Continuing on with the final few Pac-10 Roundtable discussions, today’s focus is Washington State!

TwistNHook: Does anybody know anything about Washington State?  Anybody?

YellowFever: I’m really not sure what to say about Washington State.  Their coach is Bill Doba, I know that much.  They’re not very good, I know that much too.  But I don’t know a single starter, how they did last year, and whether they have anyone significant coming in.  I’m sure I could look, but I feel like the fact that I have no idea about this team at all is probably a decent sign not to expect much from them.  And I don’t.

TwistNHook: I’ll take that as a No!  I guess if Doba gets fat (or is he already fat, I dunno), he could be called Doba The Hut.  That’s all I got.

I remember last year I went to go see them play Cal in the Stadium on the big screen.  Nate was ill and Cal won 21-3.  D was staunch.  So, that’s cool.  The year before, they scored like 40+ on us, but Ayoob miraculously led us to victory.

I mean this is a team that has to wear the shame of having Ayoob lead his team to a last minute, exciting victory against them.  Shouldn’t they get NCAA penalties for that?  Southern Methodist style?

HydroTech: I know that Washington St. is near the Washington/Idaho border! 

And now that they no longer have wide receiver, Jason Hill, they might have some offensive problems.  Remember Jason Hill?  In 2005 that dude burned us for like 3 touchdowns.  WSU QB Alex Brink was just throwing up deep bombs to Hill like this was EA Sport’s NCAA Football on the Playstation.  It’s unstoppable in the game and was unstoppable in real life - at least when we played them in 2005.  I also remember that Jason Hill got away with an offensive pass interference call on Tim Mixon.  Mixon was about to catch a poorly thrown deep ball along the left sideline when Hill blatantly pushed Mixon in the back as Mixon jumped into the air.  Mixon was only able to deflect the pass and then Hill caught it on the bobble for a touchdown.  I don’t like Jason Hill and now he plays on the 49ers which makes me even more mad. 

TwistNHook: Damnit, Hydro, stop knowing stuff about Wazzu!  You are making the rest of us look bad.

HydroTech: Did you know that in 2005, that WSU started off the season 3-0 by destroying the powerhouse out of conference opponents of Idaho, Nevada, and Grambling St.?  Then they proceeded to lose 7 straight games afterwards. 

Just a random fact that I know. 

Alright, I’m really looking forward to Washington St. @ Wisconsin this season.  I actually think WSU is going to put on a pretty good show.  I’m not completely sold on Wisconsin and I think WSU is a little underrated although somewhat inconsistent.  I thinking the Cougs might give the Badger fans a little bit more of a game then they really bargained for. 

YellowFever: Well, like I’ve said before, I’ve got conference pride.  So I’m going to be pulling for the Cougars to put up a good show against the Badgers.  I don’t have much faith in them actually winning (though I have a hard time understanding why everyone thinks Wisconsin will be so good, P.J. Hill aside), but I’m all for anything that makes the Pac-10, and Cal by extension, look good. 

But I don’t see them doing much at all.  They’ll beat Stanford, and they might put up a fight against Washington in their rivalry game, but are they a factor in the Pac-10?  No.

HydroTech: I really don’t see Washington State being that much of a factor in the Pac-10 race this season too.  I think they’re good enough to knock off a few middle of the road teams, but also bad enough to lose to all the good teams.  I have them slated in at #6. 

Here’s a fun fact: WSU’s starting quarterback Alex Brink is from Eugene, Oregon. 

And on a completely unrelated note, ESPN’s College Football Live says that although Oregon State wide receiver Sammie Straughter returned to practice with the team, head coach Mike Riley does not expect Straughter to play in ANY games this upcoming season.  What the heck is that about? 

The Ballots

In the order of: HydroTech, Ragnarok, TwistNHook, Yellow Fever
1.
2.
3.  OSU,  UCLA, OSU, UO
4.  UCLA, OSU, WSU, UCLA
5.  OU,  ASU, UCLA, ASU
6.  WSU, OU,  OU, UW
7.  ASU, UA,  UA, OSU
8.  AU,  WSU, ASU, AU
9.  UW,  UW, UW, WSU
10.  SU, SU,  SU, SU

Continuing on with the Pac-10 roundtable discussions, today’s focus is Washington!

HydroTech: I would just like to start off this roundtable discussion with a sympathetic shoutout to the Huskies for playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation.  They play 13 regular season games!  Of which they are @ Syracuse, then playing Boise St., scared-of-Cal Ohio St., and @ Hawaii.  This tough scheduling really sucks for Ty Willingham though.  I think he’s slowly turning things around up there, but this next year will surely bring him a lot of criticism even though he had nothing to do with the schedule. 

