THE TAILGATE

Making serious fun of sports

You knew a guy like Pete Carroll in college. We all knew a guy like Pete Carroll in college. He didn't care about your rules and your conventions. He was about three things, all the time: F-U-N.

He's the guy who wears the lampshade on his head -- to class. Or, this week, his team's home jerseys on the road.

USC Coach Pete Carroll is so intent on restoring a colorful tradition to the crosstown rivalry with UCLA, he is willing to give up two timeouts to do it.

Carroll said on Monday that the Trojans would wear cardinal jerseys on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, violating an NCAA rule that requires visiting teams to wear white jerseys ... He does not regard it as a sign of disrespect to UCLA and said he is not concerned that the Trojans could be adversely affected by losing a timeout in each half.

"I don't care about it right now," he said. "I think it's the fun thing to do, and I think the fans will appreciate it over time." (Los Angeles Times)

Pete Carroll's looking for a seven-letter word that means Pete Carroll.

Awesome.

Onward ...

If I'd have been watching a poodle tend to Plaxico Burress' gun wound I'm not sure I'd have been more astonished than I was watching Notre Dame's offensive numbers Saturday.

Oregon's offensive numbers made some sense. But up in the press box, I had the Notre Dame-USC gametracker up and running on my laptop. Nine yards offense at the half? No first down until the final play of the third quarter?

I emailed University of Portland athletic director Larry Williams this morning. He was once an all-American offensive lineman at Notre Dame. I asked him how long was the longest it took his teams to get a first down.

I think he thought I was joking, and I guess I was. I mean, knowing Williams, I assume if the three-and-outs had ever piled up even late into the first quarter the Irish could have followed him on three straight plays and gotten it done. I don't expect he took too kindly to being stopped.

Anyhow, there's a lot of disappointment today. Domers are going to have to share.

So I'm laying in bed, unwilling to get up. NPR's on the radio. President-elect Barack Obama comes on from Chicago to introduce his national security team. Our national security team.

And I'm thinking what that show needs is a little snap, a little more style. I'm thinking lights and music. I'm thinking Mark Mason at the mic. "At Secretary of Defense, from New York ... Hillllllllllllllll-ARY Clinnnnnnnnnn-TON."

It's just a suggestion.

Onward ...

Wow. Two Sunday posts.

If you've ever complained about the BCS, if you're ever going to complain about the BCS, if you're just considering complaining about the BCS, read Ray Ratto's column. Read every word. It's right here.

An excerpt, on why the coaches are at fault for the current system:

They complain loudest, because that's what coaches do, even when they're being rewarded. One example among many: Mack Brown of Texas. Nobody grouses about the lack of a playoff system more than he does, and yet he votes in the coaches' poll, which is such a breathtaking monument to conflict of interest, lack of transparency and simple corruption that it makes Italian politics look like an Amish barn-raising.

Today's column doesn't seem to have made it online. So here it is.

And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the U.S mail
Say it with dead flowers at my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

"Dead Flowers" - The Rolling Stones

CORVALLIS - By the time the scoreboard finally stopped spinning, you couldn't walk the Oregon State sideline without tripping over symbolism.

A dozen roses lay scattered and broken on the ground in front of the East grandstand.

Oregon State center Alex Linnenkohl trudged off the field and plopped on the bench. Blood ran from his nose into his "No Shave November" beard.

It's like some of you were saying ... fire Bellotti.

I wonder what the live blog at the 1st Civil War looked like? Refresh for the most recent post.

7:23 p.m. His team's down 13 and I've got to pack up to head down to the field in a few.

7:22 p.m. Moevao threw his fifth touchdown pass of the game. Five. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. And his team's down 13.

7:11 p.m. You know what Oregon State hadn't done today? Fumble. Beavs can cross that one off. Ryan McCants drops the ball inside the Oregon 15, Ducks recover.

7:07 p.m. Oregon's got something like 616 yards in total offense.

7:04 p.m. This is way too easy for Oregon. How do you get out of 1st-and-25 by your goal line? Masoli for 10. Masoli for eight. Masoli to Terence Scott for 76 yards and a touchdown. Oregon 51, Oregon State 31.

7 p.m. We have reached the end of the third, when the folks here at Reser celebrate college football by playing AC/DC. The Ducks are looking at 1st-and-25 from their own 5-yard line. Back-to-back holding penalties did that. The second one took 34-yard run from Blount.

6:52 p.m. Do you like scoring? I mean, really like it? Like it like you enjoy a sunset, or a soft wind on a warm summer day? If you do, you'd like this game, which you're probably enjoying. I'm enjoying it. Moevao throws a 10-yard touchdown pass to Shane Morales. With 2:45 left in the third, Oregon 44, Oregon State 31.

I hope you bet the over.

6:43 p.m. But Oregon State is going to have to stop Oregon at some point, and when the Ducks let fly with five-play drive that puts another seven on the board, well, that's no way to come from behind. Heck of a way to play from ahead, though. Oregon 44, Beavers 24.

6:35 p.m. Could you guys hear the refs talking about the fumble that might have been, but couldn't be reviewed? We could hear the open mic in the press box. "They're not going to overturn that," one ref said. Later, on the sideline, Riley could be heard saying, "No, no, no.That ball was ripped out."

Eventually, after review, they decided the play couldn't be reviewed.

