Home For The Hollandaise

The holidays began with a bang on Thursday, December 3 as the University of Oregon Ducks met the Oregon State University Beavers in the 113th Civil War -- the "War for the Roses" -- to determine which team would represent the Pac-10 Conference in the Rose Bowl.

After a tightly contested game through four quarters, the Ducks prevailed in the end, 37-33, precipitating pandemonium in Autzen Stadium as the UO secured its first Rose Bowl berth since 1994. Son Jory (above, left), friend Randy Enders and I were among the nearly 60,000 fans who witnessed the most meaningful and significant football game ever in the State of Oregon.

An interesting sidebar this season was the wildly popular video created by three students in the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication that went viral on YouTube. Check out http://au.video.yahoo.com/watch/6441801/16703204 for the whole nine yards of "I Love My Ducks (I Smell Roses)."

Once we knew that the Ducks were in the Rose Bowl, it was time to secure our tickets, so I put in our bid. After hearing from the UO Athletic Department that we had indeed qualified for four tickets, we learned that the alumni travel packages had sold out. We spent about two weeks agonizing about how we were going to make it down to Pasadena.

Ultimately, we sold our tickets for a tidy sum and enjoyed a nice quiet holiday season at home with our Golden Retriever, Carmen (below). It's been a busy year with numerous travels, so it was good to rest up in preparation for another year of far-flung adventures in 2010. We had a low-key gift exchange at home, dabbled with cooking up a few recipes and even went out for breakfast for Eggs Benedict with -- you guessed it -- hollandaise sauce.

Although the Ducks lost a tough contest with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl by a score of 26-17, Rebecca, Jory and I witnessed a number of great victories this season, including wins over Cal, Washington, USC and Oregon State. The team returns 18 of its 22 starters on both sides of the ball, so the future looks bright.

Needless to say, we still love our Ducks! Tip of the hat to my buddy Jeff Foreman for the headline.