Here you go, Coug fans...

This may be the only time that a die hard Husky shows you empathy, and wishes you weren't going through what you're going through.

In 2008, as all Coug's will happily point out, the Washington Huskies went 0-12.

It was, without a doubt, the worst possible sporting experience that I have ever gone through. Ronnie Fouch? Willie Griffin? It was like the scene in Major League where the Executives are looking through the roster that Rachel Phelps has put together, and they have this exchange:

Executive 1: I never heard of half these guys, and the ones I have heard of are way past their prime

Executive 2: Most of these guys never had a prime.

Executive 3: This guy here is DEAD!

Rachel Phelps/Tyrone Willingham: Cross him off, then. 

Yeah, it was that bad. So, Paint Dry Ty got canned after eight games, but then for some inexplicable reason was allowed to coach the rest of the year as a lame duck Head Coach. Then, in January of 2009, UW hired Steve Sarkisian to be the next coach of the Dawgs. There was excitement. There was passion. There was hope. 

In Coach Sark's first year, we went from zero wins to five wins, including one of the most memorable games I've ever seen live.

Despite some inconsistencies, UW has steadily improved. Five wins in 2009, seven in 2010 including a Holiday Bowl victory over Nebraska, seven in 2011 including a memorable Alamo Bowl shootout with RG III, and already up to six wins in 2012 with two games remaining. 

Now we journey to the other side of the state - to Pullman. In 2008, it was arguable that the Cougs were actually a worse team talent wise than UW. Of course, in the worst Apple Cup of all time, my old friend Tripper Johnson got beat deep to set up the game tying field goal that lead to WSU's overtime victory. 

2008 was the first year of the Paul Wulff experience, and in all honesty, that Apple Cup win was probably the highlight of his tenure. 

They guy couldn't recruit D-I talent to Pullman, and couldn't coach the talent he had to be competitive. His overall record at WSU was 9-40, and his conference record was 4-32. Dude made Ty Willingham look like a Boss. Which he most certainly was not. 

So, after the 2012 season, and another Apple Cup loss, Wulff's firing was just a formality. Now, the Coug's were fired up. They had an Athletic Director in Bill Moos who wasn't afraid to take a gamble. They had more financial resources thanks to the Pac 12's new TV contract (Larry Scott actually IS a Boss). It was time to return WSU Football not only to relevance, but to prominence. People forget, as recently as 2003 this team was a Top 10 team nationally! 

Bill Moos wasted no time making his splash. 

Almost immediately I started getting texts, IM's, and Facebook Messages. 

Cougs are back. 

We're winning seven games this year. 

Bowl game. 

We have more talent than UW already.

You guys should be terrified.

And on it went - and I was scared. I just watched the worst Husky D of all time give up 240 points to Baylor in the Alamo Bowl, and now all of the sudden Mike Leach and his Air Raid Offense were coming to the Pac-12? Nervous indeed. But as they say...THAT'S why they play the games...

On National TV, the first game in College Football all year - WSU gets to go to BYU and show off their new look. Anywhere you went, the Coug passion and energy was palpable. They took the day off of work. They were sauced by noon for a 5 pm kick off. On a Thursday. 

And what happened? 30-6, BYU. -5 rushing yards. Ouch. 

It's only gotten worse as the year has gone on. Bad losses (again), blowouts and close games. But what's even worse is what's come to light in the past two weeks. Marquess Wilson's suspension, quitting the team, and allegations of abuse against Leach are a new low for the Cougs. I really doubt that it's true - I doubt that Leach and his staff abuse players. I think Marquess Wilson is a puss. An absurdly talented puss who could have been the best player in WSU history if he had the work ethic and drive to make it so. Mike Leach is notorious for being demanding of his players, and Marquess Wilson is notorious for skating by on sheer ability, so you could almost see this coming. The irresistible force meets the immovable object. 

Here we are, 11 weeks into the Leach Regime, and we have a 2-8 WSU team with only one win against a D-I program (and they barely squeaked by Eastern Washington), and now we have pending University and Conference investigations into allegations of abuse. 

I swear, I am not piling on. I feel for you, WSU. I honestly thought that Leach would turn things around very quickly this year, similar to the turnaround Washington had in 2009. I know how beaten down I was at the end of the Willingham Era. I didn't even watch the second half of the 2008 Apple Cup. I had spent so much time and money investing in the Huskies, and they were a joke. I wasn't even mad, I was completely numb as a fan, which is worse than anger (ask the Mariners) 

Instead of a turnaround, instead of a breakthrough, it's been a breakdown for WSU. The most diehard Coug  that I know, Mr. Anthony Ward, is over it. This guy loves his team just like I love my Huskies. It's bad, bad news when a fan like that just doesn't care because he's been smacked in the mouth so many times. 

So, here you go Coug fans. I hope, for your sake, that Mike Leach gets it together. I hope that he rights the ship (yes, pun intended) and starts to get the results that he had at Texas Tech. No fans deserve to go through what you have for the past six seasons. 

Except Oregon.