Road trip: Dancing to their own beat, the Beavers finally get a win

Text and photos by Joe Connor, our eco-friendly road trip correspondent.

If you ever want to know how much respect — or lack thereof — home fans have, just wear the opposition's dominate color to a game and see how you're treated. Well, I did Saturday at Oregon State when it played host to the green-laden Hawaii Rainbows, but it wasn't on purpose.

To be honest, I've been on the road since Aug. 22 and I was down to two clean shirts. Let's just say I enjoy doing laundry about as much as listening to the monotone of (soon to be ex-) Washington Coach Tyrone Willingham. Making my color choice worse, of course, was that the Beavers' chief rival 45 minutes south is the University of Oregon, those green-and-mustard colored Ducks.

Not to worry, no Beaver fans hurled me into the Willamette River in Corvallis as the current headed briskly south toward Eugene. Quite the contrary: Beaver fans were quite respectful, and it was one of the most pleasant tailgates I've been to.

Perhaps it all has something to with the unique Oregonian spirit. After all, it is the state that passed the country's first beverage container law, so during tailgates you don't throw your bottles in any bag; you throw them under a tree to be collected moments later. Did you know that Oregon also was the first state to use gas taxes to fund highway improvements? Well, now you do, junior.

Oregon also is a state whose two premiere universities are nicknamed after animals, one with buck teeth — and one without any. This animal instinct must have something to do with the state's natural beauty — from its rugged coastline and lush valleys to mountain peaks such as Mt. Hood.  It is a place where no — zero, nada, nil — of its oceanfront property is private, so its Beavers and Ducks can roam condo-commando free. It's also a place where the state motto reads "she flies with her own wings" and where the former governor once remarked: "Come visit us again and again, but for heaven's sake, don't come here to live." I guess once an Oregonian, always an Oregonian, but if you're not an Oregonian, well, then visit briefly — and then get out.

The "Pure Orange" tailgate headed by Michael Denison, an Oregon State alum and season-ticket holder since the 1980s, was the guest of the Green Machine and he was Mr. Mellow. I stuck out like a sore thumb in my green-colored, short-sleeved shirt among virtually everyone wearing an orange T-shirt that read "I See Orange People," but few gave me much grief.

"Wear the opposing colors at Oregon, and see how you're treated," one added.

While a student at OSU, Denison was the team's football manager for five seasons, getting to travel on the road like I'm doing this season (only he was really working, catching balls from punters during pregame, hauling player equipment and such, not simply driving a smelly veg-oil rig).

"OSU paid for my last two years full-ride, but it was like getting paid $2 a credit," Denison said as his kids tossed the football around and took photos of the Green Machine with Dad's iPhone. "Probably one of the coolest highlights was being at the Big House at Michigan catching punts and Michigan came onto the field (for the start of the game). It was deafening; loudest I've ever experienced."

Well, except for the annual Civil War battle between the Beavers and Ducks. Speaking of the quack quacks, the Beavers' public address announcer kept the fans updated on the Oregon-Purdue game, eliciting a rousing ovation after announcing in the first quarter, "In West Lafayette, Purdue 20 (pause), Oregon 3" (rousing ovation).

Of course, the quack quacks came back to beat the Boilermakers, but by that time the Beavers had clobbered the Rainbows silly, earning their first win of the season.

Next up: Wouldn't you know it, a visit to the quack quacks, as the 3-0 Ducks play host to always dangerous Boise State. I'm planning to don Bronco orange and blue — and a clean shirt too.

-- Joe Connor

Comments

[Joey5picks]

The Willamette flows north, actually. AWAY from Eugene, like any self-respecting entity would.

[Mike G]

Hey buddy, the Willamette river runs North to the Columbia. You will be arriving in Portland not Eugene if thrown in. I think PSU's colors are Green too though right?