Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller
Every person has his or her own peculiar way of hating something or harboring profoundly bitter feelings. College football fans are no different. Only they take it to a stratospheric level -- see Michigan and Ohio State and Auburn and Alabama.
I thought of this while reading SI.com's Stewart Mandel's opinion on whether UCLA vs. Washington or Notre Dame vs. Washington will evoke more bitterness this year.
Wrote Mandel:
There's no contest on that one. While I'm sure Rick Neuheisel's return to U-Dub will generate its share of interest in Seattle, any bad blood Washington fans still hold regarding their former coach can't hold a candle to the resentment Notre Dame fans still feel toward Washington's current coach. Tyrone Willingham had the audacity to not only go a mere 21-15 during his tenure in South Bend but (supposedly) caused the Irish's nightmare season three years after his departure with his (supposedly) woeful recruiting.
Certainly a valid opinion. Anytime I wrote a column during my tenure at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer saying something even remotely positive about Willingham, I'd get bombarded by emails from Notre Dame fans citing Willingham's shortcomings.
It would gall Notre Dame fans to watch Willingham, four seasons after he was controversially fired in South Bend, beat the Irish and the coach formerly known as a genius, Charlie Weis.
But while Irish fans are still peeved at what many view as the program's unfair treatment by the national media when Willingham was terminated after just three seasons, most don't hate Willingham. In a phrase, their feelings can be summed up as: Good person, bad coach, worse recruiter.
And, of course, Willingham will be playing at home, even if some UW boosters wish he'd pack his bag and move out.
Moreover, Washington fans won't fling too much bile at the Irish or their coach -- at least not any more than a visitor typically gets at Husky Stadium. For increasingly frustrated UW fans, the Oct. 25 game will just be a marker of failure or improvement during the Willingham-UW Era.
Now when Neuheisel comes to town. Golly.
It will be a Hate-a-palooza.
Notre Dame fans are defensive about Willingham. They blame him for the sorry state of their program. But their feelings fall short of hate.
A majority of Huskies fans simply hate Neuheisel. They blame him for everything bad that's happened to their once-elite program. They don't just see him as a bad coach and an overrated recruiter. They think he's a dishonest slickster con man who was always looking for his next big gig. And they quickly muster further ill will for folks who try to defend him (who me?).
Neuheisel will hear catcalls all afternoon on Nov. 15. And he'll probably want to borrow one of his player's helmets as he paces the sidelines.
Moreover, UCLA fans on hand -- and back in LA -- figure to be pretty defensive about their alum and new coach getting dumped on, particularly as Neuheisel's previous transgressions are endlessly regurgitated across the media landscape. UCLA fans tend to be mellow, but they also are desperate to believe Neuheisel will shortly transform the program into a contender that can again go nose-to-nose with their hated rival across town at Heritage Hall.
Bruins fans will come with the claws out.
And don't believe the players for both teams won't talk about the off-field issues. The game should be fairly even -- both will finish in the bottom half of the Pac-10 -- but if one or the other plays with more fire, that will be duly noted as a statement about their coach.
And if Neuheisel steals one in Husky Stadium? Golly.
They'll have to invent a new word to describe how bitter the Husky Nation will feel.
Ted Miller has been covering college football since 1997, starting with Auburn and then heading West to Washington and the Pac-10. His columns for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer won first place in 2007 APSE Best Writing contest. The Atlanta native and University of Richmond graduate presently lives with his wife in Scottsdale, Ariz.
