Should Husky Hoops Fans, Not Players, Be the Ones On Scholarship?

ASU's Derek Glasser Gets the Dawgpack Treatment (Photo via Twitter, @UWDawgPack)

At Hec Edmundson Pavilion, with a full student section behind them, the Washington Husky basketballers are as dominant as John Wooden's UCLA teams. In Seattle, the Dawgs bombed Pac-10 leaders Cal by 15 points. They crushed Pac-10 second placers Arizona State by 23. They dropped a 56-point second half on cross-state rivals Wazzu, and a 123-point game on crosstowners Seattle U.

Washington has won 16 of 17 games at home this year. But something happens on the road. Away from Hec Ed, the Dawgs are winless in six games. That ASU team the Huskies crushed here Saturday? Lost to 'em by 17 in Tempe.

Why the difference? On the road, the Huskies start the same guys, have the same coaches, play by the same rules--and flop. The one principle difference, it would seem, is the Washington fans--specifically the rowdy student section that goes by the name "The Dawgpack." Pac-10 players generally agree that Washington has the best crowd in the league. Oregon coach Ernie Kent has called The Dawgpack the best student section in the country.

The Dawgpack stands the entire game. When the opposing team is on offense, they keep up a constant shout, unnerving players and making it hard for them to communicate. When opposing coaches attempt to shout out instructions, they yell to drown him out. They pick on opposing players, like when they chanted "Mich-ael Cera!" at Cal's Nikola Knezevic (who does sorta look like him). A sign at Saturday's game had a photoshopped image of Husky guard Venoy Overton with his arm around the mother of hated ASU guard Derek Glasser. The sign read "Mr. and Mrs. Overton." With Glasser scoreless midway through the second half, UW fans held their hands in the shape of a zero and derisively chanted "Der-ek, Der-ek."

Even though these loud-mouthed bleacherites never dribble a ball or attempt a shot, they appear to be the difference between the Huskies performing like a Final Four team or a CYO one. No single Husky player exerts such an impact on the team's fortunes.

The Dawgs won a game without current NBAer Jon Brockman last year. They've won this year without 17.1 ppg scorer Isaiah Thomas. But they haven't been able to win without the Dawgpack.

So I can't help but wonder--maybe these guys are the ones who should be getting scholarships? Maybe not all of them, that would be ludicrous. But one or two, at least. Who can deny the impact they have on the game? Perhaps student section coaches will someday scour our nation's high schools, looking for the loudest and brashest to bring to their college.

Hey, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the Husky players are the ones making these wins happen. They will get a chance to prove themselves on the road Thursday, when they rematch with league-leading Cal. A win would propel the Huskies into first place in the Pac-10. Can they finally win without the Dawgpack? I hope so. But if they can't, maybe they should start prepping their FAFSAs.