Eastern Washington featured in Sports Illustrated

When I first heard that Eastern Washington University was going to be installing red turf, I thought it was the coolest idea ever.

The reason being that I knew that tiny Eastern Washington would get national exposure for really doing nothing.

And sure enough that's what is happening.

The first big splash made by the red turf was the first game ever played on it. The rival Montana Grizzlies came into Cheney and became the first victims of "The Inferno." We of course were there to document the historic event.

A few weeks later the red turf gained national exposure on ESPN during the Boise State vs. Oregon State primetime game in September. If you missed the feature on the red turf, or want to watch it again, you still can by going here.

Now the red turf of The Inferno is at it again. Each week Sports Illustrated has a feature called "Leading Off: Pictures of the Week." In this section the magazine runs a number of photos from the week in sports.

This week picture number one is the Eastern Washington Eagles on the red turf against North Dakota State from this past weekend. (I didn't run the photo as I didn't have permission too, but check it out, it's pretty darn sweet)

The photo that did run is one that I snapped when we were over in Cheney for the Montana game.

Basically this has been just a dream season for the Eastern Washington University football program. A great team that wins at home on the red turf, national exposure for the program and an ever growing fan base.

The Eagles are currently 7-0 on The Inferno. And hopefully this Friday evening when Villanova comes to town the Red Turf will claim another victim and send the Eagles to their first ever National Championship game. By the way, the game is on ESPN2 which means more national exposure.

Many people say that they "bleed" their school colors. Well at Just South of North that statement is absolutely true. Around here we bleed red. But not just any red, Inferno Red.