Washington Tailgate Report Is Up

Check out the latest Tailgate Report Card on SI On Campus here. As always, feel free to leave comments.

Three Days, Three Timezones, Two Brothers

Odometer: 8644
Location: Garland, TX
States visited: Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas

First, a couple quick notes about the U-dub game that warrant mentioning. The lead story in Thursday’s Seattle Post Intelligencer discussed the declining state of Husky Stadium. There are older buildings in use around the country, but it’s certainly an old gray mare of an arena. Perhaps the weather has taken a toll, or maybe it just wasn’t built well enough in the beginning. In a word, it’s crumbly. The other issue is that there is a track going all the way around the field. Since I had a press pass, that made it great for me in terms of roaming space. But it also means the fans are eight lanes away from the field. The crowd was very loud, particularly in the student section. I have to think they’d be far more intimidating if they were moved to lane three. The visitors had to sit in the east endzone which are positively rotten seats. The Trojan fans barely moved throughout the game because they were cold and unhappy. This was not USC weather. The band and song girls wore rain gear, even though most of the game it was barely misting. So we hit the road with an even bigger drive ahead of us. The hills west of Seattle look like they were plucked out of an elementary school diorama. Tree-covered rises support curving roads that later plunge into valleys formed by rivers centuries ago. In many cases, the rivers are long gone, replaced by roads, railways, and underbrush.

In what I believe is my first trip to Oregon, I found the state a bit backasswards in that people are very quick to give you the finger and you can’t pump your own gas. I see no remotely possible connection between those two issues, but they coexist somehow. I was flipped the bird on three occasions, each of which was based on some completely innocuous lane change. Maybe everyone in the state is peeved that they don’t get to pump gas and they take it out on unsuspecting drivers sporting Illinois plates. Each time I feel I’ve seen all the landscape American has to offer, a new state gives me something else to appreciate. In Oregon and Idaho, it’s a largely vacant area where the hills resemble a tawny, frothy ocean. There are no people, homes, or livestock. Just tumbling knolls as far as the eye can see. From Utah on into Wyoming ridges separate expansive valleys until finally in Colorado, it becomes one giant valley that presumably stretches all the way to Clemson.

I had no idea quite how cheap Motel 6 is. I knew there wouldn’t be any breakfast or internet access, but the lack of shampoo shocked me. They don’t even have a map of the state anywhere on the premises. Our shower looked like it was something out of the future, though not a particularly swanky one. It could have been a really crappy time machine for all we knew.

West of Boise, Idaho is loaded with cattle. When you are flying by at 75 miles per hour, the animals appear petrified. Cows don’t move that quickly to being with, and I’m sure they’re not spooked by the traffic, but they could have been made of stone and we wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Yet they smelled oh so alive. I would call eastern Idaho the armpit of America, but that would only be apt if I knew someone who smeared feces in his armpit. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Kansas was mostly traversed at night, which is really the way to do it. Riding shotgun, the moon and stars mesmerized me. Even when I drove, I stole glances skyward whenever the road straightened, which, in Kansas, was often. A sunny drive south through Oklahoma featured lonely oil drills scattered in farms on either side of the road. They faithfully pumped away, seemingly oblivious to the world around them. Butterflies incessantly crossed the road, though many of them met with my windshield and were instantly relegated to butter. We overtook the ESPN Gameday caravan on its way from Eugene to Baton Rouge. It consisted of roughly six gigantic semis with the orange Home Depot bus bringing up the rear. I've been joking that they are following me around, and when we saw them on the road, I was sure they were heading to Dallas. But suprisingly, they're doing a CBS game this year. Woooo integrity! Dallas nightlife is not best experienced on a Wednesday, but after all that driving, we had earned our TexMex and beers, dammit. The bars were relatively dead, though we met some cool people and witnessed a few true Texans. This morning I dropped my brother off at the airport where they charge a one dollar fee to do so. No, I didn't park - just pulled up and let him out. They do that if you're picking someone up, too. I was amazed. I bid my bro farewell and he went back to leading his own life and handling his own affairs after pitching in on mine for the last ten days. I will miss him dearly. Tomorrow is the Red River Whatchamacallit at the State Fair of Texas, and I can’t wait. Boomfight Texers!

Purple Passion

Odometer: 6325
Location: Seattle, WA

Some of my friends, including a few that live in Seattle, asked me why I was including the Washington Huskies in my travel plans. It had very little to do with a city boasting world class coffee and get-togethers utilizing Ouija boards in hopes of contact the ghost of Kurt Cobain. When I was very young, before I really understood what college football was all about, Washington was one of the sport’s major programs and a Rose Bowl contender every season. Three of my four years in high school, they closed their season in Pasadena, winning a National Title in 1991. Longtime head coach Don James retired after that 1992 season, partly in protest over NCAA sanctions levied on the program. Since then, fans experienced a decline to mediocrity followed by further slippage to 1-10 in 2004. The Huskies improved as last season went along, so I was eager to see what the fans were thinking and whether anyone remembers the days of Joe Steele or Vince Weathersby.

