Max Vrooman

Last week I provided the stunning analysis that narrative dictated all of UW’s games which meant they would win at home and I would’ve nailed the final score if USC had kicked one more field goal during their 4 failed trips inside UW territory.

This week the narrative clearly dictates that the Huskies are doomed but I’d like to layer on some serious analysis this time. My city league ultimate team is 6-1 and the #2 seed entering the playoffs which start of Saturday. The only game we lost was during the UW bye week. Otherwise, somehow the schedule has somehow put 6 of the 7 games (including this week) while UW is away from Husky Stadium. That means I can actually go to them but also means that the Huskies are 0-4 playing on a weekend when I have an ultimate game I can go to. Sorry Dawgs.

Oh and I guess I’ll also add that this seems a horrendous matchup for the Huskies even if you ignore the travel and the raucous stadium environment. Penn State has edge rusher Abdul Carter who is a likely top-ten pick and is 2nd in the B1G in pass rush grade per PFF and t-3rd in total QB pressures. I don’t have a lot of confidence in UW’s OL to be able to block him. On the other side, Penn State is a team that basically doesn’t throw to their WRs which negates one of UW’s biggest strengths on defense. I’ll be fascinated to see if Coach Belichick does something dramatic like put Ephesians Prysock on their star TE Tyler Warren who is really the only threat in the passing game.

Penn St 27 – UW 12

Collin O’Meara

In Steve Sarkisian’s first year as Husky HC (2009), the Dawgs took a 3-7 record into the final two weeks of the season, and generated home blowouts vs WSU (30-0) and Cal (42-10). I remember the feeling that something had clicked with that year’s team, that the team had shed its ineptitude of the Willingham years and had been transformed into something entirely different. Fast forward to 2024 and the situation now isn’t even comparable to that era, but again we have a new head coach leading a team that has little in common with the previous year, and that is still reaching for the identity it desires. In the final weeks of this season, I would love nothing more than to see Jedd Fisch’s Huskies signal that it’s all gotten dialed in, with the Dawgs winning some upsets. To be sure, there have been upward trends lately, but there are still crucial things that need fixing: inopportune penalties.. bad kick coverage.. scoring more points.. The Huskies are facing a top-10 Penn State team, in their house, who just suffered a frustrating loss, on fan-gimmick night (don’t get me wrong, I love fan gimmicks). I think the Dawgs will compete, but I also felt good about the Iowa and Indiana games, and those became road blowouts for UW.

Penn St 27 – UW 20

Mark Schafer

It is now week 11, and the Huskies will be walking into a tough one. Not only is this a road game, across time zones, but it’s also a White Out, meaning that a crowd that was going to be tough now may be even more energized. We knew going in that this would be it, and we’ve been dreading it for months, but let me tell you what the Dawgs can do to pull it off!

The first and last thing for the Huskies to do in order to win this game is to minimize mistakes, which might be easier said than done especially since they’re literally walking into a lion’s den on Saturday, with a juiced up crowd in a White Out game. I would establish Jonah Coleman early and often and get him between 20-25 touches to start. Will Rogers can play off of him in the short passing game and set up opportunities deep. Defensively, they need to key in on the option game that Penn State likes to use and be disciplined against misdirection, using Belichick’s proclivity to play man-to-man defense to shut down Penn State’s receivers. Other than that, this is a tough task, and I think, coming off a win last week, they can do just enough to eke out a win, but they have to be perfect.

UW 24 – Penn St 21

Andrew Berg

Earlier in the season, we spent a lot of time thinking about what UW could do if they could get over certain humps. The team could compete with anybody if they could just… cut down on the penalties, perform better in the red zone, get the ball to Jonah Coleman more often, win up front more often on both sides of the ball, kick and punt better.

Nine games into the season, we might see some minor changes, but for the most part, we know who the Huskies are at this point. They’re going to struggle to block long enough to effectively push the ball downfield. They will put up some yards, but are unlikely to crack 30 points consistently against good defenses. The defense has probably played above its talent level all year, but remains susceptible to power running attacks.

This combination is not a great recipe against Penn St. The Nittany Lions feature a devastating running combination of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton. While I’m not the biggest believer in Drew Allar, his numbers this year have been surprisingly good, especially when throwing to outstanding TE Tyler Warren. Penn St probably won’t explode for 40 points against the Dawg defense, but I expect them to bully their way to some long drives.

I’m more concerned with how the Huskies will find enough space offensively against a very good defense to keep up through four quarters. The offensive line is suboptimal at its best and banged up beyond that. Quick hitting passes will be the key to moving the ball, especially if Will Rogers can get the ball to the likes of Giles Jackson and Denzel Boston in motion to add some yards after the catch. I think the Huskies have a reasonable chance to keep the game within the spread, but with Penn St’s pace and defense, that doesn’t necessarily mean the game will be “close.”

Penn St 24 – UW 14

SU: UW 1, Penn St 3

ATS: UW 3, Penn St 1

Average Score: Penn St 25 – UW 18

Two American truck drivers will embark on a cross-country journey in honor of a special Yuletide delivery.

Alaska natives John Schank and Fred Austin will bring holiday cheer to Washington, D.C., by transporting the annual Christmas Tree to the U.S. Capitol.

This year’s tree was selected from Alaska’s National Forests, traveling 4,000 miles from Tongass National Forest near Wrangell, making 11 stops along the way, so Americans can get a chance to see the People’s Tree.

WHITE HOUSE SELECTS NORTH CAROLINA FAMILY’S CHRISTMAS TREE FARM TO PROVIDE 2024 TREE

The tree will be carried by Lynden Transport in an 80-foot flatbed truck covered with protective wrapping and a plexiglass window at the rear.

