It’s said that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. By that same token, there’s more than one way for fans to approach a big game. And while the most dedicated of the bunch might disagree, I ride with anyone who has a plan and sticks with it in regard to what gets them and their team what they want most — a win.
This topic is especially apt this week as Oregon Duck fans playout the clock over the final days of what’s been a long year awaiting the arrival of one of the program’s historically biggest home games.
I’m old enough to remember contests against No. 3-ranked Michigan in 2003; Adrian Peterson’s Oklahoma team in 2006; games against then iconic USC teams in 2007 and 2009; there was a game against SEC power Tennessee in 2013; and even by “Civil War” standards, very weighty rivalry games in 2001 and 2009, the latter of which decided the conference’s champion and Rose Bowl representative.
But this weekend’s game against Ohio State is the first against a conference foe but unfamiliar iconic power and blue blood of the college game, who in years past would have more frequently bought their way out of games at Autzen Stadium opposed to measure themselves against the Ducks between the home lines.
With that in mind, Duck fans can’t help but be excited to see the scarlet and gray on display in Eugene Saturday afternoon, but at the same time nervous about what those same colors represent to their standing in, hopes for, and dreams of when it comes to the 2024-25 college football season.
This game means a lot. There are the national rankings to consider, playoff positioning going forward, and of course Big 10 conference championship ramifications. But aside from the tangible benefits, it’s also an opportunity for an Oregon program to make equal strides in their 30-year quest to be taken seriously as one of and amongst the game’s elite.
Dan Lanning knows that, his players probably do too, and I assure you Duck fans do as well, which is why many will be handling their game-time preparations and protocols accordingly.
Fans by definition are fanatical. Most have routines they follow, clothes they wear, drinks they do or don’t consume before or during games, even places they will or won’t watch, along with people they will or won’t watch with.
Many arrive early, others late, some even get on site only to watch from a distance at tailgaters or in offsite facilities in the interest of results that were or will certainly be the biproduct of any or all of the above.
Sound crazy? It should, but at the same time it should make complete sense to at least half of you who could be convinced of nothing less.
On paper and in a scientific world, your shirt, shoes, hat, food you eat, where or with whom you watch the game, the television announcers, and/or the weather before kickoff don’t matter. There’s no direct link between you and your actions and what happens on the field.
But in the mystical world of sports fandom, one in which 2-plus-2 doesn’t necessarily equally four, water can in fact be turned to wine (or a light domestic), and pigs under the right circumstances can fly, it all matters and all can or will be linked directly to everything that happens on the field.
If you know what or of whom I speak, you’re either “that guy” or very familiar with he or she.
You’re also either down with or appalled by the mystical forces of which they subscribe, or simply a subscriber.
I’ve been both over the years, so while I understand, I also have been forced to take some long and rough looks in the mirror during and after a few games in my lifetime, and not been particularly fond of what stares back.
How about you?
Whatever your answer or whomever you might be as a fan during one of your team’s most intense games, it’s okay. After-all, while it might in the moment equate to a painstaking and somewhat embarrassing existence, it’s also part of what makes being a fan so great.
Good luck Oregon, but also good luck to all of you Oregon fans — who or however you are is fine with me.
Local News
