February 28, 2011

News reporter breaks up fight

Sometimes you report on the news. Sometimes you make it.

KOMO 4′s Shomari Stone breaks up a fight at Pike Place Market and is instantly credited as the baddest ass news reporter ever. Sorry Walter Cronkite and Brian Williams. Until you guys flying tackle a dude who is beating up some guy, then you don't have anything on Shomari.

Check it out:


EMBED-Reporter Breaks Up Street Fight - Watch more free videos

Oh Nate Enderle...

Um... go Vandals. I think. It seems that their former quarterback stud isn't doing so hot.

Former Idaho quarterback Nate Enderle recorded the slowest time in the 40-yard dash Sunday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Not that it means much.

The former Vandals ran – unofficially – a 5.18. As bad as it seems, however, it's not as bad as Tom Brady's 5.28. And Chris Redmon, selected in the third round by Baltimore ran a 5.37.

So, he still has hope.

The difference between Redmon/Brady to Enderle... they went to big schools and Enderle didn't. I'm not sure how many teams are chomping at the bit for a slow-footed quarterback from Idaho. At least there won't be an NFL season next year so it wont matter!

Russia's 2014 Olympic mascot

The mascots for the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

And the winners after a countrywide voting contest have been announced. They are a snowboarding snow leopard, a little bunny and a chubby polar bear in a scarf.

These mascots might be super cute and not very tough. But at least they are better than the "one-eyed monsters" that London decided to use.




What do you think of the 2014 Russia Olympic mascots?

February 27, 2011

Epic Photo: Griz gear at the Libyan protests?


Wait? Is that a Griz sweatshirt in the Middle East? Don't Griz fans have better things to do?

Actually I would expect a wrestler to do this


So you line up against a guy in the state tournament championship match, and then you learn - the dude wrestles tigers to train - match over before it's even started. Brian Hickey is putting the awesome in wrestling.

Brian Hickey — Kaz Dymek is so totally stoked by his chance to become a Sarasota, Fla. high school's first state wrestling champion that he's sparring with "Old Buck" who, per the Herald-Tribune, "weighs 400 pounds, eats 30 pounds of meat a day, growls with a ferocity that can peel paint, and is a Bengal tiger."

The destined-for-career-in-carnivals feel disappears, however, when you learn Dymek's family owns the Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary, and that the 29-0, 285-pound grappler "has been around cats ever since his aunt turned to him inside the family trailer one day and said, 'Here, I'm leaving for a while,' and handed him a tiger cub to babysit."

This, of course, is per Deadspin. 

World's smallest velodrome - Red Bull Mini drome

I saw this over on the Team Bonney Lake Bicycle site.

London welcomed the Red Bull Mini Drome to York Hall, where over 1000 spectators gathered to get a taster of the world's smallest velodrome in action.

Fixed gear riders from across the UK tried to hold on to the red line as they rode around the track aiming for the fastest time.

The purpose built track has been engineered in Germany by Velotrack, the team that built the velodromes for the Atlanta Olympics and the Delhi Commonwealth Games. The Red Bull Mini Drome track will maintain race-worthy dimensions in the smallest possible size to enable a single pursuit.

How bout them Eagles!

I think that the state of Montana is getting really sick of losing to the Eagles. I'm just tickled.

No shots in the first half? No problem.

Sophomore guard Glen Dean scored all 17 of his points after intermission -- including a go-ahead three-pointer with 55 seconds left in overtime -- to propel the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team to a 59-55 victory over Montana Saturday (Feb. 26) Big Sky Conference men's basketball game at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.

"Wow -- I was so happy for our players," said Eastern head coach Kirk Earlywine. "They showed a tremendous amount of resolve to win that game."

Seeking one of six berths in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, the victory itself all but clinched a post-season playoff berth for the Eagles, who can still finish as high as fifth in the league standings. Eastern is now 9-19 overall and 6-9 in the league.

Later Saturday night, Weber State eliminated Sacramento State from contention with a 73-70 win, and inched EWU closer to a berth. Only a potential three-way tie between EWU, Idaho State and Montana State at 6-10 could keep the Eagles home. The Eagles end the regular season on the road at Weber State next Wednesday (March 2). Depending on final placings, the Eagles could open the playoffs at one of four teams -- Montana, Northern Colorado, Weber State or Northern Arizona.

Compared to the first half of the season, the Eagles have been playing really well once they got everyone healthy. I don't think their record accurately reflects how good this team is. We could see a pretty good run in the Big Sky Tournament so stay tuned.

February 25, 2011

Why EWU should hire Charlie Sheen

So you've no doubt heard about Two and a Half Men getting canned for this season after Charlie Sheen went off the deep end. He's currently vacationing in the Bahamas with two porns stars and appears to be out for a job for the time being.

Enter Eastern Washington University.

You see, the university needs a strong public figurehead to get their brand out to the people. Who better than one Charlie Sheen?

Why would it be a good hire? Here are the reasons...

1. Public speaking skills. I mean if he can say gems like these... "I violently hate Chaim Levine," Sheen said. "He's a stupid, stupid little man and a p**sy punk that I'd never want to be like. That's me being polite." ... the sky is really the limit.

2. He'd scare the frat boys straight - After seeing what the ravages of nightly drinking, a briefcase full of cocaine and lots and lots of porn stars does to a human body, I'm sure Greek Life would back off.

3. He would help the science department - With the amount of STDs that man has living in his body, he's got to be a treasure to medical science, a human petri dish if you will, and EWU just cannot pass up the opportunity.

