If you were a supporter of Oregon athletics last season, you were treated to an incredibly rare experience, relatively speaking. Fall term, you cheered as the football team fell inches short of an undefeated season and a national championship in the premier sport of college athletics. At the same time, you could head down to historic Hayward Field on a number of weekends to watch Oregon’s top-10 squads in both men’s and women’s cross country vie for the No. 1 spot in the NCAA.
More of an indoor sports fan? The fun didn’t end after winter break. Oregon kicked off the festivities by breaking the seal on Matthew Knight Arena, the school’s shiny new $230 million multipurpose venue that replaced venerable McArthur Court as home to women’s and men’s basketball, volleyball, and acrobatics and tumbling. Even in a down year for hoops, the Oregon men were able to go out on a winning note in front of their own fans, defeating Creighton (the former employer of first-year head coach Dana Altman) in a thrilling three-game championship series in the College Basketball Invitational. Oh, and by the way, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova stopped by to whack a few balls around — strictly for Eugene’s amusement — as well.
Spring wasn’t too bad either. Women’s track and field captured their second-consecutive national indoor title, while both the girls and guys remained nationally ranked and in the national title hunt in outdoor competition for much of the season.
Out of 17 varsity teams competing at the Division I level, Oregon was — at one time or another — positioned in the top 25 nationally in nine. Yet when I think of what draws me to athletic events in Eugene, and what will continue to attract me in the coming years, it has little to do with coaches’ polls or sparkling trophies. My infatuation with the Ducks is firmly rooted in the inconsequential rituals that surround our campus’s most time-honored forms of entertainment.
The crawling, congested, high-five laden trek across the Autzen Footbridge on Saturdays in fall. The cacophonous din of the Pit Crew as Oregon greets another unsuspecting opponent to the unfriendly confines of Knight Arena. The toothless grin of Puddles as he greets every passerby with the same mix of lunacy and enthralled support that’s made him a campus icon.
These are the things that get me up early on game days, clothed from head to toe in green and yellow. These traditions go deeper than this season, or this school year, or this generation. They go back much further than Phil Knight, and supersede decades of faculty and administration.
Yet these rites still remain relevant. In an age when popular culture and the life of the average college student are evolving at a frightening pace, these customs remain undisturbed, albeit for a few small calibrations. These forces work to unite students, and to create a unique sense of pride in attending the University of Oregon. As a student who once attended a college with Division-III athletics, I fully understand the power of these customs (and the sad reality of life without them). They bridge the gap between different eras in alumni, and make it okay to tailgate with your parents (until they embarrass you by breaking into an impromptu rendition of the fight song).
This year, I remain as hopeful for the Ducks as anyone. I pray Oregon continues to rack up accolades, fill its trophy cases and hang up championship banners. Despite the excessive nature of the program’s self-created marketing, frequent visits from ESPN are welcome, and seeing the Ducks continue to build a national brand would only reinforce my pride in the green and yellow — even if our uniforms incorporate more black, gray and silver than seems permissible.
But to me, the heart of Oregon athletics remains centered in the minutiae, the seemingly meaningless habits of Oregon fans that make us so uniquely Oregon. Without them, we lose our identity, and with that, our past.
So if the Ducks’ fortunes do turn in the future, short or long term, my game-day practices won’t be altered, and I hope yours won’t be either. After all, there’s another generation counting on us to pass on the torch. Let’s make sure we don’t fumble.
Lieberman: Traditions lay foundation for Oregon athletics
Daily Emerald
September 18, 2011
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