Over my long weekend in Seattle, I think I only saw the sun for a combined fifteen minutes. That’s long enough to steal a glance at Mt. Ranier, but is not conducive to frolicking in the park. Though I suppose it’s better to get the real Seattle experience, anyway. A solid group of die-hards turned up very early even though the game had a later kickoff than usual. Tailgating is packed in very tightly in the lots to the north and south of Husky Stadium, but with only so much room, it’s probably better to get as many people in there as possible. I had a media pass that included parking, but I was surprised to see that my car would be surrounded on all sides by tailgating festivities. There was clearly no way I would be leaving this game early, not that I’m the sort to do such a thing. It was more challenging than usual to approach people tailgating. Part of this was due to the tight squeeze. I had to walk myself all the way into what amounted to a private party in order to start a conversation. Even then, I really had to engage people before they would start to open up to me. According to my friends native to the area, that’s typical of the Seattle scene. People are very nice, and absolutely polite, but to call them a friendly group would be incorrect. That’s not to say I didn’t have great conversations with purple-clad fans. I just had to work a bit harder.

Washington fans can easily be split into two groups. Some are dying for the team to once again attain the status they used to enjoy. These folks travel to away games and are true college football junkies. Then there are fans who are just there to see their friends and have a fun Saturday. Many of them wouldn’t even be attending the actual game despite the fact that tickets were readily available. The notion among the die-hards is that if the team keeps improving, the other group will come around.

Someone contact the English department.

I spent some time with some of those die-hards who were equally committed to a drinking game that was new to me. These guys invented Beershoes almost by accident while camping. They immediately drew up rules, regulations and a league. They took the game very seriously, keeping scores and standings as the day progressed. This game is a winner. I fully expect to see Beershoes being played across the country within a few years. There’s an official website, but I can’t find it anywhere. If someone has it, please let me know or leave a comment. If you have the right connections, you can easily sail to the game. Boats arrive via Lake Washington and dock immediately east of the stadium. Most of them were large and somewhat intimidating to people wandering around the dock area. I wanted to chat to some of these folks, but it was hard to even make eye contact with them. Then again, I’m sure they’re used to gawkers roaming around – especially for big games. However, I was able to spend some time with people on a boat skippered by Captain Deano. All guys, they come to every game and are one of the few boats grandfathered in, giving them the privilege of docking on the near side of the wharf. On a nice day, if they ever occur, I can’t imagine a better version of tailgating than sailing to the stadium. At halftime, the fans honored the 1960 Husky team which beat National Champion Minnesota in the Rose Bowl, 17-7. How could a National Champion lose their bowl game? Because back in the day, the champion was declared before the bowl games. The not-officially-regognized Helms Poll was taken after the bowl games and bestowed their title to Washington, while the Football Writers Association gave it to Ole Miss. I heard a lot of mixed opinions about this from the fans. Many pointed out that the team didn’t care about the National Championship – winning the Rose Bowl was everything in those days. I’m kind of on the fence with this one. It’s good that the school wants to honor a great team in their past, but they’re kind of making their own rules on this one. Bowl games weren’t viewed as part of the season then. They’re applying modern rules to historic times, and it rubs me the wrong way. It seems like they should simply honor a great Rose Bowl team and leave it at that. It probably doesn’t matter that much as I can’t imagine anyone in Minnesota is going to care these days.

In further honor of the 1960 team, the players donned throwback uniforms, which actually looked pretty sweet. The fans were a bit more unified on this one. They all mentioned how it’ just a way for Nike to make some more dough. Bear in mind that Nike head honcho Phil Knight is a major Oregon booster, and it’s clear why everyone’s in touch with that issue. Husky fans are not fond of the Oregon Ducks. Eyes were glued to the TV sets in the afternoon, and all those eyes were pulling hard for Cal. I watched this game from the sideline which is a pretty sweet experience. The action is often frighteningly close, especially if you have a blown-out knee. A number of times, I had to react to players being tackled out of bounds in my area, knowing full well, I can’t really dodge anything right now. Many of the players are incredibly large from such a close vantage point – USC wideouts in particular. They’re giants. Often I was able to pick up nuances and take in details invisible from the stands. But when the action was at the other end, I was left watching the jumbotron. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not note that the entirety of Husky Nation has Jake Locker fever. I heard the phrase, “the real deal” at least a dozen times before the game even began. He is probably the least vilified quarterback in the country. He overthrew a receivers often and had one crucial interception on Saturday. But after the game, no one was mad at him. They actually recognize the fact that he’s a redshirt freshman and shouldn’t be perfect yet. Whether he’s the real deal will be up for time to tell. But I can tell you this. He’s one tough hombre. They won’t let me embed this one, but I recommend clicking. This was intense live: