The Rose Report
Briefing
THE WORD
“They play smash-mouth football. That’s what they do in the Big Ten. They like to run the ball. That’s what we have to stop is the run, and we have to make Brian Griese beat us with the pass.”
Leon Bender, WSU defensive tackle
“Michigan won’t be able to handle the (WSU) passing game at all. That offense is just incredible.”
Chris Moton, WSU free safety, 1987-90
LOOK BACK
Washington State’s 1916 Rose Bowl team went Hollywood long before it was cool to do so. Coach William “Lone Star” Dietz and his unbeaten Cougars practiced each afternoon for the two weeks leading up to their 14-0 win over Brown, but spent their mornings serving as extras in a football film entitled “Tom Brown of Harvard.” Each WSU player earned $100 for 14 mornings of movie work.
QUICK COUG
Lamont Thompson
Age: 18
Hometown: Richmond, Calif.
Position: Free safety.
Hobbies: Used to collect baseball cards; owns Rickey Henderson rookie card.
Favorite band: The Luniz.
Favorite game: NFL GameDay. Secret that people would be surprised to know: Nicknamed the Hulk as a child because he always rode an Incredible Hulk Big Wheel, but was modified to Hawk in recent years.
FANS FOREVER
Lowell Ressler
Washington State athletic director Rick Dickson did not endure himself to many WSU fans when he referred to non-Cougars (those who did not attend at least one semester at the school) as “Joes off the street.”
Lowell Ressler of Spokane is a long-time Cougar fan and his wife is a “real” Cougar. Dickson’s comment stung, but it won’t stop Ressler from cheering the Cougars to victory and to taking a few shots at Dickson.
He writes: “At gametime, the Real Cougars (his wife and other family friends) will be screaming and shouting at the big screen in the library while snacking on Dungeness crab and Yaquina Bay oysters between gulps of Dom Peri and Jaquesson. The other Cougar fans (myself included), meanwhile, will be banished to do their hooting and hollering at a TV of lesser dimensions while washing down peanuts and pretzels with Black Butte Porter and Bud Light. The Real Cougars, after a secret vote, agreed to extend mingling rights to the Cougar Fans during halftime and at TV timeouts.”
Ressler even sent a small delegation of Real Cougars to Pullman to seek permission for regular Cougar fans to join Real Cougars in singing the school’s fight song at game’s end.
2 Graphics: 1. Key Matchup: Michael Black vs. Sam Sword 2. Gamebreakers