Cougar Pride

After years of disappointment, a Seattle native still chooses to be a loyal cougar football supporter.

            Standing tall in her handmade cougar football spirit dress, Courtney K. Wieck, a 19-year-old sophomore at WSU, said she can’t wait for Saturday. Wieck has had season tickets to WSU football games for ten years; she is the definition of an undefeated fan.

            “Ever since I could remember I’ve loved coming to games with my dad, it was our thing,” she said. “Sitting in the stands was kind of scary because I was so afraid of Butch when I was little.”

She said attending school at WSU and meeting some players has only made her passion for being a cougar stronger. Wieck said it all started when her dad was at Whitman College. His college wasn’t big on football and he loved coming to games at WSU. Wieck said: “I completely understand why my dad wanted to come here for games. Something about hearing “Go Cougs” at eight in the morning through a megaphone screams school spirit. This year is so exciting because I feel like we are on the brink of greatness. Out of all the coaches I’ve seen lead the cougs Mike Leach doesn’t put up with any attitudes from players. I love Leach.” Wieck now goes to the games with her sorority sisters, keeping tabs on her favorite players. Wieck met Matthew Bock, a senior for the cougs at the dining hall last year. She said she had always dreamed of one day meeting one of the players from the team to get some real insight on cougar football.

Wieck said: “I know I will be a cougar fan all my life. I am going to bring my future family to football games. It won’t matter where I end up living, I’ll make it work!”

Wieck’s best friend Kirsten Peterson, also a student at WSU has recently started to pay closer attention to cougar football. Peterson said: “I can’t believe how well our team is doing so far. I haven’t always paid attention to WSU football because of all the negativity surrounding the team. This year there is such a positive vibe around campus, the game this weekend is all people can talk about.”

One of the difficulties for other schools is not being able to get Martin Stadium to cheer on their team Wieck said. She said the team is at an advantage because the stadium fills up in the student section and is unbelievably loud.