Autzen Stadium: The House that Leo Built
by benzduck on Jun 11, 2011 2:43 AM PDT
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Print[Ed- Benzduck is spoiling us this week, and his piece today on Autzen Stadium may be my favorite so far.]
The latest posting on everyone's favorite Oregon Football Pre-history blog concerns the struggle of former AD Leo Harris to bring a badly needed football stadium in Eugene from concept to fruition.. while battling his boss, the county commissioners, the R-G, the City Council, half the faculty, and seemingly every owner of a large tract of bare land in Eugene.
Harris proposed the stadium in 1961 and said it could be built for no more than $2 million. By the time it was completed six years later, the stadium's total cost was $2.35 million -- possibly the smallest six-year cost overrun in the history of public projects in Oregon, if not mankind.
How the hell did Harris pull it off?
Duck Downs: Leo Harris and his monument to tenacity -- Autzen Stadium
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or the Addicted To Quack Moderators. FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable Oregon fans.
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Excellent piece.
That taught me a lot. Thanks.
"I'll give any teller who gives me a lollipop 4 stars."-Chip Kelly
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Jun 11, 2011 8:31 AM PDT reply actions
[Ed- Benzduck is spoiling this week, and his piece today on Autzen Stadium may be my favorite so far.]
Wait. What?
Verbing weirds language.
IFFY
[Ed- Benzduck is spoiling soiling this week, and his piece today on Autzen Stadium may be my favorite so far.]
Loose bills sink quills.
by DuckUntilDeath on Jun 11, 2011 10:14 AM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
you know, I really hate picketers but I don’t know what to do about it.
--Dominic, Addicted to Quack
Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." - J. Brady McCullough, The Michigan Daily.
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
Welcome to the working week. I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't kill you.
You can't be so old that you have to ask when you're soiling, can you Benz?
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 11:46 AM PDT up reply actions
Heh. Great article though.
Very well done. When you write these, I find myself wishing you had the time to expound even further on the subject. When’s the next installment, covering the upgrades and rebuilds?
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions
Thanks, but.
Most of that stuff’s been covered to death.
The whole point of DuckDowns is to keep alive the history that’s in danger of being forgotten. Thus, I don’t spend much time on anything post-1994; that’s for the bandwagonners.
There are plenty of stories in the pre-94 era to go with. Example: Oregon’s fortunes began to change in the 1987-1990 era, when players like Loville, Obee and Musgrave were recruited. The irony: While being courted, the 1986 class was promised they’d play in a domed stadium, and, particularly in Loville’s case (he admitted as much in several interviews), they might not have signed with Oregon if they hadn’t been told a dome was being built.
To me that kind of stuff is far more interesting than another story about the Moz. YMMV.
Verbing weirds language.
For bandwagoners?
I have a niece who was born in 1997 and who loves Eugene and wants to attend UO (although my sister is an OSU grad who lives in Philomath, just a short drive from Reser, and with no small amount of lobbying by her uncle).
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions
Sorry, didn't mean it personally.
I don’t blame those who were born post-Suffering. By bandwagonners, I’m referring to those in the media who didn’t bother paying attention until mid-1994, as well as folks my age who couldn’t be bothered to support the program during the down years.
If there’s anything I can write that will convince your niece that all right-thinking Oregonians want to be Ducks, please let me know. I am quite mercenary in this regard.
Verbing weirds language.
I understand.
Just funnin’ you a little. I remember SI articles towards the end of The Suffering sneeringly writing about the Ducks “waddling into the running” for the Rose Bowl.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 6:28 PM PDT up reply actions
I was shocked at how good Autzen looked in its earliest days.
Thanks for another great one, Paul.
Welcome to the working week. I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't kill you.
Spectacular again benz.
I think the lack of the “typical” circulation paths actually helps the stadium experience, or at least the game watching experience and noise level, we’re all packed in there.
I do miss the original simplicity of the dirt mound with ground cover and the perfect bowl, but we obviously gotta add the seats when we can.
