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Oregon Webfoots

Oregon Ducks
Logo
University University of Oregon
Conference Pac-12 Conference
NCAA Division I / FBS
Athletic director Rob Mullens
Location Eugene, Oregon
Varsity teams 18
Football stadium Autzen Stadium
Basketball arena Matthew Knight Arena
Baseball stadium PK Park
Other arenas Hayward Field
Mascot The Oregon Duck
Nickname Ducks
Fight song Mighty Oregon
Colors Green and Yellow
         
Website www.goducks.com

The Oregon Ducks are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. With eighteen varsity teams, Oregon is best known for its American football team and track and field program, which has helped Eugene gain a reputation as "Track Town, USA". Oregon's main rivalries are with the Oregon State Beavers (the Civil War) and the Washington Huskies.

Oregon teams were originally known as Webfoots, possibly as early as the 1890s. The Webfoots name originally applied to a group of fishermen from the coast of Massachusetts who had been heroes during the American Revolutionary War; their descendants had settled in Oregon's Willamette Valley in the 19th century and the name stayed with them. A naming contest in 1926 won by Oregonian sports editor L. H. Gregory made the Webfoots name official, and a subsequent student vote in 1932 affirmed the nickname, chosen over other suggested nicknames such as Pioneers, Trappers, Lumberjacks, Wolves, and Yellow Jackets.

Ducks, with their webbed feet, began to be associated with the team in the 1920s, and live duck mascots were adopted to represent the team. Journalists, especially headline writers, also adopted the shorter Duck nickname, but it wasn't until the 1940s that the image of Donald Duck, permitted via a handshake deal between Walt Disney and Oregon athletic director Leo Harris, cemented the image of the Duck as the school's mascot. Both nicknames were still in use well into the 1970s.


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