GAME DAILY The greatest setting in college football turns 100
‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’ By Nick Mendro The Daily Just like anyone who has celebrated a birthday in 2020, Husky Stadium — otherwise known as Alaska Airlines Arena — won’t get much fanfare this fall, even on its 100th birthday celebration. “Sure, we were all very much looking forward to the centennial,” UW associate athletics director (and former reporter at The Daily) Chip Lydum said. “But absence makes the heart grow fonder. [The stadium] has kind of a depth and a legacy that it’s going to last. It’s not just Johnny-comelately or flavor of the month. It’s very much steeped in a history that’s deeper.” Much of the lore of Husky Stadium, for both its own
members and those of opposing teams, stems from its aesthetic appeal. Rising majestically from the shores of Lake Washington, the stadium stands as unerasably as the Cascade Mountains, a sturdy final destination at the bottom of the gentle stroll through the downhill sprawl of UW campus buildings on brisk Saturday evenings. “It’s so unique, right on the water, with this big canyon of a roof,” UW director of community and external relations Damon Huard said. “Every time you drive over 520, you see the jaws. It’s just a part of the fabric of this community.” Unlike every other autumn of the past century, though, the traffic over Highway 520 on Saturdays for the past two
months has been eerily scarce. Even Husky Stadium — immune to the turbulence of a partial building collapse, a world war, and former President Warren G. Harding’s final public speech before his death
just days later — couldn’t evade the suffocating grasp of the coronavirus pandemic. Sure, leaves still blanket the blacktop of the Burke-Gilman trail just a few hundred feet from the doors of the open-air arena
“it’s about the band, the fans, tailgating, the entire experience that you don’t get in pro football. It doesn’t feel corporate.” - Damon Huard
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— a gateway usually blown open by a purple-and-gold tidal wave of sheer sonic volume after a weekend of tailgating. Continued on page 2
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B2 Friday, November 27, 2020 But now it’s November 2020, and the pent-up silence in the seats at Husky Stadium feels like it might finally break out into a tantrum. The suffocating hush hanging over the arena epitomizes the upheaval of COVID-19 in the greater Seattle area. Aside from one lone season in 2012, during which a $261 million renovation of new-andimproved press boxes, video screens, and audio quality relocated the Huskies’ home games to CenturyLink Field, 2020 marks the first time in 100 years in which UW fans won’t flood the doors of Husky Stadium. Still, if there’s one thing the UW community can rely upon in the world’s eventual return to normalcy (if that ever truly takes place), it’s the reassuring silhouette of its high-rising football field, visible just above the fogline from across the lake, as reliable as the peak of Mount Rainier glistening behind it. In some regards, “the greatest setting in college football” stands as a monument to the resilience and industriousness of its student body. In the late 1910s, each member of the enrolled UW population agreed to add $4 to their tuition as a way to finance a stadium for the football program. Thus began the development of one of the most important sports landmarks in Seattle — a student-led enterprise erected over 50 years before the inception of the Seahawks or Mariners. Even throughout its construction, the student body played an important role in making the operation as smooth as possible. “During the construction,
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Washington State kicks off in the second half of Washington’s 31-13 win over Washington State in the Apple Cup at Husky Stadium on Nov. 29, 2019. students came down every day to pick the rocks off the property,” UW historian Dave Torrell said. “Everything that happened, up until they built the upper deck in the ‘80s, was basically financed by student fees.” In 1920, the initial studentproject was complete, and after a few 40,000 additional seats, a name change, and some 627 wins later, there it still stands — an homage to the millions of associated students and officials who’ve kept it alive and
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functioning for over 100 years. “The NFL is awesome, but the NFL is a business,” Huard, who played eight seasons in the NFL, said. “Husky Stadium — it’s about the band, the fans, tailgating, the entire experience that you don’t get in pro football. It doesn’t feel corporate. It feels like the pageantry, the pastime, the All-American. It’s what we love.” Perhaps more than anything, though, the arena is a reminder of regular life — of Jimi
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For the alumni, it’s a time machine in which memories are relived in the present — a sacred colosseum where nostalgia gets blitzed by the welcomed chaos of a well-timed pass rush or cheering from a hip-high child. For now, though, the celebration has been put on hold. The bleachers are empty. The silence is deafening. Saturdays blend into Sundays, which blend into Mondays. All that means, though, is that when fans do file through its gates once again, the atmosphere in one of Seattle’s most unflinching monuments will buzz with an electricity unparalleled even in the ranks of 100 years of the greatest setting in college football. “I think we are now discovering how valuable many things are in life — in particular Husky Stadium,” Lydum said. “The place is just magical. On many days, when games are getting played, I just look around and go, ‘How did I get a chance to be a part of this?’ There are just some things that are authentically Washington.” Reach writer Nick Mendro at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @m_mendro
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Hendrix’s “Purple Haze,” of Rick Steves singing “Bow Down to Washington,” of 70,000 screaming fans cheering on Husky football during the past 10 decades. “It’s humbling to think there’s been football played for that many years,” UW head coach Jimmy Lake said. “We definitely wish we had Husky nation there right behind us, but we know they’ll be watching at home on TV. Hopefully soon, once we get this thing under control, we’ll be able to flood that stadium with purple-and-gold fans.” For the players, it’s an unforgettable institution: a 120yard stretch of grass beneath towering bleachers that seem to eclipse even the Seattle sky itself, perennially darkened by the drizzle that comes with the final season of the year. ”When you run out the tunnel, with the big roof, it just feels so big and massive, like the fans are just on top of you,” Huard said. “I remember the first time running out of that tunnel, and I remember the last time going up the tunnel. Those are special memories.” For the students, it’s a place to forget about botched tests and the perplexing nature of the future — an atmosphere of shared emotion, where inhibition and vocal chords crumble beneath the weight of unabashed pep enthusiasm.
