Oregon daily emerald., October 08, 1981, Page 11, Image 11

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The Fan
An Emerald reporter searches for the ultimate Duck fan
By TERRY RHOADS
CM tw EmaraM
Five minutes remained in the Oregon-Washington
football game when the Huskies scored their final
touchdown For all practical purposes, another defeat
had been pinned on the hard-luck Ducks
For 40,000 fans, it was time to escape from their
wet confines to shelter, the nearest bar. anywhere far
from the battlefield of Autzen Stadium
"Let s get the hell out of here,1' muttered one fan
"Come on,' said another, standing up
"I've had enough too,” said yet another
Photos, by Bob Baker
The broken-spirited group began to head for the
aisles, but alas, one member remained sitting
"Curt!" A guy from the group yelled to a friend as
the crowd moaned in response to Duck quarterback
Kevin Lusk's sack by the Husky line
"Hey, we re leaving "
“Fine," snapped the fan. his eyes fixed upon the
battered Ducks' sidelines
A glutton for punishment, the group decided as
they pushed themselves up the aisle
Question:
Is the fan who continued to watch the Huskies
pummel the Ducks: 1) A glutton for punishment? 2) In
the true sense, a die-hard Oregon Duck FAN? 3) A
future member of the Oregon State Mental Hospital in
Salem?
Let the accused speak for himself
"I'm not weird, stupid or anything," said Curt
Rassmussen after he realized his party had indeed
abandoned both the Ducks and him in the fleeting
minutes
“Hey, those guys are quitters I'm a Duck," he
answered to an inquiring reporter while glancing
around for his ride back to campus
"When God made me, he made me a sports fan
He also put me in Eugene God realized the Ducks
needed a few good fans and he just decided to make
me one
"Sure the team's biting it right now, but hell, I'm
going to stick with them, and then when they start
kicking some ass, I'm going to be the first one there!"
There seems to be a fine-line limit of love for the
Ducks, as the above story exemplifies But the real
question is, where are the real Duck fans like
Rassmussen — like the kind they used to have in the
old days? You know, the type you read about in an old
baseball or football novel
A reporter decided to find out the truth — to find
the real fans
Does the true fan accentuate the positive aspects
of his favorite team?
"I love them just as much as the next guy," said a
disenchanted fan who asked to remain nameless. "But
you can only do so much I've been coming to their
games for a couple of years now, and it's always the
same old thing You just can't get too caught up in it,
or it'll make you cry."
He left early in the fourth quarter.
Does the best fan cheer for his team — or just say,
"cheers!”
Some experts believe Jack Daniels, Henry
Weinhard and a Bull are among the most loyal of all
Oregon football supporters This subject draws
arguments One Duck booster in his 40s cast his vote
for Paul Masson A young lady said “Aldo Celia," and
a third fan, an Oregon student, simply replied, "M D
20/20 ”
“When God made me, he made me
a sports fan. God realized the Ducks
needed a few good fans.”
“Yeah, I like to drink here," said a student named
Frank "It helps me to forget what's happening on the
field and to concentrate on what's sitting next to me "
"Hold it," said another student in a packed-but
happy student section “I don't think all the
credit can go to (Mr Jack) Daniels — what about
Coke, don't you think it helps the Ducks? I know it
helps me "
Another student hearing his friends' answers
offered this:
"You've got to be up for sports," he said with a
small bottle of Southern Comfort in one hand and an
umbrella in the other. "I mean, the football team gets
pumped up in the locker room before the game, right?
Well, most of us get purpped up during the game! It
helps brings us closer to the action, and we can be
more supportive of the team. We're both feeling the
same thing: good."
"Well," a friend added, "we have to watch them, so
don't ya think we have to get pumped up too?”
Continued on Page 12
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