In honor of that most American of days, election day, I present to you this election day junk.

Some quick election day facts:

Clause 4 of Article II of the US Constitution states, "The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States."  While this actually refers to Presidential elections, it has been widely construed to mean general election days as well. 

Congress has long set the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November tor this purpose.  Why you might ask?  Wikipedia states: "An election date in November was seen as useful because the harvest would have been completed (important in an agrarian society) and the winter storms would not yet have begun in earnest (a plus in the days before paved roads and snowplows)... In 1845, the United States was largely an agrarian society. Farmers often needed a full day to travel by horse-drawn vehicles to the county seat to vote. Tuesday was established as election day because it did not interfere with the Biblical Sabbath or with market day, which was on Wednesday in many towns."

Over 100 million Americans are estimated to vote today in races ranging from all 435 house seats to 37 Senate seats (a number made larger due to the resignation of some senators to either become President/VP or serve as members of the President's Cabinet, such as Hillary Clinton) and 37 governor's races. 

The polls will close at the following times today (all times Pacific) and you may track results at any major news site

Note: Many states span multiple time zones (such as IN, FL and KY) so the times listed below are the times the final polls in a state close and so the networks can then report/project results.

4 PM-IN, KY, SC, VA, GA, VT.

4:30 PM-NC, OH and WV

5 PM-FL, CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, TN, AL, IL, MS, MO and OK.

5:30 PM-AR

6 PM-NY, RI, MI, MN, WI, CO, NE, NM, SD, TX and WY.

7 PM-IA, ND, KS, MT, UT, NV and AR.

8 PM-OR, CA, WA, ID,

9 PM-AK and HI

For a good run-down on the key races by hour, check Nate Silver's take here:  http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/the-ultimate-hour-by-hour-district-by-district-election-guide/

Enjoy history in the making and be sure to vote!

Since someone has to make a JD and I've never made one, I thought this was the perfect chance for me to be able to talk about the Olympics again.  Today's JD is in honor of American skiier Bode Miller, who has arguably been the star of this year's Winter Olympics, with a complete set of medals (1 each gold, silver and bronze) already in the bag and more possible today.

So in honor of Bode Miller and his accomplishment, please talk about whatever you wish but answer the poll below about the star of the games.  Oh and GO TEAM USA!

No secret message since I don't know how to make one but have fun!

The Oregonian is reporting that former UO President, current NCAA President, Myles Brand has died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 67.  My thoughts and the Oregonian's article are below:

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This scene from the Godfather sums up how i feel about Blount right now:


He is dead to me.

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The following is my first observations on the Blazers schedule for the next season.  The full schedule is available at: Blazers.com (Click on the link).

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Canzano's latest column is another loser, talking about how we should all evaluate the Blazers on a year by year basis like they are a business. Well I don't know about you but I've been a Blazers fan from birth and I'll be one until I die. While its more fun to do so when they are winning, I didn't stop cheering when they were losing. 

Read more of this article below and at this link (http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2009/07/how_about_a_oneyear_deal_for_b.html#preview)

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Thought that as there wasn't one yet, I'd open up a thread for game 4 of the series to determine which team plays Portland in the second round (I Still Believe!).

Here's how it's gone so far:

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Just a quick post to let everyone know that Oregon successfully defended its CC title today and Galen Rupp won his 1st ever individual title in any sport as he outkicked his Liberty opponent at the finish.  Oregon's Women finished 2nd to heavily favored Washington.  Official Press Release after the jump.

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Favored team listed first, home team in Bold.

Oregon favored by 7 over Purdue.

Oregon State favored by 12 over Hawaii.

Arizona favored by 10 over New Mexico.

Arizona State favored by 22 over UNLV.

Cal favored by 14 over Maryland.

BYU favored by 8.5 over UCLA.

Oklahoma favored by 20 over Washington.

TCU favored by 12.5 over Stanford.

Washington State favored by 2.5 over Baylor.

USC favored by 10.5 over Ohio State.

The following is the early lines for this week's games involving Pac-10 teams, courtesy of: NCAA Odds

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