I wouldn't call it a curse having me cover your team while I worked on Jeff Morrow's staff at the Herald, but I certainly did not have the Midas touch when it came to wins.
There were two programs that I spent more than one season following — the Tri-City Americans (1988-1998) and Washington State University football (2004-2005).
The Ams never won a division title during that first decade and went through a dozen head coaches. The litany of bench bosses I covered began with Gordie Lane, a stalwart defenseman on the great New York Islander clubs, who quit without coaching a game for owner Ron Dixon.
When it came to the Cougs, I never saw them win a Pac-10 conference home game under coach Bill Doba. (I missed the 2004 Apple Cup.)
In retrospect, there was considerable offensive talent living in Pullman during that time with quarterback Alex Brink (now a backup for the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers), the emerging Brandon Gibson (St. Louis Rams) and the amazing Jerome Harrison (Detroit Lions).
Two others who provided highlights for WSU — and also made it to the NFL — were Jed Collins (New Orleans) and Jason Hill (Jacksonville).
Tonight on ESPN in their win vs. the Baltimore Ravens, Hill was the Jaguars' top receiver with four grabs for 62 yards. The 26-year-old caught a TD pass in each of the previous two games. Hill still owns the WSU school mark for career TD receptions (35).
Sunday night on NBC, Collins, 25, grunted his way to a 1-yard TD run against Indianapolis. That Al Michaels knew anything about Collins showed me the level of preparation Michaels does for each broadcast.
It was easy to root for Collins and fun to interview him during his days in Pullman. He seemed willing to do whatever the Cougars asked of him, especially as a freshman when he stood out on special teams, served as Harrison’s blocking back and filled in at middle linebacker when Will Derting was injured.
And Collins' NFL bio reads akin to an odyssey. If my math is correct, the Saints are the seventh franchise he’s been a part of...
“Signed by Saints to a reserve/futures contract, 1/13/11 after spending most of 2010 season on the practice squad…Spent two games in the 2008 season on active roster of the Browns and has also spent time on the practice squads of Cleveland, Arizona, Chicago and Philadelphia, after being signed by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2008…Went to training camp with Kansas City in 2009 and with Tennessee in 2010.”
Sadly, last week, Harrison, 28, reportedly was diagnosed with a brain tumor that is expected to be treated successfully.
His 1,900 yards during that otherwise hapless 2005 season stands as WSU’s single-season record and earned him All-American status. Four years later, he set the Cleveland Browns’ single-game record of 286 rushing yards. The legendary Jim Brown held the mark.
