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Washington is back in a lofty position in the polls. But the 10th-ranked Huskies staying power will be tested Friday night.Washington will play host to No. 7 Stanford on Friday night at 9 p.m. ET in the first matchup of top 10 teams at Husky Stadium in 19 years. The outcome could go a long way in determining the Pac-12 North and which team moves on as the leagues favorite to get to the College Football Playoff.Its awesome, no question about it, said Washington coach Chris Petersen.Stanfords an awesome program. Ill start with that -- program. This isnt just an awesome team. Theyve had an awesome program here for a while now. They know how to do it right and play good football, win championships. So its a great opportunity for the kids, and for everybody playing in a game like this.The Huskies (4-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) played a soft non-conference slate of Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State before surviving a road game at Arizona, 35-28 in overtime Saturday night. Stanford (3-0, 2-0) is much more battle-tested, having defeated Kansas State, USC and UCLA.The Cardinal, too, was taken to the brink last week, scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 24 seconds left and adding a fumble return for a score on the final play in a 22-13 victory at the Rose Bowl. Coach David Shaw was pleased how new starting quarterback Ryan Burns reacted to the do-or-die final drive after struggling for much of the game.There is no substituting the environment he was in, Shaw said after Mondays practice. Not playing a great game ... and coming back with a chance to win at the end of the game, you cant duplicate that.And you cant duplicate what were going to face this week: Top 10 opponent, in their house. Its going to be loud. Youre not going to be able to hear a thing. I think that environment, you dont know how youre going to respond until youre in it.Stanford has won 15 of its past 16 games and has tied a school-record by winning seven consecutive Pac-12 road games. The Cardinal has won three of the past four conference championships.Stanford also has won seven of the past eight meetings against Washington, including 31-14 last season. Cardinal star running back Christian McCaffrey gained 109 rushing yards and 112 receiving yards, including a 50-yard touchdown, in that game.McCaffrey, by his standards, had an abnormally quiet game last week with 138 rushing yards and no touchdowns against UCLA. But Washington yielded 308 rushing yards in its overtime win over Arizona, including 173 to quarterback Brandon Dawkins.The Huskies defense, led by safety Budda Baker, cornerback Sidney Jones and linebacker Azeem Victor, is tied for the national lead with 13 takeaways. They are 15th in scoring defense, allowing 14.5 points per game.The Stanford defense, fueled by defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, is allowing 12.0 points per game against a tougher schedule.Washington quarterback Jake Browning is third nationally in passing efficiency (194.9), with 14 touchdown passes and two interceptions. He didnt play in last seasons loss to Stanford because of injury.Shaw said he is worried about Washingtons offensive speed, which includes receiver John Ross, tailback Myles Gaskin and tailback Lavon Coleman, who was an unlikely hero with a career-best 181 yards against Arizona.Speed everywhere, Shaw said. Their running backs have speed. Their receivers have speed. It used to be that you had to worry about that No. 1 guy (Ross) running by you. Now its a bunch of guys.Stanford likely has more speed that it gets credit for, as McCaffrey is not the only weapon on offense. Wide receiver Michael Rector has 4.4 speed, receiver Trenton Irwin had a team-high seven catches last week against UCLA and backup running back Bryce Love had five carries for 51 yards. He has been working his way back from injury and should be close to 100 percent this week, Shaw said.The Cardinal wont have receiver Francis Owusu, who suffered a concussion last week.This will be the first top 10 matchup in Seattle since No. 7 Nebraska beat the No. 2 Huskies 27-14 in 1997. Washington, earlier this month, reached the top 10 for the first time since Nov. 4, 2001.Are the Huskies all the way back?Fridays spotlight game will begin to really tell the tale.I just want everyone to enjoy college football and be all in, Petersen said. Players all in, fans all in, coaches, everybody ... all in. Fake Jerseys From China . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. Fake Jerseys Free Shipping . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. https://www.fakejersey.com/ . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Fake Jerseys Website . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Cheap Fake Jerseys . The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Lions have not announced the hiring, which was first reported by ESPN. Lombardi, the grandson of former Green Bay Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, has been an offensive assistant on Sean Paytons New Orleans staff since 2007. LAS VEGAS -- Im selfish. Ill admit it.When it comes to watching sports on television or in person, its all about me. I want to be entertained. I want heroes and villains. I want to have someone to cheer, and someone to boo. I want to laugh. I want to curse. And every now and again I want to see a moment thrilling enough to force me to get up out of my seat.Poker used to provide that for me. It was the foundation for some of my favorite reality shows a decade ago. Not only would I watch the World Series of Poker every year, but I would watch the World Poker Tour on The Travel Channel, Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo, High Stakes Poker on GSN, Poker Dome Challenge on FSN, Poker After Dark on NBC and Im sure a handful of other now-defunct shows.I didnt necessarily watch because of the poker; I already got my fix of bad beats at the hands of my little brother, who like millions of others briefly wanted to become a professional poker player after watching Chris Moneymaker win the 2003 World Series of Poker. I watched because of the characters I had become connected to while watching all these shows. I developed this bond because they all talked at the table and revealed