Husky Trails: My Dirty Little Secret About Washington Husky Football

For those of you hoping for some juicy Washington Huskies gossip, I'm gonna say sorry right off the bat, this isn't anything like that. No, the secret I have to share is, that I've only been a Husky fan for four years, I'm not a lifer so to speak.

This is, in many respects, my piece on why I love the Huskies even through all the bad times.

But there is more to it; I was not a college football fan until four years ago. I was barely even a sports fan for that matter. My introduction to it all was Notre Dame v. Washington, my freshman year in 2005.

When people talk about the glory years of Husky football, I have to just nod my head and agree, I honestly didn't watch any of it.

I came to Washington because it was a good school, not because of the football tradition. I grew up in a Fresno State household, and in truth, watched the 49ers growing up in the Bay Area way more than Cal or Stanford.

No, my introduction was a sunny fall day in Husky Stadium, watching my first of many Husky losses over the next four years.

If you think I am lamenting this fact, you are wrong. I was hooked the moment I stepped foot in the stadium.

The purple stadium, players zipping up and down the field, and a new focus for my hatred; Notre Dame and their obnoxious fans.

The hotel my parents were staying in while I moved in was filled to the brim with Notre Dame fans literally shouting about how much they were going to crush us that day. They did. But their smug attitude rubbed me the wrong way.

I've since been to most of the rest of the games in Husky Stadium, barring a few because I was home in California, and seen more losses than I care to count. Yet, disappointment always bled into optimism for the next week.

As I dug into my new found passion, I discovered all these great names from the past; Warren Moon, Sonny Sixkiller, Napolean Kaufmann, the Huards, and Tuiasasopo, to name just a few. There was a veritable treasure trove of Husky greats.

And of course there was Don James, whose personality as the Dawgfather sold me on the whole thing.

However, these are just people I have heard about, the studs I know are guys like Isaiah Stanback, Jake Locker, Daniel Teo'Nesheim, and EJ Savannah. Guys most people haven't heard of except maybe for Locker.

They've all been my heroes over the last four years. What can I say? 

Watching the past few years has really magnified how I feel about the new coaching staff. Steve Sarkisian has won me over by creating a welcoming and energetic new team.

It remains to be seen what will happen on the field, but there is nowhere to go but up from here. You can guarantee that I will be there all the way, good times and bad.

GO DAWGS!

News and Notes

OK, I'm stretching at this point, but Rick Neuheisel and the UCLA staff has tabbed former Husky commit Kevin Prince as the new starter for the Bruins. It appears he made a good choice switching to UCLA while, if he was here, he would still be behind Locker.