December 30th, 2008 at 6:03 PM ^
must be the colors or they like ducks. Personally never been there.
December 30th, 2008 at 6:03 PM ^
Their entire Athletic facility is basically paid for by Phil Knight - the founder/CEO of Nike. So, yes, their facilities are off the hizzy.
He, personally, has given $230 million to the AD at Oregon.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:03 PM ^
That explains the million different uniform combos.
December 30th, 2008 at 6:05 PM ^
They must have the best equipment around- sorry about the duck comment
December 30th, 2008 at 6:08 PM ^
He has donated $230 million to the athletic department, earning him a locker in the football locker room and making his best friend the AD. $230 MILLION.
December 30th, 2008 at 6:06 PM ^
Oregon is an insanely beautiful state, and Eugene is a gorgeous city. Add to that the fact that the facilities, which include individual PS3's in the lockers, are absolutely absurd.
December 30th, 2008 at 6:54 PM ^
Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's slightly crazy to need a video game system in the place where you hang your stinky practice gear and get dressed. Good grief.
So Knight has a locker in there too? What does he do with it? Does he shower with the guys?
December 30th, 2008 at 6:12 PM ^
I think someone posted this here before, but look at this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1NyaTVUhFQ
December 30th, 2008 at 7:21 PM ^
Yep. This is exactly what I was going to post. I saw this interview during one of their games last year. That is just incredible.
December 30th, 2008 at 6:56 PM ^
It's because Portland, Oregon is almost like the Capital of Heroine. It's used everywhere. When recruits visit the coach takes 'em over to Portland and "shoots 'em up". The recruits have a great time.
December 30th, 2008 at 6:57 PM ^
But on a more serious note, recruits like their jerseys and the stadium. They also love how passionate (loud) te fans are. Eugene is a pretty nice area.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:00 PM ^
They have super HOT cheerleaders and top-notch, TOP-NOTCH facilities. They have a gorgeous city and a beautiful campus. BUT thos UNIFORMS?!? Please. Where's the tradition, the all-time winning percentage, the helmets, the 107k+ seat stadium.
What's the weather like in November? Does ESPN pay attention during the season.
Come on, their coach probably doesn't even have a commercial grinding his teeth, begging them to come to his school. It's the PAC-10.
P.S. props to Judge Smails for the "top notch" line.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:07 PM ^
The PAC-10 is essentially the same conference as the Big Ten... but the point about tradition at Oregon stands. Knight eliminated their traditional logo and mascot.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:50 PM ^
Here is where I disagree. Unless you only like USC or you've only been paying attention to football for a few years, the Pac Ten doesn't hold a candle to the Big Ten. Few people give a shit about football on the west coast. If there was a Pac Ten Network, no one would watch it.
Big Ten >>>>>>> Pac Ten.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:42 PM ^
Well considering the Pac-10 has routinely beaten the shit out of the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl... I'd say you're wrong on quality. And it's important to remember that over 66 million people live in the Big Ten states compared to 51 in the Pac-10 states... and most of those on the West Coast are migrants from other parts of the country. Not to mention the fact that there is a media bias, whether you believe in it or not.
Michigan over the past decade is the functional equivalent of Oregon in the same period.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:59 PM ^
no USC has owned the big ten in the rose bowl. which i think was his point. that USC dominates, but besides that the lower tier teams are just so terribly lower tiered. while ours are largely good to mediocre. instead of predominantly down right terrible.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:25 PM ^
Lower tier Pac-10 teams (Everyone but USC, really) have won 21 Rose Bowls. Lower tier Big Ten teams (Everyone but us, Ohio State and for traditions sake Penn State) have won 14.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:17 PM ^
are we really counting anything beyond USC's uprising? i know i'm not making a ...in the history of the world argument. i'm making a relevant to now. Michigan also has 20 thousand NC's. who cares.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:51 AM ^
on where they play the game. it's pretty close to LA I hear. which, and i could be wrong, is actually a ways from most big ten schools.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:41 PM ^
Recruits love the fact that they are basically under Nike's wing. They get new, experimental gear, and basically all the sweet Nike gear they offer. My friend went to play baseball there and he loved it, and the campus/area is very nice as well.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:50 PM ^
But is that enough to compensate for the fact that there are only about 10 black people in the state of Oregon? Eugene's got to be a culture shock for a lot of recruits.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:34 PM ^
You should have heard my daughter admiring the yellow cleats tonight.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:25 PM ^
I love the uniforms, but I understand that I am part of a minority.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:16 AM ^
I also think the uniforms are badass
December 31st, 2008 at 9:21 AM ^
Me, too.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:34 PM ^
The lockers have (3 years ago when I seen them) had ps2s and 19" lcds. Auzten is one of the loudest places I have ever seen a game. With the worst fans. They have been to 14 bowl games (7 wins not counting the game tonight) but act like all 14 bowls were national titles.
