Trendsetting Oregon turns basketball court into wilderness preserve with new design

As anyone who has seen an Oregon football game knows, the Ducks have the most colorful and extravagant selection of jerseys in the country, thanks to their athletic department pretty much being the Amateur Competition department of Nike. Not wanting to be left out, the Oregon basketball team has one-upped them, coming up with the most radical court design in this country, and perhaps the world (but please don’t quote me on that last part — there are a lot of goofy places on this planet I haven’t seen yet).

I mean wow, look at that. That’s Kilkenny Court in the new Matthew Knight arena, and it’s the new home of the Ducks hoopsters. They say a photo is worth a thousand words, but that picture is worth about dozen when it comes to the state of Oregon and their Ducks — “Yeah, we’re weird, and no, we don’t particularly care what you think.”

The court was designed by Tinker Hatfield, a Duck alum and ex-track star who runs a lot of the designs for Nike. What exactly was the inspiration for this grand design? Well:

“When I was asked to work on the new floor for Matthew Knight Arena, I really boiled it down to three things,” Hatfield said. “I really wanted to pay tribute to Matthew Knight himself, to the Kilkenny family and lastly but maybe not least, I wanted to pay tribute to the Pacific Northwest and the Tall Firs, the original basketball team that won a national championship for the University of Oregon in 1939.”

Ah yes, the Tall Firs, of course. The court immediately brings to mind the blue turf of the Boise State football game, and I’m sure it’s going throw off opponents and viewers alike when it makes its debut — it’s just so different from the other courts. The players will get used to it in time, though (and perhaps set up a nice campfire near midcourt).

And speaking of fires, for the sake of Smoky the Bear and all the fine residents of Oregon, let’s do ourselves a favor and make sure the nearby Blazers of the NBA never step foot on this court. Safety first, people.

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Oregon’s crazy new basketball floor is quintessentially Oregon [Yahoo]