UNIVERSAL CITY : Oregon Ducks Team Up With Flighty Fowl

Silila Malepeai is one big Duck--5-foot-11, 265 pounds.

But, on Thursday afternoon, he turned into one big chicken.

Malepeai was one of three Oregon Ducks football players judging a duck-calling contest at Universal Studios when Rocky, a real duck, suddenly bolted off the chair next to him. A startled Malepeai immediately got off his seat. Asked later about his nerves, the senior nose tackle didn’t duck the issue:

“I didn’t want the duck to go wild on me,” he said.

But the only wild Ducks were the Oregon players, coaches and fans who enjoyed yet another stop on their unlikely pilgrimage to Pasadena. The event often resembled a pep rally for the team that will play powerhouse Penn State on Monday in the Rose Bowl.

Thursday, however, centered on another competition. Malepeai and two teammates--senior fullback Dan Meade and sophomore tight end Josh Wilcox--were picked by the squad to judge the contest.

But what about their duck-calling credentials?

“We’re Ducks,” Coach Rich Brooks said. “We know everything about Ducks.”

Well, not exactly. Meade said he knows nothing about the foul, but was chosen because “I’m the team goof.” He later proved it with a series of spontaneous impressions, including Ronald Reagan, Robin Leach and Kermit the Frog.

The players’ lack of duck expertise hardly mattered.

In fact, the event’s winner, Chris Blume, 16, from Silverton, Ore., had never attempted a duck call. He was one of two contestants plucked from the crowd by Universal, along with three studio ringers, who livened things up. The three Oregon players each sat next to real ducks brought in from the studio’s Animal Actors Stage Show.

Blume offered a weak “quack, quack, quack,” but, as Malepeai said, “the kid’s from Oregon.”

Besides, Malepeai didn’t exactly seem to be in the mood to spend much more time on stage.

Next to the real ducks, the Nittany Lions ought to be easy prey.