I’m “Off the Pond” in a lot of ways. One of those happens to be that I went Duck in a family full of Beavers. For me, the rivalry is a lot tamer than most. I admit to wanting to see the Beavers succeed for the family’s sake. No, I’m not going soft on you and I’m not going to wear orange anytime soon like this Duck alum, but I just can’t hate them, either.
I took some time to converse with the fam this week and we talked about the rivalry. This would have worked better as a podcast so you could sense the light-hearted nature of it all, but this is what I have so it’ll have to do.
On the beginnings and realizing I was all Duck, never to be a Beaver…
OTP: When did you first realize you had a Duck instead of a Beaver?
Mom: Well, when you decided to be a bandwagon fan. I think it was probably you and Scott (my cousin) were little buddies and your relatives were Duck fans and the fact that the Ducks turned the program around a little earlier than the Beavers did and so you did your bandwagon thing.
OTP: And by bandwagon, you mean I wanted to root for a 2 win team instead of a 1 win team?
Mom: Probably. I dressed you in little orange and black sweats when you were learning to walk. I have a picture of you with a Beaver baseball cap with your little orange and black sweats but one day we woke up and you were with the Ducks.
OTP: So you were trying to push me the other way.
The photo's 10 years old, but can you spot the Duck fan?
Mom: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
OTP: I have to figure this out, too. One of my greatest fears is not being able to sway any future kid I have in the right direction.
Mom: One of your greatest fears? Yeah, I honest to God hope it happens to you, too.
Dad: Yeah, they’re gonna’ grow up to be Idaho fans.
Mom: They’re gonna’ go to Cornell and not even give a rip about football or sports at all. They’re not gonna’ relate to you.
Dad: You can pretty much guarantee it if they grow up in San Diego because there’s no (college) football down there.
OTP: Let it be noted that at the first 2 or 3 minute mark of the interview, you’ve already made your first plea for me to move home.
Mom: Well, good. And then we’ll be closer to sway our grandchildren into the right place.
Dad: Realistically, though, I think when you turned Duck for good was when you were sitting in the stands of that Oregon State game and you were listening to them (Oregon) on the headphones. I still think (you were listening to) “Kenny Wheaton’s gonna’ score!” when everyone else (in Parker Stadium) is in that blowout loss for us and you’re all of a sudden jumping up and down happy and everyone’s looking at you wondering what the hell is he doing. That would be my first instance of seeing you turn to the dark side but I wasn’t convinced until we enrolled you in school down there. That’s when I knew we were in trouble.
Mom: I blame your eighth grade teacher who recognized your talent for writing and she encouraged you to do journalism when you got into high school and you decided that was going to be your career choice and it all fit tidy since Oregon State’s journalism program no longer existed. Now if you really wanted to be an engineer, you’d be a Beaver today.
Dad: And you’d be rich.
Mom: Yeah, you’d have a lot more money.
Dad: You’d be donating to the BASF right now and getting your Rose Bowl package through Oregon State University.
On the sense of betrayal and family division my choice has caused…
OTP: Let’s talk about parental feelings. Was there a sense of betrayal? Was there a sense of “what the hell is wrong with this kid?” When you dropped me off in Eugene for the first time, did that make it official? How’d you feel?
Dad: Well, when we dropped you off or when we registered you, we cleansed ourselves. We stopped in Corvallis on the way back and bought our season tickets for the first time. Well, it wasn’t the first time you went to school, but it was a trip to Eugene involving the UO and as we were coming back we said “ok its time to go to Corvallis and fix this” and we made a donation, bought season tickets and we felt better again. We felt cleansed.
OTP: So, no betrayal then? It was more of a sense that you need to pick it up on your end?
Mom: Well, that wasn’t how I felt at all. That’s not how I feel to this day. But you don’t want to know how I feel.
Dad: I would, Go Barb, go.
Mom: It saddens me because we do these really fun tailgaters with Kevin and you’re missing. And that’s the honest to God truth. It can’t be changed but I honestly and sincerely hope your children don’t do that to you.
Lots of laughter
Dad: You’re going to need therapy after this.
Mom: You asked the question, you got the answer.
Mom: I didn’t realize it at the time, I was happy for you and excited for you. It’s only something I’ve realized in later years that when we do do things together at Civil War it’s always fun until the game’s played and someone’s always disappointed afterward. I don’t want to see you be the one disappointed, but I don’t want to be the one disappointed so might as well be you.
On whether or not they would still be hospitable had any of the four games I went to in Corvallis from 2000 to 2006 gone the Ducks way…
OTP: I went to 4 Civil Wars in Reser Stadium. We hung out, I thought it was fun even though the Ducks lost every time. Let’s say I came back to the tailgater a winner. Would you not let me have a chili dog, would you leave me out in the rain?
