History of Oregon v Washington Rivalry: Welcome to Hate Week
October 2, 2012 
34 Comments
Kenny Wheaton’s pick is made more significant because it happened against the Huskies. The Huskies are starting to reclaim conference contender status, but Oregon needs to continue the winning streak over Washington.
Welcome to hate week, Duck fans. While the rivalry has lost its luster to the newer members of the Oregon fan base, don’t confuse that with a lack of intensity. Sure, Washington hasn’t beaten Oregon since 2003, and it has been over 3,000 days since Washington won, but if there is one team that Ducks want to beat, it is the Washington Huskies.
In the middle of the summer I was even thinking about this game. I was thinking about how it would be close, even though Washington would probably have an even record. Then I thought to myself about the winning streak. I took this thought one step further, knowing that anybody born on October 30, 2004 is living in a world where the Ducks have never lost to Washington. Anyone just under the age of eight has never had to go through a year of Husky fans rubbing it in Oregon’s fan’s faces. This is the world I would like to live in.
This year the game will feature a Washington team that has just beaten a top-10 Stanford team at home on a Thursday. They have improved since their blowout loss at LSU and their defense looks much better under new defensive coordinator, Justin Wilcox. (Wilcox is a Duck who graduated in 1999. Guess they couldn’t beat Oregon so they had to pick up a former player to try and slow Oregon’s offense)
Oregon currently holds the record for the longest winning streak in the rivalry but is still behind in the overall record between the two teams. I will not rest happily until Oregon takes the lead.
There’s been a growing complacency amongst Oregon fans, at least the twenty-five and under crowd. It’s not even arguable. Too many people are leaving the game early and Autzen isn’t reaching nearly the volume it did pre-2009. I don’t think Autzen will ever be like it was in 2007, or even before the Duck’s 2009 Rose Bowl run and dominance in the conference under Chip Kelly’s tenure. This can be best seen in the lack of hate towards Washington, which frankly is disgusting. A couple years ago I wrote this:
“A few weeks ago I was talking with another Duck fan after blasting Portland State. Eventually we got to the topic of which PAC-10 teams we like to beat up on the most. His response was Oregon State. My response was Washington. I then asked where he would place Washington on the list, surprised it wasn’t at the top. His response? Fifth. After Oregon State, USC, Stanford, and Arizona.
He then said, ‘You must be from out of state because you want to beat Washington the worst.’
This shocked me. As a duck fan all my life and being completely unaware of when my fandom began because it was before my first memory, to think that someone would want to beat another team more than the Huskies was stunning. I can understand having a hard time picking between Oregon State and Washington, but deep down you have to pick Washington.
Oregon State may be Oregon’s rival, but Washington is the enemy.”
These words still hold true. I hate Washington. I hate Washington with every fiber of my being. Oregon State is the in-state rival and the Civil Wars of the late 2000’s were fantastic, but there is a healthy friendship among fans. (This Civil War is looking like it will be a great one) Two reasonable fans from both sides can argue about each other’s program and still come away laughing. That doesn’t happen with Washington fans.
Washington fans dislike Oregon fans a lot. Personally, they think that we are crazy delusional about the Ducks. What’s funny is the same could be said about them loving the Huskies. Whenever the Beavers play someone, I want them to win. I want good things to happen to Oregon State. I wish nothing good upon Washington. I hope they lose every game. If for some reason the PAC-12 had to kick a team out I would vote for Washington and defend every other team to the end.
I want to go back a second to the statement that the Duck fan made towards me. “You must be from out of state, because you want to beat Washington the worst.” First off, I have lived in Oregon my whole life. Second off, is this what Oregon fans have become? Disassociated with Oregon’s abysmal football past that they don’t remember what the Huskies represent for Oregon?
Think of Oregon State as Oregon’s little brother (with all due respect). They don’t have all the money, they don’t have all the cool clothes, and are always looking for attention but have to compete against the recent star with the worlds largest sport brand guiding it. Is it fun beating up on a little brother? Yes. Does it stink when you lose to them? Yes. However, you’re still brothers, it’s a healthy rivalry.
