Save your couch, vent with Vince

The depth of feelings surrounding a rivalry game is easy to understand.

Back in 1968, when UCLA’s Greg Jones threw a halfback pass to give the Bruins a touchdown against the hated Trojans, this budding sports idiot leapt with joy. When his 12-year-old butt returned to the parent’s couch, the worn-out sofa collapsed under the force.

I watched the rest of the game with a sore gluteus maximus, not from the couch splintering in two, but from some old-fashioned greatest-generation discipline.

So believe me when I say I understand the need to glory in a win or vent after a loss.

But in the late ‘60s, the only people I could do that with was the other guys on the St. Rita’s playground.

Nowadays?

The Internet makes it possible for you to share your gripes and gloats with the entire world.

After the University of Washington’s win in Saturday’s Apple Cup, SportsLink gave Cougars fans a forum with which to share their disgust.

That’s the right word, too.

Disgust in the outcome. Disgust with how WSU played. Disgust with having to spend 12 months listening to Huskies fans revel in the win (more than likely because that’s what the same Cougars fans have been doing for the past 24 months).

Some of the comments were funny. Some were mean. Some were bitter. Some were even rational. We’ll get to all those. But a couple didn’t abide by the rules of our forum. So they had to be excised.

Actually, the rules are simple. You can post under any screen name you want, within the bounds of decency of course. So if you want to use “IwishallUWfanswouldmovetoLA” as your screen name, you can. If you want to use “OnlytheOregongamereallymatters,” that’s fine, too. And if you want to use your real name, go right ahead.

But we need a valid e-mail address, one we can check on, entered in the box below the comment. The address doesn’t appear with your post, but we do random checks to make sure no one is posting under someone else’s name. Simple enough, but a rule that was violated three times by one person, costing him or her the opportunity to comment in the future.

From there you can vent, gloat, rub it in, whine. Whatever you want – within the bounds of decency, of course. It makes no difference.

Write poetry, like this penned by Kevin:

“I am leaving you tomorrow

for any team I can beg steal or borrow

I just can’t stand the sorrow

anymore, anymore.

I’ve been a Cougar fan for too many years

cried in way too many beers

just can’t afford to shed more tears

anymore, anymore”

No one said it had to be good poetry.

Or you could attach blame, like Marty, who put it on quarterback Alex Brink’s shoulders or, like so many others, who blamed the WSU coaching staff, most notably head coach Bill Doba.

You could say it’s tradition, like Bart did, for the Cougars to lose or that you had faith in your Huskies, like Laura.

You can even say they Couged it, like Steve decided to do. It’s all good.

We are asking for your opinion everyday, even if we don’t explicitly say it. The comment lines on each post are there for that reason. If you follow the instructions and don’t use inappropriate language, you won’t get spanked.

Who knows, venting in this way just might save your couch.