I've been a 'Cat fan for decades, but never seen us play like we did against Puget Sound yesterday. Bewildered would be putting it mildly. We seemed uncharacteristically unprepared and undisciplined. Wildcat fans are accustomed to our usual abundance of inexcusable personal foul/unsportsmanlike flags. But the sloppiness and apparent lack of preparation and engagement yesterday was out of character. I'm glad we won in a thrilling finish, but can't help but wonder why we appeared so nonchalant? It was as if we were sleep walking through a late season game against a highly motivated opponent. But we would have rather not even been there. Odd. A real lack of engagement, awareness, whatever?

I've always been proud to be a Wildcat. But, yesterday made me queasy. Anyone have any clues?

Wildcats played superbly today, setting up what could be a thriller next week. One request of Linfield, please, please get the game televised next week. This is crap not having the game on the Internet. Congrats to Coach Smith and all the Cats!

Bye bye Johnnies. Hello Tommies!

Scott Westering didn't do his namesake very proud yesterday by the way he had is team playing in the second half, taunting, onside kicking and going for two despite being hopelessly behind. We would have put up 80 on them and held them to 7 had we left our first team in.

I don' think he did himself any good with the Linfield coaching staff and that's likely to be relfected in the future. Meanwhile, Westering has to be struggling to keep his job. He's now got an overall losing record. In his six season, he has only had two winning seasons, has gone 3-6 three times, including the last two and has never beaten Linfield. The Wildcats have now won 8 straight and nine of 10.

My theory is that D3 coaches don't usually get fired for losing with two exceptions -- they do something really bad off the field or they become a stumbling block to a big fund raising effort or they screw up a great winning tradition and the latter is what's happening at PLU.

Anybody know if the D3 tournament selections will be made on TV as in the past next Sunday?

First, all that needs to be said is Scoreboard. That's why we play the game to see who WINS. The better team won. WU is not as complete a team as Linfield and the scoreboard told the story.

Some further objective comments:
>Willamette is a quality program. Too bad they don't act like it.
>The fans may be overall OK, but there were enough instances of rude and obnoxious conduct to spoil it for the rest. Mostly adult immaturity. Grow up. It's football.
>The PA guy is strictly amateur hour. Buy him a ticket to a real football game and let him see how the big boys do it. Better yet, send him over to Linfield to observe a class act at the Catdome.
>All of this is the sign of a mostly "have not" program that's struggling to get its ego on. Wrong approach, guys. Get your act together. Show some class.

To the "see ya soon" comment: That'll probably be next October in the Catdome. The odds are against it even if WU got into the playoffs. Most experts think your chances are slim with 2 losses. And, even if you get in, you'll be sent on the road for your first game and that's tough for anyone.

Good luck working on getting better off the fiend and on the field.

Wildcats played well against a Willamette team that may have been underestimated. With Wheaton losing and St. John's barely winning, we stand to move up in the D3 poll next week. Linfield is likely headed for an unbeated season, Joe Smith's first, and a NWC championship.

Big question will be the seeding for the playoffs. Cats could well get a No. 1 seed. The game probably helped Willamette's chances though they are definitely a bubble team. Linfield has UPS, a bye and PLU.

Great win for the Cats on a perfect day before a huge crowd in Salem. There's no team, including PLU, I'd rather beat because WU fans are so rude and arrogant. It was fantastic to see them go down before such a big home crowd though there may have been more LInfield fans there.

Hey, I will miss you at the Linfield game you're coming all the way to the West Coast to see. I'm currently living in London and therefore won't be at the game, but I may give you a call. You can rest assured that the Purple Flag will be there in all of it's glory to carry on the Might Cat Tradition. I've entrusted it with my mafia and they have promised to provide you with all the brewskies and food you need. Go Cats!