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September 28. 2014 2:00AM Since You Asked: Oregon Ducks were originally the Webfoots I know there has got to be a few sports buffs on your crew. I have only been in Medford for about five years, and there is a question I wondered if you could answer. We have two college football teams in Oregon, the Ducks and the Beavers. Which colleges are they from? In the sports section, it will say Oregon won, but they don't say the team name, which kind of leaves me wondering. — "Sports Dummy Carl," via fax Generally speaking, no question is too big or too small for us at Since You Asked Sports Center, but we'll admit that your query veers dreadfully close to the "too small" threshold. That said, we have a deadline, and you have an inquiring mind. Bear with us, dear readers, there's information in this here low-hanging fruit.  First of all Dummy ... ur ... Carl, Oregon has a lot more than two colleges with sports teams. Southern Oregon University is in Ashland, for instance, and Portland State University is up in, you guessed it, Portland, and in between are numerous other institutions of higher learning. For the purposes of your question, we will assume you knew that and meant college teams in the PAC 12 Conference. In that case, two is correct. The University of Oregon and Oregon State University are the only two teams from Oregon that play in the PAC 12. Most sports fans — or Oregonians who've had to listen to sports radio in the car — know that "Oregon" refers to the University of Oregon Ducks in Eugene. According to a Sept. 3, 1995, Register-Guard article, the team's name stems from an original moniker of "Webfoots," coined in the 1890s. The mascot at Oregon's (ahem, we're doing it already) early football games was a man so comfortable in the rain that he had webbed feet. The "Duck" mascot became interchangeable with "Webfoot" in 1947 when then-athletic director Leo Harris made a handshake deal with Walt Disney to use Donald Duck's likeness for the Oregon Duck. Another nail in the Webfoot coffin: a live mascot in the 1950s and '60s was named Puddles the Duck. "Oregon" is used as opposed to "Oregon State," which refers to the Oregon State University Beavers in Corvallis. The first mention of Oregon State's team as "Beavers" was in 1908, and by 1916 the school yearbook was called "The Beaver." The first "Benny Beaver" mascot costume was created by then-Oregon State College student Ken Austin in 1952, who draped the homemade costume in a shag rug, according to OSU's website. Today the mascot is a mainstay at Oregon State games. Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20140928/NEWS/140929728 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->