UW Football
Air Force moving '05 game here

By Bud Withers
Seattle Times staff reporter

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A news conference has been called today by Bob Walsh Enterprises of Seattle, apparently to announce a change in Washington's 2005 football opener with Air Force, moving it from Colorado Springs to Seahawks Stadium.

The Sept. 3, 2005 date was Air Force's home game, a return of a 1999 game at Washington that was the first UW home game under then-coach Rick Neuheisel. The Falcons have agreed to the switch to Seattle, sources say, as an aid to recruiting, both for the academy and its football program. Details of the financial agreement are unknown.

It will be Washington's first appearance at Seahawks Stadium.

Moving the game from Colorado Springs means one of the most attractive Seattle schedules in history for Washington in 2005. Besides the Air Force game, Washington will have California, Idaho and Notre Dame to round out its September schedule at Husky Stadium, and later hosts USC, Oregon State and Washington State.

Walsh is the promoter who landed a large number of national and international events for Seattle in the '80s and '90s. Those included NCAA Final Fours, the 1987 NBA All-Star game and the 1990 Goodwill Games.

Walsh's role was usurped by the Sports and Events Council of King County in the late '90s, and it turned its attention to retaining and assisting Seattle's pro sports teams. Walsh, however, reemerged about a year ago and negotiated with Air Force to move the game, which technically remains a Falcons "home" game.

Ironically, one of Walsh's ventures last year was an unsuccessful attempt to lure a future Army-Navy football game. Several of those games were left open for bids, including those to Western sites, but all were awarded to Eastern venues.

There have been four college-football games at Seahawks Stadium, plus a card of high-school games last fall in the Emerald City Kickoff Classic. Washington State has played in the facility twice, Oregon met Wake Forest in the Seattle Bowl — now defunct — and Western Washington and Central Washington played there last year.

WSU is debating whether to stage its home game with Colorado in the fall at Seahawks Stadium.

UW's 2004 schedule
Date	Opponent
Sept. 5	FRESNO STATE
Sept. 18	UCLA
Sept. 25	@Notre Dame
Oct. 2	@ Stanford
Oct. 9	SAN JOSE STATE
Oct. 16	OREGON STATE
Oct. 23	@ USC
Oct. 30	@ Oregon
Nov. 6	ARIZONA
Nov. 13	CALIFORNIA
Nov. 20	@ Washington State

UW's 2005 schedule
Date	Opponent
Sept. 3	Air Force*
Sept. 10	CALIFORNIA
Sept. 17	IDAHO
Sept. 24	NOTRE DAME
Oct. 1	@ UCLA
Oct. 15	@ Arizona State
Oct. 22	USC
Oct. 29	@ Oregon
Nov. 5	OREGON STATE
Nov. 12	@ Arizona
Nov. 19	WASHINGTON ST.
* At Seahawks Stadium

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company