YellowFever: If memory serves me correctly, they weren’t entirely horrible last year, which is a start.  But Tyrone Willingham is a tough coach to figure out.  He was the last coach to do anything at Stanford (unless you’re pining for Buddy Teevens in the wake of the Walt Harris era), and did a good job recruiting there even in the face of the rigorous academic standards that Jim Harbaugh has such a love/hate relationship with.  But then after a good start to his first year at Notre Dame mostly through smoke and mirrors, the team was exposed for it’s all defense/special teams and no offense constitution.  As a matter of fact, I recall talking to a high school friend of mine at Notre Dame on the eve of the first Stanford/Notre Dame game after Willingham’s move, and he was saying that there were plans for signs that said, "We stole your coach.  Next, we take your women."  Apparently they’ve never seen any Stanford women.

TwistNHook: Not only do they have a tough sked, but they apparently are starting a new QB.  A 19 year old redshirt freshman.  Tough schedule+brand new QB=rough year.

But then again, last year they were having a rough year and were starting their backup QB and almost defeated us last year in an instant classic.  So, who knows?

HydroTech: Cal actually recruited Washington’s starting quarterback, Jake Locker.  He’s supposedly an extremely mobile quarterback.  As in the Micheal Vick type (without all the legal troubles) as opposed to elusive quarterbacks that just move around within the pocket.  If he’s just as good of a passer as Vick, we shouldn’t be too concerned.  Vick was never that great of a passer. 

Mobile QBs just annoy me though.  I remember that Stanback would just run around back and forth behind the LOS like this was a video game.  None of our linemen could catch him, and our DBs were forced to cover the receivers for minutes at a time.  Ridiculous. 

YellowFever: The thing about being a mobile quarterback in college is that it really does open everything else up.  It’s hard to remember this now, but Vick set a record for passer rating as a redshirt freshman in 1999 in his first year starting at Virginia Tech.  It’s so much harder to account for mobile quarterbacks in college because teams just don’t have the athleticism across to board to deal with it, so having a mobile guy provides a tremendous advantage.  Of course, this isn’t to predict that Locker is going to have the same level of success that Vick did in his first year, but their team could be much better than people expect because of his presence.  Unfortunately, because of their schedule, it may not look that way at first glance.

TwistNHook: In speaking with a friend of mine yesterday about Locker, he said the hype for Locker reminded him of the hype for Kyle "Jesus In Cleats" Boller. Boller’s first year at Cal was also my first year at Cal.  So, I remember it quite clearly, too.  He was viewed as the saviour.  Was so good that Ken Dorsey, who went to my rival high school, had decided to go to Miami instead of try to beat out Boller.  Good call for Dorsey, there.  Won a national championship instead of enduring the Holmoecaust.

But I remember how Boller played that first year.  Even with the "Hit Squad" behind him (and I feel that by then the squad had lost much of its hit-ness), we were not very successful.  Wasn’t our only offense that year Deltha returning kicks?  A proto-DeSean, if you will.

So, again, I reiterate that a tough schedule with a brand new QB could lead to disaster for UDub.  Perhaps Locker will be EPICALLY better than Boller.  And Lord knows, it is scientific fact that Willingham is a better coach than Holmoe.  Nonetheless, could be a rough year for the Huskies.

HydroTech: Speaking of Boller, he originally wanted to go to UCLA but UCLA instead offered J.P. Losman.  Both Boller and Losman currently play in the NFL.  Boller was drafted 19th in 2003 and Losman was drafted 22nd in 2004.  I’m inclined to say that Boller got the better end of the deal but then again he’s been stuck on a pretty crappy Baltimore Ravens offense whereas Losman has had more of a chance with the Buffalo Bills offense. 

YellowFever: In other Tedford-alum news, I was happy to see Joey Harrington do well.  I don’t expect them to win their division, or even make the playoffs, but just like my Pac-10 pride, it’d be nice to see a few more Tedford quarterbacks do well in the NFL so Tedford doesn’t get a bad rap.  Of course, how his quarterbacks do in the NFL shouldn’t be held against him since it’s not like he’s the one coaching at that level, but I suppose it’s no different than Steve Spurrier getting dissed for his Gator wide receivers’ production at the next level.

Anyway, back to Washington.  I’ve got them surprising the Pac-10 this year, because hey, why not.  Tyrone Willingham does come through every few years or so, and if this Jake Locker is as good as advertised, the Huskies seem like as good a trendy upstart pick as any.

