Week 4, Pt 1: Rise of the Dawgs
“It’s the biggest game in 15 years.”
It was almost as if Washington's late, great coach, Don James himself had returned from the heavens to decree that this was the only way for University of Washington fans to refer to Friday's game. Starting from a text I received just moments after Washington survived a dose of #Pac12AfterDark in Arizona last Saturday to pleasantries exchanged with the fans we were sitting next to just before kickoff, every Husky fan I spoke with made mention that this was the Huskies biggest game in a decade and a half.
When your team has ended the season in the Top 25 (as #25) once in the past 15 years, it’s pretty clear that a top 10 matchup that pits you against a squad that's played in 3 of the last 4 Rose Bowls is a pretty huge game. And Husky nation was ready for it. Walking the streets of Seattle on Friday morning all you saw was purple. After a decade and a half with a high point of mediocrity, there was genuine belief that the Dawgs might, possibly, actually, really be back. It didn't matter that this game was a 6pm Friday kickoff. It could have been set for 10am on Tuesday and the dock, bay, and parking lots surrounding Husky Stadium would have been filled to the brim with tailgaters prepared to bask in the day Purple Reigned Again.
The Link
The recently finished Link line makes getting to games at Husky Stadium from downtown Seattle incredibly convenient. The Link is $2.50 each way, but for some reason, Seattle decided that having ticket scanners to check your tickets would be too insensitive of a method for enforcing payment, so as of now, paying to ride the Link is more of an honor system thing. Which ordinarily would seem like a questionable decision for a big city, but when your team is all of a sudden seeming to be a national title contender after a decade and a half of irrelevance, are you really going to test the football gods by skipping out on the fare for your $2.50 ride to the stadium? Not today. All the Husky fans who have their priorities straight and are boarding the Link to Husky Stadium at 1pm on a Friday are paying customers today.
The Link literally drops you right at the stadium. As you emerge from the underground tunnel, you realize you are a mere 15 feet from the stadium entrance. Almost as if preordained for the biggest game in 15 years, as I emerge from the Link, I realize the sun has broken through the classic Seattle gray to provide Husky fans with a perfect afternoon to sailgate, tailgate, and bark at fellow fans as if this is perfectly acceptable adult behavior.
Sailgating
Top things I have learned so far on this journey through the Pac-12:
1. Utah’s mascot is a red-tailed hawk, not an owl.
2. Stanford fans prefer to drink wine – lots of it.
3. If you tell people you’re writing a book and wear ridiculous self-promotion t-shirts, people are really, really welcoming.
I’ve never been more thankful for lesson #3 than after this trip to UW. You see Husky Stadium is located right along the shores of Lake Washington and one of the things that makes gameday at UW one of the most unique (and dare I say, greatest) gameday experiences in all of college football is a phenomenon popularly-known as sailgating. Every Husky game, rain or shine, there is a portion of Husky tailgating that happens on the waters of Lake Washington.
Despite this game falling on a late September Friday, by the time I arrived at Husky Stadium there are already about 20 of what will later be over 100 boats tied up to the dock just a hundred yards from the stadium's gates. I knew that any trip through the tailgates of the Pac-12 would not be considered complete without a visit with some sailgaters; yet despite my best efforts, I was unable to locate friends with a boat ahead of time, so I was a little anxious as I ventured over to the boat landing at Union Bay. But as I said, if you tell people you’re writing a book and wear ridiculous self-promotion t-shirts, people are incredibly, incredibly friendly. So make it aboard a boat, I did not. Make it aboard several boats? You betcha. And having witnessed its glory firsthand, I am glad to report that sailgating is as incredible as it sounds. Especially, when enjoyed on as beautiful a day as it turned out to be for the Huskies clash with the Cardinal.
Sailgating is a rather tremendous way to take in gameday. You have everything you need for a fantastic tailgate right on your boat. The boats are stocked with grills, built-in coolers and kegerators, as well as ideal spots on the upper deck for soaking in the scintillating Seattle afternoon. It's really quite simple, being on a boat at anytime is pretty darn enjoyable and being on a boat on gameday, just beyond the shadow of your home stadium, is close to unbeatable. Plus, the actual transportation aspect of arriving and departing the stadium by boat is absolutely supreme. While others are having to plan for traffic on the way in and out, when you have a boat, you're not at all weary of the gameday travel, the actual trip across the lake is just another enjoyable aspect of gameday. Whether you want to leave right after the game or stay docked for a celebratory postgame meal on the water, you're guaranteed a traffic-free ride home.
