The American Civil War divided families at their heart, often pitting fathers against sons and brothers against brothers. It was a battle in which winner takes all.
This weekend’s Civil War game between the Ducks and the Beavers will do the same to identical twin brothers Ethan and Andrew Firpo. Ethan is a student at the University of Oregon; Andrew attends Oregon State University.
Ethan and Andrew may attend rival schools slated to battle, but they’re not big football fans. A rivalry on the field doesn’t translate to a rivalry in the family.
At least not too much.
“(Andrew) does have this crazy idea that OSU is going to beat UO in the Civil War game,” Ethan said. “Which I don’t think is going to happen at all.”
Ethan said he realizes the Ducks fell off midway though the season after a strong start, but he believes the Ducks will come out on top because of the history of the winning home team.
“I think we tend to be a late-season team, so I think we can come through,” he said. “I’m still confident that the UO will kick the pants off of OSU.”
Andrew admitted that the Ducks were probably going to beat the Beavers, also citing the Ducks’ winning history.
“I don’t really have any hopes or dreams,” he said.
While neither brother claims to be a big football fan, Ethan said Duck football started to grow on him around the end of last season.
University student Slade Leeson, a friend of both brothers since high school, said “neither one of them is a big school-spirit guy,” but added they still come up with interesting ideas.
“Any time we get together we talk about having them dress up and fight at halftime during the Civil War game,” he said.
Their situation may not be as unique as one would think, however.
Identical twins Jennifer and Stephanie Ludwig used to be in the same boat — Jennifer was a student at OSU her freshman year and Stephanie attended the University. That year the Civil War game was held at Autzen Stadium and Stephanie was able to attend, but Jennifer was not.
“I got to go and she didn’t,” Stephanie said. “So I got to rub it in.”
Like the Firpos, the Ludwigs took the Civil War game lightly, although they both stood squarely behind their respective teams, their disagreements usually manifested in teasing e-mails.
“She was convinced they would win,” Stephanie said. “I was convinced we would win. I can’t remember who won, to tell you the truth.”
For the Firpos, school rivalry extends beyond the playing field.
“We sort of bicker back and forth because he knows that UO is a better school for the social sciences,” said Ethan, an anthropology student. “So when he talks about sociology professors I poke fun at him about the fact that he is going to an engineering school.”
Andrew, who studies sociology and philosophy, admitted that OSU is not ideal for his studies. He said neither school is “super good for the subjects we’re studying,” but he’s grown to like a few of his professors and plans to finish there before going to culinary school.
All told, the Firpo twins can definitely agree on one thing: Eugene is better than Corvallis.
“Eugene is a bigger city and I’m used to more of an urban atmosphere,” Ethan said. “Unfortunately, Corvallis is a very, very small boring town.”
Andrew agreed.
“It’s really, really small,” Andrew said. “There’s not much you can really say about it. The university is like a quarter of the city.”