January 2, 2012- 1;34 a.m: Decided on Rose Bowl attire. Going to go with white hoodie, with silver “O” and silver wings. I know we’re wearing dark, but the hoodie is undefeated this season. It did very well in taking down the Beavs. Maybe it will do the job today.
8:55 a.m: Shopping list: 2 boxes Milk Duds. Check. 2 boxes Sugar Babies. Check. Large box M&M’s. Check. Case and a half Pepsi. Check. Type 2 diabetes be hanged. This is the Granddaddy! I’ll walk to Safeway. That will help.
10:50 a.m: Hide results of shopping list from wife. No check. Unsuccessful. I wonder why she said, “Honey, just try to be alive when I get home.” when she left for work?
11:16 a.m: What is a tax-slayer.com and how did it get to be a New Year’s Day Bowl? Never mind. Must focus.
1;30 p.m: Pregame show. Saw Chip and Bret Bielema sitting together in the stands. Had irrational desire to see Chip forearm him. 45 minutes before kick and I’m already in 2nd quarter form.
1:43 p.m. Gameday just mentioned predictions. If Corso doesn’t wear the Duck head I may vomit.
1:49 p.m: I may vomit anyway.
Lee Corso
1:51 p.m: Chip said, “Half the stadium will be Wisconsin, half will be Oregon,” I wish it was. 70%-30%. 72%-28%?
1:54 p.m: The Wisky drum majorette just took the field. I’m thinking how cool it would be if Chip came out and clotheslined her. Is it possible that I should seek counseling?
2:00 p.m: Lee Corso is a God!!!
2:01 p.m: First Pepsi.
2:04 p.m: LaMike highlights: If he leaves he will be profoundly missed. What a great Duck he has been.
2:08 p.m: Kudos to the Oregon Marching Band. Good anthem. Toe to toe with a Big Ten band. Time to play ball! Let’s Hit Somebody!!!
2:12 p.m: Lost the toss, but I’d rather kick anyway.
2:12:14 p.m: Hello Erin. Happy New Year. Am I busy later? I’m flattered but my wife wants me to cut down on dating sideline reporters.
2:16 p.m. Montee Ball for 8. That sucks but better than Ki-Jana Carter for 80, over the inert form of Chad Cota.
2:20 p.m: Touchdown Badgers. Down 7. Bad word or two from me.
2:37 p.m: Thomas to Tuinei. YES!!!!!!!
2:38 p,m: LaMike!!! Finish first Pepsi.
2:41 p.m: Wisconsin cheerleaders are cute. Duck cheerleaders are hot. Game may be tied but advantage Ducks.
2:54 p.m: Wisconsin moving the ball at will but Wilson has taken 2 big hits already. Will that show up later?
2:59 p.m: Touchdown Wisky. Wilson is better than I hoped he would be.
3:00 p.m: Finished 2nd Pepsi. Nervous.
De’ Anthony Thomas on his way for a Touchdown…
3:07 p.m. Third and 24 for the Badgers. If we don’t make them punt on this series, we’re in a bit of trouble. I just finished another Pepsi. I don’t remember opening it.
3:08 p.m: Pass interference? Oh, Lord!
3:13 p.m: They have a punter on their roster. Good to know. I’m 4 Pepsi’s in.
3:18 p.m: DAT!!! SWEET JESUS!!! I need a Pepsi to celebrate.
3:27 p.m: Down by 7 again. My Lord, they remind me of road stripers. Come on, D!!!
3:31 p.m: Big return by DAT. Time to answer.
3:32 p.m: Nice answer! Thomas to Barner! If we ever get a lead, I’ll eat something. I’m totally exhausted!
3:33 p.m: Somewhere Nick Holt is saying, “See! It’s not easy!”
3:41 p.m: Big stop on 4th down. Kiko Alonso, DPOG so far! Just took my pulse. It’s 114. Come on Ducks!!!
3:45 p.m: Josh looks woozy as he comes off. Big hand from both fan bases. Wisky fans the best BCS opponent fan base that we have run into.
3:47 p.m: Sack fumble. That hurts.
3:57 p.m. Second and goal. It feels essential that we go in at the half tied. Their defense has only been on the field for about 7 minutes and their linebackers are sucking wind.
3:59 p.m: Touchdown Tuinei! Lord, I hope it stands.
3:59:26: It stands!!!
Halftime. Eat Milk Duds and ponder. Are we okay? I think so, but if we’re going to win this thing we need to even out the turnovers. Corso is right. Wilson is better than we thought. Of course he also just said that the Georgia kicker had once kicked 44 field goals in a game.
4:28 p.m: DAT man again. Herbstreit just mentioned DeAnthony Thomas for 2012 Heisman. My feet did a happy dance! I wonder what my sugar count is? First series on D is key!