One of the sailgaters I was fortunate to come across was Scott Grimm. Scott Grimm had captained his boat, the Kay Gee Lady, over to the dock along Walla Walla road at noon on Thursday to ensure he’d have the first spot in line for “the biggest game in 15 years.” As I commented on Scott’s dedication, he let me know that it wasn’t a decision to come here at noon yesterday, but more of an inherent requirement.
Scott’s great-grandfather was the University of Washington’s first All-American and his great-great uncle was the Huskies’ second All-American. For 115 years, Husky Football has been an engrained part of the Grimm’s family tradition and since 1954, when Scott’s parents started it, a Grimm family boat has pulled up to the Union Bay waterfront just a football field away from Husky Stadium to stop and fuel up for the game with some delicious seafood and some Pacific Northwest magic water to ensure their lungs were warmed up and ready to support their Huskies through thick and thin. And thick and thin is certainly the appropriate description for the last 25 years of Husky football, from a national championship in 1991, to a return to the Rose bowl in 2000, before the unconscionable fall to 0-12 in the 2008 season, and finally back to today, when maybe, just maybe, Chris Peterson has brought Washington football back to where all the boaters lining Walla Walla Road believe they belong - among the nation’s elite.
ATO Bus
While sailgating, or as I was told to call it by the commonly misnomered sailgaters, “sterngating” (“after all, do you see any damn sails up around here?”) is absolutely phenomenal, the tailgating experience at UW is not limited to the open seas, but there are large traditional lots on each side of the stadium filled with purple - purple tents, purple solo cups, purple painted cars, and in the most quintessential of PNW (Pacific Northwest) ways, even a nice dose of purple hair.
One of the most impressive tailgates in the lots is set up beside a purple and gold painted old school bus, the K9 Express. The bus is the jointly owned tailgate vehicle of choice for a group of Alpha Tau Omega brothers of various generations. The bus has been there for every game of the past 10 years, through the Terrible Tyrone Willingham era, through 5 seasons of 7-win Sark, and finally with hesitant hope for the last two seasons with Chris Peterson in charge. When I ask why they go with the bus instead of being out on the lake, the answer is pretty simple, “None of us have a boat… yet.”
The bus and surrounding tailgate is set to be an epic affair, filled with ample seating, all the tools needed to combat the sometimes less than ideal weather of the Pacific Northwest, such as heaters and windguards (although such resources are certainly not needed today) and multiple TVs to watch the early games (more on that in a bit). Each week a different group of guys is in charge of preparing the gameday grub, and this is a task that is taken extremely seriously. So seriously that the group who prepares the best pregame feast gets their names engraved on a trophy that is permanently mounted inside the bus. Most weeks, the guys go with a theme based on the opponent, for example, a few weeks ago, Scandinavian food was on the menu in honor of the Portland State Vikings' trip to town. However, not all mascots are created equal for such an endeavor. On the menu for today's game against the Stanford Cardinal: sandwiches on chopped down trees (paper plates).
Quick sidenote: Friday games are weird and most people agree, ridiculous. Among the strange aspects of Friday games, what are you supposed to watch when tailgating, HGTV? One of the great aspects of Pac-12 tailgating is the ability to take in all the games happening on the other side of the country and make fun side bets with your friends about two teams you all could care less about as you move closer and closer to your own kickoff. But on a Friday afternoon, your options are usually limited to reruns of Friends or the Ellen show, neither of which seem like the ideal entertainment to get you pumped up for a huge conference showdown. However, on this Friday, Husky fans have lucked out yet again, because it is Ryder Cup weekend and the irrationally patriotic, incredibly intense Ryder Cup is exactly the type of event that can get your blood pumping for the biggest game in 15 years.