Everybody was kung foo fighting, now it's all ho hum.
I think the lack of the "typical" circulation paths actually helps the stadium experience, or at least the game watching experience and noise level, we’re all packed in there.
Totally agreed. That is one of those things that makes it unique. Though when I was little, it seemed that it took FOREVER to get to the bathrooms.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
Oh it did take forever to get to the bathroom... and wait in line...
And maybe still does (?? can’t remember since the remodel ??)
But it was / is worth it…
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO oooo OOOOO ooOOOOOOOOo
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Everybody was kung foo fighting, now it's all ho hum.
by Bill Musgrave on Jun 11, 2011 3:34 PM PDT up reply actions
My boy scout troop 182 was one of several in the Oregon Trail Council assigned as ushers for the first few years of Autzen’s existence. My status within the troop (was on the fast track to Eagle, but didn’t make it, the effort derailed by general early 70s disillusionment with The Man, not to mention discovery of cannabis sativa) allowed me to pick my spots. I camped out at the top of section 9, right below Don Essig and in close proximity to all facilities.
The only problem was, being from the poor side of town, our troop never got dibs on the sponsor section, invariably assigned to kids from Roosevelt and Spencer Butte and South; as a result, I was frequently burnt to a crisp during the early-season games, SPF32 having not yet been invented.
Verbing weirds language.
my boy scout troop ushered a few games as well
during the ’94 season. For some reason, I had thought the UW game was my first, but we actually did the Iowa game that year, then the UW game (where my troop go to usher the Fusky section….boo.)
Fact I’ve never admitted until now………..our scoutmaster made us leave to beat the traffic before the pick.
I didn’t know the difference at the time.
--Dave
Addicted to Quack, your friendly, neighborhood Oregon Ducks blog
Yeah.
But we still hear from Bavers about how Autzen was built in a dump. OTOH that gives the Biebs an opportunity to show their characteristic ignorance.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 12:55 PM PDT up reply actions
Someone’s just upset that they still played in a glorified high school stadium in this century.
--AddictedToQuack, SBNation's Oregon Ducks blog
When you're best defense is...
…“at least it’s not Martin Stadium” you know you have no leg to stand on.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 2:40 PM PDT up reply actions
Having attended games in both,
I’d much rather see a game at Wazzu than at Potato Salad Field. It’s a nice stadium, if small, has good sight lines, really no bad seats. And I like that the students can walk just a couple of blocks from the dorms and in through their own gate to the north stands.
Wouldn’t want to live in Pullman, but it’s a good gameday enviro.
Verbing weirds language.
Louden Swain likes running around there.
Loose bills sink quills.
by DuckUntilDeath on Jun 11, 2011 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions
It's a nice little stadium.
And especially on the rare occasion when we play them when the weather is nice. But it is teensy.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 6:29 PM PDT up reply actions
That's just another canard.
It was built near the old Day Island landfill, but not, technically speaking, on it. The landfill was closer to Day Island Road, much of which is now the bike path that extends from the parking lot on the west end of ABPark.
Verbing weirds language.
Yeah, I did know that. My uncle pointed that out once, even the location.
Not that it matters to the barkrats.
You know, talking about Autzen always makes me nostalgic about the time I spent at UO (although the depth of my nostalgic memories doesn’t compare to yours). Preseason games in the sun. Shootouts with WSU. How big the USC players always seemed compared to our guys. Musgrave and Co. Shivering in the not-rain in November. The walk from campus. Roadies to the Bay Area and LA. Crashing on a friends floor deep in enemy territory on the UW campus and using his girlfriends student ticket. Waiting for WDOT to clear the roads heading into Pullman. Gaining the means to afford hotels and airfare to Cali and Arizona seems a good thing, but it’s just not the same. I guess it’s partly the difference between investing money and investing effort, but also that “responsibility” at that point simply boiled down to doing some schoolwork.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions
To me, it really was / is like heading to Mecca.
