30 Day Countdown - Day 30: sweeping dew with a Dawg

Have you grown tired of overdone ribs and runny slaw? Is the lime in your beer causing you to pucker? Do you resent the sticky stinkiness of the bug spray while rueing the very pests that force you to apply it? Had enough of this offseason yet?

Worry no more. In 30 days, you will have Husky football. Congratulations, you are almost there. It is the mission of all of us here at the UWDP to get you to the finish line. To do that, I’m pleased to welcome you to the 30 Day Countdown.

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Every day between now and kickoff, we’ll present you with a warm-up act to help focus your attention, prepare your mind and motivate your spirit as we await the start of the 2017 Husky football season.

Today’s topic is a relatively straightforward one. Since we are still in the summer zone and there are a handful of good golfing days left on the calendar, we’d like to know who you’d like to play a round with among the UW coaching staff. No special rules to apply as you consider your vote. Just consider the candidates and make your selection.

And, no, Tony Soprano is not on the list.

Option 1 - Chris Petersen

He had to be on the list. It’s always good to hobnob with the big cheese and, well, they don’t come any bigger than Chris Petersen.

Playing with Chris Petersen would very likely be a great experience. He’s a true sports celebrity having won the Bear Bryant award twice in his career. His resuscitation of the UW program has him more popular than the Pope in Seattle. And the ability to brag to your friends and family about the fact that you played a round with Chris Petersen is worth its weight in Husky gold whether or not you like golf.

There might be some drawbacks. For one, you can pretty much forget about getting any useful nuggets from Petersen on things like recruiting, player health or breakout candidates. It is also hard to imagine that you’d get any dirt on other PAC 12 coaches. Pete is all about unified fronts. What you will get, however, is advice on how to perfect your backswing and tips on addressing your putts. You know, the fundamentals.

Option 2 - Jimmy Lake

The first thing to know about Jimmy Lake is that he is more cool than you, me and everybody we know. Combined.

Playing golf with cool people doesn’t necessarily make you more cool. But it helps.

In addition to just improving your overall cool factor, playing golf with Jimmy Lake (and I am aware that a few of you have done so) might result in you picking up a nugget or two of useful insight that could well impress your friends and colleagues here at the UWDP. After all, Coach Lake is an affable guy who very much enjoys some good banter.

On the negative side, Coach Lake is probably not long in his career at UDub. Before you know it, he’s going to be a DC at another program which somewhat neutralizes the impressiveness of your “golf with Lake” story to a narrow window of time. In addition, he’s probably a bad ass at golf. If you enjoy a good ass-kicking, then no problem. Otherwise, you might fare better with another candidate.

Option 3 - Matt Lubick

UW’s new co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach is a legit option in this debate. He has had an incredible career trajectory including stops at Duke, Ole Miss, Arizona State and Oregon. The stories that he can tell include inside info on Dennis Ericson’s escapades, Ed Orgeron’s recruiting secrets and tales from the inside of Phil Knight’s Oregon regime.

Fascinating.

To make things even better, his stature and body language don’t strike fear into the hearts of fellow duffers. He may well be a scratch golfer, but he doesn’t look like one. As such, I’m thinking we could take him.

On the negative side, Coach Lubick is a little too new to the program to have a lot of UW insight to offer over the course of a round. In fact, you might get hooked into giving him some lessons on the history of the program.

The Verdict

Option 2 - Jimmy Lake

Gotta go with the UW co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach. Mostly because I need to improve my coolness quotient in the eyes of my kids. I’m certain to get some new ideas on tunes, shades and sportswear, even if Lake kicks my ass all over the course. As a bonus, I might well be able to score myself an invite for a tour of Lake Washington on Coach Lake’s boat. That’s called option value, and I’m all about it.