Oregon Duck Fans Are The Worst Fans In America

I’ve seen USC play in 20 states and in some of the most hostile stadiums in America. But there is one destination that stands above all the rest as the place I despise the most. It’s the University of Oregon.

The first time I went to a road game at Oregon was 1993. It’s honestly the only school that I can vividly remember visiting for the first time. I remember flying to Eugene without a hotel reservation, I thought I could just find a room when I got there. This came up in conversation with a flight attendant who informed me I was in big trouble because every hotel would be sold out for the game. She was right, I didn’t get a room until after midnight when one of the more expensive hotels in town had a cancellation sparing me from sleeping in my rental car but costing me a fortune in the process. That was the last time I ever left for a road football game without a hotel reservation.

The Ducks weren’t very good back then and I don’t recall their stadium being all that loud. But I do recall witnessing the most obnoxious thing I’ve ever seen in a stadium. Autzen Stadium gave away duck bill-shaped noise makers that make a duck quacking sound when you blow through them. So the place was filled with tens of thousands of quacking fans. Made sense because their fans are a bunch of quacks.

At the game we met some Duck fans who were pretty humble and nice (the one and only time that’s ever happened). We went out with them that night because we didn’t know what the hell to do in Eugene. They took us to what I think was an illegal, underground casino. It was in a cleared out house filled with people betting at several blackjack and poker tables. This was real money, not some Casino Night fundraiser for the local elementary school. It was a bizarre scene that seemed like a scene out of a movie, I was expecting the police to bust in and start arresting people at any moment.

Believe it or not those are the best memories I have of going to Eugene. In the following years the Ducks started getting better and their fans started getting worse. I’ve noticed that when a school’s football team has a history of failure, like Oregon’s does, their fans do not handle sudden success very well. They don’t know how to be good winners; instead they get obnoxious and rude and mean. But the Oregon fans have taken this to a level I’ve not seen anywhere else. They are so bad that there’s not even a close second (distant second are the University of Arizona fans, in case you’re wondering).

Ducks fans are vulgar, rude, crass, foul, mean… You name it the description fits. It really takes the fun out of going to the game and it actually makes you feel sorry for them because they have such a collective lack of character.

This is not just my opinion based on a single incident. I have several friends that go to lots of road games too. They will tell you the same thing, Oregon fans are the worst college football fans in America. They are celebrating success now but soon they will revert to their historical losing ways and they will be reminded that they are still the crappy Oregon Ducks. The Ducks whose logo is a zero and whose mascot is Donald Duck. So I hope they enjoy it while it lasts but I wish they could enjoy it with more class.

I will give Duck fans credit for being loud. When their team is doing well that stadium gets louder than you can imagine is possible. It is the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in which is a testament to the acoustics as much as it is to the fans because I’ve been in stadiums that hold twice as many people as Autzen but can’t get as loud. The combination of the stadium’s acoustics and the intensity of the fans give the Ducks a bigger home field advantage than anything I’ve ever seen.

I just wish the Oregon fans realized that they can be loud and passionate without being despicable excuses for humans. It’s possible. I’ve seen passionate fans who have class and treat visitors with decency all over the country. I don’t think the Oregon fans realize how much damage they do to their reputation when they act this way.

So I’ll be honest. I’m not looking forward to going to Eugene. It’s the Bakersfield of the Pacific Northwest. The armpit of Oregon. I hate it. I’d be in better company in a jailhouse dining hall or an institution for mentally challenged people. But I still go. And I support my Trojans. And I try with every fiber of my being not to give their fans the satisfaction of a reaction when they goad me.

I’ll have to be satisfied with the stunned silence of the Duck fans as the game slips away. Be happy with the looks of shock on their faces as they leave the stadium early with heads hung low. Revel in the knowledge that USC will be BCS bound and Oregon’s season has been ripped to shreds.

I am nervous about this game. Not because Oregon is so good but because USC has struggled a bit lately, especially on defense. And I’m worried about how loud it gets in Autzen and how the team, especially freshman QB Matt Barkley, will handle it. But all year long we’ve been tested in hostile stadiums and we’ve shined like few teams can shine. And I know that USC specializes in winning big games like this one – our losses usually come against much lesser teams. Under Pete Carroll we’ve played 38 games against ranked teams and we’re a mind boggling 34-4 in those games. So I am confident we will win. I know we will!

Fight On Trojans! Fight On!

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