Photocalypse: Getting Wet at Cal

This year marks the first in the last seven that I have been absent from a Ducks home game, and it's tough. They just don't make football games around here like they do up there. To curb my separation anxiety, I wandered into enemy territory this weekend and joined the team in Berkeley as they took on the pitiful Cal Bears.

I hadn't been to a Cal game since I was in fourth grade, when my dad (a fellow Oregon alumni) took me and my neighbor pal to watch a real football team in action. In addition to enjoying the sight of Cal getting pummeled, I remember thinking that it was really hot and the stadium was terrible. Upon my return to the field, I discovered that the stadium had further deteriorated from my youthful days. The weather was also a little cooler.

The stadium seats over 72,500 people, yet the damn place doesn't have a parking lot. It opened in 1923, and apparently the idea hasn't crossed the minds of anybody to this day. Rather than leave our car in a nearby lot or along the street (2 hour parking on a Saturday!), we were forced to pay $40 (haggled down from $60) to get double-parked in an apartment complex half a mile away. The only thing that resembled Oregon's notorious Autzen Stadium was the fact that it was pissing down rain (even though it "never rains at Autzen Stadium"). And apparently, the Cal fans couldn't handle a little precipitation, because their presence in the stands was meager at best.

As the game went on and the rain continued to relentlessly pour down, Cal fans began to dwindle, but the visiting team section remained packed throughout the game. Hey, the rain just gets Ducks fans fired up.

While I was prepared for some football, I was yet to declare myself ready. As my jeans became thoroughly saturated with wetness (from the rain), I realized that it was going to take me a beer or two to get into that hootin' and hollerin' football fan mood. I texted some "friends" who are Cal fans, inquiring as to the location of the nearest beer garden. I found that, in addition to an absent parking lot, this stupid place couldn't even get me drunk. I was gonna have to endure this wet one stone-cold sober. To quote the reverand Jeremiah Wright: "God damn Memorial Stadium!"

But that's ok, I still had my Ducks and was ready for some quality football. Well, so I thought. Both teams "underpreformed", as Cal couldn't hold on to the wet football, and Oregon couldn't do anything with the recovered fumbles. Oregon even had a high snap that resulted in a safety. Seriously? Come on. Oh, and in addition to a non-existant parking lot and alcohol consumption that rivaled the prohibition (assuming you didn't have access to a local speakeasy), this field didn't seem to have much of a drainage system, as the artificial turf looked more like artificial marshland.

So the game trudged on. Relief from the rain came every now and again, only to be met by a harsher downpour. While it wasn't the worst weather I'd been in for a game (anybody remember 2001's Civil War? Nothing like hail at a football game), it certainly could have been helped by a beer or two, especially because of the way my boys were performing. Even Wacky Wig Guy in front of me had to take shelter.

In the end, Oregon lost by 10, my shoes were soaked clean-through, and I was sleepy because Halloween was the night before (and bedtime came late). An unfortunate outcome (and a lost bet or two), but these things happen. At least I learned an important lesson... Cal sucks, but maybe it's just because their stadium is a pitiful, outdated relic that isn't fit for dogfighting.

Oh Autzen, how I miss thee...