He’s soaring with the Eagles

Ahh, the stigma of being a fan of the Eastern Washington University Eagles in a Zag and Wazzu world.
There was a time – like last week – when it must have felt like wearing a Timex when everyone else had on a Rolex, drinking Shasta when everyone got Coke, or doing the Jumble when others were filling out the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Tony Carpine, a 78-year-old retired Cheney resident, has begrudgingly lived the life of a poor-man super-fan. Many Thursdays, he cooks and delivers lunch to the Eagles coaching staff. Carpine has helped raise more than $400,000 for Eastern athletics, said Curly Rousseau, Eagle Athletic Association president.
However, today, as Eastern plays in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division I-AA football playoffs, Carpine and his band of Eagle Athletic Association brothers and sisters in Spokane and the surrounding area are in the spotlight.
“Right now it’s our show in football,” Carpine said enthusiastically, after this week’s EAA luncheon, attended by more than 50 backers.
Indeed. Eastern Washington owns December. Its football team is the last Washington college team still standing. A home win over Sam Houston (Texas) State today would extend the season another weekend and advance the Eagles to the semifinal round against Montana or New Hampshire.
“It’s exciting to ride around town and see the Eagles on the readerboards,” said Rousseau of Spokane, EWU class of 1968.
The last time there was cause for this much attention to the Eagles football team was 1997, when it advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division 1-AA football playoff. The one monkey wrench that stood in the way of regional notice was the Washington State University football team. That was the year the Ryan Leaf-led Cougars played in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 67 years.
The Eagles’ other major sports team hasn’t been spared in the thunder-stealing department either.
The men’s basketball team qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time last March. EWU was airlifted and dropped into the Kansas City region. The Gonzaga Bulldogs (they’re the team with the new 6,000-seat gym, but still an impossible ticket) landed in Seattle.
Meanwhile, despite the inconvenience and financial burden, Carpine is among a tight group of EWU boosters who travel with their teams, near or far. He was one of 21 fans who paid to fly on the team’s chartered plane to Carbondale, Ill., last weekend.
“He’s Mr. Eagle, that’s for sure,” said Noreen Groh, of Odessa, another EWU loyalist, along with her husband, Frank.
Carpine’s connection to EWU began as a student athlete and a member of the track and field team in 1947. One of his proudest moments as an athlete was being a part of the team’s 52-consecutive dual meet win streak.
His best day as a fan was last Saturday, sitting in the stands for the game while many of his pals had to stay home and listen on the radio.
“This was better than the basketball game in Kansas City, because we won,” said Carpine, a jolly, avuncular man who loves to refer to the ladies as “honey.”
Carpine’s most humbling day as a super-fan was Jan. 10, 2004, when the EAA awarded him the first Lifetime Dedication Award, in appreciation of his years of devotion to EWU student-athletics.
“He’s a true fan,” said Carpine’s wife, Vivian, whom he met in college. “He’s going constantly, all the time, doing things for Eastern. He’s tired. But he loves it.”