Ducks Go Full Retro for UW Game

If the annual rivalry between Oregon and Washington football has lacked a bit of spark over the past 10 years becasue the Ducks have doled out 10 beat downs in a row, well, the UO just provided it.

To mark the 20th anniversary of "The Pick" by UO cornerback Kenny Wheaton, Oregon unveiled the throwback uniforms they'll wear this weekend against the Huskies.

Oregon Retro Uniforms for Game Oct 18, 2014

As a Duck fan, this is AWESOME! Those uniforms were great and the win against UW back in 1994 set in motion a run to a Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl appearance that year and a whole lot of change in Oregon football (and athletics generally) after that...giving rise to what we have now.

And of course, UO fans will revel in the uniforms and the exhilaration of "Wheaton is gonna score!" all while hoping to Hell the Ducks prevail once again. After all, if you lose wearing these uniforms and all they stand for - at minimum you look a bit foolish and at maximum you actual tarnish the history some. Not much, but some.

If I was a Husky fan, I'd be pissed off. This is a direct slap in the face...rubbing Dawg noses in not only the dramatic pick-six but also the 20 year dominance of UO over UW (15-4 since 1994). 

And hence the spark the rivalry needs. You can be sure the Seattle media will cover this angle - reminding all Dawg fans of that fateful day 20 years ago and amping them up with a bloodthirsty desire for revenge.  

Oregon Retro Uniforms for Game Oct 18, 2014

Ironically, the players on both sides probably don't care too much one way or the other as they were either babies or not even born back in 1994.

Yes, both teams want to win the game bad, but for their own reasons this season and not because of what happened two decades ago...and they are certainly not motivated by what one team will wear.

No, this weekend UO players are more or less just indulging Oregon fans by donning the retro gear. 

Meanwhile, UW players don't have any memory of those uniforms either. To them its just some new combo in the ever changing lineup of colors and designs trotted out by Oregon. 

How will all this play out? Well, check back Thursday for my Pac-12 predictions post. 

In the meantime, check out my personal UO vs. UW football history post from this week.

A Decade of Duck Dominance - Oregon, Washington

It's that week of the college football season. If you live in Washington or Oregon, you know what I mean. It's the week the University of Oregon and University of Washington football teams square off in a bitter, bitter boarder rivalry.

Hate and war...at least among the fan bases.

As a UO grad who grew up in Seattle and who lives there now, it's also a week that determines how much crap I'll get from UW fans for the following twelve months. This year, the plan is to gather with a mixed group of UO and UW friends to watch the game at a local pub. We'll see how that goes!

As we collectively prep for the big game, I thought I'd take a few minutes for a pre-emptive strike against my UW "friends" to remind them how lop-sided the "rivalry" has been recently.

First, historically Washington owns the advantage in the overall record of the rivalry. Give them their due. Stretching back over the past 114 years, UW has won 58 of the games to 43 for Oregon. There have been five ties over the years too. The long stretches of UW dominance over the decades is what built up the bitterness among Oregon fans for Washington football. Or, more accurately, hate for Washington football fans. Yep. The unmitigated arrogance and condescending attitude from many UW fans is why it was so sweet when the Ducks won in 1994 on the famous Kenny Wheaton interception and why regularly kicking Husky butt nowadays is such a pleasure.

Speaking of which, over the past 20 years Oregon has won 15 of the battles with Washington while UW has won four. The teams didn't play in 2001. And over the last 10 years it's been 100% all Oregon winning the games - all by substantial margins. Right now, the compelling nature of this game every year is if, when, where and how will Washington win again. My prediction is not this year. Their best shot is going to be in 2015.

Below is a re-cap of the "decade of Duck dominance" with games I personally attended marked with a *. I've added a few recollections too.

2013 in Seattle*. UO 45-UW 24. As a Seattle resident, I remember hearing many in the Seattle sports media saying that UW really had a great chance to win and probably would. So much so that I actually started believing them and was nervous about it. I need not have worried. Oregon QB Marcus Mariota had a huge day, throwing three TD passes and 366 yards through the air. He ran for 88 yards and a TD as well. This game was close through the first half, then snowballed in Oregon's favor in the second half. A friend and I sat in the Oregon section way, way, way up in the rafters of the renovated Husky Stadium. Oh, and the only crap I received from a UW fan was pretty weak...before the game in "The Zone" eating and drinking area a very inebriated UW student walked up to me and slurred out, "Your shirt fucking sucks." He stood there droopy eyed and repeated his statement, expecting me to react. I just ignored him. He eventually shambled away.

