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The Wigwam Weekly, June 11, 2021
DerekJohnson
Administrator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 61,958 
Note: Normally the Wigwam Weekly is a fun little feature for our Wigwam subscribers. But occasionally we publish it on the main board.
There was a story I posted written by Dan Raley where he interviewed former Husky O-lineman Don Dow. In it, Dow talked about his final meeting with Don James, during the UW-Boise State game in 2013. Dow didn't realize at the time that it would be the last time he'd speak with Coach James.
It made me think of my last conversation with Coach. It was a Sunday afternoon in September 2013. I called and Carol answered. She said Don hadn't been feeling very good and his back was hurting, so they didn't go to church that morning. But she told me to hang on, and Coach James got out of bed (or sat up in bed) and he and I talked for 20 minutes or so. He didn't mention anything about cancer and most of our conversation revolved around college football. As we went to hang up, I didn't comprehend that that could be the last time we'd speak. He died approximately four weeks later.
I wish I could remember more details of our conversation, but it was mostly breaking down various areas of the team and he detailed things that he'd been told about so-and-so's injury or how so-and-so was developing. Nothing earth-shattering.
After he'd died, I was talking with Carol and I brought up that conversation with coach. I told her that I had no idea he was that sick and that I was dragging him out of bed just to chatter about football. She said, "Don always really enjoyed speaking with you."
On a side note, when my sister died two years later, I found out after the fact that Carol attended the funeral. She told me she had been dealing with some health issues but that she arrived and stood at the back of the crowd, leaning against a tree or a post for support. We were all grieving at the time and dealing with a lot, but nevertheless I had no idea she was there until she told me a few days later.
Anyway, such is life.
This week's memory comes from @Doogles and @CFetters_Nacho_Lover. It was the 1998 UW-Cal game when Joe Jarzynka returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown to lead the Huskies over the Bears, back when UW could beat Cal. As those who were there remember, Jarzynka ran up the middle of the field, breaking a few tackles and taking it to the house, before flipping the football aside and rattling the chain-link fence behind the end zone as young fans rushed up to him join the celebration. It turns out that one of the kids on the other side of the fence was Doogles' brother. When this was revealed in a recent WhatsApp chat, @CFetters_Nacho_Lover suggested that this be featured in the Wigwam Weekly.
Here's an article I wrote about that punt return in 2005 for Dawgman, before Kim Grinolds took my name off of it and put Chris Fetters' name on it. (Grinolds removed my name from nine years' worth of articles and credited Chris Fetters with them).
https://247sports.com/college/washington/Article/Jarzynka-the-Art-of-the-Kamikaze-Punt-Return-104199683/
South Korean golfer Hyun-Ju Yoo
There was a story I posted written by Dan Raley where he interviewed former Husky O-lineman Don Dow. In it, Dow talked about his final meeting with Don James, during the UW-Boise State game in 2013. Dow didn't realize at the time that it would be the last time he'd speak with Coach James.
It made me think of my last conversation with Coach. It was a Sunday afternoon in September 2013. I called and Carol answered. She said Don hadn't been feeling very good and his back was hurting, so they didn't go to church that morning. But she told me to hang on, and Coach James got out of bed (or sat up in bed) and he and I talked for 20 minutes or so. He didn't mention anything about cancer and most of our conversation revolved around college football. As we went to hang up, I didn't comprehend that that could be the last time we'd speak. He died approximately four weeks later.
I wish I could remember more details of our conversation, but it was mostly breaking down various areas of the team and he detailed things that he'd been told about so-and-so's injury or how so-and-so was developing. Nothing earth-shattering.
After he'd died, I was talking with Carol and I brought up that conversation with coach. I told her that I had no idea he was that sick and that I was dragging him out of bed just to chatter about football. She said, "Don always really enjoyed speaking with you."
On a side note, when my sister died two years later, I found out after the fact that Carol attended the funeral. She told me she had been dealing with some health issues but that she arrived and stood at the back of the crowd, leaning against a tree or a post for support. We were all grieving at the time and dealing with a lot, but nevertheless I had no idea she was there until she told me a few days later.
Anyway, such is life.
This week's memory comes from @Doogles and @CFetters_Nacho_Lover. It was the 1998 UW-Cal game when Joe Jarzynka returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown to lead the Huskies over the Bears, back when UW could beat Cal. As those who were there remember, Jarzynka ran up the middle of the field, breaking a few tackles and taking it to the house, before flipping the football aside and rattling the chain-link fence behind the end zone as young fans rushed up to him join the celebration. It turns out that one of the kids on the other side of the fence was Doogles' brother. When this was revealed in a recent WhatsApp chat, @CFetters_Nacho_Lover suggested that this be featured in the Wigwam Weekly.
Here's an article I wrote about that punt return in 2005 for Dawgman, before Kim Grinolds took my name off of it and put Chris Fetters' name on it. (Grinolds removed my name from nine years' worth of articles and credited Chris Fetters with them).
https://247sports.com/college/washington/Article/Jarzynka-the-Art-of-the-Kamikaze-Punt-Return-104199683/
South Korean golfer Hyun-Ju Yoo
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edit: That South Korean chick makes me tingle where I pee. Must actually be a dude.
Wood.