Good morning, Duck fans! Welcome to another season of “Let’s Learn About Our Opponents.” This week is a rarity in the annals of Duck football. It’s the first time that on Tuesday, the week of the game, I was still saying, “Which one is it again?”
Are we playing North Dakota?
Or are we playing South Dakota?
But one thing remains certain. We would have a better chance to lose this one if we were playing:
Dakota Fanning
Most Oregon fans don’t know a whole lot about the great state of South Dakota other than, of course, the faces on Mount Rushmore. But even they look somehow different than I remember.
I can’t put my finger on what’s different, but …
Be that as it may, there are some really interesting facts about South Dakota that need to be known by Duck fans of good cheer and gracious hospitality. We are to be joined by a large grouping of South Dakota fans at Autzen Stadium this Saturday. It’s only right that we learn something about their state.
1. South Dakota may not have a storied sports tradition, but they are renowned for their potato wrestling. Clark, South Dakota, is home to the world-famous (using that term loosely) Mashed Potato Wrestling Competition.
This is either the mashed potato champion or that time a camel got amorous at a wildlife safari in Winston.
2. Woonsocket, South Dakota, is known as the “Town with the Beautiful Lake.” I’m sure that the lake itself is as pretty as a picture. The town itself leaves something to be desired.
A breezy day in old Woonsocket.
3. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased South Dakota as a part of the Louisiana Purchase. It was literally the transaction of the century. The Bayou of Louisiana, the fertile plains of Missouri and Iowa. The rugged beauty of Arkansas.
Then T.J. took a trip West. He saw the size of the mosquitoes. He saw the barren wasteland that makes you want to kill yourself before you’re halfway to Minnesota on I-90. He experienced what passes for nightlife in this God-forsaken state that wouldn’t make a decent Oregon if we spotted it everything but the “O.” He did what any self-respecting president with buyer’s remorse would do.
He offered the state back to Napoleon for a Derp. Napoleon refused.
4. The Anne Hathaway Cottage at Wessington Springs is the only structure in the Midwest of the United States that features a thatched roof.
Though it has its own charm.
Ms. Hathaway has never heard of Wessington Springs and is asking her attorneys to have it blown up.
We at FishDuck.com/isthistheonethathasFargo would like to herald the start of the college football season with a hearty “Go Ducks!” Whip those Coyotes!
Top photo by flickr.com
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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.”