Mom: Oh my Gosh , we’d embrace you. Are you kidding? It’d be the same. What we wouldn’t do is give you the $20.
Dad: I think I did the $20 handshake.
Mom: Well, you did, but I always gave him an extra 20 because I felt bad for him.
Dad: I’ll give you an extra $20 if you lose this one for me. I’d give you more than that.
Mom: I’d give you $200.
Dad: Shut the hell up, Barbara. He gets $200 for his team losing? I got my limits. (seriously, that looks different in print but I swear it was sarcastic and funny)
On our family practice of occasionally skipping the second half of Beaver games and heading to the coast…
OTP: Better family activity: the second half of an Oregon State game in the early 1990s or a trip to the beach?
Dad: You can’t print that. We’ll look like bad fans. How can you word that so we don’t look like bad fans? We were supportive. We wanted to have a family outing but you kids couldn’t sit still so we had to go. How’s that? Put it back on the kids.
Mom: Yeah, Nick was annoying all the fans around him so we had to go.
On Civil War family pranks…
OTP: Mom, you once decorated my room in complete Beaver paraphernalia when I came home for Thanksgiving. How dare you.
Mom: That was really fun and your dad did help me decorate it once I got going. You were going back and forth with your dad in the week leading up to the game and you went too far and I said “that’s it, I have to do something.”
When you got home, I heard you walk in the door, walk down the hall and say, “I’m home, which room am I in?” and you walked into the bigger room and said “Whoa, not this one” and then you walked into the other room that had just a twin bed and you realized you only had one choice.
OTP: Dad, I don’t remember the exact year, probably 1998, but you sat me down for a nice meal, made me eat it and then told me I had just consumed duck with orange sauce. How dare you!
Dad: I had to really prepare for that. I had not cooked that before. I do remember that now. It was (with a french accent), Duck ala Orange. I lied to you, too. I told you it was chicken I think.
OTP: I thought it was weird I’m eating this by myself and why am I not eating this with the family.
Dad: I kind of remember that you didn’t finish it after I told you what it was.
Never really enjoyed Civil Wars in Reser Stadium. Then again, I wasn't there in 2008.
OTP: I definitely did not.
Dad: That was the ’98 civil war. That had to be a hard Duck to swallow. All I know is I worked hard at that meal. I wanted that to be special for you.
Mom: And I worked hard on sewing that Beaver blanket to the existing comforter so you couldn’t take it off when you slept.
OTP: Really, that’s a lot of abuse.
Mom: Well we’ve certainly come home to a stuffed Beaver hanging from the light fixture. And one Christmas, we couldn’t figure out why you gave us a bunch of Duck stuff as a present to open up.
OTP: Yeah, that was my biggest “dick” moment. On Christmas, no less.
Dad: Biggest what?
Mom: Dick moment.
Dad: Dick moment? Jeez, I hope it wasn’t. Did that get you real excited? So that’s why you’re a Duck, huh? You got a thing for that Duck mascot too? I’m surprised you can stand up when Kenny Wheaton’s gonna score. Wow. Well, you remembered to take your middle school binder with you didn’t you?
OTP: He’ll be here all week folks.
On signing tuition checks…
OTP: Truth or Fiction, tuition check sent to the University of Oregon, signed with a Go Beavers.
Mom: Truth.
OTP: Really? I thought that was a myth.
Mom: No, well, we didn’t write checks to U of O for tuition. It was just room and board for your freshman year. The one I remember doing it for was the summer after you graduated for some kind of health services bill that hadn’t been paid. It was a $12 bill we did it on.
On a hypothetical to see if there is a circumstance in which they could root for Oregon in the Civil War…
OTP: Here’s a hypothetical. Your oldest and dearest son is dying and has one final wish to see his Ducks win the Civil War. Who do you root for?
Dad: Well, if it’s the year 2058, or something like that, um, hmm. Well, so, give me the circumstances. Are we both in it for the Rose Bowl?
OTP: No, my last wish on this planet is just to see the Ducks win the game.
Dad: Well I’d lie to you. I’ll just tell you the Ducks won. If you’re that out of it, you’d probably never know. We could put on an old taped game and you’d not know the difference.
OTP: So you could just root for the Beavers and lie to me?
Pause and hesitation (I’m making this uncomfortable)…
Dad: Tough question. Really tough question.
Mom: I don’t like that question at all. I don’t want to have that vision, so just scratch it off the list. I would do whatever you want for your happiness.
OTP: Ok, dad’s thinking about it, mom’s being a mom, that’s about where I expected that question to go.
OTP: Wait, hold on, if it’s 2058 and I’ve lived a good life, it’s ok then?
