Letters To The Editor

Huskies didn’t receive their due

On Christmas Day, the University of Washington Huskies virtually drubbed Michigan State in the Aloha Bowl. For their effort, they were rewarded with a small picture and article on the front of the sports section Dec. 26.

On Jan. 2, the front page of The Spokesman-Review was all WSU as well as the sports section. Yet the Cougars were the only Pac-10 team to lose a bowl game. Why was that hushed? Frank J. Marolich Coeur d’Alene

Editor’s note: There were two photographs of the Huskies on the sports front page Dec. 26, including the main photo: a five-column by nearly 8-inch picture of Rashaan Shehee scoring a TD for the 8-4 Huskies against 7-5 Michigan State.

Price rewarded for loyalty

Now that the scent of roses has cleared and a new year is ahead of us, Cougars fans are coming down to earth.

There must be some truth to that old cliche of what goes around comes around. Coaches like Dennis Erickson, who bailed out of WSU with nothing but dollar signs in their eyes, are still getting their just dues. But Mike Price has proven the other side to that expression as he is showered with accolades and respect almost unsurpassed in the WSU athletic program.

Price chose to stick around and develop a team and program that has made WSU supporters out of even the most skeptical. I know, because I fall into this category.

Happy New Year, Mike Price, to you and your staff. And most of all, thanks for Couging it. James A. Nelson Spokane

Cougs were BOWLed OVER

Holy COW, some of you copycat WAZZU fans have “udderly” MILKed my clever OVERviews dry. You’ve OVERdosed me by imitating my unique writing style. I’ve OVERlooked those enCROWchments until now. For cRYANout loud, why couldn’t you just LEAF well enough alone?

It’s HUARD to be humble, DAWGone it! The AloHA Bowl - YULE never guess who WON. It was a WONderful game to watch. It was a cool WINter day here, and every WONce in a while I would look out the WINdow to see if the WINd was still blowing, and wished I was in HAwaii where it was WONderfully warm. In case you’re WONdering, it was UW fifty WON, MSU twenty four.

And - did I OVERhear the Cougs came out smelling like a rose? So - WOODSONbody tell my RYAN heck they journeyed to California by OVERland stage, while the Wolverines traveled by - CARR? Anyway, the Cougs took their game to PASSadena, which is next door to LOSS Angeles, but way south of LOSS Gatos, LOSS Altos, LOSS Banos, and LOST Hills, Calif.

TV fans would see the game live from LOSS Vegas, Nev.; to LOSS Alamos and LOSS Cruces, N.M.; and even as far away as LOST River, Ky.

It was announced OVER the MIKE, that the playing field was very slippery and GRIESE. Because of that, MOORE Cougs went flyin’ McENDOover end than before. A big PRICE was paid for their miSTEAKS, and there would be no reJOYCEing afterwards, much less a big party where the BOOSE would flow freely. WSU got BERND, scoring a MUIR sixteen points, while Michigan’s men of STEELE wound up with twenty WON. It’s a cRYAN McSHANE they LOST, but WAZZU just couldn’t get the ball into THE END - zone.

AloHA-HAwaii, and forever Husky! Arley M. Bischoff Harrington, Wash.

Shared title turns Wolverine blue

I awoke this morning and had my morning cup of coffee and proceeded to read the paper. To my surprise the front page of the sports section had Michigan and Nebraska sharing the No. 1 title. After I cleaned up my spilled coffee, I read about how this great injustice had occurred.

Additionally, I decided to look at ESPN’s Internet page and check it out. I understand that Nebraska did beat Tennessee, but don’t the coaches remember those two games Nebraska won by just one point to two unranked teams? Or was it the fact that with Tom Osborne retiring, all the coaches felt sorry for him?

If Lloyd Carr was retiring or had some sort of incurable disease, would Michigan have won the coaches poll? Russ Shue, a real Michigan fan Fairchild

What happened to extra second?

After reading the Rose Bowl timekeeper’s account of the fastest two seconds in sports history, I found it interesting that he thought the referee’s decision to end the game was correct.

What I found more interesting is why that same timekeeper didn’t tell us why he ran a second off the clock while the chains were being moved into position for that last fateful spike attempt! Watch the replay and you will see that the clock was initially stopped at .03 because WSU made a first down on that hook-and-lateral play. While the chains were being moved, the timekeeper ticked off a second, from .03 to .02.

That extra second no one questioned would have given the Cougars time for one last shot at the end zone. I (like Mike Price) would have bet on Ryan Leaf against a confused Michigan defense.

What is most interesting of all is that all the reporters, bowl officials and most WSU fans didn’t question the timekeeper about that critical second that should have been left on the clock. WSU was cheated out of its last chance and most people couldn’t care less.

That’s too bad, because the Cougars are a great football team and all those people will probably have a lifetime to think about their next Rose Bowl opportunity. Bill Elston, WSU fan Spokane