Yes, we lost. We got smoked. We didn't compete. You're mad, I'm mad, we're all mad. What's worse, our star tailback took himself out of the season and thrust the program into the national spotlight in just about the worst way possible. If you do an 'Oregon Ducks' news search on Google today, I'm sure there's about 200 articles about the punch, the loss, the embarrassment, etc. For this reason, I won't waste your time with a recap of the game.
What, or who, I want to talk about today are a number of our "fans." I hear talk of abandoning our Ducks, putting season tickets up for sale, basically writing off our Ducks. I have one thing to say to everyone out there who shares this point of view: Go Ahead. You are the same fairweather losers who booed Dennis Dixon when he bounced two balls into the turf in the opener two seasons ago and called for Brady Leaf...Brady...Leaf...? The same ones who three weeks later were back in the saddle anointing him a Heisman candidate. These are the same fans who booed Masoli last season against Stanford. The same ones who claimed "we knew we were going to come back! Masoli is a darkhorse for Heisman and is about to lead us to Pasadena!" Now, we're at it again, claiming Masoli needs to be benched in favor of Nate Costa. I love Costa, but he's copmletely unproven.
If you don't want to be a Duck fan, don't be. I would hate to be in court the day some of you have jury duty. And for those of you calling for Chip Kelly's job after one game? Get a grip. You're telling me that when you've had a promotion, the first day on the job you do everything perfectly? I think not, in fact I would wager far from it. Chip Kelly hasn't had any chance to do his thing. 24 hours ago he was the second coming to Christ, and now nobody wants him? You folks are delusional.
For those Ducks fans who are real fans and who will always be there for the team, I apoligize as this rant has probably fallen on deaf ears. Supporting a team isn't about only being there for the up times, it's about being for the down times; and the down times are what make the up times feel that much better. Besides all of this, we're still fine. We have 6 days until we kick off against Purdue and right this ship.
I hate to come off as such a pessimist towards fellow Duck fans, but we can be better, and we need to be better as fans. We'll all be fortunate to see a perfect season in our lives, and I think everyone needs to step back and think about that. Last night's game was very reminiscent of last year's game at Purdue. We won, sure, but it was very ugly and left us asking who the answer was at quarterback. We're not in a hugely different boat this year and I think we can all agree last year turned out alright at worst.
Finally, I encourage everyone (or anyone) out there reading this to refer to the first line of our glorious fight song: "Oregon our Alma Mater, we will guard thee ON AND ON." Think about if this means anything to you, because it should. If the Ducks are to become a better football team, that's on the shoulders of the players and coaches. If Ducks fans have any ambition of shedding the image that we have some sort of unjust sense of self-entitlement, that's on us. I love my Ducks and I love talking Ducks. I can understand that I'm a bit more into the game than most, but this is something I will not apologize for. Everyone posting these ridiculous demands and claims needs to take a look at their fanhood and decide whether or not this is the team for them. If not, there are always people willing to take your spot on the bandwagon, and demand always outweighs supply when it comes to season tickets.
Today and everyday, GO DUCKS!!!
--Sam
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A die-hard fan doesn't care about the loss, but must and should embarrassed by the behavior.
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassment is not an excuse to talk about giving up as a fan. I'm embarrassed, yes, but I would never abandon my team.
ReplyDeleteDon't the Marines call it Semper Fidelis?
ReplyDeleteThere's something to be said for loyalty, but being a college football fan is hardly a noble cause. Boo-birds, bandwagon jumpers and Monday-morning quarterbacks aside, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that any current-day college fan might look at the time, ever-escalating money and emotional energy required to bleed the school colors and decide the return is no longer worth the investment. And while I haven't bailed yet, when I view the general trend of big-time college athletics and its steady divergence away from values I hold near and dear, it's not hard for me to see ahead to the time when I will no longer be among the throng.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, reading your indictment of anyone who may have decided that last night's disgraceful debacle was the last straw left me to wonder about your sense of perspective. Perhaps you value blind allegiance more than I do.
The my-school-right-or-wrong crowd were the folks mainly asleep at the switch when my alma mater let the dropout take over the Cas Center. He did the job for free and only cost us an extra $19 million a year--so far.
But I digress; I don't have any more affection for rats deserting a sinking ship than you do, but I also don't consider fandom to be particularly virtuous. Big-time college sports are a big fucking circus. Your desire to keep buying the ticket and cheering the act seems to me like nothing one should feel the least bit sanctimonious about.
As for ticket demand always outweighing supply, I wouldn't bet on it. While the pressure to feed the insatiable maw of the college football arms race may become ever more urgently desperate, it's operating under an unsustainable financial model daily moving nearer its eventual collapse. I know many fellow season ticket holders who are already wincing under the increasing pain threshold. And it sounds like many I don't know may have just exceeded their limits yesterday. I can't say I blame them.
Hank,
ReplyDeleteReally good points and I guess I was too broad with my indictment, as you said. Most frustrating for me are the fans calling for Kelly's head after one game. I just can't fathom how quite a few (not all) fans turned on the drop of a hat. I also don't consider myself to be "above-and-beyond" for following a college team and apologize if I came off as pretentious.
Anyways, I needed to get a rant out of my system as the events of Thursday night seemed to compound over and over. Now, I'm looking forward to the Purdue game and hopefully a different-looking team.
Go Ducks!!
--Sam