Which bet would you most likely make, Oregon State getting 12.5 points in Dallas Saturday against TCU, or the Ducks at home giving 35 to New Mexico?

See, for me, I kind of like taking both our teams. I think Oregon State is going to beat the number in its opener and will play well. But I also like the Ducks to pound that spread by a mile. I mean, they’re going to have a great chance to be up 35-0 by halftime.

So if you allowed me only one bet, it would have to be on the Ducks. But the Beavers wouldn’t scare me, either.

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People have made huge investments in high-definition television and sound systems for their home these days — and you can’t blame them for staying home and watching games, rather than paying to get into games. For a lot of reasons — including rude fan behavior, traffic, too-crowded stadiums, to name just a few — watching at home can be a better experience than actually attending the games.

It’s the new challenge in professional sports — even for a league as wildly successful as the NFL, where at the height of the sport’s popularity attendance has dropped for two straight seasons. How do you get people to come to your stadium and buy tickets when it’s so easy to sit at home and watch the game for free?

Well, in the NFL, the blackout rule helps. If the game isn’t sold out, home-team fans CAN’T watch the games at home. No other sport has this rule — but they probably should. Even though teams are making more money off television than they are gate receipts in every major sport, they are still reliant on those gate receipts for a significant portion of revenue.

That’s why, at this point, serious thought is being put into added value for spectators at games. And I’m not just talking about bobblehead dolls and refrigerator magnets, either. The huge scoreboards are a help, as are insightful interviews on those boards before and after games. All-you-can-eat buffets in certain sections is a big deal these days. But you’re going to see more innovations inside arenas and stadiums as teams attempt to fight the battle against stay-at-homes.

Just wait until you see sports on 3D TV. I watched a baseball game in 3D earlier this summer and it was spellbinding. Sports have been playing a dangerous game for years now, competing against their live gates with home TV.

And it’s shaping up to be quite a fight.

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And I have to say I was shocked at the lack of organization and the overall way our team played. Can’t players learn a simple motion offense? Why is it that even at this level, with all the talent out there, we can’t see a free-flowing offense where all the players touch the ball, with screens being set and the ball and bodies being moved?

But no, it was like they’ve made Nate McMillan the team’s offensive coordinator. There was all kinds of standing around and watching someone play one-on-one.

And please, spare me the talk about the team not being together for more than a few weeks — and how long all the other teams have been playing together. Really, high school teams install offensive systems in a couple of weeks and play them competently — certainly some of the best players in the world ought to be able to do it.

Besides, most of these players have used some sort of flex or passing game offense someplace during their career, in high school or college, and know what they’re supposed to do. Pass and move — it’s not brain surgery.

It’s just seems to me that somehow players have triumphed over coaches in the NBA — it’s like the coaches have given up — and the result is they just don’t want to work hard on offense and don’t want to give of themselves for the benefit of others. Everyone wants the ball in his hands and when he doesn’t have it, he stands and watches.

Ugh.

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The way the early schedule breaks down for the Ducks, this team is very likely to get off to a terrific start. The only difficult game shapes up to be the one in the second week at Tennessee, but that game isn’t as difficult as it used to be. The Volunteers are down and it kind of reminds me of that year when Oregon went back and caught Michigan in a down year and beat the pants off the Wolverines in Ann Arbor.

Anyway, Thomas has every opportunity to get his feet on the ground before the schedule gets rough later on. Now will Costa eventually play? Yeah, he better stay ready. This offense, as we’ve seen, can be tough on quarterbacks — and Thomas doesn’t look as if he’s built to take a lot of punishment.

All I can say is that game week is finally here. Man, it will be great to have actual games to talk about.

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Yeah, sure. Hard for me to believe that. I mean, I would think that by now Kelly knows exactly what he’s going to do. It’s just easier to tell the media that he hasn’t made up his mind yet. Even if he hasn’t made up his mind, it’s hard to believe the whole thing hinges on video of that one final scrimmage. Really?

But, whatever… On the day before it becomes public, go ahead and tell me who you think will be the starter and why.

For me, I’m still saying Nate Costa. There’s so much admiration from his teammates for what he’s overcome to get in this position. That counts for something — something that you don’t see in the video of that scrimmage. The players, not the coaches, decide who the leaders are — and at quarterback, you need a leader.

Can’t remember this much anticipation for a starting quarterback announcement.

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Never liked the name, anyway. New stadiums are one thing, but I’m not much a fan of selling naming rights to stadiums that have already been in existence for like a century. It was Multnomah Stadium for decades and then the city bought it and turned it into the drab old, “Civic Stadium.”

So for a few bucks it’s got a new name. And what do we have to look forward to now? Burgerville Stadium? Do you want fry sauce with that?

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I have to agree with colleague John Strong on 95.5 The Game — when it comes to arrests, Oregon State may not quite top the Ducks (although it’s close) in sheer numbers but the Beavers seem to be involved in funnier ones.

Mike Riley took swift action in this one and the obvious question is, if this wasn’t a third-string freshman, would the decision have been as easy?

Am I the only person who would say, “Of course not.” I mean, if this was Quizz Rogers I’d hope Riley would hesitate. Really. And I know there are many who would argue with me. But you saw the Ducks be very careful with Masoli and Blount and I understood that, to a degree. They were important players who had an impact on their team’s success — so any punishment of them affected the success of other players.

I love how people believe that all players ought to be treated the same, whether they’re stars or not. They all think that special treatment for stars is something that doesn’t happen in real life — only in sports.

Yeah, right.

If you work for a company, in these economic times, and your star salesman is making money for everyone — do you think he’s not going to be treated differently than the guy at the bottom of the list barely making his draw each month? He better not be.

It just doesn’t work that way. Maybe that’s not the way it should be, but it’s the way it is. Success buys you second chances in this world.

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The kid is being spared all the losing in Minnesota — and trust me, even if he had come over here last season there would have been plenty of losing — and is improving in Spain.

Improving a lot, if yesterday’s Spain-USA game is any indication. Rubio looks more and more like a star, even looking like a bit of a defender, too. I’m still not so sure he isn’t going to turn out to be the best player taken in that draft — a clever, creative pass-first point guard with charisma who can defend? There is huge value in that.

All along, the only concern with Rubio — still just 19 years old! — continuing to play in Spain was whether he’d improve over there. And now that it appears he is getting better, there’s no hurry that he come here. Let him stay another year while the Timberwolves rebuild their front line.

And you know what, if the kid decides at some point he doesn’t want to play in Minnesota, his trade value is going to be higher than it was at the time he was drafted.

I know it’s difficult, but you must be patient, Minnesota fans. Help is definitely on the way.

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LeGarrette Blount really did learn plenty from his experience at Oregon didn’t he? Please, don’t bother me with how common fights are in NFL practices. If you watch the video you will see how Blount injects himself into the middle of a small scuffle where no punches are being thrown and then decides to throw the first punch.

The guy still has no filter. I got so sick of hearing from people in Eugene that he’s “learned his lesson” and that it would “never happen again.”

Yeah, right.

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It seems pretty clear that he was lying. And at some point, they’re going to nail him for it. And when you start talking about people being called into Federal Court to testify, they’re going to be telling the truth and nobody’s going to be covering for him. This guy is in way more trouble than Barry Bonds.

Clemens, I’ve always felt, is one strange guy. He’s been a bit of a psycho at times, and it’s going to be interesting to see how he reacts when it’s apparent to him that he’s going to go down.

My guess? And it’s strictly a guess — I think he’s going to be the guy who starts ratting out everyone else in sight. He’s going to sing like Lady GaGa. It’s going to be crazy.

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