Civil War Enactment

In about 3 hours, the 113th Civil War game will kick off at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.

In the history of the game, the stakes have never been higher.  The winner will go to the Rose Bowl.  If the University of Oregon Ducks lose, they’ll end up in the Holiday Bowl.  If the Oregon State Beavers lose, they’ll be subjugated to some other, crappier bowl, and may even have to travel to El Paso.  In 1910, the game ended in a riot.  For a few years, the Civil War even featured, in my opinion, the most awesome trophy in college football, an abstract art piece known as the Platypus Trophy.  Both teams enter this year’s  game with embarrassing internetry.

Now, I’m a Duck fan, and I have been for most of my life.  I didn’t attend either school, but when I was young I liked their colors, and I liked Bill Musgrave and Derek Loville.  I’ve spent the last 15 years as an avid Oregon fan.  Some people have a problem with college football fans who didn’t attend a school, but, in defense of myself and my non-college graduate fans, it’s not like we have a pro team to root for.  Most Oregonians are reluctant to support the Seahawks due to their association with our rival city to the north, so this is what we choose.

I’m going to admit something here that may be blasphemy to most Duck fans: I like Oregon State, too.

I mean, I’m an Oregonian.  I like when my state does well.  I loved it when the Beavers won two College World Series.  I rooted for them when they crushed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl in 2001, and when they beat the Irish again in the Insight.com Bowl three years later.  I like Chad Ochocinco and Gary Payton is one of my favorite basketball players of all-time.  My sister is a sophomore in Corvallis.  In fact, I root for them against everyone except the Oregon Ducks.

I’m not the only one.  Most of my friends are secondary Beaver fans, too.

I’ve noticed this phenomenon doesn’t cut both ways.  Oregon State fans do not root for the Ducks.  To make a broad generalization, the Beavers hate the Ducks, and the Ducks merely dislike the Beavers.

I have a theory about this: rivalries like this stem from envy.  In the state of Oregon, U of O is the evil empire.  They are bolstered by gobs of money from boosters like Nike founder Phil Knight.  The Ducks are generally more successful, garnering national attention more easily with their flashy offenses, weird uniform combinations, and routinely higher national rankings.  Eugene is a larger, more important city, with a decidedly hippy-ish vibe, while Corvallis is known for frat boys, heavy alcohol consumption, and dirty play on and off the field.  When it comes to the Civil War, it’s Maraschino cherries versus Animal House; Nike versus Reser’s Fine Foods; marijuana against roofies.

Oregon fans are far more likely to rail against the University of Washington for the same reasons.  Until the last decade or so, the Huskies were a Pac-10 powerhouse, winning four national titles (the most recent being capture in 1991).  They represent Seattle, a city Oregonians resent due to it’s status as the largest city in the Pacific Northwest.  It’s about haves and have-nots, and though the Huskies haven’t had much since 2001, Duck fans relish the purple and gold downfall, and probably come off as jerks these days to UW supporters.¹

I don’t have a real point here, other than to say this Civil War should be a great game.  If the Ducks win, I’ll be ecstatic.  If not, I’ll still have a shred of happiness deep in my heart for the Beavers.  The Rose Bowl is a big deal, and I’m just glad my home state will be represented, and that the University of Arizona is still irrelevant.²

On second thought, never mind about all that pro-Beaver stuff.  GO DUCKS!³