I have a knot in my stomach, which I’ve felt before. The pain usually happens at certain times around fall, and hopefully one of these years I’ll go a whole season without it.

The knot isn’t caused by something I eat or by a girlfriend problem or by stress.

It comes following a loss by my favorite college football team.

This one hurt a little more than usual though.

I’ve followed the Oregon Ducks since I was a 10-year-old kid living in California. At that time, my oldest sister went to school there, and my mother and father met in grad school at Oregon, too.

My family regularly attended Oregon versus San Jose St. games, since we only lived a half hour or so from Spartan Stadium.

I was immediately hooked.

During my freshman year in college, the Ducks earned their first trip to the Rose Bowl in three decades. I attended St. Mary’s in Minnesota at the time, but my dad and I scored tickets with the help of a family friend who was also an official for the Rose Bowl Parade.

I transferred to Oregon for my junior year, in part because of my passion as a fan, but also for its journalism program.

After graduation, I worked in Oregon for four years and kept going to games time and time again.

I also try to get to as many road contests as possible.

I’ve been to the Holiday Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl and to Stanford a couple of times. And I went to last year’s game at Purdue.

Some people call my excitement for Ducks football obsessive, but I’m not sure it’s any different than the passion some have for cooking or for cars.

College football season kicked off Thursday, and Oregon lost 19-8 at Boise State.

The Ducks’ offensive line was atrocious. The defense gave up too many plays. The offense didn’t get a first down until the third quarter and about the only bright spot was the play of their true freshman punter.

And so the game ended with a loss, and that knot in my stomach returned from last year when I felt it three times.

But then it got worse, and the disappointment I felt turned to disgust and embarrassment.

Following the game, Boise State defensive back Byron Hout made some comment to Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount.

It probably wasn’t Hout asking Blount what his favorite TV dinner was, but Blount could have simply blown the comment off too.

He didn’t.

Blount responded by putting his right hand into the defensive end’s jaw.

Then Blount got into it with a Boise State fan and had to be restrained by security and a member of the Ducks’ staff.

I have to believe Blount’s days at Oregon are done, even though the talented back did great things for the Ducks last year.

Dismissing Blount from the team is the right decision because while it’s one thing to talk a certain amount of smack or be disappointed with a loss, it’s another thing to punch an opposing player.

We can learn some things from LeGarrette Blount, as can athletes of any age and any talent.

We are responsible for our actions, we need to think before we act, and we need to handle a loss with class.

Blount said he was sorry after the game, but sorry sometimes isn’t good enough.

Sorry won’t take away the punch Blount made to Hout’s jaw.

It also won’t take the knot away from my stomach.