When Teresa Baca and her husband Porfiro started coming to the athletic’s department’s surplus sale, things looked a little different. There was no Bellotti Bold, no instantly recognizable “O” and no “national brand.”
Instead, there was a simple table on the north side of Autzen Stadium and just a few die-hards looking for bargains. But as the Ducks started to climb into national prominence, the surplus sale grew. More and more people arrived earlier and earlier. The Bacas drove from Harrisburg and arrived as early as 6 a.m. just to get in line — but even that wouldn’t have been enough to get into the front of the line this year.
The 2013 edition of the surplus sale saw 2,829 pass through the Moshofsky Center, said Craig Pintens, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Public Relations. That’s about twice as many people as the year before, and they came early too. They’re looking for deals that are almost too good to be true: team issue football helmets for a fraction of the price they go for online, Nikes for $20, even practice and game gear worn by Oregon athletes, not to mention locker-room championship apparel from the Fiesta Bowl.
Pit Crew administrators Andrew Stevens and Kevin Wade were the first to arrive. The pair set up camp around 6 p.m. on Thursday, almost 40 hours before the doors would open. It only took a few hours for a line to start forming behind them. Fans in Eugene recognize the opportunity the surplus sale presents, and take up the opportunity to snatch up athletic department issue gear.
“Personally I’m going for jerseys,” senior Dan Smith said. “I kind of want either Cliff Harris — if they are allowing themselves to sell that — Dion Jordan or Ed Dickson. I need a yellow jersey which I don’t have, and a jersey for my girlfriend as well.”
Others snatch up cleats and basketball shoes either as collectors items or to use on the field. Arnold Bardwell of Elmira left the sale with garbage bags full of size 16 football cleats for his son — they’re not so easy to find elsewhere at such a low price.
That low price comes at a price to some fans though. Some of the fans snatch up as much gear as they can and have it all on eBay before the fans at the back of the line even get to the door. A search for Duck gear on eBay finds a great deal game and practice-worn gear, even things like pom poms and iPad covers, all posted in the time since the sale ended.
“There was a guy last year who bought $10,000 worth of stuff, and was bragging about how he was going to sell it,” Smith said.
It’s not just athletic gear, or even just Oregon gear, that’s for sale. For sale this year was a hot tub — there was no information on whether or not it was the infamous hot tub from the coaches suite at the new football operations building — and a certain VW Bug with a Duck helmet (engine not included). The athletic department also uses the sale to unload office supplies and the free samples it gets throughout the year. Smith says one year he saw a garden gnome version of the Virginia Tech Hokie.