Chip Kelly Staying at Oregon

A few moments ago my Twitter exploded with reports that Chip Kelly has turned down the NFL to stay at the University of Oregon.

Now there are a number of sources tied to this report and various reasons have been stated. But I know the real reason. He heard this song by Mat Kearney and decided to stay.

(For those who don't know Mat Kearney was born in Eugene, Oregon. You can buy his album Young Love here) 

Portlandia Season 3

While Seattle might have Grey's Anatomy, Portland has Portlandia. And it's one of the funniest shows on TV!

Having been to Portland many times myself, the show pretty much perfectly describes the Rose City. And how awesome it is.

When I first heard about this show a few years ago I knew it was something I had to check out. And then their "Dream of the 90s is Alive in Portland" video came out and I knew it was going to be awesome. Well after two seasons the laughs keep coming and with season three on the way I can't wait.

Here's one of my favorite Portlandia skits featuring the Portland Timbers and perhaps the greatest soccer cheer of all time. Check it out:




Tune in to "Winter in Portlandia" on Friday, Dec. 14. The new season starts Friday, Jan. 4 on IFC.

While you wait for Portlandia season three be sure to check out Portlandia: Season 1 and Portlandia: Season 2 on DVD and don't forget about Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors. 

Cuban struck "in the face" at Portland game

Apparently Portland likes Mark Cuban just as much as every other city. Which is surprising considering how laid-back and awesome Portland is.

An object thrown from the Rose Garden stands hit Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the face during Thursday night's Game 3 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The incident occurred midway through the fourth quarter after Cuban had been interacting with the fans in the section behind the Mavericks' bench. Cuban was not injured.

And yet, all I can think of this:



Portland. Keep it weird.

Portlandia

Portland is pretty much the coolest city in America. And now it's so trendy that they are making a sitcom about it called "Portlandia." It debuts on IFC tonight, January 21.

Staring Fred Armisen of "Saturday Night Live" and Carrie Brownstein, the vocalist/guitarist from the Portland band Sleater-Kinney, will star in the series.

Check out a short trailer:



And if you've never visited Portland, Oregon. Well then you my friend are missing out.

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!

Corso's mascot head found

People say that TV personalities can have big heads. For the case of Lee Corso, that has never been more true. Corso of course is famous for his picking of the team on College Gameday by using the mascot head. ESPN even made a Corso mascot head as a joke. Well on Saturday it was stolen in Corvallis.

Oregon State Police say the oversized mascot head of ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso has been recovered, and two men have been cited on theft charges in the case. The $5,000 prop used each week on ESPN's "College Gameday'' show was reported stolen in Corvallis on Saturday after the annual game between rivals Oregon and Oregon State.

The funniest part of this whole story is that ESPN this year has been running a commercial featuring Corso switching heads with the Oregon Duck. So it only seems fitting that Corso's head was stolen in a game featuring, well, the Ducks.

Perhaps it was the Duck all along!

Oregon Duck Tracker 2010

The latest BCS rankings came out this afternoon and wow do computers suck at picking the #1.

With their loss to Missouri, Oklahoma was going to give up their number one spot but the question was to who? With a 60-13 beatdown of UCLA it seemed that Oregon would be the new #1.

But nope. Those computers strike again. Leapfrogging both Oregon and Boise State, Auburn moves into the number one spot.

Wow do computers suck.

But want to know something that doesn't suck. The Oregon Duck Tracker.

This site keeps track of all of the strange uniform combinations that the Ducks have each game. So far this season in seven games they have wore seven different uniforms.

These include three different color helmets, five different jerseys and four different color pants.

Perhaps to get the respect of the computers the Ducks really need to do something to grab the attention. Maybe all the players should play a whole game in these outfits:


I bet they'd still win by 50+ points.

I wonder what ever happened to that creepy RoboDuck mascot? He just kind of faded away. Yet, I still have nightmares of when he first appeared back in 2002:

People's Coast Classic: Day 2 and 3

Sorry for no post yesterday but the place we were staying at in Lincoln City didn't have wireless internet. So no update.

But here's how the trip has been going.

Yesterday was going to be the longest and have the most hills of the entire trip. It was just under 70 miles. We took off at about 7 AM and decided that since it was goign to be a tough day Team Brooklynn would "go postal." See the photo. USPS all the way!

We saw a number of sites including the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We took a tour. Ate some cheese and then went on our way.
We had some great views through out the day of the Oregon coast.