4. He'd keep the EWU Police busy - Instead of handing out parking tickets to unsuspecting college students, they could spend their resources on tasering Sheen nightly.

5. He could be a professor - Granted it would be in the studies of porn, but that's better than the film program they have there now right?

6. Punching college liberal hippie douches - This would be my favorite skill, because nobody can stand a college liberal hippie douche.

Sooo EWU... get on the ball...

Chris O'Neill 50 states in 30 days

I came across this video thanks to Paul Frolov over at HyperActiveX.

It's a video about Chris O'Neill free-running across 50 states in 30 days. Some of the stuff that he does is just plain amazing.

Check it out:

February 24, 2011

The Hangover 2 teaser trailer

One of the funniest (and a personal favorite of mine) movies of all time is the 2009 hit "The Hangover."

Memorial Day 2011 the sequel comes out.

And I'm stoked. Now the Hangover 2 teaser trailer was just released.

Check it out:

Idaho State getting new turf

Idaho State University is going to be getting new turf in Holt Arena. And since they aren't as cool as Eastern Washington University, it's not going to be orange.

Idaho State Director of Athletics Jeff Tingey has announced that Holt Arena will be getting new field turf thanks to the sponsorship of ISU Credit Union. The turf will be installed in July of this year. The new turf is currently undergoing the required bid process for the state of Idaho.

This adds to a series of changes at the ISU athletic department. A new football coach and of course the new basketball court are at the top of the list.

But the new turf will also help reduce injuries on the field.

A reduction in shoulder, ankle and knee injuries will be immediately noticed with the implantation of the new turf. Idaho State is one of the only remaining schools nationwide that uses the current turf system.

Eastern hockey earn automatic berth


Eastern Washington University is still celebrating their National Championship in football.

But now another campus sport is looking to bring home the championship.

The Eastern Eagles hockey team have received an Automatic Berth to the ACHA National Championship in San Jose, CA. The team did this through winning the ACHA West Region.

The News of the Automatic Berth means the team will not have to go to Logan, UT and participate in the West Regional Tournament to attempt to qualify for the National Tournament. This is the 3rd ever Automatic Berth in EWU’s ACHA history, with the other two coming in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Information on the National Tournament can be found on the tournament site.

EWU will be in Pool C featuring the #1 West team (EWU), #2 Southeast Team (University of Miami – Ohio), #3 Central team (TBD*), and the #4 Northeast team (TBD*)

February flowers bring February snow

Just two days ago the first flower blossom of spring came out.

And last night the snow came.

Poor little flowers.



Sorry Tacoma, Spokane is still No. 2

How about the Lilac City! The Census numbers came out and Spokane is still the No. 2 city in the state of Washington in terms of population. That's right Tacoma, you can continue just to suck at life...

Spokane kept ahold of its standing as Washington’s second-largest city, adding 13,287 residents for a 6.8 percent growth rate between 2000 and 2010. With 208,916 residents, Spokane stayed ahead of Tacoma, which had 198,397 residents.

Seattle topped the list with 608,660 people.

Spokane Valley, which incorporated eight years ago, made its census debut as Washington’s 10th largest city with 89,755 residents.

Now I would like to point out that the Spokane Valley being considered a different city is really, really stupid. There's no geographical separation between Spokane and Spokane Valley. So if you add the two together you get 298,671. That's a city center about the size of Pittsburgh or Cincinnati.

Now those East Coast cities have metro areas of probably around two million people, while Spokane has a metro area of roughly 650,000. But that could also be misleading because I grew up just north of Spokane in Stevens County and we would drive down to Spokane on a regular basis, as it was the cultural and business center of the region. The city has a much father reach that can be measured traditional measuring tools.

It's still bigger than Boise and the Boise metropolitan area. Thank god. Now I can't wait for the city to take over Seattle as the biggest city in Washington in about 400 years.

February 23, 2011

Wow, brilliant marketing


Here's a billboard put up by the Chicago Cubs for the upcoming season. Last time I checked, Derek Jeter does not play for the Cubs.

The L in the NFL stands for lame

The most popular sports league in the world about to go through very ugly labor talks? Possibly the 2011 season down the drain because owners are greedy? No no, nothing to see here. We're not panicking... we're just calling all our GMs and coaches together for a meeting where we wont talk about the labor problems... right?

A Thursday meeting of agents and the NFLPA was recently cancelled because of mediation talks in Washington, D.C., but that didn't stop the NFL from calling a meeting of general managers and coaches for Thursday in Indianapolis.

Presumably, the NFL wants to sit down with high-ranking members of its various teams and discuss precisely what's going on with the league as the deadline for a new CBA nears.


And, according to what NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Albert Breer of the NFL Network, there's "nothing special" about this little powwow.


"It happens every year," Aiello said. "It's a normal part of the Combine, which always has meetings galore. It's not the first time. It's not a special meeting. An update on labor negotiations would be appropriate."


Uh-huh. Yup, nothing to see here. Move along media, move along. (We wont be discussing the possibility of replacement players). All I can say is thank god for college football... which is a much better product than the predictable, douchebag-fan filled NFL.

The Situation Workout

As many of our readers know, Brandon is obsessed with the Jersey Shore. To the point that I actually worry about him.

Now it's just going to get worse.

He's been talking about getting into shape for the new year and now he knows the perfect way. The Situation Workout.

That's right, Michael Sorrentino, or better known as The Situation from Jersey Shore, has released his very own workout DVD. Brandon will review it and let us know if it really works.

