Three Days of COVID-19 Induced House Arrest

Wed.-Fri., January 3-5, 2024

Three more fun filled days in lockdown at Casa Contreras were both inevitable and mandatory after my COVID-19 positive test on Monday.

Laurie has been a wonderful patient nurse and remains COVID-19 negative, which is indeed good news.

Since I could not leave the house, I spent a lot of time on the internet which was chock full of all sorts of news about the current state of college football.

Much of it, of course, about the

14-0, #2 ranked, PAC-12 Champion

Washington Huskies

That about sums it up

The Huskies will be playing against the 14-0, #1 ranked, Big-10 Champion Michigan Wolverines on Monday night in Houston, Texas with the National Championship on the line.

For the PAC-12, as a conference, this

season has been an AWESOME last ride

It got me thinking about some of the great moments in my personal Huskies memories.

The first time the Huskies, in white,

caught my eye was during the

1960 Rose Bowl

The #8 ranked, AAWU Champion Dawgs were underdogs that day (sound familiar?) to #6 ranked, Big-10 Champion Wisconsin but throttled the Badgers, 44-8!

UW Head Coach Jim Owens being

carried off the field after the win

over the Wisconsin eleven

The Huskies returned to play

in the 1961 Rose Bowl

The #6 ranked, AAWU Champion Washington squad was again the underdogs, this time to the #1 ranked, Big-10 Champion Minnesota Golden Gophers.

It was closer this time but the result was the same as the Huskies upset the Golden Gophers, 17-7.

By the way, the AAWU was the acronym for the Athletic Association of Western Universities.

In 1959, the old Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) broke up over serious recruiting scandals. At that time there were nine PCC universities, California, Idaho, Oregon, Oregon State, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Washington State. Montana had also been a PCC member from 1924-50.

The PCC and the AAWU were the precursors of the PAC-12 Conference that will sadly die at the end of this academic year.

Five of the old PCC schools, California, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA and Washington reunited in the Fall of 1959 to form the AAWU.

Eventually, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State rejoined their old mates as the AAWU became the PAC-8 in 1968.

The addition of Arizona and Arizona State in 1978 changed the league's name to PAC-10.

When Colorado and Utah were added to the conference in 2011, the moniker became the PAC-12.

Huskies RB #25 George Fleming

was outstanding in both the

1960 and 1961 Rose Bowls

Fleming was the Co-MVP of the 1960 Rose Bowl with QB Bob Schloredt.

Schloredt, #15 on the left of the photo above, would be named the 1961 Rose Bowl's MVP thus becoming the first player to ever win the Rose Bowl's top individual honor twice.

QB Warren Moon was the

1978 Rose Bowl MVP

That was the first Huskies Rose Bowl that Laurie and I attended. The #13 ranked, 7-4, PAC-8 Champion Huskies were, you guessed it, underdogs. This time the opponent was the #4 ranked, 10-1, Big-10 Champion Michigan Wolverines.

The Huskies had themselves another Rose Bowl upset by beating the Wolverines, 27-20.

I had the time these last few days to pull out and review all of my old souvenir programs from the 18 Huskies bowl games that I've attended over the years.

1978 Rose Bowl: UW 27 - Michigan 20

1981 Rose Bowl: Michigan 23 - UW 6

1982 Rose Bowl: UW 28 - Iowa 0

1991 Rose Bowl: UW 46 - Iowa 34

1992 Rose Bowl: UW 34 - Michigan 14

1993 Rose Bowl: Michigan 38 - UW 31

2001 Rose Bowl: UW 34 - Purdue 24

2019 Rose Bowl: Ohio State 28 - UW 23

Going 5-3 in these eight "Granddaddy of Them All" games has been a solid effort against quality opponents. 

1986 Freedom Bowl: UW 20 - Colorado 17

1989 Freedom Bowl: UW 34 - Florida 7

1996 Holiday Bowl: Colorado 33 - UW 21

1999 Holiday Bowl: Kansas State 24 - UW 20

The two trips to Anaheim were good but our first two trips to San Diego were not.

