Forget Bellotti. How about the high definition close up of Ty Willingham puking on the sidelines when the Ducks are up by 50 points.

Bob I would like to start a poll to get jh banned from the blog. All he adds to the blog is hate for Ty. I can take the hate from a fellow Dawg but comung from a ND fan is getting quite tiresome.

Turbine....fact, Ty has a winning season or he is gone.

Question is, which would make you happier?

So does this mean I can assume the replay officials in the booth at Autzen will have high definition as well? Not that it will make a difference when it comes down to it. After all, they've proven how incompetent and biased they can be even under the most obvious circumstances in recent years.

@Dawg4Life:

I think you have me mixed up with others.

I love the Huskies and want WHATEVER coaching staff we have to do great!

I'm at all home games and several road games a year. It's been that way since the early 80's for me.

I have nothing against Ty and I certainly hope he succeeds!

Don't we all?

Bob,

Can you call EJ and ask him if he's going to be ready for the Oregon game?

Thanks

tonedef--

I will speculate on both your questions from the previous thread.

1) For starters, it is unfair to throw this kind of blame at the head football coach of any school. While I have no doubt that Coach Willingham (or Coach Carroll, or Coach Tedford, etc.) gets to throw-in 2-cents on his scheduling preferences, it is a bigger power who makes the final scheduling agreements. Bob has, on several occasions, explained that scheduling for football or basketball is a complicated process that involves balancing what schools are available with who is willing to travel, etc. It’s not as simple as Coach Willingham calling-up Coach Stoops at Oklahoma and inking a date while they discuss golf handicaps.

However, all that said, there are a few pieces to the “logic” puzzle you are asking to be put together. First, UW would want to have the toughest schedule in the country because it provides bigger revenues. It’s obvious that the better the competition is, the more ticket sales UW will have from Husky fans and visiting fans alike. The true purple and gold faithful will be out in force to cheer on their team hoping that the game against BYU / OU / UCLA / etc. is one that makes Sports Center. It’s always nice to be at the game that provides you with fond lifetime memories. And, the better the competition, typically the better they travel. It is often difficult to turn-away a deal that produces revenue like that.

Secondly, it improves our team. If you want to be the best, you must compete against the best. These kids only get twelve shots during their regular season to put the pieces together from months of training and practice. It can only reinforce bad habits if you play a “cupcake” non-conference schedule and mentally play down to their level instead of pushing yourself every opportunity you get. How often do we see teams start-out hot only to watch them flounder as they get deep into their conference play?

Thirdly, it avoids embarrassment of losing to lower-tier opponents. Granted, the University of Michigan loss to Appalachian State was an incredible and unprecedented feat. However, how much trash-talk ammo did it give to other Big-Ten teams the rest of the season? How much new material did local and national sports writers and commentators have in their arsenal? This is one reason I am very proud to claim we are one of only a handful of BCS schools that has yet to schedule a Division-2A opponent.

Finally, these schedules are put in place at least one year in advance if not more. It is impossible to tell for certain if a team is going to be a conference champion contender so many years out, or vice versa. Who would have thought in 2001 that scheduling the Huskies in 2004 would prove to be an automatic win? Bob has touched on this on multiple occasions as well explaining how Todd Turner actually shuffled some of last year’s schedule with this year’s in order to soften the competitive blow a bit. Unfortunately, when he did so, nobody knew Boise State would be coming off a Fiesta Bowl victory last fall.

Please notice, however, that I did not mention “wins” in any of my logic for scheduling tough competition. If all you want are wins, then schedule a non-conference slate against teams like San Jose St and Idaho. But, there are also logical reasons for how a schedule could become so tough (unpredictability of opponent development 2-3 yrs out) and why UW administration would prefer big names to smaller D-1A and D-2Aschools ($$$). This is, unfortunately, another argument that cannot be resolved on a blog because there is logic on both sides, and people are entitled to their own opinions. Some individuals want wins at all costs, even if it means scheduling unappealing games.

