What's Life Like as an Oregon Ducks fan in Washington DC?
Life is good these days - on Monday night it could get a whole lot better. My Oregon Ducks are playing the Ohio State Buckeyes for the College Football National Championship. And the Ducks have a pretty good chance to win it this time. Back in the 1970’s, when I attended the U of O, the idea of playing for the National Championship would have been laughable. University of Oregon was competitive back then in track and field, and maybe in Frisbee considering the percentage of vegetarians on campus. But we absolutely stunk at football.
Fast forward to today. The Oregon Ducks have been one of the top teams in the Nation for the past decade. They have won two Rose Bowls. They have even played for the National Championship, losing to Auburn in 2011 on a last second field goal. So just beat Ohio State on Monday and Oregon will have its first National Championship in football. My Ducks will have finally arrived! But whatever happens on Monday, I don’t want to forget all those years of Ducks fans wandering in the desert.
When I moved to the Washington DC area in 1987, the Ducks weren’t on anyone’s radar. They hadn’t been to a bowl game since 1963 and they hadn’t won the Rose Bowl since 1916. The chances of finding a Ducks game on TV in 1987 were roughly the same as finding one on TV in 1916. When I would ask a bartender if the Ducks game was on, he would just laugh at our Disney-inspired mascot and me. Of course they weren’t on. Dream on Ducks fan. Even Maryland Terrapin fans gave me grief about Oregon’s mascot and this from a team of Maryland turtles.
When the Oregon Ducks football program finally turned around and started winning games, it still took years for anyone around here to notice. One thing that helped get some attention was the sponsorship of Nike founder, Phil Knight. Knight is an Oregon alumni and founder of Nike. He has poured a ton of money into the program, helping Oregon build a state of the art practice facility and regularly creating new, flashy uniforms that get a lot of attention. Another reason the Oregon Ducks have attention-they consistently win football games. People know who the Oregon Ducks are now.
Monday night is incredibly big for the U of O and the state of Oregon.
Ohio State is an amazing football team this year, having lost two starting quarterbacks and still reaching the finals by beating No. 1 Alabama. But they already have five National Championships to their name and they have been at the top of college football for as long as anyone can remember. It’s finally time for Oregon to move into that realm. One more win and the Oregon Ducks will have finally arrived!
Quack Quack baby and GO DUCKS!!!
Victoria & Marshall Henderson
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office 301.657.1475 cell 301.922.1677
Oregon Ducks Fans & Licensed Realtors in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia
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