Everywhere I go, naïve patrons ask me why the Cougars hate the Huskies.

People ask me why I find myself seconds from driving off a cliff after an Apple Cup loss and why I get so much satisfaction from victories.

The answer is much more complex than one would think. Some rivalries begin and end with a football game. This one means more. The reasons why the Cougars hate the Huskies spread well beyond the realm of sports and into the realms of education, legality and cheating.

The historical evidence that signifies the differences between the two schools is shocking. It truly is a case of right and wrong, moral and immoral, and good versus evil.

The differences between the two schools are night and day. Washington State sits on the outskirts of rural eastern Washington. It takes chances on students who deserve them. WSU realizes that every student has their own unique situation, and just because students don’t come from wealthy families doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a college education.

On the other hand, the University of Washington is located in inner-city Seattle where the real estate is expensive and the egos are through the roof. Since the beginning, UW has arrogantly waved around its academic prestige in the faces of anyone associated with WSU.

Although UW claims to have opened in 1861, not a single student graduated from UW until 1876, according to HistoryLink.org. How’s that for prestige?

Every year, the federal government gives out money to universities for research and development. UW received $949 million from Uncle Sam in 2011, according to 24/7 Wall St. UW is a major research institution, which alone isn’t an eyebrow raiser, but then you find out how the school operates.

According to the Seattle P.I. archives, in 2004 the UW Medical School reached a $35 million settlement in the largest Medicare fraud case in U.S. academic history.

But UW made excuses, maintained its innocence, and claimed there was no cover up going on despite two guilty pleas from doctors and evidence supporting falsified billing records, destroying incriminating documents, and overbilling Medicare despite warnings from employees in the department.

Just a few years ago, the Seattle Times reported that UW announced it would admit fewer in-state students in order to increase its revenue. WSU countered by admitting more in-state students.

During the UW ‘national lobby day’ UW students argued that the school was “big enough as it is,” and that there isn’t room for students who are not willing to pay increasing tuition rates, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

On the same day, a group of well-off WSU students asked for tuition rates to be lowered to help financially struggling students, according to an article from The Daily Evergreen.

Then, there is UW’s athletic department; where to begin? After two self-proclaimed National Championships in 1990 and 1991 (the BCS did not yet exist and they shared the best record in football with numerous other schools), the football program was put on probation for “lack of institutional control,” according to the New York Times.

UW players have also been arrested for cocaine-selling charges and selling prescription drugs, as well as being investigated by the Secret Service for potential crimes, according to the Los Angeles Times.

This all occurred during the so-called ‘golden-age’ of Husky football.

And everyone remembers Venoy Overton, the Husky basketball player who was charged with furnishing alcohol to two 16-year-old girls with whom he engaged in sex acts and promoting prostitution, according to The Seattle Times.

Then there’s the saga of former UW tight end Jerramy Stevens, whose track record goes back to 1998 and includes assault, accusation of rape that was never charged but resulted in Stevens paying $300,000 in a civil suit, a hit-and-run, a DUI, and reckless driving charges, according to Business Insider.

The list goes on and on. Recruiting violations, violent crimes and cover-ups have plagued the Husky Athletic Department for as long as anyone can remember. And the worst part is that they always seem to walk away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

For example, despite a criminal record that would put an average person in jail for years, Jerramy Stevens was neither dismissed from school nor the football program.

After word of his rape allegations got out, Venoy Overton had the privilege of playing WSU in Pullman and losing 87-80. However, to their credit, the ZZU CRU sure let him hear their disapproval.

To put things in perspective, in 2011 WSU basketball superstar Klay Thompson was pulled over for having a busted taillight and arrested because the officer smelled marijuana. Thompson was suspended for what might have been the most important game of WSU Head Coach Ken Bone’s career and the team just missed making the NCAA Tournament.

Marijuana, by the way, is now legal in the state of Washington. Last I checked, raping semi-unconscious girls was not. When it comes to WSU athletes getting in trouble, punishments are served. When it comes to UW, they are not.

Over the years, UW has breached major ethical standards, tried to cover them up, and then scapegoat innocent figureheads when the pressure becomes too much to handle.

This is why we don’t like the University of Washington, and this is why the Apple Cup is more than just a game.

And if you’re still struggling with which school to support, just remember: Ted Bundy was a Husky.

-Beau Baily is a junior communication major from Puyallup. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.