"Over? Did you say ‘Over’??? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" - Bluto, from the movie Animal House.
Discouraged, man.
I went away last weekend with my wife’s family to a remote location in the North Cascades to celebrate her dad’s 80th birthday. For three days. Alone with my in-laws. Damn.
No internet. No cell phone. No TV. No Xbox 360 College Football 11. With my in-laws. For three days. Damn, damn!
I email-blasted all my Husky connections before departing Seattle, "I’m watching the Stanford game the moment I get home Sunday afternoon. Trick or Treating with the kids will wait ‘til I’m done. Anyone who spoils the outcome will be beaten to death with what was formerly their left arm."
Busted tail to get home, figuring the football gods were smiling on my purple blood as I managed to avoid speeding tickets during my four-hour drive, completed in a solid 3:15. For those with kids, memorize the following: Child Protective Services will not remove your children for skipping bathroom breaks. That’s why you hang on to those empty Gatorade bottles. Where I come from, we call that "recycling".
Anyway, I got home, poured an Alaskan Amber, and fired up the greatest invention since Whoppers first landed on grocery store shelves, my DVR.
Someone should have done me a favor…their left arm would have been spared.
UW punt.
Stanford touchdown.
UW punt.
Stanford touchdown.
UW punt.
Started watching the game on 2x speed, but the impact was clear: TD, punt, switch to 3x speed, TD, punt. You know the ugly rest of the story.
Finished the watching game in 23 minutes. A new record, for those keeping score.
Started trick or treating before it was even dark outside. Stole my kids’ Whoppers after they went to bed. Pretty much saved the entire weekend, thank you.
So, at 3-5, soon to be 3-6, it’s over. Jake is hurt. Keith Price starts on Saturday afternoon. Rumors of upperclassmen revolting against Sark and Co. Oregon is primed to roll up 70 and laugh at us while doing so.
"It’s over man. Wormer dropped the big one."
"Over? Did you say over? It’s not over ‘til WE say it is!"
Yes, short of Chip Kelly leading his troops mistakenly into Seattle this weekend or the entire Oregon starting offense going all Jeremiah Masoli and getting booted before Saturday, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. No one expects anything this weekend, and you’re not going to get it no matter how deep your purple faith runs.
Screw it. November 18 is coming, UCLA rolls into town. Fire up. Prepare for a watershed night in the Steve Sarkisian era.
The Dawgs will stand 3-6 with three winnable games remaining on the schedule. UCLA is a mess, trying to run the Pistol with the wrong athletes. Cal lost their starting QB this past weekend and is primed for their usual November flame-out. Wazzu has Paul Wulff.
Should Sark find it within his team to man-up for the final three games, locate their inner USC-beating selves and string it all together, they’ll go bowling this December. I don’t care where it is; go to a bowl game and I’m cashing in my Alaska Airlines miles and joining them wherever we land, be it San Francisco, Vegas, Boise, or wherever. We all will. You know you’ll be there, sharing beers at a cold, wet tailgate by the Bay at AT&T Park for some crazy-ass named bowl. Who cares? The misery of October will be long in the rearview mirror, recruiting will be in full-force, and the off-season holds hope for 2011 and Joe Montana’s boy throwing the ball all over the yard.
Lose versus UCLA and brace yourself for the onslaught. Hell hath no fury like Husky fans scorned for yet another season.
Boos will rain down from every corner of Husky Stadium. They’ll finish a horrific 4-8, or—gulp—even 3-9, should WSU get all crazy and start playing like Auburn for an afternoon. The momentum of the program turns to anger, recruits renege on their commitments of last summer, and the heat turns to scalding on Sark’s backside.
This isn’t the time to bail, Dawg fans, it’s time to fire up and support the program. Get out to the Stadium on November 18 and draw a half-dozen UCLA false start flags at the hands of Referee Jay Stricherz’s officiating crew (yes, I know who the crew is for that evening, and no, I can’t stand Stricherz, either). Get out on Craigslist, buy some cheap tickets for the game, bring your buddies to join you, and get loud. Jake will be back, Polk will rush for 100+. Callier will get another 40. Aguilar will be healthy again. Kearse will catch 8 balls for 120+ and two TD's. Mason will get a pick. Trufant will find his 2009 self and shut down his man all night long. Get the momentum rolling for three straight W’s and our first bowl game since 2002
Fire up.
Or prepare for the ugly.