Game Day For Duck Fans!

"A must read for all duck fans and those who have yet to experience the magic of Autzen Stadium"
                                                                                                                            ~Donald Duck

Game Day for Duck Fans

Athena Sullivan

Eugene, Oregon-Home of the University of Oregon, Ducks. Each fall the city transforms into a green and yellow sea of excitement and anticipation. Billboards are put up. Posters, signs, and flags, decorate every surface. Commercials are played on TV and the radio. The newspaper is flooded with stories, and the talk of the town consistently turns to football. You inevitably see someone sporting duck paraphernalia whether you are at work, the mall or a Hult Center performance. In doing some research I learned that there are hundreds of unique species of duck in the wild. The diversity among Duck fans is just as great. However, Duck fans can be put into categories just as their feathered friends. Brainstorming I came up with: Duck Athletic Fund Member, hippy, tailgater, student, season ticket holder, fair weather, hard core, drunkard, just to name a few. Of course individuals may fall under many categories at the same time and within each category there is great variety. When researching and writing this article I didn’t use a scientific method for categorization or psychological analysis of the individuals. This article is based on my observations over the last seven years and is merely meant as entertainment. The following chronicles the day in the life of three fans, each represent a distinct category, the tailgater, the student, and the hard core fan.

Meet Kenny. He is a tailgater to the core. His main motivation for attending games is the social aspect. He enjoys hanging with friends, eating BBQ, and toasting the ducks with a large pint. Amy on the other hand has no time for tailgating. She is a student at the UO must jockey for a seat in a prime location of the student section. She often sports a decal on each check and holds a creative, and at times, crass sign for all to read. Joey represents our last group, the hard core fan. He has had season tickets for the last fifteen years, he has been to every bowl game in that time period and attends several away games each year. He can produce statistics like a computer and answers all the Boyd Coffee Trivia questions correctly.

Pre-Game

Kenny arrives at Autzen in an RV several hours in advance to the game. He lights up the grill and cracks open the first of many beers. He adeptly tosses a football one-handed to his buddy while clutching his beer in the other hand and not spilling a drop. Kenny wanders around the east end of the stadium stopping to B.S. with the other tailgaters. He tells stories of past games and college road trips. He knows everyone, and if he doesn’t he introduces himself. He makes mental notes of tailgaters with the best spread, and makes sure to stop in to see them again.

Amy wakes up early to sounds of excitement in the dorm. She squeezes into the bathroom with the other girls and applies her decals to her checks. She dresses in a Duck t-shirt, sweatshirt, adds a Duck whistle, football shaped Marti Grass beads and stands still while her roommate ties green and yellow ribbons in her hair. She walks down

Agate Street

and joins up with other students heading to the game. She walks quickly along the familiar path, over the bridge and enters the stadium in order to stand for the next hour and a half before making the mad dash down the stairs to claim a seat in section 9 as low as she can get. She then sits for another hour watching the warm ups and waiting for the game to begin.

Joey arrives by bus wearing a Duck hat and t-shirt and carrying a Duck seat cushion and Duck cooler. He spends time in the Mo’ watching the coverage of other games before heading into stadium. He collects a “Game Day” and buys a program which he reads cover to cover while he waits for the game to start. He also visits with the familiar people around him, seeing as he has sat with them for the past few years.

First Half

Kenny heads to his seat in the stadium with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. On his way in he stops to talk to everyone he knows and checks out the Mo’. Once in his seat he greats all the people around him and introduces himself to any new people. He invites everyone to his tailgater at half time. Kenny shouts exclamatory phrases throughout the game which often make little sense. Kenny thinks he knows a lot about the team. He likes to name drop, pretending that he is tight with players and coaches.

Amy stands the moment Duck Vision kicks off the game. She jumps and cheers with the other students. She joins in the creative chants and checks out all the action on the sidelines. She high fives other students and sometimes has to ask what just happened when she needs clarification.

Joey watches the game intently, often calling the plays before they happen. He shouts advice to the coaches and players, but unlike Kenny his advice is often accurate and insightful. Joey provides stats and clarification for all those around him. He often tells stories of games from long ago. He also knows every players name, number, position, and city of origin.

Half Time

Kenny left the first half early so that he could go back and set up his tail gate. He spends half time much the same as the pre-game tailgate. He socializes, eats, drinks, and tosses a football.

Amy doesn’t leave her seat for fear of loosing it. She chats with the others around her and shares a soda and pretzels with a friend. She breaths in the familiar smell of pot smoke and dodges a beer can as it flies by her head. It gets crazy in the student section, but Amy loves it.

Joey stands in the forever long line at the men’s bathroom and hopes he will get a chance to go before the five minute warning is blasted from the fog horn. He makes it just in time and quickly heads back to his seat before the kickoff.

Second Half

Kenny makes his way back to his seat just as the forth quarter is beginning. He is a little intoxicated at this point and is surprised that he has missed so much of the game. He has a conversation with the fan sitting next to him and eats peanuts tossing the shells onto the ground in front of him. At the end of the game Kenny cheers loudly and heads out to continue the party in the parking lot.

Amy continues standing and cheering for the ducks. The students get louder and louder. The intense game creates an energized environment and Amy’s voice is growing horse from all the screaming. As the seconds click off the clock the students crowd down to the bottom of the stadium ready to explode onto the field. The fog horn indicates the end of the game and all the student crash through the gate and on to the field surrounding the football team like ants to a crumb. Later she walks back with the elated crowd across the bridge and back to campus for celebration parties.

Joey proudly stands, chuckling as he watches the fans crowd the field. Fathers and children toss footballs and Joey looks up at the scoreboard mentally filing the score and heads down onto the field himself. He talks with friends and pats a few players on the back in congratulations. He leaves the stadium content with another victory. He stands in line to board the bus and head home to watch the sports on the late night news.

I watch Amy, Kenny, and Joey leave Autzen and think how they are just three of the nearly 60,000 that fill the stadium each Saturday. Whether you consider yourself a tailgater, hard core fan, student, hippy, or a combination of categories, I highly suggest attending a game at the best stadium in the country. This wonderful place brings together many different people, each of whom add to the wonderful mosaic of Duck fans. The diversity brings energy to the game and creates an atmosphere of acceptance, that is, unless you are dressed in orange and black. 

Comments

[anita nott]

Wow, I can tell you have spent a few Saturday afternoons at Autzen Stadium. It's been a few years since I have been to a game. Any free tickets that come our way now go to my husband and our girls. Describing the atmosphere of a Duck Game through three different spectators was very clever and very entertaining. Thanks for the reminder of what it is like to attend a U of O football game.