PULLMAN, Wash. — Tom Pounds began Ol’ Crimson’s tradition of appearing behind the set of College GameDay. He spoke to KREM 2 about how it feels to finally see the flag make its way to Pullman with the show.
“I knew they would come someday,” Pounds said. “I also knew that there was a good chance that this coming Saturday was one of those times given all the circumstances.”
Pounds explained that he was not so surprised the show would make its way to the Palouse. He was more surprised that College GameDay recognized this year was the 15th anniversary of the tradition.
Pounds started the streak back in 2003, when he drove homemade WSU flag 700 miles from his home in Albuquerque to Austin, Texas to wave it behind the set of College GameDay.
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“I knew three things would have to happen – Oregon would have to win, we would have to be ranked and they would have to decide whether or not to take our game over Clemson, North Carolina State or the LSU game,” Pounds said. “But they decided that the celebration of the 15th anniversary was a better thing to broadcast.”
Ol’ Crimson has been on the show 216 consecutive times since Pounds first started the tradition. But this will be the first time that the flag, and College GameDay make it to WSU’s campus.
“I think I teared up a bit,” Pounds said. “I actually got a message from one of the ESPN producers, and all he said was, ‘Hey Tom, go over to Twitter right now and look.’ It took me about five seconds to realize, this is really happening.”
Chris Fallica, also known as “Bear” on GameDay, tweeted a very subtle hint that Oregon’s win would mean the show would come to Washington. Then College GameDay's Kirk Herbsteit tweeted the good news.
It’s all thanks to the University of Washington Huskies, ironically enough, who lost against the University of Oregon Ducks Saturday night, sealing College GameDay’s fate.
The 5-1 Cougars will battle 5-1 Oregon Saturday Oct. 20, where the Cougs will finally see the day they’ve dreamed of for so long, and it’s all thanks to Tom Pounds, and the Huskies, of course.
“It’s not just me; it’s a team effort on multiple teams’ parts,” Pounds said.