7/16 debate The No Class Athletic Association (NCAA)

it was reported earlier that Oklahoma may have to surrender all of its wins in 2005 because of the indiscretions of starting QB Rhett Bomar and offensive tackle JD Quinn. For those that don't know, these two players were payed upwards of 10 thousand dollars for work at a car dealership that is owned by a major booster and supporter of Sooner football. It is a shame that the actions of two players can ruin the efforts of all the other players on the team. Perhaps Bob Stoops should take a page out of Pete Carroll's playbook and run the "freeze out" play. It seems to be working for USC in the case of Reggie Bush. It was reported on yahoo sports that Reggie bush received upwards of 100 thousand dollars from an upstart sports agent. The man in question then sued Bush for not repaying the money when Bush signed with a different agent. All of this of course would make him ineligible under NCAA guidelines and ineligible to receive the Heisman trophy that year, not to mention the fact that he took 10 times as much money as Rhett Bomar did. In response to these allegations Pete Carroll's and Reggie Bush's response was simple "no comment". Whenever NCAA or pac10 investigators came to Bush's door or Pete Carroll's office, they ran the freeze out. They said absolutely nothing and so far, they are benefiting from it. Why does the NCAA allow this? they will tell you it's because they have no subpoena power to force anyone to talk if they don't want to, but the real reason is because they have no balls. If they were serious about cracking down on student athlete improprieties, they would strip USC of it's 2004 national title until SOMEBODY spoke up. On the flip side of this whole mess; when boyscout Bob Stoops found out about Rhett Bomar and JD Quinn scandal, he self reported it to the NCAA and the Big 12. Of the two, Bob Stoops faces the most harsh punishments from the NCAA, he's essentially having an entire season wiped from the books, and he's losing 2 scholarships for next season. Meanwhile, Pete Carroll gets to walk scott free continuing to rake in recruits and wins without even trying.

What a time to be a beaver fan!

Oregon State became the first team in a decade to repeat as College World Series champion, helping to secure the pac-10’s historical dominance over college baseball.

This year was a much easier path than a year ago, when Oregon State lost its CWS opener 11-1 to Miami. The Beavers staved off elimination four straight times to make it to the finals against North Carolina. They came back from a loss in Game 1 to win the title. Last year was all about comebacks and long shots. This year was defined by domination… but not at first. The Beavers were nearly left out of the 64-team national tournament field after struggling in the Pacific-10 Conference. But they finished the season with 10 straight wins and became the first to win four CWS games by six runs or more. OSU also carried a streak of 61 straight innings of not trailing in a game this year, going back to June 5 against Virginia in the last game of the regional. The prospects once again seemed unlikely heading into the tourney, but the beavers seemed to simply find a way to win.

As if the Baseball program wasn’t enough to be excited about lets consider the football team. But before rejoicing in the success of last season, before discussing the amazing nail-biter victories over such teams as USC, Oregon, and Missouri, before discussing the great players who are returning, we must first take a painful trip down memory lane. It is said that to avoid repeating our past mistakes we must remember them…

The score was 15-7, the beavers leading #3 ranked LSU in the fourth quarter. Derrick Anderson had just thrown a TD and Alexis Serna was jogging out onto the field to essentially ice the game with an extra point. BUT HE PUSHES IT! His second missed EP of the game, allowing LSU time to march down the field and tie the game. In overtime down 15-22, Derek Anderson, who was 26-of-47 for 231 yards and three TDs, found tight end Joe Newton on 4th-and-4 for a 19-yard TD, and the game appeared headed to a second overtime. But Serna, who pushed his first two extra points right, did so again, ending Oregon State's upset hopes. He threw his helmet, then dropped to his knees and began ripping up grass from the soggy field in anger.

To all the loyal beaver fans that feel my lingering pain from that moment, take a deep breath. The painful stories are over with. Instead lets reminisce about the comeback victory in the Sun Bowl. The Beavers (10-4) trailed Missouri by 14 points with 12:08 to go before rallying for their eighth victory in nine games. The victory was the latest in a series of nail-biters for Oregon State, which beat Hawaii and Oregon by a combined five points in the last two regular-season games. Many fans feel that this Civil War rivaled the best ever played. The Beavers' biggest triumph was a 33-31 stunner over then-No. 3 Southern California on Oct. 28.

This years squad is looking quite impressive as well. OSU is rated #24 in the country in pre-season polls thanks largely due to several key players who are returning, such as Offensive lineman Jeremy Perry, Running Back Yvenson Bernard, and Wide Receiver Sammie Stroughter. With the outstanding initial impressions of this years defense combined with the completion of the “Raising Reser” project this college football season is shaping up to be very exciting once again for Beavers fans.