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1981 to 2020
Apple Cup dominance forges foundation of success for Husky football By Nick Mendro The Daily When former Washington head coach Don James first arrived in Seattle in December 1974, the Huskies had just defeated the Washington State Cougars 24-17, the first of what would become eight consecutive Apple Cup victories for the Huskies, tying their all-time rivalry record. James couldn’t have known he’d hoist the Apple Cup trophy for the next seven years, or just how deeply his 18 years as head coach would plant the seeds of success in the core of the Washington football program — but he sure knew what it would take to get there. “Don James had a special approach to what he was trying to accomplish,” former UW running back Joe Steele said. “Some guys look at games. Some want to have success in a season. James’ approach that we were taught pretty early is that it’s really about the development of a program.” Steele, who finished his collegiate career in 1979 as the UW’s all-time leading rusher, remembered his legendary coach addressing the team at the beginning of each season, circling the late-November matchup against the Cougars as a must-win for the program. And for eight straight years, from 1974 to 1981, that’s exactly what the Huskies did
— cementing a tradition of dominance in the Northwest over the UW’s cross-state rivals that has continued to drive student-athletes wearing the purple and gold for close to 50 years. “You win the northwest, and you’re gonna win the recruiting,” Steele said. “I think that people — young people and their parents — wanna look toward the program, the coaches, the stability of the situation. So the Apple Cup was really that one that was always circled at the beginning of the year. It’s a big deal. It really is.” For the Huskies, whose 74 Apple Cup victories dwarf the Cougars’ 32, winning the annual rivalry game is an expectation — one of those games where the fear of defeat far outweighs the joy of victory. But for the Cougars, a win in the Apple Cup creates a rare opportunity for relentless jeering — a century’s release of pent-up frustration and sheer wrath. “There’s some real hatred coming from the other direction,” former UW coach and WSU player Dick Baird said. “I just think as the Huskies, you have to have a mentality that, ‘We’re gonna take care of the Cougars when we get to ‘em.’ If you’re wearing anything that says Husky on it, you get abused. It’s a long drive over there and back, especially if you don’t win.”
Now, in 2020, the Huskies’ first-year head coach Jimmy Lake has the chance to take his team on the long drive over to the mountains in the hopes of replicating coach James’ epic feat from 1981. The Huskies have won their past seven games against the Cougars, a win-streak that began in 2013 during the final season under former UW head coach Steve Sarkisian and continued for six years under Chris Petersen. As the Huskies gun for their eighth-straight in 2020, they do so under the watchful eye of a large group of die-hard alumni — former players, coaches, and students alike. Beyond the game, the buzz from the UW community surrounding the rivalry — even with a vacant stadium during COVID-19 — epitomizes an intricate web of UW support that extends from past players to current students and beyond. And, as James made sure of back in 1974, much of the strength of those patented connections runs through a tradition of Apple Cup success, which has brought students and athletes to Montlake for decades. After migrating from Los Angeles to the rainy skies of Seattle, former UW quarterback Tim Cowan, who played for Don James from 1978 to 1982, remembers the brutal Apple Cup
battles as a microcosm of the UW family atmosphere. “I remember my freshman year at that Apple Cup, and I’m like, ‘This is as big of a rivalry as there is in the entire country,’” Cowan said. “I have two sons who both played football at UCLA, and it’s nothing like the Husky experience. It’s all
relationship-based, and that, I would tell you, is the difference between Washington and any other school in this conference.” Reach writer Nick Mendro at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @m_mendro
From The Daily Archives
CELEBRATE THE
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Greatest Apple Cup moments in UW history
1
Final: 5-5
The first Apple Cup is played between Washington and Washington State in Seattle, resulting in a 5-5 tie.