Start somewhere sorta southwestern campus, whether you live there or are parking there. Or maybe you’re at Renee’s for a few hours, which is still generally west-ish. Oh, it’s time to go and you begin the walk with a sparse set of pedestrians who all sorta kinda gradually seem to be going the same way, and it becomes more and more dense and clear as you go. When the Franklin light turns, the fluid amoeba that has been backed up for a bit let’s loose and velocity increases, until you get to the art studios and campus facilities area, where you’re packed back into the tube that will carry you the rest of the way. You’re just too close not to talk to strangers, now, and that talk ranges from “Go Ducks” to involving yourself in whatever private conversation is happening right next to you and you can’t avoid it. By the end of the footbridge, you’ve probably met a new friend at some level.
And then, the beauty of nature gives way to the beauty that will be the next few hours of your life, you can see it there off in the distance. It will soon be time to pray, with that constant mantra.
As-Salamu Alaykum and OOOO to you.
Everybody was kung foo fighting, now it's all ho hum.
by Bill Musgrave on Jun 11, 2011 3:47 PM PDT up reply actions
Renee's?
In terms of Walks To The Stadium, it’s hard to beat a Dad’s Day saunter from 15th st with the entire Sigma Kappa sorority, especially on a warm day, or a particularly chilly one (leave my daughter out of this dammit).
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Verbing weirds language.
Heh.
Naughty Benz.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 6:31 PM PDT up reply actions
E before e, except after e.
Everybody was kung foo fighting, now it's all ho hum.
by Bill Musgrave on Jun 11, 2011 9:08 PM PDT up reply actions
I generally arrived early or late, and still do to this day.
It might sound strange, but I don’t like crowds “in motion.” I have no problem with being in a full stadium or arena, but the “fluid amoeba” makes me nervous. I’m much more comfortable being in my seat either before or after the bulk of the patrons have arrived.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions
Some fluid amoeba's will make you puke blood, that's for sure.
BUT COME ON MAN, WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER.
Everybody was kung foo fighting, now it's all ho hum.
by Bill Musgrave on Jun 11, 2011 9:08 PM PDT up reply actions
Hey, I go, and I help keep the dB level up.
And I donate as I can. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 11, 2011 9:39 PM PDT up reply actions
I WANT TO SEE YOUR GREEN BLOOD SPILL ALL OVER A FIELD OF YELLOW FLOWERS
And then I want you to paint realistic picture of Chip Kelly with it.
YOU GOT ME?
Or just what you were doing. That might be fine too.
Everybody was kung foo fighting, now it's all ho hum.
by Bill Musgrave on Jun 12, 2011 8:31 AM PDT up reply actions
How does this not have like 30 recs? Come on, guys.
"I'll give any teller who gives me a lollipop 4 stars."-Chip Kelly
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Jun 11, 2011 8:13 PM PDT reply actions
I only regret that I have but one rec to give...
"It's not about style. It's about winning the game. That's it." - Chip Kelly
by Duckfanatic10 on Jun 11, 2011 8:23 PM PDT up reply actions
What A Terrific Article...
I find it interesting that Autzen was clearly built on the cheap – the reason for the bowl was that it was much less expensive than building a traditional stadium.
It is apparent that many of the ‘supporters’ were lukewarm at best. Yet, thanks to 1 man’s vision and effort, the pile finally was finally erected. Without it, the Ducks may have been finally getting into the Pac12 in 2011 (in place of Utah?) after ruling the WAC for a couple of decades… or maybe Oregon would have dropped football altogether – no one can say for certain. But there’s no doubt the newly formed PAC 8 would have found their 8th school somewhere other than Eugene.
What is especially cool though, is this: at the time of its construction I’ll bet NO ONE thought Autzen would be one of the 10 or 15 most famous college football stadiums in the nation. A place known for instilling dread in visiting teams. Yet had it been built with a fat budget it would not have been designed in such a way as to focus so much of the crowd’s intense noise directly onto the field.
Happily all came together for the best – the best for the UofO; the best for Eugene and the State of Oregon; and college football in general.
Thanks for the great article!
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