No love lost
They live side by side and they’re no different really, other than one takes up residence in a purple house, the other a green one. But for more than 50 years, Washington and Oregon football fans, and often times the coaches and players, too, have made it abundantly clear they can’t stand each other.
They’re neighbors who aren’t very neighborly, putting up fences and putting on airs and refusing to put up with each other.
A month ago, a long-time UW alumnus, a kindly, white-haired man, stood outside Husky Stadium, pondering a season gone terribly wrong. His team hadn’t won a game and couldn’t complete a pass, but there was hope.
No matter what, Oregon was still on the schedule and, oh, how he hated anyone associated with that school – and, in his mind, everything could be made whole and right again with a sound thrashing of the Ducks.
Face it, the UW-Oregon game has become one of college football’s most annoying and grating rivalries, certainly in the western half of the country, where personal agendas far outweigh point spreads.
Something to chew on
Outsiders are humored by the temperature levels surrounding this annual fall encounter, which surpass those at most traditional cross-state football duels.
“The University of Oregon has its wealthy donors and the University of Washington has its wealthy donors, and they’re just too much alike,” surmised Bill Swancutt, Oregon State’s senior defensive end. “All of our fans are just farmers.”
Before one game at Autzen Stadium, a comely Oregon coed smiled at a young man wearing a UW hat with fluffy ears and snout until she got close enough to scream an invective and take a swing, knocking that goofy souvenir to the ground. Guess her phone number was out of the question.
At both stadiums, fans have tossed dog biscuits at each other in an overly enthusiastic manner, with former UW linebacker Dave Hoffmann trying to defuse the situation some in Eugene by gulping down a couple of the pet treats.
Mike Barclay is an insurance salesman and president of the Eugene/Springfield Oregon Club, the local booster group. No game excites him more than when the Huskies come to town, raising everyone’s energy level. He’s a huge fan. But he won’t watch these teams play in Seattle. It’s not safe.
“I’ve never been up there,” he said. “All you hear is it’s the worst place to go. Personally, I don’t want to go.”
Pouring it on
Bad feelings have surrounded this game since 1948, according to leading authorities on both sides. That year, Oregon and California tied for the conference lead, requiring a member vote to pick out a Rose Bowl team. The Husky ballot went to Cal, cementing the Bears’ trip to Pasadena and upsetting Oregonians to no end. Was there no Northwest loyalty?
Relations continued to fester when the UW suggested it wouldn’t play the Ducks on the road unless games were held in Portland, a situation that went unchanged until 1966. Nor was anyone in Eugene pleased when there suddenly was a move afoot to oust Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State from the now Pac-10 Conference because they supposedly were no longer competitive, and the Huskies didn’t readily object.
Genuine hate was clearly evident for the ‘73 and ‘74 games. That first year, the Ducks showed no mercy and ran up the score at home, thumping the UW 58-0. In response, the Huskies handed out a 66-0 beating the following season in Seattle.
Evening the score
Emotions boiled over and competitive lines blurred in ‘94, spiking the rivalry.
That season, redshirt freshman Kenny Wheaton’s last-minute 97-yard interception return for a score off UW quarterback Damon Huard secured a 31-20 victory at home and propelled the Ducks to their first Rose Bowl trip in 37 seasons.
That started a run of four Oregon victories in five games, and roles quickly reversed. That feeling of smugness and superiority long pervasive in Seattle now was clearly evident in Willamette Valley.
There appears to be no slowing the dislike, no tempering this border feud. Certainly, the last place a deeply wounded and outmanned UW team should turn up is in Eugene. “The Huskies had this attitude about them and it was real arrogant, that they were the rich kids on the block, that they thought you’re going to be working for them some day,” said Oregon defensive end Devan Long, who hails from Anacortes. “Everybody just started to hate the Huskies and it’s taken off from there. This rivalry now has really been blown out of proportion.”