all nine games by 15 or more points has any business saying "postseason" let alone playing in it.

So it's understandable that most of you who responded to a poll on The Seattle Times' website Sunday and Monday said you'd prefer Seattle lose the regular-season finale to St. Louis. You've had a bellyful of the Seahawks' belly flops. You'd rather clean gutters than spend another Sunday in the woodshed. Better for the Seahawks to move along into the offseason with a better draft pick and without the ridicule that would come from making the playoffs at 7-9.

But to hope for the team to lose? Really? You want the Seahawks' division rival to come to Qwest Field and clinch that franchise's first playoff berth in six years?

You guys should get your 12th man flag taken away...

Things you don't want to see in a Montana winter blizzard

Here are some things you just don't want to see when a blizzard decides to hit Montana...

Kathy Bates - Nothing quite like two broken legs in a bad winter.

Wampa - This might be tough though, since Montana is much colder than the Hoth planet.

Polar Bear - I have my issues with these Grizzly Bears that like to cruise around Lake County. However, if Polar Bears decide to come down since arctic conditions are very similar to whats happening outdoors right now, I don't think my "mid-sized bear" spray will work. I need a drink.

Snuggies - Some people like to be warm. Some people instead of getting a real blanket with actual value decide to go with this abomination...

Sarah Palin - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Take cover, everyone.

Snow decides to TKO Polson

The highways are shutdown to emergency traffic only.

The berms in the middle of the street come up to my belly button.

I've already helped two cars get unstuck.

Several semis have been stuck or crashed outside of Polson.

Looks like I'm staying in today.

Montana Winter

Brandon is experiencing his first Montana winter. And I don't think he was prepared for it. I got a text from him this morning, "A yeti just ate a cow outside my window."

Later I got this video. Sure hope he is ok.

Tucker Carlson: Michael Vick Should've Been Executed

Fox News host Tucker Carlson made some very extreme remarks yesterday in regards to President Obama's support of quarterback Michael Vick's stunning second chance. Carlson said that he thought Vick "should have been executed" for what he did.

Obama recently called Eagles' owner Jeffrey Lurie. Obama condemned Vick's crimes but praised the Eagles organization for showing faith in giving someone a second chance.

In no way do I agree with what Vick did or in anyway like what he did, but to kill him for it? He served the punishment that the judge gave to him and now must live with his actions for the rest of his life.

And the part that caught my attention the most about this video is how Carlson starts with the way over used, "I'm a Christian..." to condone his following statement.



What do you think about Carlson's comments? Agree with him, disagree with him, tired of hearing about Vick, leave us a comment!

Man marries dog

No, that headline is not a joke. It's real. And very very strange.

An Australian man has taken marrying your "best friend" to a whole new level. He's now hitched to his dog.

Joseph Guiso, 20, married his 5-year-old golden Labrador Retriever named "Honey" in an elaborate wedding ceremony at a park in Toowoomba.

Thirty of Guiso's friends and family attended the ceremony, which concluded with the groom getting down on one knee and planting a kiss on his four-legged bride. Guiso says the relationship is purely platonic and that the wedding was a light-hearted way to celebrate with friends.

The only thing that could have made this story any stranger would be if Guiso changed his name to Captain Awesome.

Oregon man changes name to Captain Awesome

Brandon was very upset with this story when I told him about it. He was going to do the same thing.

KOMO posted about the story. Eugene-Springfield, meet Captain Awesome.

Not that the former Douglas Allen Smith Jr. is a newcomer to Lane County.

He was born here in 1983. He graduated from Willamette High School in 2002.

But he officially became Captain Awesome only last month, when a Lane County Circuit Court judge approved his name change petition.

And what about Captain Awesome's new signature?

Mitchell also allowed Awesome to change his official signature to a right-pointing arrow, a smiley face and a left-pointing arrow. The state Department of Motor Vehicles actually accepted the cheerful new signature.

