When Perspective Is Forced Upon You

[Ktmguy2018]

Over the last several days, I've been avoiding the news articles about the Ducks-Beavers fiasco.  It just did not seem real to me, my younger boys are still not sure it actually happened.  The last three weeks of Duck football has been tough.  Not one of those games was kind to any of us with D.F.A.I (Duck Football Anxiety Issues).  Yes, we had a win in the Utah game.  How many of you still had any fingernails left when that one was over?  

What made these games the most difficult to swallow was that Oregon beat themselves in the two losses.  But in reality, those other two squads were not shlups.  

 

Yesterday, while listening to "experts" discuss the Michigan - Ohio State game, a comment was made that really stuck with me:  Rivalry games HAVE to matter.  What makes them matter is that either team can win.  Not one person last Saturday cared about the "rivalry game" between Georgia - Georgia Tech.  The outcome of that game was NEVER in doubt and it was a rivalry only because both schools happen to be in Georgia.  Talent wise, no contest.

 

UW and U of O: Rivalry.  Beavers and Ducks: Rivalry.  Why?  Because either team can (and did) beat the other.  

 

Now, I will be the person at the front of the line yelling the loudest that I want these games to be absolute blowouts and Oregon puts forth such a prolific offensive/defensive display that the other team goes to the bus at halftime.  I want an absolute dominating performance....63-0 or something like that.  Or a score that puts the game so far out of reach that our second, third, and some band members get some playing time.  That puts my mind at ease and makes me feel good about my team. 

 

The perspective that I reluctantly had to realize was that the Pac-12 needs Washington and Oregon State to be good.   They need to be good to bolster rankings when it matters.  The knock against Clemson has always been that they play in a weak conference and therefore have no room for error.  The SEC is viewed as the opposite (deserved or not).  The Alabama losses to Tennessee and LSU will not affect where they are next year.  Why?  Because the SEC is seen as a tough conference with good teams.  

 

While part of me wants the Ducks to be the Clemson of the Pac-12 and just roll through everyone, the conference NEEDS to have multiple teams that are capable of winning any game they play.   This year was one of the few years in recent memory where the PAC had 5 teams ranked.  We need that to happen more often.  You will always have a bad team in your conference (some time ago, that team was Oregon).  Those of you who remember the mid 80's and early 90's endured a lot of 5-6 and 6-5 records. 

 

I HATE to lose.  Always have.  But a very wise coach of mine once said that you "should never enjoy losing, so do something about it and learn why you lost".  Guess what, it looks like OSU took that to heart, as did that other team from the Seattle area.  Oregon was on the short end of scoreboard in those games.  I hate it.  But, those were pretty good teams.  THAT is what makes a rivalry game matter.

Edited November 29, 2022 by Smith72
capitalize titles

[Drake]

Always been a cup half-full guy myself. It has served me well in business and life. Move forward with an eye on the goal, and find a punter. 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Drake

[Mic]

I'll be attending a Christmas party for the company I worked for before retiring this coming Saturday.  They're mostly all Beavers (Engineering firm) including all the Partners of the firm.  I'm half tempted to go dressed in my Duck regalia but my wife says no, no, no.  She's right, of course.  Not good form.  But I'm not ashamed of the team even if they did have that unfortunate loss to the Beavers.  I hope no one here on the forum is either.  They'll revenge this loss, sooner probably, rather than later.

[DanLduck]

On 11/29/2022 at 11:11 AM, Mic said:

I'll be attending a Christmas party for the company I worked for before retiring this coming Saturday.  They're mostly all Beavers (Engineering firm) including all the Partners of the firm.  I'm half tempted to go dressed in my Duck regalia but my wife says no, no, no.  She's right, of course.  Not good form.  But I'm not ashamed of the team even if they did have that unfortunate loss to the Beavers.  I hope no one here on the forum is either.  They'll revenge this loss, sooner probably, rather than later.

Congrats on your retirement. Enjoy.

Hope you get to even more Duck games.

[OregonDucks]

Congratulations on your retirement, Mic!

[EzDucksIt]

My wife of 25+ years considers herself a Beaver, she was happy to be informed that they had their 9th victory since we first met 28 years ago.  She was so happy, I could not steal her thunder.  Little Victories Matter.  Revenge is so SWEET though.

 

Mic, enjoy your retirement, knowing the Beavers and Dawgs being competitive, helps us moving forward as a Conference, if it will still exist. . .  The Dawgs, we get to reach into their house and exact some payback, me hopes.  Love College Football.  Go Ducks!

[Krsmqn]

Lanning needs to learn that above all others, there are 2 games that Oregon needs to show up for; The swamp rats and the mutts. 

 

Everything else is secondary, aside from championships.

[47sgs]

Yet , if we're going to be a national presence with goals of the playoff, we can't dwell on the two rival games.  They're obviously more important to the fans, but placing the two rivalry games above the others kind of puts us in the OSU mindset, that being no matter how many we loose, we need to win these two. As a fan, it would have been better to loose to Utah and WSU than UW and OSU, but with the goal being the playoffs, it's the same result.