Beauty

Korrin B.

November 1, 2009 - 6:13 PM

Usually with a blog title like this, one may predict that I plan on writing one of those posts I so often do about some sort of reflection on life. Some possible topics could be the beauty of the relationship of solitude and tea, the harmony of walking through life as if you are some Broadway performer, or perhaps even the light found in a rainstorm's rainbow. When I think of the word beauty, I think of something rich and full of life, something that nourishes the mind, body, and soul. The topic of this blog may not fit into this subject with elegance and perfection, but then again, there are also arguments that it very well does. I will leave that decision up to you.

Yesterday, the Oregon Ducks beautifully showed the USC Trojans that they can't always have it their way. I feel as though all people ever hear about is USC this and USC that. People think of the Pac-10 and who do they talk about? USC. My thoughts - how boring! There are plenty of other worthy schools within the Pac-10 (a.k.a. the University of Oregon) that possess so much more soul and intrigue. Well, after yesterday, I think USC is going to have to take a little hiatus because everyone's eyes are now on Oregon - as they should be. Final score, 47-20, Ducks! Now, that's beautiful.

As I stood for hours in the student section yesterday, I realized that this would be one of the last games that I will spend with this particular group of people. Since my freshman year, I have been attending various Ducks sporting events with these friends and several of them are graduating after this year. Freshman year, we were all completely crazed fans, camping out and yelling as loud as we could. As the years have gone by, my Duck sporting enthusiasm has matured, but I have remained impressed with the stamina of that of my friends. I have come to describe my friends' illness as a strong diagnosis of Duck Fever with psychotic tendencies.

I met my friends around 12:30pm at Autzen. I was well rested and my belly was full of a delicious breakfast. I arrived to see two of my friends snuggled up next to each other, asleep on the cold concrete outside of the South Gate entry. They had been at Autzen since 3:00am waiting for Game Day and were now waiting to get into Autzen where they would then wait to get into the student section and then wait for the game to start. Because you only live this life once and because we're young, I began to wait with them when I got there, despite other more relaxing tailgating options that had been sent my way. I'm glad I did, knowing that these days will soon live only as a memory.

After much standing and much waiting, we were finally in the third row of section 8 and the glory of Autzen shinned before us. I soaked in the chants and taunts of the crowd. I smiled when the announcer declared, "It never rains at Autzen," knowing quite well that I had been drenched not too long ago. My heart was sent a flutter every time we put Southern California in its place. At the end, the field was swarmed with Duck fans. Duck football has such an incredible sense of community and camaraderie to it. Beauty.