Now the real question will be what Brandon will change his name to now that Captain Awesome has been used? Perhaps after January 7th he'll change it to Swoop.

Amazing Idaho State free throw

With Big Sky play getting started soon it looks like Eastern Washington might have tough time with Idaho State. The reason being that it appears this off season the Bengals learned the ways of the Force.

Kamil Gawrzydek's free throw sits balanced on the front of the rim at the 2010 Gossner's Invitational vs. Utah State University.

Things not to do in a movie...

There are just some things you don't do when you're in a movie. Here's a couple of pointers, make sure you dont...

1. Ask Clint Eastwood sitting at a saloon if he's got a pistol - Chances are things are going to end badly. Either (a) an outlaw not really keen on you nosing around about his armament or (b) he'll just shoot you for kicks and giggles because he's Clint Eastwood.

2. If you see an alien spacecraft, don't climb into it - When is the last time that things turned out great for somebody that did that. Usually they end up getting eaten, vaporized or getting their body taken over. Save the alien investigation for a History Channel reality TV show. Rather prefer one of those reality TV show people to get eaten, vaporized or have their body taken over.

3. Trust the insanely rich guy that may or may not have ties with the Nazis - Hmmm, he's going after the Holy Grail? He has aspirations for world domination? Something tells me he's not going to follow through with the deal you made with him. Chances are you're going to get tied up next to a fireplace with an insanely hot Austrian women who struggles with her accent.

4. Wear a red shirt in Star Trek - You're so boned, you don't even know it.

5. In an emergency situation, say screw it and break off from the group - When has this worked, especially when you're being chased by some sort of evil creature? Its an even worse idea if you're not the survival expert/badass warrior. In fact, if you're played by that fat guy off of "Seinfield" you're royally screwed.

6. Follow that that commanding officer with an Moby Dick complex - Unlike the situation above, if he wants to drive the ship or squad into a suicide mission, it might be better to go AWOL.

7. Leave the bad guy laying down without checking if he's dead - I mean how tough is this? Kick the bad guy a few times, put a round in his head just to make sure they're gone. If it's a supernatural being, chances are it's going to jump back up before the closing credits and hurt somebody.

8. Make love with the evil-looking hot chick that may or may not be alien - Because the person that does this never just dies, he usually has his appendages torn off in some horrifying fashion.

9. Say "Well thats over" - Because as we know, it's never over, until someone gets an ice pick to the face.

10. Challenge the main character to a fight - If it's a cybernetic Arnold Schwarzenegger, you're so getting your face shoved on a restaurant grill.

Happy Holidays!

Reasons why you're single... you dressed like this to a Christmas Party

Or even if you dressed like this to a football game... you just look like a douche.

Christmas gift idea: Shake Weight

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

Wow. In all the marketing of this product noone thought, "hey, this just seems like a bad idea." I really can't believe that. But, somehow these commercials got made.

Gift 24 of the 24 worst gifts ever: Shake Weight

Blake Griffin: He's kind of good folks

You know that former high school athlete that sits at home and rails on the NBA about how all the players are selfish and they don't play as a team?

Yeah try and do this.

It's bowl season! Who gives a crap?

I do like how the BCS makes the regular season very, very important but a side affect is a bowl season that's pointless. Other than the National Championship game, nothing matters. Nadda. Zero. Zilch.

Colleges can brag about their bowl record or perhaps how well their conference does in the bowl season but in the end, it's not like the team that wins gets to move on or anything. It's just really an anti-climatic end to the season.

The bowl games are starting to creep up on ESPN and I just flip to a different channel. I really don't care how Utah does against Boise State. (And that's with a full stadium of fans, have you seen some of these other bowl games where it looks like there's four people there?)

With Ohio State recently suspending several players for selling signed merchandise and championship rings... next season for five games... but keeping them for the Sugar Bowl... really just highlights how dumb this system is. Universities would rather tank an entire season so they can provide the best players in a bowl game that is slated to make money and getting ratings. That's it. Money.

