CFB Travel Guy

Apologies, Cougs. I wasn’t familiar with your game.

Sometimes things are so obvious — literally right in front of your face for years — and somehow you still miss them. The hot new things (e.g. Deion and Colorado) divert your attention away from the continual, steady things that have been right in front of you all along.

For almost 300 consecutive fall Saturdays, a Washington State flag has flown proudly behind the College Gameday set, a testament to the passion, loyalty, and dedication of fans and alumni at a school nestled into the hills of the Palouse, far away from media hubs and the shining spotlight. Yet somehow I kinda glossed over the enormity of that feat and what it symbolizes.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect on my first trip to Pullman, especially as Wazzu played its last home game as a member of the Pac-12 after 106 (!!) years of affiliation. I caught a glimpse on the night before the game, as I met up at the famed Wazzu bar The Coug with some fans I connected with after posting about my travels on Reddit. A fun and dedicated group, I couldn’t wait to join them for tailgating the next day.

What I found was an intensely dedicated group of diehard Cougs who love their university and feel compelled to return year after year, even in the face of immense change to the sport and to Wazzu’s future specifically. I found the same kind of enthusiasm it takes to ensure that a Washington State flag makes it to wherever Gameday ends up.

Spanning multiple RVs and campers parked in a sort of communal quad only a couple hundred yards from Martin Stadium, the tailgate featured Fireball (oh, so much Fireball) taken from shotskis, Jell-O shots galore, “crack ham” sliders, Oklahoma fried onion burgers, and mac n’ cheese made with WSU Creamery‘s award-winning Cougar Gold Cheddar. It even came with an up-close visit from the Washington State marching band.

As the afternoon turned to evening and the crisp weather became ever more chilly, tailgate mixologist Bari warmed us up with specialty cocktails and the music transitioned from relaxing yacht rock to pregame jams. The Fireball continued to flow, and the arrival of some students upped the game to shotgunning of beers. The group even (temporarily) bequeathed to me a piece of sacred tailgating bling: a necklace adorned with caps from the kegs they’ve conquered throughout the season.

Amid all this madness, I boarded one of the RVs to pet a black lab and golden retriever who had made the gameday trip with their owners. I ended up having a fantastic conversation with a retired-vet-turned-drug-counselor named Bob, partially about his unique career path and partially about my travels, but mostly about the way college football brings the best out of people through a shared, tight-knit, and long-lasting sense of community. This entire group was a great example of that truth.

So in the end, the competition wasn’t close. This Wazzu Pandemic Pizza group — featuring Rick, Joe, Angela, Taylor, Mike, Eric, Scott, Jamie, Bari, Jenny, Kimber, and so many more — was the runaway winner for Tailgater of the Week.

As I surveyed the landscape on my way into the stadium and saw flagpole after flagpole displaying Ol’ Crimson, I realized I should’ve known ahead of time how much Washington State fans truly love this sport. Watching College Gameday all these years should’ve clued me in.

But it was much more fun to find out in person, experiencing my first #Pac12AfterDark surrounded by amazing Cougs who went as hard at the tailgate as they did while watching their team pummel the Buffs 56-14. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the type of gracious, devoted, and festive people that encapsulated my entire time in Pullman.

What an incredible time on the Palouse! Go Cougs!