OK2LA
9/18/2006, 01:23 PM
I know that many of you might not want to hear it right now, and I understand & respect that, but I can't come home from that weekend, and not pass along what a great time I had.
We ended up staying at the Hilton in Eugene, and met up with a couple that were big Oregon fans. We spent the night in the bar, talking about everything under the sun, including OU/Oregon football. We "wrestled" for the tab, and ended up winning the battle. Throughout the evening, they kept asking us to join them at their tailgate before the game. After we picked up the tab, they insisted that we stop by.
We tried unsuccessfully to meet them at their tailgate before the game, and during halftime, but decided to try them after the game. (even though, we were in no mood to see anyone in green/yellow.) We put on our good sport hats, and met them at the tailgate. To make a long story short, they were VERY cordial and went out of their way to make our stay as pleasant as possible. (beer and food were at an abundance)
As things were winding down, we started to say our goodbyes, and they asked us back to their house for dinner. We said respectfully declined, and in the back of our minds, we we're thinking that they probably are just inviting us because of the timing - we we're leaving, and so are they - "Let's ask them if they'd like to come, and they'll say no, and we'll say ok." - something along those lines. They asked us how we were getting back to our hotel - we said we would walk - like we did to get to the game. They insisted at that point to come with them. Instead of driving us to our hotel, they took us to their house - which was less than a mile away, and poured us a beer out of their electric yellow/green Oregon-keg-erator, and told us to get comfortable. We plopped down on their sofas, and watched all of the rest of the late games; all the while they were feeding us, and pouring beer like it was water. (which is funny, because no matter how much beer I had, it couldn't get that sick feeling out of my stomach when we all watched the replay/highlights of the game in their living room - it got silent for about 2 minutes while we all watched in horror. - [we knew there were some questionable calls, but didn't get confirmation until that moment] - I got up from my chair, and said: "Excuse me while I go throw-up." I said it as a joke, and that's how it was received, but we all felt a little deflated after that.)
We continued to talk about the game, officiating, penalties, turnovers, college footall in general, and had an incredible time. The longer we spoke, the more we found to have in common with one another - one point in particular was that we both have a healthy distaste for a football team in Southern California - go figure! Our host ended up driving us back to our hotel after we had stuffed and drank ourselves dizzy.
I couldn't have imagined having such a wonderful time at an AWAY game with the OPPONENTS' fans that we had only met the night before. We got the royal treatment all the way around. I'll be looking forward to meeting up with our new friends down the road - if it's around a football game - that would be nice, but I wouldn't need a football game to enjoy the company of our new found friends.
We ended up staying at the Hilton in Eugene, and met up with a couple that were big Oregon fans. We spent the night in the bar, talking about everything under the sun, including OU/Oregon football. We "wrestled" for the tab, and ended up winning the battle. Throughout the evening, they kept asking us to join them at their tailgate before the game. After we picked up the tab, they insisted that we stop by.
We tried unsuccessfully to meet them at their tailgate before the game, and during halftime, but decided to try them after the game. (even though, we were in no mood to see anyone in green/yellow.) We put on our good sport hats, and met them at the tailgate. To make a long story short, they were VERY cordial and went out of their way to make our stay as pleasant as possible. (beer and food were at an abundance)
As things were winding down, we started to say our goodbyes, and they asked us back to their house for dinner. We said respectfully declined, and in the back of our minds, we we're thinking that they probably are just inviting us because of the timing - we we're leaving, and so are they - "Let's ask them if they'd like to come, and they'll say no, and we'll say ok." - something along those lines. They asked us how we were getting back to our hotel - we said we would walk - like we did to get to the game. They insisted at that point to come with them. Instead of driving us to our hotel, they took us to their house - which was less than a mile away, and poured us a beer out of their electric yellow/green Oregon-keg-erator, and told us to get comfortable. We plopped down on their sofas, and watched all of the rest of the late games; all the while they were feeding us, and pouring beer like it was water. (which is funny, because no matter how much beer I had, it couldn't get that sick feeling out of my stomach when we all watched the replay/highlights of the game in their living room - it got silent for about 2 minutes while we all watched in horror. - [we knew there were some questionable calls, but didn't get confirmation until that moment] - I got up from my chair, and said: "Excuse me while I go throw-up." I said it as a joke, and that's how it was received, but we all felt a little deflated after that.)
We continued to talk about the game, officiating, penalties, turnovers, college footall in general, and had an incredible time. The longer we spoke, the more we found to have in common with one another - one point in particular was that we both have a healthy distaste for a football team in Southern California - go figure! Our host ended up driving us back to our hotel after we had stuffed and drank ourselves dizzy.
I couldn't have imagined having such a wonderful time at an AWAY game with the OPPONENTS' fans that we had only met the night before. We got the royal treatment all the way around. I'll be looking forward to meeting up with our new friends down the road - if it's around a football game - that would be nice, but I wouldn't need a football game to enjoy the company of our new found friends.