GO DUCKS!

So, this is year #4 for me in the football world.  Until I started dating a football fanatic, I just didn't get it.  I didn't understand the game at all, and didn't even really realize that there were two different teams that came out on the field for offense and defense.  Sad, I know.

Well, since the beginning, I have been hooked.  Not just a little... I mean totally hooked.  It has been such a treat to have this football stuff in my life.  I wouldn't trade it for anything... and I will always be a duck fan... period.  :)

The 2010 season has started out with a bang for us.  We have slowly moved up in the rankings, and now we are at the top... or second from the top... either way you look at it... it's been a great year!

I thought I would give you a quick run down of the best of the best of my photos this year.  I am not very good about uploading photos after each game, but here is a bit of the last seven weeks... time flies when you are having fun!

Game 1:  vs. New Mexico at home
Sunny and simply perfect in the weather department.
Nervous about the quarterback choice, and excited for the same reason.
Justin and I had bet on which of his paintings they would use for the first program cover... I guessed right... so I win already :)
Sooo ready for some football!
Program cover:  Nate Costa  (all program covers were done by Justin this year :)

First self portrait of the season... I try to take one each game... you will see more later on :)

 First kick-off of the season.... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

First touchdown of the season... with many many more to come....

 Final score of game one... ouch!  :)

Game 2: vs. Tennessee at Tennessee
Weather, beautiful here, rainy, stormy, and hot there... yuk!
It was Patsy's (Justin's aunt) 60th SURPRISE birthday party.
We had spent months lying to her about not being able to come over for the game, so she thought she was stuck watching it with only the household and her sister... boy did we trick her!
This party was pretty much as good as it gets... check out all of the details here..... wow!

Margarita mixer... yummy

 Justin decorated the cake... are you kidding me?

 The party committee spent the night before "branding" each of the hotdogs... amazing!

Cason got his hair done for the big day... he wasn't aware of what mom and dad had done until the next bath... rumor has it, he was less than thrilled.  Good thing we all loved it! :)

We were all waiting for the birthday girl in the back yard... silently, to my amazement... not too bad for such a crowd.

 Boy was Patsy surprised... SUCCESS!  She did a full spin and planted herself on the ground to take it all in... I will admit... I teared up a bit... it is so much fun to see someone so shocked and excited!

 Greeting the crowd and saying her hellos.  Each and every one of these people had lied to her and told her they had something else they had to do.  This made the surprise so much better!

For the actual game, Justin wanted to sneak out and go home.  This way we are in our own space to cheer (or curse) as the case may be, in privacy.  :)  The game ended up having a 75 minute or so delay due to heavy rain and thunderstorms... it started out a bit scary, but the Ducks turned it around and we won easily.  Yea!

Game 3: vs. Portland State at home

Weather was hot and wet... gross

I was not looking forward to this game as much, because it was icky weather and it was going to be a one sided game.  

Kendal, my good friend Cheri's daughter, found her way down to this game from a friend with the deal that we would be bringing her home.  (Cheri's deal :)  We wanted to leave after the first half due to the weather and lop-sided score, but since she was there (with a new cute boy :) I insisted that we stay through the third quarter before we headed out and pulled her away from her fun.  :)

Program cover:  Kenny Rowe... we forgot to bet on this one, so no winners this time.  :)

Nice rain hat huh?  It is not my favorite thing, but it worked... and for that I am grateful... you will notice though, when you get a full length shot of me..............

 I look pretty much like a bag lady... nice huh?  That's Kendal and I... she is sooo cute, and then look at the old lady I have become.  Yikes!  The garbage bag is housing all of my belongings... purse, jacket, etc... remember, it was HOT this day... and wet... gross!

We ended this night with a late drive home... with Beaver and Duck traffic both fighting their way back to Portland.  It was a long drive, but we had fun chatting with Kendal, stopped for a top-notch Mexican dinner, and learned what a nutria is... I never knew there was such a creature!

Game 4: vs. Arizona State at Arizona State

This game was fun for a different reason.  We were invited to the Oregon Ducks Desk Calendar Launch Party at Buffalo Gap in Portland because Justin has a painting on the April 27th, 2011 page.  :)  

Pretty cool right?  We watched the Oregon State game at the restaurant but left in time to get home and watch the Duck game at home.  Can you tell we don't like being in a crowded place while trying to watch a game on tv?  :)  We snagged four calendars before we left to hand out to family and such... it was a fun little excursion before the game.  

I don't remember the game being anything special, a bit scary at times, but in the end we won, and that's all that matters right!  :)

Game 5: vs. Stanford at home

This is a BIG game... so big that Gameday is in town for it.  Gameday starts at 6am here on the West Coast.  Because I worked at the restaurant the night before, we didn't even get into town till 1am.  I couldn't justify getting up three and a half hours later to head out with the Gameday crew, so I slept in and watched it on tv instead.  We did head to the stadium early though.  It was a perfect weather day, no rain and no heat... just perfect fall weather!

Program cover: Jeff Maehl

 Got a great picture of the Duck in the tunnel this time.  The team comes through the Mo Center before each game.  You can cheer and do your high-fiving.... it is so fun to see the guys all dressed up and ready for the big game!

I gave Coach Kelly a high five before the game... and LaMichael James... Pretty sure this is good luck! :)

Gameday...

Game time... we are finally given a tough opponent, and I am scared.  Just want this big game to end with a win!

Our pre-game photo shoot... lovely

Turns out, it was a good one... with a few big plays to turn the game around, we pulled it off with style!  

Rushing the field for the first time in 2010!

Gameday does their after game show on the field... right in front of us... pretty fun game.  Doesn't get much better than this!

Game 6: vs. Washington State at Washington State
We watched the game at home... it was in Pullman... no desire to take that drive... my back was hurt again (similar story as last year for this game.  It was the only home game I have missed in the four seasons I have had a ticket.)
Not too scared about this game, but I was worried about possible injuries... and boy was I right.
We lost a few key players to injuries in this game... one long-term.  Reminds me of the yucky side of such a contact sport.



Game 7: vs. UCLA at home
Weather was chilly, with possible rain... and it rained
It was a Thursday game... what a pain to have to rush out of work and onto the freeway for a couple hours of stressful traffic!  Ick.
I was again, nervous, but I guess for no reason.  It was never a close game and because it was a Thursday, we again left early (I swear, we never left early before this year).  After the third quarter they put all of the backups in so we took off.

Program Cover: Casey Matthews

Favorite pre-game photo shoot so far... like my duck earrings?  Justin's mom got them for me... so cute!  Anything goes at a tailgate... ANYTHING. :)

 Number 1 team in the country... the OREGON DUCKS!

 First score of the game... you can see LaMichael falling into the end zone if you look reallllly close. :)

 A bit later LaMichael (our star) got the wind knocked out of him... you could hear the wind getting knocked out of the crowd when he went down... we were all thrilled to see him stand up and walk off the field!

 Pretty one-sided game... again.

 So we left after the third quarter... it was a good win for us!

Autzen Stadium at night... what a sight.

So, that's my season so far.  Don't you wish you were a fan too?  :)  I realize this was a long post, and many of you probably didn't get through it.  For me, it was a bit of a scrapbooking project so that I don't forget the details before I get to the actual scrapbooking.  To those of you who did make it through... thanks for entertaining my football obsession... looking forward to a scary game down at USC.  This is one of those games that will stress me out all week long... Gameday will be there again because it is a big one.... GOOOO DUCKS!