Where I Come From: How I Became An Oregon Duck Fan

I’ve always been a big fan, but my devotion to the Ducks got even stronger when I moved to Chicago in 2004. I was stuck in the Midwest and I made some good friends but none of them really cared about sports, or if they did it was strictly Bears, Bulls and Cubs. I am so thankful that I got connected with the U of O alumni group, the Chicago ATQ posse, and the whole gang at Witts Bar & Grill. So many great memories of hanging out, drinking and watching games with you guys! It sure made living in the Midwest a lot more tolerable.

Now that I’m back in Portland, it’s great to be in Duckland, but I already miss those good times with the Chitown Ducks!
 

Growing up in Eugene, in a family that watched a lot of college football, being a Duck fan was a natural fit. We never had season tickets, but I was able to go to many games…especially in the 70s and 80s when a Civil War win and a couple home wins over the likes of San Diego State or San Jose State was the definition of a successful season.

I recall a season in the mid-80s when the Ducks tied both USC and Notre Dame. That seemed to mark a change in the program. The biggest college programs had to take Oregon seriously. I played my high school ball at Autzen, and watched a couple former teammates go on to play for the Ducks. I still get goosebumps walking into that stadium.

The Bill Musgrave era solidified my emotional bond with Duck football. For those of us who grow up with the Ducks of old, that first Independence Bowl invite was something special. It’s been a great ride ever since. I doubt I’ll ever forget slipping out of a friend’s wedding reception, listening in my car as Patrick Johnson dismantled the Huskies in Seattle.

Like Jared, I left Eugene for college, then my career took me from Portland to Spokane to Seattle. Thanks to a good friend in Eugene, I was able to come home and see at least one game each season. I watched any game I could…at home, at a bar, eventually on the internet if necessary. I never thought my career would bring me back to Eugene, but here I am. This year will be my second as a season ticket holder. I’m looking forward to another winning season at Oregon, and to another handful of Saturdays hanging out with Dom, Shufelt and other ATQ friends along the banks of the millrace.

Both my folks were born in Oregon and both went to law school at U of O, my Dad’s Dad is actually a Beaver, so I’m very glad he managed to buck that trend at 1 generation.

My earliest memories are of going to a cold rainy stadium that apparently was Autzen, though I find it hard to believe because we now know that it never rains there. The first actual game I can remember was going to Parker Stadium for the 1990 Civil War, it was 36º and raining sheets. Six to freakin’ three, I mean, really?!?

I’m not actually sure how I grew to like football and later love my Ducks after suffering through such aweful weather and not much better quality football, but somehow the seed was planted.

I also went back East for college and quickly learned that sports bars with satellite TV were a man’s best friend. I remember watching the 2003 Michigan game in a sports bar in Colorado Springs full of soon-to-be-disappointed UM fans, me and the 10 other Ducks banded together to have one hech of an experience!

Since, I have moved even further away, down to South America and now watch every game through the Internet (love you Al Gore!). Streaming gets better every year and now with only a 3 second delay or so I can actually enjoy each game with my Dad through Skype.

The Ducks really are one of our connections and boy I can’t think of a better way to spend Saturdays than ‘getting together’ with Pops and watching the game even if we are 10,000 miles apart.

Our new tradition has been to meet up for the Bowl games, going to the Holiday and Rose the past 2 years. This year I’m shooting for a mid-season trip up north and am planning on both UCLA and then hopefully watching the Ducks make good on their recent troubles in the Coliseum. This year we take down ’SC at ’SC!

I started going to a couple games a year when I was 6 thanks to the tickets that my mom’s law firm bought each year. The two guys in front of us (I can’t remember their names) would let me stand on the backs of their bleachers so that I could see over the crowd.d

The first game I remember going to is the 2000 Nevada ass-kicking when we put up 70 points. I remember also becoming very scared of the Kenny Wheaton INT when it was shown on Duckvison (Seriously, I would have nightmares about it).

