A collection of Apple Cup ramblings

By Jim Moore

Every week, Brady Henderson, my 25-year-old boss and editor at 710Sports.com, asks me what I’m planning to write about, and every week I tell him the same thing: “Uh, geez, Brady, I don’t know.”

I got the question from him Tuesday night and after thinking I’d tell him “I don’t know” again, I changed course and told him that I’d write about the top 10 reasons why the Cougars will win the Apple Cup and the top 10 reasons why the Huskies will win the Apple Cup.

He seemed to like the idea, but Brady’s such a nice kid that he approves of every column topic no matter what it is. If I told him that I approved of the Rich Rodriguez hiring by Arizona because he’s got a hot wife and wanted to write about that, Brady would have nodded his head and said: “OK, Jim, sounds good” even if he thought it was a completely idiotic topic.

But here’s the thing — I was thinking about it on the way home, and I’ve changed my mind. I can come up with 10 reasons why the Cougars will win the Apple Cup, but I don’t want to come up with 10 reasons for the Huskies, mainly because I can’t think of that many. Plus I don’t want them to win.

Besides, that defense of theirs shoots down any reason you can come up with for why they’ll win the game.

So in place of the proposed top-10 column, I’ve got some Apple Cup ramblings instead — a collection of random thoughts about the game and other stuff that may be really interesting or completely impertinent.

The Go 2 Guy thinks Washington’s defense will have no answer for speedy running back Rickey Galvin. (AP)

• In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I know I should give thanks to family members and my dog, but this year I give thanks to Nick Holt because his defense will allow the Cougs to beat the Huskies. Did you see those stats in Bob Condotta’s Seattle Times story this week?

The UW defense is giving up 430 yards a game, third-worst in school history. It is also allowing 34.5 points a game, just four less than the winless 2008 team. I’ll admit that my Cougs aren’t that great of a team, but we’ve got enough offensive weapons to shred that defense like everyone else has.

• 1975 Apple Cup: Don James admitted the other day that the Cougars should have won this game by a few touchdowns. We lost 21-20. It was James’ first Apple Cup. We led 20-7 and were driving for another touchdown when a pass was intercepted and returned for a TD by Al Burleson. Then Warren Moon found Spider Gaines off of a fluke deflection on a long TD pass that beat us.

I was drenched in the east end zone and completely sober while a couple of my Coug buddies, Robert Landick and Chris Perry, were hammered and laughing at what had just happened. Distraught, I left Husky Stadium, bought a Cougar pennant, went home, curled up in bed and fell asleep, missing my girlfriend’s sister’s wedding that night. Because of that, the girlfriend turned into an ex-girlfriend the next day. She asked me why I didn’t make it. I told her it was because I was so bummed out about the Apple Cup. She was in disbelief, and so was I — I couldn’t believe we blew that lead.

• Rickey Galvin will rush for more than 100 yards and be the star of the game. I say this for two reasons: Galvin is super-quick and nearly broke some long-gainers against Utah last week. He’s on the verge of a big game. Plus look at what happened to the Huskies last week — Oregon State entered the game having rushed for a total of 86 yards in its last three games. The Beavers were last in the nation in rushing. They ran for 145 yards against the Dawgs. (Thanks to Nick Daschel of Cougfan.com for these stats.)

• The temperature is expected to be in the high 40s with a 70 percent chance of rain. If it’s wet, who does it favor? Probably the Dawgs with Chris Polk. But don’t forget about Galvin.

• I might not be going to the game. Why? The tickets I had access to were $78, and I need six for me and my wife and my three kids and my daughter’s boyfriend. That’s 488 simoleons. Might just watch it on the flat screen instead.

My wife told me to go ahead and go and use my media credential, but I want to watch the game with the Go 2 Twins. That’s very important to me. I have been tucking them in for the past 300-some nights, counting it down, every single night, telling them it’s 250 days until we beat the Huskies, then 249, 248 and so on. Last night I tucked them in and told them it was two days until we beat the Huskies, tonight one day.

I have drilled this Coug thing into my 7-year-old kids for almost a year now, and I don’t want them to be disappointed. In their lifetimes, all they’ve associated the Cougs with is losing. They also think the Huskies are always better than the Cougs. I want to tuck them in Saturday night and say: “See, I told you! Today we beat the Huskies!” I don’t want to see disappointed faces in their bunk bed. I don’t want them to think that the Cougs are going to be losers forever. I need this Apple Cup win more than I’ve ever needed an Apple Cup win before, dammit!

• 1992 Apple Cup. Behind Drew Bledsoe and Phillip Bobo, we won the Snow Bowl at Martin Stadium. Quick story: The morning of the game, I went to Sea-Tac to sell my tickets to fans who were taking charter flights to Pullman. I had planned to go to a neighbor’s Apple Cup party to watch the game. But when I got to the airport, I heard that a seat was available on the plane, so I took it. I wasn’t prepared for the elements and I drank way too much 151 rum.

After the game, we were taken by bus to the Moscow-Pullman Airport. I was so lit that I couldn’t make it onto the plane. I ended up in a crumpled mess in a bathroom stall. A few hours later, I looked up to see a police officer looking down on me. I thought I was headed to the Pullman Police Department to be booked for public drunkenness or something else. Instead, he told me there was a room available at the Quality Inn if I wanted it. He loaded me into his car and took me to the motel. I didn’t make it home until Sunday night after taking a bus to Lewiston to fly out because the weather was too crummy in Pullman.

My wife was none too pleased. I remember sleeping in the extra bedroom Sunday night. I also remember how terrible I felt the next night in Sacramento when the Sonics played the Kings at ARCO Arena. I remember telling myself I’d never drink that much again and recall my wife saying: “I’m so sick of you and your (bleepin’) Cougars.” The 1992 Apple Cup … a memorable one to be sure.

• Do I hope Paul Wulff keeps his job? Yes. Do I think he will? No. I have a feeling that Bill Moos will make a change after the Apple Cup, even if we win. I think the WSU athletic director wants to make a big splash with a new hire. And I’m guessing it will be Mike Leach.

• I’m looking forward to watching Marquess Wilson catch 10 passes for 200 yards and three TDs. Wilson enters the game with 75 catches for 1,280 yards, both single-season receiving records at Washington State. He’s the fourth-leading receiver in the country and may be No. 1 after the Apple Cup.

• Prediction: Washington State 38, Washington 35.

Jim Moore also writes for his website, jimmoorethego2guy.com. In his latest post, the Go 2 Guy wonders how former Cougs Johnny Nansen and Dick Baird could turn into Huskies. And he also takes a couple of justified shots at Bishop Sankey, who verbally committed to WSU and ended up at Washington. Follow Jim on Twitter @cougsgo and email him at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com.

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