But the Beavers just scored to make 37-24.

HALFTIME: Oregon has 442 yards offense. 4.4.2. Jeremiah Johnson has 203 yards rushing. AT HALFTIME.

5:50 p.m. It's getting all Big 12 South up here in this mother. The Beavers calmly go 47 yards in three plays. Moevao finds Morales from 11 yards out for a touchdown. Oregon 37, Oregon State 17.

Nine seconds remain.

5:46 p.m. Uh, Beavers fans? Look away, or you're going to see Walter Thurmond III running for 40 yards with an interception. He stopped once he arrived in the endzone to make it Oregon 37, Oregon State 10.

5:42 p.m. They're reviewing Jeremiah Johnson's 83-yard touchdown run. If they take it back, they'll put the ball on, like the 1-inch line ... but they're confirming the ruling on the field. What that means is this: Oregon State was using time outs, trying to get the ball back. The Beavers had the Ducks staring at 3rd-and-19 from their own 17. Oregon was going to run the ball, because OSU was out of timeouts. Run it, punt it, cover it and get to the half with a nice lead and some well-played football.

Instead, Johnson busts through a HUGE hole, breaks about four arm tackles, bobbles the ball, catches the bobble and goes, I repeat, 83 YARDS for a touchdown. Oregon 30, Oregon State 10.

5:29 p.m. When Mike Bellotti said his team could let loose and have fun, this is what he meant: Masoli flips it to Darron Thomas, Thomas throws it deep to Maehl, Maehl hauls it in over his shoulder for a 35-yard gain that leads to ... another field goal. Oregon 23, Oregon State 10.

5:21 p.m. Two red zone trips, three points for the Beavers. Kahut makes a 24-yarder from the left hash. The last one was from the right hash, and he missed it right. So this was a gimme, unless he way overcompensated, which could have happened. But didn't.

And a hearty congratulations to Section 114, Row 25. You just won food.

5:14 p.m. Small victories right now for the Beavers. Like holding the Ducks to a 22-yard field goal. Oregon 20, Oregon State 7.

Unrelated: Beautiful sunset out behind the stadium.

5:04 p.m. Eh. Uh. Ew. Justin Kahut just pushed a 22-yard field goal attempt right. No good. No points. On a drive where Oregon State had managed to convert on a 3rd-and-13, a 3rd-and-9 and a 3rd-and-15 ... but not a third-and-goal from the 4. Meh.

4:54 p.m. End of the first quarter. Things going well for the Ducks, I'd say.

Quick fact, courtesy of the OSU sports information department: It was 62 degrees at kickoff. That's the warmest Civil War kickoff since they began recording the temperature in 1991. 1991? I'm pretty sure the thermometer was invented well before 1991.

4:48 p.m. So this is interesting. Oregon's totally working Oregon State on the edges. The Ducks are running sweeps. Jeremiah Johnson just took a sweep right for 79 yards. LaGarrette Blount cleaned up the last nine yards the next play. That's a two-play, 88-yard drive. Oregon 17, Oregon State 7.

4:45 p.m. Welcome to the game, Beavs. Moevao dumps a screen pass to Francis, Francis runs 20 yards with it. Oregon 10, Oregon State 7.

4:35 p.m. Let's talk about this. Say you're a special teams player, and your team is punting. Your job is to bust down field and make a play. Now, suppose your punter shanks one. Cold yanks it left for a whopping 19 yards. If that were to happen, you'd hardly have time to do anything, much less get called for holding.

Oregon State had a guy hold in just that situation. The penalty turned the 19-yard punt into a nine-yard punt, and Oregon ends up with a 38-yard field goal. Ducks 10, Beavers 0.

4:23 p.m. The following is a lesson in missed opportunity. Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was back-peddling from Oregon State's rush. The guy lobs the ball up, off his back foot. Nothing on it. Brandon Hughes really should have picked the ball off. Didn't. Two plays later, Masoli's hits Jeff Maehl in the back of the endzone for a touchdown. Oregon 7, Oregon State 0.

4:14 p.m. We're getting the three-and-outs out of the way now ... and OSU is honoring the '98 team. Letting Ken Simonton conduct the band pregame wasn't enough?

4:06 p.m. Oregon's first misstep of the day: Jeremiah Johnson calls "tails." It was heads. OSU defers.

3:57 p.m. Senior day. Nice. Good for those kids. They look happy. They should be. I wish we could get to the game. Does that make me a terrible person? I think maybe it does.

3:46 p.m. The first misstep of the day is by a trombone player. One of Oregon State's bit it as the band took the field and nearly caused one big brass pileup.

CORVALLIS -- Team Oregonian is in the house. We've got numbers of the Register-Guard. If we win the toss, I'm going to defer and play defense. Moseley can't run the ball on us.

It is sunny and just about perfect here at Reser. Old Timer Hal Cowan says the weather's as good as he can remember for a Civil War, and Hal can remember A LOT of Civil Wars.

If you're into the misery of others, it's pouring rain in Tallahassee, Fla., where Florida State's fans look miserable, and the Florida continues to look good. Baylor's threatening to take the BCS out of the Big 12 South equation, which would be too bad.

I think we're going to have a couple of blogs going during the game. I'll be doing something I'll call Limited Live Blogging. Back in 40 minutes with that.