The season that really solidified my lifelong commitment to the U of O was the 2001 combo of the Fiesta Bowl—I was 9 so I didn’t really understand why the people were so pissed off at the BCS—and the basketball season of Luke, Luke and Freddie. I’ll never forget seeing Joey Harrington sitting in the student section like it was no big deal, and that to me symbolizes the low-key success that the UO athletic programs have had up to this point.

By the time I got to high school, I was an addict, and I think that’s when I signed up for this website in passing, and then forgot about it for like 2 years. I remember the USC game, and getting up @ 2 AM to bike down to gameday, and realizing that I could swerve between 3 lanes of traffic on Oak Street towards EWEB because there were no cars. That was also the same time that I hit a tree, and subsequently bought a helmet light. (come to think of it, I do remember seeing the gameday crew at the 2000 UCLA game, and not knowing who they were).

I remember the ASU game, and being sure that DD was just fine. I remember swearing at the television when he went down against AZ, and the agony of watching our Pac-10 hopes crumble that night. I also remember being so distraught, that I dont think I did any homework for like 4 days. School was like a morgue the next day.

I remember thinking that Justin Roper was the next Joey. Oops.

In 2008, my parents left the Boise State game to get a jump on traffic to portland at the start of the 4th quarter. I took great pride in calling them to tell them that we were down 10, and the place was rockin. I also remember in 2006 during the Oklahoma game, the glee i felt calling my dad 10 minutes after he had called me to offer “condolences” (he’s an OSU grad) and making him look like a dumbass in front of 20 guys at the driving range.

The joy I felt during the ride from halloween last year, when I toughed out that game through the remnants of H1N1 (damn near killed myself I think), all the way through the civil war, when I easily brushed off a security guard, and spent 10 minutes helping to hold Kenjon Barner atop the mosh pit around the O. Seriously, that night you could have told me that someone crashed a plane into the Rose Garden, and I would have told them to fuck off, I’ll worry about that in the morning.

I don’t know where i’ll be going to college yet, but chances are it’ll be the U of O, where i’ll get to join CaDuck, and at some point TQA8 in carrying the ATQ banner throughout campus, teaching the pit crew the pussycal song, and getting blasted after games. GO DUCKS.

A few years ago I decided that I didn’t really want to spend the rest of my life in the area of the country I grew up in and after doing some research I honed my search down to the Pac NW. Luckily enough my wife had a friend who lived in Portland and offerd to show us around. It’s hard to describe but the second I got off the plane I knew that this was were I wanted to live and raise my family. Now that I had a region to live in I had to see if I could take a liking to any teams. Having grown up being a rabid NFL fan(Giants) and college bball fan (Duke… I know, I know but my mother went there so I really didn’t have a choice) I always loved watching college football but Duke sucked so I just watched games instead of rooting for a particular team.
After my love affair with the area started that was when I stubbled upon this site and the Ducks. I knew the bascis about the Ducks but it wasn’t till I learned about the coach (Bellotti) and the high standards he set fo his team that I started gaining interest in the team. I wouldn’t say I became the hardcore fan I am today until the 2007 season. The way they played, the stadium they played in, and just everything about them. I have been a die hard Duck since then and I can’t wait for the day that I am finally out that way and can catch a game at Autzen with my children w/o having to fly cross country and hook up with my friend in Seattle.
My love has grown to the point that I one day hope to be accepted to the school of ed and earn a diploma with the heading “University of Oregon”. What I lost growing up I have made sure to not let happen to my kids. They both have various size Duck gear and are able to spot the green and yellow with a hardy ‘GO DUCKS’.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everything ATQ does because without this site I am not sure if I would be able to get my daily allotment of quack.

My story of becoming a Duck is a little less traditional than the stories of many posters here and Duck fans everywhere. I did not grow up in Oregon, and nobody in my family has ever attended UO, let alone been a big-time Duck fan. I am the first of hopefully many in my family to be a Duck.