Caltech ends 310 game losing streak

A few weeks ago everyone was making a huge deal about the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers had a losing streak of 26 games.

Well compared to California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Cavs have nothing to worry about.

Last night the Caltech Beavers snapped their 310 game conference losing streak. That's right, 310 games.

Their last conference win was over 26 years ago. I wasn't even born the last time the Beavers won a conference game!

Caltech is a Division III school and plays in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. (Notice I said "plays" not "competes") However with the win yesterday it looks like perhaps brighter things are to come for the program.

The Beavers also hold the all-time losing streak for Division III basketball programs at 207 games. They snapped that streak back in 207. That record in fact is the longest losing streak by any program.

And on a side note, the Beavers soccer team almost reached that mark, but fell short at just 201 consecutive losses. They ended their losing back in March of 2009.

February 22, 2011

First flower blossom and snow!

I've shown you two photos from the past two months as the flowers have started showing up around my apartment since early January.

As I am typing this it is currently snowing outside my window. When I snapped this photo it was really coming down.

And the weather people are saying to expect up to 6 inches by tomorrow night. But shhhh....don't tell the flowers.

The first one just bloomed today.

Uncle Scrooge swimming in gold

I always wondered how Uncle Scrooge could swim in gold coins?

I mean the idea is pretty sweet, but at the same time kinda gross. Who knows where those coins have been.

February 21, 2011

Chene Cooper named Big Sky Player of the Week


Eastern Washington's Chene Cooper has been named the Big Sky Player of the Week. This is the first time the junior has won the honor.

The Eagle women's basketball team pulled off two key conference wins last week with victories over Northern Arizona and Weber State. The wins improved the Eagles to 7-5 in Big Sky play and 11-14. This also has the Eagles sitting in sixth place in the Big Sky.

From the official Big Sky release:

Against the Lumberjacks, Cooper scored a game-high 23 points, one shy of her career high. She also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals. The junior hit two three-pointers in the contest, the second coming with under a minute left to put the Eagles up by one. Cooper went on to make 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

In Eastern’s win over Weber State, Cooper scored 18 points, another game high, and had four rebounds, seven assists and two steals. She hit 8-of-10 free throws, and had just two turnovers in 33 minutes on the court.


George Washington Commercial

Happy President's Day from Just South of North.

Here's a couple of things that America got right.

And yes, George Washington was a badass in a Dodge.

Guy in bear suit

This video is old, but still pretty darn funny.

Some guy in a bear suit walks on the beach during a news shot Hurricane IKE.

St. John's University in top 25


In the world of college basketball there are the perinial powerhouses and then there are the other schools.

Today found one of those powerhouses back at the number one seed. That's right, Duke is back to number one after spending about a month out of that position.

But the big news is that St. John's University is in the top 25 for the first time since November 2000. Now many might not know much about St. John's. For those who don't know St. John's is a private university located in New York City. And the truth is that they used to have a very historic basketball program. They actually used to be really good. Like up there with Duke good.

St. John's Red Storm men's basketball has the 7th-most NCAA tournament appearances (27), two Wooden National Player of the Year Award Winners, 11 consensus All-Americans, 6 members of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and has sent 59 players to the NBA. However, of the top 5 teams, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, and St. John's, St. John's is the only team not to win an NCAA championship for basketball, and currently holds the NCAA Division I record for most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship appearances without a championship.

And I sure hope that they make the tournament this year. I love rooting for those strange and not often heard about teams. The big question is, who's going to be this year's Butler?

February 20, 2011

Heritage Classic 2011

Right now the Calgary Flames are taking on the Montreal Canadiens in the 2011 Heritage Classic.

The game is outdoors in the elements of McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

Oh, and to celebrate the Calgary Flames are wearing their Harry Potter uniforms. Sure hope Voldemort doesn't show up.

Cougar Life Commercial

During the Daytona 500 today I saw a commercial for a dating site for cougars.

This ad made me laugh. I sent it to Brandon. He was excited to find another dating site to try. Not exactly what I intended.

But hey, if you like cougars....

"Recently voted the WILDEST dating service in America."

Epic Plane of Greatness

Wikipedia is a wonderful little tool especially if you're looking to find info on some of the most random of things. One of those things? The Lockheed SR-71.

This won't be a history lesson, I promise, but this plane holds records for flying the fastest and highest before being retired in 1998. Enemy countries could fire missles at the thing but good luck catching them.

So lets take a look at why this plane is an epic plane of greatness.

1. It was the first plane to use stealth technologies, but here's the thing, its engines were so fast and created such a exhuast that it was visible anyways via radar for 100s of miles. That didn't matter though, as the plane could simply outrun the missles and not a single one was ever shot down.

2. The air friction was so great, that the plane's fuselage was comprised of loose panels that would seal up once it got into the air due to the speed of the plane. Built from titanium, they found out that the skin of the airplane actually got stronger the more flights it took due to the air friction "heat treating" the airplane. When it landed, you couldn't touch the skin because it was upwards of 300 °C.

3. The plan has also set records for altitude (85,069 feet) and absolute speed (2,193.2 mph) Wow. It traveled from LA to Washington D.C. in 64 minutes.

4. Pilots had to wear pressure suits designed to handle the extreme heat if they ejected. They also had probably the world's coolest air conditioner because the cockpit's windshield would heat to 250 °F. Once ejected, the pilot would free fall for 15,000 feet before deploying their parachute.

Wow slightly better than the plane you use to fly from Spokane to Seattle. This is the last one I flew on...

