I’m sitting here in the Denver Airport (along with some wrestlers headed to Eugene for tomorrow’s event) waiting for a flight back to Eugene and I began to wonder why what has happened to this football season has got such a hold of me. Maybe it’s the fact that 3 or 4 people came up to me (proudly wearing my Duck gear) in the airport to say such things as: “Bummer about your Ducks, they were fun to watch” and “Man, sucks about Dixon, he was going to win the Heisman.” The country knew it. So did we.

As a lifetime Duck fan, I’ve been through some tough times (Seattle Bowl and last year’s Las Vegas Bowl come to mind recently). But this one is different.

Last year was tough, but it became evident as the season wore on that we were merely being exposed for what kind of team we really were: one with no chemistry or confidence, the key ingredient for any winning team.

Last September, as we left Autzen Stadium having just defeated Oklahoma, there was the feeling that anything was possible: how far could this team go? But as we got home and turned on the TV we came to find out what most had already known, they had blown the call to end the game and the Ducks had been given a gift. From that point on, the season unravelled until we reached one of the most embarrassing moments in UO football history: the Las Vegas Bowl.

All of that had most fans wary of a repeat this year. We knew we had the talent, but would those key ingredients be present or would most pre-season prognosticators be correct, picking the Ducks to finish in the middle of the Pac-10?

I know I felt this way. I had a wait and see attitude all year. But when we beat USC and ASU back to back, I finally allowed myself, despite all the injuries, the believe this might be the year. And just about then is when Dixon went down in the fourth quarter against ASU. And the hopes and dreams of a special season went down with Dixon. But wait! It’s only a sprain, he’ll be okay. Just a slight scare…

So back came the feelings that this was a special season, backed by Dixon’s first quarter TD run against Arizona. Until he went down a couple series later for the final time. That was it.

What hurts most about losing the game at Arizona isn’t so much the number added to the loss column. We’ve experienced many of those. But rather, its what was lost:

• Dennis Dixon, a great story of success from last years woes, to the baseball diamond, to the top of most everyone Heisman list. While he’s just one of many important players to go down for the season, he’s the rudder that steers Chip’s ship.
• A chance at the national championship. The tough part about this is that its hard to know how to distribute your anger here. If we’d been bowled over by the BCS much like 2001, we could have directed our anger there. In forums and around water coolers the “we got screwed” banter would have been heard. As it is, we’re tempted to blame Bellotti for letting Dixon play, or not telling the press or the rest of the team about the extent of his injury. But it was Dixon and his family’s decision. So that blame is harder to pass.

We’re stuck with the realization that this is football, a great game of ups and downs, wins and losses, injustice and injuries. I for one, despite knowing what has been lost, will be rooting for the Ducks and one win closer to a shot at the Rose Bowl.

We’ve lost much this season. That, no one in the country will argue. But we still have plenty to gain.

– rw