This isn't anything really new, but this year espically with the FCS Playoffs, I can't think of a better way to end the season. Now I agree a playoff would cause the regular season to lose some significance, but here is what you do...

1. All these other 30 bowl games, you keep and have "Conference Crossovers" that way teams that don't make the playoff system can defend their conference's rights. You could go so far as to have these bowl crossovers to determine how many playoff sports are given to each conference.

(Note: you keep the bowl games and actually make them more interesting!)

2. Keep the number of teams in the playoffs artificially low, I'd say between 12-20 teams.

But it wont happen, as these universities are just making soooo much money anyways. However, you wont get me to watch that postseason crap.

Zombie wedding

And here I thought all the weirdos lived in Portland.

SEATTLE - The bride wore white - stained with blood. The groom was disemboweled. And the wedding party lurched and stumbled through the ceremony, some holding detached body parts.

It was a zombie wedding, held at the first annual ZomBCon Saturday night at Seattle's Experience Music Project.

The "zombies" weren't the actual living dead. But the ceremony was the real thing.

Oh my. Why didn't I think of this? Oh right, cause I'm not crazy.

Casey apparently produced the Holiday video for the Chicago Bulls...

Yes this definitely seems like something Casey would put his stamp of approval on...

Christmas gift idea: obstacle course

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

Everyone thinks that they can do an obstacle course. And it's for that reason that so many gameshows incorporate one into their programing. But the truth is, they just look painful.

Gift 23 of the 24 worst gifts ever: Obstacle course

Back from the dead, kind of

I apologize for my absence, but I was suffering from can only be described as dying. It wasn't a fun experience and I spent roughly 36 hours in bed this weekend but I'm back now feeling better than ever.

(Ear falls off)

Now a couple things have happened since I've last been in the land of the living. I'd like to voice my opinion on all of them.

Eagles on to the National Championship game - Well how about them Eags? I have to share this one story. I was covering a basketball game in Arlee, Montana when this was going on. When driving back to Polson, Casey was sending me texts and just as I got into town it was basically over and EWU was going to win it, but I still wanted to poke into a bar and see the final score on the TV screen for my own satisfaction. I poked into my regular watering hole, The Lake Bar, with my EWU jersey on. As soon as I came in, the bartender and owner (who's possibly the coolest guy ever) goes "HEY! This guy graduated from Eastern!" and the bar full of Griz fans applauded. Where else on Earth does that happen? Just an absolute surreal moment.

[And a side note: With the Griz fans coming over to watch the EWU games, and with all the positive and awesome stuff I've heard from Griz fans during the Eagles run, I have to say that I was dead wrong about Montana fans. They're great people. I think it's time to stop my hatred for the Grizzlies and extend the olive leaf]

Brett Favre gets knocked out of outdoor Minnesota game - Who didn't see this coming? Watching him play out there was like watching the opening scene of Jaws. You knew something bad was gonna happen, you just didn't exactly when...

WAIT! IS THAT BRETT FAVRE HEAD DOWN IN THE TURF?!?! Yup. Time to retire.

Rex Ryan's wife has a foot fetish - And in other news that nobody gives a rats ass about, Nick Saban's wife likes a good backrub.

North Korea kind of threatened South Korea - I'm assuming if things get really crazy, they'll have guys in boats... with sticks... and stuff.

The Giants won - Oh wait? They didn't win? They lost to the Eagles? But they were ahead by so many points. They didn't punt to DeSean Jackson did they? Oh they did.... they did.....

Eastern Washington vs. Delaware - National Championship Prom

One of the sweetest videos that I have seen in a while.

A promo for the FCS National Championship game.

If this doesn't get you pumped for the game then you are not a true Eagles fan.

See Red! Be Red!

Christmas gift idea: Bodyboard

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

You'd think that something as simple as a bodyboard wouldn't need instructions. Apparently it does. WARNING: Make sure you reach water upon jumping toward waves of ocean.