February 18, 2011

Mark this one up as insanity...

Remember the crap storm that was Rocky V? Rocky loses all his money, goes back to his meager living conditions in Philadelphia and then starts training a young boxer named Tommy Gunn? Gunn was played by real-life boxer Tommy Morrison.

While Rocky V sucked, the rest of Tommy Morrison's life has also sucked apparently. He boxing career was ended by an HIV-positive test and he's spent all his time denying it's validity as a disease.

Yeah....

His face is worn and his skin sags in places, but he insists he’s in the best shape of his life. He’s going to be heavyweight champion again if boxing lets him back in, and this brings up HIV. It always comes back to HIV with Tommy, even over breakfast, so he chops up his $12 steak and eggs and tells you he is the victim of a wild conspiracy.

They stole his career, he says, at least a $38 million contract and who knows how much after that? They stole his good name, too. Made him admit to the world he has HIV. But that was before he found out that HIV doesn’t exist. It was invented to control people, he tells you, and he can go on and on about this all day.

He takes another bite and looks at his girlfriend, a woman from England named Trisha.

“We have unprotected sex,” she says.

Tommy is still chewing, but laughs.

“Every day,” he says. “We’re wild.”


The guy also believes he can teleport and feels that he's in his best shape of his life despite spots on his arms that clearly show the HIV virus is taking over. Oh boy...

Casey is so screwed


So there are times on this site where Casey likes to poke fun at me being in Montana. "Oh a bear is going to eat you" he says. "Oh the Grizzlies there outnumber the people." blah blah blah. Well it appears karma has stepped in and slapped him squarely in the face. I hope he has stocked up on cat mace.

SPOKANE, Wash. - A Wenatchee hunter has a right to be proud for his photo showing a pride of mountain lions on the Douglas County ranch where he has permission to hunt.

The black and white trail-cam image, which shows eight cougars in one spot, has gone viral on Northwest websites and e-mail lists since he first released it to acquaintances on Christmas Day.

That's right, an entire pride of Cougars roaming around Washington. Enjoy Casey. Better keep the house cats indoors.

Epic Photo: Remember when the Mariners were good?


Yep, those were the days.

February 17, 2011

Hangin' with Mrs. Cooper

Chene Cooper may not be that tall but she's one hell of a basketball player. She came up big for the Eastern Washington University women's team tonight. Here's the GoEags.com write up.

Cooper scored six points in the final minute, as EWU ended the game with a 9-0 run. Northern Arizona went the final 1:58 without scoring and had four misses and a turnover in that span. Piper hit the first basket in the game-ending run, then Cooper made a three-pointer with 51.4 to play to give Eastern the lead for good.

"There is a fine line between winning and losing, and we were on the right side of that line tonight," said EWU head coach Wendy Schuller. "Coop hit some big shots for us, and we made stops when we needed to. In close games like that, it comes down to who can make those plays down the stretch."

Cooper finished with 23 points – one shy of her career high – and Piper had 17. Cooper also had six rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals, while Piper finished with seven rebounds and three steals.

The Eagles solidified their hold on sixth place in the league standings, and are now 6-5 in Big Sky play and 10-14 overall. The Lumberjacks are now 4-8 in the league and 9-16 overall and are 2 ½ games behind the Eagles in the standings. The top six teams earn berths in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, held March 10-12 at the site of the regular-season champion.

While they're not having the great season they had last year, they're still very competitive. I'm looking forward to see how they do this March in the Big Sky tournament.

I just peed my pants a little... OUTDOOR ARENA FOOTBALL!!!!

As much as I would love to sit in the freezing cold elements of winter, I'm thinking that Arena Football has this "indoor game played outdoors" thing figured out. The Spokane Shock will be playing at Joe Albi Stadium this summer. Forget 10,000 fans, I'm thinking Spokane is going to pack that place and it's going to be the biggest game played there in years.

SPOKANE -- The Spokane Shock are taking their indoor Arena Football League game into new territory—outdoors.

The Shock announced on Thursday that the team will play the first outdoor game in team history at Joe Albi Stadium. They will take on the Utah Blaze on July 9th in a game the team is calling the Joe Albi Summer Classic.

“We are proud to bring such a unique event to the greatest fans in the AFL, right here in Spokane,” Majority Owner/CEO Brady Nelson said. “This is an idea that we have been toying with for a few years now and we are happy to bring it to our fans. The Joe Albi Summer Classic’ is going to be a memorable event that no one will want to miss.”

Let me try to hold in my excitement.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. Look to the East on the third day for my coming Shock fans!

WSU spring football in Spokane


Spring football at Washington State University kicks off on March 7th.

But the big twist this year is that the spring practices will end in Spokane.

On April 16th WSU will play their Crimson and Gray Game in Joe Albi Stadium.

But that's not all. WSU is really trying to get Spokane on the Cougar-wagon.

Besides the Crimson and Gray Game, WSU will be in Spokane for two other events that week. On April 11, the brand new football uniforms that Nike has created for the Cougars will be unveiled, and on April 15 and 16 Paul Wulff and his staff will conduct a coaches’ clinic at the Red Lion Hotel downtown.

All I can say is good luck WSU.

Spokane doesn't even support the University with the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP football team that is just down the road.

That's right, that would be the Eastern Washington University Eagles. Your 2010 FCS National Champions. And Spokane can't get together and get people into the seats at Roos Field. Even during the playoffs.

Over three playoff games Eastern Washington had a cumulative attendance of 14,325. By comparison Montana State had one playoff game and an attendence of 14,277. That's right, it took EWU three games to top the attendance of one game in Bozeman.