Near the end of the ride was a big big big hill that we had to climb. Once getting to the top it was nice rolling hills into Lincoln City.

At Lincoln City we camp in a baseball field. We claimed left field.

Today we took off at about 7 again and had a shorter day. We had hoped to stop and look for whales but the fog never lifted the whole day. However we did get to stop at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and view all they had. It's a pretty neat place if you ever get the chance to stop.

We arrived in Yachats after a little over 50 miles. The fog is still here and its pretty chilly with the wind. The mist swirls through camp.

Tomorrow is going to be about 65ish miles. And we'll be able to stop at the Sea Lion Caves.

Total miles is just over 178.

Oh Portland

I'm in Portland, Oregon today.

Here's a typical Portlander:

Oregon football: Thanks NIKE

The University of Oregon is known for having ugly football uniforms, but this years might top all years past. Check out the "carbon fiber" helmet above. Down the middle of the helmet it says "go hard. go oregon. go ducks."

And you want a complete taste of the Oregon uniform combinations?

Check out this site.

It lets you pick different looks for the Ducks, and then shows you what the team wore in each game each week.

Today, against Utah, the Ducks are wearing white helmets, green jerseys and silver pants.

Silver?!? WTF!!! That's not one of their colors!

Glad the NCAA has college football teams shake hands now

Because we're all about sportsmanship right? If you're a sports fan with any sort of football chops you've heard about LeGarrette Blount's awesome sucker punch after the Boise State-Oregon game in which he was held to -5 yards.

And by awesome, I mean, just look at the Boise St. player, he didn't know what hit him.

But in a more serious note, everyone has been saying that Oregon should suspend him or kick him off the team. Considering he's had other off-the-field incidents involving his temperament, it's apparent that he's a hot head.

But I like how we're even debating this. If that happens in a night club or in a public place, Blount is going to court on assault charges.

Since it was on the football field people and kind of throwing in this weak debate about how he was provoked and it was in the heat of the moment.

Shut up. He sucker punched a player. He's not going to wear a Ducks uniform anytime soon. Game over. Pretty simple. We don't need to bring morals and ethics into this.

People are going to act disgusted, Oregon looks absolutely terrible in its first game of the season and this gives plenty of media types chances to beat their chest and tear Blount a new one. Blah, blah blah. Good job media guys, keep clucking like a bunch of hens.

Me? I'm just going to play that video again and laugh. Apparently I'm going to hell...

The truth behind Brandon in Portland

Brandon is currently in Portland, Oregon.

So, I will use this time to explain to you the real reasons why he is there. He claims it's for a wedding, but we know the truth. Don't we?

1. Roses?!?! Brandon loves any city named after that flower.

2. He's a sucker for emo chicks. He finds them scary, yet intriguing.

3. Cheap beer is his friend. Nowhere is cheaper than the Shanghai bar with $1 Rainiers.

4. He wanted to get in a fight with a Timbers fan. "Sounders till I die!" he'll be chanting.

5. He enjoys chatting with hippies. Portland is full of them and their Subarus.

6. Pie.

7. He also enjoys hanging out with vagabonds. Portland is also full of those.

8. Outside of Seattle, there are more coffee shops per area than people. Brandon loves his caffeine.

9. Even though he doesn't know how to read, he wanted to check out Powell's. World renown for its books.

10. He wanted to swim in the Willamette River because he heard it was even dirtier than the Spokane River.

Oregon Ducks cited for shooting at ducks

The Oregonian reported yesterday that three members of the Oregon Ducks mens basketball team were cited for shooting BBs at ducks and geese in a park.

Good thing for the fowl that Oregon basketball is terrible at shooting. (Too soon?)

Anyway, no ducks were hurt. Here's what Kevin Hudson of the Oregonian reported.

Officers responded to a report of men shooting guns in the park at 11:08 p.m. and arrived to witness freshman forward Josh Crittle fire about 20 shots toward the pond with a BB gun, said Jenna LaBounty, a spokeswoman with the Eugene Police Department.

Crittle was cited along with fellow freshmen Michael Dunigan and Teondre Williams on an accusation of violating park rules, which carries a base fine of $155.

LaBounty said that when the officers approached, Dunigan tossed his weapon into the water, where officers found it. Williams' weapon was also located by the six officers who responded.

Crittle, Dunigan and Williams were handcuffed, cited and released within 30 minutes late Monday.

