BEND, Ore. - The first Cougar Football Saturday of the season is here, and I’m looking forward to seeing the Cougs tonight against Idaho, hoping not to experience any technical difficulties when I search for the game on the CW Network.
Does anyone have any idea what to expect from the Cougs? The betting line at Rebet was Washington State -13 1/2 points earlier this week but is now 18 1/2 this morning.
New coach Jimmy Rodgers left us in the dark with his depth chart, not committing to any first-stringers, including at quarterback, where it would appear to be Zevi Eckhaus or Pitt transfer Julian Dugger.
I certainly thought Eckhaus played well enough in last year’s Holiday Bowl to earn the nod in the first game this year, but Dugger might be a better fit in Rodgers’ run-first and what may be a run-second offense too.
For me, the most memorable and forgettable Battle of the Palouse happened in 1975 during my sophomore year at Washington State. So today’s game marks the 50th anniversary of when the Cougs scored the most points in one game in school history.
We won 84-27 as Dan Doornink and the rest of the Cougs were unstoppable all day long, racking up 56 points in the first half alone.
I somehow thought it would be a good idea to drink 151 rum before the game, which made the second half awfully fuzzy when it wasn’t awfully blurry. I remember trying to focus on the scoreboard and thought I was seeing things when I saw the 84 next to the Cougars.
And then I remember hearing chants from the student section, wanting us to put 100 on the Vandals.
I didn’t believe any of it, thinking there was just no way we could have scored 84 points with time still remaining in the fourth quarter.
When the game ended, my buddies had to carry me back to Gannon 2, and trust me on this, I have never had 151 rum again. Or Everclear. Or any other booze with such a high proof that you can light it with a match. Again, not sure what I was thinking at the time, but I was 18, young and frequently stupid compared to what I am now - old and occasionally stupid at 68.
I think we’ll probably have a scare or two tonight but will eventually wear down the Vandals and win 31-17. I bet $40 on the Cougs -13 1/2 and $30 on under 50 1/2 points in the game.
SMOKIN’ LOCK OF THE WEEK
As I mentioned in the last post, the Smokin’ Lock of the Week was a Friday segment during the football season on Danny, Dave and Moore on 710 ESPN Seattle.
I tried but failed miserably at picking one sure-fire winner every week, which was terrible radio for me but somehow became a must-listen bit for those who wanted to hear the pick so they could win money by betting the opposite way.
But everything’s different here on Substack with the new and improved Smokin’ Lock of the Week. It’s basically gonna be the same thing as before, the difference being - I’M ACTUALLY GONNA PICK WINNERS THIS TIME, DAMMIT!
I won’t have much in the way of statistical data and nerd-ness to support my selections, preferring to go with gut feelings about a game. I will also go against the old saying of “Bet with your head, not with your heart.” Screw that shit, I like betting with my heart if that’s all right with you.
With that in mind, you’ll find my first Smokin’ Lock of the Week down in Corvallis, where they’ll be revving up the chainsaw again at Reser Stadium. The Beavers are my second-favorite team because we’re the original Pac-2 and no matter what Jake Dickert thinks, they’re our friends, our buddies, our partners in crime.
Living in Oregon, I see a lot more Beavs than Cougs, and I’ve taken to say “Go Beavs” when I see Oregon State fans. They say Go Beavs back, I tell ‘em I’m a Coug, and they’ll either say Go Cougs or something about us being in the same boat together.
Plus I especially like their squad this year mainly because of their new quarterback, Maalik Murphy. And to think they’re listed as only one-point favorites over Cal and its overrated coach, Justin Wilcox?
Hey free money, come to papa! The first Smokin’ Lock of the Week of the season truly is - take the Beavs -1 and bet on ‘em with both hands (that’s for you, Bud Withers). Sit back and relax, have fun watching Cal malfunction on third down with the chainsaw blaring, count your money around 10 p.m. and thank me later.
NEWEST COUGAR ROOM
In Renton, we had a Cougar room. In Issaquah, we had a Cougar room. And now we have one in Bend, and it’s the best one of all thanks to my wife, Kathie, who decorated the whole thing with photos and banners and other stuff, most of which is crimson if it’s not gray.
I have two flat screens now and plan to add a third below the smaller flat screen. Why would I need three flat screens? Good question. A better question: Why not? I mean, what the hell, I’m retired, and on a Cougar Football Saturday, there might be three games I want to watch. Like tonight, there will be three games on at the same time that I’m interested in - Cal at Oregon State, Colorado State at Washington and Idaho against the Cougs.
Plus I’m in the What the Hell portion of my life, older than dirt, might as well splurge and live a little, and if someone tells me I have too many TVs at my house, I’ll tell them, you’re right, but I like football and I like to bet on football, and I like golf and betting on golf too, and sometimes these things happen simultaneously so why not watch them all at once?
If you think I’m sick, oh well, I think you might change your mind if you saw my outdoor setup with a 65-inch TV under a Pergola, where I watched the Mariners’ ninth-inning collapse in Cleveland last night.
We have five TVs but none in the bedroom because we’re gettin’ busy doing other things like, you know, sleeping.
Here’s a quick look at Kathie’s decorating talents in the Cougar room:
Two helmets, one from the Army-Navy game, the other a Cougar one from Pat O’Day’s charity golf tournament in Friday Harbor; photos of Mikey and Stevie in Little League; a photo from Opening Night at Safeco Field, the night I met Kathie.
The dog wall with photos of our current dogs, River and Skye, and a couple from great goldens in our past, Murph, the Go 2 Dog, and Willie, the Go 2 Pup.
WSU light, commemorative mug and Lin Dunn bobblehead. What’s the former Storm coach doing in the Cougar room? Not sure, I just liked her, and for a change, it’s a bobble head that actually looks like the person it’s designed for.
Another Cougar light, a bobblehead of Seattle clown icon J.P. Patches and a Coug-framed photo of part of my family.
A carved flag with the Cougar emblem from a listener, more family photos, and one of me with Mikey and Stevie when we met members of the band Skillet before their concert in Monroe.
One of my favorite photos of Brooke with her brothers, a photo of the P-I globe at night, and one of Brooke when she graduated from Issaquah High. And at the top, a jigsaw puzzle of Martin Stadium that we put together during Covid.
More photos, and one of my favorite memories from my childhood when my parents took my sister and I to the All-Star Game in Anaheim in 1967. Crazy game, went 15 innings as I recall. Took my mom on a trip down memory lane when we went to the All-Star Game in Anaheim in 2010.
Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend. I’ll admit that if we beat Idaho, and Colorado State beats Washington tonight, I will get more enjoyment out of the Dawgs losing as 22 1/2-point favorites to a future Pac-12 member than I will from the Cougs beating a team we’re supposed to beat in Idaho.
Go Rams.
And Go Cougs.
That is a great Cougar room!! Go Cougs!
Can I stay with you after I lose my house betting on your smokin lock of the week. Go Beavs