Recent Stories with tag steve sarkisian

Last year we watched most University of Washington road games at Teddy's, a tavern near the intersection of Roosevelt and 65th. The scene during last year's games was this: A few scattered tables, each manned by a single grumpy middle-aged guy. And then the table at which the grumpy thirty-somethings, me and my friend David, sat.

Here's what Teddy's looked like for Saturday's UW/Stanford game:

People watching Husky football! On purpose! (Photo by David Swidler)

Back when I wrote for the Seattle P-I, I had a rollicking front-page-of-sports piece that established this rule: When it comes to sports fandom, women follow winners. Said guideline was in effect Saturday, as attractive female after attractive female filed in to watch the suddenly popular Huskies. I'm not complaining: Who among us doesn't like to see a pretty girl? (Certainly the new P-I does, even when they're covering Central American political crises.) The only time you'd see one at Teddy's last year is she happened to walk past.

Amazing what one big...

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With Washington football now holding a 27-49-4 all-time record against USC, it dawned on me that coaches who beat the Trojans in their debut season must be rare. I was right. There are only two: Steve Sarkisian and Don James.

YES THAT DON JAMES! (Sorry, people under 30, but we Gen Xers grew up worshiping James, who won 153 games in 18 years. Until we die out (appx. 2060) you young bloods will be hearing about him. Deal with it.)

James and Sark: Can We Hug?

Did Ty Willingham beat USC in his debut season? Don't be ridiculous. Gilby? Faugh. Lambo? Nuh-uh. Jim Owens may be immortalized with a statue outside Husky Stadium, but his '57 Dawgs took a 19-12 loss to the Trojans. Darrell Royal took a 35-7 beating the year before. John Cherberg's '53 Dawgs managed a tie, as did Ralph Welch's '42 squad. But Howard Odell's 1948 squad and James Phelan's 1930 Dawgs both absorbed blowout losses.

Other Husky coaches either never faced SC, or didn't face them in their first year, which is why we must mention Enoch Bagshaw, who...

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Awesome indeed. The quote comes from Husky defensive lineman Daniel Te'o Nesheim, who admitted that those who'd endured the 15-game losing streak weren't entirely sure how to behave upon finishing with more points than the other team. "A couple of us older guys were like, 'What should we do when the clock runs out? Should we go shake hands first? Or should we go sing the song?' It was kind of funny."

A good problem to have, right?

Washington's offense powered this Band Day victory. The Huskies scored touchdowns on six of their first seven offensive drives--three through the air, three on the ground. The Dawgs averaged 6.4 yards per offensive play, their most effective performance since '07 (7.5 ypp in a loss to Arizona).

The overall performance was less impressive, as Idaho gained even more yards than the Huskies did. Granted, Idaho rolled up some garbage time ground, but the Dawgs' major weakness--their pass defense--was apparent to all 58,980 fans.

The primary problem is that the Huskies' defensive line does not...

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Coach Sark told reporters Sunday that when he got home from Saturday's LSU game, the first thing he did was watch a replay of the game on television.

"I didn't want to go to sleep--I really wanted to get through the film and see it and enjoy time with the family. ... We'll catch up for sleep the next week or so."

This contrasts with Tyrone Willingham's post-game ritual of drinking a glass of warm milk and falling asleep to the sounds of The Purpose Driven Life on audiobook.

"That was fun!" Among the many phrases overheard at Husky Stadium Saturday that weren't audible last season.

Despite the loss, Husky fans were positively giddy during and after. This was one of those odd games, childhood friend David observed, where the losing team's fans left happier than the winning team's did.

Because LSU was supposed to throttle the Huskies. They didn't. Washington could've--and maybe should've--beaten the Tigers.

Washington outgained LSU 478 to 321. Take away two key Husky mistakes a Jake Locker interception that LSU returned for a TD, and Chris Polk's fumble at the LSU 5--and the Dawgs are your upset winners. As defensive lineman Alameda Ta'amu put it afterwards: "We cannot have any dumb-ass plays."

Despite their critical mistakes, Locker and Polk were the brightest spots for the Dawgs.

Polk didn't shy from contact, hit holes fast, and pushed for extra yardage. His 90 yards rushing was more than any Husky back managed in 10 of last year's 12 games.

Locker's 321 yards passing is the second-...

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M's beat the A's 7-4, getting their runs on mammoth two-run homers by Gooters, Bill Hall, and Johjima, respectively, and then a very rare bases-loaded suicide squeeze by Gooters in the ninth. Snell was uninspiring (5 IP, 3 ER, and it's against Oakland) but got the win.

Griffey says he wants to come back. Sort of. Read for yourself. (Hey, I'd like to play for the Mariners next year too--I can tickle really well I promise--but I don't think they're going to offer me a contract just to be nice.)

Seahawks demolished the Raiders. Final was 31-21, but only because of two late Raider TDs. The big story was Seahawks QB Mike Teel, the rookie out of Rutgers. Teel's stats: 11-19, 148 yards, 2 TDs. Have we finally found a third-string QB decent enough to allow Seneca Wallace to play some receiver? If not now, when? Wallace is 29 years old now--he's not getting any faster.

Storm lost, snapping a six-game winning streak. Lauren Jackson's still sitting out with her back injury.

High school football started last night--...

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