1960
Final: 8-7
Scoreless heading into the final period of play, the Huskies conceded a touchdown to the Cougars early in the fourth quarter. Washington marched back down the field on its next possession though, scoring a touchdown. Undaunted, legendary UW head coach Jim Owens went for the two-point conversion which the Huskies converted, winning 8-7 and sealing a Rose Bowl berth which ultimately led to the UW’s first national championship.
5 1981
Final: 16-0
1902
1900
3
2
Washington wins its first Apple Cup with a 16-0 win in Seattle, the first of 74 wins over rivals Washington State.
4
Final: 28-27
1975 One of the craziest games in Apple Cup history, the UW trailed WSU by 13 with three minutes to play and the Cougars in the red zone. However, an Al Burleson pick-six on the goal line and a Warren Moon prayer of a Hail Mary somehow found wide receiver Spider Gaines to secure the 28-27 UW victory.
Final: 23-10
With a Rose Bowl berth and the Pac-10 title on the line, the Huskies rushing attack ran over the Cougars, winning 23-10 and securing Washington its eighth consecutive Apple Cup win over Washington State. It’s the last time the Huskies won eight Apple Cups in a row.
6 2002
Final: 29-26
Three overtimes were needed to separate Washington and No. 3 Washington State as the Huskies came back from down 10 with four minutes to play to tie the game. A disputed back pass recovered by the UW ended the game at 29-26, breaking Wazzu hearts everywhere.
From The Daily Archives
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From The Daily Archives
Final: 28-15
2018 The Cougars entered the 2018 Apple Cup as the favorite for the first time in years, and expected to beat the Huskies with cult hero quarterback Gardner Minshew II. However, a snow storm and an elite Washington secondary killed the air raid and the Huskies ran out 28-15 winners to clinch a Pac-12 title berth.
Conor Courtney The Daily Brandon McKinney, Ben Burr-Kirven, and Byron Murphy Jr. celebrate Murphy’s interception in the final seconds of the first half.
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Virtual practices and online recruiting UW cheer adapts to COVID-19 circumstances By James Price The Daily Football in a pandemic was always going to be different. No fans were in the stands Saturday, and there was no tailgating or sailgating before the game. But fans weren’t the only thing noticeably absent Saturday when Washington kicked off its season against Oregon State: Head cheer coach Kenny Dow says the UW spirit team will not be attending any games for the foreseeable future . “All of our activation will be done virtually,” Dow said. “We currently won’t be performing at
any in-person events.” This news, while unfortunate for the spectators at home, is devastating for the athletes themselves, who had committed themselves to providing energy and entertainment for the fans on Montlake. Never did they realize, even upon the announcement of the initial nationwide lockdown last spring, that their next season could be stripped away too. In fact, given that their past season was essentially over by the time the 2020 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball tournament in Las Vegas was canceled, the initial
loss didn’t seem overwhelming at first. For current senior cheerleader Isabelle Miller, who had broken her hand just prior to the cancellation, the news initially even provided a hint of solace. “Part of me was immediately relieved in a sense, when the first announcement of an ‘early spring break’ came due to the first few cases of COVID,” Miller said. “It meant I would get a chance to heal my hand a bit more and hopefully perform [strongly] my senior year of coed tryouts.
File Photo The Washington Cheer Team runs out on the field before Washington’s game against North Dakota on Sept. 8, 2018.
