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  Eric Degerman is SportsTriCities.com's managing editor. Eric is a longtime Tri-City Herald sportswriter who spent several years covering a variety of sports, including the Western Hockey League, golf and outdoors. Have a question for Eric? Click here to e-mail him |
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That one-line email this morning from my pal, Coke Roth, said it all.
It’s a phrase from the University of Washington’s fight song, Bow Down to Washington, and a number of Husky fans have been humming it for the past 14 hours or so.
Last night, I slinked out of the office early so I could get home in time to watch the NCAA women's softball championship and watch Canadian righty Danielle Lawrie pitch the Washington Huskies to the title.
Perhaps the coolest thing I saw on ESPN's broadcast happened early. I said to myself, "Hey, there's Jake!"
Indeed, UW quarterback Jake Locker made the trip to Oklahoma City and was in the stands cheering on his schoolmates. (It looks as if Jake has put on a few LBs.) Locker is dating the right fielder, Lauren Greer, and even wore some body paint to show support.
I wonder how many Division I quarterbacks have gotten "painted up" and sat in the stands?
Years ago, I received a cherished big yellow flag with a purple "W" from a former party pal/golfing buddy/co-worker John Peoples. The flag made the trip with us to Pasadena for the 1990 Rose Bowl, and Peeps told me that I could keep it. I'd "earned it," he said.
Tuesday's win marked the second national championship won by the Huskies this school year, with women's cross country being the first. Thank goodness for Title IX.
I didn't bring the flag out during the Ty Losingham era, but I'm looking for a new flagpole today.
***
The national champions' roster is heavy with the Northwest talent (only four of 19 come from either Arizona or California), but no one is from this side of the Cascade Curtain.
I can't recall the last time someone from the Mid-Columbia played softball for the Huskies. That seems strange considering how proud, especially those in Richland, are about girls fastpitch in the Tri-Cities.
* * *
Being that I'm a Rotisserie baseball nerd, until last week, I knew more of Danielle Lawrie's little brother.
Brett Lawrie, a 19-year-old from Langley, British Columbia, is a second baseman in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Last year, Lawrie was selected as a catcher with the 16th pick in the first round of the 2008 draft — the highest slot ever for a Canadian position player.
His signing bonus? A reported $1.7 million, which I assume was payable in U.S. funds.
The man responsible for that selection? Jack Zduriencik, who is now the Seattle Mariners' GM.
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