Too Good to be True...

The football season came to a dramatic end for the WSU Cougars last Friday when the underdog (cat) Cougars roared back (pun intended) and defeated the UW Huskies 31-28 in overtime at the Apple Cup game in Pullman.

I was watching off and on flipping the channel back and forth between a couple of blowouts and a close game or two, until the Cougars had their hearts defibrillated and made a miraculous 18 point comeback. Along with an errant field goal attempt by the Husky kicker who watched his kick go wide right as the clock clicked down to zero.

It has been a mere 30 years ago when “Can’t miss Chuck” Nelson missed a chip shot field goal that aided another huge Cougar upset over a much better Husky football team, also played in Pullman. But that is why you play the game because you can never be sure. If I’m not mistaken, the goalposts from that game ended up in the Palouse River.

I think we expect a great deal from these kids who are 18-23 years of age. For some reason we think they should play like professionals and are shocked when they make mistakes. I’m sure that every fan made great decisions at this age of their lives. If you had, there is a good chance you became a billionaire at age 30 and have been sailing the seven seas living off interest from your savings accounts.

For the rest of us who weren’t quite as smart as Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs, it isn’t about quantity of money but quality of life, if we know what’s good for us. That and giving it your best shot on a daily basis at your place of work. Realistically that is all we should be asking of these young athletes. Give your best in everything you do every day of the week, whether it is in the classroom or the field of play.

Do you remember when most of these players signed a letter of intent with the Cougars or the Huskies? The hype was there wasn’t it?

Remember when the names were announced, the words that followed were most likely similar to: “This kid is a top fifty player from the west coast” or “This kid has a lot of upside” or “There’s no quit in this kid.”

I think we all have high hopes when these signings take place, but we most likely forget about the progress that is made along the way, or the other side of the coin with disinterest in the game, injuries, arrests or flunking out of school that can also happen to young men. After all, growing up is hard to do at times, especially when you are a long way from home.

Games like the one played last Saturday are memorable because the winner defied great odds and overcame a lot of adversity. Wins like last Saturday are character builders, and can set the stage for a positive winter weight training regimen and more interest when spring football practice rolls around.

Cougar fans have a tendency to remember those big upset wins while Husky fans can’t seem to forget them. That is the way that a lot of rivalry games go, especially when one team has a big advantage over the “other team” in overall wins.

There have been a few times that WSU was the favorite and the Huskies pulled off the big upset victory and those losses are tough to swallow for the Cougar faithful. But Cougar fans are definitely a different breed of cat (pun intended) and they can take a loss better than most people and are forever in high hopes of next year when “those kids get a little bigger and smarter and then we’ll show everyone!” Hope springs eternal in Pullman.

I hope for the best for the returning Cougars and the new recruiting class coming in 2013, because what happened on Saturday was too good to be true but it was a needed shot in the arm for a team in search of turning the corner with winning off in the distance.

So do yourself a favor this February, and keep a list of the new Cougar recruits and track their progress. It can make you a much smarter fan in the upcoming seasons.