“Little did I know, this lengthened spring break would end up with nearly my entire senior year of academics and cheer being online.” The current cheer seniors aren’t the only ones left disappointed. The past years’ seniors, while they may have been fortunate enough to participate in a near-entire season, still suffered some of the disappointment current cheerleaders are feeling, Dow explained. “The toughest part was not being able to celebrate them in person with our end-of-year banquet and with graduation,” Dow said. “I told them that we will get through this time together, and that we will do all we can to support them and make sure they have a successful spring term.” But the pandemic’s impact on the cheer team did not end there. Traditionally, the team recruits new talent by attending a variety of cheer and dance combines across the country, including both high school state and national championships from Washington to Florida. This year, those events haven’t been realistic or feasible. “Due to the pandemic, all of our recruiting has been done virtually by hosting info sessions via Zoom, and we will be hosting virtual clinics later this winter,” Dow said. Miller says the virtual recruiting process has made it difficult for the team to develop the bond and cohesion that they typically work so hard to establish, as well. “UW Spirit — while known
for being the group of energetic individuals on the sidelines and in the crowd for UW Athletics — is also known for our sense of family,” Miller said. “Each year brings a new group of talented and funny individuals, and it was challenging to begin the season having not met everyone in person.” And while the football team has been able to return to inperson practices, generating a sense of normalcy, the cheer team is still working in a strictly virtual manner. “We moved to virtual practices in May, where we spent a month doing team-building exercises within our program for the remainder of spring term,” Dow said. “With the new team, we have been doing virtual practices twice a week since the middle of August.” In all, while Dawgs fans who have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to once again marvel over the talents of the likes of Elijah Molden and Cade Otton, Husky football games will certainly feel different in the absence of our spirit squad. However, members of the cheer team have managed to take a positive outlook on the overwhelmingly negative situation that they are confronted with. “While I am saddened the pandemic has taken over like it has, it makes me look back and appreciate each and every moment I have gotten through cheer,” Miller said. Reach reporter James Price at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @_jamesprice_
‘There in spirit’
Husky Marching Band staying positive despite not playing in 2020 By Andy Yamashita The Daily Hayden Gizinski wasn’t particularly surprised when she heard the Husky Marching Band wouldn’t be playing this year. In fact, she’d been expecting it. “I love band, and it’s a huge part of my life,” she said. “Missing out on all of the experiences that come with the fall season is a disappointment. At the same time though, I think the right decision was made, given that we are still in the middle of a pandemic and the risk would be relatively high.” Gizinski, the piccolo cosection leader and a junior at the UW, is one of the many members of the Husky Marching Band who won’t be able to play after the Sep. 25 announcement from representatives of the Pac-12 schools that no bands would be permitted to attend football games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For Dr. Brad McDavid, who is entering his 27th year as director of athletic bands at the UW, the worst part was telling his seniors they wouldn’t get a final season. “I am blessed with the opportunity to get to know the students on a much deeper level than most instructors on campus,” he said. “That’s what I’ll miss, is having one less year with our seniors and one less year to build a relationship with our newest rookie members.”
Don Sabo, a field assistant for the Husky Marching Band, has been with the program for 50 years. He’s seen the group miss shows due to poor conditions, and was with the band when a bus accident prevented them from playing in 2018. But this is the first season in his memory that the program hasn’t played for an entire season. However, playing at games isn’t the only part of the marching band experience that’s been derailed by the pandemic. During a normal year, practices take up at least 10 hours of the week and create a tightknit camaraderie, something Gizinski, Sabo, and drum major Denali Cornwellbelieve will be one of the most missed parts of the season. “The Husky Marching Band means so much to me as a family, community, support system, and creative outlet,” Cornwell said. “Showing up to rehearsals every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday means for a few hours being able to forget the stress of school, socialize with friends, and relentlessly sharpen my skills and routines for the next performance.” Despite the current situation, though, the band continues to try and foster the kind of relationships they’d get to build in normal circumstances. McDavid said the senior and student leadership still meets
with the freshmen over Zoom to teach them the music and marching style that make the Husky Marching Band famous, and he hopes the group will get permission in the spring to perform at other UW Athletics events, like basketball, volleyball, or softball games. They also want to make their annual appearance at the Windermere Cup to
support the rowing team. And while the raucous versions of “Tequila,” “Neck,” “Polynesian Paralysis,” and “Bow Down to Washington” won’t echo around the stadium live when Washington takes the field next, the Husky Marching Band’s presence won’t be completely absent from Husky Stadium. “Each band member
submitted a picture for a stadium cut-out,” McDavid said. “So we’ll still be there in spirit as an entire band.” Reach Sports Editor Andy Yamashita at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @ANYamashita
Conor Courtney The Daily The Husky Marching Band performs at halftime of Washington’s matchup with Stanford in 2018.
CUT FUNDING, NOT OUR SKULLS. Monkeys are not the pathway to human health. Every year, the University of Washington’s National Primate Research Center grinds through hundreds of monkeys in horrific, barbaric, and archaic experiments that have not produced the promised vaccines for AIDS, TB, malaria, or Zika—six decades of scientific failure, while thousands of macaques’ lives and hundreds of millions of dollars have been squandered. Experiments on caged, distraught, diseased monkeys do not lead to improved human health. UW, close down this relic and focus your resources on human-relevant, 21st century science.
Take Action by texting* SEATTLE TO 73822. *Terms for automated texts/calls from PETA: http://peta.vg/txt. Text STOP to end, HELP for more info. Msg/data rates may apply. U.S. only.