By Brendan Loy

UCLA sucks. That is all.

P.S. Enjoy your Pac-12 South “championship”! Have fun at Autzen! HAHAHAHAHA

By Brendan Loy

Last night, while most sports fans in Denver were watching some guy named Tebow lead his team to another improbable comeback, I was at Magness Arena, watching the DU Pioneers knock off Conference USA’s Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, 59-52. Here’s my full 800 Games Project write-up of the game, over at the Mid-Majority. Excerpt:

Denver’s offense…showed flashes of brilliance that were rarities last season. … Rob Lewis was brilliant, reminding everyone why Denver missed him so much last year, as was sophomore Chris Udofia. Denver’s aggressiveness and ability to get points inside — against a bigger, more athletic team — was a welcome surprise, and one of the big stories of the game. The Pios were “only” 4-for-10 from #superhoop range, doing more of their scoring than usual from 2-point land and the free-throw line. …

Udofia and Lewis led the way with 23 and 15 points, respectively, including a number of beautiful layups resulting from excellent, well-executed offensive sets. … Udofia also produced the unquestioned play of the game, and probably of Denver’s young season, when he blocked a shot…then fielded a fast-break pass from Brett Olson (who had retrieved the ball after the block) and slammed it home for 2 points on the other end. As I tweeted immediately afterward: “OMG OMG OMG … CHRIS UDOFIA WITH THE #OMGSTUFFZ FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY THE #OMGDUNX that was awesome … Udofia block, fast break, gets ball back, dunks it. I present to the @midmajority / @800GP community a new term… the #OMGSTUFFDUNX!” …

The victory was effectively sealed on a Pioneers offensive possession that started with 55 seconds to go, Denver up 5. Southern Miss chose not to foul, but tried instead to pressure the Pioneers into a turnover. Denver patiently played keep-away, but the signature moment came with 15 on the shot clock, when freshman O’Neale fielded a pass just outside the three-point line, and found himself staring at a completely empty path to the basket. It was an Ali Farokhmanesh moment, and you could tell he was sorely tempted to try for the “dagger” superhoop. (He was 2-for-4 from three-point land on the night.) But he literally shook his head no, as if settling the debate between the angel and devil on his shoulder, and instead passed the ball to Travis Hallam. Seconds later, Lewis got open under the basket, Hallam passed it to him for an easy layup with 5 on the shot clock, and it was a 57-50 game with 25 seconds left. Game, set, match, Red Line Upset.

Read the whole thing.

Denver is now 3-0. The Pioneers’ next game is at home Wednesday against mid-major powerhouse St. Mary’s. Then they hit the road to face Cal, ranked in the Top 25 nationally, and Utah State, another mid-major power. It’s very possible DU will be 3-3 after those games, but even if so, this has been a very successful start to the season.

[Cross-posted from Mile High Mids.]

[Cross-posted from Pioneer Pulse.]

By Brendan Loy

Although inevitably overshadowed by the excitement of college and pro football season, the horror of the child-rape and coverup calamity at Penn State, the seemingly endless drama of conference realignment, and the “nuclear winter” of the NBA, something wonderful has happened in the last week or so: college basketball season started. It actually tipped off on Monday, kicked into high gear Friday and Saturday, and is announcing its presence today with ESPN’s 24-hour marathon. Live chat here.

So, today seems like a good time to mention that I’m not continuing Pioneer Pulse this season. Instead, I’ve started up a new Tumblr blog, Mile High Mids, where I’ll be blogging about both Denver and Northern Colorado hoops (and occasionally about other mid-majors and basketball-related topics). I will probably cross-post or link MHM posts here on the LRT occasionally, but generally I decided to keep the blogs separate, in part because it’s technically easier, and in part because this blog has become so quasi-dormant that it would be completely overrun by basketball from November through March if I blogged about hoops here. Anyway, in addition to the new blog, my @PioneerPulse Twitter account is now @MileHighMids. So follow me there if you like college hoops, and bookmark Mile High Mids.