On the other hand, Washington is the kid in your grade who for years beat you at everything. Got better grades, won more awards, pancaked you in football, had the hotter girlfriend, everything. Do you want to beat this kid in everything? Yes. Does it stink when you lose? More than stinks, it sucks. It really sucks. It blows.
Washington has fallen on hard times. They’ve had a collection of poor coaches, horrible player development, and many losing seasons. In 2008 they didn’t win a single game. You know who was happiest about this? Me. That 2008 Washington team is one of my favorite teams in sports, with the 2001/2007 Oregon football teams, the 2004/07 Red Sox, the 1992 Dream Team, and the 1980 Olympic hockey team.
Fans may say they don’t care about the Washington rivalry anymore, but they should. They should take great pride and pleasure in beating the crap out of the team that used to dominate Oregon for decades. DECADES. You know in The Karate Kid where Daniel LaRusso learns karate to beat up the bullies that attacked him, and then beats up them up at the end of the movie? You remember how good that felt and triumphant the kid felt? That’s what it should feel like when Oregon beats Washington.
Oregon has gotten better coaches, players, and facilities, and is now beating up the Huskies. Now, as a fan, you’re telling me you no longer care about being bullied for years, just because we are beating them up so easily the last few years? That’s just wrong, we should all be stoked we are beating them this badly.
You want some specifics about the Oregon-Washington rivalry? This should help with the hate.
The hate began in 1948, when Washington got Montana to vote for Cal to go to the Rose Bowl. Cal and Oregon had tied that year in Pacific Coast Conference (which the PAC-10 has now claimed as an earlier version of itself) and a vote was held. Northwest schools were supposed to vote for Oregon and the California schools were supposed to vote for Cal. However, Washington decided to vote for Cal and got Montana to join. Dicks.
My grandpa has told me the story of the night this happened. Apparently there wasn’t a dry bar in all of Eugene. There were riots. Bigger riots than the riot that freshmen started the weekend before the first day of school two years ago. Riots with a clearer purpose than the occupy movement outside of the Wall Street. Allegedly, Duck fans drove up to the Washington campus and started a riot there. You may argue that this event took place 63 years ago, and this would be correct, but people don’t forget. You know the kid in Superbad that pissed his pants in the third grade? Seth and Evan didn’t forget about it even though it happened eight years prior. Duck fans shouldn’t forget about Washington screwing us out of the Rose Bowl in 1948. Because it was horeshit.
The next year Washington said they didn’t want to come to Eugene, but it was cool if we still went up there. Playing in Portland wasn’t too bad of a drive though and when the PCC conference shifted to the AAWU it looked like Oregon was going to be left out. Washington didn’t care. Seriously, fuck these guys.
Some retribution was made though when a pay for play scandal showed up in Seattle. The dean of the UO Law School was the lead prosecutor of the case and found that Washington was guilty of providing money to players via a slush fund. I wish I could shake Orlando Hollis’ hand, because he’s an Oregon hero. Induct him in to the hall of fame.
Then there was the 1962 matchup when Oregon receiver Larry Hill was tackled in the end zone during what would have been a game-winning touchdown by Washington fans who rushed the field. Can you imagine if this happened today? The fans would’ve gotten tackled before he got five feet away from the wall and run the risk of getting tazered.
In 1973 a bad Oregon team beat Washington in Eugene 58-0. This is like if today’s Colorado beat Oregon by that score. The next year, in 1974, Husky head coach, Coach Owens, beat the Ducks 66-0 and played his starters deep in to the game, which resulted in the starting running back separating his shoulder and his quarterback breaking an ankle.
I wasn’t alive during these years, but have had Ducks close to me tell me how awful these years were. In a sense I was brainwashed to hate the Huskies from birth. It’s a responsibility of every hard-core duck fan to hate the Huskies. It is your civic duty. I’ve found it is an easy way to distinguish true fans from bandwagoners and the ignorant. I feel sorry for the latter.
There were also all the times Washington just crushed the Ducks in consecutive seasons. In 1995 the Washington coach campaigned to go to the Cotton Bowl over Oregon, a campaign that ultimately failed, but hey, they tried. For that, I will not forget. Especially when the Ducks had beaten them head-to-head in Seattle. I’ll be the first one to say that Oregon fans are ridiculous, and at times obnoxious. I will always say that Washington is worse.
