In Iraq: 'I watch the Duck football games just to root against them'
TALLIL, Iraq -- While college football fans fill stadium seats, local bars and comfy couches, Oregon soldiers spend the season deprived of live games, cold beer and television. In Iraq, the season will go by very slowly.
KVAL.com decided to find Duck and Beaver fans serving in Iraq and bring their stories back home -- even if the games don't always make it overseas.
Logistics officer Capt. Jered Carpenter, 27, of Canyonville, Ore., 27, graduated from Oregon State University. He is in Iraq with the1st Battalion of the 186th, 41st IBCT stationed in Tallil, Iraq
How many games have you watched in Iraq?
Carpenter: I watch the game cast on the Internet but I haven’t been able to watch it on TV. I chat with my wife online. She usually gives the play-by-play about 30 seconds before I get it on the Internet. It is because we, the Beavers don’t get a lot of national media coverage. We don’t get the games on ABC and ESPN and whatnot. Unfortunately, we don’t have Fox Sports NW out here.
What would you be doing back home this football season?
Carpenter: We try to watch a few games a year [at the stadium] if it’s on TV. We’re usually planted in front of the TV. I like to hunt as well so it conflicts with hunting season sometimes, if that’s the case we listen to it on the radio.
What lies in the future for the Beavers?
Carpenter: They got off to a better start this year than they have in the past. As the team matures we’ll probably do well. I think our record will be similar to how it was last year. We’ll probably have a couple losses. The only one that matters is the last game.
How do you like working and living with Duck fans?
Carpenter: I usually just push them out of the way whenever I see them. I watch the Duck football games just to root against them.
Why do you have a Hannah Montana clock in your office?
Carpenter: Back in Oregon, in my office, I had a bet with another guy, where the loser gets to hang a piece of memorabilia in the other guy’s office. So I had to bring a Hannah Montana clock here and hang it in my office, unfortunately. I have a bet with another guy here in the military; the loser hangs the other guy’s flag in the office.
Cali Bagby embedded with the Oregon Army National Guard from the 41st Infantry for KVAL.com. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and the Eugene Weekly.
More stories | Visit her Web site
