The 2006 rowing team finally got its due with a Hall of Fame video and speech, and it's about damn time. We say that not because we know the specifics of their season, though we'd bet they earned it, but because honoring a whole team, not just a star athlete, is the most Coug thing a Hall of Fame can do. It's the same spirit that made us stop and cheer for The 1996 volleyball team gets its Hall of Fame flowers and The 1985 Coug cross country team gets its Hall of Fame moment. Those teams didn't just show up; they put in the work in sports that don't get the TV lights, and they did it in Pullman, where the wind and the hills are part of the training plan.
What matters here is that a crew team from nearly twenty years ago is getting remembered at all. Rowing is brutal. It's early mornings on the Snake River, blistered hands, and a boat that moves only if every single person pulls together. That's the kind of grind that doesn't make the highlight reel but builds the kind of Coug who stays connected long after graduation. The Hall of Fame video and speech are a signal that the university sees that, too. It's not just about the football field or the basketball court. It's about the 2006 rowing team and the The 1981 Cougs get their due with a Hall of Fame speech before them. These are the stories that remind us why we're proud of the place, not just the scoreboard.
Here's the takeaway: if you were on that 2006 team, or if you know someone who was, this is the moment to pull out the old photos and send them around. That speech and video are a formal recognition that your work mattered. For the rest of us, it's a reason to look up the full list of Hall of Fame inductees and see which other teams might be waiting for their turn. The 2006 rowing team got their flowers. Now we get to wonder who is next.