When my grandmother was alive, she went to opening day at Fenway Park every single year. Born in 1913, she had just entered kindergarten when the Red Sox won the World Series in 1918.
She would never see them win another title.
A die hard fan if there ever was one, my grandmother cheered for her beloved Red Sox year after year, regardless of how well — or poorly — they did. When visiting her in the summer, I remember hearing her comment freely and colorfully about the players, management, and ownership. Her opinions were distinct and vocal. When the team was winning, she was quick to praise. When they were losing, she often used words like “bums” and “disgusted” to describe what she was seeing and how she was feeling. But her love for Beantown Baseball never faltered, even if there were years her “boys” were at the bottom of the standings and in her personal doghouse. She always knew they could get back to work and do better the following year.
While the Red Sox were arguably her favorite team, she faithfully followed the Bruins, the Patriots, the Celtics, and any variety of tennis players throughout her life. If there was a sporting event going on, chances were excellent my grandmother was watching it. Beyond any specific team was a burning love of the game, a love I picked up on and have carried with me in my life.
An Oregon Ducks Football Fan Is Born
To this day, the Red Sox remain my baseball team despite the fact that I haven’t lived anywhere near Boston since 1984. Living in Portland, Oregon, I’ve followed the Seattle Mariners and Seahawks off and on over the years, and enjoyed following the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1990’s during the Terry Porter and Clyde Drexler era. Like my grandmother, I love a game, no matter who’s playing. But it wasn’t until I attended my first Oregon Ducks football game in 2007 when I discovered the amazing world of college football and honestly wondered where the Ducks had been all my life.
Unlike many of the Oregon Ducks football fans I have since come to know and love, I did not suffer through several decades of abysmal football at Autzen Stadium, praying and hoping that one day, things would change. I don’t know what it’s like to experience a losing season with the Ducks. I came to the scene when Mike Bellotti was head coach and developing the program and brand that we now know and enjoy today on a national scale. And it has definitely been an exciting ride.
As an Oregon Ducks football fan, I’ve had the honor and the privilege to watch highly talented players work together with highly talented coaches and staff to put together winning seasons year after year. I was witness to the Chip Kelly years when he took the team to four BCS bowl games in a row, including the National Championship in 2010. I’ve seen the young men who suit up week after week dominate teams and I’ve seen their opponents dominate them and in so doing, ridden the emotional roller coaster that comes with the territory of being a fan through inevitable wins and losses.
Because even though the Ducks haven’t had a losing season in quite some time, they have lost games. Key games, at that. Stanford is first to come to mind, both this year and last. USC beat us in a heartbreaking finish to a game we fans believed was sealed in 2011. Last night’s 117th Civil War game at Autzen against the Oregon State Beavers was as emotional as games come. Despite us winning in the final 29 seconds of the game with an incredible pass from Marcus Mariota to Josh Huff for a touchdown, the game was a nail-biter from start to finish, leaving Duck fans everywhere exhausted and spent. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have felt like for the players!
Naturally, in this age of social media, the online boards were lit up brighter than holiday lights in Rockefeller Center with all manner of commentary about this year’s football program at Oregon long before the final whistle blew and the game entered the official record books. Facebook was loaded with posts ranging from the ubiquitous “Go Ducks!” to downright hostile attacks on players, coaches, and the entire organization. People raised questions about the team’s validity, calling the team “overrated” and undeserving of all the national attention it’s received this season.
I understand where these questions and comments come from. I understand disappointment and the hurt you feel when your team doesn’t live up to the expectations you and everyone else had of it, or if your team is the one getting beat all the time. Hell, only a few days ago I was ranting and raving about the thoughtless remarks De’Anthony Thomas was making before the Arizona game. So yes, I get it.
Die Hard Fans Are a Different Breed
For die hard fans, our teams become extensions of ourselves. We love the game, yes, but we love the team playing the game even more. Their pain becomes our pain. Their joys, our joys. We invest so much of our time and money into our team that, on some level, deep or otherwise, we expect a return that justifies our investment. When this doesn’t happen, we resort to knee-jerk behavior that leaves a trail of broken dreams and unmet expectations longer than all the football fields across America combined. A switch clicks in our brains, making us think and act in ways that, to people outside of this experience, seem odd, bizarre, even frightening. It happens to fans of all sports, all around the world. There is even a fan loyalty index that was developed in the 1990’s to measure the various levels of fan loyalty across the four major professional sporting leagues of baseball, basketball, football, and hockey.
The Oregon Ducks football program posted a winning record of 10-2 for the 2013 season. This is nothing to be ashamed about, nor is it a record that should be condemned the way some fans are doing on the sports forums. The team deserves to be celebrated for its tremendous work over the last twelve weeks, not picked apart relentlessly. Oregon Ducks football fans have a lot to be proud of. Is it disappointing that we aren’t going back to a BCS bowl game? Sure. Is it now obvious that the team has some definite defensive weaknesses that need to be addressed in the off season? Absolutely.
In many ways, last night’s super close emotional win (as opposed to a world crushing domination) may very well be one of the best things that’s happened to the Ducks in a long time. As a true sports fan, my grandmother wouldn’t have gone so far as to be disgusted with the Ducks this year, but she definitely would have said they have some important work to do. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the results of that work next year.
