PULLMAN – On a sweltering July evening, the excited hoots and anguished grunts of four fiercely competitive amateur go-kart drivers fills the stuffy air of a two-story modern-style townhome close to the Washington State campus.
Battling for Mario Kart supremacy and household bragging rights, Isaac Dotson, Jamal Morrow, Kyle Sweet and Peyton Pelluer aggressively attack their Nintendo 64 controllers, eyes glued to the TV as their four cartoony go-kart driver characters race frenetically around a track.
In the immaculately clean kitchen just off the living room, a tall, slim figure clad in a black WSU football T-shirt and a ratty pair of cutoff shorts made from old sweatpants, stands by the stove, poking intently at the contents in a pan.