Still not convinced? Delaware, who Eastern Washington University beat in the championship game had a cumulative attendance of 32,736.

Yet WSU, by far the worst team in the new PAC-12, is trying to establish a presence in Spokane.

Good luck with that WSU. Good luck with that.

If you go DUI, go big

It's not baseball season yet until we have a great spring training story. Miguel Cabrera delivered in spectacular fashion with "not-your-normal" DUI story. Spell it out for us Deadspin...

So, not good news obviously for the Tigers, but more to the point, not good news for the man who spent last year's offseason in rehab. Pushing a deputy, talking to imaginary friends, and drinking Scotch straight from the bottle while being arrested? Yeah, it was an eventful night.

Cabrera's car was on the side of the road, his engine smoking, when a deputy pulled over to assist. With bloodshoot eyes and slurred speech,

"I am going to (expletive) kill him," Cabrera is quoted as saying.

The deputy saw no one else in the vehicle or in the area. Cabrera, of Boca Raton, grabbed a bottle of James Buchanan's scotch and started drinking.
.

(In other words... every other night in Montana for me)

February 16, 2011

Painful lost for the Eagles...

Glen Dean dropped 31. The Eagles led by as many as 18 in the first half. They still lost to Northern Arizona 83-74 tonight in Flagstaff.

Easterner sports writer Brian Beaudry gave me the skinny on the fouls... over seventy shots from the charity stripe shot in this one. Meaning this had to be a painful "Refs want the crowd to know they're there" game.

Here's the lead from Goeags.com...

The Eastern Washington University men's basketball team led by as many as 18 points in the first half and 15 in the second, but a 31-9 scoring run by the Lumberjacks turned the game around as NAU went on to defeat the Eagles 83-74 in a Big Sky Conference game Wednesday (Feb. 16) at the Rolle Activity Center in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Eastern, now 8-17 overall and 5-8 in the league, had a chance to pull into a fourth-place tie with Northern Arizona, which is now 15-10 and 7-6 in the Big Sky. However, despite a career-high 31-point night by Glen Dean, the Eagles couldn't hold off the Lumberjacks in the second half.


"We came out and we really guarded them," said Eastern head coach Kirk Earlywine. "We played awfully well in that first half even though we weren't getting any baskets in the paint. We couldn't continue it in the second half."

Not what Earlywine probably wants to see. He's on a little bit of a hot seat, but I would be very disappointed if EWU didn't give him a chance next year as well. They gave him a terrible program when he came in, and he's had to bring in a lot of transfers just to keep things respectable.

Although, considering the state of the program before the Burns disaster (How do you not make the BIG SKY TOURNAMENT with Rodney Stuckey?), there is potential in Cheney, it just needs to be cultivated.

Will Earlywine be the guy to do that?

The Big Sky arms war just got a whole lot crazier

It's official, Nate Montana has transferred from Notre Dame to the University of Montana. It seems that Eastern Washington University and the rest of Big Sky have their own Cuban Missile Crisis in football. The NFL legend's son is surely to bring his dad's skill and coolness to Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Hold on, this might be all a farce, read what ESPN had to say...

It's questionable whether the quarterback would have ever made the roster had his name been Nate Wyoming. But as the son of Joe Montana, he was going to be given a shot. And the Irish were glad to have him last season after he transferred back in from junior college, because Montana was the most experienced quarterback on the roster after Dayne Crist.

Montana played in three games in 2010, going 9-for-18 for 116 yards with an interception. When Crist got hurt against Michigan and Tommy Rees looked nervous and shaky, Montana was the one who had to finish the half.

But once Rees improved and wound up starting and finishing the final four games victoriously, Montana clearly became the odd man out. The Irish brought in highly regarded freshman Everett Golson in this recruiting class and have Andrew Hendrix and Luke Massa from last year's signing class, plus the return of Rees and Crist. Brian Kelly said that there was no way to get six quarterbacks reps in practice and that the group would be thinned. It didn't take a genius to see that Montana needed to find a new home.



Montana fans shouldn't celebrate just yet, because Nate is an unproven commodity. Nothing against the kid, and seriously it will be cool to have the QB have the same name as the state he represents (Should make for some cool photos). Here's what Mick Holien, the godfather for Montana football (and Polson resident), had to say on his blog...

It’s been quite the winter for such drop-down quarterback speculation and the school no doubt will receive quite a degree of national pub for his arrival.

A business school enrollee and a finance major at Notre Dame, Nate will be a junior in eligibility and have two years to play two seasons.

He is described in the Notre Dame Press Guide as “a raw but talented quarterback” who enjoyed his best career outing in the Blue-Gold Spring game where he connected on 18 of 30 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns as the Gold quarterback.

Six-foot 4-inches and 215 pounds, his younger brother, Nick, is a quarterback at the University of Washington.

It’s a good thing he’s a Libra because he needs the strength and creativity of his astrological sign to grow out of the shadow of his famous father and blossom as something other than the son of a four-time Super Bowl and National Championship winning quarterback.

As my good buddy, Charley Mitchell, suggested, maybe the town of Ismay which changed its name to Joe Montana in his honor in 1993, should consider another moniker alteration.

So while Montana has the namesake, EWU had transfer Bo Levi Mitchell. Might I add that Mitchell has pantented "gunslinger" tattoos on his arms. ADVANTAGE: EWU.

