NOW how do we feel...

Suppose you’re driving across a long stretch of desert and notice that your gas tank is nearly empty. A sign says, “Last gas for 100 miles.” Unfortunately, the brand of gas is associated with an oil company that you consider to be unethical weasels. You have vowed to boycott their products. On principle, you drive past the gas station, run out of gas, and eventually die in the desert.

Question: Were you principled or stupid?

The answer is yes.  You were both principled and stupid.

And in this case, the principle that we are upholding is 100% pride.


Alright, Jan Brady, what "big time" team is it that we are getting a home-and-home with that isn't Oregon that's going result in a guaranteed sellout every other year to replace the Civil War?  And why haven't we been scheduling that team all of these years?  Is it George Glass University?  There is no replacing Oregon with anyone comparable.  The lack of travel.  The media money.  The gate.  It just makes too much sense!

We're Neville Chamberlain?  One of the most powerful countries on Earth?  What planet are you on?  We're Edvard Beneš or Ignacy Mościcki at best.

If we reject continuation of the Civil War, we would be Philippe Pétain, the man who rejected an English-French alliance by Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle.  Pétain was attempting to try and ensure that the French kept their pride, their navy, and their colonies.  The same a$$hole, who ordered the troops to fight the Americans at Algiers and killed my granduncle.  Pride kept France from an alliance that could have saved their country from almost five years of German domination.  The French could do it better on their own anyway.  They didn't need the British, after all.  Pétain spent most of the final months of the war as a prisoner in Germany.  When it became obvious to the Germans that France would not be retaken, Pétain was released into Switzerland.  2 1/2 months after V-E Day, he was put on trial for treason and was convicted.  He spent most of the rest of his life in prison before being moved to a hospital at the very end.

Or, if you want to stay with British Prime Ministers, we would be Stanley Baldwin, the prime minister before Neville Chamberlain, who was so distrustful of France and the United States of America, that he goaded both into signing the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936 to limit the size of the American and French navies, even though Italy and Japan both refused to sign on, like they had at the First London Naval Treaty of 1930.

There are very bad actors in this, but they are all in the Midwest and in Southern California.  They got longtime rival Oregon to go along but only after UCLA, USC, Colorado, and Washington all flipped on the Pac-12.  To self-flagellate, while your enemies grow stronger is stupid and counterproductive.  We don't improve by not playing Oregon.  The hole that we are currently in just gets bigger.

The damage that has been done to Oregon State does not improve by travelling further to play lesser opponents for less money.  The damage that has been done is rectified by beating Oregon year after year after year.