The Sunday, August 22 edition of the Seattle Times rehashed the fall of Husky Football (and Seattle sports in general) from its glory days of the early 1990's. As usual, it was well written and brought up many significant points. I have a lot of respect for the writers who participated in the project; however, conveniently ignored was the Seattle Times part in the process over the past twenty years.
The fall of dynasties always involves internal and external forces. The paper did a fine job of pointing out the obvious internal forces involved, but skipped over obvious external forces such as the LA Times and Seattle Times.
“Well for starters, I think it’s the Seattle Times,” said James. “I live in this community and I watch them beat up everybody, not just the football program. I’ve watched them beat up on Boeing and Nordstrom and all the great industries and businesses in this community. They all get beat up by the local press. Maybe that happens everywhere. But I have lived in a lot of places and I haven’t seen it elsewhere."
I also find it odd there isn't a single mention of former UW President William Gerberding, who more than anyone else precipitated the fall by forcing Mike Lude, Marv Harshman, and ultimately Don James to retire long before their time.
I believe this article would have been far more compelling had interviewed Don James, Jim Lambright, Keith Gilbertson and Mike Lude about the negative impact of Gerberding's vendetta on the program. Some honest questions about the participation of local media at the time would also have yielded some interesting answers.
Here's the main story, as well as a time line and a list of key factors.
Also part of this package is this column from Jerry Brewer.
Washington RB Chris Polk is a tough hombre
Polk takes pride in his YAC, but he doesn't want the perception of him to be limited to breaking tackles. Actually, he prefers to make guys miss. His focus during conditioning and film sessions during the offseason was trying to transform those grinding efforts into 50-yard touchdown jaunts.
Woes continue for UCLA line
UCLA center Kai Maiava fractured ankle on the third play of the Bruins scrimmage on Saturday. He will have surgery and is out for the season. Maiva started all 12 games last season. He is the fourth Bruin OL to be lost for the season. Xavier Su'a-Filo left to take his mission. Jeff Baca and Stan Hasiak were ruled ineligible earlier this summer.
BYU QB Competition
Will Jake Heaps be the starter on opening day? BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall says it is a dead heat between Heaps and Riley Nelson midway through camp.
It was a chance to see Riley Nelson face some live ammo today, and I thought he responded well. As he stated in his post-scrimmage interview, he gives the offense the chance to gain yards when a play breaks down, not to mention during his called draws and option keeps. Whether or not he starts against the Huskies, the coaches will have to use Nelson; he's simply too valuable a yard-gaining option not to utilize.