The Gas Man Fuels Good Feelings About Husky Football in 'Fear No Man'

We know him best for his melodic voice, with Mike Gastineau emerging three decades ago as one of the original hosts in launching Seattle sports talk radio.

The Gas Man. Groz with Gas. Gas, Gas, Gas.

While speaking eloquently always has been his calling card, this Indiana native turned Northwest sports media icon shows us once again with the release of "Fear No Man" that he can go to his left as well as to his right with a deft writing touch.

"Fear No Man" is a chronicle long overdue about the University of Washington's 1991 football national championship run, delivered to us on the 30th anniversary of one of the city's most glorious sporting triumphs.

For Gastineau, it was personally an outpouring of cherished memories from a golden time. He moved to Seattle to work at KJR radio in June 1991, just months before Steve Emtman and the Huskies started to dismantle every football team that got in its way.

"The Huskies, my God, they were everything," he said. "They were the hottest ticket. Everyone was buzzing about them. Everybody was saying wait until you see a game at Husky Stadium."

Gastineau attended the fourth game of the season and witnessed the Huskies absolutely trample Arizona 54-0. He was seated among an uproarious crowd of 72,495 that feasted on this mismatch.

This result was not a one-time experience. A crushing outcome was practically every Saturday. And Gastineau was hooked on it.

"I just thought it was the most dominant team I'd seen in any sport," the Gas Man said.

This wasn't hyperbole either. Gastineau has worked coast to coast. He was here for the Seahawks' 2014 Super Bowl victory. He grew up watching Bobby Knight's 1976 Indiana Hoosiers win a national basketball title and go 32-0 — the last college team to finish unbeaten.

So he decided to write a book, the fifth he's been involved with, and document forever one of Seattle's greatest moments.

For more than two years, he interviewed players, coaches and media members. He conducted extensive research. And, then during a pandemic, the Whidbey Island resident sat down and wrote it.

The phrase "Fear No Man," that turned into the book title, comes from Jim Lambright's defense, specifically the Husky secondary that would come blitzing the opposition at all times.

No one's sure who originally coined it, but before the 1992 Rose Bowl against Michigan and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard, Lambright showed footage of the Wolverines' talented wide receiver and Husky cornerback Dana Hall reminded everyone of the mission when he blurted out once more, "Coach, we fear no man!"

As he delved into the back details about this team, Gastineau concluded that legendary coach Don James had come up with the perfect confluence of coaching and playing talent.

Offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson and Lambright, two future Husky head coaches, were among the very best at what they did, as was recruiting coordinator Dick Baird, who brought an eye for talent and needed irreverence to James' buttoned-down and deeply organized system.

This team, for the most part, always was extremely well-spoken and media-friendly with Lincoln Kennedy, Ed Cunningham, Chico Fraley and Billy Joe Hobert lending their memories and voices to the project. Curiously, the great Emtman has gone underground when it comes to all public requests, but that couldn't spoil things.

Gastineau's book on the Huskies is one of nearly a dozen that have been compiled through the years, coming in all forms of tone and disclosures.

"Bow Down to Washington," written by Dick Rockne of the Seattle Times, was the first, basically detailing the glory years of coach Jim Owens.

"Bitter Roses," compiled by Sam Farmer formerly of the Bellevue Journal-American and now a Hall of Fame NFL writer for the Los Angeles Times, summed up the rise and fall of the 1991 and '92 teams that celebrated and ended a short-term Husky dynasty.

Dave Kopay, former UW and NFL running back, came out as a gay man — the first pro athlete in any major sport to make this revelation —telling his story in "The David Kopay Story" that became a national best-seller.

On the lighter side, the very talented Bob McCausland released his book of "Hairbreadth Husky" cartoons that appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for decades. Each one told an elaborate story.

Doing intense research, former Seattle P-I columnist Steve Rudman put together "100 years of Husky Football" to commemorate the UW football centennial in 1990.

There have been a number of other books published, too, including "Bowdown to Willingham," "Scoreboard Baby: A Story of College Football Crime and Complicity," and even my "How Seattle Became a Big-League Sports Town," all retelling Husky football tales, good and bad.

The Gas Man met with coach Jimmy Lake and spoke to the current UW football team about their 1991 predecessors during fall camp. All-Pac-12 tight end Cade Otton later remarked how much he enjoyed hearing Gastineau speak about those highly successful Huskies.

None were better. Who knows, it might stay that way forever. At least it's now all down on paper.

"This is not only the greatest team in Washington history," Gastineau said, "it's one of the greatest teams in college football history."

Gastineau's "Fear No Man," with a forward from Nick Saban, Alabama coach and one-time James player and assistant coach, retails for $29.95 and can be purchased through its publisher, University of Washington Press, and, of course, through Amazon.

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