Wow.

The game wasn’t always always clean, but it was one for the ages.

Ducks and Beavers traded blows for 60 minutes and as has been the case all season, Oregon wore its opponent down in the second half and asserted itself when the game entered the decisive stages.

Until then, it looked like the Beavers might take control and use a script laid out by the Ducks in 2008 to ruin the home team’s Rose Bowl dreams. But would you believe that when things were at their worst, Chip Kelly would turn to LeGarrette Blount for the first time since the season opener?

Putting Blount in the game while facing a nine point deficit seemed crazy. Turns out, it was brilliant as the big back came up with a huge touchdown to draw Oregon within two at 30-28.

From there, LaMichael James became dominant, turning in a 52 yard lead-taking touchdown run on the next offensive series. The defense began to shine after giving up scores on five consecutive drives between the second and third quarters.

When the game was on the line in the final six minutes, it was fitting to see Jeramiah Masoli, James and Blount all turning in huge plays to ultimately ensure the Beavers would never get another chance.

Oregon State played a great game. Sean Canfield looks like a bonafide pro. The Rodgers brothers are ridiculously talented. And they all deserve a much better bowl than what might be available after Saturday’s games. The Holiday had better think long and hard about the Beavers who would travel well and be an ideal representative for the Pac-10 in the league’s second best bowl.

But I’m sure opponent respect isn’t what the Beavers were after. Clearly, they wanted the spoils of the victor, but Thursday, those were reserved for Oregon.

As the final seconds ticked down and melted into a post game celebration where fans could not and would not leave, the scene at Autzen Stadium seemed surreal even through ESPN’s cameras a state away.

I sat and watched. And smiled. And kept smiling. And then I saw that first red rose, and Oh My God! The Ducks are in the Rose Bowl! That really just happened. How sweet it is.

FOTB Prediction: Green helmet, black jersey, green pants, black shoes. But rumors have Oregon in something a little more “retro meets modern,” so we’ll see. You can simulate this combination here.

It’s Thursday, December 3, 2009 and you know what that means.

This is no time to be timid. Oregon State is thine enemy and no mercy can be shown. Roses are on the line, winner take all and while flowers might seem like a silly thing to play for, to a collegiate man, there’s nothing more valuable.

But don’t mistake the Rose Bowl as the only thing on the line tonight. It’s not all these guys are playing for. Mike Bellotti would tell you it’s for the right to live in the state (well, if you actually live there). Co-workers, family and friends are just a tad more bearable when you have the W on your side.

I come into this game more nervous than a year ago. Perhaps it’s because Oregon’s stakes are higher, but I think it has more to do with knowing the Ducks aren’t dropping 65 on the Beavers two years in a row. By default, this game has to be more competitive.

FOTB Pick

But also, the Beavers have their full arsenal on offense with Jacquizz Rodgers healthy this year. Say what you will about the debate between him and LaMichael James running the football, but Rodgers is also the Pac-10′s second leading receiver. He’s dynamic and it’s something OSU didn’t have a year ago.

Still, Autzen Stadium is the security blanket. The defense is far better in front of the home fans and the offense’s worst output in Pac-10 play was 42 points against Cal. The Ducks have been more dominant at home this season than any in recent memory.

At some point, with the raucous energy of the crowd behind them, Oregon is going to have that opportunity to deliver a couple of haymakers. Chip Kelly will put the pedal to the metal and the Beavers won’t know what hit them. I can see this game turning over a 5-10 minute span of defensive and offensive playmaking that demoralizes the orange and black.

But enough already. It’s all words and there’s really nothing left to discuss. It’s been two weeks of rehashed stereotypes and storylines.

The only thing left unsaid is 60 minutes of football. We’re just hours away. Your travel agent is standing by.

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.

But really, the argument for “Biggest Civil War Ever” really comes down to one of two years: 2000 or 2009?

You can make an argument for either year. I had been thinking 2009 without question. Now that I look back at it, it’s a lot closer than I thought but two things ultimately make this the bigger game: (1) The winner goes to the Rose Bowl and (2) Media attention is infinitely more intense now.

