There was a lot of hootin' and hollerin' at All-Star Sports Bar in Des Moines Nov. 23 as about a dozen frenzied TV screens broadcasted the rivalrous Apple Cup, the annual battle between UW and WSU. Unfortunately for most fans there, the fireworks emanated until the Cougar comeback in the forth quarter and Black Friday took on a dark cast.

Then it was the heavily-outnumbered half-dozen or so Cougar alumni, surrounded by purple, who cheered their team on to the 31-28 overtime victory, an upset, according to odds-makers that predicted Huskies to win by 14 points at Martin Stadium in Pullman.

Longtime Des Moines residents and loyal Huskies fans, the Silkman family were at the bar to cheer on their team. They included husband and wife, Lucky and Toddy, their son Shannon and daughter Brandie. Perched on their table next to a large oval plate of half-eaten nachos stood a metallic softball-sized object on a stand resembling a bronze apple.

Its caretaker for three years has been Shannon who did not attend UW, but worked in their physical plant.

Shannon explained, "My buddy found this apple and the lid separate at a Goodwill Store and then he bought a brass candlestick holder and made a trophy out of it. Back when this place was the original China Sea this (trophy) held the money for the pool for the Apple Cup. The China Sea disbanded and we said, 'OK. What are we going to do with the cup?'

"We determined that when the Huskies win the Apple Cup, I keep the cup for a year," he said. "If the Cougars win, Eric "The Red" Barron keeps the cup for a year. I've had it for three years in a row. Right now he's out of town, in California. I just sent him a picture of the cup. If somehow WSU wins the game I have to relinquish the cup."

Barron's brother, Rick showed up and sat next to Shannon. He helped assemble the trophy originally.

Owner of the sports bar, All-Star owner Jim Fullerton told the Highline Times during halftime that he was somewhat torn between the rival teams.

"I attended WSU and played baseball for legendary coach (Charles) Bobo Brayton," said Fullerton, a Kennedy High School graduate. He also has a day job at PACCAR.

"I was a pitcher. I have a very good changeup," he said with a humble tone. "But then I finished up by graduating from the UW. I still play baseball now for the PSSBL (Puget Sound Senior Baseball League). I was just pitching in Arizona about three weeks ago. I am cheering for UW because I think it means more to them to get a better bowl game right now. If the Cougars had a chance to go to a bowl game I would root for them, but really they are done."

Bowl games aside, at the Apple Cup the Cougars had done their job well.