Gift 22 of the 24 worst gifts ever: A bodyboard

Christmas gift idea: Port-a-Potty

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

Port-A-Potty. Or Honeybucket. Or movable toilet. Whatever you call them, you might think that one would be an awesome Christmas gift. I mean who wouldn't love to have to dig catholes outside anymore? The problem arises when other people become jealous of your new found outdoor toilet and they want to sabotage it.

Gift 21 of the 24 worst gifts ever: A Port-A-Potty

Oh Brandon......

An open letter to Brandon Hansen from a faithful reader:

Dear Brandon,

I love the blog that you and Casey run. It is the highlight of my day to read it. However, I can't help but notice that you and Casey had a bet on the Apple Cup.

You trash talked for over a week on here about the Huskies and how the Cougars were much more superior. And then once the game ended and UW did win, you still haven't held up your end of the bet.

I was just wondering the reasons for this. Are you actually going to film the dance that was bet upon? Or was all your WSU backing just talk?

I really hope you come through and do the video as I have no doubt that it will be the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Reader

P.S. You better do it or else.

Championship Fever

You might have noticed that Brandon has been MIA from JustSON for the last few days. The truth is that on Friday the Eastern Washington Eagles beat Villanova and secured a spot in the National Championship game. A few hours after that Brandon came down with what he is calling as "Championship Fever."

NOTE: I think he just caught a cold. But don't tell him that.

Now the real question is, what really caused Brandon to be bedridden for the better part of two days? Here are some theories:

1. His immune system wasn't prepared for the harsh Montana winter: This theory is perhaps the most logical of the five. While Brandon had endured many Spokane winters, his body was certainly not ready for the fringed temperatures of a Glacier winter.

2. He was really bit by a squirrel and was too ashamed to come outside again: The "Squirrel Theory" as it is being called really has no basis or evidence. Other than the fact that Brandon has been harboring several squirrels in his closet providing them heat for the winter. Freeloaders.

3. He really did get "Championship Fever": The most logical case for this is the fact that I have heard of people taking sports so seriously that it kills them. Heart attacks are usually at fault, not fevers. But this is Brandon after all....

4. A bear ate him: I didn't hear from Brandon for almost two days. Which is a bit strange. I naturally just assumed that his worst fear finally came true. But since I have recently been in contact with him again, this theory can be ruled out.

5. The "Curse of the Griz" struck him down: Now I know for a fact that Brandon wore his Eastern football jersey around Montana on Friday. And with the Eagles still playing football and the Griz, well not, I'd assume there are some jealous Montana fans out there. And what's the last thing they'd like to see? Some Eastern fan wearing a red jersey in their state! I've heard voodoo runs big down in New Orleans, but perhaps the "Griz bite fever" runs rabid through the state of Montana.

We'll have to see what happens to the poor guy when the Eagles win the National Championship on January 7th.

Christmas gift idea: Spiderman costume

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

With great power comes great responsibility. And with a Spiderman suit hilarity is sure to come. Just because you wear the suit doesn't make you the superhero.

Gift 20 of the 24 worst gifts ever: Spiderman costume

Christmas gift idea: A live tree

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

I know what you're thinking. But Casey, a live tree would be a great gift. Help the world stay green. Right? Wrong. Because then the person you gave the tree to feels obligated to plant the tree in their yard. And chances are they might plant it too close to their house. Then they'll decide to remove the tree years later when it's REALLY big. And as the video shows, that's easier said then done.

Gift 19 of the 24 worst gifts ever: A live tree

Christmas gift idea: swing set

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

Sure swing sets can be fun. Feeling like you're flying. But what if you something goes wrong? Then I'm sure your friends will laugh at you forever. Much like this kid.

Gift 18 of the 24 worst gifts ever: A swing set

What it takes to be Swoop

It's pretty tough, let me tell you...