2) It is very difficult to answer your second question with a simple yes-or-no. It depends entirely on the circumstances of the five wins. For example, say UW manages to start the season 5-1 with quality wins against Oregon and BYU. They lose to Oklahoma in a very close, frustrating game, then win three more against Stanford, Arizona, and Oregon State. Then, despite escaping with a win against OS(U), let’s assume the “Beaver Jinx” continues and Locker goes down, only this time for the rest of the season. In eerie likeness to the 2006 season, let’s assume we finish 0-6 down the stretch struggling with Fouch. Maybe we are close in several games, but Fouch just isn’t Locker and opponents find a way to stop our offensive schemes with our second-string QB calling the shots. Is that grounds for firing Willingham? Perhaps it is, but I think the administration might see that prior to Jake’s injury, we were turning corners and had some key wins (as you put) against Oregon and BYU in that scenario. They may decide that 5 wins was enough that year.

Or, conversely, perhaps the team starts-out very slowly in 2008 losing our first three games, but finishes strong with victories down the stretch against USC, UCLA, ASU, and WSU. Would such a strong finish to the season be an indicator or a statement that the youth has learned quickly and that next year those RS Freshman and Sophomores are ready for a break-out year in 2009? Would that be grounds to save Willingham’s job for that final year?

There are dozens of scenarios a person could put together. At this point, I would predict the following which is more than open to debate:

I figure WSU, UA, Stanford, and BYU should be wins. Nothing in there is a guarantee, but those are the four games I feel the most comfortable about coming out on top. If UW wins only five games next year, and Willingham is to keep his job, two to three of those wins had better be against next year’s potentially big names (OU, USC, UCLA, ASU) and had better be part of a nice streak either at the beginning of the season or the end of the season. Also, there had better be good explanation for losing one or two of those four games we should have won (injury, Oregon-esque homer refereeing, etc).

Personally, I do not feel a 7-win regular season is out of question for this team. I cannot tell you exactly how it’s going to happen other than I think improvement will manifest itself in the form of Husky victories. I think early-on in the season there will be flashes of brilliance with typical “inconsistency” that has been discussed at every post-game recap since the first game of 2005. The middle of the season may be uglier than we think. But, with a couple of byes in there, and hopefully a fairly healthy team, I think we can turn a corner after our three-game gauntlet at the start and upset a few teams not ready for us down the stretch. A minor bowl this year would be just the final bit of prep those youngsters need to have that amazing year we’ve been waiting for in 2009.

purpledawgz:

Not that it will make much difference to the doom and gloomers on this site, but "Bravo!"

purpledawgz should be banned from this blog for making too much sense.

i concur,

rational thought is not tolerated on this blog.

jh for president.

@Purple:

A fantastic post. Great thoughts and all spot on.

What's the latest on recruiting? When can we expect a write-up on that front?

Nicely done purple.

Turbine, you're right, I did have you mixed up with the others. Apologies.

Agreed to on just wanting to get back to being in the race every year whoever is at the helm but disagree that everyone here wants Ty to succeed. Some would choose a bad 2008 over a good one to see Ty gone.

Personally, I can't think of anyone I'd prefer to see lead the UW back to annual contenders than Ty...but he is running out of time and patience with those who will ultimately determine his fate.

Good post Purple. Now I will ask a question of the group. why do you attend football games, UW in particular. I attend the games because I enjoy watching a well played game. That is what I ask for from the players and the coaches. It is all about the game. Sure I want a win. Not for me but the players who have put in all the time, energy and pain. But most I want to be entertained. I am more likely to be entertained in UW versus Okla game then UW versus Idaha. So schedule the good competition, play a good game and everyone will have a good time.

Cal, I am as high as I can naturally get when the Dawgs win, and very low when they don't...mostly regardless of the performance. A well played game is fantastic if there's a W at the end of the 4th quarter.

So I guess for me, it's about seeing my Dawgs win.

I too am euphoric when the Dawgs put up a big W, especially against a quality team, or the ducks. And I am very down when they get beat by say Nevada. I can't stand a game like Stanford 2 seasons ago. Because they didn't play up to their ability. But I enjoyed the last couple USC games because there was hope down to the end, even though we lost. So I enjoy the actual game most of the time and that is why I attend. I want to see a hard fought game where the coaches give the kids a chance to win. I hate it when I don't think the coaches are making adjustments or putting the team in a position to win. And regardless I will NEVER, EVER, NEVER boo the kids. Refs, coaches different story. Entertain me and get a win. Makes my weekend. And I am glad I paid the price of plane ticket and took the time to attend.