In arguing for the the 2000 game, you could say both teams were more nationally prominent. The records were much better and Oregon was aiming at becoming one of a select few teams to ever go undefeated in Pac-10 play.

Either way, you can’t go wrong.

	Tale of The Civil War Tape
Category	2000		2009
UO/OSU Ranking *	5 & 8		8 & 16
Winner Eligible For Rose Bowl ¥	Both		Both
Combined Record Prior to Game	18-2		17-5
Combined Win Percentage	90%		77.2%
Worst Case Scenario for Losing Team	Holiday Bowl		Las Vegas Bowl
TV Broadcast	ABC Regional ??		ESPN HD National
Venue	Original Reser		Remodeled Autzen
Coaches ±	Erickson/Bellotti		Riley/Kelly
Star Players †	Chad Johnson/Joey Harrington		Jacquizz Rodgers/Jeremiah Masoli
Roses Being Waved From Our Car in Corvallis En Route To Game	A Bushel		None
Soul Crushing Defeats	1		No Freaking Way

* Using AP Rankings.
¥ Oregon State would have gone to the Rose Bowl had Washington lost later that day so technically, the Beavers had a shot going into the game.
± None of the four coaches had/has the cache that Dennis Erickson carried with him off of his Miami Hurricane fame and NFL experience.
† I think the 2009 game has more star power, if only because the media is more intense now. Chad Johnson wasn’t even close to a household name yet and Joey Harrington was a year away from a Times Square billboard.

They’re all cute stories and admittedly significant in a historical sense.

However,  there’s another narrative to follow, one where Oregon and Oregon State are shown to be among the conference’s elite since the turn of the century.

Since 2000, only USC has won more games than either program.

But with the Trojans finally out of the picture, it’s time the Ducks and Beavers got their due not as two teams coming up from history’s scrap pile, but as the premier programs they are in this conference.

This showdown isn’t a revelation of two teams with checkered pasts. It’s merely a culmination of a decade’s work  in which the state of Oregon has outperformed all but one team within the conference.

And the stakes are becoming common.

This will be the fourth time in 10 years that Oregon or Oregon State enters the Civil War with a chance to clinch the conference’s premier bowl bid.

In previous games where a conference title was on the line, each team has denied the other a spot in the Rose Bowl with the Beavers turning back Oregon in 2000 while the Ducks famously laid 65 points on a dream just one year ago.

This year, one has a guaranteed ticket to Pasadena and perhaps that means the stakes have never been higher. But it doesn’t mean these two teams haven’t been here before. Lately, it’s become something of an expectation.

Forget national titles. That’s nothing more than a made-up fantasy to line the pockets of the NCAA. In any given Pac-10 season, you line up for 12 games to have that one shot to be the last team standing.

You grind week in and week out in a true round-robin battle for conference supremacy. Every team has a chance to top the others and an undeniable, merit-based champion emerges by season’s end.

This year, that champion will call the state of Oregon home. It’s a Civil War with stakes higher than ever seen in series history. The game will define both the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory.

The build-up has 11 days to go and the blog ain’t going quiet into that night. There will be rivalry, a family at war (mine), game and team analysis, a day of  thanks, maybe one or two mentions of 65-38 and plenty more. Folks, the “War” is on.

Note: What you won’t see is any 1,000 word blog recommendations for who to root for. If you haven’t figured that out by now, well, I can’t help you anyway.

One problem…it ain’t gonna happen. Just because we’ve spent an entire season getting told that Oregon State is a vastly superior program, team and set of human beings doesn’t make it so. I present to you the following: Oregon State is 8-3, Oregon is 8-3. The Beavers are not better. And they’re not worse, either, but they are completely beatable.

