Sep. 5—SEATTLE — I've heard so much bellyaching about the irrelevance of Sunday's game, this Washington State-Washington duel should be branded: The Crab-Apple Cup.
For instance, a comment heard from a sports fan/friend not affiliated with either institution engaged in this achingly non-traditional Apple Cup football clash at Husky Stadium on Sunday afternoon:
"Seems kind of meaningless, doesn't it?"
Well, like so many things, it depends on your perspective.
I would argue that this game is one of the few things left in contemporary college sports that does have meaning beyond the dollar signs, and which, rarer still, continues to make sense.
Granted, it's a pre-Labor Day, nonconference game early in an era in which the flawed business model of college sports — strangled by unsustainable operating deficits — has stripped teams of most recognizable affiliations and centuries-old rivalries.
That's not to mention the negative effects on fan avidity when those rooting for the underdog WSU Cougars face the absurd reality that the quarterback of the opponents (Demond Williams, $4 million NIL deal) is making twice the salary of their head coach (Kirby Moore, $2 million).
And for the Huskies, well, the old team spirit might be questioned after Williams, in the offseason, announced an intended transfer-portal getaway, and re-opened the bidding for his services. He ended up staying, but it wasn't out of his fervor to exert Husky Pride over the Cougars one more time.
Predecessors in these duels sometimes finished games with one side in tears and the other with roses between their teeth.
Now, with both teams being heavily manned by transient mercenaries, it's hard to imagine a rivalry with less of the traditional bloodlust than this one.
It takes time to build up the required enmity to sustain a great rivalry, and such experiences are rare with revolving-door rosters.
Further adding to the frailty of this feud is that the current contract calls for just two more meetings after this one. So, the clock is ticking.
But it's here for the time being. And that matters.
Especially for Washington State.
WSU has much more to win. UW has more to lose.
For the Cougars, it's the debut of a new staff, in the initial steps of making its way in a newly reshaped conference.
No other team on the Cougars schedule is currently ranked in the Top 25. It makes this an early statement game that could be a huge springboard into WSU's first fall in the new Pac-12.
Conversely, with a home defeat to a non-power conference foe in the season opener, the No. 17-ranked Huskies would be out of the polls entirely and already a step behind at least three Big Ten brethren ranked in the preseason top 10.
An upset road win in Moore's head-coaching debut would be historic.
The Cougars went a meager 1-7 in Apple Cups in the revered Mike Leach era. And coach Mike Price won three of 14 of his Apple Cups.
As a native of Prosser, Moore has a life-long awareness of the relevance of the Apple Cup. He also served as a graduate assistant to coach Chris Petersen at Washington (2015-16, both UW wins). So, he didn't just parachute into Pullman without a full understanding of the history.
Moore had been offensive coordinator at Missouri before taking over a position that had been briefly warmed by Jimmy Rogers, whose lone Cougar team lost 59-24 at home before Rogers decamped for Iowa State.
The year before, though, was the first of the nonconference Apple Cups.
Any WSU follower can still testify to the meaning of that game, when the Cougars held off UW with a dramatic goal-line-stand to secure a 24-19 upset at Lumen Field.
On the decisive play, the Cougar defense strung out an option run, with linebacker Kyle Thornton knifing through the line for a textbook tackle for a loss.
Thornton was the opposite of a transient mercenary, in his sixth season, becoming a team captain after having arrived at WSU as a walk-on.
It was perfection. Drama, significance, heroism, timing. It had everything.
Those are the kind of moments that make a game memorable, no matter when it's played, or however many fans are crabbing about the absence of meaning.
