The more the history of Washington Husky Athletics becomes known to the members of the B1G, the more likely they will begin to regret their invitation to Montlake. Yes, the conference will take the additional revenue generated by the Seattle market, but the sordid history of the Men of Washington is embarrassing to all. Fortunately, the Hapless Husky men are in such a distant corner of the country that it is easy for Indianapolis to ignore one of the newest conference members.
Truly, the Husky history is worse than they imagined, and the B1G is bound to have buyer’s remorse. I had to take a moment from my fun at Betrino to ponder about what our new conference is going to learn, and be ashamed of.
Before we cringe at the history, it helps to understand the excuses that Husky fans may be expected to bluster. For example, Oregon fans have heard a thousand times that “Oregon would be nothing without Phil Knight.”
There is no doubt the Oregon Athletics, Oregon Academics, and the Oregon campus have benefited from the generosity of Phil and Penny Knight. But when did Phil and Penny Knight begin to help Oregon? Only after the football program achieved success on their own, as only after the 1994 Rose Bowl and 1995 Cotton Bowl did Phil reach out to Mike Bellotti to see how he could help. You see, winners want to work with winners, and Phil had to see that Oregon had good leadership in their football coach, and in their athletic director before offering to help.
Oregon languished for decades, and reached out to him long before his actual involvement. Before he would get involved he had to see a commitment by the university and the athletic department to winning. The generous help from the Knights had to be earned before they gave it, with continued winning results shown from their investments.
Could a lack of athletic success be making Washington donors reluctant to help?
Washington Athletics Needs Money?
“It will take you and your support to @montlakefutures…to allow us to bring in the absolute best players that will help us win on Saturdays.” – @CoachJeddFisch
Support the Dawgs: https://t.co/NIxrYq3wSF pic.twitter.com/0aqTQqAhKp
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) July 10, 2024
Considering the massive amount of wealth in the Seattle metro, it was astonishing to see Husky Coach Jedd Fisch (above) begging for NIL donations. Keep in mind that this area has more multimillionaires than anywhere in the nation, save Silicon Valley. The amount of wealth from Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, etc. is staggering, and fundraising platforms of Washington have not reached them?
This is an epic failure of the Washington development departments. Much more money than the Knights have resides within just miles of the Washington campus. Washington blaming Oregon for its scarce coffers is quite the deflection from the real reason for their lack of resources.
Let’s talk facts. The State of Washington has 13 Billionaires, while Oregon has three. Washington is the only state that has two 100+ Billion Net Worth residents, while Phil and Penny Knight are worth 55 Billion. Ten times more wealth should be going to Husky causes than to the Ducks. There are no excuses for anyone in the Tyee Club to be complaining about a lack of money at Montlake.
Oregon’s enrollment is 23,000 and Washington’s is 62,000 between the Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses. Hence, there are nearly three times more alumni to solicit for donations. The money is there, and if you are not tapping into it, this is from your own incompetence. You cannot blame Oregon or Phil Knight.
Own it, Washington fans…
Nattys are a “Thing” at Historic Hayward Field. (Photo by Gary Breedlove)
UW Men Are an Embarrassment to ANY Conference
You hear the banal howls asserting athletic superiority from Seattle, but the reality is actually the opposite. While Oregon has won 34 National Championships over the years, the University of Washington has only won nine! The Huskies have achieved championships in Women’s Cross-Country, Women;s Golf, Women’s Rowing, Women’s Volleyball and Women’s Softball. Notice any absence?
Washington has not won a single NCAA team championship in Men’s sports, going back to 1892, the beginning of their athletic competition. How is this even possible?
Male athletes at the University of Washington have proven over the long term not to be of championship caliber. Oh, they will claim half of a 1991 Football Championship, but what happened in 1992? The revelation of massive cheating appeared, and subsequent penalties by the conference and NCAA ensued. If this had been during the Playoff or BCS era, the championship would have been removed, but back then you only had polls that remained unchanged.
But Husky fans and Administration continue to point with pride to a title won by deception and dishonesty? Only those of low moral fiber and poor character would engage in such tactics…and that describes today’s Husky fans. It is not like Montlake is a bastion of Women’s sports, since Oregon has won 14 Women’s National titles to their nine. Now, they will claim tons of Club Sports as National Championships, but no, we are only counting actual NCAA-sanctioned Championships.
Otherwise Oregon would be counting the Club National Championships in Frisbee Golf and Bass Fishing. (Don’t scoff at Bass Fishing, as it was a big upset over the powerful teams from South Carolina and Georgia!) You see how silly this becomes? How desperate the whining from Huskies becomes to justify their bluster?
Women have a ton of Indoor and Outdoor National Championships at Oregon. (Screenshot from Oregon Athletics Video)
Think of it. Between the winter of 2014 and the spring of 2017, Oregon won an amazing 11 National Championships. Oregon won more ‘Nattys in three years than the entire Washington Athletic program won in 132 years!
Good gosh, this is embarrassing for the B1G.
Of course you could make the argument that the male competitors at Washington do correctly represent their university. How do their fans and administration do that? By trying to deflect and bombasting their false successes, and if that doesn’t work, then by dishonestly trying to blame Oregon and Phil Knight for their shortcomings? It is weakness that Washington fans exude, and it is reflected in the many ways described above.
Weakness...now that is the track record of the Men of Washington. So they represent their university, and their fans quite accurately!
Charles Fischer (Mr. FishDuck)
Eugene, Oregon
Top Photo by Naji Saker
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Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 38 years and has written reports on football boards for over 26 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports, and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He is single, has a daughter Christine, and resides in Eugene Oregon where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years.
He now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations in addition to managing his two Oregon Football Websites, of FishDuck.com and the Our Beloved Ducks forum. He is a busy man!
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…