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Proud To Be Green (and yellow)
I guess that great philosopher, Kermit the Frog, was right when he coined (croaked?) those famous words, "It's not easy being green!" As a life-long Oregon Duck fan I have always loved the color combination of green and yellow for several reasons. First, green is unique to the Pac-10, and it is not a common team color throughout America's universities. Of more importance though, green is the perfect color that represents our beautiful state of Oregon--from the green pastures and farmlands to our native forests--green represents life and vitality as does it's complimentary color yellow; the color of lightning and the sun--the source of all life on our planet.
It also just so happens that two of professional sports greatest dynasties, the Green Bay Packers and the Boston Celtics are green and yellow and green and white, respectively,which is to say green has enjoyed it's share of success.
But, for whatever reason, the U of O (Nike University?) is not content to be green and yellow. In order to be more "diverse" and make more money off of color combination choices, Nike decided to add "black" to our team colors. We now see black as the predominant color on Duck uniforms, warmups, caps, shirts, drink cups at concessions, cheerleaders pom poms and so on. Green is often left out. Now don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against the color black on uniforms as long as you're Iowa, Missouri, Purdue, Wake Forest, Oklahoma State and even the despised Beavers. And that brings us to the laughable, ironic argument made by those who I've questioned about this Duck black trend, "But, black is neutral!" Black, the dominant color of the Oregon State Beavers, our rivals to the north that taunt and hate us with a passion, and we choose to incorporate that color or that "absence of light" or whatever it is and call it "neutral"? It's just plain inappropriate, not creative and as stupid an idea as, well, changing the OSU logo to "OS". Same idiotic mentality.
What I, and I've got to believe that most Duck fans really would like to see, is MORE green, not less! Green and yellow can be blended creatively and artistically into the best looking uniforms in the nation. Even a traditional, old school, fuddy duddy like me could understand a smidgeon of black on a Duck uniform as an accent or outline. But, to see our beloved Ducks sports teams wearing beaver black jerseys and pants/shorts...what's next? Purple? Think of it this way. Are you ever going to see the Beavers wearing green or yellow? I'm half surprised OSU hasn't sued the U of O for trademark infringement. I have actually seen totally black caps and shirts with a black Nike "O" and nothing else. So how are we suppose to know it's the Ducks? Oh yeah, that Nike "O" logo. I've also heard that the players and prospective recruits like the black uniforms. Until I see USC, Ohio State, LSU, et al wearing black uniforms, I say "so what?" Since when do the inmates run the asylum? Where is the leadership from the athletic department and coaches. I'll guarantee you if any regular citizen would have come up with these uniform designs that are predominantly black, they would have been laughed out of the athletic department. Someone in charge would have asked a simple embarrasing question, "Were you not aware that our school colors are green and yellow?"
I think we've all heard that story of putting a frog (Kermit?) in a pot of cool water and then gradually turning up the heat until the poor frog is ...well, cooked before he can leap out. Now is the time for Duck fans to leap out and stop following along with this trendy nonsense of wearing black. Celebrate green! Buy and display Oregon Duck green (and yellow) with your hard earned green money. Make Kermit proud!
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