Our ex (cough..cough cough) choke coach

[Guest SirJohn]

They do face USC next week. My opinion is you wanted him you got him and good riddance.

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The glory days: Husky football as our our fathers knew it

 

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By Justin Chartrey

October 11, 2005

 

Is anyone else a little discombobulated about the state of affairs on Montlake? For as long as I can remember the Huskies football team had been good or great.

 

The basketball team was kind of non-existent.

 

When I was a kid, my old man used to tell great stories of the exploits of Husky greats like Warren Moon, Sonny Sixkiller and the consistently tenacious Husky defense. Sorry Todd MacCulloch and Doug Wren, I didn't much care for your basketball, even when the Dawgs went to the elite eight in 1998.

 

They just weren't that exciting to watch.

 

Meanwhile, even in a state of flux and under sanction from the NCAA, football seemed to capture the Northwest's attention with excellent play and winning records.

 

Even if there was no chance for a national title or a Rose Bowl, football had immense support at the games and from the couch-planted fans. It was the winning attitude that kept the fans watching, cheering, and coming to Montlake. No matter what, the Dawgs appeared invincible and always seemed to find a way to win.

 

Now, in the midst of a third straight season without a winning record, the fan support of the Dawgs under Tyrone Willingham has dwindled. After what was essentially four home games to kick off what television spots labeled "The Return of the Dawgs," the dust had settled and people sullenly looked at a 1-4 record with two blowout losses to Notre Dame and Cal, and a heartbreaking loss to Air Force.

 

The only victory was a beat down of annual whipping post Idaho. The Husky victory over the Vandals drew probably half the crowd as the losses.

 

Tack on another heartbreaker against UCLA. Once again, the Bruins owned us. They have beaten the Huskies eight of the last nine times, including a 2002 game that sealed the team's fate and banished us to the Holiday Bowl rather than the Rose Bowl.

 

As it stands, the Huskies are nearly half way through what appears to be another dismal season. The biggest news in Montlake now is the signing class of Lorenzo Romar for the 2006 basketball season -- not the football team.

 

But wait just a second, wasn't Washington a football school? Since when does Husky basketball recruit the number two class in the country? Since when does basketball capture a bigger audience than the Husky gridiron?

 

The current confusion leaves fans in a predicament. What now? Do they follow the masses? Do they simply swear off the Husky fan boards, turn in their tickets and leave the sinking ship for safer waters? Or are they the noble soldiers who do not abandon the cause and wait for the ship to be righted?

 

It appears many have already made that decision, but for those of us clinging to the ghosts of our father's Huskies, it is time to dig in and make a stand, for better or for worse.

 

We have no fear that out of the ashes of the lean times will arise the terrifying Huskies. The Huskies that had won the national title under local idol Don James, that had twenty-six winning seasons in a row, and most importantly, the team that had won the hearts of fans across the country.

 

We wait for Husky football to come back -- we wait.