Seattle Post-Intelligencer sports writer Dan Raley hopes the arsonist on the loose in Seattle isn’t a college football fan.
Raley covers the Washington Huskies. He also casts a vote in the Associated Press college football poll.
This puts Raley in an awkward position. The Huskies and Miami Hurricanes are tied for No. 1 in the AP poll. With the voting this close, he could be asked to cast the deciding vote on New Year’s Night.
That means if a national champion is decided by one vote, the Huskies could blame him for costing them the title. Or, they could profusely praise him for his vote. He doesn’t relish either prospect.
This is dangerous territory, especially with someone setting fires all over Seattle. Somebody has set 100 buildings ablaze there in the last three months.
“I don’t think the guy’s a college football fan,” Raley said, “but I’m not taking any chances. I’ve got two golden retrievers, guard dogs.”
Raley is joking, but he is troubled by the prospect of casting the decisive vote. He’s striving to be objective.
“I do have fears about it,” Raley said. “My first fear is I don’t want anybody to call me a homer for voting Washington.
“The other thing is if people here knew my vote cost them the top spot, I think it would cause me trouble. I’m afraid somebody would burn my house down.”
So who is Raley voting No. 1 right now? Washington.
“I won’t change my vote now until one of them loses or plays horribly,” Raley said.
Voters are chosen by AP regional bureau chiefs. It averages out to where a state gets a half vote for every Division I-A team it has. There are no rules preventing writers covering No. 1 teams from voting.
“It’s unavoidable,” AP college football writer Rick Warner said.
Miami Herald writer Gary Long voted Washington No. 1 in the final AP poll last year. Palm Beach Post writer Jeff Snook has the South Florida vote this year, and he cast Miami as No. 1 this week. The ‘Canes won the AP title last season, while the Huskies were No. 1 in the CNN/USA TODAY coaches’ poll.