2001 Holiday Bowl: Texas 47 - UW 43

2010 Holiday Bowl: UW 19 - Nebraska 7

2011 Alamo Bowl: Baylor 67 - UW 56

2012 Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State 28 - UW 26

Scoring 56 points in a bowl game and still losing by nine points was surreal.

2013 Fight Hunger Bowl: UW 31 - BYU 16

2019 Las Vegas Bowl: UW 38 - Boise State 7

These two wins in San Francisco and Las Vegas brought the Huskies bowl record in games that I had attended to a respectable 10-8.

Now as for the net these post few days . . .

Many were still reveling in

the Sugar Bowl win . . .

. . . a lot

Yes, he certainly did!

Well deserved

That's why we win

Enough of the gloating. Time to focus on the task in front of the Huskies.

The first of several National Championship

Game posters this week

 

Simple, the iconic uniforms

and CFP Trophy tell the story

A bit more info on this one

Two good looking helmets highlight

this informative poster

Of course, there were souvenirs for sale on the net too.

Yours for only $40

This one goes for a mere $35

Finally, this sharp looking, framed

poster can be yours for $100

We digress for some good memories . . .

Husky Legendary DT, #90 Steve Emtman

in the 1992 Rose Bowl Game

Husky TE #85 Mark Bruener

celebrating his Third Quarter TD

catch in the 1992 Rose Bowl

The 1992 Rose Bowl win over Michigan, 34-14, secured a share of the 1991 National Championship for the 13-0 Huskies. The 13-0 Miami Hurricanes were also named National Champions in those long ago, pre-CFP days.

I believe these Huskies are!

Silliness

Two will enter,

one will leave

Fun and Fearsome

Michigan Helmets win

I do like the consistent simplicity of the Wolverines home uniforms.

As for the Huskies who will be in white jerseys on Monday . . .

. . . I'm partial to the #2 uniform

How about you?

More fun, less fearsome

Toss up for me

Underdogs yet again

THANK GOODNESS!

The Huskies need to take advantage

with their Special Teams play

I'll take Michael Penix, Jr., any day!

DE Bralen Trice is a LOAD

for the Huskies

The Huskies RT, Roger Rosengarten

Sophomore, 6'6", 300 lbs.

He has had an amazing season.

He has been asked to pass block on 610 snaps this season.

He has allowed ZERO QB sacks.

He has allowed only two QB hits.

Jacob with Roger Rosengarten

in the Husky Weight Room in 2022

GOOD TIMES!

Coach Petersen's analysis

works for me

One low blow . . .

. . . and another

OK, Michigan got us on this one

It should be a heavyweight

title fight to be sure

Think POSITIVE!

Oregon bonds with Michigan

If we can get into the Wolverines

heads, all the better

Will it continue to be a

magical season?

A good Clint Eastwood

reference never hurts

Nice ride

Good thought for Monday's game

and for life in general

GO HUSKIES!

Happy Half Century!

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

On this date, 50 years ago, we welcomed our first son Andrew into the world.

A football trooper from Day One, as is his Mother, they both waited until after the Orange Bowl game, a 16-9 victory by #5 Penn State (12-0) over #13 Louisiana State (9-3), was finished in the evening of January 1st before rushing to the hospital.

Andrew was born in the wee hours of the next morning allowing Laurie to watch all of that particular New Year's Day bowl games in relative discomfort.

Andrew was a good baby

He has become an even better

father to his son Kevin

By the way, Andrew is the one on the right of this photo.

It has been fifty really good years, thank goodness!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDREW!

A Happy Covid New Year and a Pair of Sensational CFP Semi-Finals Gamers

Monday, January 1, 2024

I welcomed the New Year with an unexpected bang.

I had not felt well on New Year's Eve and woke up today still achy. Thus Laurie thought that a COVID-19 test might be a good idea.

The result?

Despite all of my COVID-19

vaccinations, I tested positive

Fortunately, the vaccinations are supposed to lessen the effects of the COVID-19 until more medical aid comes along.

