That'll Teach Us....

I dedicate this post to Sheldon and Christy......way to finish the race strong.......

John and I have been season ticket holders for Duck football since 1997. In '96 we got one of those buy one, get one free coupons from Bi-Mart, attended the game - and fell in love, with college football, that is - but, also, even more in love with each other because we discovered a tremendous joint passion for the game and the entire atmosphere of Duck football.

We've seen lots of victories - we joined the party at the right time, the Ducks have been quite successful over the last decade. We've seen lots of close games, many we thought we'd walk away as losers, only to see a victory - particularly during the Joey Harrington era.

I've also been part of the "not-looked-upon-so-kindly" group that leaves the game early. I have a low tolerance for unruly fans that get extremely negative when the going gets rough. - So, we tend to get going. I feel like I have paid big bucks for these tickets and should not be obligated to spend even more money on a babysitter for a game that is not going well. I realize, the team doesn't appreciate the stadium clearing out, it makes a bad situation even worse, but, in every other way I'm a great fan....

Today was one of those days that we opted to leave early. There was record attendance at Autzen and we really felt like there was no point in paying for an extra hour of babysitting that it would take to wait the last five minutes and deal with the rest of the 59,000 people exiting at the same time. We were down by 10, the Sooners were at the 2 yard line ready to score, it was pointless to torture ourselves any longer.

As we approached our vehicle, complaining about the errors by the coaching staff, we ran into Dennis and Lisa. Suddenly, we heard the stadium roar into cheers and wild applause. We looked at each other and said, "Wouldn't it serve us right if they turned it around.....?!" We all agreed we'd take the victory and all the flack that we'd get with it just to have them win....but, we knew they wouldn't.

When Travis, Stephie, John and I got into the car, we flipped on the radio and found out, yes, indeed, the Ducks had scored. Suddenly, the score was within 6 (the touchdown we had thought was imminent had actually become a field goal). The coach's son was lining up for an onside kick - and it appeared to have worked.... After a very long ref review (oh, there were so many in this game), YES, it was declared that the Ducks had the ball - Woo-hoo!!!! Down the field they went - then TOUCHDOWN!!!! With the extra point kick, we were now up by 1. By this time, we were stuck in traffic, listening to the radio announcers reach for their Pepto... Horns were honking, pedestrians were screaming, arms were pumping out of the vehicles - it was WILD!!! The Whites and us were shocked - not only had the Ducks turned it around, but we had missed it!!!! Then, even more agony, as Oklahoma still had 30 seconds, and wouldn't you know, took it down to the 30 yard line, well within field goal range..... With 2 seconds left, they had every probability of stealing the victory right away from us. The ball got placed, the kicker made contact - and then, IT WAS BLOCKED..... DUCKS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Travis said he's going to get a t-shirt that says, "I'll never leave early again". Our buddy, Mike said he's going to wear a shirt tomorrow that says, "John left early". At any rate, we made a mistake, but given the momentus win, I'll live with it. And, it was a special time in the vehicle celebrating with the Whites along with all of the other "early-leavers" traffic......Unbelievable.