Go Ducks!

Get excited sports fans as the Ducks are headed to the Rose Bowl.  Non sports fans please hang in there with me as I promise I will try to make this interesting and not painful.

I wasn't really a football fan until we moved to Eugene in 2006.  I had watched countless Super Bowl games.  Some I watched for the actual game like when I was little and the Redskins were playing and we had family over to the house to watch.  Then in College I watched several more as that is what you do if you are a marketing major at Emerson.  Oh the papers.  The thought still makes me cringe.  Even after watching these games I didn't really understand what was going on and to tell you the truth I didn't really care.  With this said,  all of this changed when we came west.  Living in Eugene makes it kinda hard not to be a Ducks football fan and I wanted to share my top ten reasons why you should be one too.

1) The whole town is decked out in green and yellow....all the time.  Driving into Eugene in 2006 I was met with billboards with players on them.  How cool would that be to be a college athlete and have your face on a billboard?  You go to the bank or grocery store or really anywhere on a Saturday (or many other days for that matter) and every staff member has their Ducks gear on as well as the patrons.  It is really lovely to live some place with that much school spirit.

2) Chip Kelly.  I don't know a whole lot about other coaches but I am constantly impressed with him.  He is innovative, straight forward, humble, and you can see that he really cares about his players.  You never see him yell at a player.  Instead you see a hug, a pat on the back, or a smile.  He never seems to be shaken up by a player.  He also seems to be a really classy guy.  I read a story that an angry fan wrote him a letter after the Boise State fiasco game in 2009.  The fan was so upset by their performance and by their star athlete punching a Boise State player that he requested a refund of his travel expenses (a total over $400).  Chip Kelly wrote the guy a personal check and sent it to him in the mail.  The guy was apparently so shocked that he sent the check back but only after taking a photo for posterity.  He really does seem to be a solid guy.  Also, he seems to have an unlimited selection of fresh Oregon visors.  I love that he wears visors.

3) The players and pace keep things interesting.  Cliff even watches games!  That is huge.  He even knows names and can recount plays that occurred in past games.  It is just really fun to watch the Ducks play.  Chip Kelly is nuts and you never know if the is going to call a two point conversion (sometimes with no real need to do so) or go for it when they are 4th and 9.  LaMichael James always seems to find a hole and manages to spin and roll off defenders like it is no problem at all.  They catch interceptions all the time.  It is just so fun to watch!  The whole team is solid.  Also, how often do you see other teams have several touch down drives in under two minutes?

Photo from greenwichtime.com

4) The Oregon mascot Puddles the duck.  He is awesome.  Not only does he do pushups every time the Ducks score but he is also quite a character (well as much as one can be when they are in a huge mascot outfit).  A few years ago he got into a little skirmish with the Houston Cougar mascot.  Dad and I were at the game and I won't lie...the fight was enjoyable.  You can watch it here on YouTube.  My favorite part is at the end when he kicks over their cheerleading cone.  I know that it is not very sportsman like but...come one....they're mascots.  Also, he has "Andy" written on the bottom of his foot just like all of Andy's toys in Toy Story.  Come on....how could you not love him?

5) Team spirit makes my day.  Probably my favorite moment of the entire season occurred last week during the Civil War game with Oregon State.  The Ducks had a large lead so they swapped in their second string offensive line in the 4th quarter.  When the second string folks scored a touchdown on the Beavers the camera person showed the sidelines and Darron Thomas and LaMichael James were flipping out.  They were so excited.  Honestly it looked like they peed their pants.  The camaraderie is truly wonderful to watch.  Seeing people so happy and proud makes me tear up.  Those who have watched the movie Rudy with me know that I am a mess when it comes to team spirit and people being proud.  It makes me so happy.  Watching the Ducks is no different.

6) Autzen stadium is a crazy place.  First off it looks like this huge stadium in the middle of nowhere (it is on the other side of the river away from the main part of campus).  All around the stadium you see beautiful, beautiful hills and buttes.  It is loud.  Oh man is it loud.  When we first moved here Dad took Cliff and I to the Oklahoma game.  It was so loud that it gave Cliff a full on migraine almost immediately.  He spent a majority of the game in the concession area with his head between his legs.  We didn't want to see him sick so we left early and watched the rest from a nearby pizza place (Track Town Pizza...amazing).  It is seriously that loud.  Cliff will never go to another game with me because it is honestly that loud.  In fact, it was named the second loudest stadium in the country.  LSU is apparently worse but they have over 30,000 more fans in seats.  Crazy.  It is a loud place but it is a lot of fun.  Also, they sell kettle corn which makes it a winner in my book any day.

7) I always get a little emotional before spectator events (musicals, sporting events, parades, etc.).  I honestly will start to tear up a little when a marching band starts to play and fans go crazy.  Why?  Who knows.  Events just make me a little weepy...but in a good way.  The beginning of a Duck game is pretty epic.  First everyone is going crazy and then the Duck rides out on a freaking motorcycle.  Football players are running, cheerleaders and flipping all around, those big green Oregon flags are flying down the field, and the Duck is on a motorcycle.  I love it.  Dad loves it.  It is awesome.  I know this is really an odd thing to keep going on about but I don't care because it is that cheesy and amazing.  I have been to three games and every time I take a video of the opening.  I would love to post one but they are all too large to embed so please go here to see the event in all its glory. 

8) After every Ducks win there is always someone in the neighborhood that sets off green and yellow fireworks.  It happened in Springfield three years ago and it happens here in Eugene almost every Saturday.  Our gun shy dog is not really a big fan of the practice but he is slowly getting use to it.  Seriously, the game ended over an hour ago and there are still fireworks going off around town.  Insane.

9) The fall is already an amazing time but when you add in college football it becomes even better.  In Williamsburg, I would tailgate and hang out with family before the Old Dominion games.  Here Cliff and I get settled in and eat pizza, chili, and other amazingly bad for you foods.  Oregon also has some nice micro beers which makes a meal a little more enjoyable.  It is a bit chilly outside and it just feels right.  Food and football go together.

10)  College football is just fun.  It has surprised me how much I have enjoyed becoming a football fan.

Thanks for letting me geek out a bit tonight.  Hope I didn't bore you too much but I was overwhelmed with school spirit and wanted to share.

Go Ducks!