Thus, it just felt like a case of the flu and, since it was New Year's Day, I would have to wait until Tuesday to talk to my doctor about how to proceed with this battle.

It was New Year's Day, the absolute BEST day of college football every year, and our #2, 13-0 Washington Huskies were playing.

A month of massive over-hyping the

Sugar Bowl game was finally OVER!

It was GAME DAY in

New Orleans!

The #3, 12-1 Texas Longhorns were

set to play what would be an

EXPLOSIVE contest

But first, some late NFL news from Sunday . . .

The surprising Los Angeles Rams

got the help they needed

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 30-23, thus insuring that . . .

. . . the Rams are in the the NFL playoff

again which was absolutely out of the

question at the start of the season

Again, Rams HC Sean McVay is doing his best coaching job to date in my opinion.

The 9-7 Rams are gritty to say the least

OK, let's get back on track . . .

There were five bowl games

scheduled today

We would be channel changing all morning long as the ReliaQuest Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Citrus Bowl would serve as warm-ups to the two College Football Playoff (CFP) Semi-Final games being played in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl.

Alabama vs. Michigan in the Rose Bowl

Washington vs. Texas in the Sugar Bowl

They would both be amazing games.

Would the Huskies be ready for

the big stage?

GO HUSKIES!

I may be near death but I was still going to support the Dawgs!

The only negative in viewing the

Sugar Bowl game was that we would

not have family with us due to my

bout with COVID-19

The Washington Huskies have

a rich bowl game history

The UW's first bowl game experience occurred 100 years ago today in the Rose Bowl.

That 1924 Rose Bowl  ended tied

Washington 14 - Navy 14

The Huskies HC that day was Enoch Bagshaw and the game was played in front of approximately 40,000 rabid fans.

Going into today's game the Huskies had played in 41 Bowl games in the past 100 years with a record of 20-20-1.

Before the Huskies' Sugar Bowl date with Texas in the evening, we would have to navigate through Monday's first four bowl games.

The ReliaQuest Bowl kicked off at

9:00 a.m. and it was a good one

FINAL SCORE

 #13 Louisiana State Tigers (10-3) - 35

Wisconsin Badgers (7-6) - 31

 

The Fiesta Bowl kicked off at 10:00 a.m.

and was the dud most thought it would be

FINAL SCORE

 #8 Oregon Ducks (12-2) - 45

#23 Liberty Flames (13-1) - 6

First, Oregon's record should really read 12-Washington.

Next, Liberty was the undefeated, Group of Five, Conference USA champion but had not played even one Power Five team this season. Thus, justifiably as it turned out, many of us had real doubts about how good the Flames really were.

Kudos to Oregon Senior QB, Bo Nix, for not opting out of this game to start his NFL draft preparation. To me, that says a lot more to me about Nix than getting a tiny bit better on the Combine tests over the last month.

But, then again, I'm an old fart.

The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl also kicked

off at 10:00 a.m. and was, pardon the

pun, CHEESY!

FINAL SCORE

 #21 Tennesse Volunteers (9-4) - 35

#17 Iowa Hawkeyes (10-4) - 0

 

The Iowa Offense has been stagnant all year and today was no different. The Hawkeyes had relied on great Defense all year but today the Iowa squad in general just plain did not show up.

The three meaningless preliminary bowl games out of the way, it was time for the big boys to play.

Now, even though the purported best four teams in the land play  in the CFP Semi-Finals since 2014, these games have seen a lot of blow outs.

From 2014 to 2021, the average combined margin of victory in these two games has been 42.1 points/year.

In 2022, finally neither CFP Semi-Final game was a blowout. Last year #3 TCU beat #2 Michigan, 51-45, and #1 Georgia nosed out #4 Ohio State, 42-41. Those were the types of games, with a slim combined margin of victory of just seven points, that we wanted to see at this level.

We all hoped that today's Semi-Finals would be competitive.

And they were.

The Rose Bowl kicked off at 2:00 p.m.

and was the first CFP Semi-Final

Game of the day

#1, 13-0 Michigan Wolverines

BIG-10 Conference Champions

vs.

