Tailgate Update
The Tailgate checked off another iconic stadium by making its way to
Eugene, Oregon for the most anticipated non-conference match up of the year
between the Ducks and the Michigan State Spartans. Most would believe that it
was the magic and noise of Autzen Stadium that drew me to the Willamette Valley
on Saturday, but it is much deeper than that for me. You see, in 1978 a young
impressionable 15 year old boy was greatly influenced by one of the greatest
classics of all time, National Lampoon’s Animal House. What does this have to
do with Duck football you ask? The University of Oregon Campus was used as the
fictional Faber College in the great cinema masterpiece. A large amount of the
personality of that 15 year old boy today is nothing more than plagiarized lines
from classic movies, with Animal House being one of his most quoted. Who
was that boy you ask? Well, let’s just say Mrs. Tailgate has him on double
secret probation in perpetuity when she discovered she married a fraud
and not an original.
 |
| Our Tailgate crew at Faber |
I was joined this weekend by my faithful sidekick, Brother Brian “Rain
Man” Donnelly and our nephew “Always Late for the Tailgate Nate from Michigan
State.” As usual, Nate, an MSU Junior cut his travel razor close missing his
connection AGAIN and getting into town on game day instead of the day prior as
scheduled. Apparently his connection in Seattle left before his arrival from
Detroit. Thus, he was Sleepless in Seattle Friday night awaiting an early
Saturday departure.
ESPN College Gameday navigated its way to the Oregon plains for the 9th
time in fourteen years. People thought Lewis and Clarke were studs for making
it out here just once! Some folks have no clue. To pay homage to the great
explorers Corso, Herbie, Fowler and Desmond we made our way over to Dean
Wormer’s Faber College in the morning and were able to catch the last thirty
minutes of the festivities. We met the guys that wave the Wazoo flag at every
Gameday and learned this is the 149th straight game day that someone
from their group has represented the Palouse. We even caught a close up glimpse
of the great Sam Ponder. Corso put the Duck head on for his winning pick and
the fans went redneck crazy.
 |
| DFT Crew at Gameday |
 |
| The lovely Sam Ponder |
|
 |
| The Wazoo Crew |
|
 |
| The Sparty States of America? |
|
I must admit, I was preconditioned to not like the Oregon football fans.
They are known throughout the PAC 12 as the nuevo riche of college football
having only recently becoming relevant. I had run-ins with a few Duck Jerseys
during road games in the Bay Area that were not the most pleasant
conversations. We also talked to others who had rough experiences with Duck
fans. However, I could not have been more wrong as we found the Duck nation
extremely friendly and hospitable to us outsiders. The Trusheim family who
spent over an hour with us at our tailgate, Dr. Rich Hill whose office was the
backdrop to our setup and the fans around us in Autzen and those in the parking
lot after the game. Thank you all for a great experience, and yes Autzen is as
loud as they say it is. Take a listen.
Our Tailgate menu consisted of ham & cheese on burger combo sliders,
hot Italian sausages and a box of rolling rock. All provisions including
grill were picked up just minutes before Tailgate time at the local food king super
center. This was the job of the pledge representative to the social committee. The weather was unreal for Oregon with temps in the 90 and clear skies.
Very unusual for the foul weather Ducks.
 |
| How dare you desecrate Duck property son! |
 |
| The Trusheim family with Nate and Dan |
 |
| Double R Bar DFT Burgers |
 |
| That Boy is a P-I-G Pig!!!! |
 |
| Necessities for a good time |
The battle lived up to its billing pitting these two teams with
contrasting styles against each other. Oregon’s speed and great offense and
Sparty’s size and hard hitting defense. Heisman candidate Marcus “Cool” Mariota
commanded the Duck offense and young Connor Cooke was at the helm for Sparty.