Mom: And we’re long gone, right? Or we’re 104.
Dad: Well, it’d make us equal. We’d be going out about the same time. Given the same circumstance, if we’re both going out the same day, I’m saying F@$k the Ducks.
Lots of laughter…
Dad: That being said, though, the way I always look at it, is these games are really, really important until they’re not a couple of weeks later.
On favorite recent Civil War…
OTP: Alright, you’ve been good sports, give us your favorite Civil War in recent memory.
Dad: My favorite Civil War was the ’98 game. That was a favorite season really. You just knew there was hope then.
Mom: Mine had to be 2000. I was more aware of that one. That was the year we got to go to the Fiesta Bowl. There were a lot of firsts that year.
OTP: Do you support Beaver fans “silly stringing” your son after the game in 2000?
Dad: Well, it’s not water bottles.
Mom: What happened to you?
OTP: Some dad told his kids to attack the Duck fan with silly string as I walked out of Reser Stadium.
Dad: Was it orange?
OTP: No.
Dad: Well, that’s poor planning. I can’t support that. He should have used orange.
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great post. loved it. go beavs.
ps have you started coming up with the typical uck excuses that you will repeatedly post for the following three weeks after a loss? just curious.
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Hmm, like, uh, let’s see. Do you mean something like, “If only Jacquizz Rodgers wasn’t hurt?”
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Or was is Dennis Dixon?
Great post. I’m in a family of Beavers that have a couple “bad seeds” too. Its what makes the Civil War so fun! This year at Thanksgiving there were Duck stickers everywhere and Duck license plate things on all our cars. Time to step up the game!
Duck ala Orange? Yum!
Go Beavs!
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quizz doesn’t play defense, so that wasn’t a good excuse for any beaver fan. it would have made the game different, but wouldn’t have stopped you guys with the ball. you’re better than that!
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For the most part, this is an excuse free blog. 2007 is the exception. I will cry, pout, and scream about that season until I die.
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Love the post. Sounds like you guys have a lot of fun and are passionate about their teams….except for your folks leaving at half time. Typical Beaver fans. Either can’t fill the stadium or end up leaving early anyway.
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Haha, now they’ll definitely kill me for putting that in.
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Hilarious post! Those are some great memories. Well all of them that happened on the even years (with the exception of 2008).
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great memories of me kicking your ass in fifa!
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Great post! Love the site. I had a brother that went to OSU. Every Christmas we’d get him a pair of overalls (as a joke). I guess the joke was on us – he wore ‘em. Go Ducks – Beat those udder pulling tractor pilots!
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Great post. I do have sympathy for you growing up with a bunch of Beavs but consider yourself lucky. I work with your brother so I can’t get far enough away from him when needed. Go Ducks!
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DC, One great memory I took away from the 2008 civil war was you kicking my mom out of her own tailgater. We let you in being the hospitable fans that we Beavers are and that is your thanks.
And people wonder why the Ducks were ranked the most unbearable fans in the PAC 10. Hmmmm
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Ah, thaaaaaat Dave! Haha, you’ve been a hero to me ever since.
Pst…mom, I’m just kidding. I got your back.
But seriously Dave. Good stuff.
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I’m with you, Man! The only Duck fan in my family. My siblings all graduated from OSU and my Mother worked at the OSU Bookstore for 20 years.
Was willing to root for the Beaves unless they were playing the Ducks but then my sister married a guy who was not only a Beaver fan but also an anti-Duck fan. Now I can no longer root for the Beavers. He makes it unbearable if they’re winning.
You hang in there. We’re behind you out here on the Pond.
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Great post. Funny, and really, this is why the Civil War is so heated. Go Beavers!
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Just loging in. I love this stuff. Now I know what to get you for Christmas.
Do you have a favorite Analyst? and do they have gift certificates?
GO!!!!!!!!!!!! DUCKS!!!!!!!!!!
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Found your site and this post because of the link you put in it…and this is hilarious. I love it. I don’t know any of you at all, but this is plain hilarious.
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Thanks. I liked your post and wanted to get a link to you for it.
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Excellent post! Its good to see Ken & Barb doing their best to shepard their lost son. There still is no good explanation as to why you turned to the dark side. Your mom said it was the journalism angle, but we all know your journalism mentor is number #1 Beaver fan. I love Geno. Congrats on the Rose Bowl.
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Wow! I’m surprised your Mom and Dad are still still friends with us! They didn’t talk to us much right after the Civil War game. Your Mom told me a little bit about your blog, so I thought I better read this one for myself! Go Ducks! Candee
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Staying friends? Ha! I’m just lucky they didn’t change the locks and still call me family. I can’t remember, are you guys going to the Rose Bowl?
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