Apple Cup overflows with memorable tales

IN THE 14-PLUS years Cougfan.com has been covering the crimson landscape, the Apple Cup has offered up a mountain of fertile journalistic ground to plow. Colorful characters, epic tales, great performances and so much more.

There's nothing quite like a cross-state rivalry. As Cougar All-American Dan Lynch famously said in 1984: "There are four important stages in your life. You're born, you play the Huskies, you get married and you die."

We would add, "And you write about some of it, too!"

A search of the CF.C archives yielded a variety of Apple Cup-related stories that are as interesting, entertaining and compelling now as they were when we first published them. We hope you’ll enjoy this walk down memory lane as much as we did. There’s also some outstanding photography sprinkled throughout.

HANK GRENDA

A quick note on three of the people featured in the stories that follow ...

Hank Grenda, who came from deep on the bench to have a hand (or foot) in every point on the scoreboard in 1968, died of a massive heart attack five months after our November 2005 story appeared.

Trandon Harvey, who was hoping to land an NFL audition at the time of our March 2006 story, found a home in the Arena Football League and became a big star with the Arizona Rattlers.

Rich Howard, the devout Cougar fan and WSU grad who in 2007 shared a variety of reflections from attending 30-straight Apple Cups, will be in the stands for No. 34 this Saturday. We also expect him back in action manning the CF.C barbeque in Tailgate Heaven when the Cougs return to Qwest Field in October.

Without further ado, here are nine Apple Cup stories to remember:

Apple Cup lore: Grenda’s dominating day
Forgotten QB thrust into starting lineup and proceeds to make history

The Greatest Apple Cup of the last 30 years
Unless you were there, the answer may surprise

Epic battle sidelined by tragedy
Cougar legend Torgy Torgeson relives the heartbreak 50 years later

The War of Words
Why Cougars and Huskies just don’t get along

So why did the Husky cross the road?
A little bit of Dawg humor for every occasion

Eyewitness to 30 straight Apple Cups reflects
WSU grad hasn’t missed a Cup in three decades, talks about highs and lows

Rotten to the core
Gesser goes down and backward forward pass rules the day

Trandon Harvey’s permanent place in history
Apple Cup hero still not sure of place in Cougar lore

Cody Boyd and ‘The Big Yard’
Six-foot-8 tight end’s clutch heroics earn a new nickname

IMMACULATE GRABS SPARK WSU APPLE CUP WIN
Cougs win 42-35 shootout on Brink-to-Gibson pass with seconds left

Now that was an Apple Cup to remember
Just when it looked over, Cougar offense goes into overdrive to set up double-OT thriller

THE GLORY OF 1982: THE BIGGEST UPSET IN APPLE CUP HISTORY EARNED HEAD COACH JIM WALDEN A SHOULDER-HIGH RIDE OFF THE FIELD.