It is Saturday. Good evening to you all.
When I moved to Oregon in 1980, I moved to Pac-8 country. That’s Pacific 8, although I don’t know how many Oregonians know that, and it was made up of a bunch of schools from states bordering on the Pacific Ocean. Some time ago, they added two Arizona schools and made it the Pac-10. We turned the corner and started heading east toward Texas.
By midweek we should have become the Pac 12, with the addition of Colorado and Utah. But 12 teams are too many to play each other, so some way of dividing them up began to be discussed. At that point, I began to have a quiet little hope. I didn’t tell anyone about it because I didn’t want to jinx it. It’s not that I’m superstitious, but I think sometimes not being superstitious enough can hex everything.
My hopes have been realized! There will be a northern division made up of the Washington schools (UW and WSU), the Oregon schools (UO and OSU) and the two northern California schools (Cal and Stanford). In short, they have reinvented Ecotopia as the northern half of the Pac 12. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
I propose that the southern division be called Dystopia, which I know is harsh to Colorado, but it does include all of southern California, all of Arizona, and Utah, which are fine with me.
We need a divisional mascot, I suppose. Ecotopia is a place of cooperation and environmental stewardship. Maybe a pet rock? A salmon? A hammock?
I hope I’m not the only one who is giving thought to this. It starts with the 2012 season and now is the time to start planning.
Western Pennsylvanians, one of whom I married, are serious about their football.
ReplyDeleteYou may remember that Penn State's uniforms had at one time been unsullied by ANYTHING that might distract from the spirit of "team" and "purpose," even the players' names! When the Nike Swoosh appeared on their uniforms, my husband and all his friends felt it was the end of Western civilization as we know it. And when they saw it on Joe Pa's jacket, well, the joy in Mudville had certainly gone out.
I'm a Steelers fan; no mistaking that. But I was born in Cleveland, and when Art Model moved the Browns to Baltimore, and there were NO MORE BROWNS IN CLEVELAND, it WAS the end of Western civilization as we know it. I still spit at the mention of his name.
You mentioned some ambivalence about feeling superstitious. Superstition in some things--religion, politics, science--I'll agree, is probably not good. :) But how can you divorce superstition from sports! It's in the game! I've worn the same Steeler t-shirt for every game this season and we've won every game but last week, against the Ravens. Spit.
All this to say it is so good to hear a sports story that has turned out as it should. Oh, Joy! Rapture!