Oregon State and Oregon, the 5th-oldest rivalry in College Football, the most contested rivaly in College Basketball (and the provider of OSU's NCAA record 184 wins over any single opponent); this rivalry is something special. Today's fans are at each other's throats, literally burning each others fields, and generally part of a very nasty rivalry. Knowing the bloody vibes between the two schools, it might come to your surprise that the two schools are actually much more intertwined than one would think!
Here is a short list of the schools' interactions. (Notice which school this seems to favor!) [note: In a very non-archivist form, I do not have citations today. This is soley out of the top of my head, however everything below I have personally verified. I may remedy my lack of citation later, but we'll see... I am, after all, a lazy college student.]
1. Mike Parker, the voice of the Beavers. Mike has helmed our audio ship since 1999. With the exception of Cunningham's "Kiss the Sky" award-winning dunk last year, Parker's voice can be heard on EVERY replay shown at OSU, but did you know that this staple in Beaver lore is... a duck??? It turns out Parker graduated from the U of O, though he is quick to point out that he has conformed from his evil ways and will always remain a Beaver. Fortunately, his status was cemented when the university bestowed an honorary degree a few years ago.
2. Don Essig, the voice of the Ducks. Essig is the PA at Autzen Stadium, which means I shudder every time I hear his excited voice. Every time its pitch rises in excitement, it means that evil has once again triumphed, and the ugly ducklings have prevailed over all. But, like Parker, it turns out Essig's gig is a betrayal of his alma mater; not only was Essig a Beaver, but he was even on the Rally Squad, no small feat back in the day! One can only hope he at least thinks of himself as a platypus and not the dreaded waterfoul down south.
3. Autzen. Sure, Autzen was a Duck... Autzen Jr. that is, but Autzen Sr. is the namesake of Nike U's stadium! I was first tipped off by the Autzen classroom at OSU's Valley Library; why would a famous Duck get his own room here? It turns out he was actually a prominant Beaver, but to humor his traitor son, he donated the lumber to build Autzen Stadium, thus earning the namesake in the middle of a gloomy wetland.
4. Rich Brooks. Autzen Stadium's field is named after the guy, so he has to be a famous Duck, right? Right, er... sort of. Besides playing for OSU, Rich Brooks started his coaching career under The Great Pumpkin, Dee Andros, before taking the head coaching job at the U of O. Yes, the Duck's turn-around was started by a Beaver.
5. That One Guy who co-founded U of O... Alright, so I don't remember his name, or even the year. I just know "there was a guy." If I come across it I will add an addendum to this post with the details, but here is the skinny: Before U of O had its U or its O, it was known as Skinner's Butte Academy. (Presumably on Skinner's Butte? A hill in Eugene named for, you guessed it, Skinner.) This was similar to Corvallis College in Corvallis-- not officially the predecessor of the University that came later, but it should be. Like Corvallis College for OSU, without Skinner's Butte, the U of O would never have started. So why is this important? Because an SAC alum (SAC become OAC, which became OSAC, which became OSC, before becoming OSU) was a co-founder of Skinner's Butte Academy. What does this mean? An OSU alum founded U of O! That means that the Ducks are right-- OSU can't actually claim U of O is our little brother... though they should also realize that we are not their little brother either. Instead, we should be asking them: "Who's your daddy?"
A final disclaimer on the above: Everything I have claimed as fact is something which I 100% know to be true. I don't know the name of "that one guy" but I do know for sure that the details given are accurate. If I listed a detail, I know it to be fact-- if I was hazy on a detail, it is either not included, or not worded in a way to imply I am certain.
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