I recently read the article “Relation- ships among rivalry” published in the Sept. 16 issue of The Argonaut. The piece suggests, in debating the posited rivalry, that the tension between our two schools either does not exist or we the Vandals are “hated” by Cougar students. Based on my own experiences dating a WSU student, I would never suggest the Cougars hate us. On the contrary, I would suggest that the Vandals do not register on the Cougar radar at all.
Moscow, rather than being the home of a respectable and fierce student body, is the place Cougars go to buy tacos, bulk foods and cheap liquor. This is made most apparent by the local businesses of Moscow and Pullman. Walk from the Vandal Campus to Main Street, and you’ll see a dozen Cougar logos beckoning WSU students into Moscow businesses. On the other hand, you would have to look pretty hard to catch even a glimpse of Vandal pride in Pullman. In fact, over the course of four years I have managed to find only two pieces of Vandal gear in the Cougar hometown: a sticker on the window of
a car dealership and, at one point, a flag hanging from the recreational marijuana shop.
Although I can understand Moscow businesses taking advantage of Cougar spirit to support the Moscow economy, I have always wondered why Pullman doesn’t see the same light.
What accounts for the disparity be- tween our two schools in the Palouse? The answer is a simple but painful truth: there is no such thing as Vandal pride. Our school lacks a spirited iden- tity. You can shout “Go Vandals” out
of your car window, but it’s more likely you’ll get a confused, “Who, me?” than a spirited response out of any passing UI students. Perhaps this is because for the past several years the Vandals have had a confusing football team, some- thing we hope to see change with a re- turn to the Big Sky conference, but the truth is I don’t know how we can define ourselves when we are already giving so much to Cougar students.
All I know for sure is that this school has done so much for me. My blood proudly flows silver and gold, and yet every time I walk through our beautiful town, all I see is crimson.
– Zach Dethlefs
UI Student