SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
A huge annual football rivalry in the state of Washington is between Washington State and the University of Washington - Cougars versus Huskies. It's called the Apple Cup. And this year's game was this past Friday evening in Pullman. But the University of Washington got a big scare when one of its charter buses carrying its marching band crashed on an icy highway Thursday night. Forty-seven of the 56 people aboard were taken to hospitals for evaluation or treatment. And the band decided to return home rather than play during the next day's game. That's when Washington State's band stepped in. It said that in the spirit of sportsmanship, it would play its competitor's fight song during the game. There wasn't enough time for the Cougars' band to memorize the Huskies' song, so they played off sheet music instead.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE COUGAR MARCHING BAND'S PERFORMANCE OF "BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON")
PFEIFFER: The Cougars' band director Troy Bennefield said, we wanted to make sure if we're playing it, that we're playing it well. And Dean Luethi, director of Washington State School of Music, added this. If we can help their band, why not? This moment transcends our rivalry.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE COUGAR MARCHING BAND'S PERFORMANCE OF "BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.