I grew up, and still live in San Diego (for another few months anyways), so I have never been surrounded by many Duck fans. I first became exposed to the state of Oregon, and UO when I visited my Uncle’s new place in Portland about ten years ago (it sucks that the Pearl district is really yuppy and “boutique-ey” now. I blame Starbucks! But so long as Escape From New York Pizza is alive, that area will always have a special place in my heart!).

 My first time in Portland, I was instantly amazed at how much UO pride and Duck gear was everywhere. It was during that trip that I was drawn to the Ducks. People have asked me why I became a Duck fan, and I can narrow it down to that time, but I still cannot explain why/how I became drawn to the Ducks. It is a strange and surreal feeling just thinking about this now, I have come to the conclusion that it just plain happened that way. I guess I was born a Duck after all.

I became a Duck football fan during the 2007 Michigan game. Watching Dennis Dixon, Jonathan Stewart, and Brian Paysinger tear apart the Wolverines was a beautiful sight. I remember giving my buddy who is a huge Mich fan hell the next day in class. Beating USC and ASU, we were on top of the world. Then Dennis fell, and the rest is unfortunate history. My first Duck football game that I attended was the 2008 Holiday Bowl against Oklahoma State. Masoli and Blount will always be remembered in a positive light in my eyes because of this game.

The first time I actually visited Eugene was during the summer of 2009. I toured the campus and went all over the city, and I was hooked. I knew that I was going to end up at UO right then. I only applied to a handful of schools because I knew where I wanted to go all along. I got into every school that I applied to, but I knew that there was only one acceptance letter that mattered. I look forward to going to introDucktion with my Dad this summer, I look forward to beginning classes in the fall, attending games at Autzen and meeting the ATQ regulars, and finally I look forward to drinking decent tap water for once!

Since I never went to or was ever going to go to either Oregon or OSU and my family was from back east, with no connections to either school, my allegiance was up for grabs. Something about that Oregon team in 1994/95 made me change that. I went to my first game at Autzen the next year (in the pre-video board days) and haven’t looked back since.

Now I am more intense about each Oregon football game than i am about any other sports event (thanks to the fact that they mean so much).

but this is as good a time as any to go over it again.

I was the first in my family to be a sports fan at all. I fell in love with baseball first, then basketball. I watched a lot of the Mariners, Braves, and Blazers growing up. But, even though I went to elementary school in Junction City, just outside of Eugene, didn’t really pay attention to the Ducks until my boy scout troop ushered a couple of games at Autzen (could you imagine freaking boy scout troops ushering Autzen now?) during the ‘94 Rose Bowl season (Washington and Kenny Wheaton being one of those games). I didn’t really know a lot about football, but could sense the excitement around it. I remember being on a boy scout campout during the 94 Civil War, with everyone huddled around a little battery powered radio listening to the game and high fiving each other when it was over. The Rose Bowl was the first game I had ever watched on TV.

That was the start of me being a UO fan, but I was only casual at that point. I was still way more into MLB and the NBA (also didn’t have cable much growing up), and watched the Ducks when I was home, they were on, and I had nothing else to do. I considered myself a fan, but wasn’t keeping tabs a whole lot besides a couple of TV games a season and looking in the box score.

It wasn’t until I got into high school that I became a devoted fan. I had moved to Oakridge by this point, and my high school PE teacher and baseball coach was Marty Lees, now associate head baseball coach for the Bavers (who is a great guy that I really root for). But he would give a good ribbing and a lot of trash talk to anyone he perceived to have Duck loyalties. Instead of making me like OSU (perish the thought), this had the effect of solidifying my UO loyalties and making it so that I managed to watch most football games and a lot of basketball, too (and I still remember being in class watching and everyone watching the UO NCAA tournament game vs. Seton Hall instead of doing any work).

My senior year of high school, I started dating a UO student (now my wife), so when it came time to pick a college there was only one that I applied to. This is where I turned into a hard core fan, never missing a football or basketball game.