February 13, 2011

What I learned in Butte


Thanks to the wonderful sacrifice by Hagadone Corporation, I was allowed to go to Butte, MT for the Class A State Wrestling tournament this Saturday. What happened was I woke up at 5:30 a.m. on Friday, drove down to Hamilton, MT (Not a large town) for the Class B/C Championships and then after they concluded their first day, I drove all the way to Butte for Class A on Saturday. Here's what I learned about the wonderful city of Butte.

1. There is nothing between Missoula and Butte sans for one or two scary truck stops. Make sure you bring your survival gear when you drive between these two cities.

2. Getting on and off the freeway is actually kind of tough. Poor signage. I blame Obama.

3. Butte, MT is home to the niciest Super 8 Motel I've ever stayed at. Granted, the only other Super 8 I stayed at was in Yakima, Wash. (ugh) but I have this strange feeling that Super 8 gets a bad rep and is actually a pretty good hotel chain. Rooms were clean, people were nice, continental breakfast was awesome and cable had more channels than my home DISH. Plus it was within walking distance of Taco Bell. I actually did the math of what it would cost a month to just live in a Super 8 Motel. I don't think I can afford $2,100 a month.

4. There's the Virgin Mary up on the hill. Very Catholic and very awesome. Our Lady of the Rockies.

5. Driving through town, Butte has definitely got some character. All these old, historic buildings are super cool, espicially when they're put side by side with modern buildings. The Town Pump (Gas Station in Montana) corporate headquarters was also a treat seeing. Namely I was curious if I could go into their headquarters and ask for an energy drink and some jerky.

6. The roads are terrible, I'm sure the potholes are deeper than Berkely Pit.

7. The Butte Civic Center is the coolest sports arena I've been in. It looks like Slap Shot was shot in there. It's one of those old barns that is minimalistic, but still sooo awesome. I want to watch a hockey game in there because I feel I could spit on the hockey players. Here's a photo of the place, now just imagine four wrestling mats instead of a basketball court and you got the Civic Center. Wonderful venue, and it makes me wonder why we always have to tear down these old buildings for new sports arenas.

8. Pork Chop John's is apparently world renowned. Went there with the Valley Journal's Jeremy Weber, we were not impressed despite recommendations from everyone. Its a dry pork chop in two buns. Whoop de doo.

9. If you leave your Carhartt jacket on a chair in Starbucks, nobody will take it. Even if it has an expensive video camera in the pocket. In Spokane, a homeless man would have taken it and rolled around in some poo before one was able to get back and retrieve it.

10. Can someone tell my why every town except Ronan, St. Ignatius, Charlo and Polson, like putting a letter on a hill somewhere? Butte has an "M", Missoula has an "M", Arlee has an "A". Come on Lake County towns! I feel like our cities are not pulling their weight.

February 10, 2011

New Dodge Charger SRT-8

Dodge CEO Ralph Gilles introduces "Never Neutral" and the 2011 Dodge R/T lineup at the 2011 Chicago Auto Show.

Fast forward to 19:45 and check out the all new Dodge Charger SRT-8.

It is one tough looking car. Or as Ralph Gilles puts it, "the car that was never hugged as a child."

Join us on facebook!

To celebrate our third year check us out on facebook!

And don't forget to "like" us!

Goodbye Jerry Sloan!

Perhaps you've heard the news. Any connection to the 1990s NBA has been cut. Farewell Jerry Sloan!

Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan, the longest tenured coach in any of the four major professional sports in North America, resigned Thursday afternoon in Salt Lake City. His assistant, Phil Johnson, also quit the team

Tyrone Corbin, who played for the Jazz from 1991-1994, was named the new coach at a news conference.

Apparently, he was tired of losing in the NBA playoffs to teams with actual talent. Poor guy.

Man vs. Wild: Seal skin wetsuit


The sixth season of Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls kicks off on Thursday, February 17 at 9PM ET/PT.

The season will be 13 total episodes, but starts with six weeks of new episodes. The hit series will having Bear endure the most intense journeys to Arizona, Borneo, Cape Wrath in Scotland, Norway and a deserted island in the South Pacific.

The sixth episode will be a special compilation episode showing unseen footage of Bear providing viewers with his ultimate survival guide.

He even makes a wetsuit out of seal skin. Who does that?!?! Bear does!!!

Facing a chilly swim in the frigid waters of Cape Wrath, Scotland, Bear Grylls comes across the remains of a seal carcass and fashions a wetsuit from its blubbery hide.



Here's the descriptions of each episode:

· In Scotland off the rugged coast of Cape Wrath, Bear is dropped into open ocean. After getting ashore, he realizes he's on an island and must swim to the mainland. Bear fashions a wetsuit from a seal's hide to withstand the frigid crossing. Well into the trek, he is forced to turn back as an incoming estuary tide nearly cuts him off. After he makes it to dry land, Bear has a close call with the steep treacherous Scottish rock terrain.

· In Norway, Bear and his team create the harshest conditions possible combining Mother Nature with the latest technology. In this MAN VS. WILD science special, sensors monitor Bear's body as he demonstrates how to survive cutting away from a malfunctioning parachute, how to cross a fast flowing river after a dam is released on him and how to endure a lethal trap that Bear sets against himself.

· In the South Pacific, Bear is left into the ocean near a deserted island. He must first fight his way up a steep cliff to get ashore. Once on dry land, his priority is food and water. In addition to knowing ingenious ways to collect and store rainwater, Bear dives deep into the reefs in search of fish and employs a local method using torches to catch octopus at night.