Agreed about the entertainment and hopefully a win...

The kind of stuff that drives me nuts, however, is like what happened at the end of the Apple Cup this last year...

Getting Beat and Beating ourselves are too different things.

The latter is eternally frustrating to watch, especially when it's the 2nd to last game of the season, at home, against a rival.

Caldawg,

I like to see the team win, more than I like to see them come close against the national champs.

I think that UW 24-20 over USC is better than UW 34-10 over Idaho, which is better than USC 24-20 over UW...from my standpoint.

We are starved for wins, and I would rather see us go 3-0 against weak non-conference teams than 0-3 against our top notch non-conference schedule this year.

I also think that doing whatever you can to pad your stats (scheduling weak non-conference pre-season) when you are a rebuilding a young team, can help your kids learn how to win and get some confidence before the season starts. I also don't think this team is mature enough to come back week after week after 3 big early season games to bring it each play when the conference season starts.

Back-dooring our way into 7 wins and a bowl with a weak non-conference scheduled would help this team more, I think, right now, than going 5-7 with a tough out of conference schedule.

I just had the sense that the 2nd half against Ohio State last year killed any confidence our team had in itself, they were so man-handled. I think this made them scared at UCLA, and the next few games as well.

It is all speculation. And several poster have made the point that our non-conference record the last few years is better than our conference record. So that certainly shoots down my argument. But I still feel that if we schedule weak non-conference right now, that might benefit this young team more than scheduling this killer line-up.

When I was a kid, my dad and grand-dad went to each game. My dad let me go to 1 game each season in his place, but he got to pick each one. So of course, I got to see Army, Navy, Bowling Green, Pacific, all those power houses get blown out by our good teams.

I would not want to pay high ticket prices to consistently see us kill overmatched teams, so I understand why my father wasn't excited about those games.

Once we get re-established, I would advocate for a non-conference schedule of 1 cupcake, 1 rather beatable team, and 1very good team, like 98% of this board.

But with where we are right now, I would think it smart to schedule Idaho, Pacific and SJSU.

Anyway, our athletic department has decided to play a very tough schedule for the next few years. I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

I mostly go for the visiting teams cheerleaders, especially when we used to get Purdue here on a regular basis. Just kidding. For those of you that are familiar with the stadium that means my seats have been in the west endzone for the past thirty years. I could of moved many times but I love those seats. Now they don't even ask anymore. I also want to see big name schools come here and have given away my seats many times when we get an Idaho or San Jose State type team. I've never booed our team and never will.

One way to help yourself if the Huskies have another crap season, bet money against them, might as well get something out of it .
One said, officials are incompetent and biased, where I came from, we called that crooked...especially the bias part!!!!

I can't wait for Baylor/WSU. Who picked that steaming pile of a game?

I'm a Ducks fan... The Dawgs are improving their talent.. How in the world can you expect Willingham to win more than 4 or 5 games with having the toughest schedule in the nation 2 years in a row... Look at it!

ducksfan5 -

When I die, I want to go out kissing the beautiful girl.
Who wants to spend eternity remembering that your last kiss was with the ugly one? Win or lose; you can hold your head up when you go for the best.

Formerly, can't argue with your comments. Our schedule is what it is and we need to deal with it. I would love to see us win every game but I would rather take some chances at beating the best. Right now we could use some easier games like a couple years ago when we had Nevada on the schedule for one of those sure wins. Now would you rather have lost that game or one to say BYU? I think we are on the same page we are very tiered of losing. It is turning. Slower then any of us ever dreamed but I do believe it is turning and this might be the year where we wins those close ones or at least the ones we enter the 4th Q ahead. Remember we would have been bowl bound had we not blew the 4th against AZ or WSU. I have confidence that this D will be better. Hope I am correct.

Will the BYU game be blacked out in Western Washington?

No --- Can't think of any reason it would be.