LaBounty said it did not appear any birds were injured in the shooting.

The players are scheduled to appear April 14 in Eugene Municipal Court to face the charges, which are unclassified misdemeanors.

Oregon was lousey this year. Maybe instead of shooting at ducks these players should spend their spare time in a gym shooting freethrows.

Oregon Parks and Recreation photo contest.

Yesterday I came across an article in The Oregonian that discussed an upcoming photo contest for the Oregon Parks. I thought I'd share their offer with you. It seems like a great idea.

Sharing an experience in an Oregon state park could lead to two weeks of free camping.

That's the prize in the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's third annual Go Click! photo contest.

A 14-day state park camping package will go to the grand prize winner of this year's contest, in which amateurs of all ages are invited to enter from now until Aug. 1. The top two runners-up will receive free 24-month passes to state park day-use fee areas.

The contest, in its first two years, drew more than 3,000 entries, and coordinator Jennifer McCormick of OPRD is looking forward to seeing its popularity continue.

"We're building an impressive photo album," she said. "It already shows the huge number of ways people enjoy their parks. The contest has proven to be a great outlet for people to share
their experiences."

Photos judged the best of the lot will receive more exposure this year. Besides displaying the top selections at the Oregon State Fair in August, OPRD will post a number of entries still to be determined on the Web and ask the public to pick the grand prize winner and runners-up.

"Our panel of judges have had a hard time picking winners," said McCormick. "This time we're going to let the public decide."

Entry rules and ways to compete will remain the same.

"It's pretty simple," McCormick said. "Just make sure you're in a state park and have your camera ready to take pictures of the scenery and people having fun."

All photo entries must be digital and uploaded to the OPRD Web site. The contest rules are online at www.oregonstateparks.org/goclick.

Both first-place photos in the contest, thus far, have featured scenes on the south Oregon coast. Patricia Davidson of Coos Bay claimed the top prize in the first contest with a photo at Sunset Beach. Alan Hirschmugl of Gresham shot last year's grand prize winner along the shoreline at Cape Blanco State Park.

Reasons why you're still single... vacation spots

Every once in a while we need to take a break from everyday life. If your single, those vacation spots tend to differ than if you have a significant other to bring along. Generally, the opposite sex wouldn't be thrilled about these locations...

(1) The Dalles, Ore. -- to visit your great Uncle Lou and watch old Red Sox games on VHS. While this may seem like a great vacation. Think about it from a girl's perspective. Yeah, you're dying alone.
(2) Stateline -- for obvious reasons.
(3) Colville, Wash. -- Just because it's the county seat of Steven's County in Northeastern Washington doesn't mean you should take you summer vacation there. No, Walmart does not constitute as "things to do while in Colville."
(4) Yakima, Wash. -- Ponder for a moment how you would sell this to your significant other. Come up with reasons you can use. Drawing a blank slate? yeah thought so. And please keep in mind that watching 2A high school basketball at the SunDome is only socially acceptable when you go to the schools that are playing. Anything else and you're just weird.
(5) Any place in the State of Montana -- Unless you like ticks.
(6) On a non-cruise ship boat for three months -- actually this isn't called a vacation, it's called the Navy.
(7) Omak, Wash. -- Other than the dog-fighting rings they have going on here, there's really nothing going on. Maybe passable if you can get Michael Vick to come along.
(8) Texas -- Ew.
(9) Your buddies' house in Spokane -- 48 straight hours of "Halo Wars" is considered a coma.
(10) Staycation -- Who wants to play Yahtzee?!?!?!

Arsonist torching green Ford Escorts

If you drive a green 1990s model Ford Escort I have some advice for you: Stay away from Medford, Oregon.

Now this advice may seem strange, but honestly it is for your own good. For you see, there is a arsonist among the streets of Medford targeting green Ford Escorts made in the '90s.

There have been three cases of green Ford Escorts being destroyed by flames in last few weeks. The first instance was on February 2. The victim was a 1992 edition of the car. A flammable liquid was lit near the tire of the car to start the fire.

The next case happened a few weeks later on February 22. This time the victim was a 1993 edition. Someone had broken a window the car and poured the flammable liquid inside.

The most recent case happened just Sunday, March 1. The victim this time was a 1995 model that was burnt in the same method as the second.

Now I have watched my share of crime shows. So I'm going to take a stab at solving this one. Maybe you've seen "Criminal Minds" on CBS.

