Sportswriters in the Northwest are having a good time with the feud that is going on between UW and WSU.
Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times has this take.
From the disappointment of the failure of Senate Bill 6116, which would've provided much-needed funding for a Husky Stadium makeover, came this intoxicating, goofy sideshow. Really, it goes back a few days earlier, when the Apple Cup/Qwest Field discussions died, but after watching Washington State fans organize a campaign against the bill, Woodward couldn't help expressing his frustration.
"It was just an irritant, that's the best way to put it," the Washington AD said after witnessing the Cougars' efforts, which included renting a plane to fly a banner over Olympia last week telling legislators to vote down the bill.
John McGrath of the News Tribune is enjoying it all. He especially likes the interplay going on between our blog and Cougar Center.
Now the rhetoric, especially on the blogs, has gotten vitriolic. Those aligned with WSU are fed up with fans of an 0-12 team behaving as elitists. Those aligned with UW are fed up with fans of a traditional conference bottomfeeder interfering with the refurbishment of a college football landmark.
What once was a convergence of good-natured tailgaters has turned into the Crabby Apple Cup, a rivalry suddenly steeped in political, cultural and even personal differences
One of the things I did do yesterday was go back over everything I wrote here and at Coug Center to see if I would have done it differently. Honestly I can't see anything I would change at this point. I also don't think it was presented in an arrogant fashion.
Let's start it off with my original post.
The Husky Point of View
WSU should have stayed out of it and remained neutral at the very least. When you have one of your own trustee’s leading a campaign against it you put yourself and the institution you are unofficially representing on the firing line for really no good apparent reason.
Woodward’s bone of contention is that the WSU administration said they were neutral in public then encouraged the protests in private. In reality what is good for either school is good for the other. WSU should have supported the proposal or just kept quiet.
No matter what Woodward says it was the Cougar group who derailed this. The Senate was on the verge of passing it till the final week when they stepped up the effort. Unfortunately they also ruined any chance for the City of Seattle to claim $30 million from Clay Bennett. The WSU athletic department should hit him up for a donation. He owes you big time!
As far as the Apple Cup goes the two schools could have just switched off being the host and the ticket allocation problem would have been solved. Don’t buy the WSU admin’s argument that the reason the deal folded was because UW wanted 7,000 more tickets allocated on a yearly basis. It simply died because UW decided not to participate after SB 6116 died.
I like Nuss feel this all could have been handled better. I don’t wish WSU any ill will but they certainly crossed a serious line on this one and there will be more payback then just the collapse of the Apple Cup deal. Look forward to a sad era where the schools no longer cooperate with each other in any way.
Who are the losers in all this?
All of Us!
Cougar and Husky fans both end up losing because of the selfish misguided acts of a few morons!
The Coug’s win the battle but will lose a war they never had anything to gain by starting.
Washington will survive just fine but unfortunately WSU has put itself in a position to be hurt for no good reason other than to spit in the eye of the Husky one last time.
My good friend Nuss from Cougar Center responded with this and gave me a 24 hour deadline to respond with links supporting my assertions.
Then dig up some links!Deadlines are deadlines so I responded as quickly as possible and I really was looking forward to the apology.You made three accusations:
1. Sterk and Floyd encouraged the actions of the opponents from behind closed doors.
2. WSU fans killed 6116. Your AD said the opposite.
3. The Apple Cup deal died because UW walked away. Every report says otherwise.Dig up the links that contradict those three erroneous statements and I’ll apologize. We are not in the business of spreading unsubstantiated rumors. If you like that for your site, fine. We don’t like it for ours. So dig up some links. I’ll give you 24 hours from your last comment, at which time I’m just going to ban you because it’s our site and you and your pomposity just won’t take a hint.
What? No Apology? He didn't me like my answers and I received the Crimson and Grey Death Penalty.I guess you can ban me if you want. If the only way you can debate anything is to delete, or ban then I guess it is your problem. I will however take you up on your challenge.
1. "WSU felt it was not appropriate for the institution for us to ask for any stadium support during this legislative session," Sterk said. "The legislature and the governor, they were already facing all the significant challenges of the economic crisis. So that’s why we didn’t take a position."
Up until now they said they were neutral. Today it comes out in the Spokesman Review that they were against it all along.
2. Scott Woodward deflected criticism toward the WSU administration rather then give credit to the Cougar alumni opposition group which is the smart thing to do. Why give credit when it empowers them more? They achieved their goal but left a lot of scorched earth behind them. Once again I don’t think what they did benefits WSU.
