For those of you who have not been keeping track, the Blazers are currently undefeated at home and well above .500 for the season (playing well with and without Greg Oden).

The UO Mens Cross Country Team won the NCAA Cross Country Championship this week thanks to the fleet feet of Galen Rupp.

And both the OSU Beavers and Oregon Ducks are ranked in the top 20 (17, 18/19 respectively depending on which poll you check).  With a victory in Saturday’s Civil War, The Beavs go to the Rose Bowl and the Ducks are likely headed for the Las Vegas Bowl.  A “W” for the Ducks sends the flock to the Holiday Bowl and the Beavs to the Sun Bowl (with a lot of other combinations possible but those are the most likely).  Incidentally, the last time Oregon laid claim to this kind of relevance on the gridiron was in 2000 when the Beavs and the Ducks were both in the top ten and the Beavers spoiled Oregon’s Rose Bowl hopes with a win in Corvallis (oregon returned the favor the next year, keeping the Beavs out of a bowl and scampering off to the Fiesta Bowl).

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A Shady Grove pastor is putting the Good Book to use in a bit of a unique way.  Pastor Jack bacon was given a 409-year-old bible by his son as a Father’s Day gift (the son picked up the tattered volume at a yard sale for a buck).  

Basically falling apart, despite its age, the book as a whole only could grab a few hundred bucks.  BUT, the Pastor figured out that to own a single page of the volume, people would pay about $75 per sheet.  He’s already raised $23K to repair his church and now is selling the last 200 pages to donate to worthy causes around the world.  Check out more in the Mail Tribune.

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Despite the tanking economy and rising unemployment, the future may not be as bleak for college grads as some would lead us to believe.  According to this story in the Oregon Daily Emerald, students can use the current environment to their advantage . . . you just have to be creative and realistic.

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The staff at GoodNewsPDX thinks Elson Floyd is awesome.  Just, flat out incredible.  Elson is the president of Washington State University.  He went to his bosses (the board of regents) and said “you know, times are tough and I want to lead by example so I would like you to please cut my pay . . . “

“By $100,000.”  Yup, 100 grand.  $100K.  Lots and lots of dollars.  Considering his annual salary of $725,000 that’s a near 14% drop.  In a similar move, UW president Mark Emmert voluntarily gave up a pay raise this year.  

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It’s always nice when rival schools can direct their mutual displeasure towards a positive end, as opposed to simply splattering paper mache effigies of each other during a homecoming pep rally. 

In Washington, Camas and Washougal Students hope to best one another at the Stuff the Bus fundraiser December 5^th.  Students will each park a standard yellow school bus in the parking lot and accept donations of food, clothing, toys and cash.  After six hours, the buses will be weighed with the proceeds going to local charities.

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What can Brown do for you?  How about go green?  UPS is taking a unique approach to tackling the spike in deliveries this holiday season.  Faced with rising fuel costs and the potential environmental impact of running more trucks, UPS is sending out some of their local delivery staff on bikes.

Hauling trailers laden with several hundred pounds of packages, 28 “boys in brown” will be pedaling around Oregon this year.  Right now, they are out running practice routes to get the hang of towing the extra weight and timing how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B while pedaling. 

Drivers say that while it may be tough on their calves, the bikes are a heckuva lot easier to maneuver.  The typical route will require 3-6 hours of riding everyday.

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The Blazers destroyed the Chicago Bulls by 42 points at the Rose Garden Wednesday Night marking the largest margin of victory in Coach Nate McMillan’s career as head coach of the squad.  In his first game at the Garden, Greg Oden recorded his third double-double (at least ten points and ten assists for non-sportos out there) of the season.

But more importantly, the team showed fans that they may actually live up to the hype that has surrounded the squad in recent years.  They’ve succeeded at grinding out victories and hitting huge shots late both at home and on the road . . . now they’ve proven they can demolish teams (something the Blazers were on the other end of just a couple years ago). 

It’s definitely a good day to be a fan of the red white and black.

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It’s just not the holidays without a smoked meat log or a cheddy brat.  That’s why everyone at GoodNewsPDX is so jazzed that Hickory farms has again returned to Lancaster Mall this holiday season along with Calendar Club and Forever Collectibles.  All perfect options for gifts (nothing says Merry Christmas like a six-pound piece of smoked beef).

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Tis the season of giving, and nearly two hundred two-wheelers towed tons of toys for tantalized tots to a town-center target this weekend.  Every year, members of the local ABATE chapter join together for the Stan Johnston Memorial Toy Run.  180 bikers strapped gifts to their hogs and rumbled through Hillsboro, escorted by local firefighters.

The fleet dropped off their Christmas gifts at the local Elks lodge where they will be kept for the next month.  Each gift will be given as part of the Hillsboro Firefighters Random Acts of Kindness drive that provides toys to kids who may not otherwise get presents during the holidays.

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Sorry for the technical delays this week, folks.  Server issues.  However, we are back and better than ever

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