Now imagine for a second that the coach you hated the most, signed on to coach the team you hated the most. Basically if Lane Kiffin decided to coach Washington. Or if Rick Neuheisel was selected to coach Washington again. (This idea just got me really excited. Those were great years, when my least favorite coach was coaching my least favorite team.) Rick Neuheisel, the guy who calls for fake punts when up three touchdown as the coach of Colorado, and then talks back to Mike Bellotti with a, “Scoreboard, Baby!” comment after a 51-43 bowl in a 1998 bowl win. DON’T YOU EVER TALK BACK TO MIKE BELLOTTI! DON’T YOU EVER! It was the best times when Bellotti kicked the crap out of those Husky teams, killing two birds with one stone.
Lastly, you know how they always show the Kenny Wheaton interception as the final highlight before the Ducks run on the field? There’s a reason why that play changed Oregon football forever. It was against Washington. Washington was holding the Ducks down for years, and Kenny Wheaton turned around the whole conference with his pick. It was the greatest statement play of all time. If the same play happened against Washington State, Oregon State, or Arizona State, it wouldn’t have had the same impact. The pick sealed the deal against the conference power, Washington, and sparked the rest of the 1994 season that would end with a trip to the Rose Bowl. Each program has been moving in an opposite direction since the play. Last year when these teams played and Oregon beat Washington, Oregon had a .711 winning percentage with a record of 150-61 since the play and Washington was sitting at .493, with a record of 101-104.
A win is highly probable, but there is some risk this year with Washington looking better with a defensive coordinator that is a Duck, and was the defensive coordinator at Boise State in 2009. They have showed they can beat a really good team. Keith Price is a dangerous quarterback and the Huskies have a talented secondary. It may sound on the surface like losing to Washington won’t be that bad, but they are a good team and could end up controlling their own future in the PAC-12 North. Also, as fans, having to hear from a Husky fan base that beat Oregon for the first team since 2003 would be the worst thing imaginable. I put it to you Greg! To share this post with your friends, to educate everyone on why the hate for Washington is not only important, but necessary.
The Ducks owe it to every former team that didn’t beat Washington. Back when Oregon had to give away tickets to football games because no one showed up, before the Joey Harrington billboard in Times Square, and before Oregon was on SportsCenter almost every day. Washington was beating Oregon easily and consistently. Now it’s time to get back at them.
Fans owe it to Norm Van Brocklin, who was robbed of a 1948 trip to the Rose Bowl, Larry Hill when he should have had the game winning touchdown catch against the Huskies in 1962, and every other Oregon team bullied by the Huskies. We should always enjoy beating the schoolyard bully, and the enemy.
Never forget, keep the hate, and fuck the Huskies.
Please: Love the passion and the hate with the comments, but let’s be a little more sensible with what we post. I’ve edited a few down already and can’t approve a few because of the content. Share your fan-hatred by all means, but think a little more on the language.
Beautiful article. I agree, this needs to be read by all Duck fans. Too many are soft on Washington and we can’t let it happen. This url should be posted to the game discussion blog on ESPN. I have kids now and am doing my part to educate them on the history. Keep up the great work.
Don’t forget about when they danced on our O… The hate is alive and well in my close friends and family, but thank you for fanning the flames. Interestingly, I find that Beaver fans hate us in a similar fashion and they refuse to acknowledge the respectful rivalry as you describe it. That has been my experience anyway. What’s that about? In all fairness, I actually hope we don’t have to play the Huskies on Saturday… because I want their whole team to die in a fiery plane crash on the way to Eugene. Ooookay, that might have been a bit much. Rein in the hate Daniel!
Name (required), education is the only way to make sure this history is not lost. Enjoy hate week!
Daniel, thanks for the comment, but I had to cut off the last part of it.
Hahaha! Fair enough. You know my hate is legit if you have to censor my comment, right? As long as Juju saw it!
Juju sees all, but atq no longer recognizes Juju.
Rusty-
The lack of hate is in direct proportion to the growth of Duck fandom. Efforts like yours enculture new and young fans alike and enrich the Northwest football tradition. We are of similar age and experience. Rest assured, my hate is strong and grows within my progeny. Huck the ball licking, cat crap eating Fuskies!
