I Love My Ducks!

Yesterday was a big day. The Rose Bowl kickoff was at 6am Shanghai time, so I went to bed extra early and woke up every three hours anticipating having to get out of bed. I finally got up at 5:30am and prepped myself for the commute into the French Concession in the dark.

 

I smelled roses on New Year's Eve...it was an omen.

It was all a bit foggy at 5:30am. And cold. And dark. But don't worry, I took a picture to document it.

 

Red, green and yellow. I'm like a frikin' traffic light.

Brian and I agreed the day before to meet at The Camel, a sports bar that is open almost all the time, but especially if there are big games on. So far, it's been open for every Oregon game, though sometimes American football is pushed aside for really important events like rugby. We've watched several games at the location. It has overpriced espresso but reasonable Western food prices.

I arrived around 6:30am and I'd missed a bit of the first quarter. The score was 7-7 and soon to be 14-14. I looked around for green and yellow and only saw Wisconsin stuff. The entire bar was Badgers! Rude. I settled down on some couches, confident that my flock would find me eventually. I texted Brian and watched the game. When he arrived, flustered from an annoying subway ride, he also wondered where the Duck fans were. We decided to reassess at half-time and in the meanwhile cheer on our team.

I didn't feel like drinking, so I asked the waitress about a cappucino. She explained that the machine was broken, but that they had instant coffee. I asked the price for some instant coffee, to which she replied: "Same." Yeah right I'm going to pay $5 for Nescafe. It was almost insulting. But anyway.

 

Got my Oregon socks on...

 

The Camel was using a different audio broadcast with its video.

No other Ducks showed up, and I suggested we try the last venue for game-watching: Big Bamboo by Jing'an Temple. It wasn't too far and we had half-time to move. As soon as the clock ticked zero, we scooted out of the Badger den and out into the frigid Shanghai winter. It had only just gotten light.

We walked into Big Bamboo and immediately spotted fellow Oregon fans. They were at a central table and looked almost expectantly at us. I recognized a husband and wife from an earlier game and asked to join them. We met their daughter and I familiar-looking Chinese man and his girlfriend. It turns out that it was my old Chinese teacher! He was visiting his girlfriend, on vacation from his professorship at a school in Connecticut! We laughed at the coincidence and took a commemorative photo.

 

A wonderful surprise. 太巧了！

To my great pleasure, he was an informed and enthusiastic fan. I love converts to Duck fandom. Especially Chinese ones. He and my friend Baofeng are hilarious to talk football with.

 

Big Bamboo.

There was some good-natured banter with a table of Wisconsin alumni and a lot of yelling when the score was tied. We cheered for our favorite players and laughed at Chip Kelly's antics during the Badger fumble/Duck recovery. We awkwardly waited for the game to be declared over after the spiking mishap.

Oregon won.

I am so happy, proud and elated. And I was so lucky to spend it with a small number of equally dedicated fans in this enormous city. Thank you everyone!

 

The crowd celebrates our victory.

I. Love. My. Ducks.

ellen