Apple Cup quotes: A look back at the best takes from those involved in the UW-WSU rivalry

1972

“I guess that’s what happens when you live in a town like Pullman.” – UW quarterback Sonny Sixkiller reacting to Cougar Gary Larsen’s sack dance, calling it “barnyard”

1973

“Hey, we’d better cool it a little. We’ve embarrassed those guys enough.” – WSU coach Jim Sweeney, leading 35-0 at halftime

1975

“Nobody in the press box, no other coach made that decision. I made the choice. The kids thought we should try a pass. I stupidly agreed.” – WSU coach Jim Sweeney, after Al Burleson’s interception rallied UW to 28-27 victory

1981

“This was the biggest disappointment of my coaching career, but I’m even more disappointed for my players.” – WSU coach Jim Walden, after 23-10 loss kept WSU out of the Rose Bowl

1982

“Nothing in my job – not the Rose Bowl, not the Holiday Bowl, nothing – is more important than beating the University of Washington.” – WSU coach Jim Walden

“I never worry about him.” – UW coach Don James, on kicker Chuck Nelson, who was perfect before missing potential winning field goal

“I thought they might give it to me. Those are good at home, but we weren’t at home.” – UW kicker Chuck Nelson, after first miss in 30 tries

“Oh, it was close – about this much off.” – WSU cornerback Mark Blocker, holding fingers an inch apart, about missed field goal

1983

“Is it that week again? I completely forgot.” – WSU nose tackle Pat Lynch

“I’m a 2000-word underdog.” – UW coach Don James, on WSU coach Jim Walden

“I’ve always felt that being a Cougar prepares you well for life. You learn not to expect too much.” – UW coach Don James

1984

“There are four important stages in your life. You’re born, you play the Huskies, you get married and you die.” –W SU guard Dan Lynch

“Washington State is Washington State. There’s just a different type of people over here. In a way, they’re hicks. This is a college town in the middle of nowhere and all they have is themselves.” – UW guard Tim Burnham

“There are a lot of wishy-washy Husky fans in Seattle and if we lose a game, it’s like the season is a disaster. I didn’t want to get a job this summer and have to hear all about it again.” – UW guard Tim Burnham

“After the last two years, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to present one of these to Washington again.” – Gov. Dan Evans, awarding the trophy

1985

“This might sound like sour grapes or end up on their bulletin board next year, but I believe we have better players and better coaches than they do.” – UW quarterback Chris Chandler, after 21-20 loss

“They also come into this game pumped up because they have nothing to lose. We’re their bowl game year in and year out.” – UW quarterback Chris Chandler

“If any people are listening … hey, if they’re a bunch of prostitutes, it’s their problem.” – WSU coach Jim Walden, on his 7-4 team being snubbed by bowls

“What an injustice. The Huskies can say, ‘Come with us, we go to bowl games when we’re 6-5.’ We have to say you can’t. It’s damned depressing.” – WSU coach Jim Walden

1986

“Everybody needs something to hate, and the Huskies make it nice.” – WSU coach Jim Walden

“This is not the Russian tundra. Mike Lude and Don James haven’t been to Pullman more than three times. They’re not an authority on how cold it is here.” – WSU coach Jim Walden, after UW refused to play at 3:30 for TV, citing cold weather and night driving for fans

“I’m in kind of a hurry. I have to get home before dark.” – UW coach Don James, after 44-23 win and controversy over UW’s refusal to push game time back

“I wish I had more eligibility.” – WSU guard Ian Lindner

1987

“They’ve got a lot of great dancers on their team. Too bad they can’t hit as well as they dance.” – WSU quarterback Timm Rosenbach

“No matter what happens, they have to go back to Pullman and I feel sorry for them.” – UW quarterback Chris Chandler

“I’ll count every one of them. I’m going to ask myself, ‘What did I do as a football coach today to beat the Huskies?’ “ – WSU coach Dennis Erickson

1988

“This is the potatoes, the gravy, stuffing, peas and everything.” – WSU defensive lineman Marlin Brown

“All of a sudden there was this guy taking it off my foot.” – UW punter Eric Canton, on Shawn Landrum’s game-turning blocked punt