Welcome to "Criminal Minds: the Just South of North Edition"

First off we need the facts. Here's what we know:

-The person has a thing against '90s green Ford Escorts
-They like fire
-They target cars in Medford, Oregon
-Their attacks are becoming more frequent
-They can afford to buy matches
-And they can afford to buy gas (since that is probably the flammable liquid)

At this point the TV stars usually try to pinpoint the "type" of person they are looking for.

From the information that we know, here is what I have come up with:

-The person starting these fires is female. She was recently dumped by her cheating boyfriend. He happened to drive an early to mid green Ford Escort. He lives in Medford, Oregon. He actually spent all of his money on the car and loved the thing more than he loved her (see the dumb looking "pimped" out car in the photo above). While they were together, he always used the Paris Hilton line of "That's Hot" while talking about his car. She has decided that she will make his car really hot, and by doing so extract her revenge on not just the cheating boyfriend, but the car that she hated so much too.

The first car was his. She burnt it up, just like the plan was. The problem was that her feelings for him didn't go up in smoke like the car. Every time she saw a green '90s Ford Escort her rage built and she knew she had to watch it burn. It now has turned into an addiction.

What we are dealing with here is a woman scorn.

I am sure that I am way off on my profile, but hey, I figure if they can do it on TV I can do it too. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go be like Jackass and roll off the roof in a shopping cart.

When in doubt blame a sea lion

The Bonneville Dam that spans the Columbia River Gorge between Washington and Oregon is about to become the place of extreme controversy.

Oregon and Washington wildlife officials are going to move ahead with plans to remove sea lions from the area.

The reason is simple. The dam causes the spawning salmon to "school-up" at the base of it. Which means they basically become a sitting buffet.

It's not the sea lions fault, they just want an easy meal. Being a guy still in the college mindset I can relate. I don't think about dinner until I'm hungry. Then, since I'm hungry I want the easiest meal possible. Which usually involves a microwave or a pot of water.

Unfortunately for these animals state officials and local tribe representatives don't see it that way. All they see is that the sea lions eat a lot of the fish that are stuck there.

Animal rights groups don't buy that excuse. They say that the state officials are just using the sea lions as scapegoats for the decline in the salmon population. When other things, such as clear cutting along river banks, polluting rivers and dams themselves cause more problems for the fish than the sea lions do.

For now the sea lions will be caught and given to zoos and aquariums. But the states are allowed to kill 85 of them each year.

I find that sad. Kill the lazy ones dinning on the buffet of fresh fish. I agree that salmon are important, but I do not think that the sea lions are the sole cause of the decline of the species. There are a lot of "human made" actions that are affecting them more.

University of Oregon Baseball Update: A good way to start the program

It may have taken 28 years to come, but the Oregon Ducks won their season opener in baseball tonight.

The Ducks took on Saint Mary's in the first baseball game played by the University of Oregon since 1981, and they walked off the field with a 5-3 win.

I must say that is a pretty good way to start not only a new season, but a new program as well.

Oregon’s offense totaled five runs on 13 hits, while freshman left-hander Tyler Anderson recorded his first victory on the mound.

Anderson left the game with the lead after pitching 5.2 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits and four walks, while striking out five.

Freshman KC Serna, junior Jett Hart and junior Curtis Raulinaitis provided the RBIs for Oregon, while Caleb Tommasini and Raulinaitis led the Ducks with three hits apiece.

The Ducks take on Saint Mary's again tomorrow and one more time on Sunday. Sure it's just one win, but the University of Oregon is already doing what it set out do when it brought back the sport--draw attention away from their main rival, Oregon State University.

We'll be following this historic team all season here at Just South of North. So tune in for updates, stats and more.

Oregon baseball returns tomorrow

Tomorrow, for the first time since 1981, a baseball team for the University of Oregon will take the field.

After 28 years the school decided to bring back the sport. And tomorrow they take on Saint Mary's on the road.

And in true Oregon sports style, the team has about 20 uniforms and most of them are just plain ugly.


The uniforms that feature pin striping, are not just any strips. The stripes are actually the words to the Oregon fight song written down the stripe. Yes. Only in Oregon.

How about that ugly green one with a HUGE "O" in the middle. Terrible. And I hate to admit it, but the uniform on the far right is actually pretty sharp looking.

Epic Video: The Oregon Trail

Oh yes. Dysentery. Good times.

Here's the Oregon Trail in 60 seconds.