I have to write something here, but I'm too lazy to put a link or give you the real scoop. Seattle needs a kicker and while there is sure to be some competition, I think Wes is the manfor the job. We all expected him to move on to the next level and it appears he now has a great chance. Congratulations Wes! I live up here in the Seattle area and I will be keeping an eye on the situation.

Howdy my TET friends! I am raising money for Pancreatic cancer research and this Thursday (3/17) I will be shaving my head for donations. I've already raised over 1100 bucks. I have been a part of this community for over 2 years and I check in here all the time even when I don't post. Anyway, I know this is a bit strange but I adopted the idea from an organization called St. Baldrick's which raises money for children's cancers. I adapted it because my stepmom passed from pancreatic cancer in December and she told me there was so little money being raised for that particular disease.

I hope that I am not stepping on any toes by posting this here, but I read what you folks write so often, I look at TET as a tight little family and I wanted to let yall know about it. I've never shaved my head so this will be the one and probably only time it will happen. The link should give any other info you might want, but if you have any other questions I'd be happy to try and answer them here.

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/shavemattshead/Pancreatic-Cancer-Action-Network

Thanks,

Matt Miller

AU Class of 2000

Here's a link that explains a bit more about why the turf was so slippery at the game. Apparently, it was too wet when installed and had no chance to dry since the roof was closed. Apparently the media coverage regarding the turf being from Oregon was inaccurate. Don't believe everything you see on tv, right? The SEED for the turf was grown in Oregon, grown in Arizona which makes a lot more sense. Thank you, and WAR EAGLE!  Here's the link(s): http://auburnturf.blogspot.com/2011/01/update-why-was-bcs-turf-so-slippery.html

http://auburnturf.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-was-bcs-championship-turf-so.html

I am so excited about the game and some of yall may have heard that my boss played football at Oregon back in the 60's so he is real excited too. He is leaving for the game and today was his last day at work. We have been talking trash for a solid month already and today I managed to get my last digs in before he headed out for the game. I gave him a care package in a paper sack with several items: a crying towel, some kleenex, like 3 packs of rolaids, earplugs, a blindfold, and a yellow and green pacifier. I told him these items and the paper sack were a sensory deprivation device, to be put on his head. I also gave him a sympathy card with a request not to fire me. The coup de grace was the trophy I presented to him, which was a toilet plunger (used)  with a plastic duck toy on top that I wrote "Pac 10 Championship Trophy" on the handle. He got such a charge out of that he wanted to take pictures and everything. This is the most fun I think I've ever had around any game. Part of it is because living in the pacific northwest an Auburn fan is not someone people are often are in contact with, so I'm enjoying my "novelty."  I may have gone a little wild with all this, but hey, when the hell will I ever get another chance to do this? I will try to post a pic of the "trophy" presentation when he emails it to me.

Since I did title this thread "Trash Talk WAR!" let's all have some fun and get each other riled! We're less than a week away now! GET FIRED UP!

As some of you may know, I live in the Pacific Northwest. When I graduated from AU, I headed west and built a new life in Portland, OR. I thought it was kind of cute that Oregon and Oregon State had their "Civil War" but never felt the need to take a side in the rivalry. Anyway, fast forward ten years and I now live 200 miles north of Portland in western Washington. My boss is a huge Duck fan. He played there back in the 60's (fullback) and he may have played without a helmet for part of his time there. Not to get into too many more details about him but lets just say our main subject of conversation has pretty much always been football and now that our teams are to play for a championship, the trash talk has begun. I am looking for humorous suggestions of what I can use to drive him crazy.

He already got me real good today. He had help and I'll spare you the long version but basically, my personal cellphone went missing yesterday and it was "found" and returned to me today but the ring tone had been changed to a bunch of these yahoos quacking and yelling "GO DUCKIES!" I had to hand it to them, but doing that has, shall we say, expanded the possibilities of what I can do. If they were willing to take things that far, I want to match their intensity and one-up them if I can. I'm looking for anything creative or amusing but not obnoxious or anything that will get me fired.

All I have done so far was drawn #1 AUBURN! in the dirt on his van window and then put up a CAM NEWTON 4 HEISMAN sign in his parking space. I know I can do better than that and I also have an ally who is sort of a double agent who is willing to help out with whatever will cause the most chaos and amusement. This is all about having fun, so if any of you, even the Duck visitors want to help me instigate some good natured mayhem, I will be happy to keep everyone updated as to how this little chess match unfolds.

War Eagle everybody! We find ourselves a long way from college football and since I'm not a basketball fan, I have a long time to wait to see some exciting athletics. Many of you may not know, but I graduated in 2000 from AU and moved west. Now I live close to Seattle and have seen some horrific sports stories in these few years in this area. The end of an NBA team.  I've seen the UW vs. WSU game 2008 with neither team having won a single game going into the so-called Apple Cup. There was a worm in that apple I guess. I've seen the Seahawks lose a Super Bowl and spin down the drain ever since. And the Mariners... They are awful. I really like baseball but I'm basically without a team. I don't even want to claim these guys as my home team. Here's where the title of my story comes in and eventually, I'll bring it back around to Auburn. I know you guys are pretty smart (well, some of you) so maybe you already know what my point is.

My memory being what it is, exact dates will not be used and I'm not a  writer, so I'm going to be lazy and not research the details. This sort of runs in my family, sorry. Besides, my point is mostly psychological and has no basis in fact. Here goes:

The Seattle Mariners 3 seasons ago had over 100 million dollar payroll and were in "win now" mode going into the season. Team and fans had expectations that this financial investment in the team would translate into some wins, maybe make it to the playoffs. Instead, they lost over 100 games. Outrage!  New Management! As the next season approached, Ken Griffey Jr was signed and many fans felt he just wanted to retire as a Mariner since that is where his best years were. The expectations of the fans were not high. They didn't make the playoffs, but they scrapped and made some noise. It was good to be a Mariner fan for awhile. Offseason moves were aggressive and money was spent. Without getting into the details, fan expectations had markedly risen. Some of the sports talking heads jumped on the bandwagon and said they would contend for the division. High expectations. See where I'm going with this? The Mariners could not hit their way out of a wet paper bag this year. What the hell? Just when the expectations got high, these guys folded like a laundry service. Disgust!

Now the Auburn part. Alright so I'll assume we were all awake and conscious at Tub's departure and the hiring of Chizik. My personal expectations were very low. Even when we were 5-0, I was tempering my optimism. Our defense was tired in every game. I knew we couldn't outscore everybody. We have had some good news in this offseason. Number one being that we kept our entire coaching staff intact. This article posted about the top OC's has Gus number one. Now I'm not drinking that particular flavor of kool aid, but he has gathered some attention.

Now, I'm barely articulate about sports, but I bleed orange and blue. I don't want to argue with anyone about whether I should keep my expectations up. I have just made a conscious decision after watching the M's flounder that expectations themselves are just bad. Life is a lot more fun when I don't know what's coming but my mind will always be looking into the future. Trying to figure it out. Hell, I'm typing away on a college football site in May! Some of this mental energy is a waste of energy. My goal is to be present in the moment. Not imagining past or future, just being where I am and paying attention to that. And this moment, I am hopeful about Auburn. I see no problem with being optimistic due to the facts that I trust the leadership of our team. But I am choosing to forego looking at the schedule ahead of time and trying to figure out what our chances are in each contest.

Thanks especially to WEA, Jay, Acid, and WarDamnZach for keeping this site up. I love being connected with my Auburn family way over here on the Left coast via the web. I hope if yall have any experiences or thoughts on this topic you'll share them. This got a bit longer than I intended so I'd not be surprised if nobody read it.