Vikings' Ship Going Down

It's not like I go to a ton of Division II football games, but the small-college guy in me was sad to see this: Western Washington University is dropping its football program. The Vikings started playing football in 1903, but the school decided to cut its most expensive sport to spare its 15 other sports (which will no doubt bring some Title IX haters out of the woodwork).

As the P-I article states (incidentally another entity that is rumored to be going under), Western travelled a lot for a small school. No surprise, given that there will now only be four Div. II programs west of the Rockies: the directional schools Central Washington and Western Oregon, along with renowned pot haven Humboldt State, and southern Utah's own Dixie State. Aside from Western itself, this hurts its biggest rival, Central. They played each other twice a year, and I had a grand old time at one of them, the Battle in Seattle in October. Where else can students go to a game at a pro stadium and have it be quiet enough for them to pass out? Oh, um, maybe that was part of the problem.

You might not know this, but the Atlanta Falcons' punter, Michael Koenen, went to Western. And New York Giants' tight end Kevin Boss went to Western Oregon. And interception machine Jon Kitna went to Central, while current Wildcats QB Mike Reilly is supposedly a legitimate pro prospect. So it's not like they're playing terrible football in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Besides, how many other schools will ride into the sunset with a win over the Colorado School of Mines in the Dixie Rotary Bowl?

Even though the boys from Bellingham will no longer be playing football, Western will always have this ridiculous catch and its lingering notoriety. Hey, an ESPY is an ESPY, even if Joe Theismann is presenting it. And as some are already suggesting, this can only help a UW Huskies squad desperate for talent.