Maybe you’ve noticed the advertisements hanging behind coaches during their press conferences these days. Obviously, producers of consumer items hope the exposure will sell their goods.
Can’t imagine it’s been very effective this season.
Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, for instance, is backed by ads for processed meat products. As if any fans suffering through this season have the stomach for much spicy food at this point.
Draped behind Washington football coach Tyrone Willingham at his press conference Monday afternoon, a promotional curtain informed all that this week’s Apple Cup was “Proudly sponsored by Boeing.”
Aren’t those the bright people who make airplanes? What were they thinking? The Huskies and Washington State Cougars have a combined 1-20 record coming into Saturday’s contest at Pullman.
The only way that’s going to reflect well on the manufacturers of airplanes is as a reminder that people need fast and reliable transportation to get away from football this bad.
No matter the game’s result, it will be remembered as the final Apple Cup for the outgoing Willingham (and the term “outgoing” here applies to his employment situation, not his personality).
After four dismal seasons with Washington, Willingham may be utilizing a Boeing product to find work elsewhere in several weeks.
Asked about the Apple Cup in the context of his recent dismissal, Willingham answered that he didn’t want to “keep treading that water.”
Fair enough. Willingham can be commended for his resolution and consistency. He is clinging to the same message and the same tone he had from his first day on the job.
I have not been among the media offended by Willingham’s persona. I never really cared if he chose to remain tight-lipped and avoid public introspection, or if he tended to be an uninspiring quote or employed a bunker mentality with closed practices and the like.
If the approach truly served the program and the kids … fine by me. Those things are more important.
Yes, at times he met questions with a smirk that carried a hint of off-putting condescension, but we were led to believe that his intentions were legitimate and constructive.
A symbol of his value to this program? We’re not tripping over NCAA snoopers; there’s not a rash of felonious activity or community endangerment. This looks like a pretty sharp group of young men who understand they’re expected to be students.
Thank you, Tyrone Willingham.
Competitively, the man was handed a bag of unmatched spare parts and never really managed to get anything put together and fully operational. The team was bad and now it’s worse. A coach’s job is to take it in the other direction.
Last year should have been his final Apple Cup, in fact.
After last season’s loss to Arizona in October, when the slide of the team and the program started to reach critical mass, I pointed out that while it was admirable for a school to commit to honoring a full contract, a five-year deal really comes undone if the first three seasons are stinkers.
The lame-duck stigma is attached to the staff and the effects on recruiting are almost impossible to overcome.
In essence, Willingham, who has a 1-2 record in Apple Cup games, needed to be fired late last season to hasten the inevitable rebuilding process.
After all, it seemed a near unanimous conclusion that he wasn’t going to get this thing turned around.
Of course, this season’s winlessness is proof. This was merely another disheartening season of lost games and lost recruiting, all compounded by the fact that it also represented another season of valuable eligibility burned by “franchise” quarterback Jake Locker.
The game Saturday could be artless but entertaining; perhaps as exciting as a wild-swinging match between a pair of punch-drunk bantamweights with nothing to lose.
But it’s never been more meaningless.
Although, it will be a chance for Tyrone Willingham to coach in front of a group of people who will be saddest to see him go.
Cougars fans.
Dave Boling: 253-597-8440
dave.boling@thenewstribune.com">dave.boling@thenewstribune.com
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