GameDay: Spartans vs Ducks

The Spartans hung in there (amazing that they were leading at the half) but ultimately the Ducks were too much.

I started out in the Spartan section but I went up to the Oregon President's box at halftime.

My t-shirt says "Spartan For Life" -- didn't go over very well with the Oregon fans! I took abuse everywhere except in the elitist box.

This is very Eugene: a human traffic jam crossing the footbridge over the Willamette river.

Back in Eugene

New UO science building:

Setting up for ESPN College GameDay:

Across the river to the stadium:

Ducks and Spartans play tomorrow:

I'm wrestling with divided loyalties. I've been a big Marcus Mariota fan since he came to UO, and I'd like to see him win a Heisman and a national title.


Craft brewing mecca:

12.87 110H in Eugene

The Nike Prefontaine Classic was in Eugene yesterday. The wife and kids went but I'm not that big on live sports. We'll have the Olympic trials here later in the summer.

Liu Xiang tied the world record at 12.87, but it was ruled wind-aided at +2.4m/s. This field was world class, only missing current world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba. David Oliver, the US record holder, was a WR at Howard and is huge for a hurdler at around 200 lbs. Ashton Eaton, in lane 1, is a top decathlete who competed at U Oregon as a collegian. My kids got to play dodgeball with him a few years ago :-)

At the end of his victory lap Liu ends up among women competitors preparing for the start of the 3000m. He looks gigantic in comparison.


 


 I often run at Hayward Field, but not as fast :-(

Superhumans

Eugene ("Track Town USA") has a long history in running (for instance, Nike was founded here) and hosts a number of high profile track meets during the spring and summer. One of the things I enjoy about these meets is that while they are here I often bump into superhumans (world class athletes) around town, like at the cafe or ice cream shop :-)

Speaking of superhumans, below is a picture of decathlete Ashton Eaton, who may soon have a claim on the title World's Greatest Athlete. The last time (2009) the USATF National Championships were here in Eugene, I predicted great things ahead for him. Eaton, then only a junior, placed second in the US championships. This year (competition completed yesterday) he won by a huge margin, with a total that is the 5th best all-time US score and 13th best in the world. Eaton has incredible times in the sprints (PRs around 10.3, 13.3, 46, IIRC) and is still just learning the technical aspects of the high jump and the throws. In the next few years he could break the world record.



Two winters ago UO had a family day at the rec center, and invited some prominent athletes to spend time with the kids. My twins got to play dodgeball with Eaton for about half an hour -- there were no other families on the court. Eaton took it easy on them :-) When they get older I'll remind them about their time with the World's Greatest Athlete!

Summer in Eugene

One week until the USATF National Championships come to Eugene.




View from the deck :-)




New Ed. school building.



We have fancy organic slow food carts on campus.








This was actually taken back in Taipei, but it fits the summer theme. Why are my kids so much better looking than I am? :-)

Swoosh!

How the athletic shoe was born in Eugene, Oregon. Bill Bowerman was Phil Knight's track coach at U Oregon. Together, they founded Nike.

William Jay "Bill" Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 24 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4 minute milers. During his 24 years as coach at the University of Oregon, the Ducks track and field team had a winning season every season but one, attained 4 NCAA titles, and finished in the top 10 in the nation 16 times.

Oregonian: ... Phil Knight is Nike's well-known business and marketing brain, but Bowerman was its mad scientist. His eureka moment came one Sunday morning in 1971 in that house overlooking the McKenzie River.

Bill and Barbara were fixing breakfast -- Barbara wasn't at church, a common mis-telling -- as Bill raised a familiar topic: how to make shoes lighter and faster. Oregon's Hayward Field was transitioning from a cinder to an artificial-surface track, and Bill wanted a sole without spikes that could grip equally well on grass or bark dust.

"It was one of the few (footwear-related) things he ever talked to me about, so it was kind of fun for me," Barbara told Reames in an interview he conducted for Nike in 2006. "I picked out a couple pieces of jewelry and things that had stars on them, or things that we thought would indent or make a pattern on the soles. We were making the waffles that morning and talking about (the track).

"As one of the waffles came out, he said, 'You know, by turning it upside down -- where the waffle part would come in contact with the track -- I think that might work.'

"So he got up from the table and went tearing into his lab and got two cans of whatever it is you pour together to make the urethane, and poured them into the waffle iron."

Bill's breakthrough spawned Nike's Waffle Trainer, released in 1974, the first innovation in a company that became known for them. Before it, most athletic soles were flat with shallow patterns. The waffle had nubs that protruded like the tread on a motorcycle tire.

The distinctive shoe took off, Nike's "air" technology used in Air Jordan basketball shoes soon followed, and the Swoosh was on its way to becoming the top-selling athletic brand in the world.

Future champions at Hayward Field:

Eugene, Oregon

It's strange but very pleasant to be back after 5 months :-) Unfortunately only for a few days.


Sunrise in Eugene.



Physics building.






Institute for Theoretical Science.



Physicists in action! (DOE review presentation.)

US Track and Field Championships in Eugene

The USATF championships were held here again last week and over the weekend. I run on the same track as these guys, only much slower :-)

The photo below is of Eugenian Nick Symmonds (Oregon Track Club Elite) winning the 800m. See also this panorama shot, which shows the 800m finish and all of Hayward Field.



If you're a track fan, keep your eye on Ashton Eaton, who placed second in the decathalon despite being only a junior at UO (he won the NCAAs earlier in the spring).



Complete results from USATF web site.

Snow in Eugene

A rare snowfall -- it's already starting to melt away. These were all taken from inside :-)