2012 in Eugene. UO 52-UW 21. This was the first boarder rivalry game played by UO QB Mariota. He did well, throwing for four TDs. The Oregon D also had a "pick six" off UW QB Keith Price.

2011 in Seattle*. UO 34-UW 17. This turned out to be the "closest" game across the ten year stretch of consecutive Duck wins. It was also a night game and the last to be played in the old Husky Stadium before the renovation project was to begin. Note, not the last Oregon vs. Washington game before the remodel...no, the last game ever in the old structure. What happened? Oregon won. That's what. UO RB LaMichael James had a big night running the ball. I sat in the old west end-zone section with Oregon fans. This was one of the worst places to watch a game at old Husky Stadium because of how far you are from the action. And, it's why UW allocated that section for visitors tickets.

I recall going out on the concourse at halftime and witnessing two incidence of abuse by UW fans. First, standing in line to get a hot dog...all of a sudden a body comes flying into my back, making me stumble forward. Turns out, a UW fan had shoved an Oregon fan and that fan fell into me. Wheeling around, I saw that the offending person was young and clearly drunk. He wanted to fight anyone not wearing purple. Some cooler-headed Husky fans somehow got him out of there before security showed up. The next thing that happened was standing in line to use the restroom. The way Husky Stadium was constructed at the time was that fans with seats at the very top of the U-shaped west end zone section could turn around and look directly down on the concourse. It happened that a drunk 50-something UW fan had done just that and was shouting abuse at Oregon fans as we waited in line to go to the restroom. Between his stream of profanity, he peppered in the line "win a Rose Bowl." (Oregon did that just a few weeks later by the way.) I fully expected this guy to throw something on us or spit at us because we were sitting "ducks" in line there. He didn't. But, all the guys in the line with me - UO and UW fans alike - agreed that you don't want to be that guy...middle age, drunk, swearing and spewing hate at people about college football.

2010 in Eugene. UO 53-16. After a 0-0 score at the end of the first quarter, UW fans had reason to be hopeful. With Jake Locker out, young backup Keith Price played QB for Washington...and looked pretty good all day long. But, reality hit in the second quarter and another wipe-out of Washington ensued. I watched this one at home in Seattle. I remember thinking I was glad not to have made the trip because it wasn't much of a game and the weather was bad down there in Eugene.

2009 in Seattle*. UO 43-UW 19. A game played on a wonderfully sunny fall afternoon. We took the party boat from Ballard to Husky Stadium wearing our Oregon gear. Dawg fans were good natured on the ride before the game, silent to us on the way back. I met KJR sports radio personality Mike Gastineau on the boat. Nice guy. Oh, and the game wasn't close...again. I recall Locker throwing an interception just as it looked like UW might get into the game with a score. All downhill for them after that.

2008 in Eugene.* UO 44-UW 10. This was a night game and an early outing for new UW QB Jake Locker. Meanwhile, it was also the debut at QB for Oregon's Jeremiah Masoli. Even the home PA announcer didn't know how to pronounce Masoli's last name (it's Mah-sOH-Lee). UW would go on to win exactly zero games the rest of the 2008 season. A friend and I went down for the game. We spent the sunny, hot afternoon perched outside on the patio at Taylor's near campus...which was a lot of fun.   Eventually, some other UW fan friends from Seattle joined us for the walk over to the stadium. Which left me as a lone Oregon fan amongst 3-4 Husky buddies. This proved not to be great for us as we somehow fell in with some young, amped up and drunk Oregon fans who a) were eager to give maximum shit to any UW fan, and b) did not appreciated that I, as an Oregon fan, was walking with Washington fans to the game. You can read about that episode and my reaction to it in my post titled "There's An A-Hole In Every Crowd (Sometimes Two)."

