While interviewing players after Oregon’s spring football game on a sunny Saturday
afternoon, it hit me how much this football team means to the local community.
I’m not talking about the money and
the attention it brings to the Eugene area,
but the excitement and unity it brings to
the people.
Almost 9,000 Duck fans attended the
practice game, most of them wearing yellow and green. After the game, the gates
were opened, and fans flooded the field
seeking autographs.
As I walked from coach to coach, player
to player for “work,” I noticed how exciting
it was for those kids to meet the players.
The field was brimming with Oregon jerseys. Whether it be Kellen Clemens’ No. 11 lightning yellow, green or white jersey or a blue No. 3 Joey Harrington Detroit Lions jersey, these kids were showing a lot of spirit.
As players answered questions from
reporters, kids fought to get footballs, jerseys,
T-shirts or whatever they could get their hands on signed.
The star-struck twinkle in the kids’ eyes while watching these “larger-than-life” players sign Oregon paraphernalia brings me back to a time when athletes were more to me
than just people that help me get a story or a good quote.
I think back to a time when I was 10 years old, and I went to Civic Stadium (Now PGE Park) to watch the Minnesota Twins play in an exhibition game against the Portland Beavers (when they were the triple-A affiliate of the Twins).
I went with my little league team, and we sat on the third-base dugout side, the same side as the Twins.
Before the game, I squeezed through hundreds of kids to get an autograph. That was when Kirby Puckett, Dave Winfield and Kent Hrbek were playing for the Twins, but I also remember a smaller guy standing by himself with no one around. Little did I know that was the future American League rookie of the year, Chuck Knoblauch.
He was doing what I wanted to do with my life — play baseball. My nerves got the best of me, and I eventually muttered something resembling a sentence and stuck my sweaty, shaky hand toward him with my crumpled-up ticket for him to sign. He took the ticket with a smile, scribbled his name and actually told ME, “Thank you!”
So when I was out there Saturday watching those youngsters get so excited for autographs, it reminded me (and possibly the players) how vital a role this football program plays in the fabric of this community, and how the players’ actions toward kids could stick with them for the rest of their lives.
Just like Chuck Knoblauch’s appreciation and modesty has stuck with me.
Ducks bring more to the community than money
Daily Emerald
May 2, 2005
Seventh inning stretch
0
More to Discover