This just in from UO head coach Chip Kelly: there is no Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy is a myth, and the Civil War is just another football game.
I wasn’t going to get into this, because I cover Lunchpail U. and we have an entire staff of people covering Nike U., but after listening to a re-play of the Pac-10 coaches teleconference call I have to say that Oregon coach Chip Kelly needs to polish up his pre-Civil War schtick.
OSU coach Mike Riley gave the 113th Civil War the proper respect – and even talked about what a “privilege’’ it is to be a part of the rivalry, to have been around UO-OSU since he was a grade schooler and his dad was on Dee Andros’ staff.
Kelly? He acted as if he was playing dodgeball, ducking away from any kind of emotional response to what he thinks about the first Civil War game of his head coaching career being for the Rose Bowl.
I know we can’t expect a guy from New Hampshire who was once named the College Assistant Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of greater Boston to know everything about the Civil War (if he reads The Oregonian in the next few days we can help him out) but Kelly is an extremely smart dude and he’s familiar with Google and Wikipedia.
He also knows that when he’s lobbed a slowpitch question from a TV or radio or print guy about the Civil War, it wouldn’t kill him to reveal just a tiny bit of what he’s really thinking.
Maybe if the moderators of the Pac-10 call had let the OSU sports information department know 24 hours in advance that Kelly might be getting some Civil War questions, it would have been different, who knows?
A question is asked, does Kelly know what this means for the entire state?
Is Kelly fired up knowing his first Civil War as Oregon’s head guy is for a trip to Pasadena vs. Ohio State?
So we know it’s just another game, and that it might as well be Purdue coming into Autzen Stadium on Dec. 3.
At least Kelly showed a little bit of excitement over the prospect of getting the Beavers at Autzen, where Oregon hasn’t lost to a Pac—10 team since the OT game in 2007.
Riley was asked if he ever envisioned the Civil War automatically sending the winner to the Rose Bowl.
“I didn’t know that I ever thought in those terms,’’ said Riley, who watched his first Rose Bowl in 1965 at Hayward Field.
“I look at it for me personally as a privilege to be in it, because I grew up with it, I loved it, and in those days, thinking about getting to coach one of these teams in the Civil War? You know, I never would have dreamed I would be in this situation so I’m just thankful for it.
“Everybody in our state can share in this.
Whoa, there coach. Is it really that big a deal?