· In Borneo, Bear heads directly into the wild jungles. Without a place to land his helicopter, he is forced to rappel into the treetops. As the heli peels away, Bear is 100 feet up in the canopy. After finding his way down to the jungle floor, Bear tackles raging waters, big mudslides and deep caves as he fights his way through this impenetrable place.

· In Arizona, Bear transforms into a one man high speed glider with a cutting edge wingsuit and flies into the Arizona Sky Islands. Bear shows viewers how to find water in the parched desert landscape, builds a sand-buggy from a wrecked aircraft and crosses heart-stopping rock drops.

It's the most wonderful time, of the year....


That would be the Boston Red Sox truck, ready to head down to Spring Training. OMG. OMG. OMG. It's starting! Baseball season!

Three years of Just South of North


Thats right ladies and gentlemen, three years of Casey and I ranting and raving on the internet. Since that time, I've earned a few things.

1. Casey's feet stink. They smell like death and Rosanne Barr rolled into one.

2. It's fun to make fun of Gonzaga fans since they're more insecure than a catholic school girl at a zombie flash mob. By the way, how's that WCC Championship wrapping up for you guys this year?

3. I drink too much. Then I post online. That, is, a, very, dangerous, thing to do.

4. The Internet doesn't make you any money, but it does give your email address to all the spammers out there. Hello Spammers.

5. Indy 4 was a terrible movie.

So thanks for all the support, we've been getting tremendous hits on the site and finished last year with over 78,000 unique visits. Woo hoo!

February 9, 2011

UConn's QB Johnny McEntee is a Jedi master of throwing accuracy

I saw this over on yahoo sports and my jaw dropped to the floor. UConn's third-string quarterback, Johnny McEntee can do some amazing things with a football. How the kid is the third-string quarterback is beyond me. Unless he just can't throw like this in a game setting.

Anyway, check this out:


What are we going to do without the NFL?

So the NFL will more than likely be stuck in a labor dispute next season, meaning we're going to have to do something to fill the gap. Here are some ideas...


1. Dress up like Crayons - Because girls love Crayons. But mostly the big ones. So make sure you only dress up like an 8-pack of Crayons instead of the full 64-crayon box. Otherwise you'll get a real big-un.


2. Find Dinosaurs - Preferably not ones this big unless you can outrun them on your bike. Make sure you make fun of it's skinny arms.


3. Go to Montana - And make fun of the Grizzlies ... because they didn't win a national championship this year.


4. Go Mud Wrestling - Just don't forget your shorts. Oh, and drink a lot.


5. Kick your wife's butt at football - That's what Casey likes to do.


6. Hang out with Chewbacca - Because that's way cooler than the NFL.

Best EWU shooter ever?

The EWU womens' team is absolutely full of talent. One of those is Kyla Evans, a senior who I got the privilege of watching play back when I was in college. Tremendous player and a very dangerous shooter to leave out on the perimeter. So it's no shocker that she accomplished this...

Evans, who now has 197 treys in her career, had been just three three pointers away from the record for more than a month. But when a chronic back injury flared up just before the start of conference play, she was forced to sit the last 10 games. The untimely hiatus didn't seem to affect the senior though, as she turned in the best performance of her season in her first game back.

Evans finally surpassed Stephanie Ulmer, who owned the previous record of 195 career three pointers made. Ulmer played for head coach Wendy Schuller from 2002-05.

"I am very happy for Kyla," said Schuller. "She has been through a lot in her career, and is certainly deserving of the honor. I'm glad she is able to leave her mark at Eastern."

How sad is it that I was there for both Ulmer's and Evan's careers? Perhaps I should have taken a slightly heavier load than two classes a quarter.

Old Spice Commercial

Check out the newest Old Spice commercial starring the Old Spice guy, Isaiah Mustafa, or The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. Where would you go on vacation?

February 7, 2011

Spring is here, at least the flowers say so

A month ago I asked if perhaps spring was here.

Well it certainly appears that way. It's only the beginning of February and look how tall the daffodils are getting.



Things A-rod could have done during the Super Bowl


Admit it. When you saw A-rod getting hand fed some popcorn from Cameron Diaz during the Super Bowl, you thought to yourself "douche!"

Because... well, A-rod has that effect on us.

However, the poor guy could have done tons of things that would have been much more acceptable. He should have known cameras were going to catch him, and as luck would have it, they caught him at one of the worst possible moments. Should have just showed up with Madonna.

Here are some things he could have done differently...

1. Sat with John Madden and George W. I'm sure they were having a very intelligent conversation.

2. Shown off his World Series ring that he won last fall... oh wait, nevermind, the Yankees didn't win the World Series.

3. Buddy up to Derek Jeter, who would have paid too much for his Super Bowl tickets because he apparently overvalues things based on their sentimental worth, much like his career.

4. Been drinking? I mean people would have been totally fine with him throwing back beers instead of getting the maid service from Cameron Diaz. Hell, if he did lines of coke, people would be cool with it.

5. Or just not show up to the Super Bowl at all. I mean spring training starts soon right?

February 6, 2011

Super Bowl XLV Commercial

The Super Bowl is always known for the commercials. This was one of the best Super Bowl commercials that got a real chuckle from everyone I was watching the game with.

February 4, 2011

Best marching band halftime show ever

The University of Hawaii marching band forms a giant stick football kicker during the halftime show.

It's really awesome.

Check it out:

February 3, 2011

What Tatjana Sparavalo had to say...

Thanks for the concern Casey (see the below post) but I am alive and well after my brush with death out on the ski slopes. By the way.... Ski lodge bars are awesome. Okay I'm done. Moving on.