We must defend the Red Turf!

Here's what I'd assume will be Coach Baldwin's pregame speech: "Eagles! Prepare for glory! Eagles never retreat! Eagles never surrender! Go spread the word. Let every American assembled know the truth of this. No retreat, no surrender; that is Eastern law. And by Eastern law we will stand and fight. A new age has begun. An age of Red Turf, and all will know, that 300 Eagles gave their last breath to defend it!"

Christmas gift idea: Picture book

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

At first I was going to list a picture book as a bad idea for anyone over 8. But then I saw the following infomercial. Now I'm thinking this guy might need one.

Gift 17 of the 24 worst gifts ever: Picture book

Swoop has some history...

A shout out to Eags running back Mario Brown

Heya Villanova, you're-a gonna-a get the crap-a beat oh-outa ya!

I think we should establish this first...

Really does anyone like Villanova? Check out the shirts they're selling...

Game Day

From now until the end of the Big Sky, we and it shall be remembered. We few, we Band of Eagles. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be in thy national championship game. - William Shakespeare. With a few modifications.

Oregon's BCS National Championship uniforms

Nike has released the uniforms that the University of Oregon Ducks will be wearing in the BCS National Championship game.

This season Oregon has worn 12 different uniform combinations in 12 games. Remember, you can always check out the Oregon Duck Tracker for what uniform was worn in each game.

So it was no surprise when Nike announced that Oregon would wear a totally new uniform in the Championship game.

Here are some key points about the uniforms

• The helmets are the "Carbon" design the team wore against Portland State, but the "yellow on the O decal is much brighter.
  
• The uniform will feature the "white on white" pants and jersey combo.
• The jersey now has an "Oregon Shield" at the base of the neckline.
  
• However, like the new neon yellow on the helmet O, the outline color around the silver numbers on the jersey are also the new yellow.
• New neon yellow socks and shoes.
  
• When the palms of the gloves are held to together, they reveal an Oregon "O".

Now that you've seen the BCS National Championship uniforms for Oregon, what are your thoughts? Like 'em, hate 'em, don't care. We want to know!

Parents again refusing to take responsibility for being parents to their kids...

A California woman is suing McDonald's claiming the fast-food giant uses toys to market directly to young children. Monet Parham, a Sacramento, California, mother of two small children filed the lawsuit Wednesday in San Francisco along with health, nutrition and food safety advocates Center for Science in the Public Interest . CSPI is seeking court approval to proceed as a class action.

Parham, a 41-year old state employee, says her kids repeatedly ask for Happy Meals, mainly for the toys. "We have to say no to our kids so many times and McDonald's makes that so much harder to do. I object to the fact that McDonald's is getting into my kids' heads without my permission and actually changing what my kids want to eat."

That dastardly McDonalds and their "Marketing aimed at kids." How dare a fast food joint want to sell their product to children! Parents don't have a chance. Or parents are just lazy and are looking for someone to blame. Since when in this country did it become illegal for McDonalds to market towards a demographic. Having been a kid before, I wasn't exactly enamored by those crappy plastic happy meal toys.

Here's an idea...

You could do a little parenting, and instill in your kid a little obedience so they don't keep asking for McDonalds. The trouble non-parenter might also try this: Don't cave! Drive on past McDonalds.

... and stop blaming somebody else for your problem.

Christmas gift idea: Wii tennis racket

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

The Wii is awesome. I have one. Brandon has one. We like the Wii around here at JustSON. However, I've seen these accessories for the game. You don't need them to play and after watching the following video, I'm never using them.

Gift 16 of the 24 worst gifts ever: Wii tennis racket

Provo Girls...

Mormon jokes... always a hoot.

The boy who died of football

Last night, I was able to sit down quietly and read SI's multi-page feature on the death of high school football player Max Gilpin written by Thomas Lake. Naturally the entire story would impossible to post here and is also probably illegal. So instead of that, I would highly recommend that everyone go out and buy the Dec. 6 edition of Sports Illustrated.