2007 in Seattle.* Oregon 55-UW 34. This was the game where UW fans cheered mightily on a play where they thought Washington's defense has stuffed a run up the middle only to realize to their horror that the Oregon QB, Denis Dixon, had actually pulled the ball out and was running unabated down the sideline for a score. UO running back, and Tacoma-area native, Jonathan Steward had a great day too...rushing for 251 yards.

2006 in Eugene. UO 34-14. Anyone remember who was the starting UW QB that day? Carl Bonnell. Me neither. This was the third year in a row the game was played in Eugene - an anomaly of scheduling and not some secret conspiracy to "screw" the UW. Washington fans like to forget there were stretches where the UO vs. UW game was played in connective years in Seattle - 1989-1991 for example. All Husky wins by the way.

2005 in Eugene*. UO 45-UW 21. A big day for Oregon QB Kellen Clemens and another big win for the Ducks. This was a game that a friend of mine and I did the whole trip from Seattle to Eugene and back in one day...a very LONG day. But, it was a longer day for my friend as he is a Husky fan. I also recall a funny episode at Taylor's bar before the game. We stopped in for some food and pre-game libations. My friend was wearing his UW shirt, bravely advertising he was a "enemy" fan. At one point a lovely young UO student (I am assuming she was a student) decked out in Oregon colors came up to us and fanned out a series of flyers - each with the headline "Famous Huskies" or something like that. On each was a different UW grad who, shall we say, aren't the best people - Ted Bundy, Jeremy Stevens and various other UW players who had been convicted of crimes. I think she gave my friend a choice of which one he could take. We all had a laugh.

2004 in Eugene. UO 31-UW 6. UO QB Clemens had a great day as the world was treated to the "all-neon-yellow" UO uniforms. If I recall, this game was actually NOT on TV in Seattle. A friend and I listed to it on the radio. Remember those days when games were not on TV?

And there we have it. The last 10 meetings. The two years prior, 2003 and 2002, Washington won impressively 44-14 and 42-10 respectively. Ah yes, the early 2000s. Before Facebook, iPods, Twitter, smart phones. Even the oldest players on UW were in middle school the last time the Huskies prevailed.

UW vs. UO...It's Been a Long Time

It's been a loooooong time since the University of Washington football team has beaten the University of Oregon on the football field. Nine years. Almost a decade.

This weekend's game is shaping up to be the Husky's best chance in the past 10 years to pull off a victory against the Ducks. Will they? Hard to say. They're not favored and the Ducks are awfully good. But, the game is at home for UW and the team is better than it has been in the last nine years.

But nine years is a long time.

To give you an idea of how long it's been since the last UW victory in this border war, cast your mind way back to a distant time called 2003. That's right, that's the last time the Huskies prevailed on the gridiron against the Ducks.

Got that timeframe in your mind?

OK, here are technologies now common in everyday life in the USA that were not around in 2003:

• Facebook - launched the next year.
• iPhones and iPads - still a few  years away.
• Twitter - did not exist.
• YouTube - that's right. No YouTube when the Dawgs beat UO last.
• BlueRay DVDs - oh, how did we ever watch non-HD movies at home!
• Kindle - or eReaders of any kind had not yet been introduced.
• Digital cameras - Ok, they existed, but they were no where near as pervasive as they are now, and they certainly weren't on people's mobile phones.

Imagine life without any of those things. Barbaric. (Kidding, but still...you get the idea.) In any case, all of those things have come to pass and into our lives since UW beat Oregon in football.

All right, how about pop culture? Back in 2003...

• Lance Armstrong was still winning multiple Tour de France races and hailed as a hero by everyone (except the French...it didn't take doping charges to make them hate Lance).
• Martha Stewart had yet to be convicted of insider trading.
• Janet Jackson had not yet to have her "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl
• Shamwow! and the Snuggie - not. yet. invented.
• Zumba - not around. Just saying.
• The TV show Lost - had not started yet.

And on and on. So much has come to pass in the nine years since the UW came out winners against Oregon in football. So much.

And guess what? It's more than likely the Ducks will make it "a decade of dominance" with a win Saturday in Seattle. I'm not saying for sure they'll win, but I think it's likely. I'll be there to ether witness the turning of that decade or the downfall of the streak. Should be fun!

