Locker Room Bulletin Boards Dreadfully Dull

Welcome to the politically correct Apple Cup.

There are no guarantees like ‘97. No disrespect like ‘98. No boasts like ‘99. Nobody’s popping off so everybody will have to wait for kickoff for any excitement or intrigue. And people obviously aren’t even that excited about that. Thousands of tickets still remain unsold.

Even the coaches have noticed this is a kinder, gentler Apple Cup week.

“Tell Neuheisel (Washington coach Rick Neuheisel) to slack up on those guys and let them tell what they really think,” joked WSU coach Mike Price.

Not a chance. Almost every player at the UW media day on Monday was invited, in some cases even goaded, to make some sort of derogatory remark about the Cougars. None bit.

Same with the WSU players.

In fact the only thing that has a few people in this town riled up is the broad brush a Seattle Times reporter painted their town with at the start of the week. Even that is a little hard to sink your teeth into.

Price agreed that the rivalry seems to have cooled this week in comparison to past years.

“I don’t know why that is,” he said. “Maybe we’ll just play touch. Or flag. Bring our flags out there.”

Not likely.

Price believes the lack of barbs is a reflection of both coaching staffs.

“I think it is just coaches’ attitude,” Price said. “My attitude, Neuheisel’s attitude.

“The way that I feel about intercollegiate athletics is that you should respect your opponent,” he added. “We will be fired up without it and so will they.”

Kicking game

The biggest game-plan secret for both teams this week might be how the Cougars plan to execute kickoff coverage.

“They don’t have an idea where we are going to kick that ball on kickoff coverage,” said Price.

Does he know where the Cougars were going to be kicking the ball?

“No,” he laughed. “But they don’t either. So it’s one of our secrets.”

All right then, how about who is going to be kicking off, freshman Drew Dunning or punter Alan Cox?

“That’s also a secret,” Price said. “If he (Dunning) runs onto the field he may not even kick off.”