The Silence Of The Fans Cougars From All Over Show Support, But There;S Little To Celebrate In The End

The second quarter of the Rose Bowl was a great time to stock up on groceries at the Safeway store in Pullman.

As Michigan’s Charles Woodson intercepted a Ryan Leaf pass, a pair of shoppers had their choice of parking stalls and carts, and were whisked through checkstands by clerks distracted by a radio broadcast of the game.

Early in the third quarter was a good time for six whitetail does that crossed U.S. Highway 195 north of Colfax. With traffic reduced to slightly more than a vehicle a minute, they faced more danger from slipping in the Palouse mud than from colliding with a car.

From the big lakes of North Idaho to the breaks of the Snake River, Washington State University football fans huddled around televisions in pubs, stores and living rooms.

Agricultural hubs in the heart of Cougar country became ghost towns, their streets safe for skateboarders and cats. But NorthTown Mall in Spokane was crammed with indifferent non-fans searching for bargains.

“I hope they do well and all,” said Joan Smith, toting several bags full of merchandise. “But there are sales on.”

By all appearances, Smith and the other shoppers were in the minority. About the only sports bar in the region that wasn’t packed with fans - of both the rabid and fair-weather variety - was the Sports Page in Pullman, where a sign on the locked door explained, “Gone to the Rose Bowl.”

In other gathering spots, every Wazzu first down was cause for celebration. A sack of Michigan quarterback Brian Griese brought crowds to their feet. A Cougar touchdown set off ear-ringing, beer-spilling delirium.

“Go, go, go, go, go, go!” yelled the crowd at the Dugout Sports Bar in Post Falls when Leaf ran with the ball.

“No, no, no, no,” they wailed when the Wolverines scored their first touchdown.

But was that a cheer rising from the middle of the throng?

“When I cheer, nobody else cheers. I feel all alone,” said Robert Roe, who sported a Michigan baseball cap.

South of Pullman, at Eleanor’s Corner Saloon in Uniontown, owner Rick Von Bargen announced he would only take food orders during commercials.

“I’m not going to miss the game,” said Von Bargen, who wore a Cougar beanie handed down from his grandfather, Richard Large.

Grandpa Large, the thin and somber Cougar whose picture hangs over the bar, would have played in the 1931 Rose Bowl if the stock market crash hadn’t ended his scholarship, Von Bargen explained. He had planned to take the picture to this year’s game, but couldn’t get away from the bar.

“I opened at 11, and people were already waiting,” he said.

At the Brass Rail in Rosalia, Rick Fullerton figured about the only people in the Palouse who weren’t watching the game on television were those in the Rose Bowl stands. Fullerton and his friends said they knew of 37 people from St. John and five from Rockford who were in Pasadena.

Fans forced to work Thursday found creative ways to monitor the action.

Both the radio and the television at Village Shoes in Spokane’s NorthTown Mall were on the blink. So salesmen Paulos Berhane and Don Vue sneaked to Sears on their lunch break and camped out in front of one of the 100 televisions tuned into the Rose Bowl.

“We’ve got a good view, and we’ve got choices, so it’s nice,” Berhane said as he monitored first-quarter action from a seat on the floor.

Drew Sullivan at the Brews Bros. espresso stand on East Francis thought he had it all figured out. But his father didn’t show up with a television as planned, so Sullivan was reduced to getting updates by telephone as he handed out triple-shot mochas called “Football Widows Special.”

“I’m going to have to talk to him when I get home,” he said.

Fans at The Ram and Finnerty’s Red Lion didn’t have to miss any of the action - even when nature called. The game was piped into restrooms.

In the final minutes, as the Cougars rallied one last time, the fans at Finnerty’s were full of advice.

“Time out! Time out!” Bob Harman shouted at the television.

“Throw a Hail Mary to Jackson and get a touchdown,” Diana Reinholt advised Leaf. “He can do it, too, I’ve seen him do it.”

And for a few seconds, it looked as though Leaf would. Then, he spiked the ball and Finnerty’s went silent.

“No way,” muttered Reinholt.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 4 Color photos