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Oregon Ducks
The mascot of the University of Oregon is the duck; popular Disney
character Donald Duck has been the mascot for decades, thanks to a
handshake agreement made by The Walt Disney Company. UO is a member of
the Pacific Ten Conference and Division I for athletics (Division I-A
for football). Home football games are played in Autzen Stadium. The
university intends to build a larger arena to replace McArthur Court,
where basketball games are played.
If not, check No. 2 Oregon for feeling in its extremities. The only two
body parts that mattered for the Ducks were out of action:
Because the quarterback reinjured his knee, taking that golden arm with
to the bench nine minutes into the game, Oregon became the latest
casualty in this cruelest of falls -- because of the cruelest of falls.
That would be Dixon crumpling at the Arizona 20, untouched, with six
minutes left in the first quarter of the Wildcats' 34-24 victory. Done
for the game. Perhaps done for the year.
Never has a quarterback, a team and a season collapsed faster. Sensing
the mother of all openings, Mike Stoops' previously underachieving
Wildcats scored 24 of the next 27 points and sent this season spinning
off its axis again.
For the rest of us, maybe these upsets have become routine. For certain,
though, the Ducks -- who thought they were flying toward a championship
berth -- aren't feeling much of anything.
Trading New Orleans for San Diego might seem fair. But The Big Easy is
the site of the national championship game. The Holiday Bowl could be
for the birds, make that the Ducks, now 8-2.
Oregon still could control its destiny for the Rose Bowl if USC beats
Arizona State on Thanksgiving, but that's what the BCS has done to us --
make the Rose Bowl seem like a disappointment. Plus, that would be a
Rose Bowl probably without Dennis Dixon.
"I feel bad for Dennis because his year was one of those magical years
and it looks like it might be at an end," coach Mike Bellotti said. "I
think he's probably done for the year, would be my guess."
Welcome to their world, Ducks. Michigan, USC, Cal, West Virginia, South
Florida, Boston College and Ohio State, that is. Leave anyone out?
Probably. This was the fifth time in seven weeks the No. 2 team in the
AP poll has fallen.
The natural human tendency is let down when your superstar leaves the
game. This time the grip loosening was palpable. When the Wildcats got
it going they couldn't be stopped -- 24 points in a 14½-minute span over
two quarters. An 11-7 Oregon lead turned into a 31-11 Arizona runaway.
The two primary rivals of the Oregon Ducks are the Washington Huskies
and the Oregon State Beavers. The University of Oregon competes in one
of the nation's oldest football rivalries with Oregon State University,
known as the "Civil War"; the two teams have faced each other nearly
every year since 1894.
The University of Oregon has produced many world-class track and field
and cross country athletes, including Steve Prefontaine. The Ducks have
won five men's NCAA outdoor track and field championships, five men's
cross country championships, and one women's outdoor track and field
championship and two women's cross country championships. The university
also maintains a relationship with shoe manufacturer Nike, which also
provides uniforms and logo merchandise for the Ducks.
The men's basketball team has a long history, including winning the
first-ever NCAA basketball tournament in 1939 and playing in one of the
most storied basketball arenas in the nation. January 14, 2007 was the
80th anniversary of the first basketball game played at McArthur Court,
making it the oldest on-campus basketball arena still in use in the
country. In recent years, the Ducks have enjoyed success under the
leadership of senior Freddie Jones (now of the Portland Trailblazers),
and sophomores Luke Ridnour (now of the Seattle Supersonics) and Luke
Jackson (now of the Toronto Raptors). In 2002, the Ducks garnered a No.
2 seeding in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight where
they lost to the University of Kansas Jayhawks. In one of the greatest
individual performances all-time at Mac Court, Jackson scored 40 points
-- including 29 straight in the second half and overtime -- as Oregon
overcame an 18-point deficit to defeat Colorado 77-72 in the first round
of the National Invitation Tournament on March 17, 2004.
The football team has enjoyed success over the past decade, though the
major turning point of the football program was a game in 1994, at
Autzen Stadium against the perennial football power and border rival,
the University of Washington Huskies. In that game, Oregon held on to a
slim lead, but the favored Huskies looked to score late in the game,
which would have resulted in yet another disappointing loss (Oregon had
lost 17 of 20 and five straight to the Huskies prior to this game).
Miraculously, freshman defensive back Kenny Wheaton intercepted the
football and ran the ball back 97 yards for a touchdown to secure the
upset victory. This play became affectionately known as "The Pick" among
Duck fans. With this momentum, the team proceeded to win the rest of
their conference games, won the Pac-10 title and played in the Rose Bowl
Game, losing 38-20 to Penn State. In 1995, Mike Bellotti became the head
football coach and took the football program to the next level. In 2001,
under the leadership of Joey Harrington at quarterback, the team
finished 11-1 including a 38-16 win over the University of Colorado in
the Fiesta Bowl. The team finished #2 in the college rankings that year,
behind only the University of Miami, who finished the season undefeated;
Oregon was the nation's only one-loss team.
In 2005, Oregon had success behind senior quarterback Kellen Clemens and
a new spread offense. Unfortunately, during a game at Arizona Clemens
suffered a broken ankle. At that point Oregon was 8-1, and still in the
hunt for a BCS game. Oregon won their final three games and their
success led them into contention for a bid to the Fiesta Bowl. However,
due to NCAA clauses, they were relegated to play in a second tier game,
the Holiday Bowl, where they played an Oklahoma team with only seven
wins and four losses. Oregon subsequently lost to Oklahoma 17-14 to
finish the season 10-2, tied for second best in school history.
With the support of its boosters—most notably, Phil Knight—the Oregon
football program has among the best facilities in the United States
including a newly remodeled Autzen Stadium and a state of the art locker
room replete with luxuries such as plasma displays and fingerprint
biometric locks. The team has also benefited from the creative work of
the University of Oregon's sports marketing department and Nike, with
billboards promoting individual athletes, personalized comic books for
prospective recruits, and high tech uniforms, logos and mascot. The
football team has been criticized by the mainstream sports media,
however, for its untraditional uniforms.
Further information: Oregon Ducks bowl game history
The University of Oregon women's softball team, coached by Head Coach
Kathy Arendsen, Associate Head Coach Jay Gaudreau and Assistant Coach
Mick Hokanson finished the 2006 season 25-29 and ranked 28th in the NCAA
RPI. They were not eligible for the post-season NCAA tournament because
of their record. A season highlight was the perfect game pitched by
Alicia Cook against Stanford on April 28, 2006 at Howe Field. The Ducks
had appeared in the NCAA tournament for the previous three seasons.
In 2006, the Oregon women's soccer team, despite finishing second in the
Pac-10 and being ranked nationally in the top 20, were not selected for
the NCAA tournament field of 64.
Additionally, former women’s track coach, Sally Harmon sued the
university with a US$1.1 million gender discrimination lawsuit which was
settled in July 2005.
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