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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1974)
Some call it Civil War, most don't care EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third article in a four-part series on the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry. Today, the fans. Twenty years ago, Bud Rendahl had to tape the windows of his Eugene barber shop before the Oregon State game because the thundering noise parade that clamored down 11th Street threatened to shatter them. Now, three days before the annual Oregon-Orenon State Civil War game, Rendahl says the week will be .ike any other ordinary week. "A lot of kids don't even know Oregon has a football team,” he says. Meanwhile, in Corvallis, the co-owner of a mens' clothing store shakes his head when the topic of Oregon State's student spirit arises. “Spirit?” he says. "It's dwindled. You can hardly hear the OSU kids yelling at the game...not even the Oregon game." "Wait'n for Next Year It's a rainy Monday morning on the Oregon State campus. Parker Stadium hosts a physical education class involved in a game of flag football. The empty stands look unusually lonely in the steady drizzle, as if the season were over. But in six days it'll be Oregon and Oregon State on the field and 35,000 fans in the stands. Dee Andros, though wearing a flashy tie with a pattern of football players on it, seems more somber on this dismal morning than most. The Pumpkin's grin is inches short of a smile. He knows that unless he beats the Ducks Saturday, today could be his last Monday morning as head football coach at Oregon State. While Andros thinks about the situation, an Oregon State sophomore is thumbing through albums at the nearby book store. "Sure the Beavers will beat Oregon," he says, somewhere between The Alman Brothers and Cat Stevens. "But that's not saying much. Let's face it — Oregon's not exactly loaded." What about the coaching controversy at OSU? "We should clean house, except for Andros," he says. "It's the assistant coaches who are screw'n things up." He pauses at the Flying Burrito Brothers. "But, then, Oregon does their housecleaning every two years and look where it's got them." Although it's Monday, the barber shop inside the student union is open. What's more amazing is that there are students actually waiting for haircuts. Does anybody want to talk about the game Saturday? you ask. The expressionless faces do not change. "You know, Oregon-Oregon State...the Civil War." One barber points to his partner. His partner keeps on clipping, briefly looks up and says, "No.” Downstairs, a lady offers a solution to the coaching dilemma. "Hire Solberg," she says, meaning Chuck Solberg, the popular Corvallis High coach whose team olavs Fridav niaht in the state semi-finals. Outside, a student tells you that the Beavers "have forgotten how to win." What about Oregon? you ask. "Well," he says, "word here has it that the Ducks are play'n dead. They've just given up.” "People are just laughing at the Beavers now," one other student says. "Most people around here are wait'n for next year and maybe a new coaching staff." By BOB WELCH Of the Emerald He tells you one of the latest jokes by the cartoonist for the Barometer, the student newspaper: "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Dee." "Dee who?" "Dee head coaching job will be open at Oregon State when the season is over." You're still chuckling as you walk along the street. The Oregon State "Beaver Fever” stickers and the team's schedule in the store windows are faded. Some people have written in the scores after each game. Most have not bothered. A man is patching a flat tire at a gas station near campus. What do people here think of the Beavers? you ask. "I don't know," he replies. "They've never mentioned them." “Who's Playing?" It is Wednesday in Eugene. The rain has stopped but the downpour of apathy about Oregon and the Civil War game continues. Herb Yamanaka, Oregon ticket manager, reports that of 2,253 tickets sent down from Corvallis, only 447 — at $4 each — had been purchased by Wednesday. Because of lack of demand, 1,806 have been sent to Oregon State. Like at Oregon State, those Oregon students who know there is a football game Saturday generally agree who will win, and it isn't the Ducks. "To put it bluntly," says a mustachioed-student while pulling a pack of cigarettes from a vending machine. "I think the Ducks are gonna get their asses kicked in." Another student says he'd like to give his opinion, "But I have no idea who's playing." Are students concerned1 about the Oregon football team? "I don't think most people here give a damn about the Ducks," says one student as he walks towards the EMU. When informed that a student at Oregon State said people in Corvallis simply laugh at the Beavers, the student chuckles. "They laugh harder in Eugene about the Ducks, I'll bet." As a brisk November breeze blows leaves across the campus, a pre-med student says, "I'm so wrapped up in academics. I've got no time to worry about a football team." "No way Oregon can win Saturday," says another student. "My whole frat's down on the Ducks. We went to the game Saturday and a lot of us left or got