Coach Bellotti had to catch himself and just stopped for a moment after what he had just heard after an Oregon Club meeting about seven years ago. I told him, “really–it IS OK to put seventy points on the Huskies, as we’ll rarely ever get that opportunity and it lets the second team get scoring reps!” He took a breath and before he could answer…he got hit with another question and used it to avoid answering me. He smiled at me as he turned to the other journalist; he knew.
Gadfry….what kind of fan am I? How demented can I be when I say things like that and “you can never beat the Huskies often enough?” I consider myself a good person who works hard and treats others right….and I know of the tremendous research going on at University of Washington that benefits us all,….and I have people close to me that are Huskies and I care very much about them. So why am I SO irrational with this subject? Are you, and why?
It is some of their fans that have driven me to this, as back in the 90’s when they were truly great and crunched us every time — their fans were just horrible. They did their best to rub salt in the wound and remind us how good they were and how we had to “bow down” to them. I’ll give an example of a fellow I’ll call “Sam,” as he would call or email me often over the last 20 years after Oregon-Washington events. I recall his phone call to me in the early 90’s when he would say over the phone, “Charles….why don’t you combine Oregon and Oregon State and maybe then you would have a decent team?”
Oregon won again?
Geez, what a jerk. But what could I say? They were great and we were so bad….I simply could not respond, but boy if I ever could……
Then as the teams changed over the years….so did quips from my Husky acquaintance. I’ll never forget how going into the Fiesta Bowl against Kansas State he tells me, “Charles–too bad you didn’t make it into the National Championship game. I guess you guys have to figure out how to beat Stanford!”
Now it was not just the words spoken, but the whiney and almost condescending tone used? I could not believe my ears. I responded with, “Sam….my how your trash talking has changed over the years! Now the worst you can say is that we’re not in the NC game? Boy, how things have changed!”
Did I hear from him after the Arizona game this year? Oh yeah.
Yes…it is the horrible fans of Washington that I’ve dealt with over the years that have spawned this irrational hatred within me of their team. And they wonder why Oregon fans have become so hostile to them?
Think the Huskies wouldn’t repeat this? Think again.
It would also be from plays like the one above from 2012 where the Husky dragged our star QB back to where his helmet crashed into their bench. Remember that Chris Peterson condoned the Boise State hits that put our QB out and nearly took off the head of Ed Dickson in our game with them years ago. We wear throw-back jerseys Saturday celebrating that win over the Huskies 20 years ago; isn’t that like a red flag in front of a Washington bull?
Charles….how do you sleep at night harboring such hatred against the Washington Huskies?
Well….I think about the young men we are recruiting to sign letters of intent this next February and I ponder how the last time any of them could have watched a Washington victory over Oregon–and it would have been when they were in the first grade. All their conscious life they have only known Oregon domination….and I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face.
You tell me — is your hatred irrational, and why?
Top Photo by Kevin Cline
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Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 35 years and has written reports on football boards for over 23 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He and his wife Lois, have a daughter Christine, reside in Eugene Oregon, where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years and now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations.
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…
