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Olympian and WSU Hall of Famer Lee Orr
Summer 2016

Racing into history

The Olympic moment of WSU Hall of Famer Lee Orr

As rain fell in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium in 1936, Lee Orr, a Washington State College student not yet 20 years old, didn’t realize the magnitude of the events surrounding him.

“I was pretty young and didn’t know what was going on,” he said.

It had been over seven decades since Orr raced against Jesse Owens at the ’36 Olympic Games when, in 2008, the soft-spoken Orr recalled his Olympic experience in Germany.

A year after the interview, Orr passed away; however, the story he told lives in sports lore.

Owens’s four gold medals and his … » More …

Chance for Glory book cover
Summer 2016

Chance for Glory

The Innovation and Triumph of the 1916 Washington State Rose Bowl Team

Chance for Glory book cover

Darin Watkins ’84

Aviva: 2015

“I have decided to put my fate in your hands,” said Washington State College football coach William “Lone Star” Dietz to his players, as they prepared to take on Brown University in the 1916 Rose Bowl after an astounding 1915 season. Dietz promised to return as coach if WSC won.

The team fought hard, using Dietz’s … » More …

WSU Olympians thumb
Summer 2016

WSU Olympic medalists

More than 50 of Washington State University’s top athletes have made it to the Olympics since 1920. Here’s a look at the eight who took home medals:

Paul Enquist ’77, rowing; Los Angeles 1984, gold; USA. Part of the two-man double sculls team that edged out Belgium to become the first U.S. team in two decades to win gold in an Olympic rowing event.

Mike Kinkade ’96, baseball; Sydney 2000, gold; USA. Played third base for Team USA which beat perennial powerhouse Cuba in a three-hit shutout for the gold medal.

Peter Koech ’86, 3,000-meter steeplechase; Seoul 1988, silver; Kenya. Kenya nearly swept this event, taking gold and … » More …

No white flags
Spring 2016

No white flags

Steve Gleason made a name for himself on the football field but his most enduring contribution may be tackling ALS.

The statue built in his honor outside the New Orleans Superdome depicts Steve Gleason ’00 on the gridiron doing what he does best: pushing himself harder and, in turn, inspiring others.

That personal drive didn’t stop when Gleason left the National Football League in 2008. Nor when he was diagnosed in 2011 at the age of 34 with ALS, the terminal neuromuscular disease that has since left him immobile and reliant on eye-controlled technology to communicate.

Gleason, who helped take WSU to the Rose Bowl … » More …

Steve Gleason videos thumb
Spring 2016

Video: Highlights of Steve Gleason’s career

Steve Gleason ’00 has faced opponents on the football field with resilience and fierce energy. He takes that same approach to ALS, pushing for more research into the neurodegenerative disease.

Here are some video highlights of his career:

Steve Gleason’s Super Bowl Feature (Courtesy Team Gleason)

Better Now than Never: Steve Gleason at WSU (WSU Athletics)

Pearl Jam and Steve Gleason (Courtesy Pearl Jam)

Watch “A Football Life: Steve Gleason – No white flags” (NFL Films)

WSC football team posing on the field in Pasadena. Courtesy WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Winter 2015

First ’16 Rose Bowl

WSC banged, smashed, bulled, and pounded their way to a 14–0 victory that started a storied football tradition.

Washington State supporters wondered, sometimes aloud, if President E. A. Bryan had made a grievous mistake in entrusting the football program to William “Lone Star” Dietz shortly after the sharp-dressed man arrived on September 1, 1915. 

Dietz emphasized conditioning over running plays, then a radical approach. He inherited eight experienced players and three teams of untested candidates, none of whom were familiar with the single- or double-wing formations Dietz—as Pop Warner’s protégé—brought with him from Carlisle Indian School. Hopes sank when the varsity squeaked by the alumni … » More …

Video highlights of 1916 Rose Bowl
Winter 2015

1916 Rose Bowl highlights

Highlights of the 1916 Rose Bowl, when Washington State College defeated Brown 14-0.

Video by WSU Athletics

 

Silent footage of the 1916 Rose Bowl game played between Washington State College and Brown University. Washington State was coached by Pop Warner’s protege, Lone Star Dietz, in his first season as head coach. Brown’s star halfback, Fritz Pollard, was held to 40 yards by WSC’s tough defense and muddy field conditions. Also includes footage of the parade and players.

Video posted by Tom Benjey

Cover of Chance for Glory
Winter 2015

Chance for Glory: An excerpt

An excerpt from Chance for Glory, about the 1915 Washington State College football team, Coach William “Lone Star” Dietz, and their improbable run to the 1916 Rose Bowl.

A century later, this 2015 book by Darin Watkins ’84 puts the team and WSC sports into the context of the period, when the college was striving to expand.

Read more about Chance for Glory.

Read Chapter 2 of the book, about the crucial game against Oregon on October 9, 1915 (PDF)

The Oregon football team had a number of good reasons to be confident. On paper, the game would be lopsided. … » More …