The drive could take roughly three weeks to complete.

“My favorite part of this trip is the show-and-tell time, not the driving time,” Austin told Fox News Digital.

Austin of North Pole, Alaska, has been driving with Lynden Transport for 50 years and says it’s “pretty cool” to be transporting the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.

Schank said this will be his second time transporting the tree.

“I moved it back in 2015. I came out to Chugiak National Forest near Seward, Alaska, and I’m looking forward to doing it here,” he told Fox News Digital.

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Between the men, they’ve safely driven for a combined estimate of 100 years stretching around 10 million miles.

Schank has also been driving big rigs for 50 years and said the route that he and Austin are taking is all mapped out.

The Capitol Christmas Tree will be carried by Lynden Transport, an Anchorage, Alaska-based trucking company. The tree will travel on an 80-foot flatbed truck covered with protective wrapping and a plexiglass window at the rear. (U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree)

“The trailer is 80 feet long and the tree just barely fits inside of it … We will take care of the precious cargo we’ve got, and we will drive accordingly,” said Schank.

Banners adorn the 74-foot tree, giving Americans a chance to leave their name and a message with a marker at selected stops. 

“You can actually look in and see the tree … and when we’re stopped, they turn the Christmas tree lights on,” said Austin.

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“John and Fred are a dynamic duo of driving experience, leadership, and positive energy, which will make the cross-country trip memorable,” Paul Grimaldi, president of Lynden Transport, said in a statement.

This year’s tree was selected from Alaska’s national forests, traveling 4,000 miles from Tongass National Forest near Wrangell. (U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree)

The 54-year tradition of the Capitol Christmas Tree began when Speaker of the House John McCormack, D-Mass., placed a live Christmas tree on the Capitol lawn, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This tree lived three years before succumbing to wind and root damage. In 1970, the Capitol Architect asked the U.S. Forest Service to provide a Christmas tree,” a news release said.

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Each year a different national forest is selected to provide “the People’s Tree” in an annual campaign to celebrate national forests.

The Capitol Christmas Tree will make 11 stops on the way to Washington, D.C. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The tree will be making stops in Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland before arrival at the Capitol’s West Lawn.

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Americans can track the People’s Tree at kenworth.com/tree-tracker/.

The Washington Post has ordered employees to return to the office five days a week, according to a memo from Publisher Will Lewis. Managers will have to return beginning February 3, 2025, and all other employees will be expected in the office beginning June 2.

“I want that great office energy for us every day,” Lewis writes. “I am reliably informed that is how it used to be here before Covid, and it’s important we get this back.”

The Post sent employees home on March 10, 2020, as the magnitude of the Covid pandemic became clear. Employees have been required to be in office at least three days per week since spring of 2022.

There is a carve-out: If you’re out reporting, that counts as being in-office, as does making a sales call for the ad folks. “The change is that there is a presumption that between those key work or personal appointments, you will be office based,” Lewis writes,  “the same arrangements as you have had with the three day a week rule, but now for five days.”

In response, the Washington Post Guild, the union that represents many employees at the publication, sent an email to members with the subject line “RTO (Return to Organizing).” In the note, the union’s leaders say “Guild leadership sees this for what it is: a change that stands to further disrupt our work than to improve our productivity or collaboration.” The long time frame before Guild members are required to report five days a week, they say, “means we have time to organize a response.”

Here’s Lewis’s memo:

Hello,

Thank you all very much for your hard work and dedication in this significant week for America and the world.

We produced wonderful journalism for our customers and the office was a vibrant place to be. I want that great office energy for us every day. I am reliably informed that is how it used to be here before Covid, and it’s important we get this back.

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You know how much we all must do to improve our company, and I do not believe we can do that successfully via zoom. We are really good when we are working together in person.

It is in this spirit that we will be returning to the office five days a week in the coming months.

By February 3, 2025, we want all managers to return to the office (that’s all people managers at all levels companywide). All other colleagues will be required to return to the office five days a week by June 2, 2025. These return-to-office plans also apply to those remote colleagues within commuting distance of either our DC or New York offices.

All other remote working arrangements, either continuing or new, will require departmental approval, and will be based on business needs, the nature of the role and related factors.

We know for some people this shift from three to five days in the office will be welcomed and a straightforward transition. For others, we know it will be an adjustment – you may need to adapt routines and rediscover old ways of managing work-life balance. This is why we are giving more than six months for many of our colleagues to work it through.

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When we say return to the office, there is a lot that won’t change. If you are a reporter out on a story, a salesperson out selling, or a colleague going to a medical appointment – carry on as normal. The change is that there is a presumption that between those key work or personal appointments, you will be office based – the same arrangements as you have had with the three day a week rule, but now for five days.

You will likely have questions and will hear more from your own department heads soon. In the meantime, please direct any specific questions to wayne.connell@washpost.com or our HR team.

William

And here’s the Guild’s note:

Hi all-

Like many of you, we are distressed to learn that after four years of successful flexible work arrangements, The Post plans to institute an inflexible and outdated work-from-the-office policy that does not reflect the reality of our jobs or lives. Guild leadership sees this for what it is: a change that stands to further disrupt our work than to improve our productivity or collaboration.

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Here’s the good news: The contract you all voted to approve in December includes a side letter for ample notice and management is readily conceding Guild-covered employees do not have to make any changes until June 2nd at the earliest. That means we have time to organize a response.

Disclosure: Washingtonian’s editorial staff, like the Post Guild, is represented by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild.