Pete, you are clearly a Johnny Come Lately to WSU. I'll humor you with some history (remember, the winners write the history, so this may be just a tad biased...and I'll just focus on the WSU connection, though Harry wrote about much more than just WSU).
Prior to the evil Blanchette and his big ugly twin (whose name I have managed, with effort, to forget), who when they first became the WSU beat writers made every effort to show they were not a "homer", the WSU beat writer for the S-R was Harry Missildine. Harry was a
true homer, hence the original root of Blanchette's insecure desire to differentiate himself from a writing legend and be the "anti-homer" in all things WSU. Harry used to come to Pullman for the games, turn in very good copy after an event (I used to love his column; at one point I had aspirations to be a writer, and one of the major sources of that desire was the level of sheer fun that Harry always seemed to be having with his column), have a few with the coaching staff and sleep on Sweeney's couch...then drive back to Spokane the next day. I used to assume he was hung over while driving back, but I've since known many functioning alcoholics in my life, and it is surprising how seldom they have real, live, hangovers, unless they drink themselves unconscious (and sometimes, no hangover even then...amazing). I have no personal knowledge of whether Harry was in fact an alcoholic, but his drinking was legendary by the time I got to WSU. Harry also seemed to have a good relationship with Ravelling, which I have to assume from my limited interactions with George would have been easy to do if you had the intellect. Missildine was one of those reporters who could organize his thoughts during the sporting event, dictate copy that was remarkably free of grammatical errors in a single phone call, and then go party with his friends. One of his calling cards was the dramatic opening sentence, often alliterative, which often featured a nickname for the subject...Keith Lincoln as the "Moose of the Palouse", as an example. He also was responsible for Dee Andros being called "the Great Pumpkin" (due to his shape and the orange jacket he wore on the OSU sidelines), and suggested the name "Big Sky" for that conference after a book title of the time. My understanding was that if you liked WSU, had a wit and/or were somewhat larger than life and liked fermented beverages, it was easy to be Harry's friend; he was reported to be quite genial, though probably not the best mentor for younger reporters. I've often wondered if he ever specifically pissed in Blanchette's corn flakes...that would have explained some of what I saw happen after the fact. I grew up reading Harry from the time that I could read (his column started the year before I was born), and my memory is that he retired during my WSU years ('76-'80). He was the reason that most of the Spokane area sports fans subscribed to the S-R while students at WSU. Blanchette, who was at least marginally professional, and the big ugly who was never professional and sharpened his hatchet daily (mistaking being snarky for being profound) took over the WSU beat. The big ugly survived something like 2-3 years and was gone...I've always assumed some key advertisers who were WSU fans simply had had enough of his poor & nasty writing. At that point, Blanchette inherited the senior beat spot, and the rest is history.
As a side note, I spent most of my 20's in Tulsa with the company I joined upon graduating from WSU. Tulsa's Central High School in the 30's must have been an amazing place, and an example of what a good high school faculty could do. Tony Randall and Harry were in the same class. Paul Harvey was 2 years older. A rather amazing list of others were there during that decade. All three commented multiple times about the role of public schools in the development of citizens. I'll add that when I arrived in SoCal, Jim Murray was at the height of his writing abilities, winning the Pulitzer a few years later. I enjoyed reading Jim...it was much like reading Harry in both style and substance...but Jim was a touch more caustic. His famous Spokane quote: "The only trouble with Spokane is that there's nothing to do there after 10 o'clock. In the morning." was an example of the sort of cheap shot that he would occasionally use for emphasis (insert snare drum shot here). Harry, who was a contemporary, did not often use that sort of caustic humor, though he did it occasionally if provoked.
Pete, if you are going to be on this board, it is worth Googling Harry Missildine and spending a few minutes. Maybe find and read a couple of WSU columns (his 20+ year column was called "Twice Over Lightly"). You are likely to get an insight into what it was to be a Coug fan in the 60's and 70's that would be hard to pick up any other way, unless you lived it. RIP, Harry.
Edit: I took my own advice and did some Google trolling, and found Blanchette's "so long ode" to Harry. Blanchette can write when motivated:
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/dec/29/they-dont-make-them-like-him-anymore/
