My friends and I were at the strip club the other night when I got around to some wishful thinking. Not about the women getting naked before my very eyes. I’m more or less immune to that. I don’t even go to strip clubs ever. We just happened to be there for a bachelor party.
Something about knowing that these women are willingly removing all their clothes without you even having to ask changes your mentality toward their complete lack of inhibition. So no, I was not doing any wishful thinking about the well-endowed brunette climbing up and down the pole, performing acrobatic gyrations at unsafe elevations. Okay, maybe a little. But mostly, it was other stuff.
After the fifth or sixth waitress emerged and asked us if we wanted drinks (non-alcoholic drinks, mind you…thanks, State of Washington), I couldn’t help but say aloud, “Why can’t we get service like this in a restaurant?”
My buddies laughed, but I was dead serious. Think about it. You go get a nice meal at a fine establishment and they rarely pay this much attention to you. You’re just another patron to them. But at the strip club? We weren’t even really spending money and they were all about the hospitality. You have to appreciate that. Even if they are just doing it for the cash. I get it. I’m weird. I know.
Regardless, all that wishful thinking reminded me of a moment roughly one year ago when I crowned Keith Price a future Heisman Trophy winner. I went out on a limb with my imagination, never expecting that just twelve months later, Price would start down the path to legitimizing my ridiculous proclamation.
In recent weeks, the hashtag “#KP4H” has seen a noticeable uptick in publication on Twitter. KP4H, as you might imagine, is short-hand notation for “Keith Price For Heisman.” It began as a stupid gimmick created by a stupid promoter of gimmicks (me). It has come to life with each touchdown toss that Price, who leads the nation in that category with 14, lands in the hands of one of his receivers.
I’ll admit that when I first backed the Keith Price bandwagon out of the driveway, I only did so as a joke. You see, I was a little upset over the University of Washington’s futile campaign to promote Jake Locker as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Not because Locker didn’t deserve it. He’d certainly become worthy of any and all accolades over the course of his stellar collegiate career. I was a little hung up on the fact that a) this team frankly wasn’t good enough to produce a Heisman winner in 2010, and b) we didn’t need to put any added pressure on a player or a program that was already under the microscope. Why do that to a ballclub on the up-and-up? It bugged me.
And so I started promoting our backup quarterback as a legitimate contender for college football’s most prestigious award. One year later, it doesn’t look so far-fetched.
Keith Price is only a sophomore. He may be the very best player at his position in the entire Pac-12. Which is saying something when you look around at the other 11 signal-callers in the conference. Or at least, you know, six or seven of those guys. Let’s be honest, a couple of them really suck. Yes, Richard Brehaut, I’m looking at you.
To date, Price hasn’t done anything to remove himself from the “best quarterback” conversation. He’s efficient, throws a nice ball, limits his mistakes, and has a 3-1 record in 2011. And as mentioned previously, he just so happens to lead the nation in touchdown passes, as well.
Having thrust himself into the spotlight as an underclassman, who knows where Price will end up in the next two years? Undersized for the pro game, the Compton, Calif. native will almost certainly play a full four seasons for the Dawgs. Could he be a future Heisman winner? Why not, right? He has the tools to make it happen, the charisma to help his cause, and a team on the rise as backup singers. Anything is possible.
It started out as wishful thinking and somehow, some way has blossomed into a believable cause, a divine movement. I can’t take all the credit, naturally. I mean, Keith may have had a little to do with all this. Who knows for sure.
Jokes aside, all I really know is this: KP4H actually means something right now. And like Travis Henry with all nine of his illegitimate children, I unwittingly created this potentially-amazing thing. It was up to Price to make me look like some sort of prophet, and thus far, whether you want to believe it or not, he’s done that.
Keith Price For Heisman. KP4H.
In the words of Brad Hamilton, “Learn it. Know it. Live it.”
Filed under: Husky Football
