PART 3: 11/7/09 - Washington at UCLA
Following my last trip with the team, a heartbreaking loss to Arizona State, the adversity facing the Huskies continued to mount. The hated Oregon Ducks came to town the next week and thrashed the Dawgs in their own backyard. For the first time all season, fans and media alike began publicly questioning some of the coaching staff's decision-making. With time running out on a season that began promisingly, my third and final journey of the year would be to southern California to root for something that hasn't happened since 1995: a Washington victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
Saturday, November 7
4:00 AM - Roommate and friend of the blog Alex will be joining me for this game, so our early departure is easily coordinated. Barring any mechanical problems or emotional meltdowns, we should arrive in Los Angeles by 10 AM. Kickoff is slated for 12:30 PM.
7:00 AM - A majestic northern California sunrise is pushing the night sky out of frame.
9:30 AM - We begin to de-tangle ourselves from the maze of freeways surrounding L.A. With a healthy three hour buffer to game time, Alex and I are free to add a little more content to the day. Our first stop: the Wild Card Boxing Club, where trainer Freddie Roach and fighter Manny Pacquiao are preparing for their November 14 title fight against Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao hasn't arrived at the gym for the day, but Roach is there, working with other fighters.
After loitering in the doorway for several minutes, we leave to eat breakfast at another West Hollywood institution - the Blu Jam Café.
11:00 AM - Appetites silenced, we head for the stadium. All of the venues I've visited have quirks, and the Rose Bowl is no different. It is known primarily for its exquisite beauty and its rich history. Outsiders are not always keen, however, to the fact that it is nowhere near campus, or that pre-game tailgating occurs on the fairways of a neighboring golf course.
First quarter - The Bruins and Huskies trade touchdowns early, and it looks as if neither defense is in the mood for a football game. When it matters, however, UCLA manages to stop a lengthy UW drive that had gotten inside the red zone. Settling for a field goal there accounts for part of a 14-10 deficit that UW faces after one quarter of play.
Second quarter - UCLA has found a rhythm throwing the ball to its cadre of tall receivers, and would have put up several scores if not for a slough of pesky turnovers. Credit an opportune Husky defense. The Washington offense is nowhere near as opportune, though, and must resort to a pair of field goals on two more red zone-penetrating drives. A 16-14 UW halftime advantage does not feel very satisfying.
Nor, for that matter, does the availability of restrooms at the Rose Bowl. Ahead of me in an impossibly long line is former Husky great Sonny Sixkiller, who is probably calling the game for TV or radio.
Third quarter - The game is very much up for grabs, and the 3/4 capacity crowd, perhaps sensing this, begins to come to life. UW makes a strong statement by getting yet another turnover and finally converting it into a touchdown. Now up 23-14, the purple fans in attendance are beginning to feel that, just perhaps, something special is happening. That belief is short-lived. UCLA's backup quarterback, in the game after the starter suffered a concussion, engineers a scoring drive that culminates in one of the worst calls I have seen in all my days as a sports fan: a verdict of touchdown for a ball that is bobbled - apparently hitting the ground - and then caught after it pops back up in the air. The officials had elected to initiate replay reviews of not one but two plays on the prior Husky drive, and their neglect of the same treatment of this much more borderline play was horrifying (UW coach Steve Sarkisian, for his part, could have challenged the play himself, but said after the game that he didn't have a good view and needed to save his timeouts).
Fourth quarter - A slim 2-point Husky lead is erased by the UCLA kicker's first field goal of the game. UW grinds out a possession that takes them into field goal territory, but misses the attempt, and a 1-point deficit remains with time running down. Badly needing a stop on defense, UW gets one, and UCLA's punter, who had the, er, rosiest job in the stadium for the first 55 minutes of the game, has to come in to punt. As I expected, the game is coming down to the wire, and UW will have the ball and a chance to win.
The Dawgs' offense moves the ball past midfield, and Husky fans in attendance and elsewhere can see a scenario where UW scores and leaves town with a "W". But an aggressive Jake Locker pass is intercepted, and UCLA goes on to run out the clock. It is another close loss for the Huskies, and if futility was the word of the year in 2008, this season's is surely agony.
For those who would criticize the coaching staff too heavily for some of their methods, though, I'd offer that in seven of nine games this season the team has been competitive and had chances to win. After an 0-12 season, some might have viewed even that as an unrealistic development.
Alex and I spend the night at a safe house in Redondo Beach, a pocket of L.A. that plays like a vignette from The Big Lebowski or Pulp Fiction. The next morning, though neither of us are particularly high on architecture or on the built environment in general, we stop by the Disney Concert Hall downtown before heading back up I-5.
UW's season is drawing nearer to a close, and it's looking like a 4-8 record is the likeliest of outcomes. While that in itself may not be glittering, this year I had something I had missed for the last several: hope in the fourth quarter of games, and a hoarse voice the next day. For what was hailed in the early fall as the beginning of a new era, I think that this has been a reasonable first step.
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