A few of you wanted to know how many tickets have been sold for Saturday, and we always aim to please here.

The answer, straight from the UW sports info department, is 61,700 sold and distributed. Is that how many will actually be there Saturday? Probably not, and depending on the weather (showers and a high of 56 in the forecast) Husky Stadium could be as empty as Clay Bennett's soul (no, I'm not still bitter or anything).

Should be a better crowd the following week against Notre Dame. Official word is that the game is expected to sell out, however there are some single-game tickets not purchased by season-ticket holders that will come available. Those will go on sale Monday morning at 8:30 at the Husky Ticket Office or online at www.GoHuskies.com.

Also MIA on Saturday will be Spirit, the Husky mascot. Official word is that Spirit is expected to be out the rest of the season with a shoulder injury suffered while throwing a block (or chasing a rabbit, whichever it was) but that the hope is he will be able to attend the UCLA game for a proper sendoff
and a recognition of the Cross family for their years of service to the mascot program.

Finally, a couple of links to pass along:

--- ESPN's well-dressed Ted Miller offers up this mid-season review of the Huskies, while also splashing cold water on the thought that UW may be able to lure Gary Pinkel or Jeff Tedford. Ted also had this chat with fans today, and one of the first questions was whether the Huskies might be able to get Jim Mora.

--- Miller also picks OSU to win 41-17 Saturday.

--- Paul Buker updates the news from Corvallis, where even Joe the Plumber was apparently upset that there was no Beavers news in the Oregonian today. Will Joe be happier to know that OSU safety Al Afalava is apparently ready to return for the UW game Saturday? How about UW fans? Would you rather Afalava, who knocked Jake Locker out of the game last year, be on the field Saturday available for retribution, or sitting it out? Anyway, sounds like he and all the other injured Beavers will be ready for the Huskies. Buker also points out that OSU has a pretty realistic shot at the Rose Bowl, having already beaten USC and with a favorable schedule the rest of the way.

All for now, or until Ted Miller writes again, which could be a few minutes.