4:29 p.m: I wonder if Lane Kiffin wishes that he had DeAnthony
4:32 p.m: Kick coverage breakdown. Didn’t need that.
4:43 p.m: Big stop on 3rd down! A fire truck just stopped in front of my house. I’ll pour a moat on the carpet in front of the t.v. before I leave the rest of this game.
4:50 p.m: Skittish offensive series for us. I wonder if Bielema’s dithering and time out about DAT in the end zone screwed up our rhythm.
Carson York injured…
5:02 p.m. We can’t get off the field on 3rd down. Down 3 again. A SWAT team truck just stopped across the street from me. Having an Animal House flashback. Huphuphuphuphup!
5:09 p.m: Interesting to me that they take the holding call when we lost two yards on the play. I hope we can make them pay with the extra down.
5:09:35 p.m. Good decision by them. Bad pick thrown by D.T.
5:15 p.m. Big hand for Carson York. He’s been a stalwart Duck. Heal up and be ready for fall practice, big guy.
5:16 p.m: Was waiting for the reference to Asper’s Heimlich. There it was.
5:18 p.m.: Kiko just evened out the turnovers. Big play! Got to convert. I just finished my 5th or 6th Pepsi. Maybe 7th. I’ve lost count. This game is going to kill me. It’s possible that I mean that literally.
End of the 3rd Quarter. They are ripping at Lamike’s elbow pad, trying to strip the ball. Shout was fun to watch!
5:20 p.m: Where has this LaVasier Tuinei been all my life? I just did the Go Ducks Go! Fight Ducks Fight! Win Ducks Win! to my upstairs neighbors. They didn’t join me, but they did laugh.
5:25 p.m: The advantage we were supposed to have in special teams hasn’t been there.
5:28 p.m: There are not a lot of us there by comparison but we were loud on this defensive series. The sun setting over the San Gabriel’s seems to have refreshed our crowd. D up now!
5:32 p.m: Holding and false start. Our series is on life support.
5:34 p.m: D.T. to LVT! First down at the 22. I just spiked what I thought was an empty Pepsi. It wasn’t empty. Geez!
5:43: p.m. I’m calling my shot before the field goal attempt. If it was me, I’m going for it. Fake?
5:43:51 p.m: Chip is much smarter than me, though. We’re up 7. WE’RE UP 7 HALFWAY THROUGH THE 4TH QUARTER IN THE ROSE BOWL!!!
Ducks recover fumble!
5:49 p.m: FUMBLE!!! THE BALL HOVERED NEAR THE SIDELINE BUT IF CHIP IS THAT SURE IT’S OURS, I’LL TAKE MY CHANCES ON THE REPLAY! Watching the replay, my favorite scene of the year is watching Chip jump up and down. OUR BALL! OUR BALL!!! IF I WAS A TEENAGE GIRL I WOULD NEVER STOP SAYING OMG!
5:52 p.m: Third and one and a half. Play of the year as the clock hits 3:00. What would I call? Outside zone read coming left.
5:56 p.m: Last timeout by Wisconsin. One more first down and we have completed one of the best seasons in Oregon Duck football history.
5:56 p.m: Not going to be that easy. Have to punt.
5:58 p.m: No sweat. Would have liked to keep him in-bounds, though.
Darron Thomas celebrating Oregon’s first rose bowl win in 95 years. This was also the third BCS appearance in three years.
5:59 p.m: Bring him down INBOUNDS!
5:59:46 p.m.: START THE DAMN CLOCK, REF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
6:00:11 p.m: ROSE BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!
Postscript: We are a blessed fan base, at this point in time. This is THE Golden Age of Oregon Football history. I’ve read this week about people shedding tears at the end, but, as much as a wuss as I can be (Can’t watch Brian’s Song anymore) I didn’t shed a tear. I threw my arms in the air and whooped to the sky! Over the course of the rest of the evening I pondered how far we have come. I thanked God that we have been led by great coaches and great players over the journey of the last decades.
I watched the Fiesta Bowl, lost a bet on OKIE St. by the use of a replay and couldn’t get up the strength to care all that much. Later, I went to bed, and laid there with my eyes wide open…a half rack of Pepsi and all that candy didn’t help, but mostly I laid awake and thought about The Rose Bowl…of which we are champions!
Kim Hastings
Tacoma, Washington
Top Photo by Kevin Cline
Kim Hastings is a 1984 graduate of Northwest Christian College. He cut his journalistic teeth as sports editor of a paper in his home town of Fortuna, CA, and, later as a columnist for the Longview Daily News in Longview, WA.
He saw his first Oregon game in 1977 and never missed a home game from 1981 until a bout with pneumonia cut his streak short in 1997. He was one of the proud 3200 on a bitterly cold night in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1989 for the Independence Bowl, and continues to be big supporter of Oregon sports. He is an active participant on the various Oregon Ducks messageboards as “TacomaDuck.”