Charles re-charging

The turf is soft, the field is lit and the footballs are flying, but Charles Frederick is on the sidelines.

The junior wide receiver is here to watch his roommates play intramural football. Frederick's roommates -- Mike Garasi, Nic McGrue and Matt Smith -- play for Rumblin,' Bumblin,' Stumblin' -- a team that is currently 3-0. And they come to Charles' games, too.

The four friends seem like they were made to live together. Besides supporting each other's athletic endeavors, they make each other get homework done, order chicken wings together and help each other out with girl problems.

"We have a lot of stuff in common," says Matt. "We all like the same things."

All were athletes in high school, and all are avid sports fans. Matt, Mike and Nic were friends at Spanaway Lake High School, and Frederick, "ET" to his roommates, completed the group last year.

"I met Matt in Terry Cafe," Charles says. "Ever since then, we've been friends, and at the end of last year, my roommate left and Matt moved into my room."

This year, their well-decorated four-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-level apartment has a kitchen that alone dwarfs a Terry double. The living-room ceiling is scattered with blow-up paraphernalia, including a Smirnoff bottle and a Miller shark.

A license plate from the Sunshine State, which boasts Frederick's hometown of Boca Raton, Fla., hangs on the wall, as does a poster of Steven Spielberg's alias-inspiring film with the caption "ET phones home."

UW ET phones home, too. Matt makes fun of him for "wearing the headset when he talks, because his phone doesn't work. He looks like an AT&T operator."

Giving each other a hard time seems to be their main method of bonding. And it works.

Says Mike, "Unlike getting paired up with people in the dorms, it's fun to live with people you have common interests with, and they're generally easier to talk to."

Charles seems content, too. Besides having a closet big enough to fit more than 50 pairs of his prized Nikes, he says that he and his roommates get along really well. This includes swapping an impressive range of verbal threats and insults.

Charles is amply prepared to handle any badmouthing in Husky Stadium from his experience playing video games with his roommates. And the boys spend a good amount of time gathered around the Xbox.

Charles claims to own the title of champion, but his roommates disagree. Nic tells ET that he sucks at NBA Jam, to which ET shoots back, "I beat you. Didn't I beat you?"

Eight eyes are glued to the screen as they play a little NCAA 2004 college football. Tonight, it's Nic and Mike (Oregon) versus Charles and Matt (Miami). Mike, heading to the end zone, challenges his opponents to stop him.

They fail, and the Hurricanes buckle to the Ducks 35-19. Mike wraps up the game with a prophetic comment. "I can see the headline: 'Charles Frederick can't stop Mike Garasi's five-wide.'"

When the Oregon fight song blares out of the speakers, Mike excitedly perks up, whistles the tune, puts up an index finger and wears a big grin.

No, he's not an Oregon fan. This type of strategic teasing is a traditional pre-game ritual in the apartment.

"The team (the Huskies) are playing, he turns up their fight song," says Charles.

"We have to get ET used to the song so when he hears it on the field it has no effect," Mike adds.

Mike seems determined to keep Frederick ready for battle. "Every time he leaves, I say, 'Knock someone out, ET.' He goes, 'aight.'"

Insults about gaming abilities are occasionally interrupted by passionate debates about who has more girls calling him.

Charles is used to living with a bunch of rowdy sport-mongrel males. In Florida, he grew up as one of six siblings, all boys. Joe Lowe, a cousin of the Frederick boys who was "at their house more than I was at my own," says that growing up, they would "play ball, shoot pool and play video games."

Joe remembers a time when he could outrun Charles. It didn't last long. "As he got older, he got faster, as he got faster, he got better."

According to his family, Charles is multi-talented. "He might be better in basketball in football," says his brother Jeffery.

Charles has played basketball since his freshman year of high school, including one season for the Huskies as a freshman.

"They wanted me to cut my hair so I didn't play sophomore year," he says.

His cousin and brother, decked out in Husky football gear, don't just dress the part of fans. From Florida, they watch all the televised games they can pick up, and their current trip to the Northwest to watch the Huskies play USC and OSU is the first time they have flown on a plane.

But they are more conversant about another form of transportation they have encountered on their trip, the get-around car. According to Lowe, "Matt and Charles are taking pictures around it like it's a Bentley." The car, which is Matt's, is an infamous staple of the guys. With its duct-taped windows, lack of rearview mirror and hole on the dashboard where the stereo should be (it was stolen), it is a source of much pride.

"The car does not make the man," says Matt. "The man makes the car," finishes Charles.

Yes, this confidence in the superiority of their manhood makes for some interesting competitions. Ultimately, they are a dynamic foursome and a close group of friends.

"We talk a lot of crap and have a lot of fun with each other," says Nic.

When it comes down to it, they are each other's biggest fans.

"As an athlete, he's real talented and humble," Nic says abot Charles. "As a roommate, he talks a lot of crap he can't back up. As a person, I don't know, he's just, he's cool."