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Enron Mail |
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We are there!! Who else is going?
-- ================================================ Matt Hsu Interwoven Technical Account Manager, Northwest Region 503.515.7110 cell 360.258.0616 desk 360.258.0615 fax matt.hsu@interwoven.com Moving Business to the web. Visit http://www.interwoven.com ================================================ "Leslie, Marc" wrote: < Beavers make plans to invade Arizona < Associated Press < < TEMPE, Ariz. -- Oregon State capped its remarkable emergence from more < than a < quarter-century of football ineptitude by accepting an invitation to < play Notre Dame in the Jan. 1 < Fiesta Bowl. < < The Beavers were the top choice of the Fiesta Bowl selection committee < because they were "a < conference co-champion, a 10-win team and an incredible turnaround < story that somewhat mirrors < what Kansas State has done," Fiesta Bowl president John Junker said. < < "For us to come here from where we were three years go, to go 10-1, and < being in the Fiesta < Bowl against Notre Dame is a great story," Oregon State coach Dennis < Erickson said Sunday. < < As Oregon State's opponent, Virginia Tech had a higher ranking and < better record, but the Fiesta < could not resist the Irish (9-2) and their huge nationwide following, < even though Notre Dame was < ranked only 11th in the final Bowl Championship Series standings. < Oregon State is sixth. < < It will be a matchup of teams that weren't even in the top 25 in the < preseason. < < "I don't think any of us in our wildest imagination would have thought < this would have been the < matchup," Junker said. < < Notre Dame won its last seven games to become bowl eligible at 9-2. < < The Fiesta considered Miami but decided the Notre Dame-Oregon State < matchup was more < intriguing, and that the Hurricanes were a better fit against Florida < in the Sugar Bowl. < < Fiesta Bowl officials maintained that comments last week by Pac-10 < commissioner Tom Hansen < had no impact on their decision. He suggested the conference should < pull out of the BCS if < Oregon State was left out of the Fiesta Bowl. < < "We selected Oregon State because they deserved it and won it on the < field of battle," Junker < said. < < The Fiesta Bowl normally gives an automatic berth to the Big 12 < champion, but it had two at-large < picks this year because Oklahoma will play Florida State for the < national championship in the < Orange Bowl. < < Oregon State set an NCAA record for futility with 28 consecutive losing < seasons, a streak broken < when the Beavers went 6-5 last year in Erickson's first season and lost < to Hawaii in the Oahu < Bowl. < < This year, Oregon State tied Washington and Oregon for the Pac-10 < title, their first since 1964. < That team, coached by Tommy Prothro, lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl. < A 35-year bowl < drought followed. < < Notre Dame, by contrast, is a regular at major bowls. Its last < appearance in one of the big-four < bowls was in 1996, the Orange Bowl. But this Irish team was not < expected to get this far, < especially after a 2-2 start. There was widespread speculation then < that coach Bob Davie would < be out of a job when the season ended. < < Davie did not want to talk about vindication. < < "I think so much attention is always placed on the head coach, and I'm < sure Dennis would agree < with me. This isn't about us. This is about our football players and < our assistant coaches who put < so much into this. < < "That was a little bit overrated before the season and it's a little < bit overrated now. This certainly < isn't about me." < < Each team will receive $12 million to $13 million. Oregon State will < split the money with the rest < of the Pac-10, but Notre Dame, as an independent, keeps it all. No < wonder Davie was so anxious < as he watched the Oklahoma-Kansas State game, knowing that a K-State < victory could have sent < Notre Dame to a much lesser holiday payday. < < "It was brutal," he said. "As good as Oklahoma is, and as well coached < as they are, I almost < went crazy when it was fourth-and-1 and they were in that shotgun for < that draw, but they know < what they're doing. It was painful watching that game." < < Junker said Oregon State officials have promised 30,000 or more fans < will come to the desert from < the Northwest for the game. Add to that Notre Dame's unparalleled < national following, and the < Fiesta already has been declared a sellout. Each school will receive < 15,000 tickets. < < Beaver players like the idea of playing Notre Dame. < < "I didn't like them growing up," running back Ken Simonton said. "I < don't like 'America's teams.' I < don't like everybody's favorite. I was always an underdog." < < Marc < *(303)401-7054 < *mleslie@amgen.com
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