Scooby’s Crew
Phil Wright stood at the top of Section 13 of Martin Stadium with a backpack at his feet.
The father of UA linebacker Scooby Wright always has the backpack by his side — for an important reason.
It’s filled with “Scooby’s Crew” T-shirts that Phil started making last year.
On Saturday, 35 to 40 people — mostly friends and family of Scooby — were rocking the shirts.
They feature a Scooby-Doo-inspired dog on the front with Scooby’s number and last name — Wright III — on the back.
“These are actually the third version of them,” Phil told us. “The first one had his old number — 31 — on them, and the second one, Scooby didn’t think the dog was tough enough. So we had a new one made up with a tougher dog that meets Scooby’s approval.”
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The shirts made their debut during last year’s game at Cal, which is located near the Wrights’ home in Windsor, California. The Wrights had about 90 people go with them to the Cal game last year, filling two buses.
Phil had the shirts made for everyone going.
“My buddy has a shop, and he said he could do it,” Phil said. “The rest is history.”
In the offseason, Phil started getting more and more requests for the shirts, so he had more made.
The gear isn’t just for friends and family — Phil Wright hands them out to any fans who ask for them. Phil estimated he’s had more than 400 shirts made.
“Scooby said to make sure I give them to the kids first,” Phil said. “He doesn’t want me giving them out just to give them out.”
He offered us one, but you know the rule: no cheering in the press box. Plus, the shirt was a medium. Probably wouldn’t work, too small.
Scooby’s Crew was treated to a heck of a game. The sophomore linebacker forced three fumbles and finished with three sacks and eight tackles.
“It’s been crazy fun watching him this year,” Phil said. “He’s a good one.”
Another proud dad
We ran into UA radio commentator Lamont Lovett before Saturday’s game. The former UA player was a proud papa, and for a good reason.
Isaiah Lovett, a Mountain View High School sophomore and Lamont’s son, hauled in two passes for 78 yards in Friday night’s win over Tucson High.
Isaiah had been ineligible to play after transferring from Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, but was cleared by the Arizona Interscholastic Association this week.
His second catch set up the Mountain Lions’ game-winning score.
Lamont was at the team hotel, frantically scanning Twitter for updates. He then started getting a barrage of text messages after the game, congratulating him.
The big number
5 Scooby Wright now has five forced fumbles on the season, which ties a UA single-season record set twice since stats began being tracked in 1973. Ricky Hunley and Chris Singleton hold the record, which Wright has a chance to break over the final five games of the regular season. Wright had three forced fumbles in Saturday’s win.
Colfax fandom
Finding a hotel room in Pullman isn’t the easiest task. It’s why we stayed in Spokane this weekend.
If you’ve never done it, the ride from Spokane to Pullman is — let’s say — interesting. There isn’t a whole lot to look at besides an endless amount of farm land and the occasional horse.
But as we closed in on Pullman, we passed through Colfax, Washington, population 2,845.
There isn’t a whole lot in Colfax, but the number of Wazzu flags that lined the streets was straight up impressive. Dozens of flags were stationed on flagpoles throughout the city that spans less than four miles. We saw a lot of Cougars fans heading down to the game. The ride down for them was fun. The ride back? Not so much.
Mishap of the day
Late in the third quarter, with the home team trailing by 52-16, the Martin Stadium public address announcer said a scripted line he’d probably like to have back.
“We hope you’re enjoying today’s game, Washington State fans,” he said, which drew a large number of groans from Cougar fans.
Game day flags
If you’ve ever watched ESPN’s “College GameDay,” you’ve surely seen the Washington State flag that flies high every Saturday.
The flag made its 156th consecutive appearance Saturday morning when “GameDay” was broadcasting live from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
It obviously wasn’t a surprise to see the flag there. But when the flag popped up at the World Series earlier this week in Kansas City, it caught our eye.
We’re not sure how it got there, or why it was there, but well done, Cougar fans.
A neat fact: The traveling flag is retired after each season. The first one ever used currently hangs in WSU’s alumni center.
No word on where the World Series flag will end up.
Daniel Berk
