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Today's Dots are the last that we will dedicate to Don James before we begin to shift our focus back to the playing field and the rest of Husky athletics. Though his shawdow casts a long and enduring presence over all of Husky athletics, I have to believe that Coach would have preferred that we focus our attentions on the program that he invested so much of his life cultivating. Today, we'll do that.
Dawgfather Dots
- In case you missed the Sports Center snippet on Don James - here it is:
- The Huskies have announced a series of activities to remember and honor the late Don James. These include a service on-camps for Sunday afternoon, a tasteful video and halftime tribute at this weekend's homecoming game versus Cal, and the sporting of a "DJ" patch on player helmets and coaches attire going forward. You can see the full agenda on the GoHuskies website.
- Give the Cal Golden Bears credit as they will also be honoring Don James this weekend.
In honor of the late legendary UW coach Don James, the Cal Bears will wear these decals Saturday vs. Washington. pic.twitter.com/NGI25Y1250
— CalFootballEQ (@CalFootballEQ) October 23, 2013 - Ivan Maisel posted the second excellent piece on ESPN commemorating the life and times of Don James with a focus on the respect that Coach commanded and always gave back.
- John McGrath checked in with his own reflections on Coach James, noting that he wasn't always the cuddliest man in the world, but beloved nonetheless.
- Speaking of not being cuddly, the Dawgfather gave an interview to Bob Rondeau right after his resignation before the 1993 season. For those of you who have never heard it, they replayed it on the Husky Honks radio show. It is amazing to go back in time and hear the anger that Coach James harbored towards both the Pac 10 and the local media. Check it out at the 10:42 mark:
- Gregg Bell writes an excellent piece on Coach James and the enduring impact that he has had, and will have, on the UW football program.
- Here is a commentary on the Dawgfather from east of the Cascades.
- A handy timeline on the Don James era. The longevity of the Dawgfather is ridiculous, especially when you consider the fact that he left on his own accord following what he saw a betrayal by his administration and the other nine schools of the Pac 10. He literally could have gone another 10 years.
- Brock Huard shares some of his own Dawgfather memories.
- A couple of more really cool radio reflections on Don James picked up from various radio segments:
Billy Joe Hobert
Keith Gilbertson
Dave Hoffman
Jim Mora
Warren MoonMy prayers to Coach James and his family. Probably the most influential person in my athletic and professional career. I will truly miss him
— Warren Moon (@WMoon1) October 21, 2013
Dots
- Lots of teeth gnashing going on following the Huskies drubbing by ASU, but, as Anthony pointed out in his tweet the other day, the Huskies continue to look favorable in Football Outsiders F/+ rankings. For those of you unfamiliar, this method of ranking teams focuses on overall efficiency of plays adjusted for strength of opponents and for only "meaningful" football plays (excluding garbage time). The Huskies fell only 3 points from a week ago and remain ranked ahead of teams like Georgia, UCLA and South Carolina. This is a reminder that the poor play of the ASU game does not negate an entire body of work for the season to date as far as an objective scorecard is concerned.
Washington is somehow 17th in S&P+, only dropping 6 spots. Offense 31st, defense 17th
— UW Dawg Pound (@UWSBN) October 22, 2013
- The Husky players and coaches are hearing all of the angst coming from the fanbase and understand that there is a lot of anger. Gregg Bell reports that the Huskies are planning to channel that frustration and turn into motivation for a great comeback. Here is a snippet:
The Huskies know you are angry.
"Yeah, and it’s not fun for us," defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox said. "We love our fans; it’s as good a fan base as there is out there. We are fighting like hell. And we are going to continue to do that... - Since we are bringing up sore subjects, I can't help but to link this blog post at FishDuck - a purely Oregon fan blog. In it, they address the meaning of the "Decade of Dominance" while minimizing the actual importance of all-time record or UW's two national championships. It is not a very entertaining read, but should serve to fire you up for our next rematch in Eugene.
- The Seattle PI (yes, they still exist) ponder the question as to whether or not this three-game skid is indicative of another seven win season for the Huskies.
- Christian Caple takes a look at this three-game losing streaks and compares it to the other extended losing streaks that Steve Sarkisian and Co have suffered during his tenure.
- Shifting from football, did you know that we are less than two weeks away from a real basketball game? The Huskies are picked 8th in the conference and are previewed extensively by the eminent Kevin Pelton (the creator of WARP) over at ESPN. Reading through it, you almost get the sense that UW may be a darkhorse in his eyes.
- The #3 ranked UW Men's Soccer team needed two own-goals to do it, but they remain unbeaten after drawing against #5 UCLA. This is an exciting run for the Men's team who will travel to SoCal later this week for rematches with San Diego State and UCLA.
- The Times has a round up of other non-revenue sports including news that the new UW baseball park will open on March 21st against the Arizona Wildcats.
- The Daily UW updates their weekly Pac 12 Power Rankings.
Question of the Day
Now that the worst of the week has passed and the optimism for gameday begins to percolate, what are your honest expectations for Saturday's game?