Let me give you some background info on Gilpin. In August 2008, Gilpin collapsed during football practice at Pleasure Ridge Park High School in August 2008 when temperatures were around 94 degrees. He had a temperature of 107 when they took him to the hospital and he died three days afterwards. In January 2009, Gilpin's head football coach, David Jason Stinson, was charge with reckless homicide for his death.

He was acquitted in the criminal case and settled out of court in the civil case, Lake paints a very interesting picture of Stinson.

Going through court documents, eye-witness accounts and several interviews, Lake was able to recreated Gilpin's final day on earth. For the most part it appeared to be a very candid, non-slanted, heavily detailed account of what happened. I'd say that Lake's account really points out that this football death was more of a freak occasion than Stinson's fault.

Lake went so far as to estimate how many "gassers" the football team was running that day and said that Gilpin probably ran a mile and a half before collapsing. That's a tough practice, but in the back of my head, that's not a cruel punishment.

With that said, Stinson's own actions make him come across rather badly.

Lake does a fine, fine job presenting his case, presenting where Stinson came from and really exonerating him of blame.

But Stinson is an ass.

In that entire article, there was no remorse for the kid passing. I'm unsure Stinson even knew the name of the kid before this incident. When Gilpin passed out, Stinson was apparently unaware of it, and it was parents and assistant coaches that tended to him.

When charges were brought up against him, the area was hit with a series of natural disasters that Stinson thought was god keeping him off the front page.

By the way, Stinson is a devout Christian, but apparently he had no tears to spill for Gilpin.

I'm fine with head coaches being hard asses. I'm fine with them running a tough practice. I fine with them teaching character. By most accounts, Stinson did nothing wrong but I'd say he's handled the entire situation wrong.

A kid died, and while Stinson shouldn't be responsible, he should understand that his practice killed the kid.

Gilpin was on medication and took creatine, which were contributing factors, and some witnesses say he was sick before practice. He pushed on though because he wanted to please his father and his coach, what teenager wouldn't want to do that?

In his interview with Stinson, he comes off like John Wayne but without the good guy attributes. You can practically feel the cocky coach attitude rolling off of him.

I'm not asking for a conviction, but come on dude, these kids look up to you, you're entrusted to them and if one of them dies, you might want to show a little sadness. Just saying.

Christmas gift idea: Icy Roads

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

If you really wanted to ruin someones day, then give them an icy road. Perhaps a road like the one featured in the video.

Gift 15 of the 24 worst gifts ever: An icy road

Somebody needs to figure out this whole roof thing

You've no doubt seen the footage of the Metrodome's roof collapsing and thereby pushing the Vikings' game to Detroit (They might have been off playing with a collapsed roof). It's pretty dramatic stuff but this isn't the first time a roof deflating has happened. Believe it or not, but a fabric roof isn't ideal for a climate with lots of snow.

So why is it becoming so difficult to fix the stadium? YOU DESIGNED IT TO BE AN INFLATABLE BAG! You knew that this was a possibility. This has happened before, shouldn't you have some replacement roof panels? I almost feel like the powers at be are trying to slog like this so that they can illustrate a point that the city needs to build a new stadium. Oh wait, Minneapolis already has a new stadium that the Vikings will be playing in against the Bears because the roof "won't be fixed in time". Take a gander at this beauty.

Now granted, this new college stadium isn't as big as even the Metrodome and they're going to have to scramble to make modifications to "prepare it" for an NFL game, but just think how ridiculous this situation is.

- Domed stadium that's suppose to keep out the weather couldn't.
- If the Vikings already had an outdoor stadium, this wouldn't be a problem.
- Being relegated to play in the University of Minnesota's state of the art college stadium because the Metrodome had it's expensive fabric roof collapse.
- Team will push for new stadium despite Metrodome being only 28 years old, wanting a place of their own (which they already have in the Metrodome) and refusing to just use the University of Minnesota's brand spanking new stadium.
- Will want tax-payers to pay for a stadium that will probably be another domed stadium that can't keep the weather out.

