One of the things that a Friday night game does – other than
requiring me to take a vacation day to work the second job of covering Oregon football
– is to change my work here at Duck Sports Central. In some ways it is better.
I don’t really have to stay up to the wee hours of the morning preparing the
Fifth Quarter; and I don’t have to get up early in the morning to verify if the
advanced metrics tell the same story and how to include them.
This morning I woke up and prepared the RV for the trip home.
Did some shopping. Went to lunch with my wife an watched Kentucky beat Texas
A&M. But my truncated week at the day job left me with some other
responsibilities. I still had to go to my office and meet with one of my team
to discuss a position change with him, I still had to get Fiji from day care,
and those pesky groceries would not find their way from the store to me without
somehow getting in my car and picking them up.
But as I was walking with Fiji in the evening – a near
picture perfect September evening, I was reminded just how lucky I am to get to
live this life. I think being disappointed after a loss is natural; it is part
of what makes being a fan so interesting. Fans watch irrespective of the
outcome always in that hope that the next game will change their picture. WE
live for a sport for a variety of reasons and they are all valid to the person
who holds those reasons close to their heart.
For me, football was a sport that I played for most of my
life and I love being around the game. In many ways, the Polynesian Bowl is a
much more fun experience for me. There is a sort of camaraderie with those
players as we interview them, take candid photos of them during practice, get
to know some of the little things about them that make them tick. Sometimes we
get a closer view from their parents – and that makes what I see on Saturdays
very much more real. I watched two of the defensive backs I covered just eight
months ago make their first interception as a Duck. I watched four offensive
linemen I have covered at various times in Oahu play yesterday – two as
starters. In all 20 players on the current Oregon roster have