Living out here I have to be armed against the duck nation. You know they have two wins against us. However, they regard those as two of the biggest wins in program history. The other one they count is that garbage bad call game against the sooners.
I will leave you with this Michigan has more national titles then Oregon has 2000yd passers. Seven QBs did it combined 10 times.
December 31st, 2008 at 12:49 AM ^
From my experiences with visiting fans and in speaking with people who visited Eugene, they are by far some of the nicest people around, collectively. They are also environmental freaks up in the NW part of the US, so the area is beautiful and the outdoor recreation is awesome.
As everyone has mentioned, the facilities are top of the line, so even if Eugene is a culture shock for the players, they really don't have to even leave the campus if they don't want to b/c of the facilities they have. Also, Pre went there and as a former XC runner, that's pretty cool to me.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:20 AM ^
Yup...read about Steve Prefontaine (nicknamed Pre, who is a god to us running nerds). He was a distance runner at Oregon in the 70's. His coach, Bill Bowerman, co-founded Blue Ribbon Sports with Phil Knight (an Oregon runner in the 50's). Bowerman started experimenting with running shoes using a waffle iron to shape the soles. Crazy stuff, they call the company Nike today.
Needless to say Nike is Oregon and Oregon is Nike. It's quite an attractive destination for 18 year old's, as you can imagine, what with the unlimited supply of gear and shoes and the ridiculous amount of money Nike gives Oregon.
December 31st, 2008 at 12:57 PM ^
and have a Pre shirt too? Pre is a god to the running side of me in the same way Dan Gable is to the wrestler in me (although Brent Metcalf is also rising to that level in my eyes)
December 31st, 2008 at 4:02 PM ^
You mean this shirt? Sadly no. Of course, my running days are over so a 30 year old with a beer gut in a "Stop Pre" shirt is just embarrassing.
December 31st, 2008 at 8:16 AM ^
Different strokes for different folks. Agreed - Oregon is an amazing place for the reasons given, and for some student athletes, that would be exactly what they are looking for. Considering the environments that they come from, all campuses are probably far different than their homes. I grew up a Michigan fan, and that shaped my opinions, but not everyone grows up like that. I think the issue of equipment and facilities and such might play some role. Think about how bad Oregon was before all this. They were a joke. The way the PAC 10 works is that in a cyclical way, 1-3 teams get good, and the rest get bad. Same not true for the Big 10 (current status notwithstanding). The biggest difference though is that for whatever reasons, football is not nearly as important to the population on the west coast as in Big 10 country. To some fans it is, and they overcompensate for the rest. Thus they annoy us.
December 31st, 2008 at 8:29 AM ^
I'd argue the Big Ten is also cyclical and it is extremely rare to have more than three strong teams in the conference at one time. For example: Iowa, Wisconsin and Penn State have rotated as major powers this decade. Furthermore, there is a definite lower tier of Big Ten programs (Indiana, Northwestern) while the parity of the Pac-10 over the past 20 years has allowed every school in the conference to rise and fall.
December 31st, 2008 at 8:55 AM ^
It's not an insult to say that the west coast in general is not as invested in college football as other areas. It's a fact, and it's not that big a deal. If I lived in LA, I'd probably have better things to do too. It does not mean that teams are bad - many are good. But at any time, there have only been 3 teams max that were good or even decent. Right now it is USC, Oregon, and Cal. This is the best it has been for the PAC 10 in ages. If not for Pete Carrol and the resurgence, things would be downright ugly still.
I cannot recall a time in the last 30-40 years that anyone could argue that the PAC 10 was the best conference in the country. This argument has been made successfully at various times by the SEC, Big 10, and SWC (Big 12). It was not long ago that SEC vs Big 10 was a legitimate argument.