(Let me preface this post by saying there are four
Duck fans that I
know and love, and they break the stereotypes of typical U of O fans, who have been voted the most "
unsportsmenlike fans in the Pac-10" in Sports Illustrated.)
First and foremost, I must admit- the Ducks just flat out beat us last night. It was an intense, exciting and amazing football game, but when it came down to it, the Beavers just didn't get the job done. I could sit here and make excuses for why we lost, but that is not really my style, or
our style, to do so. We
give credit where credit is due, and the fact is our offense didn't convert on enough crucial plays and our defense struggled to stop their running game.
That being said, the Civil War last night reaffirmed my pride in Beaver Nation. Yes, you heard me right. I am PROUD to be part of the school that lost, the school that is NOT going to the Rose Bowl. Now before you click to another website because you think you are reading the words of a crazy woman, hear me out on this...
Let's be honest. Football is just a game. In fact, all sports are just a game. (I know- shocker, right?) They are fun, they are intense and they are competitive, but sports are really not THAT important in the grand scheme of life. (Keep in mind, I say this as a woman who dedicated 18 years of her life to athletics and as the wife of a former Seahawk.) Yet for some reason, some people get so caught up in athletics that they often compromise their character and values. Or maybe in some cases, athletics simply expose a character that isn't so great to begin with. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, here is a glimpse into my experience last night at Autzen Stadium.
Example #1: I am walking to the game, by myself, looking to meet up with some friends at a tailgate. Completely sober, walking silently, and causing no sort of scene whatsoever, I navigate my way through a crowd of Duck fans . I walk past a group of male Duck fans who yell "F*** off, and F*** the Beavers!" as I pass by. Really guys? Congratulations for being grown-ass men, drunk in public, yelling at a
female by
herself who was walking peacefully to an athletic event. Real classy. I wish I could say these were the only males who talked to me in an offensive manner, but then I would be lying.
Example #2: In the third quarter, one of our best defensive players, Tim Clark, got hurt. He was down for awhile before the golf cart came out to take him off the field. It is a well-known common courtesy for a team to take a knee out of respect to an injured player, which is what our team did the whole time he was down. But Oregon, losing at this point, decides to use this injury as a time out and huddles near the sideline, scheming and planning the whole time Tim was down. In addition, their cheerleaders were shooting t-shirts into a screaming student section, again, as if this was a timeout. It is unbelievable to me the lack of respect that was shown as one of our players
fractured his leg. Again, no class.
Example #3: Apparently for some people, values do have a price. And for Oregon's football program, it is the Rose Bowl. The Ducks were heavily favored to win the Civil War, so I think it sent them into a bit of a panic when we went into halftime with the lead. Their answer in the second half? Let's play LeGarrette Blount, the idiot who punched out a Boise State player and was suspended "for the season", before being reinstated after Oregon lost to Stanford. Unbelievable. And did he play prior to the Civil War? No. They didn't need him to. They only played him when a trip to Pasadena was on the line, and sure enough, the guy scores the go-ahead TD and they continue to use him the rest of the game to ensure they hang on for the win. This is wrong on so many levels. Watch
this video to listen to Chip Kelly talk about what the University of Oregon "isn't", and then he has the nerve to not only reinstate him, but play him for the first time in the third quarter when they are losing?! Nothing that program does should surprise me at this point, but I guess I had faith they would draw the line somewhere. Silly me.
Sidenote: First of all, Coach Riley would not have "suspended" a player for this stunt, he would've kicked him off of the team. Second, even if he did suspend a player, he would NOT go back on his word and reinstate him, because sometimes there are things in life more important than winning a football game. Like honor, for example. Third, Riley doesn't recruit idiots who would do this in the first place, so it's not really an issue...
Example #4: After the game, I was running back to my car (it was really freaking cold!) and as I am running I see two guys with t-shirts that read "My Dickson, your Beaver". Again, real classy but nothing surprises me at this point of the evening. These guys actually paid someone to make these shirts. What the hell does this have to do with school spirit? Or supporting Duck football? Nothing! And you didn't even spell his last name right! Either you spelled it wrong on purpose, in order to be more vulgar, or you really are that dumb. Either way, it shows you have no class, and the fact that you talked sh*t to me after I ran by proved my early judgements to be true. After he yelled some obscenities at my back, I turned around and yelled "Good job for yelling at a
girl who is by
herself, real classy guy". He kinda just went "uhhh" and stood there speechless. I mean seriously, are there no boundaries anymore? What kind of grown-ass man talks trash to a
girl who is
alone? I do not know ANY Beaver men who would do such a thing unprovoked, yet I encountered many UO fans who did just that.
OK. I feel better now to have gotten these things off of my chest. All things considered, it was still a great football game last night. It's been a long time (if ever?) that the Civil War has been played for the Rose Bowl. We might not have won the game, but how far we've come in the last decade is pretty amazing and I am super proud to be a part of Beaver Nation. Being a "blue-collar" school to me is not an insult, but a compliment. We may not be fancy, or have multi-million dollar locker-rooms, or 2,347 different uniform combinations, but we do have this special little thing called class. And to me, that is something Phil Knight's money can't buy.
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Beautiful night for a showdown
Highway to Hell
I know you can't read it, but this guy's sign said "Oregon is the Paris Hilton of college football". Couldn't have said it better myself.
Marching downfield after recovering a fumble
Red-zone offense going to work
The Beaver's final TD
Beaver Believers for life!
Up by 9, time for Blount to make an appearance...
Battling it out for Roses
A beautiful, but chilly Oregon night for a football game
