Bad Blood Brews Over the Husky Stadium Renovation

The failure of the Washington Huskies to secure the $150 million half of a proposed renovation to Husky Stadium from the state has ended in some interesting squabbles within the state.

The more visible elements have been vocal opposition from the Cougar side of the state in trying to block the legislation. They even rented a plane and flew it around the state capital in Olympia during deliberations over the bill.

Let's be completely honest, the bill was never going to pass because of anything the Cougars fans did, but because of the huge budget shortfalls in the state of Washington. How can we, as responsible citizens, truly approve $150 million when schools around the state are being underfunded?

However, it's started a bit of a controversy around the state between those of purple origin and those of red origin.

The state senator who proposed the bill, Ed Murray, tried to propose that since UW would not get the funding, WSU needed to live with the consequences. He proposed an amendment that effectively stated that WSU should stop levying a $25 tuition fee on students for renovations of Martin Stadium and could not ask the university to supplement the Athletic Departments budget, to the tune of $2 million.

The athletic directors have done nothing to help it. WSU's director Jim Sterk stayed out of the conversations of the WSU protest, and UW director Scott Woodward took umbrage with this.

Now, all this is contrived to the extreme. I think both sides are in the wrong. The WSU fans need to quit it, because if this passes then the Cougars could have a good model to point to when they need money for Martin Stadium. This isn't a question of if they need money, rather than when.

I go to the games in Husky Stadium; I sit in the horribly uncomfortable benches in the lower bowl, and I see the crumbling concrete and the horribly outdated restrooms. There's a lot of history to Husky Stadium, but she's slowly crumbling away unless something is done.

Look, there are absolutely more important issues to deal with in this economy. As much as I would like a refurbishment of Husky Stadium, I would rather see the state as a whole get on its feet.

All this talk is just inconsequential and only seeks to add fuel to a fire that isn't really there. The state lawmakers aren't going to just give UW money for no reason, and they aren't going to do it because a couple Cougar malcontents start complaining. They have a whole state to worry about.

I strongly urge Scott Woodward to start exploring other options for funding, or perhaps scale back the ambition of the renovation. I would prefer to go to a safe and comfortable stadium if it means having to sacrifice some of the more superfluous amenities.

 

News and Notes

Nothing really to report except that center Juan Garcia got invited to the Minnesota Vikings' mini-camp but has not been given a free agent contract. If he excels in camp, a deal may come.