It’s Oregon Week

I wrapped up my final thoughts on the Husky-Stanford game last night and now we move on to the next opponent.  The next opponent is the hated Oregon Ducks.  Technically, it’s been Oregon Week since Sunday.  Sure enough, that’s when I started wearing my Husky gear.  For me, it’s a tradition to wear Husky gear (or just purple) every day of the week in the week before the first game and the week before the Huskies play Oregon.  Maybe it’s not a good idea because my blood starts to boil the more and more I think about the Oregon Ducks.

There has been quite a bit written about the Huskies-Ducks rivalry.  The Dawgs hold the superior edge in overall record and record against in the rivalry but Oregon has beaten the Huskies 8 times in a row.  I’m not going to add much to my take on the rivalry aside from two paragraphs.  UW Dawgpound came out with a piece on Sunday that summed up my feelings about Oregon fans pretty well.  Here it is, so please read it.

For me, what I can’t stand about Oregon is their fans.  Sure, their players, uniforms and stupid mascot annoy the heck out of me but not to the point where I’d hate them.  I respect Chip Kelly, he’s an offensive genius and seems well liked among most coaches.  I enjoy watching their running backs play when they aren’t playing the Huskies because they are so talented.  They have a team speed that any fan would respect and envy.  But the hate comes when you bring their fans into the picture.

Many times I’ve felt no respect back from Oregon fans.  Of course, that doesn’t account for all of them.  I’ve met some  nice Duck fans who are willing to be kind and actually talk about football.  More often than not though, it seems like they don’t respect your team, your passion, or you as a person.  This is what UW Dawgpound was pointing out and I think that nailed it on the head.  Oregon fans complain about U-Dub fans arrogance while they have become arrogant themselves.

I don’t enjoy this rivalry.  I enjoy the WSU rivalry.  Sure, some of it has to do with Husky success but more of it has to do with the way the fans treat each other.  A few weekends out of the year some of my Cougar friends will text me and say, “Good luck against LSU” or “Good game the other night”.  I know they’ll be hailing insults down on these players in Pullman later but they respect what the team has done.  I try to be a good sport and do the same.  It’s a fun rivalry, that’s a little bit chippy. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.  Against Oregon, there isn’t much of that playfulness.  It’s just hate.  I don’t think the teams have much problem with each other anymore.  I think Sark and Chip are friends and kind to each other.  But, the fans can’t stand one another.

So, Happy Oregon Week.  Or, Not Happy Oregon Week.  I doubt it will happen, but I hope the Huskies clean their clocks, dance on the O and Husky fans party inside of Autzen until the wee hours of the morning avoiding the dog feces and bottles of urine that is sure to be thrown at them.  Beat the Ducks.

Andrew

Yeah….