by Josh Seech
I regretted waiting until 4:00 to go to sleep as my alarm went off at 6:30. I didn’t get out of bed until 7:10am, but I was prepared for my most in-depth story to date – one that places me in almost certain danger.
I was going undercover to an Oregon State University football game.
I was born in Sacramento, CA, and I’ve been supporting California teams since a wee lad. I supported some teams out of pure love while I supported others simply because they were from the area. Living in Oregon for over 16 years has made me love our local heroes as well. I get the divine pleasure of watching the L.A. Lakers (Go Lakers!) play at the Rose Garden and go head to head with the Blazers. Up until a few years ago, I didn’t care about college football and barely knew it existed. After a good friend of mine made me watch USC play Washington; I decided I was indeed a Trojan fan (the football team guys).
(Editor’s Note: F the Lakers)
Shortly thereafter, I started realizing how big college football really is, and learned about the constant battle that is being fought between Oregon’s 2 biggest teams—the Ducks and the Beavers. I used to scoff at the notion, I mean, who cares right? Wrong. A lot of people care. I was, and still am, fairly neutral; however, after attending a few Duck games last season, I continued cheering them on as they made it all the way to the BCS bowl, was yelling “OOOoooooo” and wearing green and yellow. Some Duck fans would occasionally muse about how awful the Beavers were, and how the fans were equally as bad. They painted a picture of Reeser Stadium being the equivalent of a project in the slums of New York. Without seeing it for myself I had little choice but to believe it. I would hear about how bad Beaver fans would treat you for being a Duck fan – it was like rival gangs in 1980’s Compton. Some Beaver fans would often remark about how the Duck’s always had the easier schedule and didn’t deserve the attention. Duck players were constantly in the news and getting in trouble; this made for a media and social frenzy debating whether or not the Ducks were cheating and made the integrity of the team questionable.
So when I was offered to come along to tailgate at the Beavers vs UCLA game, you can imagine why I was a little nervous. I woke up and was tense about what I was going to wear. Not because I wanted to be fashionable and pick up chicks (it was still a huge factor though); it was more because I didn’t want to get beat up for wearing the wrong gear. Not owning anything orange, I went with a safe color scheme: Black, Red and White (Go Blazers!). I felt like I was in a movie, and that I was the charming and good looking cop going undercover in a gang and having to figure out how to blend in.
It was foggy in Corvallis. Exactly what I expected, I knew that those dirty Beavers were going to do everything they could to ambush me. I was with die-hard Duck fan, Justin Woodford, who was dressed in an entire Duck outfit. I thought this was a good thing; after all now he can draw the majority of the attention so I could regain the element of surprise when they finally did make their attack. We arrive at our destination, a small parking lot, full of orange and black covered vehicles and well, everything was orange and black. There were families playing Frisbee and enjoying all sorts of country music… Their first attack was made through their musical selections. I was caught off guard – Where were all the heathens? Justin and I walked over to our friend Richard’s group of friends and were welcomed with handshakes, smiles and cold beer. “What is their plan?!” I wondered. No one even seemed to care or notice that two duck fans had just penetrated their turf. In fact, everyone was really friendly. Coming from bad neighborhoods, nice people freak me out. I assumed they had ulterior motives. After inspecting my beer for any traces of poison; I took a small yet audible sip. I scanned my audience, and the lack of a reaction led me to believe my beer was safe to drink.
An hour passed, and still no one was chasing me around with a pitchfork and homemade torch. Nobody was even rude. Then, just as I considered letting my guard down, the first Beaver fan made their move; they said “Go Beavs!” at Justin and I! Another hour passes. Nothing.
Where were the mobs of fans waiting to take their turn throwing stones at us? Why had everyone always made it seem like these fans were so vicious? In fact, out of all of the games I have gone to Beaver fans have been the nicest. A woman allowed my two friends and me to sit under her canopy to escape the sun, and a young man gave me some jell-o shots just because I was there and not because of my preference in team. Reeser Stadium was beautiful – although there is still something simply breath taking about Autzen; Reeser was not the run down place I had been led to believe.
Although the Beavers would go on to lose their game, while the Ducks beat Arizona – starting a new batch of slanderous remarks from one team’s fans to another… I witnessed something greater. I got to walk with a group of Ducks amongst the Beavers and not have one person say or do anything to harm us. They were just like us—enjoying the surprise of the Sun coming out. Here is proof that we really can overcome and surpass the drama of which school is better. Die hard Beaver fan Richard Foster and Duck fanatic Justin Woodford standing together in peace. Now, if we could only get those Boise State fans to stop hating on Oregon teams as a whole, we could finally know peace.
Just kidding Boise fans.
For anyone who has never been tailgating or to a football game in general, it has become one of my favorite pass times. I am looking forward to another great Ducks football season, and to attending both school’s games frequently for years to come. If you are going to be out there, let us know. We would love to see you and no matter what team you support, we’ll be glad that we can have something to support in the first place.
Yelling “O”, throwing the L.A. sign with my hands, wondering when Greg Oden is going to dominate, and neutral til Civil War…
I am Joshua “this is my Meta-World-Piece” Seech