That says something, about Cougar spirit. I know it’s cheezy or cornball or however you want to label it, but there is something, well, different about being a Coug. It’s something that is difficult to define or explain to those who don’t have the first-hand experience, but it is certainly something that is very real, very true. Ask yourself, what other school would have fans that would go to all this trouble of the weekly flag on ESPN? I recall when this all first started, you used to see some other schools worm their way in there, but they quickly went away. But old Crimson, and Whitey, they are there every week.
There was another cool thing from Coug fans and such, and that was from our good friend Kaddy. Kaddy, whether you know him or not, you know he’s a passionate Coug. He’s contributed some first-hand posts for us here from the various functions he’s attended. He lives and breathes Cougs, and it shows. But here was Kaddy with a couple of extra tickets for the game today. What did he do? Driving over this morning from his palatial Vancouver estate, he offered another one of our friends and readers, “Stiffmeister”, tickets and a ride to the game today! How cool is that? Although from the last response it doesn’t look like Stiffy can make it, still, what a fantastic gesture by Kaddy for someone he barely knows, other than his screen name. Major props to Kaddy for that one. THAT is what being a Coug is all about!
So, it’s a chilly morning at that, if you are in the Palouse/Inland Empire region for today’s game. Just a high of 34 expected in the old 99163, although the white stuff probably won’t be coming down any longer. They got some snow yesterday, and as you can see from one of the web cam pics this AM positioned squarely on Bryan Hall:
I don’t know what will happen today, I mean none of us really knows. It’s all reading stats and trusting your eyes and gut instinct, that sort of thing. And I went total HOMER yesterday picking the Cougs, as did my compadre Longball. Maybe we’ll both be wrong, in a huge way. Maybe we just picked WSU because, quite frankly, we’re tired of picking against the Cougs? Or maybe it’s because we’ve had this game in our sights for a long time as maybe, just maybe, one they can get if the conditions are just right? I don’t know exactly why, but consider this:
The last MAJOR upset that both Longball and I picked this year? UW over USC. And we know how that turned out. See, anything’s possible! We’ll see what happens later today.
A couple of quick items: Nice official start to the Ken Bone era last night, as the hoops team won 94-66. Per Grippi, the 94 points is already more than any game in the Bennett era, the most points scored since 2003. They might be an awfully young team, and they may experience a ton of growing pains this year, but they certainly don’t sound like they are going to be boring! But Bone wasn’t exactly pleased with the effort:
“I’m glad it wasn’t on TV,” Bone said, lamenting the careless ball-handling, “(and) have Dick Bennett back home in Wisconsin seeing that. That would be embarrassing.”
One thing I do like from that game, aside from the 94 points? Rebounding. They had a 50-25 advantage on the glass. Sutra has been all over it early in conversations about this team this year, about how badly they need some rebounding and size inside (maybe he’ll post about hoops sometime soon?). So while my hoops knowledge can fit in a thimble, even I can recognize that when you outrebound your opponent 2-to-1, it’s a good thing!
And finally, Friday Night Lights Style – WSU QB recruit Connor Halliday had another nice game in the playoffs, throwing three first-half TD’s in Ferris’ 41-16 win. They move on to play Eisenhower in Yakima next week.
That’s it for now. We will have something up later today, probably after the game. ENJOY YOUR DAY, and GO COUGS!
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