(And didn't anyone just think that perhaps they should have tried to remove the snow from the roof when the heavy snowfall happened? It all seems a bit fishy)

No doubt this is ammo to build a new stadium, but why not play in the Gopher's stadium and add on to it? A new stadium is going to cost roughly the GDP of a small Caribbean country and the team will expect tax payers to foot the bill... even though a well prepared stadium authority could have prevented the collapse of the Metrodome or at least quickly repaired it. The damn thing collapsed when the stadium was brand new so you can't say that it's an age thing. So perhaps you just should have stayed away from an inflatable roof in the first place if things are so bad (they aren't).

Instead of maintaining stadiums, renovating them and building on,  teams have wanted the brand new shiny stadiums that don't actually make any economic sense to the local economies. They also pull this card like they're playing in dumps when in reality they're pretty serviceable stadiums.

The sad part is that eventually the Vikings will get their stadium and then they'll out price their fans just like every other NFL has done.

Pro sports' requirements for sports stadiums are ridiculous, and personally I'd like to see the roof deflate on the new stadiums land grab we've seen in past 20 years.

Eastern Washington featured in Sports Illustrated

When I first heard that Eastern Washington University was going to be installing red turf, I thought it was the coolest idea ever.

The reason being that I knew that tiny Eastern Washington would get national exposure for really doing nothing.

And sure enough that's what is happening.

The first big splash made by the red turf was the first game ever played on it. The rival Montana Grizzlies came into Cheney and became the first victims of "The Inferno." We of course were there to document the historic event.

A few weeks later the red turf gained national exposure on ESPN during the Boise State vs. Oregon State primetime game in September. If you missed the feature on the red turf, or want to watch it again, you still can by going here.

Now the red turf of The Inferno is at it again. Each week Sports Illustrated has a feature called "Leading Off: Pictures of the Week." In this section the magazine runs a number of photos from the week in sports.

This week picture number one is the Eastern Washington Eagles on the red turf against North Dakota State from this past weekend. (I didn't run the photo as I didn't have permission too, but check it out, it's pretty darn sweet)

The photo that did run is one that I snapped when we were over in Cheney for the Montana game.

Basically this has been just a dream season for the Eastern Washington University football program. A great team that wins at home on the red turf, national exposure for the program and an ever growing fan base.

The Eagles are currently 7-0 on The Inferno. And hopefully this Friday evening when Villanova comes to town the Red Turf will claim another victim and send the Eagles to their first ever National Championship game. By the way, the game is on ESPN2 which means more national exposure.

Many people say that they "bleed" their school colors. Well at Just South of North that statement is absolutely true. Around here we bleed red. But not just any red, Inferno Red.

Creepy Snowman

This is how Brandon has been spreading Christmas cheer around Polson, Montana.

Yeah, I'd slap him.

The funniest part is when he gets asked to leave.

(Oh, and the farts were made with this machine)

Eastern's Swoop dancing

It looks like the Eastern Washington University football team hasn't been the only ones training lately.

Swoop shows off some moves against North Dakota State's Thunder in a mascot dance off.

Let's just say that Swoop turns Thunder into a nice pelt.

Naked mailman

Oh those crazy mailmen. Always up to something. The best part of the story is when she says he came through the door and said, "Surprise!"

Christmas gift idea: The Flex-O-Ladder

It's that time of day! Time for the "24 days of bad Christmas gifts!"

When I buy I ladder the last thing that I want in the name is "flex." I want a sturdy ladder that is solid. With no flex. If there is flex then bad things happen. Watch the video. Although the guy just keeps going despite getting a concussion, he's not helping his cause.

Gift 14 of the 24 worst gifts ever: The Flex-O-Ladder