Oregon's new athletic complex

Cancer research, higher salaries for their third-world country workers, scholarships for poor kids, a gun buy-back program, food pantries, feeding the poor in Africa, other disease research, a sandcastle for a birthday party, donations to local hospitals, donation to wounded veterans ...

In other words, yes.

 

yes the financial sacrifices and commitment made by the average Oregon fan to build these facilities has been exceptional.

 

I just find the whining funny. Yep, Oregon had the good fortune of having Phil Knight create Nike while he was a student. He dumps a ton of money into his alma mater and it shows. People can act like it's some horrible despoiling of a university; in reality it's how things get done at every school, but Knight just has a shitload more money than most rich alums. His name's on the library, too.

The best part is Husky fans whining about the entitlement of Duck fans. Clearly they're too young to remember the Don James era, when Washington football was still relevant and people said the exact same stuff about their supporters.

 

No one begrudes Knight's generosity. The annoying thing is the average Oregon fan who acts as if he/she played an active role in the growth of the program, when in reality they did not have to make a financial investment at all because Knight has virtually paid for everything.

As I said before, it's taken the Oregon fans base less than a decade to become the most despised and entitled in the Pac-12, no small feat in a conference that includes Washington and USC.

 

And USC was the most despised and entitled before that. It was Washington under Don James.

People say that about the fans of whoever's winning. Tell me which fans are viewed as "despised and entitled" in each conference, and I'll tell you which school has dominated that past few seasons.

I can't speak to the 20-something fan's attitude, but I can speak with authority about the 40-something fan's view. I went to Oregon when it was a fixture on Steve Harvey's Bottom 10 list. I was there for the jubilation when they actually were invited to a bowl game -- the Independence Bowl in '89. Now they're dominating the Pac-12 and competing for national championships. Know what? As a fan, that's really pretty damn fun. I never thought I'd see it. So, bitch all you want that the average fan isn't responsible for the success. Just remember that the average fan is NEVER responsible for the success. I'll continue to enjoy the hell out of this. Someday it will end and another school will dominate the Pac-whatever it is then, and everyone will piss and moan about that school's fans.

 

I'm 34, been a UW fan since I was about eight or so. I wish UW had the money for the facilities (or the space on the lower campus) for what Oregon has. UW got a remodel of Husky Stadium, and Dempsey is great but it's nothing like what the Ducks get.

Stupid Bill Gates and donating money for other stuff at the school.

 

That's what it gets when its largest benefactor didn't even attend.

 

Good on Oregon and Phil Knight.

You have the money to build the nicest buildings, get the nicest stuff inside the nicest buildings........good on ya.

 

That's my only problem with it. Everything obviously looks swank as all hell now, but there's a finality to "cool." And then, eventually, you have to build something else that's cooler, or add on more cool to make up for your old cool.

THAT SAID, if I'm 17 and looking to play somewhere based on the cool factor now, I'm looking no further than Oregon.

 

So, if it is out of date in 10 years, Knight will put another $300 million or so into it.

The NIKE pockets are bottomless.

 

Isn't Nike passé? Under Armour is the new Nike and Maryland will be the new Oregeon. How much did Under Armour and Kevin Plank have to do with Maryland going to the Big Ten/14?