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Greeting Cougar Nation and HAPPY APPLE CUP WEEK!
So... is anyone else having a little trouble getting up for this one? I'm not sure if I've ever been less excited for an Apple Cup. Usually I am at least nervous, but I guess I wrote this one off long ago. This is always a complicated time of year for me. As our most loyal and attentive readers are aware I live in one of those notorious mixed relationships and this time of year it is a house divided, as it were. Amieable, for all her charms and genuine support of the Cougs, is a proud alum of THAT school, so a couple times a year she dons the purple and gold and, dare I say it... barks for Sark (or Romar, or whomever).
Needless to say I have a bit of a kink in my neck from sleeping on the couch all week, but its just a temporary thing and no doubt we'll be back to our usual and more civil disagreements in no time. But it all makes me wonder... what effect will this rivalrly have on our relationship when one, or both teams are finally good again? If one of our teams spoils another's chance at a bowl game, or perhaps even... a Rose Bowl? What then? Well, we are already coming up with some contingencies and I suggest those of you also living in a house divided do the same. One good idea is the reverse bet. Each of you choose something you think would go a long way to easing the pain of a heartbreaking loss and the winner, instead of gloating, has to pay up! For Coug fans, I suggest you enact this clause THIS YEAR. Now. You will need it. But if you are one of the resilient few who still hols out hope that a miracle, like last year, is possible for this team... look no further then this weeks matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors. Read on for more....
Full disclosure... I LOATHE the NBA and never ever watch it. I understand that comparing the Apple Cup and a regular season NBA game is like comparing apples to, well... rhinoscerouses (rhinosceri?). Nonetheless, I was inspired watching SportsCenter this week and seeing that a Golden State team with 6 healthy players was able to travel to Dallas and beat the Mavs on their home floor. Of course the Cougs don't have Stephen Curry, but we do have Reid Forrest! But at the end of the day I really expect Sark and company to... totally crap the bed! Cougs 45, Mutts 0 (what the hell, it's rivalry week!) Elsewhere: AZ @ ASU - Devils 34, Cats 31 (OT) I think the Cats are due for a letdown on the road after an emotionally draining loss to the Quack. Notre Dame @ Stanford - Domers 42, Furd 38 After a crushing Big Game Stanford folds. One last big effort for a coach who is going to be shown the door shortly. UCLA @ USC - Trojans 45, Bruins 21 USC is tired of hearing how crappy they are and will win out. Watch out Arizona! CIVIL WAR! - Ducks 48, Beavs 35I am really excited for this matchup, but my gut says... Oregon is better. I hate my gut. And finally, IRON BOWL! Alabama @ Auburn - Tigers 33, Bama 39 WAR EAGLE! I actually would like to see Saben and company topple Florida for an SEC crown, but am I the only one who thinks they are in for some trouble on the Plains? That's it folks. Enjoy the games, the leftover turkey and GO COUGS! SeanHawk sez: Hello Cougs! Happy Black Friday to you all. First of all, please tell me you aren't THAT GUY who goes along with your wife/girlfriend on Black Friday, out into the masses to pick over whatever they have left? Please tell me you aren't THAT GUY who stands there, holding his wife's purse, while she tries on clothes and asks you if they make her look fat (and you already know how to answer that question, right?). Anyway, Thanksgiving finally over, check. Black Friday today, check. And that means Apple Cup week, just about over? Check. Tomorrow they get it on. But I'm hopping on the Longball bandwagon here, and agreeing with him on one major thing. The lack of, um, excitement this week has been fairly evident. It's not just here either, it's everywhere one might cruise on the WSU internet universe. I didn't exactly expect it to be this way, if you want to know the truth. A month or so ago, after we played Cal and Jeff Tuel put up all those yards in a losing effort, I would have projected that this week would have been extremely compelling to say the least. But alas, here we are. Tuel is "highly doubtful" after trying to do too much on a scramble vs. Arizona, and it's going to likely be the Lopina & Lobbestael show. Nothing against those fine young men, but the problem is that yeah, we've seen that act played already, for the last two seasons. We know what we're going to get, for the most part, and it isn't exactly something to get excited about. For this week, I thought about ripping a bunch of old Apple Cup dvd highlights for your viewing pleasure. I was going to start with the 1994 Palouse Posse, and grab about 10 minutes worth of that angry, swarming defense. Plus look at '92, '97, even '05 with Jerome Harrison and the Trandon Harvey bubble screen to the house. That's something you've seen out of us this year, where we've gone back to some historical highlights and posted them, taking a look at how things used to be. But you know what? When I started the process, I actually got a little sad. Watching Mark Fields and Chad Eaton and Don Sasa from that '94 defense, all those guys, it was amazing to see the NFL-type strength and speed. And to see the kinds of throws that Bledsoe or Leaf made, my goodness, it boggles the mind. AND then when you see Mike Price and Bill Doba stalking the sidelines, getting everyone fired up and really into the game, well, it's just depressing to see where we are today. And there's nothing one can do about it, but sit back and wait for the future to hurry up and get here. I think once this season is over, I will go back and rip those highlights. But not now, not today. On the house divided thing, yep, I'm right there with Longball on that one. In fact, I MARRIED A HUSKY. Amazing. This week can be a little dicey as well for us, but it's not too bad. It was worse in our younger days, but I've managed to wear her down/crush her will, like pretty much any husband can do to their wife....