Some of the guys invite me into the bus to take a trip down memory lane. The bus is filled with pictures of the crew throughout the years: at the Rose Bowl, in front of the bus, with famous former Husky players and coaches, and a classic corner tribute to the Dawgfather himself, Don James, the Huskies coach of 17 years, who was at the helm for 6 Rose Bowls, including the 1991 National Championship team which is set to be honored at halftime of today’s game. The photos in the bus commemorate historic days at Husky Stadium but also odes to some of the fantastic road trips the crew has been on, from quick trips to Granolaville (Oregon) to larger voyages down to the Bayou (LSU). However, my favorite story from this trip down memory lane is the tale connected to the photo of a few of the guys in front of the iconic Rose Bowl sign from just prior to Washington’s 2000 Rose Bowl game. Apparently, after Washington finished the 1995 season as co-Pac 12 champs but lost out on the Rose Bowl invite due to having a worse non-conference record than the USC team they tied during the season, one of the guys, then a sophomore, declared to his brothers that he refused to graduate until the Huskies went to the Rose Bowl. Well, true to his word, 5 years later, he attended that 2000 Rose Bowl as a 7th-year undergrad and enjoyed every second of the Huskies victory over Drew Brees and Purdue. 7 years! Think of the determination that takes. This guy had to put in just enough effort to pass the right amount of classes to stay in school while simultaneously needing to focus on not passing so many classes that he'd actually graduate. I'm not saying he is as responsible as Marques Tuiasosopo for the Rose Bowl victory, but his dedication is surely deserving of at least a replica ring to show off when telling this story.
As we get closer to gametime, I begin asking various tailgaters what they would rather have: a win today against Stanford and a Pac-12 north division title, but a loss in the Apple Cup against hated rival Washington State, or a loss tonight, but a guaranteed Apple Cup victory. The answer from a majority of respondents was surprisingly consistent, but best summed up by the first person I asked: “Honestly, I really don’t give a damn, we just have to beat Oregon. 12 years is a long freaking time. I was there the last time we won, I was single then. Now I have 3 kids, a house, the whole shebang. Everything in my life has changed, but I’m still waiting for a victory against the damn Ducks. We just absolutely have to get that one.”
After learning of how intense next weekend's game at Autzen will be, I text my friends to see if they are interested in relocating the bachelor party from Scottsdale to Eugene... no dice.
Other quick hits from the parking lot (and dock and Union Bay and surrounding grassy knoll – lots of great spots to setup a tailgate at UW):
- Ambulances Are In: I don’t know who gets credit for starting the trend of converting ambulances into tailgating vehicles, but this concept has sure caught on throughout the Pac-12. I was first amazed by this phenomenon in Utah, but I have now seen a team-colored ambulance used as a tailgate vehicle at each of the first 4 stops of the season. Indeed, the Husky Stadium parking lot has nothing short of at least 4 ambulances decked out in purple and gold. While no longer striking as incredibly original, these ambulances are truly efficient tailgating vehicles due to their plentiful seating, storage, and TV hanging capabilities. On top of all this, I've been informed that they are relatively affordable. As one ambulance owner told me, “I bought the ambulance for $800, but then dropped $5 grand on the paint job… shhh, my wife doesn’t know about that second part of the investment.” Investment indeed; it is no time to pinch pennies when getting your tailgating vehicle ready for the season.
- The Dawg Walk: As with all schools, the Huskies have a team walk into the stadium. The Dawg Walk is similar to a lot of the other team walks in many ways, the fans line the path to the stadium, the team walks off the bus and collectively make their way down the path to the locker room without tripping over one another and as a result, the fans become convinced their team is fully prepared to absolutely dominate the competition. However, something stood out at this Dawg Walk. Right as the Husky buses pulled to a complete stop, one bus started to shake so vigorously that I legitimately thought a riot must have ignited on the other side of the bus (perhaps the Sierra Club was enraged at the tree decimation the Huskies had planned). The bus began violently rocking to the point that the wheels were alternatively lifting off the ground on one side and then the other. Then suddenly, the shaking stopped and the team walked out calm and collected, ready to take care of business. Turns out, the isolated earthquake was just the defense getting pumped for “the biggest game in 15 years.” I thought to myself “they better save some of that energy for McCaffrey.” Needless to say, I’m an idiot. They could have tipped that bus over, climbed out through the shattered glass, and still kept McCaffrey out of the end zone, it was just the Dawgs day. (Although it should be noted that Christian McCaffrey who had a "poor performance" still ended up with 223 all-purpose yards on the day - albeit mostly due to his 5 kick returns).
