Okay, its not really the second roundtable, but it is the second on I have written. If you don't like it then you can just... politely sit down and read it anyways?
1. Now that the regular season is over, who in the mainstream press wrote the stupidest article about your team? And, for a little bit of a challenge, who wrote the smartest article / nugget of insight about your team?
Stupidest would have to be this by Arash Markazi. A pretty typical over-reactionary column follwoing a tough loss, but come on USC has dominated the Pac 10 this year and they have pretty much dominated the Pac10 since the early 2000s. Moreover, despite the fact that the result of the game was not predictable at all Markazi likes to act as though willful ignorance of history and denial of clear facts led to people not picking the Beavers for the upset. Way to backwards rationalize and use inflammatory titles there Arash. Markazi also implies that beating USC in Corvallis is not that big of a deal... but I guess the fans thought otherwise at the end of the game huh? Just throw him in with the other disgruntled SC journalism grads that like to kick USC whenever they get the chance (eg Scott Wolf). **Disclaimer: For the record, iam not trying to take away from the greatness that is Oregon State and their win over USC. Now when is Oregon State going to man up and play S.CAR?**
Smartest article goes to EDSBS's very own Spencer Hall for pointing out the fact that coaches do indeed swear sometimes and that the reaction to the whole Brennan Carroll video was completely asinine.
2. You can have either Jacquizz Rodgers or Jahvid Best for one year. Which one do you want on your team?
I choose... Joe McKnight. Sorry to the rest of the conference, but McKnight easily has the best yards per carry (7.69) of all of the tailbacks in conference if you take away the UW and WSU games. If he was the lone back for SC then his numbers would be absolutely ridiculous. At 100% health I would not trade him for anyone else in conference.
3. Though the Pac-10 missed out on two BCS teams, the bright side is that there are a lot of good bowl matchups. Which are you looking forward to the most?
If we are staying inside the Pac 10, then outside of our own matchup in the Rose Bowl I would have to say the Holiday Bowl with Oregon against Oklahoma State. Both team are ranked in the top 10 in rushing offense, and both are ranked in the 80s in rushing defense. Big time passing plays are great and all, but there is almost nothing more exciting than when a 50 yard run is broken from the line of scrimmage because of the whole how in the hell did he get through that mess factor. Probably an awesome Shootout, and a chance for the Pac 10 to get some respect with a nice win.
4. BigXII/Pac10 Hardwood Challenge. Great Hardwood Challenge or the Greatest Hardwood Challenge?
To quote some guy on a messageboard, "all Leonard Washington was trying to do was knock the refs off of Blake Griffin's nuts".
5. Word association! What's the first word that pops into mind when you think of your team's bowl destination? Discuss!
Well... Its the Rose Bowl, its USC, and its a Big Televen team, so I am not really sure which word pops up first in my mind. Its either "Tradition" or "Domination" (although this years Penn State team is a good team). Thanks to the fact that I am a noted patriot and lover of democracy, I will let you, the readers, decide which word is more appropriate.