1989

“It’s not the romantic spirit of what occurred 30 or 40 years ago. It can be lethal.” – UW police chief Mike Shanahan, when students were maced trying to tear down Husky Stadium goal posts

1991

“One game doesn’t make a season but the people who say that haven’t participated in the Apple Cup.” – WSU coach Mike Price

“That’s being a featherhead.” – UW running back Beno Bryant, on WSU coach Mike Price’s pre-game admission he voted Miami No. 1 ahead of UW

1992

“We just hate these guys so bad. You wouldn’t believe how much we hate them. We just had that burn in our gut.” – WSU linebacker Kurt Loertscher

1993

“Miserable would be a good word. Or maybe ugly. No, save ugly for when you describe me.” – WSU coach Mike Price, describing Cougars’ offensive effort

1995

“To just think about losing this game makes me want to puke. It would absolutely disgust me.” – UW guard Trevor Highfield

“When I don’t feel like running that extra lap or doing the 20 extra reps on the bench press, the thing that motivates me is the Cougars.” – UW fullback Richard Thomas

1997

“I don’t have much respect for them as people or players. I just want to go in there, study film on them and go do what we set out to do — go in and kill them.” – WSU receiver Chris Jackson

“They have this kind of technology in Pullman? When did you install telephones?” – UW president Richard McCormick, ribbing WSU president Sam Smith during a conference call

1998

“I wouldn’t have taken a recruiting trip there even if they strangled me. I’d die first. It’s a place where you can go and have a good time, as far as there being a lot of drunk people.” – UW receiver Andre Desaussure

2000

“That’s what Huskies do. They either win and they’re obnoxious about it, or they lose and have excuses.” – WSU offensive lineman Robbie Tobeck

“Their fans are real rowdy. During warmups, they were already liquored up. They had no clue what they were saying, so I didn’t pay attention to them.” – UW receiver Joe Jarzynka

“Congratulations to the Washington State Huskies!” – Gov. Gary Locke, awarding the Apple Cup in the UW locker room

2004

“It eats away at you. It’s been eating away at me for 20 years.” – WSU assistant coach Mike Walker, who lost to UW as senior in 1981

2005

“It doesn’t matter if you have a 1-10 season. Beating the Huskies is everything.” – WSU linebacker Will Derting

2007

“None of my kids – and I plan on having more – are going to be at WSU because I want them to be able to get a job some day later on.” – UW defensive lineman Jordan Reffert

“I have a sick feeling in my gut right now and it will never go away because I had to watch them celebrate in our stadium twice in my career and I will have to live with that the rest of my life.” – UW defensive lineman Jordan Reffert

2012

“You don’t get very many of those kinds of feelings in your life. That’s like a wedding, first-child-born kind of feeling.” – WSU linebacker Logan Mayes, on fans storming field after 31-28 OT win in biggest comeback in Apple Cup history

“I remember as a little kid being so heartbroken when we lost these games. Right when we won, the first thing I thought of actually was there’s some little kid up there (in the stands) who’s going to be happy for the next three days.” – WSU linebacker Logan Mayes

“I had 25 seconds to make a decision and I made one. Yogi Berra says if there’s a fork in the road, take it. So I took it.” – WSU coach Mike Leach, on the decision to kick the tying field goal that forced overtime

“We kicked the Huskies out of the place.” – WSU president Elson Floyd, on field microphone to crowd

2015

“Luke chose not to play today. We chose for that to be the case.” – WSU coach Mike Leach, on injured quarterback Luke Falk not playing

“We’ve clearly beaten teams that were considerably better than Washington this year.” – WSU coach Mike Leach, after losing 45-10

“We just didn’t show up today. That wasn’t us. We waited for it to come to us and it never did.” – WSU tackle Cole Madison

“We know they are not going to be tougher than us. They might have better recruits, but they are not going to hit us harder than we hit them.” – WSU offensive lineman Gunnar Eklund, pre-game

“Basically, kick their asses. There’s no losing to the Cougars.” – UW receiver Chico McClatcher, on pre-game message delivered by alumni players