OPEN COURT: Tucson proves it's ready for the big time

For years now, the marquee rivalry game in college football has been Ohio State versus Michigan.

Even for football fans who reside outside of the Midwest, Buckeyes versus Wolverines has been a big deal, often directly influencing the National Championship picture.

Yesterday, however, that heated rivalry wasn’t even considered the most anticipated match-up of the day. Not by a long shot.

In fact, most college football fans had their sights set squarely on Tucson for last night’s Arizona-Oregon showdown.

Granted, Michigan’s gradual slide into irrelevance took away some of that rivalry’s luster on the national scene (leading to yesterday’s yawn-inducing 21-10 Ohio State win), but could any reasonable Tucson-area football fan have expected to see ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew in town on the same day as Buckeyes-Wolverines?

Yesterday was truly a banner day for Southern Arizona sports — the type of day that comes along about as often as a lunar eclipse. Not only was Arizona-Oregon billed as the make-or-break game in the topsy-turvy Pac-10 title race, but roughly 9,000 cyclists (a handful of whom reside here in Green Valley) took to the roads in the 27th Annual El Tour de Tucson.

Between the football tailgating and El Tour taking place at around the same time, any motorist unlucky to be caught driving through the middle of Tucson yesterday would’ve sworn the city had doubled in population overnight.

The stage was set for one of the most memorable sports days in Tucson’s history. Would the area’s sports fans rise to the challenge?

I don’t mean to be harsh, but let’s face facts here. Outside of the traditionally fantastic McKale Center crowds that gather for Arizona’s perennially exciting basketball team, Tucson has an awfully spotty track record as a sports town.

A shade more than one million people live in and around Tucson, yet this is a city that couldn’t support a Triple-A baseball team and is in serious danger of losing Spring Training.

While the football program struggled to put an exciting product on the field for the past decade, Mike Stoops has clearly built the Wildcats into one of the Pac-10’s most exciting and lively programs. However, the crowd has been a little slow to respond.

The few thousand die-hard UA football fans should be commended for their outstanding support for what has been a surprisingly fantastic season, but the lack of crowd passion has been a serious topic for discussion throughout the year — especially considering the fact that the Wildcats came into last night’s game undefeated at Arizona Stadium.

During Arizona’s blowout win over the hapless Washington State Cougars on homecoming, I’d estimate that more than half of the crowd called it a day midway through the second quarter — and the stadium wasn’t all that rocking to begin with.

My favorite complaint came from a comment I heard on sports-talk radio the Monday after that game, where one caller insisted that it was “too hot” to be there for the 1:30 p.m. kickoff. Too hot?

Last night’s game against Oregon was this area’s chance to prove that it is a sports city to be reckoned with.

The 57,863 who showed up hoped to put an end to those doubts.

Boy, did they ever.

Tucson, you did your football team proud last night. The crowd was exceptionally energetic throughout the contest and saved a special gear for the biggest moments of the game. You honestly couldn’t ask for anything more out of a football crowd.

Well, except for that moment when the fans gathering to rush the field when the game was still in doubt. Haven’t Arizona fans ever heard of jinxes?

When the UA students started to crowd the field, hoping to triumphantly rush to the turf, Oregon’s Jeremiah Masoli turned into Clint Eastwood at the end of “Unforgiven” and won the game by himself. It was a virtuoso performance.

Despite the gut-wrenching loss, this town showed that it could rise to the occasion when the occasion presents itself. Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, a bittersweet, yet unforgettable day.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747