2024 College Football Previews: Classic Pac-10

Here are the teams from the Classic Pac-10 as ranked by CBS Sports.  Top 20 teams in bold:

3.  Oregon

21.  U.S.C.

22.  Arizona

40.  Washington

50.  California

52.  U.C.L.A.

60.  Oregon St.

66.  Washington St.

84.  Stanford

85.  Arizona St.

Oregon won the Classic Pac-10 in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2019, and 2021, and were just edged out by Washington last year.  Now the Ducks are in a strong position to win their seventh Classic Pac-10 title in the last 16 seasons.  They open with Idaho at home, play at Oregon St. on September 14, and then later play U.C.L.A. and Washington.  Southern Cal will play at Washington and at U.C.L.A.  Arizona will end the season at home against Arizona St.  So we will have some Classic Pac-10 action this year.

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

When my wife and daughter and I play board games during a meal in our dining room, it's typically to smooth jazz:

1. "Delicioso," Tom Grant (of Portland, Oregon)
2. "Fallin’ In Love," Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
3. "Six Days on the Road," Del Reeves 
4. "I Think It’s Gonna Work Out Fine," Ike and Tina Turner
5. "Weekend Groove," Jesse Thompson and Althea Rene
6. "In the Arts," New Zoo Revue
7. "Let Me Make the Bright Lights Shine for You," Bob Luman
8. American Music Awards opening number, Roy Clark/Helen Reddy/Sly Stone
9. "Let the River Flow," Carly Simon
10. "Rose Room," Jonah Jones

XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2020 (Day 16)

The men's marathon kicks off the final day of the Tokyo Summer Games, and I at rooting for 35-year-old Galen Rupp of Portland, Oregon; 32-year-old Jake Riley of Bellingham, Washington, and 44-year-old Abdihakem "Abdi" "The Black Cactus" Abdirahman of Tucson, Arizona (but originally of Mogadishu, Somalia). U! S! A!

 

Rupp took bronze at Rio 2016, and an upset gold by him (or either of his teammates) today would be huge for Team USA, which needs at least two gold medals today to pass China in the medal standings. Here are the other opportunities:

— Team USA plays Japan for women’s basketball gold at 11:30 a.m. Tokyo time. Rio 2016 marked Team USA's sixth straight Olympic gold medal in the sport.

— In track cycling, one of today's finals is women’s omnium at 12:25 p.m. I don’t know if either of them is considered a medal threat, but the scheduled contenders include Jennifer Valente, age 26, of San Diego, California and China’s Liu Jiali. Neither competed at Rio 2016.

— Team USA plays Brazil for women’s volleyball gold at 1:30 p.m. Team USA won bronze at Rio 2016. Brazil, upset in the quarterfinals there, is undefeated so far in Tokyo, having won 21 of its 24 sets.

— Keyshawn “The Businessman” Davis, 22, of Norfolk, Virginia, fights Andy Cruz of Cuba at 2:15 p.m. for gold in men’s lightweight boxing. And then Richard Torrez Jr., 22, of Tulare, California, fights Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan at 3:15 p.m. for gold in men’s super heavyweight boxing. None of these guys was among the competitors at Rio 2016.

Also today, China is among the final eight in contention in rhythmic gymnastics groups all-around, starting at 11 a.m. (China finished 11th at Rio 2016.) And--here's a key one--we need to be rooting for Great Britain’s Lauren Price against China’s Li Qian in the gold-medal match of women’s middleweight boxing at 2:45 p.m.; Qian was one of the bronze medalists at Rio 2016, and Price did not compete.

 

Here are the medal standings through 15 of 16 days of Tokyo 2020:

 

1. China 38 gold, 31 silver, 18 bronze
2. United States 36, 39, 33
3. Japan 27, 12, 17
4. Great Britain 20, 21, 22
5. Australia 17, 7, 22
6. Germany 10, 11, 16
7. Netherlands 10, 11, 12
8. Italy 10, 10, 19
9. France 9, 12, 11
10. New Zealand 7, 6, 7
11. Brazil 7, 4, 8
12. Hungary 6, 7, 6
13. Canada 6, 6, 11
14. South Korea 6, 4, 10
15. Cuba 6, 3, 5
16. Poland 4, 5, 5
17. Czech Republic 4, 4, 3
18. Norway 4, 2, 1
19. Jamaica 4, 1, 4
20. Spain 3, 8, 6
21. Sweden 3, 6, 0
22. Switzerland 3, 4, 6
23. Denmark 3, 4, 4
24. Kenya 3, 4, 2
25. Croatia 3, 3, 2
26. Iran 3, 2, 2
27. Belgium 3, 1, 2
28. Slovenia 3, 1, 1
29. Georgia 2, 5, 1
30. Chinese Taipei 2, 4, 6
31. Turkey 2, 2, 9
32. Serbia 2, 1, 4
33. Bulgaria 2, 1, 2
34. Uganda 2, 1, 1
35. Ecuador 2, 1, 0
T36. Israel 2, 0, 2
T36. Uzbekistan 2, 0, 2
T38. Greece 2, 0, 1
T38. Qatar 2, 0, 1
T40. Bahamas 2, 0, 0
T40. Kosovo 2, 0, 0
42. Ukraine 1, 5, 12
43. Belarus 1, 3, 3
T44. Romania 1, 3, 0
T44. Venezuela 1, 3, 0
46. India 1, 2, 4
47. Hong Kong 1, 2, 2
T48. Philippines 1, 2, 1
T48. Slovakia 1, 2, 1
50. South Africa 1, 2, 0
51. Austria 1, 1, 5
52. Egypt 1, 1, 4
53. Indonesia 1, 1, 3
T54. Ethiopia 1, 1, 2
T54. Portgual 1, 1, 2
56. Tunisia 1, 1, 0
57. Ireland 1, 0, 2
T58. Estonia 1, 0, 1
T58. Fiji 1, 0, 1
T58. Latvia 1, 0, 1
T58. Thailand 1, 0, 1
T62. Bermuda 1, 0, 0
T62. Morocco 1, 0, 0
T62. Puerto Rico 1, 0, 0
65. Colombia 0, 4, 1
66. Azerbaijan 0, 3, 4
67. Dominican Republic 0, 3, 2
68. Armenia 0, 2, 2
69. Kyrgyzstan 0, 2, 1
70. Mongolia 0, 1, 3
T71. Argentina 0, 1, 2
T71. San Marino 0, 1, 2
T73. Jordan 0, 1, 1
T73. Nigeria 0, 1, 1
T75. Bahrain 0, 1, 0
T75. Lithuania 0, 1, 0
T75. Namibia 0, 1, 0
T75. North Macedonia 0, 1, 0
T75. Saudi Arabia 0, 1, 0
T75. Turkmenistan 0, 1, 0
81. Kazakhstan 0, 0, 8
82. Mexico 0, 0, 2
83. Finland 0, 0, 2
T84. Botswana 0, 0, 1
T84. Burkina Faso 0, 0, 1
T84. Ghana 0, 0, 1
T84. Grenada 0, 0, 1
T84. Ivory Coast 0, 0, 1
T84. Kuwait 0, 0, 1
T84. Malaysia 0, 0, 1
T84. Moldova 0, 0, 1
T84. Syria 0, 0, 1