If you've covered EWU women's basketball in the past few years, chances are you've ran into Tatjana Sparavalo. I can remember first seeing this girl playing basketball and immediatly fearing for the safety of the opposing team. She plays tough, hard-nosed basketball and she's from Serbia. Seems about right.

Anyways, they did a Q&A with her on GoEags.com, because she's awesome and she's leading the team in scoring and all that jazz. I thought I'd take a little gander at what she said.

Q: What do you plan to do with your degree?


A: “I’m not really sure yet. I might try to find a job somewhere in California because I like the weather there. If not, I might go home.”

You shouldn't go home Tatjana because there is a state that is kind of like you're home. It's called Montana.

Q: Why did you choose to come to Eastern?


A: “I really liked Coach Schuller because she was very caring. And, I thought it was a good program. Another reason I came was because Milan Stanojevic, another basketball player from Serbia, signed with Eastern. I thought it would be an easier adjustment for me if I had someone to relate to from back home.”

It's true, Coach Wendy Schuller is awesome. I've never heard somebody say a bad thing about her, or if somebody did say a bad thing about her, there was usually a resulting barfight from those wanting to defend her honor. She's that cool. Oh and she wears awesome sweaters.

Q: What has been your favorite class and why?


A: “I don’t think I really had a favorite class. But, I do really like the ethics and leadership class that I am taking right now.

Sure, Tatjana , coming from the player that has no problem throwing 'bows and laying down the law. You keep talking about ethics as your "Big Sky stitches caused" stat keeps counting upwards.

Q: Who is your favorite teammate and why?


A: “Probably Kyla Evans and Julie Piper. I can’t pick only one. Kyla, Julie and I are all best friends. We have been through thick and thin together.”

Oh sure, pick Julie Piper, the EWU copy of Tim Duncan and Kyla Evans, Reggie Miller's prodigy.

Q: Who was your first celebrity crush?


A: “George Clooney! When I saw him in E.R., I fell in love with him, and I am still in love with him today.”

I'm very disappointed this isn't "Brandon Hansen and Mike Miller, the Big Sky TV commentators" but I guess I will just let this one slide.

For the full Q&A, click here.

Brandon snowboarding

So today Brandon was going snowboarding.

The last I heard from him he was talking about seeing fish at the St. Regis Huckleberry stop.

But I'd assume that his day ended like this:

February 2, 2011

Epic Photo: Casey's latest potrait


I told him that he might want to have his wife, Lindsey, in the photo, but he said no.

Texas high school football makes me sick

I just read this article about a $60 million dollar stadium that is being built in Texas... FOR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL!


This is being built for Allen High School in Allen, Tex. It will have 18,000 seats for spectators, a two-tier press box, a high-def scoreboard, a indoor golf practice area and a wrestling room. This comes as part of a $119 million dollar bond passed by 63 percent of the voters in the district.

That's right, the fine people of the town, fresh off a recent state championship, thought that their high school deserves a stadium that's bigger than event the FCS National Championship Eastern Washington Eagles' home field. Sure it's a big school, the third biggest in the state of Texas, but it's HIGH SCHOOL.

And check this out...

Texas faces a potential $10 billion dollar budget shortfall which will mean millions of dollars being cut  out of education. We're talking about extra curricular activities and other educational programs that will be nixed in order to make the bottom line. Sure the 60-80 kids on the football team will have nice digs, even the wrestling and golf teams will be set up nicely, but what about the other 4,800 kids in the school? What will they do after school? What will they do during school when teachers have their hands tied behind their backs?

And it's not like our school kids are already scoring oh so high in worldwide comparisons for math and science. We're one of the dumber western countries in the world based on test scores?

Well at least we have football.

Listen, I love the sport, but there's a lot more pressing matters in this country than a game. Squandering money in a recession is inexcusable. Allen is looking at $18.4 million dollar budget cut from the government, yet spends part of a $119 million dollar bond on a football stadium? I'm fine with a field, some aluminum bleachers and a game going on.

Sure it's Texas, but that's an absolute waste.

Americans are more inclined to stick their heads into the sand (or sports) than face the real financial situations of the time. We should be focused more on educating kids and making sure they're receiving the very best education in the world. I'm all for putting money in athletics, but I'm sorry, high school kids don't need to play in a $60 million dollar stadium. This sounds hauntingly like the fall of Rome, when the empire kept their citizens entertained with gladiators while their borders crumbled around them.

"But Texas does football right"

And in the future, that might be the only thing it does as the state runs out of money and kids are receiving a sub-par education.

The Ride Trailer

Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race, linked up with the MS Society and rode his bike across the country to raise funds and awareness for the disease.

His trip is now a documentary. And it looks awesome.

The Ride, will be available for download tomorrow, February 3rd. As well as at screenings across the country.



Phil will be at all of the screenings.
100% of the box office goes to benefit the National MS Society
Thu Feb 3 8:00pm Los Angeles, CA
Mon Feb 7 7:30pm Denver, CO
Tue Feb 8 7:30pm Minneapolis, MN
Wed Feb 9 7:30pm St. Louis, MO
Thu Feb 10 7:30pm Chicago, IL
Fri Feb 11 Pittsburgh, PA Theater Details Soon
Sun Feb 13 7:30pm Philadelphia, PA
Wed Feb 16 7:30pm Boston, MA
Thu Feb 17 7:30pm Dallas, TX
Fri Feb 18 5:30pm New York, NY

The day after tomorrow


Thats a satellite photo of the United States.