Might want to change this line “I took this thought one step further, knowing that anybody born on October 30, 2004 is living in a world where the Ducks have never lost to Oregon.” The Ducks have never lost to Oregon, Washington on the other hand…….
Ryan, you are a true Duck fan.
The Gut, I thought about that too, but the 8 year old Husky fans are a little too young for this hate, it is beyond their understanding.
I have been a Duck fan for 30 years…and there is no team, in any sports, that I ABSOLUTELY HATE more than the pups…from their smarmy, better than you fans, their prissy colors (seriously purple?) and their coaches…god how I hate their coaches…boy genius Sark…he can do no wrong…and god, how I HATE nEWEASEL…watching him lose at UCLA was almost as good as beating UW…now, unfortunately, Im stuck seeing his ugly face on the PAC12 network…please, oh powers that be, can him…Im looking forward to extending the win streak to ten so I can post on all the blogs about the DUCKS DECADE OF DOMINANCE…ok…i have vented and feel a little better…
What about 1958 or so when the Huskies joined with the California schools to form their own league minus the Ducks, OSU and WSU? Arrogant much? I love it when Husky fans go on and on about how obnoxious Duck fans are. Absolutely love it! They obviously don’t remember the DECADES of insufferable Husky fans that treated the Ducks as if they didn’t even exist. Ha!!!
Just saying that the “Ducks have never lost to Oregon” makes no sense. The Ducks have never lost to Washington.
Gary, I totally agree!
The Gut, thanks for the catch.
Rusty,
Thanks for the article. I do think all the bandwagon ducks need to be educated on the pain and misery so many of us went through. I’ve been a fan since birth (’68) and the hate for the doogs was taught early and often by my dad. As a child, I often prayed for the demise of UDUB by a fiery comet or meteor (still waiting God). My hate for the Fuskies is deep and eternal. All Ducks should feel the same way….
Please Rusty you need to tell the whole story. I read a article once that told the whole sordid history of Washington Husky’s Football. Don James and Billy Joe Hobert, Dr. Feelgood, “Incident Involving Sheep, Pharms. The list goes on and on. If you hate the fuskies as much as I do tell it all man and pile it on!!!!
GO Ducks!!!!
Good article.
I would submit the hate actually began in 1916, when Washington’s coach successfully lobbied to have Oregon’s best player declared ineligible, on very sketchy transcript grounds. We went to the Rose Bowl, but they won the conference championship. It’s been downhill since then.
Benzduck, as I was writing this I tried to find more info on the Oregon-Washington rivalry but failed to do so. Deep down, I knew that you would know something I couldn’t find.
Was sent this article by a friend that is a duck (I’m a UW grad and Husky fan). We frequently have rational conversations and end up laughing (usually at wazzu’s expense…another story). I’m even watching with duck friends in Portland this weekend.
Dude, I’m sorry if you’ve been treated badly by UW fans. Anything out of hand should be stopped as rivalries are good for football and raise the bar for play on the field, recruiting, and donations.
That said, hate is a strong word. I can’t really talk smack considering the winning streak. However, you sound like the Harvey Updyke of the West. Be nice on Saturday.
Jason, you’re lack of hate towards Oregon bothers me. Are we not good enough for your hate? I’m kidding. It’s really only a few bad apples that spoil it for fans. It is a fan-hate. I don’t legitimately hate the Huskies. if I did 25% (estimated) of my friends wouldn’t be. It is one week a year where the Huskies play Oregon, and you being really nice about this whole thing is making it harder to (fan)hate the Huskies. Thanks for the comment and I hope you stop by again.
It just didn’t seem like this article was satire. It appears that you have a deep, ingrained hate for an academic institution that matriculated Brandon Roy.
