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By: Malamute, Updated 15 February 2004
The fact that the UW has lost the last six of its last seven games to the Bruins should be more than irritating to UW fans For one, I’m more than irritated. Properly enraged, I posted the following on an Internet message board the other day. ”Am I the only one hopped up about this series? Do I have to do all the cheerleading around here? What happened to intensity, focus and kicking butt? Remember (Torchy) Torrance's fiery pre-game speech at that UCLA game?” Well, I got carried away with that post. I admit that. Not surprisingly, no one responded. In his memoirs ("Torchy!"), Torrance recounts that 1955 game with the Bruins, “At practice in the Coliseum on Friday afternoon before the game, John (Cherberg) came up to me and said if I wouldn’t mind he would turn the boys over to me for a few minutes before they went on the field the next day to see if I could whip up a little enthusiasm…After the warm-up exercises, the team came back to the locker room, the coaches left and I gave what you might call a Knute Rockny speech. UCLA was a heavy favorite, but I told the boys ‘the Bruins put their pants on the same way you do, so if you play with pride and to the best of your ability, you can win the game!’” Washington held a 17-14 lead with a minute left. Stalled on their own ten-yard line, the Huskies took a safety to get a free kick, narrowing their lead to 17-16. After a solid run back, Jim Decker kicked a long field goal to win the game for the Bruins, 19-17. Once again, I broached the subject of the bitterness of the rivalry on an Internet message board by listing a series of incidents occurring during this series. I received back a variety of opinions and anecdotes this time One poster mentioned the infamous Z streak that Tommy Prothro used against Jim Owens during a game in the sixties. Another poster wrote about that play, “At the time it was not an illegal play, but the rule was changed following the season and it is no longer allowed. It was a night game in LA and the receiver did a great job of hiding on the sidelines. I remember watching Owens and Bruce King go over that play on the grainy black and white film and Jim barely containing himself.” Prothro, who coached UCLA from 1965 through 1970, was a world class bridge player and chess aficionado who stayed awake at night dreaming up trick plays. He replaced George Allen as the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 1971. In the midst of the racial unrest at the UW in 1969, UCLA beat Washington at the Coliseum, 57-14—kind of like the Cal game this year. Jim Owens got even the next year, beating UCLA, 61-20. One fan wrote about that payback, “I remember that day in 1970 like it was yesterday. Robb Weller leading the cheers of "we want a 100" and Prothro throwing his hat in the air. It was bitchin'. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.” An email from Fred reminds us that UCLA almost derailed the Rose Bowl team of 1963, 14-0, in a "late season meltdown in LA." It was the only conference game in the AAWU that the Huskies lost that season. Fred says that the Z-streak game occurred in 1965, during a game in Los Angeles that the Huskies lost, 28-24. He reminds us that in 1966, the Huskies upset number-two UCLA in the rain and mud, 16-3. In an otherwise lifeless game, the game's big play involved an interception of QB Gary Beban on an out-pattern. Some fans don’t think much of this biter rivalry. . Another fan posted, “If it's such a dirty rivalry why did the Husky band combine with the UCLA band to mock USC back in '99? It's more a good even competition than a bitter rivalry. Until recently we both knew who the real enemy was..and is.” That post blew my mind and I responded angrily. “…To ignore the bitterness of the rivalry means that one of them is going to get his butt kicked. For God's sake, we need some emotion in that game. And if our bandspeople are going to hold hands with Bruins' bandspeople to mock USC, then forget it. Our band needs to mock UCLA's band. It's a lost cause, otherwise. Somebody needs to get mad as hell in this game and win one for the Dub. Reggie (Williams) and Tank (Johnson) were sure mad as hornets during the last hand holding--that serene, lady-like, limp-wristed waltz with the Baby Blue." Okay, so I overreacted; my apologies to that poster. Here are a few incidents in the series, which occurred both on and off the field of play.
The list of bristling incidents goes on and on, and forever will. "Jeez." Over a period of years, the Huskies and Bruins have battled for the number two spot in the conference behind USC. In recent years, thanks in part to the sanctions levied against Washington in 1993, the Bruins have dominated the Huskies on the field of play. It's time for the Dawgs to take this series more seriously. I am. -------------------------- Washington is 28-34-2 in the series, which began in 1932. The average score is UCLA 21, Washington 19. Washington has a winning record against every team in the Pac-10, except USC and UCLA. Riichard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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At
Evergreen last summer, a nonchalant Khalif Barnes said they
were going to beat the “powder blue” when they played them during the season. Bob Condotta, who
was interviewing Barnes at the time, is my witness. Condotta (left) was altogether
flummoxed, both by the torment showing on my face and the quavering of my voice,
as I asked Khalif about the UCLA game. I think Barnes may have been
confused as well, since my question came out of left field, being that there
were plenty of other games to worry about.