Regroup and Reload, or Ready, Fire, Aim.

This is Officer Lee Groinman, That’s Right, Washington’s Most Bamboozled Cop…

Can one bamboozle oneself? It appears so. Washington football at Stanford, as Butch and Sundance once said; “Who are those guys?” That wasn’t the same Washington football team that I thought I knew. It was however the same ol’ Stanford bunch, the same bunch I felt the UW would match up with better than before. But now I’m feelin’ a whole lot more like I do now than I did before…

Bamboozling.

Good Dawg Almighty, it pains me to no end to write this…

But I’m told this is good therapy for me, all this writing, all that anger-management stuff…

Dr. Janey, my ol’ red-haired therapist comes to mind. I wonder how that babe is doing right about now.

But how I do digress…

Oh sure, I figured more than sixty points would be scored, but not by the one team. I thought the UW would be more battle-tested this time around, I figured we’d match up better with a more traditional team, was looking forward to a Nebraska style rematch, no pass-slappy team, this Stanford crew. I thought it’d be a shoot-out, maybe come down to the last possession, maybe an Erik Folk field goal. Once again, doin’ my own thinkin’…

Speakin’ of kicker Erik Folk, Bless His Heart, nothin’ good ever comes out of hitting the upright. Then Keith Price throws a pick-six, in essence what could be a 17 point swing, in the last few minutes of the first half, followed by a three and out on the Dawg’s first possession in the third quarter. Then another Stanford touchdown, repeat.

The wheels didn’t just fall off, they were vaporized…

I’ve always felt that hitting the upright should be worth about 4 points, it’s so damn hard to do, the cross bar? Maybe 2…

Yup, hitting the upright, it’s kinda’ like the ultimate omen from the area code Hades…

Then that Dawg defense. Lord have mercy. They didn’t give up as many third and longs like in prior games, they didn’t have to, second, or third and short was sufficient. Well, we didn’t have to bring down a punt returner, and the CB’s could stay in their cushion all night long…

When this team collectively decides to lay an egg, there’s just no stoppin’ ‘em. Truly a sight to behold…

Many folks want to have Defensive Coordinator Nick Holt’s services to be vaporized. Maybe Nick too. I wonder about that. I’m perplexed by our Bigs up front being pushed around. I’m sickened when I see Randy Hart on the Stanford sideline, coaching the Stanford Big Uglies. Randy Hart coaching the Stanford Big Uglies? That just doesn’t set right, should be darn near illegal. But the game had passed Randy Hart by when he was here at Washington, but there ya’ go.

This defense is bamboozling. I thought the Husky defensive line would be nasty and one of the top lines in the conference, if not the entire country. If both Semisi Tokolahi and Alameda Ta’amu are non-factors in a game, that becomes a huge factor. How much did Ta’amu’s game against Stanford cost him? Redemption time Alameda. The NFL is watching…

The defensive line failing to adjust to Stanford’s offensive line going unbalanced is akin to the definition of insanity…

I would have liked to see how Stanford would adjust to our adjustment, at least once…

Something is very wrong here folks. How big is the loss of Hau’oli Jamora? One guy? Linebackers should not be an area of need in year three of a coaching regime. Never.

Is Jim Lambright available? Jim Mora Jr.? Hey Randy Hart, want to be a coordinator? Dick Baird? Baird was a linebacker coach and the recruiting coordinator. Old Dawgs and new tricks?

Those guys in the line above were downright defensive…We seem to want to be an old-school smash mouth defensive team in theory only. Maybe you can call it the bend-but-don’t-break smash-mouth football…

Coach Sark has his 24 hour rule for the team. They have 24 hours to celebrate or recover from a game, then it’s time to move along. I’ll do about 96 hours after a win, and then maybe about 5 and a half after a loss. Back in the day a loss could take me most of the week to shake. I think 24 hours is good, they have to play the game, we just have to endure the pain.

I get the vibe that this team isn’t mentally tough enough, or they don’t have the stones yet to win a big game on the road, a neutral site, maybe. The comfort zone is still at Husky Stadium. Where all things are possible…

“Third Down!” Says the PA guy, some yell and stomp, others groan and cover their eyes…

So it’s now time to kick it back up a notch. Freakin’ Arizona, a revised Arizona team for crapes sakes…maybe another miraculous shoe interception, or shoe intervention…

But what did we learn from the Stanford debacle? Are we soft; are we stupid, or just unlucky? Pun intended. Or all the above, over-matched? We’ll see no more Luck anyway.

One thing I do know, my winning streak at the gaming houses is intact. My bookie Timmy in Reno rings me up at 4:58 pm, two minutes before kick-off.

“I didn’t get the bets placed, Father-in-law died.”

A guy dies; the Huskies get blown out, and I save some big bucks…

What a day, not sure how that one will settle. Timmy sends me a phone text in the morning.

“U B lucky.”

Nick Holt not B lucky. If the Husky D missed an assignment or was in the wrong gap, they paid, and paid all night. No mistake goes unpunished with these guys. Maybe that should be the new team motto.

“No Mistake Left Unpunished.” Or for the children in the audience.

“No Mistake Left Behind.”

Holt says that “We’ll learn from this and get better.” No time like the present there Nick. I hate to see Holt take all the heat. We should save some for the position coaches, don’t ya’ think? Johnny Nansen, Defensive line coach, tell me I didn’t really see Alameda Ta’amu knocked on his butt. Stanford’s OL moved these guys around like heavy pieces of furniture wearing Super Sliders, hardwood floors or turf, no matter. That must be on Ivan Lewis then, strength coach. Mike Cox, line-backers coach, why don’t we have the bodies? Why is Cort Dennison our best backer after these last three years with you here as the man?

These are the questions that must be answered before Saturday night, and not in some post game parkin’ lot.

Sark has called for Husky fans to be ‘blacked out’, as in wearin’ black to match the teams black uni’s for the night game. Many Husky fans can’t even find their purple. Maybe black is easier to do, it goes with so many things. But hey, I can do this Halloween game as Johnny Cash…

Maybe the entry song will be “A Boy Named Sue.”

I saw plenty of omens for a stinker of a game against Stanford. A missed exit on the freeway, an access code denied, a crashed computer at work, an unplanned fire-alarm. A head-cold coming on, a touch of flu?

Was the Stanford game an omen of Husky football to come?

Let’s just get ahold of ourselves here Dawg fans, let’s just get a grip.

We’ll be fine…

Saturday night versus Arizona, 7:30 pm, a real night game, Halloween weekend, another pass-slappy team, Arizona rejuvenated with the firing of psycho Stoops. Nick Foles throwing 80 times all over the Husky secondary. Scary stuff there folks. Alfred Hitchcock would be proud.

They ain’t Stanford, but can we keep pace? Look for a hundred points to be scored in this game, maybe before half-time. Will the game be over before sun up?

Hope so, I gotta get to work on Sunday…and you know what the sun does to Vampires and Defensive Coordinators on a hot seat…

GO DAWGS! A win in a squeaker, credit the home field.

GRUMBLIGS; In the; ‘it ain’t over department.’ We probably should have known that Arizona would become a must win game. A few weeks ago it looked like a gimme. No gimme’s in the Pac 12, minus Colorado and Utah, been there and done that. The timing just bites for this Arizona squad, we’ve seen the pass-slappy teams before, not sure if that’ll help. I’m thinkin’ that all bets are off for this game. Another gut wrencher on Saturday night in Husky Stadium. Overtime a real possibility. Eastern Washington Husky fans getting home around noon Sunday…

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