But seriously, she's fantastic. Not just to put up with my BS, but she's morphed into a total COUG. It's true. Believe it or not, she actually cried (right along with me) as we sat on the 50-yard line after the '97 Apple Cup, the first Rose Bowl bid in 67 years for little ol' WSU. But they were tears of joy for WSU, not agony for her purple-n-gold. And I swear that she was more angry than I was after the '98 Rose Bowl. I can still hear her yelling "TWO SECONDS!" at the obnoxious Michigan fans next to us, and it turned into a mini-scene. Here she was, with her degree from UW back home on the wall, and she was getting into it over the Cougs!? She was defending OUR honor!?! We have a winner! Alright, I've put it off long enough. This week's game. Early in the week, I was thinking blowout-city. But maybe it's because I listened intently to Wulff's words during the radio show, or hell, just because it's the Apple Cup, and as we've seen, take the UNDERDOG in rivalry games, especially when both teams aren't very good. But for as young, inexperienced, and thin this WSU team is, I think there is one more fight left in these guys. They will leave every ounce of whatever it is they have left on that field tomorrow, and for that, I'm seeing a pretty competitive game. But I won't pick us to win, as I've learned my lesson there. I just can't do it. I see a similar game to what happened vs. Oregon State last week, where it will be interesting for about three quarters. But the Cougs will make a few mistakes, the battered and bruised defense will finally wear out, and UW runs away with it in the fourth quarter. Dogs 34, Cougs 17. Other games: AZ @ ASU - Mildcats 34, Devils 23 Some speculation that AZ could POSSIBLY be left out of a bowl game altogether if they can't get past 6 wins? Weren't they in the Rose Bowl race, like, two weeks ago?? They'll bury a legit 8th/9th place ASU team that just can't score enough points. Notre Dame @ Stanford - Handsome Harbaugh's 45, Ugly Charlie's 27 Ugly end for a hideous coach. UCLA @ USC - USC 30, FUCLA 19 But SC ain't what she used to be. Has the future of the Pac-10 been changed forever after this year? Can't wait for 2010, not just to see our Cougs grow up, but to also see what happens with SC. CIVIL WAR! - Ducks 38, Beavs 31 I really want the Beavs here. But too much Masoli, too much Finley, too much to overcome in Autzen. And Oregon goes back to Pasadena for the first time since '95. And finally, IRON BOWL! Alabama @ Auburn - Tide 21, Auburn 17. Talk about HATE. A former co-worker who I adore and miss used to tell me how ugly this rivalry is down south. She said that yeah, this week, if you are working with someone who went to the "other" school? You pretty much don't even speak. We have nothing on the deep-fried South when it comes to college rivalries! All for now. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR OWN SUTRA! And enjoy the game tomorrow, root like hell for the underdog, and GO COUGS!Sutra Sez: Hello Followers. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving..
As for me, well, I’m feeling downright tired of being tired of Cougar Football. And so, as I turn on the tube this Saturday to watch the ensuing debacle, I’ll be looking for ANYTHING to hang my hat on. Fortunately for me, I’m setting a hat rack made of Budweiser right next to my coach. So, there’s a good chance that I’ll think that we won the game, even if we didn’t…
So, the bright side in all of this is we have a QB who is going to do his darndest to become the poorest of a poor man’s Alex Brink. Without question, good ole K-Low is going into this contest with the feeling that they can and will win this game. And that is a good thing.
The other thing we can like going into this one is the 21-10 score we had against Oregon State going into the third. What that tells me is that the bend, bend, bend, bend, bend, bend, bend, BREAK strategy has a chance to successful.
So, for us to keep this game interesting, we’re going to have to do something we haven’t done all year—SCORE A TOUCHDOWN IN THE FIRST QUARTER. If we do, we might be able to get those Puppies tight. Otherwise, look for them to take 5 years of frustration out on us over 60 horribly painful minutes.
Huskies 48 Cougs 7
The scoring streak hits 14!
Elsewhere:
Trees 48 ND 17. Make room for Mr. Kelly, cuz fat boy is out the door.
USC 41 UCLA 31. LA shoot-out favors the team headed to San Diego for the last true blue Holiday Bowl…
Quack 38 OSU 36. Game goes down in infamy, but Beavs lack JUST enough offense to break through for first time since 65.
CATS 38 Devils 13. Stoops gets ugly on Denny’s feeble head. Talk about a guy that HAS to get fired!
And the Iron Bowl.
Bama 13 Burn 9. How do you say Yuck in Southern?
Enjoy the games AND LETS GO COUGARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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