Scout.com: Rainy in Corvallis, sunny in my heart

Rainy in Corvallis, sunny in my heart

This story originally published on BeaverFootball.com

By Big Daddy Orange

Columnist
Posted Nov 6, 2006

This is what happened when it happened, a narrative of Saturday’s contest: I’m walking to Reser from my parking spot, I have my rain gear on, my Gortex shoes on, got my 20 ounce bottle of unopened water, megaphones, and touchdown M & M’s. Everything is encased in a bag inside a plastic bag to absolutely without a doubt seal out the oncoming downpour. Right.

There is a huge line outside of the stadium that goes into a tented area. People are waiting to get autographs from the Beaver baseball team. Half of the people in line have no idea what is going on but got in line anyway just in case there were leftovers from last week’s beef bowl.

Sixty minutes before kickoff. Everyone knows that the rain is coming. Most of the fans are not yet in the stadium. They are smarter than me.

I poll some fans and listen to conversations. One chief worry is that the Beavers will have a letdown after last Saturday’s contest. I am also worried that the five breakfast burritos, two helpings of cheesy jalapeño potatoes, and half pot of coffee that I consumed at Matt and Kate’s may have been a little too much.

Twenty minutes before kickoff, the Westside of the stadium is half full; the east side is 1/10 full. I wonder why the east side always fills up later?

I go buy a bag of kettle corn. The kettle corn is selling pretty good but not near as good as rain poncho sales. Isn’t it incredible how even long-time season ticket holders come to the games without rain gear? The Hound must own 20 or 30 ponchos by now.

Y. Bernard is in uniform and is warming up. Webmaster Dan and I watch him and decide he looks pretty good but we notice a slight limp as he runs, or as my Dad would put it, “He has a hitch in his get-along.”

Five minutes before kickoff the band, cheerleaders, and dance squad are on the field. Hey! One half of the cheerleader/dance squad has normal size pom poms while the others still have the stunted growth models. Maybe the big pom poms are hydro-activated and grow in size when you add water.

Kickoff time and the orange seats in Section 215 have only half the fans that usually sit there. That means a hefty nine people will watch the game from those orange seats.

OSU will receive the kickoff with the wind at their backs. I like it when the Beavers play defense first, but they got the ball first last week and we all know how that turned out.

The Beavers get the ball and before you can say, “Into every life a little rain must fall,” Yvenson scores a touchdown. The touchdown M & M’s come out early. Matt Moore picks up where he left off last week and looks terrific. NOTE: Matt Moore has morphed into one of those Pac-10 senior quarterback guys. He is seeing the entire field, making quick decisions, and has the body language (swagger) that comes with knowing you are at the top of your game.

The first quarter ends and the Beavers are up 17 zip. It rains, stops raining, starts raining, stops raining, starts raining, a pattern that will hold through the third quarter. The fourth quarter precipitation doesn’t bother with the stopping part.

The second quarter opens with ASU scoring a touchdown. Now is the time to see what the Beavers have going. How will they respond?

My question is answered emphatically when the Beavers score two touchdowns quicker than you can sing all of the Du Du Du’s at the start of “Singing in the Rain.” Matt Moore does his best Michael Vick impression on a 5-yard touchdown run. I double check with my binoculars and verify that a couple of ASU defender’s jocks are on the turf after the play.

It rains a little more in the second quarter than it did in the first quarter. As a matter of fact, the rain gets a little more steady as each minute passes.

The second half is dominated by the Beavers on both sides of the ball. The game dissolves into an aquatic blur of Beaver excellence. Our touchdown M&M’s are now touchdown soggy blob thingys. Our kettle corn is now cold popcorn soup.

The game ends. We take a few pictures, visit with fellow Beaver Believers, and head for the car. I discover that my foolproof, waterproof, sack has a hole in the bottom and I won’t be putting on my dry sweatshirt after all.

Big Momma and I head for home listening to the radio. A radio quote, “Who was Matt Moore’s favorite receiver today? The one that was open.”

I-5 looks like a parking lot but it could be worse, I could have driven from Seattle.

Who’s Your Big Daddy? -----------

Big Daddy Orange can be reached at bigdaddyorange@beaverfootball.com

Related Stories

'We have a swagger about us now'

-by BeaverFootball.com Nov 6, 2006

QUOTES: ASU at OSU

-by BeaverFootball.com Nov 6, 2006

PHOTOS: ASU at OSU (AP)
-by BeaverFootball.com Nov 5, 2006

Story Tools
Top Stories

Search Stories

Discuss on Forums

Free Email Newsletter
Don't miss any news or features from CalSportsDigest.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to have our newest articles emailed to you on a daily or weekly basis. Click here for a list of all Team Newsletters.
Daily Format	Weekly Digest

MAGAZINE COVERAGE

Places to go:

Things to do:

Things to buy:

Things to know:

MAGAZINE COVERAGE
Get the 2010 Scout.com Recruiting Yearbook with an annual Total Access Pass