Tonight I will be cheering for the Oregon Ducks, and it’s not just because Rich Brooks used to be their coach and I still love him.
Nope, it’s because I once rooted for The Oregon Duck before, when he got his head knocked off by the red hawk mascot from Utah.
It was 2003, and Mom, Dad, and I went on the senior citizens tour bus with our tour guide Kenny to Nashville for the first round of the NCAA tournament. That bus was the way to go- it dropped us off right outside the arena and we got to play games for prizes while somebody else drove. And our tickets were in the corner, much closer to the floor than we could have gotten on our own. Plus, Kenny sold blue and white Mardi Gras beads and they were even the light up kind.
At any rate, the game before the game in which we were most interested was Oregon versus Utah (Rick Majerus was Utah’s coach at the time.) The winner of the game would play our Kentucky boys - Gerald Fitch, Marquis Estill, Cliff Hawkins, and everybody’s favorite to hear Tubby pronounce: Erik Daniels. I don’t remember much about the actual Oregon and Utah matchup. I just had to Google the winner. But what I do remember is a moment I will not forget.
Seriously, how many halftime shows do you remember? I’m guessing not too many. Maybe those jump rope kids made a big impression on you, but do you remember any dance team routines? Doubtful.
But there they were, the dance team/cheerleaders from Oregon were at center court performing some routine and the Oregon Duck was out dancing, too. Just then, the Utah Hawk comes out from the sidelines on stilts! Talk about talent! Apparently he did not respect the time and space the Oregon girls were given to perform, because he stilted on out there and danced behind them. This offended the Oregon Duck, and rightfully so! Don’t make fun of the Oregon cheerleaders Mister Stilt-Walker Hawk!
I don’t know if those guys can hear each other with those mascot costumes on, but there was a confrontation between the Hawk and the Duck and the next thing you know, The Hawk uses his giant wingspan to knock the head off the Duck. I have never, before or since, seen the lucky college student inside a mascot costume. But I remember the look on the guy who was the Duck. And he was not a happy Duck - think Donald Duck when his face turns read and steam starts pouring out his ears. (Does Donald Duck even have ears?) The Duck guy retaliated by trying to undercut the stilts, which was exactly what the crowd/I thought he ought to do. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on whether or not you wanted to see the mascots start pounding each other, he didn’t take the Hawk off his stilts and some official type people came out and broke up the fight.
The mascots had to sit out the majority of the second half. When they were allowed to come back they had to hug each other at center court during a time out. Peace and love and basketball!
(I could not find this particular instance in Oregon Duck history documented on YouTube, but apparently the Oregon Duck is no stranger to a fight. There are a few videos of other confrontations…)
So, go Ducks! I bet your current mascot guy is as tough as the one from 12 years ago, and I hope he doesn’t get his head knocked off tonight. If he does, I really don’t think that Buckeye stands a chance.
A Buckeye for a mascot? Really?
*Check out this link to verify my story.
**Side note: this was also the game where for some reason they had a bunch of serious security people and they took away our Lifesavers. And our cookies and bottle of water, which no we shouldn’t have tried to sneak in. But Lifesavers!?! Those do not count as “outside food or drink.” We are still bitter about that.
