Happy Labor Day Cougs! Here's hoping you and yours thoroughly enjoyed the last hurrah of summer over this holiday weekend.
So, last week we got a pretty cool email from a reader who goes by the name "Burning Snowmans" on other places like Cougfan, etc. Perhaps you are already familiar with his work? Anyway, he lets us know that he was going to do the WSU Flag Waving gig on ESPN's Gameday this week, and he was also going to hit the WSU-Auburn game later in the day. What a great time for a guest post?? Uh, YEAH.
That said, without further delay we present to you the first-hand experience of "Burning Snowmans", as he pretty much did it all on Saturday. Take it away Burning…or is it Mr Snowmans?…
First, a little about Burning Snowmans, in his own words:
"I'm a 2010 WSU grad born and raised in/around Pullman. In July I moved to Atlanta to attend grad school at Georgia tech, which has afforded me the fantastic opportunity to attend the Auburn game as well as wave the flag at Clemson that morning."
Waving the Flag/Going to Auburn
By Burning Snowmans
Being from the Northwest, there’s a tremendous mystique about SEC football. Fans from our neck of the woods don’t/can't understand the importance of this sport in the south. We aren’t allowed to have the same passion or level of play as the old powerhouse schools. Our stadiums fit maybe 50,000 (or 35,000 in the case of Martin) where their stuff 100K to the rafters. They get the pick of the litter for athletes; the dregs come to the other conferences. These are the stories and ideologies I grew up with, so when the opportunity came to visit a school like Auburn and see the tradition of a place like that I knew I had to go.
But WSU has its own traditions, none as current and impactful as our Ol’ Crimson Booster Club and the work they do to wave the flag every morning on College Gameday. Not a conversation goes by concerning football that doesn’t have a discussion of how, why, when, and for what purpose there is always a WSU flag proudly waving on Saturday morning. Fans nationwide look up to WSU for our dedication and passion, exposing the rest of the world to Washington State Athletics.
So when the opportunity arose to participate on both fronts this last Saturday, I knew I had to do it. College Gameday was visiting Clemson University in South Carolina for the Clemson/Georgia game, while WSU was playing at Auburn that evening. Living in Atlanta, 2 hours in between both universities, my Cougar blood was pumped to hit Clemson that morning and Auburn that evening for a full day of Cougar Football.
A tradition like waving the flag at Gameday brings a lot of anxiety with it. As of noon on Friday I did not know where the flags were. Well, I knew sort of where they were, they were in Atlanta on a Fedex truck. But they were not in my hands and definitely not in my control. But at two o’clock I got the call from my buddy saying they had been delivered and promptly jumped out of my chair.
At the time I was working on a group project with a grad student from Iran, who was confused and concerned about my actions. I attempted to explain to her the importance of the call I had just received, but she shrugged and made it known she had no idea what I was talking about and maybe should find someone else to celebrate with. I guess I could have tried a soccer or cricket metaphor…
After waking at 4 am and traveling to Clemson, the first thing that stands out is EVERYONE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE. You’re the Washington State Flag. You’re there for some unknown reason, but you represent that school and its colors. The questions/comments come in this order (Southern accent included):
“Do y’all fly to every Gameday?”
“I see the flag every week, why is it here?”
“My dad/mom/sister/brother/relative/friend/acquaintance is a huge WSU fan! Can I get a picture with the flag?”
We must have answered each of these questions 50 times. People notice the flag, who wake up to see if it’s still there every week, but few outside of WSU know the story behind it.
That’s what made this Gameday extra special. During the 2nd hour the boys discussed Auburn and its new coaching staff as well as the game with WSU later that night. That transitioned to explaining the flag, why it’s there, and giving detailed instructions to WSU fans in attendance directions on how to get to Auburn. I haven’t been able to find the actual video yet, but there’s a swelling of pride that comes from Gameday not only taking notice of WSU, but understanding the passion of our fans and that each and every one of us was going to make the 4 hour drive to Auburn that evening.
Before the show began we were approached by a reporter for USA Today. He was covering Gameday and one of the first things he wanted to do was talk to the people flying the Wazzu flags and find out the story behind the phenomenon. His story can be found here and I gotta say I’m pretty jacked to be quoted in USA Today (even if it’s just online)!
After Clemson I was sky high. Waving the flag at Gameday is one of the greatest honors in my opinion a WSU fan can have bestowed upon them. You’re literally representing your school, the institution we are all so passionate about, and presenting it to the world. An event like that all but makes you forget there’s a football game later, that’s like the icing on the cake.
The second half of the day was Auburn. I could write pages on the immensely friendly fans (we got stopped roughly 15 times from strangers welcoming us to Auburn and asking if there was anything they could do for us), the tailgate scene (as far as the eye could see there was BBQ, Beer, and enough sundresses to lighten the soul), or the similarities between Washington State and Pullman and Auburn and Auburn U.
But that’s not what stuck out the most to me on Saturday. Saturday marked the return of football. And not just any football, we’ve all watched a lot of bad, atrocious, (insert Wulff ism here) football the last few years. We saw the return of competitive, Cougar football. There was an offense that could move the ball, a defense that made stops when it had to, a special teams that well, was special. The packed out visitor section of Jordan-Hare was as excited as any set of Cougs I’ve seen since 2007 (not counting last year’s Apple Cup) (or the 2008 Apple Cup), because they saw competition. They saw a team that could willfully move the ball up and down the field. They saw 3rd and 4th down conversions by great playmakers, fumbles forced and running backs stuffed. This is not the team we’ve watched for the last decade, there is no luck or gift wrapped plays determining success. The Washington State Cougar Football team we all saw on Saturday flat out made football plays. It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen that on the Palouse.
But with that competition came heartbreak. There's an old adage in coaching (paraphrasing), it’s hard to learn from a heavy loss, but you’ll see more mistakes in a close game then you knew were possible. Because this game was so close and fought so hard, the mistakes and errors rose to the top and glared. Passes that were forced into areas way too small for a football, hands not quite soft enough to reel in a catch, or defenders' hands just a little bit too weak to make that tackle. We saw all of that in spades. So although this team is head and shoulders above where they were last year, as a fan I think it makes it that much harder.
I think there is plenty of solace to be taken from Saturday's tilt with Auburn though, and most of that comes from the player interviews after the game. They firmly believe in Mike Leach’s system. They firmly believe that was a game they should have won. They have the confidence and understanding of what is required of them to win games, and could care less about moral victories or coming close. I thought Darryl Monroe said maybe the best line I’ve heard from a Coug in a long time when asked about the heat, number of fans, distance traveled: “Those are all distractions, we don’t care about distractions”. This is a team that has Leach’s level of focus and is developing the knowledge to go along side it.
When Leach was first hired all we heard from around the nation was “Be prepared to have a whole lot of fun”. Well last year was not a whole lot of fun. This year? Followers, be prepared to have a whole, whole lot of fun.
Thanks again to Burning Snowmans for the first-hand report. That is one full day of COUG-ness, and you definitely have our respect for pulling the double-duty of flag-waving AND making it to Auburn! If only we could have seen the lads pull it out on Saturday night, but it sure sounds like you had a day to remember.
All for now. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend, and of course, GO COUGS!
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