That’s essentially what The Oregonian’s Mike Tokito does here. And makes this statement:

Bennett, now 40, is young, charismatic and has great family recognition. The more WSU won, the more frequently his name was mentioned when a coaching job came open.

It induced a weird combination of angst, anger and resignation from Cougars fans, who knew their cash-strapped school and isolated location made keeping Bennett around for the long term a challenge.

So here’s Robinson, also young at 47, also charismatic, and also with great family recognition (if you haven’t heard, his sister’s husband is a big guy in the federal government). Robinson even eschews wearing a tie at games, something Bennett made his signature look at WSU (although he’s back to wearing ties at Virginia).

Sorry, Robinson is no Tony Bennett, and I don’t care who his brother in law is. (He’s also not “young” at 47.)

Look, this is still the same team that lost at home to Seattle U. by 51 points. The same team that lost at home to Sacramento State earlier this season.

Robinson is going to win some games in the Pac-10 this season, because that conference is downright miserable, but he’s got a ways to be before you worry about throwing a lot of money at him. Let him prove it a little longer, please.

And if he wants to take another job somewhere, I’m afraid that a new practice facility there or a few more bucks won’t keep him there, anyway.

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Tags: ACC, Craig Robinson, Dwight Jaynes, Oregon State Beavers, Tony Bennett, Virginia, Washington State Cougars

… And I think the Trojans are definitely after him… He ought to wait for a few seasons. I have the feeling the next guy to coach football down there will be doing so under some real hardships.

First off, there are likely going to be sanctions against the Trojans. The whole Reggie Bush saga is going to cost them some sort of NCAA action. And reportedly recruits are already jumping ship in anticipation of Pete Carroll going to the Seahawks — and a possible NCAA probation.

On top of that, following someone into a coaching job who has been as successful as Carroll is always difficult. He’s going to be a tough act to follow — even if he is leaving one step ahead of the NCAA enforcement division.

(By the way, I hate that about college sports. These guys in football and basketball get their program on probation, then pull up stakes and go somewhere else, leaving the mess behind. There ought to be contract clauses that heavily financially penalize coaches who do that — like about $5 million).

Anyway, Mike. You’ve got all you want in Corvallis. And when they start flashing that bankroll at you at USC, just remember how much further your money goes up here than it will in southern California. And if you really want to go, just hang out a few more years until the next guy gets fired.

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Tags: Mike Riley, Oregon State Beavers, Pete Carroll, USC Trojans

Unless you spent a lot of money going to Las Vegas, expecting a win, there’s not too much to feel bad about off that MAACO Bowl experience. Those games simply don’t matter. And the last time BYU smacked a team around like that in the Vegas Bowl it was the Ducks and Oregon came within a whisker of playing for a national title the following season.

Just don’t make excuses. Don’t blame the wind. Either BYU was just that much better than your team, your team couldn’t get up for the game properly or it wasn’t very well prepared. For whatever reason, it happened.

Move on. And as I keep telling you, unless you’re in a BCS bowl — or even the national championship game — it really doesn’t matter.

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Tags: BYU, Dwight Jaynes, Las Vegas Bowl, Oregon State Beavers

How does he do it? He’s 5-0 in bowl games at OSU and tonight he faces a very tough opponent in Brigham Young. And frankly, I think the Beavers are in tough.

Losing back-to-back Civil Wars with the Rose Bowl on the line has to take a toll on a team, doesn’t it? And really, how is it possible to keep convincing your team that these non-BCS bowls actually matter?

Really, they don’t. You think they do at the time, you think of all sorts of logical reasons why they’re meaningful, but the truth is, in the overall scheme of things at Oregon State, this game doesn’t mean any more than any of these other mindless, money-grabbing bowls that kill time before the national championship game.

And I would fear that, by now, the Beaver players may have a lot of trouble finding motivation for a game in a gloomy old stadium on a chilly night in cold, hard Sin City.

I have to go with BYU in this one.

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Tags: BYU, Dwight Jaynes, Las Vegas Bowl, Mike Riley, Oregon State Beavers

If you haven’t read this story by Kerry Eggers in the Portland Tribune, it’s a must-read. Nike is talking to Oregon State about designing an entirely new look for the university’s football program, from the colors, to the uniforms, even to the mascot!

Now while I’m not in love with some of those wild uniform combinations the Ducks use, there is no question how effective Nike has been in changing the image of the University of Oregon and its athletic department.

At the very least, Oregon State needs to dump that ridiculous “OS” thing that it went to a while back. When your most-popular cheer is “Ohhhh-ESSSSSS-YOUUUUU” you probably don’t need to drop the “U” part, do you? And the “OS” thing never caught on at all.

For the Beavers, this is exciting news. Go for it. And hey, if the old guys like me don’t like it at all, just do what the Ducks do — say it’s what the kids like and it helps recruiting.

