we suffered a tragedy in our family this past week. This is not a rant. This is a piece that comes from deep in my soul.
My grandfather started attending Husky football games in the era of President Warren G Harding. Mr. Harding gave the final public speech of his life at the University of Washington Stadium in 1923. He died later that week in San Francisco. My father started going to games sometime in the 1930’s. He became a Husky fan and was in attendance at the 1960 Rose Bowl when 12 point underdog Washington defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 44-8. He was also in Pasadena on New Year’s Day the following year when Washington beat newly crowned National Champion Minnesota 17-7. My first memory of Husky football was the 1964 Rose Bowl. We watched the game on a giant color television at my grandparent’s house. Husky quarterback Bill Douglas (number 11) suffered a laceration on his leg and had to be taken to the locker room where he received stitches in his leg. The injury to Douglas proved too severe and the quarterback duties fell on the shoulders of Bill “ wee willy” Siler. Dick Butkus and the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois proved too formidable a foe. Washington went down in defeat 17-7 at the hands of the Big Ten Champions. My first game at Husky Stadium was vs. Stanford in 1965. Tod Hullin quarterbacked the Dogs to a 41-8 victory over the visiting Indians. In 1972 we moved to tunnel 20, row Z seats 21, 22 and 23. We watched Husky games from those same seats until the night of the 2011 Oregon game. That’s forty seasons in the same seats! In that era Washington went to seven Rose Bowls. We experienced the high of highs during the 12-0 1991 season. We experienced the low of lows during the 1-10 and 0-12 years. My son attended his first game in 1989 at the age of six. His first game was the dedication game for the new upper deck. His one vivid memory of this game was the release of thousands of purple and gold balloons just prior to kickoff. Washington defeated Stanford that day. Thus on that day was born a fourth generation Husky. He was the best little Husky fan that ever lived. He attended every home game for a ten season stretch. On two different occasions I drove he and his younger brother the 600 mile same day round trip to Eugene and Corvallis to see road games. All together we went to Eugene twice and Corvallis four times. We attended the 1993 Rose Bowl together and the 1999 Holiday Bowl in San Diego. He and his wife got a new dog a few years ago. He was the smallest dog of the litter. They named their little brown lab Napoleon Kauffman. I sat with Napoleon and cried on Thursday night in Moses Lake. The Husky nation lost its greatest little Husky this past week. Andy Davies died in a car accident in Eastern Washington on October 4th 2012. We all complain about Oregon’s dominance of the Huskies in recent seasons. It’s just a fact, the Ducks are that good. If you look at Husky football from a perspective of four generations of our family you can see the tides of fortune come and go. Through all of this we have been loyal to our dogs and will continue to be forever. Win or lose to Oregon, 12-0 or 0-12 the Husky Nation will miss its greatest little Husky ever.
huffingpuffpost 