Evanson: There was nothing friendly about OSU’s win over WSU, and I love that

Published 12:00 pm Monday, November 25, 2024

Washington State may have been wrong during their game in Corvallis this past week, but Cougar head coach Jake Dickert couldn’t have been more right when he said prior to the game that the Cougs and Beavers aren’t buddies — and I’m here for it.

What?

How dare you suggest such a thing?

That’s what some of you are thinking right now. After-all, the two remaining Pac-12 teams have been joined at the hip since the conference as we knew it imploded more than a year ago, and at least off the field have formed some level of kinship as the result of being informally labeled “have-nots” when the “haves” of the league sought greener pastures amidst conference realignment.

But while circumstances brought you together, reality will again tear you apart as the games, opposing players and coaches (like Dickert), and/or a potential outside suitor eventually drive a wedge between the two parties of what was ultimately a marriage of convenience.

Oregon State didn’t choose WSU, nor did WSU choose Oregon State when it comes to their modern-day partnership. This was a “desperate times, desperate measures” situation for the sake of survival.

They had a common enemy (the departing 10), a common theme (nowhere desirable to go), and a common goal of financial gain in the wake of what they were losing (a place at the table in the world of high-level collegiate competition). As a result, rather than go down apart, they chose instead to try and rise together by way of the legal system, decades worth of history tied to the Pacific Conference, and a plan to make lemonade from the figurative lemons gifted to them by a new landscape that left them for dead.

That’s great and all, but when the games begin — like this past week at Reser Stadium — few did or will care about the past or present situation, and it will all be about what can be gained in the future for a team, player or coach that will benefit from what matters most — winning.

Oregon State struck the first blow in that regard when they defeated the heavily-favored Cougs with a last second field goal last Saturday, and in the wake of Dickert’s comments from his press conference the Monday before the game, Beaver Nation should revel in the proverbial wound they inflicted.

After-all, he was the one that said they weren’t buddies, so while the loss had to sting Dickert and Cougar faithful, it should’ve delighted Oregon State fans who were left at the altar by Dickert and who he represents.

College athletics, while originally intended as healthy competition between institutions of higher learning, have become little more than a business for the schools and athletic departments they represent, along with the television networks that now make it all go round. As a result, it’s “show business” not “show friends,” and it’s time Beaver fans got that memo.

After all, Dickert said it all when he addressed the media last week.

“Oregon State’s not our buddy. They would have left us as fast as we would have left them.”

He’s not wrong, so leave them now. I say let the rivalry begin — and no one likes their rival.