You can’t argue much with that.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Nike, Oregon State Beavers, uniforms

What a great game. As a guy once said around here, “Both teams played hard.”

By playing so well, the Beavers gave the Ducks even more credibility as a powerful team. Sean Canfield was terrific, but I felt the Beavers wore down on both sides of the ball as the game went on. Oregon seemed to be the better conditioned team and you must credit Chip Kelly’s practice regimen for that.

Jeremiah Masoli’s skill at the helm of the option is a beautiful thing to see and really, LaMichael James was the best running back on the field.

I have to say one other thing — it took a ton of guts to run LeGarrette Blount onto the field in the second half of that game. I know I wasn’t the only person whose first thought was, “Man, he hasn’t had game contact in months, it’s cold out and the chances of him fumbling …”

Well, all I can say is that it was a very gutsy move to use him.

Now, sit back and glory in your Pac-10 title, Ducks. And make your arrangements for Pasadena early. After all those years loyally showing the colors at those lousy secondary bowls Oregon has attended, you deserve this trip.

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Tags: Chip Kelly, Civil War, Dwight Jaynes, Jeremiah Masoli, LaMichael James, LeGarrette Blount, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers

I did three hours this morning on the MSP over 95.5 The Game. Now at work at a consulting job I’ve been doing during the day. Then to the Blazer game, followed by a live episode of “Talkin’ Ball.”

So, be patient with me. Not as many posts lately. I will blog when I can over the next few days but time is an issue sometimes. Sorry — but what the hell, it didn’t cost you anything to come here, did it?

Chew on this stuff:

– New Jersey Nets are 0-14 and coming in on the second of a back-to-back after losing at Denver last night. Man, the Blazers are going to pay later in the season for all these easy games to open the year.

– Who is going to get the Portland State football job? And does anyone care?

– How are the Beavers going to stop the Ducks’ spread option?

– Are the Ducks going to stop the Beavers’ fly sweep?

– Isn’t it great that we’re this geeked up about the Civil War more than a week away from the game?

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, New Jersey Nets, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Portland Trail Blazers

Glad I was wrong in thinking that it couldn’t ever happen — Civil War with the Rose Bowl on the line. Further than that, we’ve got almost two weeks to talk about it. Just enjoy it for now. Bathe in the sweetness of Pac-10 domination.

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Tags: Civil War, Dwight Jaynes, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Pac-10 football, Rose Bowl

In this story, Mike Riley seems to have watched our “Talkin’ Ball” show Saturday night, where we first explained it all. What Riley obviously meant by “win out” was win this Saturday. But then he runs up against an editorial  ”not exactly”:

 “I saw something briefly on TV that said if the Ducks and Beavers win out, then the Civil War is for the Rose Bowl. Is that right?’’ said Riley.

Not exactly.

- Oregon (8-2, 6-1) controls its own destiny and will win the Pac-10 and go to the Rose Bowl to play Ohio State if it wins out, beating Arizona this week and Oregon State on Dec. 3 at Autzen in the Civil War game.

- Oregon State must win out, taking care of WSU and the Ducks, and needs Arizona (6-3, 4-2) to lose at least one of its remaining games. The Wildcats – who also have a shot at this thing – play Oregon on Saturday, then play at Arizona State on Nov. 28 and at USC on Dec. 5.

- Stanford (7-3, 6-2) is also in the mix, but needs help. The Cardinal – ranked No. 14 in the AP poll this week after hammering seven-time Pac-10 champion USC 55-21 – finish Pac-10 play with Saturday’s Big Game against Cal. The Cardinal go to Pasadena if they beat Cal, and Arizona beats Oregon, the Ducks beat OSU, and USC beats Arizona.

But Mike Riley has it right. Exactly right.

Yes, there are OTHER ways for OSU to make it and some of our commenters pointed them out under a prevous post — Arizona could lose to ASU or USC — but those games are AFTER the Civil War. But if Oregon beats the Wildcats this week, that’s the simplist way. See, the Ducks were badly hurt by USC’s loss last week. If Oregon were to end tied with any team, it would wish it to be USC, which it has beaten, and not Stanford.

Oregon State would love to beat Oregon and then finish tied with the Ducks and Stanford, whom it has beaten. Get it?

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Tags: Arizona Wildcats, Dwight Jaynes, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Pac-10 football, Rose Bowl, Stanford Cardinal

An Oregon sports fan’s dream. All that has to happen is for the Ducks to do their job next week at Arizona. And of course, the Beavers to take care of business in the virtual bye week game at Washington State.

Then, it would set up the dream match. If the Beavers were to win, it would mean a three-way tie with the Ducks and probably Stanford — and since Oregon State would have beaten both of them, on it goes to the Rose Bowl.

The Ducks, as we know, go if they win out.

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Tags: Civil War, Dwight Jaynes, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers