Apple Cup Preview 4 of 5: The Meaning of Apple Cup

Are you from a broken home? Do you or your parents have a "house divided" t-shirt?

Apple Cup is not about decided the state into fractions. Huskies and Cougars. Sluts and prudes. Drinkers and fun-suckers. T-Shirt wisdom would argue you can be both a Cougar and a Husky. T-shirt wisdom would also suggest you trust my friend Joe because he's a lawyer, when he is not. Should we trust these t-shirts? Are Cougar-dom and Husky-dom mutually exclusive?

These are very pointed and troubling questions. Was I wrong to cheer for UW when they made the NCAA tournament and we were in basketball wasteland? Maybe I was. One friend of mine subscribes to the "Keep the Pac-10" strong theory, meaning he cheers for the Huskies if they are playing out of conference. Is this validatated because it indirectly helps the Cougs?

Another friend only cheers for two teams, the Cougars and whoever is playing the Huskies. Does this warrant more respect for pure Cougar devotion?

Are these kind of things what Apple Cup truely about? Should we justify our choice of colleges through athletic competition?

I say Apple Cup is about none of these things. It is about bringing people together. Washingtonian's unite to drink away your Saturday and watch a singular football game. Unite to rampantly insult one another with little reprisal. Bet on things, settle scores, laugh in the face of rivals, and gloat about other people's accomplishments. Own the day create competitions and prove Cougars or Huskies are better at everything than the other. Ping pong, beer pong, flip cup, predicting the score, breathalizer readings, just find something to compete in.

Enjoy