Autzen was at capacity with the fan base at peak decibel level in anticipation
of this match. Autzen is truly unique and looks like no other stadium that I
have been to. Built in 1967 with an original capacity of under 40,000, Autzen
now holds just a Trump comb over hair under 60,000. Phil Knight, CEO of Nike
has put a ton of coin into this stadium and program. We learned that even their
cheerleaders are on full scholarship. They should be, their talent is
unmistakable.
The game was played at a high level by both squads, however there
were more mistakes and penalties than I would have expected. The contest
consisted of multiple momentum shifts with Sparty taking what appeared to be a
secure lead at halftime. Duck Coach Mark Helfrich was having none of that and
brought in a motivational speaker as he felt his ducks were being stepped on.
Watch how this genius works the locker room:
The third quarter had Sparty starting off strong before the Ducks
ultimately grabbed the momentum and flew away from Sparty for a 46-27 victory.
Plenty of big plays, big hits and big fun. The Ducks are for real because this
blogger still believes that Sparty is a quality club. Post-game table
gating took place at the local Buffalo Wild Wings with sensory overload abound
on the 10 screens in our view to catch all the late game action.
 |
| This guy was Bieber honorable mention |
 |
| Final Score |
Around the Country
Big Ten – A rough day all around for the
Big Ten with fourteen teams. Their big three all went down in flames and they
ended up with zero wins. I think they should start by learning how to
count. Who calls themselves The Big ten when you have fourteen teams? I knew
this common core crap would come back to bite us. Along with Sparty, “The “Ohio
State University was shocked by the VA tech Hokies in Columbus in front of a
record crowd. Michigan traveled to South Bend for the last time only to be shut
out by the surprising Notre Dame Defense 31-0. Northwestern and Purdue were
bested by MAC conference foes and several other teams struggled against lesser
opponents.
ACC, Big 12 & SEC – all
three conferences had a slew of patsy games really not worth mentioning because
there were no upsets. Pitt bested BC, Kansas State over Iowa State and Ole Miss
topped Vandy in the only conference games amongst the three. BYU trounced Texas
in a mild upset and the Sooners stormed the Tulsa Hurricanes in non con action
of note.
PAC 12 – secured a decent weekend but
several teams such as UCLA, Arizona, Oregon State and Washington struggled
against inferior opponents and Wazoo losing to Nevada did not bode well for the
P 12 in challenging the SEC for supremacy. USC AD Pat Haden ensured the Trojans
would not be denied victory on the farm in Stanford by lobbying the refs to see
things his way. (See Bieber below)
In other action Navy and Army both won and Boise topped a resurgent
Colorado State on the Blue.
Bieber
Award – Several candidates to choose
from again: I was remiss in my duties last week as I overlooked Tailgate
favorite Pete Carroll getting caught cheating again in NFL land for more
transgressions. Other choices include Will Muschamp of Florida for his faux
suspensions of two future Sing Sing regulars and the Biebs himself for getting
arrested once again. It pains me immensely, but I have to give another USC Trojan
the award: Athletic
Director and CFB playoff committee member Pat Haden wins the honors. You see,
our favorite Rhodes Scholar recipient lost his mind and decided to abort the
confines of his suite he was sharing with fellow committee member Condy Rice
for the purpose of accosting a ref during the Trojan- Cardinal game. It appears
that Coach Sark texted Pointy nose Pat for help as he disagreed with the refs
tossing a dirty SC player for an undisputable targeting call. Haden descended
onto the sideline to go all Kanye on the head ref letting him know he could
have his job and that the refs JC education does not match his SC and Rhode
Scholars diplomas. Mr. Haden, have you lost your mind good sir? Just what were
you thinking? Well you may be fined and removed from the aforementioned committee
but know this, you are this week’s Bieber Award winner!
Next week – The Tailgate will be down on the
Farm at Stanford when Army comes rolling into town to take on an angry Stanford
game. And the Caissons go rolling along!
Happy
Tailgating!
My Twitter activity from Saturday:
No comments:
Post a Comment