a human side of themselves I either liked (Antonio Esfandiari), disliked (Phil Hellmuth) or was simply apathetic to (Joe Hachem).It was similar to my love of pro wrestling. When it comes to the art of the squared circle, Im not a purist who watches for five-star matches replete with every move from an arm bar to a wheelbarrow. I love the guys who can get on the microphone and rile up the crowd.Like many others, I started to lose interest in poker as a televised sport before it was hit with its Black Friday in 2011. The shows became stale, there was never an influx of new young stars to mix things up and there were only so many times I could hear the same jokes from the same players and commentators.But I was told the World Series of Poker main event final table was the one time where poker once again felt like it did a decade ago. For three days in the fall it was once again a spectator sport, drawing big crowds for a nationally televised event worth millions of dollars for the nine players at the table.After attending this years November Nine, I came away yearning for the characters that made me fall in love with the game as I tried to stay awake until the final hand.No tickets were needed to watch the final table, but there were times when it felt like a library card might be needed. For the better part of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the quietest place in Las Vegas was the Penn & Teller Theater, which has been the home of the November Nine since 2008.The characters, drama and banter (ranging from collegial to contentious), which made poker such a fun sport to watch a decade ago, were completely absent inside an eerily quiet 1,475-seat theater where ushers roamed the aisles like teachers through a classroom to make sure no one was on their cell phones.The only voice that could be heard from the stage during each hand was that of Jack Effel, the vice president and tournament director for the WSOP who doubles as the play-by-play announcer for the in-house audience. The players had their own cheering sections inside the theater, which made up much of the live crowd that diminished with each day as players were eliminated.Michael Ruane, 28, had the most boisterous section, with many of his friends dressed as pro wrestlers from the 1990s. Las Vegas resident Qui Nguyen, 39, had a ton of local support as they chanted, Who win? Qui Nguyen! each time he collected chips. And those cheering for Kenny Hallaert, 34, mixed in some European soccer chants. But people watching a crowd filled with friends and family is only interesting to a certain point.I knew I wouldnt have any real connection to the November Nine coming into the final table, but the truth is I had no real connection to them after watching them play for a dozen hours either.dddddddddddd Its inherently hard to connect to people that dont say anything, or show any emotion.The oldest and most recognizable player at the final table, and the chip leader when play began, was 50-year old Cliff JohnnyBax Josephy, who had previously won two WSOP bracelets. While normally engaging, Josephy was mostly silent for the first two days and even went against the grain by wearing glasses and a hat on the final day, which he never does and previously said he was against.Theres more tension at the final table, Josephy said. Everyone is tense. Theyre playing for money that many people havent seen in their lives. Its understandable that people dont talk but everyone is friendly. Everyone likes each other. This is a group of guys that really like each other. Everyone is nice.Effel echoed those sentiments after the second day of play as the chips for the final three players, Josephy, Gordon Vayo and Nguyen, the eventual winner, were put away.When youre playing for $8 million youre paying attention to every little thing that you do, Effel said. Youre hoping somebody else makes a mistake so you can capitalize on their mistakes. Theyre more interested in playing poker than talking.It makes sense, of course, but it also makes me nostalgic for a time where the stakes didnt make players go into their shells. The walkway leading into the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio in Las Vegas is lined with oversized photographs of past WSOP main event champions. I didnt recognize the past eight champions, all in their 20s, who looked more like fraternity pledges than poker champions. But I stopped when I got to Jamie Golds photo. Ten years ago Gold, who was a talent agent turned television producer, won the 2006 WSOP main event and $12 million, still a record, while outlasting a field of 8,773 entrants -- also a record. It was the high water mark of a game that would soon see a significant dip in interest and participation.Gold was an antagonist and a polarizing figure during his improbable run a decade ago, and one of my favorite players to watch. He talked big while bluffing with nothing, sweet-talked players into reluctantly folding better hands by telling them he would show them his hand and even flashed one of his cards to Michael Binger at the final table, causing Binger to lay down the winning hand. The reasons his antics were frowned upon by purists were the same reasons I enjoyed watching him play.You need to have players talking to have heroes and villains, Gold told me over the phone after the first day of the final table. Once you take away the character side of it, youre killing the entertainment value and the reason why advertisers, sponsors and viewers would want to watch. I wasnt that special, but I had an opportunity to create a character by speaking. Viewers want to watch personalities and have a storyline and an arc play out on television. For the most part, poker on television has become this mundane, mind-numbing endeavor.Even worse than the television viewing experience, however, is the live viewing experience. At least viewers at home are able to see the players hands while listening to the entertaining trio of Lon McEachern, Norman Chad and Esfandiari in the broadcast booth. But not even the personalities of the announcers can make up for the disconnect between the viewers and the players at the table.Until that connection can once again be made, my poker needs will continue to be met away from my television -- relegated instead to losing money to my little brother. ' ' '