although this Duck Tale is still about my ducks 2009 season, it is a story which shows my true background, one which showed that supporting friends, in this case Alicia Gilman, is more important to me than my passion for the Oregon Ducks
the 10th game of my ducks 2009 season was at home against Arizona State on the 2nd saturday of november at 730pm
ASU @ #13 Oregon
WEEK BEFORE THE GAME:
normally i talk about oregon a lot, but this week was different
it wasn’t because i was nervous for the ASU game, because i wasn’t nervous at all.. i knew we’d handle them
i didn’t talk much because to be totally honest, i wasn’t thinking about the game
i was thinking of my friend Alicia Gilman
she had put together a run around Greenlake on saturday and all of her friends were invited, as was I
even though my ducks had a home game on the same day, doing this run was more important to me
(out of respect to Alicia and her family, i will keep from naming the cause that the run was for, but i will say that it was a really good cause and it was to support Alicia and her family)
since my mom was going to the ASU game with me, i had to tell her that saturday morning i was going to participate in a run for a friend
my mom went crazy on me and this is how the conversation between her and I went:
mom – “are you crazy, oregon has a game saturday!”
me – “i know mom, but i have to do this, i want to and have to support my friend”
mom – “would you miss the game to support your friend?”
me – “i would mom, this is far more important to me”
mom – “okay you can do the run, but i’m picking you up at your dad’s house at 11am and if you’re not in the car by 11, i’m leaving for eugene without you”
me – “that’s fine with me mom, i’m doing this for my friend no matter what”
so yea, during the week whenever people asked me about the ASU game, i didn’t say anything because i didn’t want people to think that i was going to miss Alicia’s run
on the inside, i was thankful oregon had a 730pm game because i could do the run to support Alicia and still make it to the game if traffic isn’t too bad
for the run, Alicia asked everyone to wear purple or pink, i didn’t have a pink shirt but my dad had a purple UW husky shirt
i knew that a duck fan wearing UW stuff is the crimes of all crimes, especially on the same day as a game in which you are going to
RUNNING FOR ALICIA:
when i woke up saturday morning though, i put aside my hate for UW and my love for the Ducks and put on a purple UW husky shirt to support my friend Alicia
i walked down to Greenlake and saw a lot of my friends there
Alicia thanked everyone for coming and broke into tears
i always bring $20 with me to every game in case i get hungry or thirsty, but when i saw Alicia in tears, i didn’t hesitate to give my $20 to her and her family’s cause
then all of us (atleast 50 people) ran/walked Greenlake
when everyone finished, instead of going home to shower and get ready to leave for eugene, i stayed at Greenlake not knowing what time it was and knowing my mom will leave without me
after 20 minutes or so talking with my friends, i went and gave Alicia a warm hug
after thanking me for coming and supporting her, i headed on home
PREGAME:
once at home, i took a super fast shower, packed my ducks gear and walked outside
i got in my mom’s car at 10:59, cut it close i did!
i was glad i did the run for Alicia
traffic was smooth down to Eugene
we get to eugene around 5pm and i put on my Ducks gear
my mom drops me off at autzen and i walk into the Mo Center
even though i said after the Boise State loss i’d never wear face paint again to a game, i brought face paint with me
when i got in the Mo Center, i walked to the bathroom with my face paint
even though Alicia is not a duck fan and never will be a duck fan most likely, i painted “Alicia” on one of my cheeks
when i went up to my seat, i put on my gloves because it was really really cold, cold enough for it to snow
THE GAME:
the game itself, i don’t remember much from it really
oregon jumped out to a 31-7 lead in the 1st half
with the help of an oregon turnover, ASU scored 14 straight to make it a game at 31-21 ducks
but then oregon got a TD and 2 field goals to win 44-21
otherwise, i don’t really remember all the plays from the game like i usually do because that day, what i remember most is what was more important to me and still more important to me, supporting my friends and on that day, it was Alicia Gilman which i was supporting
POST GAME:
i do remember that after the game when i got back to the hotel i always stay at in eugene, i was so cold that i ate all the cinnamon pizza within 10 minutes!
on sunday i got home to seattle and realized i didn’t have any game stories to tell Maddi Tangney but that was okay because oregon’s last two games of 2009, with the Dennis Dixon retribution game at Arizona and a possible Civil War for the Roses if things go right, i knew i would have a million stories to tell her!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MspcEEKgAM (highlights from the game)
adamkendall2 