striking me that he Azuma Nelson's a faster counterpuncher that's a
counterpunch right there and he's
cool had absolutely nothing to do with it and this is what's upsetting him more
than anything Terry says his son went out of the way to do the right thing and
the Seattle Times reports that before going to Charles Rice for the money
Hobart reportedly sought advice about obtaining a loan from two assistant
coaches at the UW both coaches referred Hobart to the recruiting coordinator Dick
Baird who would not comment according to the Times on what advice if any he gave
in return Baird by the way is in Arizona right now well so right now he's
suspended for this game only when will we know if there's something more to
befall Billy Joe or the Huskies well you can bet it'll be as soon as they can
make it the university will fast-track this investigation but even if they
clear Hobart the NCAA can come in with their own team and conduct a separate
investigation if they don't like what the university found a lot of questions
tonight one of them being what about the Huskies game against the Arizona
Wildcats tomorrow our top story continues with Tony Ventrello what about
it a lot of fans are wondering if this will have any effect whatsoever on the
outcome of tomorrow's game I don't think it will but some do well the university
and its administration brace for dealing with what could be a long period of
investigation from the Pac-10 and or the NCAA one group of people who must deal
with Billy Joe's suspension right now are his teammates and this morning the
players arrived in Tucson as they look forward to tomorrow's game against 12th
ranked Arizona after a brief walk through Arizona Stadium the team walked
about three blocks to an adjacent practice field Tucson is one of the
toughest road game sites in the entire Pac-10 even without the controversy this
would have been a tough game tomorrow standing by live from Tucson is Carlos
Del Valle with the latest on the Huskies trip and the mindset in the wake of the
Hobart loan scandal Carlos Tony you know speculation is running rampant down here
in Tucson as to how this will affect the University of Washington football team
Billy Joe Hobart suspension wasn't front-page news down here in Tucson but
it was on page one of the sports section but in all seriousness this doesn't seem
to be affecting the Huskies Washington went through their usual pregame workout
without pads on this beautiful Arizona day players went looking for a little
shade to shield them from the desert Sun but Don James could not shield himself
from the question how much of a distraction has this created for his
team I really don't think there is I you know probably didn't come to the players
attention until mid-afternoon yesterday and then I met them at three so we you
know we were able to put the bed you know the situation the players appeared
comfortable relaxed and focused on tomorrow's game they cannot talk to the
press the day before but some players did tell me off-camera the Billy Joe
Hobart suspension has nothing to do with how they'll play tomorrow and coach James
supported that theory he's not here and it's you know we have we've had to deal
with things like that every week we haven't got Damon Barry here either I
mean Damon Mack so so football teams have to deal with that he said you know I
don't think it'll have any effect athletic director Barbara hedges was
not at practice today and there is a gag order on the coaches and the players as
far as talking about this until the investigation is over with reporting
live from Tucson I'm Carlos Del Valle Carlos thank you we'll hear more from
you later in this newscast all in all a game that figured to be tough anyway
could be more difficult because of the controversy but I don't think it will be
the players get along great with Mark Brunel he's a terrific quarterback they
gel together really with both quarterbacks but certainly with Brunel the
last three weeks and they'll do fine and you could just tell from Don James
reaction you know this is off the field now we're on the field yeah and when
they get home I'm sure the players who are friends with Billy Joe will deal
with him just the way they would in any situation similar to this more in sports
Tony thanks all right the bottom line the Huskies brace for a two-prong attack
this week one's the game against tough Arizona in Tucson the other the
investigation