I get that the Beavers are a lunchpail crew of winners on a road called destiny. I get that Mike Riley with his pinnacle of achievement being a Sun Bowl victory is vastly superior to Mike Bellotti. I even understand that because Oregon aggressively markets itself, it only cares about image, never about winning. But even so, Saturday is going to be a day of victory for the University of Oregon. It’s a wild thought, I know. After all, this is an Oregon State program clearly on another level from the University of Oregon. Just look at their overall records since Mike Riley II began his tenure. Why, they’re completely even!

You’ll just have to forgive me for thinking Oregon will win. Roses can wait another 44 years.

PreNicktion: Oregon 38, Oregon State 28

• The Bellotti bye. Coach Mike is a solid 14-2 in games with an extra week to prepare. But that’s boring. I have better reasons…
• Dad’s Decision. I haven’t missed a Civil War in Corvallis since 2000. In 1998, I watched the game in the same house as ma and pa. This year, the folks’ two extra tickets sure to be mine were given to more like-minded orange-clad citizens. I’ll be attending the game from my couch in San Diego. Your fate is sealed Beaver Nation. The curse of Reser has already been broken.
• Righteous Revenge. Last year was just unfair. Something is seriously wrong with the world for allowing that to go on. 157% of the team succumbing to injury, yet battling in the Civil War for a game-winning kick only to seriously mismanage the final 20 seconds and lose in OT? No, I refuse to believe the cosmos don’t want to atone for that.
• Counter-shaving. The Beavers have No-Shave November. I say shave every free moment you have. The mojo of the scruff can be counter-acted. I only shave once a week (nothing wrong with a little scruff…usually), but I’m diligently ditching whiskers. I’m shaving right now while I type. Norelco, Gillette, whatever, I’m using them all. I’ve got my game face off.
• It’s an all-Oregon kind of week. The Oregon basketball puppies run Alabama out of the gym in Hawaii, cross country wins another national title, while the women take 2nd and I’m sure a win over #1 North Carolina is upcoming tonight. Right? Well, I can dream.
• Because an Oregon win is what I want dammit! And shouldn’t I get what I want?

Feel free to disagree with my reasoning, but you’d be wrong.

Sure, sure, the mighty (underdog) Beavers have to go to Arizona and win to keep this Rose Bowl run alive, but regardless of that result, the stakes will be for no worse than the Holiday Bowl. Of course, after losing the past two Civil Wars, they could play the rivalry like its 1984 and I’d want the win just as bad.

You can tell me Oregon hasn’t won in Corvallis since 1996 and you can alert me to the fact that the Beavers are the class of the Pac-10 (second to USC over the last 5 years – and you thought only Oregon used arbitrary dates to prove its program dominance), but still, I’m unimpressed.

The blog has suffered this year at the hands of real work, but there’s no silence for the Civil War. It’s game on.

P.S. Mom, dad, listen. I’m coming home for Christmas. Whatever I say over the next two weeks is, well…just make sure you don’t change the locks. Thanks.

I am fully aware that in my Midseason Report brought to you by Flomax that I noted Oregon State has the easiest path to the Rose Bowl. I said EASIEST. That does not imply they are the most likely contender.

The Beavers are coming off of a two game stretch against Washington State and Washington. All of a sudden, our furry northern friends are world beaters. Guess what? Half of America’s high schools could beat Washington State and Washington ain’t much better. These are not measuring stick games. They are schedule fillers. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. If you didn’t score 60 on the Cougars, that’s basically a measure that you are a bad football team (Oklahoma State, anyone?).

Oregon looked unstoppable against the worst American state of college football. What would you say those games told us about the Ducks? I’m not buying Beavers to the Rose Bowl any more than I’m buying stock in AIG.

As for Ducks fans, what’s the problem? Do we always have to be so self-hating? Teenage girls have steadier emotions. Educk.com is a cess pool of fire this guy, bench that guy. Oregon won its last game and the fans are losing their collective minds. Hello, people. 3-1 is, in fact, good for first place in the conference. USC is not on the schedule anymore so tell me which game the Ducks should expect to lose.

Is it okay to calm down a little and see if Oregon actually has a crappy season before declaring it so? I’m going to go ahead and allow for the possibility of success before I freak out. Hope you don’t mind.