I Love My Ducks

Day Ten - My First Love & First Kiss

I don't really want to talk about that. 

Too painful. 

So I'm changing it.

Day Ten - Why I Love the Ducks

I went to high school in Eugene (which is where the Ducks are located, in case you didn't know). I was originally from Eastern Oregon.. which is all cowboys and rednecks. Nobody really cared about football, unless it was NFL. I barely knew about the ducks and beavers, and if I was ever asked if I was a duck or a beaver, I didn't know what the heck people were talking about. I moved to Eugene when I was fifteen. It's hard not to know about the ducks when you live IN Eugene. So I started paying attention, I always read the sports page.. because.. well I've always loved sports. I joined the Choir at my high school and we got an amazing opportunity. We were asked to go sing at Carnegie Hall in New York in the spring.  It would cost almost $2000 though, so we had some fund-raising to do. My choir teacher [somehow] got us a gig at Autzen stadium serving food and drinks to people at one of the booths. It was only for a few hours a day and all the money went towards the trip, so I signed up for every home game. The first game I went to was the Oklahoma game in 2006. This was a "revenge" game from them beating in the bowl game the year before. Everybody in Autzen stadium was pumped up, and I was just taking it all in. Oklahoma was ranked 15, and my ducks weren't ranked at all. After the 3rd quarter, we closed up the little shop, and started cleaning. The ducks were down by 13 with 3 minutes left in the game. Duck fans were leaving the stadium quickly, and they were angry. So, since I was done, I decided to check it all out. I went and stood in Autzen Stadium for the first time, and watched the ducks play for the first time. 

Okay, like I said, we were down by 13 with only 3 minutes left. The Ducks marched down the field and scored a touchdown to make the score 33-27. Then they tried for an onside kick and recovered it. It was a controversial call, because one of the ducks apparently touched the football before it went the full 10 yards, but it was reviewed and it stood. After another "controversial" pass interference call (that the Pac-10 refs are KNOWN for making) we were in good position. Dixon to Paysinger for the touchdown. Ducks lead 34-33. Autzen stadium errupted (with what fans were left) and I had strangers hugging and high fiving me. It was awesome. The sooners weren't done yet, though. After a bad kick off, they had the ball at our 27. With no timeouts and only a few seconds left in the game, they spiked the ball with a second left and set up for a 44-yard field goal. Not totally impossible, but.. not easy for sure. The ball didn't get high enough to pass our Line, and the ducks won. Autzen Stadium went crazy. And I fell in love in that moment. With the football team, with the atmosphere that is Autzen stadium, with college football. That is the day that I became a Duck.