If you want to see the UW version of a fanbloghatefestcirclejerk then you can check this out.
http://seattlesportsnet.com/2011/11/02/terrorist-molesters-and-the-truth-behind-why-we-really-hate-oregon/
Well, maybe you weren’t the intended audience. I was critical of Oregon’s fans many times in the article and showed respect for Washington’s organization multiple times throughout. But really, if I was just trying to be mean I would’ve left out the comparison to the Karate Kid. I wouldn’t have approved your comment if I was trying to be mean or asked why you didn’t fanhate the Ducks back. Nor would I have edited comments already sent in by Duck fans or just eliminated them outright because they were overboard and redefined what I meant by hate as a disclaimer at the bottom. I’ve already gotten many e-mails from Husky friends who thought it was funny and last year in the comments I encouraged Huskies to put their hate down if they wanted and there was an actual conversation.
Go Huskies – hope it’s a good game.
I hope it is a good game as well. I appreciate your comment as it raised a point I wasn’t able to make in the article. As serious as this article sounds, it is college football. Thanks again for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Enjoy the game.
Wow you have a lot of hate man… I am a life long Huskies fan, and i hold none of this kind of hate for the yucks at all.. I mean I have spent the vast majority of my life watching the DaWgs woop yuck ass every year.. I guess if my DaWgs spent there entire existance getting there ass’ handed to them by the yucks i would be overly excited for a 8 year win streak.. Hmmm what must it feel like to know that your short little run of success in the Pac-12 is soon coming to an end? That feeling of stress, must equal the EXCITEMENT that us DaWgs feel knowing that our time of returning to excellence is upon us.. Good luck this weekend. Lets hope no one gets hurt that is what is most important in Col. Sports..
Coming to an end? We’re just getting started. Mmmmmmgoducks!
Mike! Way to bring the hate! I love it!
DUDE!!!! Awesome post!!!! I loved the mention of Kenny Wheaton. I hate the Huskies. I hate bandwaggoners. I hate how I now live in Missouri, and the year we get beat by Auburn (hate them too), I see some dude wearing a ducks hoodie… I asked him, “Dude! How long you been a fan? I’m from Oregon, born and bred ducks fan! I grew up on them!” He said, “Oh, they were doing good so I like them.” I told him to remove the shirt or get out of my face or both. Ask anybody who claims to be a ducks fan who they hate the most! We will shout Huskies. I can’t stand them. They have no class, are low-life, do-anything to win, have no respect for people, full of crap-nothings!!!! I hope their team goes bankrupt.
I don’t know why, but I don’t really mind the bandwagoners. I say pile on, there’s room for all! I recently heard a statistic that almost 75% of all Ducks merch is purchased outside of Oregon. For average schools it is less than 5% of merch purchased out of state. I take that as an indication we are becoming the America’s Team of college ball… and that doesn’t bother me a bit! I really liked the comment from “mike”, that’s the kind of hatred we need to perpetuate! Ooooh man, I can’t wait for Saturday!!
I was there! The Pick! I remember the Hate for the Huskies, rushing the the field, and heckling every single UW fan on the way out of the stadium!
… yet, the all-time loser coach, who ultimately lost his job because he couldn’t beat Oregon every year was…
Jim Lambright… who coached the Huskies following Don James and went 36-16-1 (.697) in the P10, but only 2-4-0 (.333) vs the Ducks over the same period… everyone LOVED to hate Lambo, myself included
WTD
Daniel, hopefully I didn’t come off as being anti-band wagoners. If someone wants to be a fan of the Ducks then I will welcome them with open wings. However, the lack of education on the history is what is frustrating.
GREAT READ!!! Love to hate on the u-dub. Yeah, I won’t even grant them the consideration and uppercase letters.
Huck the Fuskies 4EVER and give those dawgs a bone. Wish I could still find one of those t-shirts. True Duck fans will know what I’m referring to…
Class of 01. The hate is alive all the way here in Texas. DUCKS FOREVER AND HUCK THE FUSKIES!!!
Really low blow by JasonUW, coming on here and being a nice guy… Typical fuskies.
Dude, respect. Love this piece.
I’m a Wisconsin fan, and Minnesota or Iowa are our rivals but Ohio State is the enemy. I wish nothing but bad things upon that university, program and the city of Columbus. When a Suckeye becomes a Green Bay Packer it stings like nothing else.
When the world ends, I hope The Horseshoe goes first. Straight into the ground man, and preferably when the Suckeyes are playing Minnesota or Iowa. HA!