Go Ducks. by violet

The first time I fell in love I was just barely 18. We are not talking about a high school crush. Or the kind of love where you date someone for a few months and figure out you aren’t right for each other and generally move on with your life. I am talking about life-altering, no turning back love.

It was the day I attended my first football game at Autzen Stadium. And my life would never be the same.

That’s right, I feel in love with a football team.

I know what you are saying. You fell in love with a football team? You can’t compare romantic, soul mate love to what you feel for a football team. But I know in my heart of hearts that I have loved few people the way that I love this team. Becuase it’s not just the team, it’s a school, a place in time that is all wrapped up and represented by this team.While I was in college the team represented the possibility that life held. After, the team has come to represent the most amazing consecutive four years of my life.

So don’t call me callous or insensitive or crazy.

I once spent 7 hours waiting in line for tickets to a game where is rained the entire time, often sideways. All said and done, it caused me 12 hours of discomfort. But all totally worth it. (FYI Civil War 2001)

I have been with this team as it reached the highest of highs – on the back of Dennis Dixon and on the arm of Joey Harrington - and the lowest of lows – having it all taken away with a knee injury and a blocked punt against Stanford.

This season has been special. After all the horrible offseason antics and the talk about how this team was just a thug quarterback, we have won game after game after game. And I have been a thrilled, blissed-out, stress case the entire time.

And tonight, as my beloved Ducks get ready to play the game that just may put them in the National Title game tomorrow, sure I’m nervous. And I likely will get as much sleep as a kid on Christmas Eve. I will root so hard tomorrow but I also know that should the unthinkable (God forbid) happen tomorrow that I will shed only one single tear. Hold my head high and start talking about next year. Because that is what true love is.


Should we win, I will jump and shout, knowing that the victory is made all the more sweeter by the memories that have come before. Because that is what true love is.

 And now, the only thing I can say (yell, until my lungs hurt) is, GO DUCKS!

Violet in Report Monroe in grey