Finally, a few months after I finshed my masters, and a few days after the Oklahoma game, Peter Bean noticed a few comments that I had left on the Sporting News website and got a hold of me and asked if I wanted to join SBN. Never did I dream four years ago that I would be follwing recruiting, tailgating before games with tons of people, constantly clicking ‘refresh’ to see if the NCAA golf scores had been updated yet, watching track and softball on TV, and getting into long debates about backup linebackers and thrid string quarterbacks. It has gotten pretty hardcore, but has been a great ride.

I became a Duck fan because of this site and our recent two-year series. A pair of classic games against great friendly competition will do that. I was intrigued when Oregon was announced on our future schedules. I love seeing Purdue play teams they don’t normally play. It certainly beats the typical run of MAC teams we seem to rotate every 10 years. I looked forward to the game in West Lafayette for some time and it certainly did not disappoint. I wanted to come out to Autzen last year, but circumstances made it not possible. From what I saw on TV though I got hooked even more. I now watch three teams on Saturdays: Purdue, Miami (my wife’s team) and Oregon. it helps she is a long-time Duck fan as well. She’s actually been to Autzen once for the Civil War and between that and the experience Purdue had it is definitely high on my list of places I want to go.

Both of my parents went to Oregon. So growing up it has always felt right. Living in Seattle and being a Duck was hard when we would get beat by UW. But I always wear my gear proud. It was great driving down every Saturday morning or Friday night to Eugene for football games. I would always love to talk about the games the following day. When I went to the Rose Bowl this year it was my favorite moment as a Duck, sure I have been to countless games that turned out better than the Rose, like my first civil war (the fog bowl) when Snoop just ran through the OSU D, or always beating UW to rub it in my friends faces. Now getting ready to apply for schools my dream is Oregon, I hope I get accepted but even if I don’t go their. I will always be a DUCK and support them NO MATTER WHAT.

SELL OUTS

I didn’t grow up a Duck fan – no one in my family had attended Oregon or were fans of the Oregon sports teams. Growing up in my house it was all Blazers all the time. We had season tickets forever, and it was our life. Our house was all boys besides me so many sports were popular and I enjoyed most of them, but I don’t think I had ever watched an entire college football game before I arrived on the Oregon campus for school.

Then, the scales fell from my eyes. College football, and specifcally, the Ducks became The Greatest Sport Ever Invented by Mankind. I have have been rabid since the first game I saw at Autzen back in the Bill Musgrave days. Now, I’m raising a second generation of Duck fans so they too can feel the sporadic tragedy and the total JOY of being a Duck.

I grew up rooting for Oregon mostly because I was local. A graduate of Thurston HS, I went on to LCC and then to Oregon for a year and a half before I quit school to focus on the full-time job I’d had for the past year. It was just too hard trying to juggle enough credits to finish my teaching degree and I was making good money at the time so I felt I had to make a choice.

I never went to an Oregon game until I was in college, and then I found out what I’d been missing. The raw energy of the student section is something everyone can experience at a Duck game whether you are a student or just near that section. This was back in the early ’80s and of course back then it was before we started getting national attention. Even though we had a losing season that year, 2-9, I was there when they beat Pacific 34-0. This was 1981 and the Ducks became my team.

I had gotten involved with volleyball right out of HS and played, officiated and coached for 25 years. Volleyball was also another way I became a bigger Duck fan. At the time, 1984-87 Chris Voltz was head coach and she took our Lady Ducks to the nationals. I made some great life-long friends during those years, and would later take my officiating to a higher level and actually do PAC-10 games where I did matches from Washington down to California as well as OSU and Oregon games.

I didn’t become a rabid Duck fan until eight years ago. I started a new job at a mill in Halsey, Oregon and I’d always been a quiet, respectful fan of all Oregon sports. I didn’t realize there were so many Baver fans until I started working with all these people who, for the most part, had never attended a football game in their lives. That changed me, seeing all these semi-football-educated fans who just jumped on the OSU bandwagon because some of their fellow workers were fans. There is a pretty close-knit group of Duck fans at my mill, but because of the Baver fans, I’ve had to become (or felt I had to become) an Oregon cheerleader. And I’ve daily donned green and yellow ever since.