Dear Oregon,
Are we a football state now? The University of Oregon Ducks have dominated the college football world for the last few years. The Beavers are amidst a very successful season in which their only loss has come to Vikings Dam Cup rival Eastern Washington. And just recently, the Moda Center signed a deal with an arena football team.
The list does not end there. The Seahawks—the closest thing we have to an NFL franchise—are a popular Super Bowl pick, and have only lost one game this season. Most impressively, in the college ranks, Heisman hopeful quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Sean Mannion lead the Ducks and Beavers respectively.
Add stats about the qbs and teams
So Oregonians, are we a football state? I want to say the answer is no, but with all this success coming from local football teams, how could one argue that we are not? But even with the Ducks domination, and the Beavers having a football team that wins sometimes, I personally don’t like the name football state being applied to Oregon.
“Football states” leaves something to be desired. And usually, that is anything else desirable within the state. Many states that are all about football don’t really have anything else to be proud of, and as Oregonians, we should feel the exact opposite. We have one of the most beautiful states in the country. Even in the sports world we have two of the best fan bases in the country in their respective sports of basketball and soccer.
I could go on about how much more we have in Oregon than football, and that is precisely why we are not a football state, no matter how successful that green and yellow team is. If you want to define Oregon by sports culture, you would have to define them by the fanbases.
Ultimately, we are a state with some of the strongest fan bases in the country. Rip City and the Timbers Army make Portland one of the hardest cities for a visiting team to come in and steal a win. Autzen Stadium is famous for being one of the noisiest stadiums in college football. Even the Seahawks up north are well known for their 12th man.
Success does not define Oregon as a certain sports state. But one reason that does assert Oregon as one of the states on top of the sports world is that we have fans that will not back down. Fans that will not accept mediocrity from the players or the staff.
It is not coincidence that all of the biggest sports franchises in Oregon are popular for having a sizable home field advantage. In fact, it defines our sports atmosphere. We love all of our sports, and we are proud whether they are winning or losing. Portland and the rest of Oregon is not a football state, basketball state or soccer state, Oregon is a fans state. Every fan will proudly scream their head off for their team, no matter what the situation. Like the athletes who play in Oregon, people in Oregon represent their state proudly.
Sincerely,
Alex Moore