My Beaver Blog

Having been officially bitten by Beaver fever on Jan 1, 2001 while sitting in the Fiesta Bowl watching the Beavs destroy ND, it was always a given that I would attend the Rose, Holiday and Sun Bowl when the Beavers qualified for them. The Rose and Holiday are just a given. There is no obstacle that would prevent me from being at either. For some odd reason the Sun was not very far behind for me. It worked out well this year as we were in Tucson for xmas anyway. Add my brother-in-law (a wildcat who was an honorary beaver for this trip and now referred to as BIL) and 4 more Beavs flying in from Oregon and the roadtrip to El Paso was on.

Thursday Dec. 28 - Tucson, AZ. Departure 9:30am
I expected to see many new things on this trip having never been to New Mexico or outside the immediate vicinity of the EL Paso airport. But the first thing I saw as we made our way East on I-10 was snow in the Desert. As we drove near Benson the snow was coming down in buckets and traffic was crawling along. Our 4 hour drive appeared as if it might take 8. We pressed on and in about 30 minutes were out of the snow and making good time. Our faithful chauffeur is a focused individual and had only one thing in mind, getting to El Paso as soon as humanly possible. The MDX snuck over 100 mph a few times as we hummed along.

Then hunger set in for me and we debated over stopping points for lunch. After seeing only an add fro Kranberry's Family restaurant we decided to pass on Lordsburg and press on while I woofed down some vanilla oreo's. Just under an hour later we had discovered a new place for Geo to retire. You know those Sally Struther's plea's on TV ..."for less than a dollar a day", well we found a place just like that here just outside of Deming, NM. You too could stay for $20 a month in your luxurious RV. And being only 4.5 miles from Wal-Mart, you have it all.

Anyway, a quick in and out at Wendy's, OK it wasn't that quick as there were some issues behind the counter, but I had food now and would survive for awhile. We buzzed through the last bit of the trip and there was beautiful El Paso. On the way to the fan fest we got a glimpse of downtown Juarez and were thankful we were on this side of the Rio (not so) Grande. Having seen the pre-game festivities at the Fiesta bowl I was disappointed by the Sun Bowl efforts. Seemed more like a family gameday type experience. Not bad, but when it's bowl season and not one TV to be found in the place, something is amiss. BIL and I wandered the streets and found a sports bar to eat and watch Cal thump A&M. The others stayed and took in the pageantry of the fan fest including the Beavs easily outnumbers Mizzou 3:1.

Friday Dec 29 - El Paso, TX
After a quick breakfast among several Beaver brethren in the hotel we headed to campus. There were locals everywhere and they had already had their tailgating in full swing. We found a spot and headed to the Beaver party. Arrived just in time to see the band and cheerleaders do their thing. Took some pics, browsed the sub-standard Sun Bowl gear and then started exploring. We climbed the hill behind the East side of the stadium that looked like part of it had to be blown away to fit the stadium in. Anyway, got some good shots of the field from this perch until we were asked by uniformed personal to vacate the area.

Now inside we move to our seats and are ready for game time. By now we all know what happened as the Beavs made us sweat it out, well more like freeze it out, before rallying back to win 39-38 on a late two point conversion. What a fitting end to a tension filled season that included wins over #3 USC, the quacks, Hawaii and Mizzou. The 2nd best season in school history and I was there.

Road trip Notes - My highlights from the trip. 6 people, 1 car, 2 stops (no bathroom breaks), 600 miles and the victory.

• "Are they going to be here" - B.I.L. after seeing picture of Sun Bowl court at Fan Fest
• "I would like to go to OSU" - Jordan to TV reporter as he's interviewed at Fan Fest. He didn't make the cut for the nightly news.
• "I spent $2000 for this???" - Geo as the beavs trailed by 14 in the 4th.
• "It was the last one" - B.I.L. as he returned form buying a beaver sweater and dreadlocks stocking cap to help fend off the biting cold wind.
• "Where are they going" - me questioning beaver fans who were filing out midway through the 4th, serves 'em right for missing an ending like that
• "He's going for two" - the entire west grandstand as MM and the offense went back out on the field.
• Thanks to the B.I.L. for taking all the driving duties and the Blue BMW from Oregon who acted as our cover as we raced back to Tucson Friday night.

On to Baseball and defending our National Title.

Go Beavs!

I can't believe it's been 6 months since I've posted and somehow I missed the entire football season. Well, I didn't miss it, I just didn't write about it. I was there for every home game, including the memorable wins vs. SC and the zeroes, as well as the sun bowl. I've got lots to say but I'll start with an apology and my key learning for the year.

First, I must apologize to Matt Moore and Coach Riley. I was not a fan of Riley's return even though I knew little of the Riley I era. My level of fandom kicked up with the DE era and I have been hooked ever since. That said he has been on a short leash with me and after the bad start I wanted him out. I'm now willing to consider I was wrong. The jury is still out as the team must continue to grow and perform next year, but Riley did things this year I didn't think he could do. Let's review a few:

1. Win against a highly ranked team - I'll put SC and Hawaii in this bucket given the latter was on the islands.
2. Rally team from behind late to win - Often we find ourselves hanging on late to win (SC, Hawaii) but twice this year the team rallied late to win (UO and Mizzou). This never say die type attitude is one I want my program to have
3. Show a giant pair of stones - now he didn't go crazy, and I think some more creativity could be shown in the playbook, but to first decide to go for 2, then to call the play he called shows the kind of confidence he has in the team and that can lead to bigger and better things

As for Matt Moore I just didn't believe he had it in him. I didn't think he could mentally handle it. After last years debacle and the poor start including some poor decision making in the WSU game I thought it was time to move on. Again, I was wrong. As if with the flip of a switch he transformed into a nearly perfect decision maker who put the ball where it needed to be, including the 5th row if needed. I don't know why or how he saw the light, but he did and man what a difference it made. Just imagine if this guy had been in our system for four years, oh how things might have been different. Regardless, I am grateful for the time he did give to us and I hope this change in his game leads him to bigger and better things in his future. Whether there are football related or not, I'm not sure it matters.

Now for my key learning. I still believe that every game in a college football season is critical, but probably only for a select few. Those with national title aspirations. Now we'd all like to believe that means our team, but let's be real, chances are it doesn't. What I've learned is that I need to judge players and coaches alike on a grander scale. While I may not agree with every gameday decision I tend to defer to the end result. Did we win or lose. Really that's what I care about. Taking that one step further, does it matter if we lose a game or three early in the season. Really all that matters is how the season is as a whole. Sure, there will always be what-ifs, but since the chances of a title coming to Corvallis are slim, it's healthier to focus on attainable goals. Bowl games, bowl games wins, wins vs. ranked teams, monster upsets, etc. Now the Fiesta Bowl in 2001 is my all time favorite day in the history of the planet. But given the season just completed, I don't think I could be more satisfied with the larger picture. Big wins, close wins, lots of emotion and a great attitude. I love the team, I love the characteristics of the program and I might be falling for Riley. For now I'll say I'm glad he's my coach and I look forward to his continues stewardship of the program. (Did I actually say that, wow)

Go Beavs

Up next: Sun Bowl Roadtrip (just for you BH)