When Will Oregon Go Away?

Much as you will hate to see me write this, I think white hot Oregon hate motivates Washington more than anything and is a net plus for the program. Probably a net huge plus. Oh, yeah, there is the wine and cheese UW crowd who likes to see UW beating a good USC team and talking about "two classic heavy weights" and history and prestige and all that but it's total poseur talk and everyone knows it whether they admit it or not. And the reason it's poseur talk is because UW's football history is not 1b to USC's 1a. We? are not in their category by way of history. We just aren't. Nobody should make me show the numbers because it's humbling. They were the Pac 10.

But today is today, and the rivalry with Oregon helps recruiting because it's a rivalry that people talk about around the country. People know about it. Kids want to pick a side in it. It's a good thing for Washington football (and a good thing for Oregon football, admittedly). Every serious poster here knows that one thing Washington has suffered from historically is a bit of national anonymity and no serious objective person with a clue can argue that Washington's name recognition and rep matches its history. It deserves more. The Oregon rivalry helps with that. I am a pretty well traveled guy with people all over the country and my distinct impression is that people out there don't think of UW and USC as a thing … as some prestigious historical clash of titanic west coast programs. They don't. When people ask who USC rivals are they think UCLA (and then say "but who gives a shit?") and Notre Dame. They do not think Washington. Now, you ask the same question relating to Oregon, and people know it's UW and that gets the name out there. Nobody gives a shit about the Apple Cup other than NW purists and I can respect that but in terms of the national stage NOGAFF.

The Oregon rivalry is a thing and candidly it deserves to be a thing. It's a damn good rivalry especially by milk toast west coast standards.