By Diane Dietz

The Register-Guard

“Wow, Wow, Wow. Holy Cow.”

That’s all Duck fan Don St. Clair could say after watching a long, high-scoring, see-sawing, nail-biting, cheer-to-groaning (and back) Rose Bowl game at the Sam Bonds Garage watch party Monday afternoon.

Duck fans all over Eugene kept the day in their own fashion, from beer-swilling 30-somethings at The Cooler to comfy uncles in recliners at the David Minor Theater to couples on high stools at the Sixth Street Grill. Here’s how the day passed:

The Cooler, first quarter

A reactive crowd filled the tables, the row of couches, the rows of steps and the leaning rail along the bar by game time.

Each new development broadcast on the tavern’s 14 televisions — dominated by a 15-foot projection screen — drew shouts, cheers or groans.

Brian Kelly, a 32-year-old auto parts worker, stood at the rail, tending his early game nerves with a Pabst Blue Ribbon. A slender KMTR News 16 camera­man shot video of excited fans for the 5 and 5:30 p.m. news slots.

Dan Ritzdorf, 49, and a buddy tucked into a plate of fire wings. It was going to be a good game, he predicted.

“They both have a chip on their shoulder,” Ritzdorf said. “They both are tired of going to the big dance and losing it.”

Leon Carlson, 31, prepared for the game by drinking beer and texting messages to friends regarding the prowess of his dachshund, Bill, a type of dog that was, seriously, bred to hunt badgers.

Carlson wore green and yellow Nike design-it-yourself shoes, Duck socks, Duck wrist bands, a Duck shirt and a goofy knit cap with a Duck in a cap on top.

Lois Keefer, meanwhile, displayed her loyalties on her head, her face and her sleeves. The 71-year-old wore a green ball cap made to look like a duck was flying through it — duck bill on one side, tail on the other.

“I could have sold it for a lot of money,” she said, “but I’m not going to give it up.”

Keefer said she’s watched every single Ducks game; it took her “a long time” to get over the Ducks’ loss in the Bowl Championship Series last January.

On Monday, after Wisconsin got the first touchdown, she got a little snappy, warning a reporter not to talk to her during play.

“Oh, I’m having a heart attack,” she said. “They’ve got to be fleet footed. Faster! Faster!”

The David Minor Theater, second quarter

Armchair critics filled the recliners and couches of the smallest of the alternative theater’s two viewing rooms. They kept full cups of Overcast Espresso Stout on the tables next to them; some munched on popped corn from brown paper sacks.

“That’s a dumb bit of advertising,” one man observed during a commercial.

“Where’s the mute?” an unrelated woman joked.

When the Ducks evened the score at 14-14, the room stirred.

“Yeah” one man said.

“Woo, woo, woo” another said.

A third man clapped his hands, once.

A woman sitting alone in the corner silently chewed on her fingernail.

“What can I say?” said Gene Tresenfeld, a 57-year-old entrepreneur who was stretched out in a recliner. “I’m comfy.”

Sixth Street Grill, third quarter

The bar was lit for mood and cradled in dark wood wainscoting although decorators had tried to liven it up by wrapping green and yellow crepe ribbons around the ceiling duct work.

Couples watched the game from high tables, drinking beer but also wine and cocktails.

A “Coors Light Lady,” Emmy Crawford of Albany, handed out T-shirts and key rings and raffled off goody bags to the game watchers.

The fans were enjoying the game, but some didn’t seem to be dyed-in-the-wool followers. Katrina Hassler, 29, said she chose to root for the Ducks when she moved to Oregon in recent years because she didn’t hate the school colors.

She’d had to wear black and orange in middle school and high school. “I was so tired of wearing orange and black.”

John Mathwick watched the game with his son — unable to commit to one team or the other.

Mathwick, 65, lives in Janestown, Wis. His son, Trevor, is a senior at the University of Oregon. And his son, Andrew, is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin.

“I can’t lose,” Mathwick said with a wry smile.

Sam Bonds Garage, fourth quarter

Sam Bonds doesn’t see itself as a sports bar, but the hip pub in the Whiteaker neighborhood installed a 72-inch projector screen under an enormous pair of silver cattle horns last year and shows the major games.

“It’s drama,” bartender Drew Caldwell said. “None of us care very much, but it’s just nice to be together.”

Fans packed the room, but only a couple were in Ducks regalia — unless you count a dozen or more people who wore green “Flockupy Pasadena” T-shirts with wings, roses and a yellow “O.”

Sam Bonds owner Todd Davis designed the shirts and gave them away just for fun, Caldwell said. “It’s not meant to be a message or anything,” he said.

Don St. Clair was about the most tricked-out Ducks fan in the room. The musician/massage therapist wore a yellow Ducks shirt and a yellow fur, green-satin-lined scarf dangling on his chest.

Then, Wisconsin moved ahead of the Ducks, 38-35.

“Come on,” someone said encouragingly.

“Don’t give up,” another said.

Ninkasi driver Ted Welker, 30, popped out of his chair like a jack-in-the-box at the slightest provocation on the field — a down, a favorable referee call, anything. He was nervous, he said, down to the final seconds.

When the Ducks scored 45, seven up on Wisconsin, the pub broke apart with hoots and cheers and fist pumps.

St. Clair produced a quacker horn and blew like crazy.

The fans were all ready to win: ready for Mayor Kitty Piercy to collect on her $500 Habitat for Humanity bet with the Madison mayor; and ready for Gov. John Kitzhaber to crack open his winning Leinenkugel’s beer from Gov. Scott Walker.

And when the moment came and the crowd aired out its tonsils, St. Clair stood and whirled his fur scarf over his head like a chopper blade.

Welker, the Ninkasi driver, could no longer contain his joy. He sprang to the front of the room, slapping two-handed high fives to the left and the right as he went.