The Ballots

In the order of: HydroTech, Ragnarok, TwistNHook, Yellow Fever
1.
2.
3.  OSU, UCLA, OSU, UO
4.  UCLA, OSU, ___, UCLA
5.  OU,  ASU, UCLA, ASU
6.  __, OU, OU, UW
7.  ASU, UA, UA, OSU
8.  AU, ___, ASU, AU
9.  UW, UW, UW, ___
10.  SU, SU, SU, SU

#8 - Washington State
#7 - Oregon State
#6 - USC
#5 - Arizona
#4 - Arizona State
#3 - UCLA
#2 - Oregon

#1 - Washington

Well, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, Washington is my top dog.  This is my favorite Pac-10 roadie, and I get to make it again this November.  It’s a great school with a great football tradition, and a nice stadium in a beautiful location.  Plus, it’s located in Seattle, which is my second favorite West Coast city, trailing only San Francisco.

Seattle’s got a well-deserved reputation for rain, as does the entire Pacific Northwest.  I’ve been pretty lucky, as it’s hardly rained at all when I’ve visited, and when it has rained, it’s been of the lighter, less obnoxious variety.  It’s not generally the type of rain that will ruin a vacation, but I’ll admit that if I lived there, it’d get pretty old after a few months.  Also, while it will certainly get cold that far north, the ocean water tends to moderate temperatures, so you’ll never see the kind of chill that will make a trip to Washington State really miserable.  So when I go this November, I’ll be prepared for adverse weather, but I’m not really expecting anything too terrible.

When I travel to Seattle, I’ll be flying.  Sea-Tac airport is a major west coast hub, so you can get flights up the coast for pretty cheap (as long as you book in advance), so the argument for driving really only makes sense if you’ve got a bunch of people and no cash (i.e. college students).  It’s a long drive, and while it’s a nice one, you’re basically resigning yourself to two full days of driving, probably about 12 hours each day.  Not too bad if you’ve got several friends to split driving duties with, and there’s definitely stuff to see along the way, but it means mostly missing out on touring Seattle, and that’s the part about this road trip that makes it, in my mind, #1.

Lots to do in Seattle.  Of course, there’s the world famous Space Needle, a visit that you’ve pretty much gotta do once.  Yes, the restaurant at the top overprices mediocre food, but you’re pretty much paying for the view, and with that in mind, it’s totally worth it.  Plus, since the restaurant portion of the building rotates, you get to see the entire panoramic view during the course of your meal.

Just try leaving Seattle without something with a picture of the Space Needle on it.  Just you try it!

In other sights, catching a fish at the Pike Place Market is definitely worth doing, and while I haven’t been to the Paul Allen-funded Experience Music Project, seeing as I’m a fan of both Jimi Hendrix and Frank Gehry, it’s near the top of the to-see list.  Fans of both aerospace and coffee can find things to check out, and if you want to double up your sports weekend, both the Mariners and the Seahawks have fancy new digs.  I haven’t visited them yet, but I have been to the old Kingdome, and all I can say is that I"m sorry I missed seeing it get imploded.  Oh, and also, there IS still a basketball team in Seattle, but for a limited time only!  I expect the Supersonics will be playing in Oklahoma City within a couple years, taking Kevin Durant and the hobbit with them.  Not sure if this is a bad thing.

UW’s Husky Stadium is quite picturesque.  Situated right on the water, you can literally sail right to the football game.  (Well, other people can.  You can’t, because you didn’t bring a sailboat with you.  Or did you?…hmmm, that could make an interesting road trip.  Something to remember when I’m rich.)  Also, like the old Stanford Stadium, the football field is situated on the infield of an athletic track, which does push the fan seating back away from the field.  Given this, it’s rather incredible just how loud this stadium can get.  I guess that’s what decades of football success will do to your fan base.

What a fabulous location for a football stadium.  One of my favorites.

However, my favorite tidbit regarding the stadium concerns the giant video screen, the Huskytron.  For whatever reason (perhaps it was the angle of my seats, but I doubt it), all the purples in the uniforms came out tinted to navy blue.  Not really a problem, but given the school’s colors, I find it delightfully ironic that the Huskytron seems incapable of displaying the color purple.  Don’t they have people to check these things?

Reasons to visit the Pacific Northwest:
- College football AND a tour of Seattle in one weekend — what a deal!
- Get to tell all your friends about how cool the Space Needle is.
- After 7 years of being humbled by Stanford, beating Ty Willingham at anything is incredibly satisfying.

Reasons to stay home:
- You hate rain in all its forms.
- You’re broke and you don’t have a car.
- An irrational fear of Starbucks.
- An entirely rational fear of Microsoft.
- Grunge is dead, man.  Get over it.

Anyway, this is my favorite Pac-10 road trip.  What’s yours?  They’re all worth doing at least once, so if you haven’t visited them all, I suggest clearing a few weekends and really seeing some of this great country.  Once you’ve mastered the Pac-10 roadie, you can move on to out-of-conference trips, which is where all of my really good stories took place.