It's Football time! today's rant, to accompany my "Pick 'Em" picks, is entitled:
Why its never been better to be a Cougars fan, and never been worse to be a 'Hawks fan.

But first, I want to make a clarification blurb. One thing that has always bothered me is Husky honks complaining about WSU getting "equal" coverage in the local papers and TV broadcasts (and by "equal" it usually means about 2/3 - 3/4 of the actual coverage at best). To me, the Purring Pussycats from the Palouse ARE a "local team." How else do you describe a major university (and, make no mistake about it, despite it's unfortunate remote location, WSU qualifies as a "major public institution") that has at least 2/3 of its alumni/student base from this side of the state. The attempt to make the UW-WSU rivalry a "west vs. east" thing is an illusion. WSU is more akin to the younger brother banished to the other side of the state.

What I'm saying, of course, is the Kitties need our love too.

Why I'm a Cougar fan is a little harder to describe, but I'll attempt to do just that anyway. I was about 7, or maybe 8, or possibly even younger, and it was '82, I'm reasonably sure, although it could be a year either way. Anyway, I was just forming my sporting consciousness. I knew, and followed to the extent a 7-year-old could, the Seahawks and Sonics. I had a notion of the Huskies, but wondered why I should really get so fired up about them like a lot of other people because they were just a college team (I guess I had a lot to learn). I had no idea the WSU Cougars even existed.

I remember a local sports report in the week leading up to the Apple Cup that year. The Huskies were rolling to another Rose Bowl berth, and only had to head over to Pullman and beat a hapless Cougars team to clinch it. This report was focusing on the "does WSU even have a chance" angle and I asked my dad what this was all about.

"You should root for the Cougars," he told me, "they can knock the Huskies out of the Rose Bowl, and my dad and brother went there."

And so I did. And the Cougars pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Apple Cup history that Saturday.

And that's about it.

And right now, it has Never been better to be a Cougars fan. Sure, '97 was a "miracle season" (although there was really no miracle about it, that year WSU had a tremendously talented and experienced group that had been getting their butts kicked for three years), but last year saw WSU go 10-2, stay ranked pretty high all year, win a bowl game (sure, it was only the much-maligned Sun Bowl, but in Cougar country bowl wins are rare) and finish with a top-10 BCS ranking. This year, they have established themselves as the "team to beat" in the PAC-10, and are ranked 7th in the first BCS rankings released last Monday. They are the best among the "non-undefeateds" in a system that values strength of schedule as strongly as won-loss record.

It may only be October... but are you kiddin me?!

Of course, Cougar fans don't want to jinx anything. No one wants to talk about how good they might be. No one wants to discuss the possibility of running the PAC-10 table to a 11-1 record and playing in the Rose Bowl with a top-5 ranking. Hell, I'm worried I'm jinxing them by writing this. There is this numb feeling that has descended over Cougar-dom. Like going back in time, where you don't want to touch anything or affect anything, becasue even the slightest thing could change the course of history.

Just sit quietly and behave, and hope they don't Coug it. And by the way, it's not too late to jump on the bandwagon. WSU @ Arizona, Sat night at 7 on Fox Sports Net.

PAC-10
WSU over Arizona
ASU over UW
UCLA over Stanford
OSU over Cal-Berkeley
USC over Oregon

I don't want to belabor this point: but it's new stadium, new unis, new era... er, except it's Flores/Behring Hawks all over again!.

How bad is it? Check out the latest ESPN.com NFL power rankings.

Is Emmit Smith a lead-pipe cinch to get the rushing record (he needs only 93 yards against a run defense that gives up 189 a game!). Is it any fucking wonder the Cowboys decided to give their backup QB, Chad Hutchinson, who is coming off of four years of minor-league baseball and has never thrown a pass in an NFL regular-season game, the start in this one. C'mon. The 'Boys play a tough, scrappy style of defense -- one of those teams that makes the game sort of an ugly slop-fest.

Smith has a bad ankle, and that is the only thing I see keeping him from setting the record this weekend. Despite all my negativity, the Hacks Can win this game. The 'Boys passing offense will probably be virtually non-existent, and if the 'Hacks offense can avoid turnovers and come up with just a couple big plays they can escape with a win. More defense/special teams scores won't hurt either. So, they Can win, but will they?

Indianapolis over Washington
San Fran over Arizona
Philly over NY Giants
Kansas City over Oakland
Dallas over Seattle

(hey, at least I put the Hawks loss in the "4-point" slot!)