Here in Oregon this is Civil War Week. That is the Week of the Oregon vs Oregon State football game.. Some one said this game is for the right to live in the state of Oregon or at least the right to live in the state of Oregon with your head held high. This is one of the oldest college football rivalries. Here in Oregon Ducks and Beavers can be found in most offices, familys and neighborhoods. It's brother vs brother, neighbor vs neighbor and coworker vs co worker so it truly is a Civil War.
One of my favorite Civil War stories is from WWII. One of the Band of Brothers featured in the HBO mini series, Don Malarkey, is a University of Oregon alum. His studies were interrupted by WWII and he was in the paratroopers in England preparing for the D- Day invasion. Eisenhower and Churchill came to view his unit before the beginning of the invasion and Ike asks Malarkey what he did before the war. He said he was a student at the University of Oregon in Eugene, and Ike asks him who won the last Oregon vs Oregon State Football game. Of course Ike played football for Army at West Point.
This year the game is in Eugene and the University of Oregon Ducks are 9 and 1. The Oregon state Beavers are 5 and 5 and need a win to be Bowl eligible. Both teams have lost their starting QB to injuries. The Ducks are favored at home but we have learned that in the Civil War game you can throw out the records because the game will be a fight to the end.
It is fun to walk around the tailgate parties before the game because you see Ducks and Beavers together. There is a scene in the movie Gettysburg where a confederate general tells a British observer just before Picketts charge that "All Virginia is here today". At each Oregon vs Oregon State Football game I like to think "all Oregon is here today." Go Ducks beat the Beavers.
