In case you hadn't heard there's something in the water up in Eugene, Oregon. The birthplace of Nike shoes (R.I.P Steve Prefontaine) continues to use the Ducks as the testing platform for new athletic innovations.
Earlier this week the Ducks announced a new uniform design that gives players a 25% weight reduction in their jerseys.
On top of that, I've also heard rumblings of a 90% reduction in masculinity. Feathers on a football jersey? They might as well change their name to the Oregon Angels or Oregon Fighting Tinker-bells.
It's not like the Ducks present new, innovative uniforms each year to draw attention to an otherwise lousy program. They finished ranked 9th last season and finished in the top 25 three out of the past four seasons. Not too shabby.
But who honestly needs 80 different combinations? What ever happened to two uniform choices - 1 home, 1 road?
Times are changing and those days are long gone. Almost every sports team in the nation, whether it be high school, collegiate, or professional, has alternate jerseys. I can actually live with that, though, because most of them only have 1 or 2 alternates. Some of them are quite nice. Others are off the mark but for the most part I like what I have seen.
Will Oregon continue to win football games? Yes. Undoubtedly. Will they also continue to make fools of themselves? Without question.
The players, alumni, and fans do not care what the public says about them, though. They take pride in their uniqueness (read a sampling of comments here).
I guess as they say, "Ducks fly together."
PS - If you were wondering, football isn't the only sport at Oregon to think outside the box.
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