drunk. What else can you do? It's not our fault they're losing." Finally, you come across one of those small minorities: a Duck diehard. "You bet Oregon will win,” he em phatically says. "They've got to. My parents are Oregon State alums and it's going to be no fun going home unless we beat them stink'n Beavers." “People Like a Winner" Certainly there are others like him at both Oregon and Oregon State, that rare breed that keep coming back week after week to watch the Ducks run into that brick wall at the 20, or, in Corvallis, those that keep coming back to see the Beavers lose games which they should have won. So where did the spirit of yesterday go? What hap pened to the bonfires and the noise parades and the rallies and the good, ol' rah, rah, rah jazz? "It all died when Vietnam came," reasons Rendahl, whose barber shop sits inconspicuously in a row of shops adjacent to the Sigma Nu fraternity on 11th. "Kids had to keep up their grades so they wouldn't get drafted. They didn't have time for football." John Warren, who played for the Ducks back in the 20s, says the students don't have the time now either. "We didn't have all that politics stuff back then. Today, kids are either on this committee or that committee. There's no time for football. And it's a shame." There are a combination of reasons for the decline of spirit, but one clearly stands out above the rest: losing. "People like a winner," Rendahl says. "And Oregon hasn't done much of that lately." Still, isn't there a little bit of spirit around here? "Oh, there's this one fraternity over here — the Sig Eps, I think — who drive that crazy fire engine around stirring up spirit," says Rendahl. "But that's about all I've seen. "Things have changed. The Sigma Nu's always used to have a sign up across those pillars like "Beat the Beavers." Businesses would often shut down on the day of the Oregon State game. People would be whoop'n it up. "Not any more. You learn a lot about college kids by sit'n here for 20 years...they've really changed." * Ducks shoot for soccer title I By DOUG WOODS Of the Emerald The University of Oregon varsity soccer team is priming for a big rematch against Oregon State this Saturday at Corvallis. The game is scheduled in Parker Stadium at 5:30 p.m., after the football "Civil War." The winner will just about sew-up the title in the Oregon Intercollegiate Soccer League. The game will be a grudge match against the Beavers who pinned a 3-0 whitewash on the Ducks at the PAC 8 soccer tournament last weekend at Stanford. Oregon grabbed fifth spot in the tourney, while OSU took fourth. Both teams finished with 2-1 records. UCLA won the top spot, going 3-0 in play and not allowing a goal to be scored against them. Oregon got off to a bad start in the playoff when they were steam rollered 5-1 by USC. Tied 1-1 entering the second half, the Trojans made a runaway of the contest early by knocking in four goals Rick Woodling tallied the Duck’s lone score. In their next game, Oregon met Stanford in the losers bracket, with the Ducks eeking out a 3-2 overtime victory. The Cardinals earlier had been edged 2-1 by Washington. Calling his entire team's defense "outstanding," head coach Steve Saxe gave special credit to his backfield trio of Duncan McLean, Don Campbell and Casey Manfrin for the victory. Oregon trailed 2-0 entering the second half but fought back to tie the score before regulation time ran out on goals by Rudy Schets and Ron Hunt. In the overtime period both teams had five free penalty kicks at the goal, with the team scoring the most goals earning the victory. Oregon's kickers made four straight scores while UO's Scott Wallin held Stanford to three out of five to secure the win. The Ducks then ran into the Beavers in a rubber game of the tourney, with Oregon coming up short, 3-0. "In the first half we controlled the game," said Saxe, "but a breakaway OSU goal late in the first half really hurt." The second half saw the Ducks helping each other off the field as injuries from an aggressive OSU attack and weariness from playing tough games earlier wore down the Lemon and Green. Although disappointed in the fifth place PAC-8 showing by his club, Saxe was pleased with the team's overall play and spirit as they near the end of the OISL season. Lewis and Clark College, which has already finished OISL play, leads the circuit with a 7-2 mark. Oregon is 5-1, the Beavers are 3-1. Whichever one of them f wins Saturday will gain the upper „ hand in overtaking the Pioneers. x M. U M. * *************** M M MJXXLX1MX1 J Seniors! KICK THE NINE TO FIVE ROUTINE Why spend your life sitting be hind a desk watching a clock when you can be operating the world's most advanced electronic systems as a Naval Nuclear Power Officer. If you are a student in good academic standing and have com pleted one year of physics and calculus you may qualify to join the Navy’s nuclear team. Following graduation you will attend one year of Navy paid nu clear power school after which you will be assigned to one of the Navy's growing fleet of nuclear sub marines and surface ships. Join the bold ones! See the officer information team on campus: Located EMU/Century F Be someone special in t he Nuclear Navy.
