Talk Is High Caliber, Game Figures to Be

Now that game day has finally arrived, everyone involved with the 89th Rose Bowl can take a deep breath and relax.

No more grumbling. No more angry faxes and e-mails. No more schizophrenic news conferences where three coaches show up for two teams.

Tournament of Roses officials can only hope the action between Washington State and Oklahoma on the field this afternoon is half as entertaining as the preceding machinations.

Or, as Washington State kicker Drew Dunning said: "We just want to get to the game instead of all the talking and speculation."

The game promises to be a good one, matching the No. 7 Cougars against the No. 8 Sooners, who are making a rare and unexpected visit to Pasadena for this New Year's Day classic.

There is no shortage of football drama with Cougar quarterback Jason Gesser trying to recover from a late-season ankle injury and facing the vaunted Oklahoma defense.

But before fans witness that battle, they have been treated to several off-the-field twists and turns better suited to a soap opera.

The hi-jinks began in early December when bowl championship series rules diverted Ohio State and Iowa to other bowl games. Tournament of Roses executives, deprived of their customary Pacific 10 vs. Big Ten rivalry, clearly were disappointed.

Their reaction had everything to do with tradition and nothing to do with Big 12 champion Oklahoma, which gladly accepted an invitation and sold 27,500 tickets. Still, some people in the Sooner Nation took it personally.

University President David L. Boren distributed a fax to Oklahoma media suggesting bowl executives "get over their provincialism and join the rest of the country ... Don't forget that Will Rogers, while living in California during the Great Depression, said 'The migration of Oklahomans to California has raised the IQ of both states.' "

Offensive line coach Kevin Wilson added: "We're not chopped liver."

Rose Bowl executives moved quickly to soothe hurt feelings. Then came Washington State's turn to inject some controversy.

Days before the Cougars headed south to begin practice, Coach Mike Price made a surprise announcement that he was leaving the school after 14 years to coach at Alabama.

His team was mad. Boosters were even angrier, flooding the athletic department with e-mails when Price said he was sticking around for the Rose Bowl.

Even Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops observed this wasn't the kind of thing that gives players an emotional boost.