In Our Fly Era

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

Which did you find yourself waiting longer for: The debut of the Generation O uniforms? Or the summer return of Ditch Rich?

Sure, I was busy getting married, but I’ve missed a few big developments in Duck football in the last few months…

You didn’t hear a peep out of me when Jabbar Muhammed jumped from a sinking ship on Montlake to join the good guys.

I couldn’t be bothered to pick up a pencil for a quick “Nix Country, Let’s Ride,” blog when Bo and Troy both got drafted by my buddy Colin’s beloved Broncos.

And when Ohio hired Chip Kelly, I was like Eleanor Roosevelt on the Saw Mill Parkway (asleep at the wheel).

Well, if I was going to come out of my spring ball slumber for anything, I’m glad it was for something really important:

The Ducks have new uniforms.

This new “Fly Era” jersey set is part of a wider campaign that GoDucks has been teasing for a while now called, Generation O.

In all of their teasers and hype videos leading up to this announcement, they seemed to be leaning heavily on the last twenty-five years of Oregon football and our tradition of non-tradition.

Of course, we’ve covered all of that here with my piece on Nike’s involvement in the unholy creation of Roboduck or the blog about our athletic department’s storied history of bold billboards.

But if anyone needs a refresher, GoDucks just released a 20+ minute documentary that tells the tale from Toilet Bowl, to Fog Bowl, to the Big Ten.

This new movie is so all-encompassing that when my memory starts to go, I’m going to need someone to play this documentary for me every morning like I’m Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates (2004).

I won’t be able to start my day until I’m reminded of who I am, and what makes Oregon football so special.

The new uniforms themselves seem to just be the all-black combination from a yet-to-be-released wider collection.

With a shoulder design inspired by the three-most iconic designs from Oregon’s past (Dixon’s steel plates, LaMike’s carbon fiber, and Marcus’ wings), I think these new unis are a fresh, fusion-forward take on the idea of a throwback.

Now, do they kind of look a little too much like the Jordan-branded black unis we wore in 2019 against UCLA for my taste? Perhaps.

But I’m going to choose to withhold any more criticism until I see what we do with the rest of the jerseys. I have a feeling that I’ll like these black ones even more when I see them alongside a set of green, yellow, and white (and whatever new color Nike invents for us) uniforms.

Hopefully I don’t have to wait as long to see the rest of ‘em as you all had to wait for me to write another blog.

Go Ducks.