RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Hans Struzyna began his University of Washington rowing career, he and his freshman teammates were required to learn two things right off the bat. One, the words to the school fight song, Bow Down to Washington. Two, they needed to memorize the names of each member of the 1936 Huskies crew that won the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.Don Hume, Joe Rantz, George Hunt, Jim McMillin, John White, Gordon Adam, Chuck Day, Roger Morris and Bobby Moch.It was drilled into us pretty early that this is a really important part of our legacy, Struzyna said. We dont forget where we come from. As an individual rower, youre not necessarily anything special, youre part of the legacy, part of the tradition, part of the timeline, and you have to make that part really exceptional.Struzyna is doing that. He is one of four Washington alumni on the U.S. mens eight crew for the Rio Games, along with Rob Munn, Sam Dommer and coxswain Sam Ojserkis. Former Washington freshman coach Luke McGee is the U.S. mens eight coach.Those four UW alumni arent alone. There are four former Huskies rowing in the various U.S. womens boats, plus another four on the Canadian teams. That makes 12 Washington rowers in Rio.While rowing is often known as an Ivy League sport, the Huskies have won 19 national collegiate mens championships -- the most by any school since 1923 -- and 11 womens titles.More notably, 86 Huskies will have rowed at least once in the Olympics, winning 42 medals, 23 of them gold. Include those from the boycotted 1980 Games, as well as alternates, and the number of UW rowers on a U.S. Olympic team is 100.Furthermore, the famous George Pocock, who designed and built so many top rowing shells, was based in Seattle and was a prime ally with the Washington crew. He was the boatman for the U.S. crew teams in 1936, 1948, 1952 and 1956.Former Washington coaches Al Ulbrickson and Bob Ernst each guided U.S. teams to gold at the Olympics. Ernst coached the U.S. women who won gold in 1984, and Ulbrickson coached UW and U.S. teams to three Olympics, winning gold in the eight man in 1936 and bronze in the coxed four man at the 1952 Games.While other schools have won Olympic medals -- California won three in the mens eight (1928, 1932 and 1948) -- the 1936 UW team is now the most famous due in large part to Daniel James Browns The Boys in the Boat. The book was a nationwide bestseller when it was published in 2013 (and still is in Seattle bookstores), is in the process of becoming a major motion picture and inspired a recent PBS documentary, The Boys of 36.Its interesting because the 36 crew obviously happened a lot of years ago, and the sport has evolved in so many ways since then, Struzyna said. So, at first glance, you think, Thats great, but how does it apply to 2008? Or 2016? But when you dig into it a little bit, thats when you remember those are the roots you came from, and you dont want to forget about it.What Ive been inspired by is the grit and the rawness those guys had. And the ability they had to come up in this sport that was basically ruled by the East Coast, Ivy League and Cal and to have this faith in themselves and one another that they could face these guys and beat them.Germany was expected to win gold in the mens eight at the 1936 Olympics, having won five previous rowing races in those Games. Adolph Hitler was on hand for the six-team final race, watching from the terrace behind Ulbricksons wife. She told documentary maker Lenny ODonnell in the 1980s: I sat 30 feet away from Hitler. Id have shot him if I would have known what he was up to.The Washington mens eight didnt fire a bullet, but they upset Hitler, just as Jesse Owens did against the German sprinters and long jumpers. Despite rowing in a lane where wind resistance was strongest, the UW/U.S. team performed impressively, roaring from behind to beat the Germans, who settled for bronze, and the silver medal-winning Italians.The shell the 1936 team rowed to gold in Berlin also hangs in the Huskies shell house. When Struzyna saw it for the first time, he thought: Are you kidding me? Did they actually row that?It looked like it was about to fall apart. And then it was, Oh, crap. They actually rowed that. he said. Thats where my head went. Then it was, This is really cool. This is part of our history. Not some random piece of history. I will always remember my father taking me to my first Husky football game in 1979, when the 1936 Washington rowers were honored on the field. He pointed to them and told me what they accomplished and how special it was.How will the U.S, rowers fare in Rio? The U.S. women have won gold the past two Olympics, and silver in 2004, with Huskies in all three of those boats. They also had the fastest time during Mondays qualifying heats, so expect more success from them. The men have a good chance to medal as well, and also advanced in Mondays heat with the days fourth fastest time.And if they win gold like their forebears in 1936, perhaps the four Huskies in the boat will celebrate by not only listening to The Star-Spangled Banner during the medal ceremony, but also by singing the Husky fight song.Mighty are the men who wear the purple and the gold. Rafael Ortega Jersey . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Austin Riley Jersey . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. https://www.cheapbraves.com/1773o-tyler-flowers-jersey-braves.html . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Ender Inciarte Jersey .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Andy Messersmith Jersey . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. CHENEY, Wash. -- Gage Gubrud threw for 435 yards and five touchdowns, four to Shaq Hill to match the school record, and Eastern Washington rolled to a 49-31 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday.The Eagles rolled up a season-high 659 yards with Gubrud, who was 33 of 39 passing, accounting for 514, the fourth most in school history. In his six career starts, all this season, he has five of the top 10 performances for Eastern (5-1, 3-0 Big Sky).EWU had 327 yards at halftime but trailed 17-14.Hill had touchdowns of 29 and 9 yards in the third quarter.ddddddddddddKyle Sloter had his fourth TD pass to pull the Bears (3-2, 1-1) within 35-31 two minutes into the fourth quarter, but just 42 seconds later, Gubrud connected with Hill for 42 yards. They hooked up again on a 45-yarder near the end. Hill finished with seven catches for 153 yards.Sloter was 24 of 43 for 296 yards with an interception. ' ' '