By the way… Denver is 2-0. Yay!

By Becky Loy

Homemade laundry soap is wonderful if you’re frugal and/or if you have eczema. Compared to about $.14/load for something like All Free and Clear, you can make your own soap for less than $.01/load. And unlike many other so-called easy, frugal solutions, this one rates low for the pain-in-the-ass factor.

You need four things to make your own soap: a 5-gallon bucket, washing soda, borax and Fels Naptha soap. You can also use Zote soap or something equivalent.

Grate the Fels Naptha and put it in a saucepan.

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By Brendan Loy

Here’s Amelia Hamilton (@AmeliaHammy), the queen of 11:11 tweets. I made sure to be sitting near her at BlogCon for the big moment — 11:11:11 on 11/11/11. :)

Screenshot:

By Brendan Loy

If anyone else in Denver feels a disturbance in the Force this evening, it’s probably caused by the arrival of a bunch of conservative bloggers and tweeters from around the nation, descending on our fair city for BlogCon 2011, a two-day conference sponsored by the Tea Party-supporting political group FreedomWorks.

A bunch of long-time online friends and acquaintances who I’ve never met in person are coming to BlogCon, from my “blog wife” Melissa Clouthier, to voice-of-reason righty Matthias Shapiro, to the conservative twittersphere’s id, Kurt Schlichter, among many others. And so, because I wanted to meet all these people, I’m going too!

I may not share much politically with these folks, but I like a lot of them, and I think it’ll be fun to hang out and chat and network…plus, it was free to sign up…so I’m taking most of the day and attending BlogCon, where I’ll be the lonely liberal/left-centrist in a room full of conservatives. Occupy BlogCon! :)

Below, for posterity, a CoverItLive window importing all tweets from everyone on the official BlogCon Twitter list, plus any tweets using the hashtags #BlogCon, #BlogCon11, or #BlogCon2011.

NOTE: I previously referred to FreedomWorks as being “Koch-affiliated.” I now understand that’s not really true. The Koch Brothers founded FreedomWorks’ predecessor group, but then there was a schism over Koch funding, and some hard feelings remain. Anyway, FreedomWorks gets no Koch money, nor has any direct Koch ties. Doesn’t really matter to me, as a “Koch-agnostic.” The point is, it’s a conservative group. :)

Oh, and by the way… Happy 11/11/11!

By B. Minich

In the last few years as a Penn State fan, I had one main fear: that somehow, Joe Paterno’s tenure at Penn State University would end in ignomy. Penn State fans like myself had prided themselves on the lack of scandal at the program: seemingly the last football program without one. It seemed too good to last. And as Paterno’s role at Penn State changed from intimate involvement to overseer, I feared that something would escape him, a scandal that he would fail to notice would envelop the program, forever tarnishing the legacy a man who had done many great things for Penn State and college football.

I am saddened to discover that my fears have come true. And this isn’t a “scandal” in the lame NCAA sense, where some kids drove cars around when they shouldn’t have because the NCAA has stupid rules. No, this scandal is the worst thing ever to happen to a college football program. We’ve all been shocked and saddened by the allegations that young boys were molested by a former Penn State coordinator. The crimes are heinous. And the repercussions are only beginning.

Many columnists have written what they think should happen to those who let this abhorrent crime continue on their watch. And I had opinions on it as well. But those are moot now, for Paterno has been fired. The post-Paterno world that all Penn State fans knew was coming is here. In a way that even the most pessimistic believed was impossible.

I’m saddened. Saddened because of what happened to so many young boys. Saddened that more wasn’t done to prevent this. And also saddened that Paterno’s legacy will be remembered this way. Saddened that people will forget what he contributed to education, to civil rights, to the community of State College, PA.

A tweet from the Macworld writer Jason Snell says it well: “It’s a crying shame that this is how Joe Paterno’s career ends. But it had to be done, and he brought it on himself.”