Walker: A Graphic Tribute | HailToPurple.com

Coach Walker:
A HailToPurple.com
and FarEastWildcat.com
Graphic Tribute

During the six years that HailToPurple.com has been on-line, two men have been the subject of the bulk of the site's parody images, but for very, very different reasons: Barry Alvarez and, of course, Coach Walker. Here now are several of the images that were posted since 2000, along with a "few" images from the legendary FarEastWildcat.com site.

(GoUPurple site, September 2000). This graphic was accompanied by a quote from Coach Walker that appeared in the Tribune the prior week: "It's not just another week, and I'm OK and you're OK. There's a saying of mine -- 'Do it right, make it light.' It's just like that damn dog when you ring the bell and it starts salivating. You give them positives when they run that maze the right way and find the cheese. And you shock their asses when they don't."

For whatever reason, Walker's use of the phrase "that damn dog" nearly made me spit out my lunch, I laughed so hard. This just seemed the right quote to go with the Godfather image. Sure, the graphics are crude, looking at them now, but I still love the ridiculous Willie head looking out.

(FarEastWildcat.com 2000). A similar theme, done with more graphics savvy by FEW.

(GoUPurple site, November 2000). No fewer than three times in 1999 and 2000 Coach Walker referred to himself in the context of a Pickleboat. Either claiming that he's no "Johnny off the Pickleboat" or, later, admitting that he was on a Pickleboat. Accepting the invitation to the Alamo Bowl, Walker said, "imagine me, sailing on the Pickleboat into San Antonio. That'd be awesome!" So, here he is, sailing into San An. As some astute readers pointed out, I used the USS Missouri as the Pickleboat, offering a connection to Dwayne Missouri, who was then a starter with the 'Cats.

(GoUPurple site, July 2001). The Captain cruises into Vegas for NU's game with UNLV...

(FarEastWildcat.com, 2001). FEW's use of NU alumna Ann-Margret is nearly as cool as the awesome "N-Cat" on her pants. Coach Walker loved musicals; this was a natural.

(GoUPurple site, August 2001).

(HailToPurple.com, August 2002). After the media's low expectations of the 'Cats coming into the 2002 season, the question was, "is it Dewey Defeats Truman?"

(FarEastWildcat, 2001). "I'm no Johnny off the pickle boat. I grew up in the shadow of Ohio State, and I don't think you could have lived in Ohio and not have been a Buckeye fan growing up. I read every book that Woody Hayes ever wrote: 'Hotline to Victory' and 'You Win With People' . . . I have read 'em all.

"I have a real clear picture of what it looks like. My world is black and white. I don't have a lot of gray in my world. And it needs to be the right thing. If it isn't the right thing, I don't accept it. That goes from the weight room to off-season to practice to games. There's a way you do it, a way you play, and if it isn't like that, it isn't acceptable.

"It's the last stop, it's the last thing for me, it's all I have in my life. I think our kids know that, and everyone who knows me knows that. It is entirely what I'm about. I think Woody Hayes said it best when he left Miami for Ohio State. 'I'm not coming here looking for security. I came here for the opportunity.'

“It reminds me a lot of a 'Dirty Harry' movie. That scene, as the guy looks at that .44 Magnum pointed squarely at his face, he says, 'I's justs gots to know.' That's kind of where we're at."

--Coach Randy Walker

Toward the end of the article that Northwestern published featuring Coach Walker in 2001, Coach Walker was asked about finishing his coaching career at NU: "Walker grins. 'If I could script it, part of the severance package would be two season tickets. And on Saturdays Tammy and I would walk down Sheridan Road, come over to the stadium, sit in the stands and watch some other crazy person coach this team!'"

A week later, in the summer of 2001, HailToPurple.com posted the following graphic, with the caption, "If we could script it."