Years ago, while hammering away at the University of Oregon’s football stadium, construction workers encountered a long-lost egg. They dug it up, the tall tale goes, and polished it. Out cracked an ugly duckling.

This creature—they named him Mandrake—hatched in 2002 as a new Duck mascot. With a muscular build and scowling bill, he was the intimidating embodiment of a meaner Oregon football team, whose mascot rides into games on a motorcycle and rips off push-ups for every point the Ducks score.

...