Deluxe Billiards bartender Troy Fuller, decked out in Oregon Ducks atire, pauses for a moment to watch the game and proudly make quacking noises on his noise-maker during Thursday’s annual Civil War.
Marcus Larson
News-Register

As Kenjon Barner runs over the yellow first-down line on a fourth-and-2 with just a 90 ticks left on the clock, the two Beavers fans I’m with stand silently. Bill, biting his lower lip, looks down and kicks the imaginary dirt on his living room floor. Even the biggest Beaver fans couldn’t help but lose hope.

Heading into this historic intra-state matchup, I had my sight sets on finally picking a side. I’ve lived here for about six months and I figured it was just about time.

I come from the Brawl of the Wild — the Montana Grizzlies vs. the Montana State Bobcats. Choosing sides there is easy, since the University of Montana was not only my home-town school but my alma mater as well. But choosing between being a Duck or a Beaver is much trickier. So I thought I’d use this year’s much-anticipated rivalry game to help me pick a team, once and for all.

I watched the big game at my friend Bill Oram’s house in West Linn. I took along fellow News-Register reporter Hannah Hoffman. Bill’s a Beaver. Hannah’s a Duck. I figured if I was going to properly pick my team, I might as well take notes from both sides.

Now, back in my home state of Montana, we liked to think our in-state rivalry was a big deal. People got pretty into it, took the game pretty seriously ... or so I thought.

Then I moved to Oregon.

I have never seen a phenomenon in sports like this year’s Civil War. Every car I drove by had stickers plastered in their windows. Every house I passed had brightly colored banners fluttering in the wind. And every person I walked by had at least one piece of clothing dedicated to their team. My idea of hard-core fans was just shattered. So there was no doubt in my mind just how seriously fans in this state take their football.

Once the game finally got under way, a lot of things raced through my head. How on Earth was I going to pick an alliance?

And throughout this nail biter, my opinion kept changing. Oregon’s uniforms were atrocious. Point Beavers. The Oregon fans were out-of-this-world loud. Point Ducks. The Beavers were getting flagged left and right. Point Ducks. The Ducks were the favorite and who doesn’t like an underdog? Point Beavers.

But as the final seconds disappeared off the clock and the Oregon faithful began swarming the field at Autzen, I finally realized the importance of this game.

Bill was born into a Beaver family, so there was never any question what team he would cheer for. Hannah’s mom was an Oregon alum, as she herself turned out to be, so being a Duck was a natural fit. And seeing the excitement in Hannah’s eyes and hearing the pain in Bill’s silence showed me just how deep these alliances run.

The Civil War runs deeper than any rivalry I’ve ever been a part of. And if I am going to find my alliance, it’s not going to be by tuning into a single game — even if it is the most important game in the rivalry’s long history.

So until I find some deeper connection to either of these teams, I’m claiming no alliance. I’ll leave that to the professional fans.