Senator Murray however said that they had enough votes for SB6116 to pass in the house but the GOP wavered in their supports after so many emails and phone calls from the Cougar opposition group.
3. Woodward wasn’t as specific as WSU AD Jim Sterk in saying that it broke down over tickets, though he admitted that was part of it
-there was a concern about making sure that as many UW season ticket holders would be able to get in."I think there were other issues out there as well,’’ he said.
Hmmm…other issues as well? Could it be that UW was a little hacked off by what was going on in Olympia?
My sources are telling me that was exactly what happened. Would you expect that to help the negotiations with UW. Putting butts in the seats for the Apple Cup in Husky Stadium has never been a problem by the way.
The ticket issue could have been resolved by each team rotating as the home team each year just like they do now. You know that as well as I do.
Predicitably, you fail again!
1. What part of "that’s why we didn’t take a position" sounds like they were against it all along? Classic John Berkowitz ridiculous leap of logic.
2. The second one has merit … if you think that the guy who made an abysmal mess of the whole thing isn’t going to find someone else to blame. The bottom line is that HE screwed it up by not ensuring that his votes were ironclad. If a bill that had so much else going for it truly was sunk by a handful of vocal WSU boosters, then it was Senator Ed Murray who failed as a politician. I’ve been around the legislative process enough to understand that it’s the backroom deals that get this kind of stuff done. But don’t just take my word for it — take Art Thiel’s.
3. Everything you said here does not back up your original assertion that UW walked away. Rumors and speculation … but no hard, on-the-record facts. Par for the course for you.
I would call that three out of three, although some might argue that’s just two out of three. Get lost.
We did excange a few emails and the final one from him did include an apology for the name calling. in my final email I proposed this solution. I apologize also for calling him a coward for not using his real name on his blog. I have been usisng my real name for over a year now. The reason for it is you really can't be legitimate if you are using an anonymous nickname to hide behind. When you use your own name you are also more careful about what you write.
Nuss,
You actually don't need to ban me...all you had to do is ask me not to post. It isn't like I am trying to ruin what you guys are doing over there. It isn't like I am some troll that you have to monitor every single day.
I just thought it would be interesting for you guys to have a foil.
I enjoy your your blog and I think both you and Grady do a great job. In the same vein I apologize to you guys also because I should have contacted you guys when you first joined SBN and put together some type of game plan with you that would benefit us both. I have a great relationship with SediHawk over at WSU Football. We have done cooperative stuff together over the years when were both on blogger.
In a perfect world we both would work together to make each of our blogs better. There is always going to be a UW/WSU rivalry and bias on both sides. Rather than argue about it lets use it to our advantage. I mean we are talking about a couple of bottom feeders at this point in time.
You talk about multiple incidents and while I respect that I think you are being overly sensitive. Disagreeing and posting a different point of view is healthy. I don't think I was out of line and no I don't think I am posting propaganda. To be honest in this latest salvo Sterk looks like the better person.
I am willing to set whatever bad feelings we have about each other aside since if we actually met each other we just might find plenty to like.
As far as forgiveness goes you were forgiven immediately. I don't hold grudges for more than five minutes.
I know you are both great guys and sometimes things get out of hand. I know I can be a jerk and I apologize for it. I also have to say that it isn't like you guys have been posting your points on my site either.
The bottom line is we should work together as much as we can since for better or worse we are tied together by being loyal Washingtonian's. I always felt if UW gets something WSU should get the same. I also feel Eastern, Central, and Western should benefit to a lesser extent too.
I haven't received an answer yet but we all have our day jobs too. I posted over there during Apple Cup Week to provide a link to our annual Cougar jokes. I actually expected that they would reciprocate with some Husky jokes. It didn't work that way...they didn't like it.
I did do the man and sheep photo after their QB was arrested for being under the influence. They didn't like that either but who didn't think the entire set of circumstances of that arrest where pretty hilarious in retrospect.
During the Pac Ten and NIT I rooted for the Cougars and posted over there a little during the games.
When it comes to remodeling Husky Stadium I will post my feeleings on the situation. I respect their views also and would think they would show me the same courtesy.
So this is Day One of being banned from Cougar Center. WSU and UW are in the middle of a feud that will only heat up over the next year. I think it is fun and it injects a little life into the rivarly between the two worst football teams in the conference.