A rally was held for the National Champion Beavers in Portland on Tuesday, just over 12 hours since their monumental victory. It was planned whether they won or lost, but once that final out was recorded, you knew it was going to be bedlam at Pioneer Courthouse Square, and it was.

Between 8,500 and 10,000 orange clad Beavers showed up to support their team. Local parking structures were jammed, and I was very lucky to get one of the last 10 or so spots at a nearby SmartPark (on the very top level mind you).

The Beavers rolled up at about 11:50am to the roar of the crowd. They circled the square a few times, the whole team riding in Hummer Limos with Beaver stickers all over them. Dallas Buck was standing up through the sunroof, holding the Championship trophy above his head and looked quite content. People were going wild. Finally they made their way to the stage.

It was a nice presentation. Mike Parker, the play-by-play guy for the Beavers hosted it, and they played clips from his radio broadcast of the final game. They played the final call... and wow did the crowd go nuts, just like they did the night before. After that the Beavers all got introduced to loud applause, especially Pat Casey and Jonah Nickerson. They got a chance to talk and it was really fun, although the speakers could have been louder.

Anyways, I took off work and it was totally worth it. A great way to celebrate a monumental win in Oregon State history. The team then rode down the freeway and had an equally big and crazy celebration in Corvallis at Reser Stadium.

What a team, what a season. Never expected that from my Beavers.

Oh, turns out it was the second largest gathering in the history of Pioneer Courthouse Sqaure, the largest being some protest in the 70s I think. Pretty cool, great turnout by Beaver Nation.