On December 22nd, shortly after noon, Washington will play Boise State in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl. It’s a battle of teams that used to have national relevance. This week Washington Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian said, “This is why players come to the University of Washington. To play in games like this.”
Steve Sarkisian flashing an awkward smile
That was a silly thing to say. Players go to Texas State University-San Marcos in the hope of getting invited to the Las Vegas Bowl.
Wacker Field, home of the Texas State-San Marcos Bobcats
Players go to Pac-12 schools in the hope of playing on New Year’s Day, or after, if possible. Now this is not to put down mid-December bowl games. I don’t know offhand who is in the Beef O’Brady Bowl but I will probably watch it. Heck, if they turn the lights on and a buffet restaurant pays to put it on T.V. I’m there. But for Sarkisian to promote the MAACO-Vegas as a destination bowl strike me as a bit disingenuous. Why would he have said such a thing? I put my crack staff to work finding possible answers.
1. Is it that Sarkisian is dumb as a post? No, and that’s what makes it all the more confusing. Steve Sarkisian graduated from Brigham Young University, which is ranked as one of the top three educational institutions in downtown Provo, right behind Timpview High School. He majored in the challenging discipline of Physical Education. The crack staff got a look at his spring quarter report card for his senior year.
Obviously he is a candidate for MENSA
2. Does he have a gambling problem? Anyone who hired Nick Holt has to like to roll the dice a little
“Deee-fense (clap, clap) Deee-fense”
but there is nothing in his history that indicates that he likes to shoot craps all night in a smoke filled casino.
3. Does his tan need a touch up? Doubtful. The temperature in Seattle got all the way up to 49 this week, and the sun peeked through the clouds for 11 seconds on Tuesday. Sun block sales in King County soared.
Any day in Seattle That Isn’t August 15th
Finally, we took a look at Sarkisian’s day planner to see why Las Vegas is so attractive to him. There we found the answer. The night before, the night of, and the night after the MAACO Lasa Vegas Bowl, Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian plans to bark
for Wayne Newton.
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Kim Hastings is a 1984 graduate of Northwest Christian College. He cut his journalistic teeth as sports editor of a paper in his home town of Fortuna, CA, and, later as a columnist for the Longview Daily News in Longview, WA.
He saw his first Oregon game in 1977 and never missed a home game from 1981 until a bout with pneumonia cut his streak short in 1997. He was one of the proud 3200 on a bitterly cold night in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1989 for the Independence Bowl, and continues to be big supporter of Oregon sports. He is an active participant on the various Oregon Ducks messageboards as “TacomaDuck.”