I'm originally from Eugene, but lived in Tacoma for several years, so I have a pretty good perspective on how the Huskies hate us. Trust me, the feeling is VERY mutual. They've had their noses in the air ever since they split the championship with Miami back in 1990. They've been really hating us lately since we've beaten them 11 years in a row AND Mariota won the Heisman. They've never had a Heisman winner. Poor guys. Sniff, sniff...Lol.
Most people forget that Oregon has had success before Chip Kelly arrived as offensive coordinator in 2007. The Ducks finished #9 in 2000 and #2 in 2001 with a win over Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl. Practically everyone in the country agreed that we should have played Miami for the championship that year, but the BCS screwed us by picking a Nebraska team that had just lost by 4 TDs to Colorado in their conference championship game.
I agree about some of the bandwagon fans, though. A lot of people want to be part of something special. We'll see how long they stick around if we ever have a down year or two.
I've been a Duck fan since I was a young boy and remember a lot of 2-9 seasons. I appreciate everything that Phil Knight has done for the university. He's obviously a great part of our success.
However, it was Rich Brooks who worked hard to lay the foundation for Oregon to get the facilities built so that the Ducks could become competitive. He went to the powers that be, the alumni, school president, AD, etc and tried to make them understand that in order to compete on a national level, they were going to have to be willing to invest in themselves.
Mike Bellotti continued what Rich Brooks started and had decent success on the field, but because of that, he had a hard time holding onto offensive coordinators. We lost Jeff Tedford to be head coach at California, Andy Ludwig (mutually parted ways), Gary Crowton (who won a national championship the following year at LSU) and more. We were also 10-2 in 2005.
Also, the Ducks aren't the only team in the country that has rich boosters. I'm sure the Buckeyes have access to a few people with deep pockets. Texas does, Oklahoma State has T. Boone Pickens, etc. There almost has to be for any program to be successful at this level. We just happen to stand out more than most because of the Nike brand.
Anyway, the Huskies suck with a capital SUCK!
Go Ducks!
