Sucks to be you

On Halloween day in 1992 my brother Larry and I went to the UW-Stanford football game in Seattle. I could get complimentary tickets as a coach and let’s just say that Larry was my assistant coach for a day Anyway the plan was to park in Bellevue at a Park and Ride and get on the bus to go to Husky Stadium. After we got off the bus and were walking to the Will Call ticket booth we couldn’t help but notice just how much purple surrounded us. If Barney the dinosaur would have gotten in line we would not have been surprised.

We got our tickets and would end up about 2/3 of the way to the top of the west side stadium seating. Since it tried to rain we were actually happy to be in the cheap seats as the folks with the really good seats were getting wet. For those of you that know the Husky story let’s just say that we saw the last great UW home victory in the Don James era. Do you remember Billy Joe Hobert?

Anyway about half way through the 4th quarter we started seeing the buses line up to pick passengers up to go to the multitude of Park and Rides in greater Seattle. That’s also about the time that I turned to my brother and asked do you know what bus we need to get on to get to the car? We didn’t much care about the game as the Huskies dominated Stanford 41-7. But we were wondering about getting back to where we were staying for the night and needed the car to get there.

As we departed Husky Stadium we asked if anyone knew which bus to get on to get to Bellevue. Someone said that this particular bus was going that way. As we were crossing the bridge Larry asked someone about where this bus was going and the answer wasn’t too optimistic. He said I think we got on the wrong bus to which a Husky fan in purple said, “Sucks to be you!” I guess it was funny at the time and thanks for your concern buddy. For a couple of farm boys from eastern Washington it was a bit disconcerting to say the least.

When the bus stopped at the Park and Ride that wasn’t where we were parked we asked the bus driver about how we could get to our destination and he was very helpful and after a short walk to another bus stop and a 10 minute tour we finally pulled into the parking lot and there was the car ready to take us to our destination.

I tell this story for a good laugh on us for sure but with what happened on Friday I think there are a lot of things that ring true. Money is the true driver into what has destroyed a 108 year conference. Okay, if you haven’t heard Washington and Oregon are going to the Big 10 joining USC and UCLA. Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are going to the Big 12. These last four schools were invited by the Pac 8 and the Pac 10 to become the Pac 12 and now it is whittled down to the Pac 4.

I told you in a column a few months ago that I hated the Big 10 (20) conference. I don’t have a lot of love for the Big 12 now either. The NCAA has no more care for schools like WSU or Oregon State until they do well but they know they don’t pack the stadiums or living rooms or sports bars like Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas and so on. It doesn’t matter now that the super conferences are taking over because the NCAA isn’t interested in parity as much as they care about revenue and lots of it.

The Big conferences are going to get the best kids and if they don’t have roster space they will tell the kids to get a couple of years under their belt at this other school and in a year or two when we have room you can transfer here.

Money is the driver no doubt but what about the student athlete that is asked to travel cross country every other week how will that help that with their education. Or does that even matter anymore. I think it is funny when the UW AD says that they still intend to schedule WSU in football but the game will need to be played at the beginning of the season. Well that’s mighty considerate of you. Will the game get to be played in Pullman or will it have to be played in Husky Stadium or Lumen Field. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

As Washington and Oregon leave the remnants of the Pac 12 you might have heard a faint statement to WSU and Oregon State, “It sucks to be you!”

— Dale Anderson is a sports columnist from Ritzville. To contact him, email [email protected].