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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2000)
Pez Sez continued from page 8B the season that they weren’t going to surprise anyone. Oregon had a bulls eye painted on it in every one of its Pac-10 games. All the Pac-10 knew about Oregon State was that it struggled through a cream-puff preseason, then beat up on conference cupcakes like Wash ington State and Stanford. The Beavers deserved respect, but I don’t think they really got it until they destroyed Arizona. But even then, is it really that surpris ing that they won so handily? However, that’s not the main rea son why I now think the Ducks will win Saturday. It came to me when I received a phone call from my father as I sat in the newsroom at about 8 p.m. Tues day. We talked about the Ducks, about Oregon State, about the mag nitude of this Civil War and about what winning would mean for each team’s program. And there it is. Even if it wins, chances are that Oregon State isn’t going to the Rose Bowl. The Huskies will beat Wash ington State. If the Beavers win the Civil War, they’ll go to the Holiday Bowl, unless Oregon State or Washington goes to the Fiesta Bowl, which is a possibility, but it’s only speculation at this point. The Ducks, meanwhile, tasted a share of the Pac-10 title when they beat California. They want the whole thing, and to go to the Rose Bowl, the granddaddy of them all. And although they don’t say it, they want to show the nation where they could’ve, should’ve gone had they beaten Wisconsin. Destiny is a powerful force. When an opponent scores 55 points, des tiny can find that 56th for the win. Is there such a thing as a team of destiny? If there is, the Ducks are, and so I have to predict an Oregon win. I’ve seen it happen too many times to think the Civil War will be any different. Just when you think the Ducks will lose, they won’t. Some things are just meant to be. Scott Pesznecker is the assistant sports edi tor. Reach him at pezsez1@hotmail.com. Ilili Check out the not-so-civil war between Ducks and Beavers on Oregon Live. • Ducks and Beavers forums and live chats • Live chat and radio show about U of 0 football every Wednesday at 12 noon • Updates from the game every two minutes • Ranking, stats and polls Plus, click on Oregon Live for job listings, concerts, dining, movies and more! 0regon/-7>e www.oregon/zVe.com Click on Sports at www.'oregon/zVe.com .in,-,, with y,hc (Oregonian What’s that? There’s a game this weekend? TWO MINUTES FOR 1 CROSSCHECKING PETER HOCKADAY Civil what? Civil who? Civil why? Here I was, writing a bas ketball story, when some one came up and told me there was a football game between Oregon and Oregon State this weekend. Crazy, huh? Apparently, this game could de cide who goes to the Rose Bowl. You’d never know it from reading this week’s Oregon newspapers, though. Or flipping on the televi sion, or listening to the radio. The state media is keeping this game in a lockbox. At least the players are keeping quiet about the game. “It’s going to be World War HI,” Ducks comerbackRashad Bauman said. “This is going to be the biggest game that anybody here has ever played in,” Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington said. Oh, come on, Joey, you should be used to this stuff by now. When was the last time Oregon didn’t play for the Rose Bowl? That No. 5 ranking in the AP Poll—the Ducks shouldn’t be satisfied with that. And Oregon State, ranked eighth? What’s so odd about that? This is a perennial football powerhouse we’re talking about here. The Corval lis dynasty isn’t just getting started, it’s been around for years. You see, the students at Oregon now really are used to this. The Ducks have been slowly gaining national attention since their Rose Bowl appearance in 1994, and their success in 2000 seems to be retribu tion for falling one yard short of beating UCLA and possibly a Rose Bowl berth last year. Corvallis is going nuts because the Beavers have never been this good. Ever. Dennis Erickson is a Corvallis god. Ken Simonton is one of the best running backs in the na tion, and the Oregon State faithful Eire just about to jump off their three-story buildings over him. Even Portland is getting in on the act. It’s state-wide. Just pick up an Oregonian, Portland’s newspaper. Every day it gets more and more fraught with Civil War hype, and the state just eats it up. You may have noticed, if you turned to page 9 of this very Game Day, that I picked Oregon State to win Saturday’s game. This is be cause Oregon State is the better foot ball team. Sorry, but it’s true. Right now, Oregon’s defense is not togeth er, and the offense still hasn’t put to gether a complete game. Oregon State, on the other hand, has put to gether a string of complete games and has blown out team after team. Maybe Saturday’s game will be the first game where we see the real Oregon offense. Maybe Oregon will put all the pieces together and blow out the Beavers. But hey, what do I know? Sorry, I won’t be watching Ore gon-Oregon State this Saturday. I’m going to make pancakes and watch Ohio State-Michigan. Go Buckeyes! Peter Hockaday belongs in Corvallis. Reach him at phockaday@yahoo.com. LAUNDROMAT OPEN EARLYOPEN LATE 1 EUGENE 381 W. 11th 6am-11pm daily SPRINGFIELD 179 S. 14th 7am-10pm daily JUMBO WASHERS & DRYERS & U sleeping bags • comforters • horseblankets • bedspreads • sleeping bags • comforters • horseblankets bedspreads • sleeping t5ags • comforters • horseblankets • bedspreads • sleeping bags • comforters • horsebla
