Thursday, October 6, 2011

Oregon (PAC 12) 2011

College:  Oregon (PAC 12)
Year:    2011
Games:   Oregon 43 Cal 15
Rating:   9 out of 10
Cost:  Moderate
Tickets:  Moderate
Stadium:   Autzen is LOUD.  Reminds me of the old Foxboro Stadium, just a slab of cement that the sound cannot escape from.
Description:  In 2011 I had a meeting to attend at the University of Oregon.  I scheduled this fucker for  the same Thursday Oregon had a home game. Co-incidence? I think not!  I also was lucky enough for Oregon State to have a Saturday game the same weekend. A CLASSIC TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE WEEKEND!  I can’t really even put in words how much fun I had driving around Oregon for a long weekend going to a couple of different games.  It was paradise, Oregon is paradise.  There is nowhere in the US that I have been that is prettier than the Oregon coastline.

Eugene is a very nice college town, campus is immaculate.   Eugene is split by the Willamette river.  There are a bunch of bars right near the stadium.  You can't go wrong there.

As far as the game itself, Oregon is a unique experience.  It’s not quite like a pro game, but it’s not quite a college game either.  We all know the whole uniform movement Oregon has launched (often imitated never duplicated:  right Maryland?).  The game experience is very similar.  It’s a very polished presentation but it retains its own uniqueness.   It’s almost how the pro game wants to present itself but can’t.  The pro game in all the major sports has become the same presentation at 30 or 32 different sites.  The same songs played during timeouts, the same advertisements.  It’s one big game of corporate copycat with a few exceptions here and there.  It’s completely homogenized and yet another reason not to bother with it outside of your living room.  I hope the college game does not go down that path, but I suppose it’s inevitable to a degree.

It was also a treat to watch a Chip Kelly offense live and in person.  It’s a very different experience compared to watching them on TV.   The first few plays of each drive they sort of toy with the defense and then all of a sudden one of their guys is breaking off on a 50 yard run.    Any time they run a passing play two guys are open by 5-10 yards.  Can you IMAGINE if Johnny Manziel had actually gone to Oregon? I mean, sweet Jesus.

Unfortunately at the end of this game there was a bad injury to LaMichael James.  Great player, he was fun to watch both in person and on TV.

Don’t Miss:  The bars right around the stadium, checking out the Oregon campus, the site where Animal House was filmed
If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  You are two hours from Portland, an hour from the Oregon coastline (home of the most beautiful stretch of coast in the United States and Rouge brewery) and an hour from Corvallis. This is one of the better "two birds with one stone" trips you can have as these schools tend to play one week night game per year. 
Avoid:  
Attendees:  Bones



Game Recaphttp://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312792483

Oregon Football Ticket

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