Sarah J. Reports: Washington's Wonder Week
Twas the sportiest of sports days in Southern California last week. For a traveling Seattlite, 'twas also the BAD ASSIEST of weeks! One event after another, threaded together with In-N-Out and sore throats, was knocked out of the park and into the sweet land of victory.
Wednesday, December 29
Arriving in San Diego on Holiday Bowl Eve, we watched basketball updates from Fox Sports grill (the 900 mph winds deterred from going anywhere further than the hotel lobby), where the Dawg fans far outnumbered Huskers. While the men's basketball game against USC wasn't televised, iPhone updates were a great companion to touchdown tea. Pac 10 opener results in overtime victory against USC, 73-67? Sure, that's cool. Stay cool, little fonzie dawgs.
Thursday, December 30
Bowl day! Husky football fans have had a lot of ups and downs since their last bowl game appearance in the 2001 Rose Bowl, and by that we mean pretty much just downs. So this Holiday Bowl, as sloppy and scary as the road to it may have been, was fully charged with "yay!". The Nebraska match earlier this season was nothing short of a painful soul stomping, so hopes and expectations were low in the name of self preservation. But after securing a primo tailgating spot right by the exit and wolfing car snacks in a sea of purple, we were feeling cautiously good. Walking in to the kingdome-esque stadium our minds were awash with previous special team catastrophes and defensive line disasters. But holyhuskyheaven, from the get go everyone saw the Huskies were bringing it; winning up front and beyond all night. After forcing two turnovers and holding Nebraska to just 91 yards rushing, (Chris Polk had 177 yards himself, swoon) Huskies put it away 19-7. Dawg fans went to bed with no voices and hearts full of joy.
Friday, December 31
No rest for the weary, we hightailed it back to Los Angeles to be ready for the men's basketball UCLA showdown the following day. Pauley Pavillion had a very nice showing of purple among its somewhat indifferent Bruin fans, all high on triumph and much-needed vitamin D. Despite only having 4 wins out of 48 all time at Pauley, the game wasn't even close and UW was up in both points and momentum the large majority, finishing 74-63.
A wondrous week, indeed.
P.S. Did you hear the Seahawks won, too?
