Monday, September 13, 2010

A Great Day In Pullman

Sometimes you learn a lot from your significant other, in this case my wonderful wife Kathy. It was hard getting her to go to the WSU-Montana State game on Saturday, given the current situation with the Cougar Football Program. She started to 'buy in' to some of the things she's been hearing from her die-hard Cougar friends, many of them abandoning ship and giving up on coach Paul Wulff and his staff.

As the Cougs fell behind in the second quarter and later at halftime, I gazed around at the 26,000+ fans who showed up for the non-conference game with the Bobcats. It was a perfect day for football. My friend Jim, a loyal MSU fan and graduate, sat next to us with his two young sons. It was huge for them and a great bonding experience. For a Montana State fan, this is big time football. Earlier in the day, his oldest ran 45 yards for a touchdown in a grid kids game.

I appreciated how great it was to be back in Pullman again. My wife and I met there and it will always be a special place for both of us. We also enjoyed watching Emily Walden (former coach Jim Walden's daughter who we went to school with) lecturing some guy next to her for not supporting the coach. Knowing her, I'm sure she got the best of him in this one. He left a short time later.

Despite the lackluster performance by the Cougars, and the nay sayers that continue to haunt Paul Wulff and his program, I found the day real enjoyable even before the Cougars came back to take the lead. My wife summed it up best. "Thanks for buying the season tickets hon", she whispered in my ear.

She couldn't have said it any better.