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
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