It’s party time in Pullman
PULLMAN – Fall sleet battered an awning overhead as Cougar fan Brian Sparrow leaned back in his chair, sipping from a cup filled with vodka and ice as he made his prediction for Saturday’s matchup against Stanford.
“We’re going to keep our home game winning streak alive,” Sparrow said. “We have the weather on our side.”
Sparrow was right, although he may have wished it hadn’t been such a close margin. Washington State University beat the Cardinal team, 24 to 21. He is among hundreds of avid fans who drive their recreational vehicles from all corners of Washington to Pullman for every Cougar football home game. The shelters on wheels provide protection from the elements, a place to cook, keep drinks hot or cold and catch a quick nap without missing any of the action on the field.
WSU supports the tradition, opening the lots on Thursday evening and not closing them until Sunday, giving fans lots of time to prepare for games, socialize afterward and rest before heading home.
Where people park reflects their standing in the university community. Season passes for the best lots go on sale in June and are sold exclusively to Cougar Athletic Fund members. Those with the highest ranking in the fund get first choice.
Many are alumni, but some, like Sparrow, are Cougars by choice. He began making the trek to Pullman in the 1970s, at first just because the Palouse was more fun on the weekends than Spokane.
He remembers bonfires so large, on the land where the golf course is now, that airplanes would have to fly up and over them before landing at the airport. His wife’s brother’s friends are really into Cougar football, and gradually the trips became more focused around games even in the era when the chance of a winning season, much less a bowl berth, was remote.
These days, he drives down on Friday evenings after he finishes his day job in information technology, pulling into a slot regulars on either side save for him, Sparrow said.
His motor home stands out because it’s vintage. It was manufactured in 1970 by Open Road, has 280,000 miles on it and is on its 10th motor, Sparrow said. “It’s called the Cougarmobile.”
Right next door in the temporary community is Ben Staehr, a 2010 WSU graduate and geotechnical engineer from Wenatchee, who became a pop-up celebrity in the 2015 Sun Bowl.
It started snowing in El Paso, Texas, and he noticed another fan wasn’t wearing a shirt, Staehr said. “I thought, ‘That guy needs some company.’ ”
Then he put a sombrero on his head that someone handed him, earning him the nickname “The Sombrero Guy.” He wears the outfit anytime he goes to a WSU game, with his only apparent concession to Saturday’s chilly weather being a pair of jeans.
It’s not as cold as it looks, Staehr said. “I’m wearing my beer sweater.”
He parks his mobile home at the end of a row that’s close to a sidewalk leading to Martin Stadium, frequently waving at fans or taking selfies with them. “There’s a lot more people who know me than I know them,” Staehr said.
Closer to the stadium, a group of friends had parked their mobile homes in a rectangle. Bill Hunter, a 1975 WSU graduate, was there with his wife, Luayne Hunter, and their two granddaughters, Hannah Cleveland, 13, and Faith Cleveland, 6, all of Shelton.
The Hunters, who are farmers, were drinking bloody marys from red Solo cups using a recipe from a bar they frequented on a trip to Auburn, Alabama, where they went to see the Cougars play.
The concoction contained celery, pickled asparagus, tomato juice, peppers, Worcestershire sauce, vodka and a shot of dark beer on top, he said.
“It’s my morning vegetables,” Bill Hunter said.
Hannah and her grandmother were wearing matching, brand-new maroon Sorel boots, as Hannah got her wish to see her first snow bowl. “I just love the Cougars,” Hannah said. “I’ve been coming here since I was a baby.”