Letter from the Mint editor: Football week

As the first football game approaches, the anecdotes come out

Mint+editor+Jennifer+Ladwig%2C+second+from+left%2C+at+a+WSU+football+game+on+Sept.+20%2C+2014.+The+best+photo+bomb+in+history.+Go+Cougs.

Courtesy of Emily Storm

Mint editor Jennifer Ladwig, second from left, at a WSU football game on Sept. 20, 2014. The best photo bomb in history. Go Cougs.

JENNIFER LADWIG, Former Evergreen mint editor

Now that Mint is no longer doing themed editions, I have no idea what to write about in my Letter from the Mint Editor. So, I was prompted to write about my general musings and anecdotes of times as my younger self.

Allow me to tell you about the first times I ever went to a football game, as the 2017 season opener is looming on the horizon. I was but a wee freshman, it was the end of summer 2014. I was sporting my favorite Cougar shirt and a Coug sticker under my eye.

You could say I didn’t care much for WSU football games in general. I couldn’t tell you who we played or if we won or lost. I was even sober — it was quite literally just genuine disinterest, no intoxication necessary to retain absolutely none of the information.

I was with a good-sized group, a few friends from high school and some new friends from Week of Welcome. Naturally, we all had to take a selfie to prove we go to fun things, which promptly led to the best photobomb in history.

The players kick off and that’s when I check out. Enter drunk man number one: Stumbling up to his friends, I was afraid he’d fall back down the stairs. Drunk man number two: Actually a woman, laying over the lap of a few girlfriends. Attractive man in front of me: Removed his shirt for some reason, but I wasn’t complaining.

Finally, drunk man number four: The only guy still in our chunk of the student section, doubled over. We thought he was sick. Nope, he was asleep. He was sitting directly in front of my friend, and as he was sleeping, he shifted backward, falling in her lap. After frantically trying to remove him without breaking anything, we called a security person to get him onto flat ground.

What did I learn from my first football game? I still don’t understand football, and I’m pretty sure I lost a few brain cells. Maybe you’ll have better luck than me. Go Cougs.

Jennifer Ladwig is a senior multimedia journalism major from Washougal. She can be contacted at [email protected].