Crisis Averted: Wazzu Flag's Game Day Streak Still Alive

It would've been the ultimate coug it.

Washington State University may have a sketchy record -- and that's in the good seasons -- on the field, but besides earning a distinctive entry in the Urban Dictionary, the Cougars can claim the longest streak of waving a school flag in ESPN's GameDay crowd week after week.

And then, yesterday, the unthinkable news flash screamed across cyberspace:

Even Wazzu's most avid detractors admit that the Coug logo is one of the most -- if not the most -- creative in the college game.

So news of the MIA flag brought a panorama of reactions:

Fortunately, ESPN itself came to the rescue.

The wear and tear of weather and travel made for a series of flags to be flown over the years, and one of them was memorialized in the cafeteria -- where else? -- at the World Wide Leader's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.

The movers and shakers there lent their influence to the cause and ordered that banner sent to Tucson, just in case.

Suffice to say, Ol' Crimson got to the set in time and was met, incidentally, by backup Wazzu flags that concerned alums had express-shipped to Tucson, just in case.

So the show went on, and Wazzu was in its customary position: somewhere in the throng. Like always, frankly.

Somewhere, Tom Tuttle from Tacoma, Washington is smiling. Or something.