- Husky Family in Full Force: When I first arrived at Husky stadium and walked over to the shore where sailgating occurs. I passed one man who was just sitting on a bench staring out at the water, chomping on a cigar with a large grin across his face. At the time, I thought to myself, "this guy is confident the glory days are back at UDub," but it was only when I walked back up to the tailgate lot, that I realized the guy who was sitting there taking it all in, was not just a guy, but the man, the myth, the legend himself, Lincoln Kennedy, a Washington Husky legend. Whether it was the magnitude of the game, the honoring of the 1991 team, or just a love for these fall Saturdays (or in this case, a Friday) at Husky Stadium, it was clear that former players of all generations were out in force prior to the game. It was pretty amazing to see the legends of old walking through the lot and stopping to play cornhole, drink a beer, and just make themselves part of the fans' tailgates. I don't doubt these old Dawgs remain loyal regardless of the current team's record, but no one can refute that these reunions are a lot more fun when there's a winning product on the field. One of the greatest parts of any program's resurgence is the way the winning brings the community of fans, players, and alums back together to celebrate history while enjoying the present.
The Game
Let's remember for a second that coming into this game, while the Dawgs were 4-0, they'd played Rutgers, Idaho, Portland State, and Arizona. If we're being completely honest, Bellevue High School could probably go 3-1 against that competition. So excuse me if I thought the resounding confidence of all the fans I spoke to pregame was a bit surprising given Stanford's recent history and the fact that the last time they played, a majority of the plays ended up looking something like this.
Despite the resounding confidence I heard all day long, by the time we were squeezing in with the masses to make our way into the stadium and up to our seats, there was a clear nervous energy in the air. You could tell that Husky Nation knew this was the night they were going to find out if "The Return" was for real. Then it started with a 3-and-out and grown men and women began barking their hearts out. The next thing you know the Dawgs are up 23-0 going into half and it still seemed like they probably left a few points out there. It was abundantly clear that this was as good a time as any to honor that 1991 national championship team.
With all due respect to the 1991 National Champs, I think Miami were the true champs that year and I wasn't going to sit around at halftime to celebrate #2. Just kidding. After being thoroughly educated about Steve Emtman's greatness throughout the tailgates, I now understand that UW would've rolled the U; but halftime was my opportunity to check out the Zone and I wasn't going to miss it. The Zone is an area behind the end zone where you can drink beer during Husky games. In the week leading up to the game, I saw tweet after tweet from the Husky faithful that the Zone should be closed for this game, as we couldn't take a chance that fans wouldn't be back in their seats for the 3rd quarter of the "biggest game in 15 years." Ha! With a 23-0 lead in hand, the Zone was packed to the brim and many Husky fans were already sharing celebratory barks.
As we walked back to our seats for the third quarter, I realized something - I was drunk. Quite drunk. It was only then that I realized you don't see very much Bud Light on Husky gamedays. Beer is not just a beverage in the PNW, its a masterpiece, and on days as important as this, you don't drink just any beer. From the boats to the buses to the woodchipped knoll, I was graciously handed good beer after great beer, IPAs and Pale Ales, Bale Breaker and Rainier. These beers are incredibly delicious (seriously, Bale Breaker Topcutter IPA is as good as it gets), but these beers pack a serious punch that sneaks up on you a few drives into the game and if it weren't for the voluminous barking ringing in my ears, I may have been interested in using the third quarter for a quick nap. After all, Mrs. Saturday and I had a long drive ahead to Pullman in the morning.
When Washington went on a long, methodical drive to close out the 3rd quarter and eat up a good chunk of the 4th, the look of the season ticket holders surrounding us was pure astonishment. When you've waited 15 years for a game of this magnitude, you just hope your team shows up, but the way the Huskies were just mauling the Cardinal and their Heisman hopeful left fans throughout the stadium in joyful disbelief. I had been high-fiving with the fan next to me at each Husky score (because remember, I hate Kevin Hogan), but when I turned to him after the last Husky touchdown, his hands were not up in the air; he was not cheering or barking; all he could do was shrug and shake his head. Grinning from ear to ear, what he and countless other Husky fans had been waiting for for 15 years finally happened, the Dawgs were back.
