In one of those classically laughable moments of public stupidity likely to get you mentioned in Jay Leno's monologue, a tour guide at the University of Oregon made a group of middle school students touring the campus take off shirts and hats that had the logo of rival Oregon University on them before the students were allowed to enter the athletic facilities on campus, according to the Corvallis Gazette Times.

According to the Oregon paper, the incident took place last Friday. The paper interviewed eighth-grader Alex Owens, who went on a tour of U. of O. with his class from Jefferson Middle School. Owens describes himself as "hard-core Beaver fan." He says that a tour guide at the home of the Oregon Ducks told the group that "no one displaying the logo of any other Pac-10 school would be admitted to the Ducks' athletic facilities." Owens says half a dozen students in the class reluctantly removed their Beaver gear.

U. of O. Assistant Athletic Director Dave Williford has apologized for the incident and says that the overzealous guide was not following any stated university policy.

I'm most disappointed in the teachers that went with the middle school students. Three teachers didn't see a problem with the request, though one thought it was "curious." Wonder what the kids will learn from that...