There's Always An A-Hole In Every Crowd - Sometimes Two or Three

Last Saturday I attended the big University of Oregon vs. University of Washington college football game in Seattle. This is a pretty heated rivalry and outside of what actually happens on the field, there is a healthy hate between both sets of fans. Personally, I think hating someone because they went to or support a different school is crazy. But, I think many would disagree with that.

Anyway, the rivalry between fans for this annual game always carries the potential for poor to dangerous behavior. Below is my report on what I saw...

The first thing to say is that 99% of all fans from both schools were just fine. No aggression, no comments, no issues whatsoever.

However, it's always those "special" few that stick out at any college football game. No school's fan bases are immune. Usually the common denominators for a first class football fan a-hole are: 1) alcohol and 2) a very, very limited vocabulary. Such was the case again this weekend in Seattle.

For those of you who think that I am about to share stories only about boorish UW fan behavior, please be advised that I was particularly sicked by what I witnessed the last time I went to an Oregon-Washington football game down in Eugene. You can read about that here:
http://wwwthewesternfront.blogspot.com/2008/09/theres-a-hole-in-every-crowd-sometimes.html

As for the game this past weekend at Husky Stadium, all I can tell you is what I personally observed. With that in mind, here are some things that unfolded in front of me...

Pre-game
I went with a buddy of mine who is a Husky fan, and he was wearing all purple. So, with me sporting Duck colors, I would have thought that we'd be a target from both sides just for that. But, not the case. We chatted up a couple Oregon fans who had come up for the game as we waited to pick up our will call tickets. No issues at all.

Very briefly as we stood there, a small pack of drunk UW students walked by shouting "Or-e-gon Sucks!" One of the guys was particularly fat and wore a stuffed duck on a noose around his neck. Nice. But, no big deal...just drunk fat guys at a football game.

In the stands
Because I bought my tickets through the UO ticket office, our seats were in the visitors section. Good for me of course, but big points to my buddy for sitting there with  me. However, he received no aggression at all from Oregon fans. So, that was good.

The only thing I saw in the Oregon section that I'd call offensive was a guy about five rows below us who - even before the game started - was attempting to lead the cheer of "F-the-Huskies" with the full f-word being used of course. A few people indulged for a minute, but it quickly petered out. The same guy and his buddy would also give the full bird to the field when the Huskies were kicking off or receiving a kick off. Classes? Yes. Lame? Yes. Uncreative? Yes. A physical danger to anyone? No.

Halftime
This is when the uglies came out. Three incidences stick out:

At halftime, the concourse if crowded with people. As we walked through the crowd, all of sudden in front of me I hear a "hey man" and a coffee cup goes flying out of someones hand. I quickly see the guy losing his coffee was a Duck fan. In a second, I see is a guy in Husky garb walking very fast and very straight by that guy and right toward me. As he walked by his shoulder clipped mine and I said something profound like "Hey!" I turned my head around to follow the guy with my eyes and he just kept on motoring in a straight line through eh crowd...moving for nobody.

So, what you had there was a probably drunk guy deciding that he was going to walk straight through the crowd without moving...and colliding with a few Oregon fans along the way. Nice.

OK, so we made it to the bathroom line. The entrance to the facilities is located on the outer wall of the stadium, so if you look from the entrance of the john up to the lip of the stadium, you can see the backs and heads of fans whose seats are at the top of the stadium right there. Except in this case one of those fans - a fat, drunk UW guy who I would guess was between the ages of 45 and 55 years old - had turned around and was verbally haranguing anyone in green or yellow that he could. He was like a UW ogre spewing hate down from his perch. His comments were mostly along the lines of "How many Rose Bowls do you have? Zero!" "You suck" and "F-you."

Now, those are not exactly unexpected taunts, but what disturbed me most was the vitriolic way this guy was speaking - the vile hate - and what would motivate that behavior. Why would a middle age guy decide that he wanted to turn around and verbally accost people? How deep must that guy's lack of self respect or self worth be if that's what he thought would be a good idea? Sad really.

