Have you been paying attention to the Huskies season so far? It's hard to ignore over here on the west side. You'd think they were contending for the Rose Bowl based on the overly optimistic coverage you hear these days.  It wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to hear about false exploits daily in media coverage. Doesn't it seem like UW coverage is always tinged with the expectation of success even though they are one of the most underachieving football programs in the country based on operating expenses versus wins?

The reason is because two of Seattle's biggest sources of sports coverage are intrinsically tied to the Dogs. Seattle used to be a quaint mid-size city tucked up here in the corner of the country. UW was a big part of the community because nearly everyone living here had grown up here. Sadly, the media machine locally hasn't caught up with the times. The city is now a Top 15 media market and it can seem like transplants are more common to come across than locals. There's a reason why a new pro team can find success instantly in this market. It's because the city is becoming less parochial and it's easier to adopt a city sports team than a school team that draws a fan base that consists of alumni or what I call the "Bellevue Community College Husky Alum"….you know the guy. The classic line you've probably heard before goes something like this, "I didn't go to UW BUT I grew up in Edmonds and I've been a Dog fan since I was a kid!" The city is evolving but the old guard is slow to change.

There are two media outlets that haven't caught up with the times more than most and I wish they'd figure it out sooner than later.

1) KJR which covers UW like they are a wholly owned subsidiary of the University. They might as well be since they sunk a massive amount of cash into their broadcast rights a few years back. In other words, if UW is good then their ratings and ad dollars climb. It's in their best interest to promote UW as if they are amazing….even if they are actually amazingly below average. If you are a Cougar fan and listening to KJR you are making a mistake. Every listener is helping UW's bottom line directly or indirectly. It's that simple.  Do the right thing and switch over to 710 KIRO. Much better programming and radio personalities anyways. The Brock and Salk show on 710 might be the best local radio sports show we've seen in a decade. They are excellent in providing dual perspectives and surprisingly diverse in the topics of conversation given that Brock Huard is a Dog. It's almost like they understand that Seattle is a big city and that more people follow and root for the CITIES teams like the Mariners, Seahawks, and possibly even the Sounders these days. Do your part Coug fans and remove KJR from your programmed stations in the car and switch over 710 ESPN.

2) The second source is The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times has two columnists that regularly cover the Dogs. It's a simple matter of economics for them as well. It's cheaper to have them drive to Montlake and cover Sarkheisel's choice of Halloween costume for his kids than fly someone to Pullman and cover at least to a superficial extent what the second biggest University in the state is doing to remodel a stadium or nurture a freshmen Quarterback or talk about a developing star receiver from just down the road in Sammamish. They've also got two beat writers that cover everything Dogs year-round. Again, it's in their best interest to see the Dogs successful to drive more eyeballs to their blogs and paper which will result in more ad revenue which in turn justifies two full-time UW jobs in the newsroom. I just wish that someone had enough business acumen over there to realize that smart companies diversify. In other words, having a following on the site and in the paper that is two schools might actually smooth out the dependence on a single school. Diversity of coverage allows you to shift a little bit of the coverage to the Cougs during the Dog down years rather than trying to pretend and sell to consumers that the Dogs are better than they actually are.

The extent of The Coug coverage in The Seattle Times is to pick-up Vince Grippi articles and cut them down by 50% and drop them to their website. You will see an occasional Bud Withers article come out to remind the general public of just how far behind WSU is in terms of….pick your topic…..funding, recruiting, coaches pay, etc. Never mind the fact that there is a huge segment of the population that might be interested or want to root for the underdog. The team and the program that are trying to do more with less EVERY season and aren't asking for a government handout to remodel their stadium. The team and program that has more of a blue collar mentality than the blue hairs over at Montlake that do less with more every year.

Seattle is now one of the 15 biggest cities in the country by media standards and it's time their media outlets start acting like it.

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