Post Cards in Time
9/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Kramer’s personal history like a slide show. The images from Cougar Saturdays long agostand out in his memory like post cards in time.
There’s Mike Kramer as a youngster, listening to the Cougars on the radio and then, hourslater, in his front yard, breaking tackles like Clancy Williams and catching passes like HughCampbell. He may have been on the edge of a Colton, Wash., wheat field, but his heart was atMartin Stadium.
There’s Mike Kramer as a kid on special Sundays, after his family had attended church in
Pullman, trouncing around Martin Stadium the day after a game, enjoying a Norman Rockwell
moment before heading back to the farm. "We’d run around on the field, and I’d scrounge
around the stands until I found a game program from the day before," he recalls. "Then I’d
read that ratty old thing all the way home, until I could picture in my mind what it must have
been like the day before."
There he is as an 11-year old, sitting in the knothole end zone seats of Martin Stadium,
watching his heroes in person, his dreams coming to life before his eyes. "The first time I ever
saw a person of color was in that Stadium," Kramer says. "Wally Gaskins was walking back
to return a kickoff, and he looked at me and said, ‘Hi, kid.’ Washington State football was
bigger than the NFL to me."
Later on, as a standout lineman, Kramer played at Martin Stadium again, not as a Cougar but
as an Idaho Vandal.
Skip a few years, and the slides start falling into the projector again. There is Mike Kramer as
Montana State’s first-year head coach in the Martin Stadium visiting radio booth, an emotional
heap, his Bobcat team having just been dismantled by his alma mater, 56-7. And last season,
just a year after that Idaho debacle, there is Kramer striding confidently toward that same
radio booth, his Bobcat team having just given Washington State quite a fight in a 53-28 loss.
And then there’s this year. Kramer will lead his team against a Washington State team that is
ranked 16th in the nation, that features a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, and that
almost upset powerful Ohio State last weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
And while Mike Kramer’s team will be charging head-first into an emotion-charged football
game on Saturday, he will be charging head-first into his past.
"I’ve got a lot of Cougar in me," he says. "That’s where I’m from. It’s part of who I am.
Playing in that Stadium is special for me."
Before sentiment overwhelms the moment, though, Kramer reminds that his eye isn’t trained
anywhere but on the prize at hand. "We want to play well, to keep the game close going intothe fourth quarter, and then let things fall how they will. Washington State is fast, fast, fast, andthat will help us improve our game speed. And that will help us once the Big Sky seasonstarts."
What helps Kramer at any time of the season is his family, and that’s what Saturday’s game atWashington State is all about. His family – indeed, most of Colton, Wash. – will be there. So,too, will his wife and daughters. And so, too, will his brothers and sons, the ones that will bewearing MSU coaching polos and Bobcat uniforms.
Saturday afternoon will provide an interesting intersection in time for Mike Kramer. As histeam is forging its future, one which remains bright, Kramer will be running with ghosts of hispast. And the images produced on this autumn Saturday in the Palouse will be etched in thescrapbook of Kramer’s memory. Like post cards in time.
There’s Mike Kramer as a youngster, listening to the Cougars on the radio and then, hourslater, in his front yard, breaking tackles like Clancy Williams and catching passes like HughCampbell. He may have been on the edge of a Colton, Wash., wheat field, but his heart was atMartin Stadium.
There’s Mike Kramer as a kid on special Sundays, after his family had attended church in
Pullman, trouncing around Martin Stadium the day after a game, enjoying a Norman Rockwell
moment before heading back to the farm. "We’d run around on the field, and I’d scrounge
around the stands until I found a game program from the day before," he recalls. "Then I’d
read that ratty old thing all the way home, until I could picture in my mind what it must have
been like the day before."
There he is as an 11-year old, sitting in the knothole end zone seats of Martin Stadium,
watching his heroes in person, his dreams coming to life before his eyes. "The first time I ever
saw a person of color was in that Stadium," Kramer says. "Wally Gaskins was walking back
to return a kickoff, and he looked at me and said, ‘Hi, kid.’ Washington State football was
bigger than the NFL to me."
Later on, as a standout lineman, Kramer played at Martin Stadium again, not as a Cougar but
as an Idaho Vandal.
Skip a few years, and the slides start falling into the projector again. There is Mike Kramer as
Montana State’s first-year head coach in the Martin Stadium visiting radio booth, an emotional
heap, his Bobcat team having just been dismantled by his alma mater, 56-7. And last season,
just a year after that Idaho debacle, there is Kramer striding confidently toward that same
radio booth, his Bobcat team having just given Washington State quite a fight in a 53-28 loss.
And then there’s this year. Kramer will lead his team against a Washington State team that is
ranked 16th in the nation, that features a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, and that
almost upset powerful Ohio State last weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
And while Mike Kramer’s team will be charging head-first into an emotion-charged football
game on Saturday, he will be charging head-first into his past.
"I’ve got a lot of Cougar in me," he says. "That’s where I’m from. It’s part of who I am.
Playing in that Stadium is special for me."
Before sentiment overwhelms the moment, though, Kramer reminds that his eye isn’t trained
anywhere but on the prize at hand. "We want to play well, to keep the game close going intothe fourth quarter, and then let things fall how they will. Washington State is fast, fast, fast, andthat will help us improve our game speed. And that will help us once the Big Sky seasonstarts."
What helps Kramer at any time of the season is his family, and that’s what Saturday’s game atWashington State is all about. His family – indeed, most of Colton, Wash. – will be there. So,too, will his wife and daughters. And so, too, will his brothers and sons, the ones that will bewearing MSU coaching polos and Bobcat uniforms.
Saturday afternoon will provide an interesting intersection in time for Mike Kramer. As histeam is forging its future, one which remains bright, Kramer will be running with ghosts of hispast. And the images produced on this autumn Saturday in the Palouse will be etched in thescrapbook of Kramer’s memory. Like post cards in time.
Wednesday, June 10
Friday, March 27
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
