Ducks Fly North for Civil War Showdown

I know I know, “Angry, who cares about the baseball team?”

The only reason I’m writing anything about this series is because it’s the Civil War, and that always has meaning. Also, during this absurdly long losing streak there came a time when I thought nothing would snap it except a series versus Oregon. Why?

Because this is human nature. When people feel down, in a rut, with little to live for, they tend to do things in day to day life to keep that cycle continuing. They’ll stay up late, sleep late, pull the blinds down and block out the sun. You know, depressing things. Until they’ve had enough and step outside. Usually, in the real world, at that point something good happens (like the depressed person finds a great job, a beautiful lady, etc) and his spirit is renewed. In the world of athletics, the options of what can bring a team out of a cyclical rut are much more limited. But a rivalry game is definitely one of them. The competitive spirit in these games is naturally high, and couple that with the Beavers dominance in the sport and you can understand their fear in passing the torch to the Ducks–they may never get it back.

Does all this apprehension and energy translate into wins?

I actually think it does. I think the Beavs take two of three in this series (*if* they win game 1), which won’t be enough to ignite post-season discussions, but it might be the spark that triggers an inferno down the stretch.