#4, 12-1 Alabama Crimson Tide

Southeastern Conference Champions

It was the usual Pasadena Chamber

of Commerce New Year's Day

Absolutely a picture perfect day for

"The Granddaddy of Them All!"

This was one great Rose Bowl that was decided in Over Time!

#1, 14-0 Michigan punched the first

ticket for the College Football Playoff

Championship game in Houston, Texas

next Monday night

Hopefully, it will be safe by then for us to have people over to the house to watch the game together.

On a side note from the Rose Bowl game . . .

100% TRUE!

It is so nice not to have to hear

Paul Finebaum and the other SEC

apologists talk about their dominance

for at least the next week

We still had one more game to play . . .

The Sugar Bowl kicked off at 5:45 p.m.

and was the second CFP Semi-Final

Game of the day

#2, 13-0 Washington Huskies

PAC-12 Conference Champions

vs.

#3, 12-1 Texas Longhorns

BIG-XII Conference Champions

Even though we could not be together, we received photos of the grandkids dressed to support the Dawgs.

Jacob with MANY layers of

Huskies hats, shirts and sweatshirts

Mary was a tad more conservative

in her layers but looked GREAT!

Could the Huskies OL hold up against

the vaunted Texas DL to allow

Michael Penix, Jr. the time needed

to hit his fleet of WRs?

Oh, HELL YES!

But it wasn't easy by any stretch

Michael Penix, Jr. was easily the game's Offensive MVP. His pinpoint, gunslinger passing combined with the OL's excellent pass blocking were the keys to the win.

Penix was 29 for 38 passing, good for 430 yards, 2 TDs, 0 Interceptions and 0 Sacks.

It literally came down to the

last play of the game with one

second left in the game

This great defensive play saved the

day for the Huskies on that last play

The now 14-0 Huskies grit was on display yet again in winning their ninth straight game by only 10 points or less.

With this Sugar Bowl win,

the Huskies improve all-time to

21-20-1 in their Bowl Games

INDEED!

How did Bevo earn all of those beads

on Bourbon Street after the game?

YES INDEED, GO DAWGS!

Now, it's on to next big game . . .

College Football Playoffs

National Championship Game

in Houston, Texas on

Monday, January 8, 2024

#1, 14-0 Michigan Wolverines

BIG-10 Champions

vs.

#2, 14-0 Washington Huskies

PAC-12 Champions

It should be a tremendous game

between two great programs that

will both be in the BIG-10 next season

Rome Odunze, the Huskies WR,

has had an amazing season . . .

 

. . . as has the UW's QB,

Michael Penix, Jr.

It has truly been an amazing season for the UW. Now we just need one more win to secure the third National Championship in Huskies' history.

The Huskies (10-1) won a share of the 1960 National Championship after beating the #1 ranked, Big-10 Champion Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-2), 17-7, in the 1961 Rose Bowl.

In those days, the National Champions were crowned by the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press International (UPI) at the end of the regular season.

Back in 1960, only the Helms Athletic Foundation, which was much ahead of its time, was wise enough to wait until after the bowl games to name its National Champions, the Washington Huskies.

The 1991 UW eleven (12-0) also staked a claim to the National Championship with its 1992 Rose Bowl win, 34-14, over the #4 ranked, Big-10 Champion Michigan Wolverines (10-2).

Parenthetically, do you believe in Déjà Vu?

By then, still with no playoff system in place, the polls all waited until after the bowl games to declare the National Champions. 

The Huskies were declared the UPI Coaches Poll National Champions while the 12-0 Miami Hurricanes parlayed their 22-0 victory in the Orange Bowl over the #11 Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-2-1) to win the AP's National Championship.

By the way, the Huskies also beat the Cornhuskers, 36-21, at Nebraska that season. It was their only common opponent with Miami.

I found this most offensive

But still, the drive for a third UW football "Natty," as they call it today, will continue in earnest . . .

GO HUSKIES,

BEAT THE WOLVERINES!