Autzen Stadium

"Great place to watch some Duck football"

If you are an Oregon Duck fan (or a fan of any team playing the Oregon Ducks) you are probably familiar with Autzen Stadium.  The electricity and excitement is outrageous and on Saturdays when there is a home game, that is where you will find everyone.  If fans can't get tickets, they may still go out and tailgate in one of the many parking lots to show their support.  

This year, Oregon is the PAC-10 champs and will be playing in the Rose Bowl on 1 Jan, 2010. Many sport casters have said that the PAC-10 is one of the toughest conferences this year and I don't think any of the fans were disappointed with the caliber of football that was being played.

We have been taking our son to the games since he was 1.5 months old.  I thought he would be awake with all of the noise, but he snuggled in and fell right asleep.  He likes the people watching and the cheering, and he will now yell 'go Ducks!' and 'TOUCHDOWN!'.

The stadium has been classified as one of the loudest places for teams to play.  The fans get very excited and the shape of the stadium really focuses the noise onto the field. If you are sensative to noise, you may want to bring earplugs.  It has been louder than 127 decibals (compared to a jet engine, which is 130 decibals). We bring noise dampening earmuff for the little man to wear and to protect his hearing.

The games tend to sell out, so buying tickets ahead of time, getting them from friends, or searching for them on Craigslist are your best bets.

During the football season, this is a great activity for kids.  I would say that toddlers might get a little bored having to sit in the stands.  Friends take their kids over to the Moshofsky Center during the game, if needed, (there is loads of food and a band and TVs) so the kids can run around and the parents can still be a part of the game.  There are bathrooms,  and in certain places they have the 'family bathrooms' available...you may have to ask where they are located though.

In the off season, there are lots of things to do around Autzen too.  The bike path goes right near the stadium, and there is a great BMX track out there where kids and adults train and compete (we used to go out there and ask if we could take a turn on it when we were younger and they would let us...not sure if they still do that or not).

If you have a dog with you, there is an off-leash dog area as well.

They are building the new U of O baseball stadium and Pape Field is also there (the women's soccer team plays there and it is always great to go out and watch the games, plus it is very affordable).

You can get schedule information at www.goducks.com

Have a great time!