Win the Day!!!

Yes, we are talking about Oregon football...

Oregon football....the team that has dominated every opponent we've faced, but still can't get the respect of the SEC-favored BCS.   Ranked currently at #4, our road to the National Championship requires not only our best effort in every game we have yet to play, but some losses by those teams not only above us, but even a couple below that could end up leap-frogging.

The first order of business, therefore, was to take care of the Colorado Buffaloes.  It's a "rebuilding year" for Colorado, so you just end up saying, "Oh poor Colorado" when you recognize they are facing the Ducks the week after we were disrespected so bad by the computers of the BCS.  Sure enough, by halftime, we were up 56-0.  (It should have been 63-0 courtesy of a huge TD run by Kenjon, but a holding call took it away....)  After the half, our 2nd and 3rd string played the remainder of the game, with a final score of 70-14.

I attended the game with these three guys - John, Travis, and Brian (Travis' sister's husband).

We ended up leaving early, soon after the second half began - as it was starting to rain harder and we knew this guy was done for the day.

That guy....the local celebrity....currently ranked 3rd in the ESPN Heisman trophy watch list....with an average yards per carry of over 6 yds....  Kenjon Barner.  The same guy we tease, pray with, and our kids use as a jungle gym.  The guy that met with John to study the Bible on Tuesday, cheered Brayden on at his game on Wednesday, and carved pumpkins with us on Thursday.

To say I'm proud of this guy is an understatement.  But, it has more to do with his character off the field than his performance on the field.  Though, that makes us so proud too - but, in a giddy, "look at that guy play his game" sort of way.   This week, we discussed putting together some signal that he could give us that would indicate he sees us when he runs out on the field, as it's never been something we've nailed down.  He suggested touching the top of his helmet or something else conventional like that, but then Brayden dared him to do the "Discount Double Check" motion made popular by insurance commercials lately.  Sure enough, he found us, did that motion three times (much to the insane laughter and disbelief on all of our parts) before running back to his team.  Then, after his first touchdown he looked to our section and did it again.  What a hoot!  All because of a dare by Brayden, but priceless in realizing that we mean as much to him as he does to us.

Okay, enough Kenjon-gushing.

Upon coming home, we tucked ourselves in for a long afternoon and evening of football viewing.  That's part two of that whole equation - for other teams to lose.  And, oh, how teams have been going down - but not necessarily the ones we need to.  Down went Florida (#2), down went USC (our opponent next week), down went ASU.  Crazy stuff going on.  The team we REALLY need to go down, though, is Notre Dame - that team that intends to leapfrog us in their pursuit of the #2 BCS slot.  GO OKLAHOMA!   So, with split screen on the tv, and Pac 12 Network feeding through the computer, we are living in a sports bar (minus the alcohol!) right now.

And, we couldn't be happier...(especially if the Sooners win....)