My trip to Husky Stadium with my dad -- and a chance encounter

Well it was certainly a night I won't forget. Everything in this story is 100% accurate; none of it is a joke.

A couple months ago, a friend offered me two tickets to the Cal game. Seeing this as a chance for one more game with my 80-year old dad, I asked him if he wanted to go and he said yes. He came over from the Peninsula and I met him at the stadium. The game barely got underway before it was delayed for the lightning strikes. We hung around for 30 minutes before deciding to head home. He asked me if I could give him a ride to the Eastgate Park n Ride, and I said sure thing.

As we left the stadium, lightning strikes were occurring every 20 seconds and rain fell like monsoon season in Bangladesh.

We walked a little ways but the rain and lightning were so intense that we ducked into a bike lock area that had a protective overhang.

It was completely dark but there were some other people gathered under there. One guy was wondering aloud if a game at Husky Stadium had ever been called due to lightning before. I pointed to my dad and said he had been going to games since 1957 and he didn't remember this ever happening. The guy started asking my dad questions about where he grew up. His brother joined the conversation, and one thing led to another and we all introduced ourselves. When the brothers found out I had written the Don James book and The Husky Hitman and that I was connected to Hardcore Husky, they started yelling. They said they lurk on here every day and we're doing God's work and that it's one of the best websites on the internet.

I started talking about stuff like SECDawg, and they knew all about him and his drunken ramblings. They love Swaye and Grundle on here. I encouraged them to register and start posting, and they were like nooooooooo. They can't view Hardcore Husky at work, and the second brother said something like his wife loves lurking on HH but wouldn't want him posting on here.

The second brother steps away for a moment while I continue talking with the first brother about websites in general (he owns a large non-sports website). He likened running a successful message board to gardening and pulling weeds and tending the soil.

Suddenly the second brother reenters the conversation. He hands me $130 in cash and says, "Take this and sponsor somebody to get into Swaye's Wigwam!"

I asked him if he wanted a message delivered. He said "Tell them I'm a Husky fan who now lives in Denver who loves the site and all the degenerates on there."

He said in Peterson's first year we had a horrible game against Eastern Washington. He said fans everywhere were making excuses about how Eastern is a really good team and on a given day they can knock off a lot of teams. He said that was bullshit. He said a good powerhouse team should blow out FCS opponents like that and making excuses is pathetic. Then he said, "Hardcore Husky was the only place you could go and say "Hey Peterson, fuck you!"

The brothers were well aware of the fact that this was my first game at Husky Stadium since 2016. The second brother said if the Huskies ended up beating Cal by 40 points, would I promise to come to more games this year. I shrugged and said no promises.

Then my dad and I stepped back into the elements and made the long walk to my car. I drove him to the park n ride as lighting crashed all around us the entire 40-minute drive. I dropped my dad off at about 10:30p.m. and headed home. He was in a good mood when we said goodbye, but he's probably looking for the nearest bridge this morning.

I'll select the lucky Wam recipient by Monday.