Ducks leave with loss; earn respect
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
MADISON, Wise. — You had to
respect those brave Duck fans who
wore their colors proudly over here
in “Mad City,” Wisconsin on Sept. 9.
You see, when you're wearing an
opposition s
I colors on a
game day in
Madison —
as one “hap
py” Badger
student elo
quentlyputit
1 — “you
Smith
might as well
shit on the
American
flag while
you’re at it.”
Well, OK,
then.
But dude, does that even include
the Ducks from Oregon?
“Where the hell is that place any
way?” he asked between sips of his fa
vorite pregame beverage. “Ore-Gone
huh? Well, they suck. Look guys,
there’s some Duck people over there! ”
(He and his 10 buddies or so be
gin to chant in unison.)
“Asshole! Asshole! Asshole!”
When they finally finished their
chant, the student yelled out, “If
those Ducks can even hang with my.
Badgers, I might give them props.
But seriously, man, it ain’t gonna
happen. The Ducks?? No way. ”
With that, the challenge was on for
the Duck football team to enter Camp
Randall Stadium and try to upset the
fifth-ranked team in the nation.
The Ducks would have to do it
playing in front of 78,000-plus die
hard Badger faps — besides, of
course, those few hundred scat
tered Ducks in attendance.
And as we all know, it was a clas
sic back-and-forth battle between
two determined football teams, with
the Ducks barely coming up on the
short end of the stick, losing 27-23.
f
But even though it may still be
hard to think about a defeat such as
that, realize this: The Ducks trav
eled to the home of the fifth-ranked
team in the nation, outplayed the
Badgers and despite the loss, came
away with the belief that if they can
just eliminate certain mistakes,
then anybody is beatable.
The Ducks truly became a team
over here in Madison. All summer
they have been training together,
working-out together and hanging
out together. During fall camp, the
entire team stayed at the University
Inn for further bonding experiences.
And while summer and fall
workouts created some personal re
lationships, it takes a game such as
Wisconsin, for a team to be created.
You won’t find the emotion, the
heartache, the tears and the suffer
ing after just a regular non-confer
ence game, or even some Pac-10
games. Yet, there was Joey Harring
ton, having trouble speaking be
cause the magnitude of the loss was
too unbearable at first.
There was Jason Nikolao, who
was wiping off wetness from his
cheeks, while he talked of this great
bond that he has with his teammates.
“I think that’s what makes this so
hard,” Nikolao said. “These are the
people that we go to battle with every
day and you really want to succeed
together. When Matt Smith inter
cepted that pass and ran it back, I was
so thrilled because not only was that
my teammate, but that was my friend
who just scored.”
Some may question how a close
loss that was within Oregon’s grasp
can be considered a team-building
type game, but usually it takes a
game like this to wake people up
and show them that they’re not go
ing to be playing the Nevadas and
Idahos week in and week out.
A close loss early in the season
could especially be beneficial to Ore
gon because it hadn’t experienced a
crushing defeat since early last year.
It shows them that they are indeed,
beatable, but that if they play the
game up to their potential, then they
very well could be unbeatable.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti
strongly believes in games such as
these, where the atmosphere and the
energy force you to play the game at
another level. Bellotti knows his team
could have been more crisp, but con
sidering the circumstances, he finds
many positives out of the loss.
“I learned we need to take care of
business and take care of the little
things,” he said. “They have tremen
dous character and heart. If we can
couple that kind of intensity and
that kind of commitment with bet
ter execution, then there is no team
that can beat us.”
Pretty strong words from coach, but
he wasn’t the only person who came
away impressed with the Ducks.
Just as the final horn sounded to sig
nal the end of the game, Oregon play
ers casually grabbed some of their stuff
and walked toward a tunnel to the
locker room. As they did that, a crazy
group of Wisconsin fans rushed to the
tunnel, where I was certain there
would be something thrown and plen
ty of obscenities tossed around.
Instead, though, the Badger fans
stood up straight and just clapped
their hands in roaring approval of
the Ducks’ play.
“Great game Ducks!”
“You had us on the edge of our
seats.”
“We wish you the best for the rest
of the season.”
It was amazing. These Badger
fans, who were ripping into the
Ducks in the beginning of the after
noon, were left bobbing their heads
in appreciation for a team they knew
nothing about before the game.
Oregon came into the Wisconsin
game in search of respect from the
national media, but without realiz
ing it, the Ducks turned into a solid
team, and at least earned the respect
of those dressed in red and white.
I
we’ll push you to
the [edge],
then tell you to jump.
You know it's in you. The desire to go farther. To start where
others stop. It’s why you should consider Army ROTC. It’s a
class where you’ll face unique challenges while developing
skills like how to think on your feet and be a good leader.
Register today. And hold on tight.
ARMY ROTC Unlike any other college course you can take
Call LTC Bob Elliott at 346-ROTC
or email: army@oregon.uoregon.edu
484-1927
GOLF 9 HOLES $10
Students Only. Must show ID. (Monday - Friday)
“37 years of Quality Service”
Mercedes • BMW
Volkswagen • Audi
We also service other makes
German Auto Service
• MERCEDES • BMW • VOLKSWAGEN •
342-2912 2025 Franklin Blvd.
Eugene, Oregon, 97402
WE CARRY A
GREAT SELECTION
OF RUNNING AND
TRACKS FIELD
FOOTWEAR.
525 HIGH STREET
ACCROSS FROM 5TH STREET PUBLIC MARKET
343-1842
EUGENE. OREGON
Runners
selling running shoes to
Runners.
10°/c
OFF
Everything!
exPires 10/1/00
ODC Archive/, find ODC /lories from 1994 through
today. Archived on the uieb @ unuui.dailyemerald.com