Road trip: When in Wazzu...

Text and photos by Joe Connor, our eco-friendly road trip correspondent.

Where can you find some of the best game-day sports bars in the Pac-10 to throw back a few before kickoff? How about Pullman, Wash. OK, OK, OK now. I know what you're thinking, "Joe, stinking Washington State, are you kidding? Has the exhaust from the veggie mobile caused you to lose your sensibilities, dude?"

Well, yes, of course, only a freak of nature would drive a car running on cooking oil across the fruited plain to football games all season long. But, no, there truly are a couple of cool (well, there's only two really) sports bars in Pullman. Yes, Pullman.

"This is Siberia, man," said Oregon Ducks fan Jeff Betts. "We drove six hours to get here. Six hours. But this is one of the best places in the Pac-10 to come in and get a beer before the game."

Betts and his Ducks buddy Dave Martin should know. They've been to practically every Oregon away game in the Pac-10. And they also know that in Pullman it's best to tailgate inside — as opposed to among Cougars fans. Two years ago, Betts and Martin were walking on campus in their ducky green and yellow when a female student drove up alongside them, rolled down the window of her car and proceeded to say three words to them…

"(Bleep) the Ducks," Betts said. "Then she just drove off."

Ah, yes, Pullman. Redneck country. Farm boys. Wheat fields. Where Cryin' Ryan Leaf had a spectacular collegiate career only to become the NFL's biggest flop. Pullman — home of the worst football stadium in the Pac-10 and an even worse football team in '08. And some really blunt fans of both sexes.

But there's "The Coug," a cool little bar on game day with plenty of talent inside and about as much legroom as the East L.A. Interchange at rush hour. And then there's Stubblefield's, set in a old brick schoolhouse about 90 times bigger than "The Coug," but no less charming.

Stubblefield's isn't named after any player, but rather to the area surrounding Pullman. L.A. has Hollywood and the beaches; Stanford has a picture-postcard campus; and Pullman has, well, wheat — fields, that is. Every which way you turn: wheat, wheat — and a whole lot more wheat. You see, after wheat is harvested, its cut, resulting in "stubbles."

The Coug and Stubblefield's is where fans come before and after the game, including the players — and the major hotties. Four former WSU beauties who graced Playboy once waited at Stubblefield's. Even the university president has stopped by. And they sure know how to party at Washington State. After all, no Cougar alum had a more memorable stage dive than ex-WSU quarterback Drew Bledsoe when he did his best Jim Morrison imitation at the Commonwealth in Boston back in his Patriots days.

And I haven't ever mentioned Denny's — or the prices here.

Parking at a Cal frat house? $50. Parking near a WSU frat? $5.

WSU game program? $4.

"And here at Denny's you can get a pitcher of beer at 8 in the morning for $3," Betts said. "Where else can get that except Vegas?"

Cougar fans had plenty of time to throw back a few at the neighborhood watering holes Saturday against the Ducks. At the end of the first quarter, WSU students were high-fiving each other in the west end zone. Never mind that they were losing, 21-0, and would go to get blitzed, 67-14. I guess the high-fives were a realization that the Cougars may not win another game at home this season at Martin Stadium, so the students might as well amuse themselves. Or go to Denny's and buy a $3 pitcher.

—Joe Connor

Comments

[Nuss]

You can't forget My Office -- a great sports bar in "downtown" Pullman with like 50 different beers on tap and 12 TV's all hooked up to different DirecTV boxes. Anyone who's ever been to the ESPN Zone and tried to watch a local game only to find out that most of their TVs are networked so that only three different games at a time can be shown throughout the restaurant can attest how important that is ...