Also, athletes from Russia, which once held an Olympics and cheated, have been given 69 medals.

 

Previous reports:

-- I Olympic Summer Games, Athens 1896

-- XXX Olympic Summer Games, London 2012 

-- XXXI Olympic Summer Games, Rio 2016 

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2020 (Programming Note) 

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2020 (Day 0) 

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2020 (Days 1 and 2)

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2020 (Day 3)

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2024 (Day 4)

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2024 (Day 5)  

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2024 (Day 6) 

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2024 (Days 7-15) 

Book review: All Around the Town by Phyllis McGinley

Have you ever heard of Phyllis McGinley? I had not. 

But, a few years ago, I picked up an alphabet book of hers at a library book sale, a 1948 first edition of All Around the Town that had been discarded from the shelves of Montgomery County Schools in Clarksville, Tenn. I certainly hope Alex Poythress got to read it when he was a little boy. 

Q is for the Quietness

Of Sunday avenues

When silence walks the city

In her pretty velvet shoes;

When trucks forget to rumble,

And from steeples everywhere

The bells of Sunday morning

Ring their questions on the air.

Man, that is some writing right there. The whole book's great, delivering a vivid imagining of what about city life might grab the attention of a child in adult (but not lofty) language. It's like Aunt Phyllis flies in to New York to babysit her preschool niece for a weekend; the child acts as the visiting adult's tour guide along a walk all around the town (hence, the name), and then, on the flight home, Aunt Phyllis dashes off the most awesome and totally authentic thank-you letter to her niece--along with a $20 bill to go out and buy herself a good dictionary.

Also, the artwork, by Helen Stone, is just beautiful.

"E is the Escalator ..."

"G's the gay Good-Humor man ..."

"U is for Umbrellas ..."

And so forth.

The culture apparently lost interest in Phyllis McGinley, but I don't care. Just from this one book it's clear that this woman is an absolute pro, and I'll be on the lookout to find more of her stuff.

Highly recommended for preschoolers who are not growing up in cities, adults who would like to learn how to have better conversations with preschoolers and fans of Mad Men who were rooting for Don and Betty to stay together but who now at least hope that Don remains faithful to his new wife.

I Am Watching the Olympics (Day 5)

Urgh! I've already missed three rowing medals races today!

Previous reports:

-- watching Day i (July 25)

-- watching Day ii (July 26)

-- watching opening day and the opening ceremony (July 27)

-- watching Day 1 and the men's cycling road race (July 28)

-- watching Day 2, the women's road race, and Team USA's performance relative to the U.S. percentage of world GDP and an introduction to "Olympic Efficiency Scores (OES)" (July 29)

-- watching Day 3, an introduction to "Extended Olympic Efficiency Scores (EOES)," a tip of the hat to Team USA swimming, an arch of an eyebrow toward Team China swimming, a women's basketball update, end-of-day OES and end-of-day EOES (July 30)

-- watching Day 4, a men's basketball update, badminton jive, "culture war" jive, end-of-day OES and end-of-day EOES (July 31)

1975: Vacation planning

I just caught up on the March 1975 National Geographic, so I'm feeling behind on my summer-vacation planning. The issue is just chock-full of getaway enticements.

The South brings it very strong, and I might be enticed to write Gov. Wallace and get on to and then off of the Alabama Interstates. But I did that last summer.

The West, too, is strongly represented, and I'm impressed with Oregon's doubletruck play for my time and money. And given the economic challenges of the day, I am moved by that state's spin that it is the cost-effective, one-stop-shop for a global smorgasbord of holiday delights. Oregon is vacation's Ponderosa Grand Buffet, and I do declare that I have taken some comfort at the Ponderosa Grand Buffet.

But, then, here comes Canada!

I am nearly--very nearly--convinced to follow that station wagon to Manitoba.

But, alas, the winner is British Columbia. The prospect of cracking up my own fetching, affectionate and relaxed wife with witty repartee about antique lamps and coffee pots is just too much to resist. 1975 me would've absolutely been writing off for more pictures and information from the B.C. Department of Travel Industry--or seeing my local travel agent.