Purple Ire
Tyler Iverson, 10 September 2008

I didn't go. Not because I didn't want to, nor because I 'knew' they were going to lose, but because I didn't have any money. Purple blood runs throughout me. For whatever reason, I'm a Husky. You can't explain it and I don't spend time contemplating it. Money is never an excuse not to watch the Dawgs play in my mind. When worse comes to worse, I will get a friend or someone to tag along to the game with and make it work... but even now I feel a lack of inspiration to try.

Being originally scheduled to work last Saturday from 1PM to 10PM, I knew I was going to miss the game. For some reason -- maybe that resiliency that so many of us Dawg fans have acquired over the past 6 or so years -- I was able to at least watch the game on television. That meant I was going to work from 6PM to 3AM in the morning but that had little importance. This was the game, I was certain. I wanted to at least watch the Huskies turn it all around even if it was on television.

As Jake Locker, the quote on quote "Savior" of our program faltered over the end stripe, it had happened. All that frustration, pain, and anger was let loose, and my father and I celebrated as if the Dawgs were Rose Bowl bound. Locker showed a Stanford-Tuiasosoppo-esq on the drive which may have caused the fallacy. It felt like maybe, just maybe, that this was it. The ball had finally rolled our way.

Err, in this case it had been thrown high "into the air". Right as the yellow laundry hit the Husky Stadium turf in front of my eyes on the big screen, an uncontrollable outburst came over me. I'm never one to curse outrageously, let alone in front of any of my family members, but that unholy piece of cloth was like a bad nightmare I had seen so many times before.

In the past it had been in the form of poor defense. Maybe a turnover, or a stagnant offense. Mark it down as another way the Huskies have lost a game in the Tyrone era. Fair or not, it's in the record book, folks, and that's all that matters when the day ends. Pointing fingers is surely the easy thing to do but when it comes down to this game, there was no clear person or people to point out.

Coach Tyrone Willingham is a man of "impeccable integrity". That was displayed during the seemingly serious Husky injury suffered on Saturday. He was right there in the midst of panic that a football injury sometimes brings. An individual you would want your son or even daughter to look up too and gain from. However, just like in past instances... he hasn't been an exceptional game-day football coach. Not a program savior. Not what UW so desperately needs.

Everybody needs change as times goes forward... the 2003 Neuheisel debacle; the UW Athletic Department appeared to live up to its name of probation nation. It's lost that title clearly but all it has now is former glory to live on and a coach of superior character.

Just as badly as our country needs a change overall, this prestigious university and once prized football program needs a change in tide. To revive that irreplaceable sense of what being a Washington Husky meant, that generations of Washingtonians have come to expect.