Since the guy was pretty much addressing me and the only other two Duck fans in the line, I answered his taunts about the Rose Bowls with "that might be....but at least we're not fat and ugly." That got a few laughs from both Oregon and Washington fans with me in the line. I could tell that the UW fans next to me we kind of embarrassed of this guy. I said to one guy, "No matter what school you support, you don't ever want to end up being that guy." He agreed. As I got closer and closer to the bathroom entrance - and therefore more directly underneath the ogre - I expected him to spit on me or throw something, but he didn't.

Finally, and the worst incident of the evening, occurred after this as we stood in the concession line. Suddenly I feel someone colliding into me from behind while hearing "Oregon sucks!" I catch the guy, turn around and see that it's a Duck fan who has been shoved into me. A few feet away is a wild eyed guy who had shoved the Duck fan. A few surrounding people - including the guy who was shoved - said, "hey man, what's your problem?" This just hyped the aggressor up more. He shouted that he was ready to fight and started pogoing up and down saying "lets go!" The action was about five yards from me by this point and I stood back and watched as scuffling occurred...and just before it looked like fists would start flying a couple other guys came in...not sure if they were Dawg or Duck fans (probably UW)...and somehow got the crazy guy out of there. The remaining UW and UO fans were uniformly confused and embarrassed by the out-of-control fan.

Post game
Nothing happened on the way out of the stadium or on the way home on the bus. Duck fans were happy to win in Seattle, and Husky fans were subdued due to the loss.

It's THAT Time Of Year

It's THAT time of year again. No, not fall transitioning to winter. Not dark mornings and increasingly dark late afternoons. Not Halloween and costume parties.

No, it's that hallowed time of year in which pride, ambition and anticipation mix with hate, jealousy and a little bit of fear.

Just what warped season am I talking about?

Of course it's that green, yellow, purple and gold week that comes around every 12 months for the big University of Oregon vs. University of Washington football game. That's right, it's interstate football rivalry week in the northwest - and I ain't talking about Oregon State or WSU.

It's a week more about the fans and alumni of UW and UO than the players and coaches. On a purely football level, those actually involved on the filed get less worked up about the rivalry. Sure, a rivalry, but nothing compared to how the fans feel about it.

No...indeed, this week is about fans and their expectations, their projections and their desires. You can read about some of my memories of this rivalry in my post from last year HERE.

All too often it is a time when one school's fans are sick and tired of hearing about the dominance of the other school over theirs on the football field - and each school has had the advantage in stretches over the last 20 years. It's a week of "this year it's going to be different," or if you're on the currently prevailing side of things it's the year of "we're going to wipe you out again just like last year." Both sentiments usually peppered with a little bit of profanity.

Lets face it. Neither school's fans can stomach losing to the other.

UW fans usually take the perspective that theirs is the more historically dominate squad given their nice run of success in the 1980s and early 1990s, the half national championship for the 1991 season and an overall historical advantage head-to-head against Oregon. From this perspective, Husky fans are still able - despite fielding horrible teams over the past decade - to take a position of superiority over Oregon fans. (Left: a picture from days gone by when Washington held the clear upper hand in the rivalry.) 

Oregon fans typically take the perspective of the here an now - or at least the here and since 1994. Since that year, Oregon has fielded teams that have posted a 12-4 winning record against UW - starting with that famous pick six in Eugene in 1994 to seal a victory and all the way up to a string of seven consecutive eviscerations of the Huskies leading up to this year's game. Any Duck fan under the age of about 30 has only seen majority Oregon wins against Washington. This recent dominance, combined with some really, really bad UW teams gives Oregon fans the ability to take a position of superiority. (Right: a picture from the more recent era in which Oregon has dominated.)

And so it goes. And so it will be this week and into Saturday for the game. After all, it is THAT time of year again.

I'll be going to that game by the way. I'll make some mental notes and perhaps take a few pictures and report back next week.

But regardless, fans of both schools this week will indulge in this crazy ritual, this predictable but also unusual time of year. As they make their plans, lay in supplies for tailgating, work up some new insults for their rivals and generally prepare for the game, fans from both schools will be pondering...will this be the year that UW gets back on track against Oregon with a big win or will Oregon once again step on the collective Husky throat in a multiple touchdown win?

We shall see.

(NOTE: Pictures in this post were not taken by me. They are not mine.)