The Boys in the Boat

we’re going on Boxing Day. .

They're from UW? I hope the boat sinks and they all drown.

Yes, this is basically how I feel on Christmas Eve, 2023.

I'm from the PNW. The stories of my father, my uncles, grandfathers, great uncles, growing up and scratching out a living along the Lower Columbia, rowing, fishing, logging, is far more compelling than a Hollywood feel-good story about some guys "recruited" to UW, going to the Olympics, and finding "friendship and meaning" in their lives.

Actually, the Nike movie is interesting because Ben Affleck portrays Phil as a doofus.

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Exactly.

I was playing blackjack at the Hard Rock in about 2002. The dealer said Affleck and Matt Damon were there the previous weekend and playing lots of bj. I don't remember the numbers exactly but the dealer said something like 5K to 10K per hand and they won about 250K. And then they tipped the dealers and staff most of that 250K. I'm thinking the dealer didn't have any reason to lie. 

Wake me when Hollywood makes a movie about OSU's first baseball national title team.

I would really like to see a movie on Oregon State's first Rose Bowl team or Terry Baker.

I really enjoyed Sports Illustrated's "One in a Hundred" article on the 1942 Rose Bowl and there is already a book, "Fields of Battle."

Bob Dethman's arc is particularly tragic.  He was one of the two biggest stars on that 1942 Rose Bowl team.  He threw the game-winning touchdown against defending National Champion, Stanford.  He was the captain for the Civil War.  In the Rose Bowl, Dethman threw the 31-yard touchdown to George Zellick and then the 68-yard game-winning touchdown to Gene Gray in the 1942 Rose Bowl.  Dethman then came up with the game-saving interception to kill of Duke's final threat.

Dethman was drafted 20th overall but never played in the NFL, due to World War II.

He fought at Iwo Jima and was cut off and had to fight his way back to the American lines.  He then held the line with some other Marines, earning a Bronze Star for his heroism.  If I remember right, he also went to Korea.

He lost a young child in an accident, which destroyed his first marriage.

His second wife saw him enter the Willamette to save his dogs.  He subsequently had a heart attack and drowned (the coroner could not tell if the heart attack was caused by him drowning, but the drowning was caused by what on land would have been a treatable heart attack) but his body was not found for at least 10 days thereafter in Corvallis at the age of 38.

Chiaki "Jack" Yoshihara's story is compelling as well.  When he was three, he was on the last Japanese ship allowed into the United States.  He almost blocked a Washington kick but was still able to throw of his timing sufficiently that the Huskies' kicker, Elmer Berg, missed.  The missed extra point were the difference until less than three minutes left in the game.  Washington started the drive at their own three after a punt.  Pushing to come back to win, the Beavers were able to score a safety to make it a 9-6 final.  Yoshihara was practicing for the Rose Bowl but was left behind as the Beaver Express took off from the station.  Yoshihara listened to the game on NBC radio.  After the game, he sold his car and spent some time in the Minidoka Relocation Center (Internment Camp).  He would later try and briefly play football at Utah before quitting and working in refrigeration in Portland, a member of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 235.  He participated in judo, kendo, sumo, fishing, and mushroom hunting.  Yoshihara was awarded his 1942 Rose Bowl ring in 1985 and was awarded an honorary degree in 2008 at Reser.  I was at Reser, when he finally received his Oregon State diploma in 2008.  Very cool.  Yoshihara lived in Portland for most of his life until after his first wife died.  He then moved to Edmonds, Washington, and died in Seattle a little more than 10 months after he received his Oregon State diploma.

Lots of stories to tell from that 1942 Rose Bowl trip.

To conclude, Nike sucks.  Ducks suck.  Huskies suck.  Go Beavs!