OK, It All Makes Perfect Sense Now

Meet Tom Pounds, the man who not only took the flag and ran with it, but made it. Pounds came up with a crazy idea in October 2003. He made a Washington State flag, drove from Albuquerque to Austin, then before a national TV audience on ESPN's "GameDay," waved the sucker in the background. One problem: Washington State was playing in Pullman. But Cougar fans took note. Two weeks later, the same flag was being waved during a "GameDay" telecast from Madison while the Cougs were in Palo Alto. The following week, with "GameDay" in Bowling Green, it appeared again, even though the Cougs playing back in Pullman. Pound's crazy idea had snowballed and now the flag is Fed-Ex-ed around the country, from Cougar fan to Cougar fan, proudly displayed when possible at the site of ESPN's "GameDay."