We All Want Washington to Win, Right?

Every baseball postseason, when the Astros make it to the ALCS or World Series, there is inevitably a map posted all over r/baseball or on Twitter showing every state pulling for the other team. Death, taxes, and all of America going against the Astros. Sometimes even a majority of Texas seems to be going against the Astros, but that’s more a conspiracy by the Texas government against Houston (they want Dallas to succeed more). So when I talk about nationwide support for a team, I have some expertise as a man on the other side. Which is why I expect the entire nation to be going for Washington come Monday.

I could sit here and blog all about why it is that Michigan has all the weapons to win the game. Why Michael Penix Jr. may be the second coming of Joe Flacco, which means he’ll deliberately underthrow more balls to draw pass interference for Washington, but put up like 500 yards. Or say something how this may be Harbaugh’s final go-round and he’ll need to win. But what would this blog be if it were about expert analysis and not the slightly schizophrenic sports machinations of a former English major. I just have it in my mind that Washington is the team this year that everyone is looking to win.

Because at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter what the expert analysis is. These are 20-year-olds (sometimes 24, if you’re a starting quarterback) playing what is essentially a nonsense game. But there are some other storylines wrapped into this national championship. For one, just like the Astros, the Wolverines were involved in a teensy sign-stealing scandal. I’ll be the first to admit that I really don’t think Michigan did anything wrong. And I’ll be the second to admit I don’t think Harbaugh should have been suspended and blamed.

Unlike the Astros, no one really hated the Astros before the sign stealing scandal. I don’t think the Yankees or Rangers liked us, and the Cardinals and Astros had let bygones be bygones, even though they pulled a sneaky Edward Snowden. But there was a lot of hate for Michigan, stemming from years of alleged supremacy and Big 10 boisterousness. Remember, the Big 10 has only won one national championship this century. So, when Michigan decided to trade trash cans for in-person sleuthing, America got a little upset. That is to say, Harbaugh is always a couple days away from a public execution.

To me, though, the bigger storyline is the curtain call for the Pac-12. The Pac-12 may survive after Monday in some dilapidated form with SDSU at the helm, and Gonzaga showing up for its one sport that matters. I think everyone grew up on the Pac-12 in some capacity. Pac-12 after dark wasn’t just a meme; it was a lived experience for every 14-year-old staying up past midnight on a fall Saturday. The Pac-12 was unabashedly fun. And come Monday, come the crowning of a National Champion, the Pac-12 will die quietly, without pompous and fanfare. But what a way to go out. And a Washington win will be the perfect end.

Is there a part of me that kind of wants Michigan to win the National Championship for Connor Stalions? Remember those Harambe shot glasses that said “he took a shot for you, so take a shot for him”? This is a similar principle. Connor Stalions died on the sword of unemployment and irrelevancy in the hopes of giving his Wolverines the best chance to succeed. Truly, he is the best version of a sports fan. He’s not a 90s soccer hooligan who decided to crusade against Irish fans during a friendly. He didn’t perform any felonies, like the Cardinals. Connor Stalions loved his team so much he wrote a 600 hundred page manifesto, stole signs, and died on his sword.

Come Monday, it might be the end of Harbaugh, and will be the end of the Pac-12. Washington has to be America’s favorite here. For one, Washington is not Michigan. And for two, it will be the perfect storybook ending to a conference that defined so many late night and so many memories for so many sports fans. Sure, the state of Michigan will disagree with the analysis. Maybe Michigan will even get Illinois in its corner. But everyone has to be rooting for Washington, right? It only makes sense.

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