It's The Final Countdown!

2:00 pm - It's still snowing here in central Illinois. I slept in today and, um, have a headache. Also, my clothes are all soaked from slipping around in the slush last night. Right now we're watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Let me check on some of the games going on - and, then, 30 minutes to the biggest Civil War Game of all time! Let's go Ducks!

2:05 pm - Oh no! The Illini lost to Fresno State last night! ("Fresno fucking State," says Robyn, "Go back to your orange groves.") Fortunately, Illinois already has secured a bowl game for themselves. Meanwhile, it looks like West Virginia has taken care of business against Rutgers, up 35-7 in the 4th quarter. (Whoops! 35-14... maybe I spoke too soon?) If they hold on to win, then the pressure will be on Connecticut to win tonight against South Florida with a BCS bowl - likely the Fiesta Bowl - on the line.

2:25 pm - The first bowls are being set. Brigham Young from the Mountain West will play UTEP from C-USA in the New Mexico Bowl, and Kansas State from the Big 12 will play Syracuse from the Big East in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

2:30 pm - Game time! ("Hey!" says Robyn, "I like the spider scene!")

2:40 pm - Ooooh... Katz is down. Bad auspices for the Beavers. Also, is it just me, or does OSU's uniforms make them look like the Cleveland Browns? Casey Matthews is awesome.

2:43 pm - D'oh! Oregon fumble on the punt return. Those turnovers can be killer. And why is Oregon-Oregon State The Civil War game? Interception!

2:53 pm - Another fumble! Dammit Ducks. I'm going back to Harry Potter.

2:58 pm - Oregon State just converted a huge 4th and 1.

My point is that every intrastate rivalry has an equal claim to the title "Civil War Game." Why Oregon-Oregon State?

The Beavers are in the Red Zone. Also, Harry Potter is fighting the basilisk.

3:04 pm - Touchdown Beavers. My Uncle John sent me this link about the Ducks in the New York time. The basilisk is dead.

3:14 pm - 7-6 Oregon State. The Beavers are making all of those hustle plays, recovering fumbles and blocking extra points.

I just got a close-up of Oregon's helmets. Those stripes are crazy. I like them.

Here is a game-by-game history of the Civil War Game from the Oregonian. My favorite passage, from 1896:

With the game tied a 4-4 (touchdowns were four points then), an Oregon ball carrier, H.S. Templeton, fumbles near the goal line. Charles Osburn apparently recovers for OAC, but referee F.O. Burckhard changes his mind and returns the ball to Oregon. According to the Corvallis Times, an OAC substitute, Pat Kelsey "told Buckhard it was a peculiar decision. Burckhard replied, 'The man who don't like the decision is a s-- of a b--.' Kelsey thought it proper to resent the insult and struck at the referee, but missed, whereupon the latter rushed at Kelsey with several blows, when he received a blow in the face from Kelsey." The two were quickly separated and Kelsey was ejected. Oregon scored and won 12-8.

I bet that H.S. Templeton had a bangin' waxed moustache.