words & images_Nick DePaula

First things first: Nobody is mistaking the Zoom Huarache 2K6 as an all-time classic. That’s not even because Eric Avar wasn’t the designer, as he was on the 2K4 and 2K5 before it. There’s just always been a certain awkwardness about the upper of this one, with panels flowing in inexplainable directions and not much in terms of attractiveness taking place.

Regardless, somebody in the Oregon Marching Band had naked pictures of somebody on campus, or SOMETHING, because for the second year in a row, everyone from the drummers to the tubing section got exclusive pairs of Duck centric hoops sneakers. Simply unheard of in the world of collegiate marching bands. With its lasered tongue, green contrast stitching, and more bold tagging along the upper, the 2K6 was certainly a bit more festive than the stealthy 2K5 a year prior. While not a classic base model necessarily, you’d still have a hard time finding anyone in the band actually complaining. Especially not when trombone extraodinaire Megan, who happens to wear a size 6, can sell their “game-worn” (?) pairs to chumps like me for $17 on eBay. This is definitely the pair that gets the “for the collection” tag.