To the newly minted freshman of the University of Oregon:
Well, look at you lucky Ducks.
Not six days into your college careers, and you already get to experience what ought to be one of the best college football games of the 2010 season: No. 9 Stanford at No. 4 Oregon, with ESPN College GameDay framing the scene.
What a way to start.
Let’s just get this straight right now: This is a special circumstance.
True, College GameDay has come to Eugene three times in the last four years – 2007 vs. Cal, 2007 vs. Arizona State, and 2009 vs. USC.
Cameron Colvin’s name will forever live in infamy for that Cal loss, but the other two were Oregon victories cultivated in special atmospheric conditions.
Saturday’s contest against the Cardinal may be the toughest challenge of all four games. The offensive line is physical and physically stout. Andrew Luck is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Jim Harbaugh is a risk-taker and an excellent motivator. Chris Owusu has speed even the Ducks might envy. Vic Fangio’s revamped defense is putting consistent pressure on offenses.
I have no idea who is going to win this game. You don’t either. Don’t lie to yourselves. But this is the time to embrace the unknown, not to fear it.
So, GameDay. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, to paraphrase the popular maxim.
If you’re reading this column, you likely devoted yourselves to Oregon sports in some fashion long before you set foot on campus.
This may be your first game of the year; this may be your second, third, or even fourth. This one, according to the arbitrary scale of fandom, counts for more.
You want to be loud. You want to add to the culture of intimidation that Autzen Stadium is famous for. You know that your individual efforts, in some mystical, magical way, will help guide the Ducks toward victory.
(Those efforts don’t include spitting on people, harassing people or throwing solid objects at people, so please don’t. Please? Pretty please?)
You also want to check out the GameDay production because, hey, this doesn’t come around every season. You want to see if Lee Corso and Desmond Howard are as short as they look (they are), if Chris Fowler is as debonair as he looks (he is) and if Kirk Herbstreit is as handsome as he looks (he is, and he’s taller than you might expect).
Spencer Hall, the creator of EveryDayShouldBeSaturday.com and a frequent college football blogger, wrote a piece on GameDay for Sports Blog Nation in which he called the production a “rolling logistical miracle”. This aspect is certainly worth seeing, as the GameDay set will begin to rise out of the ground (metaphorically) in the next few days.
There are three keys to this game for you. They’re very simple, but you’re freshmen, and we can’t expect you to go all-out from the start.
First, show up early. GameDay begins broadcasting at 6 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Saturday; prime real estate is gone by 9 p.m. on Friday. Word of students camping out on Thursday is also spreading around campus. These same students who will wait 12 hours for a college football pregame show will immediately stand by the south gate of Autzen at the end of the show for their seats. They will get the best seats, i.e. the ones in the front rows.
Want to have the perfect Saturday experience? You have to work for it.
Second, don’t embarrass the University of Oregon. Please spell-check your signs and check the language and ideas among friends before bringing them to GameDay.
Please treat your fellow GameDay watchers with respect. Please stay within the designated boundaries for spectators. Please don’t drink yourselves into a stupor 12 hours before kickoff.
Finally, pace yourself. GameDay means a long day for everyone involved. For most of the actual game, you will likely be running on fumes. Being loud for 60 minutes takes a lot of work and energy.
Let’s be honest: You will not sleep much. You will not eat or drink much. What you do consume will not be healthy. You will break from societal norms for roughly 24 hours and suffer consequences in due time.
When the clock strikes zero at the end of the fourth quarter, win or lose, you will have lived to tell the tale. We should all be so lucky.
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