Still like them apples

While this year’s Apple Cup won’t be the most meaningful game in the standings, Washington State defensive ends Mkristo Bruce and Adam Braidwood already have plenty of memories from the intrastate rivalry. For Braidwood, a senior, this is his final collegiate game. For Bruce, a junior and a Renton, Wash., native, the Apple Cup has meant something special since childhood. Here they discuss the highs and lows of playing the Huskies.

MB: There are always those few memories from the Apple Cup. Usually when I think of Apple Cup, I think of when we got beat in triple overtime here (in Pullman). Husky fans rushing the field, that’s probably the worst feeling of my life. I think about my childhood, because I’ve been around it since I was a little kid. Using the word “Cougars” in Seattle is like a swear word.

AB: It’s different for me. I didn’t really know about the Apple Cup growing up. I remember reading about it as a sophomore in high school. I was flipping through a magazine that had Joey Harrington on the cover and I saw that Washington State got killed – I had heard of UW a little bit more because it’s closer. I was thinking, “That sucks. I don’t ever want to get beat like that.”

MB: It was weird because we were third in the nation (in 2002) and we lost.

AB: Yeah, we were. That was hard on all those guys, the seniors especially. I remember listening to a couple of guys talking and they said they had never beaten Washington in their career. To finish it off like that is tough.

MB: I want to be able to go over there when I go home and just laugh at them. My freshman year I used to go over there and everybody would be like, “Oh, yeah, you haven’t beaten us in six years.” Then last year I went over there and they couldn’t say anything. We need this win, especially to end this year on a good note.

AB: Some people don’t even care about the rest of the season. Half the state only cares about the Apple Cup.

MB: And that’s real. The funny thing about the Apple Cup – it’s disgusting, really – people get nasty over the Apple Cup. People don’t care about their jobs and their families and their wives. This is serious.

AB: It’s going to be a real competitive game. It’ll be a show.

MB: And this is my last game to play with Adam Braidwood. It’s the Killer B’s.

AB: Yup, the finale. If I’ve learned anything, it’s to go out with a bang.