Quick Monday Update, Plus Blog Poll

So, how do YOU handle a Coug loss, especially an Apple Cup loss, the day after?  Do you avoid the media, the newspaper, etc?  It’s a tough thing to do in this day and age, where information is available from every angle.  I find that after the Apple Cup loss, I avoid the UW-slurping Seattle media as much as possible (outside of Bud Withers anyway.  That guy is always even-handed when discussing WSU).  I mean after Saturday, you knew how it’s all going to go before you even read the articles.  You know, how bad WSU sucked and UW looked like a bowl team, how wonderful Jake Locker is and UW is “back”, blah blah blah.  Ugh.  I do like Cougfan or Howie Stalwick after a day like Saturday, just getting the WSU side of the story.  Not that I’m burying my head in the sand and thinking that everything is WONDERFUL in Pullman.  Clearly it isn’t.  And it is good to get an outside perspective, and I do try to read everything.  But not this week.  The loss is hard enough to stomach to those guys, so the last thing I want to do is re-live it the next day.

Meanwhile, the James Montgomery news kind of slipped through a little bit, but we’ve heard that it was going well for the last few weeks.  He’s still got some ground to make up, including a surgery on the right knee, but it’s sounding pretty positive.  Adding him to the running back mix next year sounds fantastic, especially with some upside shown by Carl Winston (above), and the return of Logwone Mitz.  Winston averaged almost 4 yards per carry (3.9) in limited time, but I think the upside is pretty good there.  He’s got that Steve Broussard thing going for him, that 5-8, 200lb fireplug who may not be the every-down back, but certainly can be in that 10+ carry per game range.  But I really want to see more Logwone Mitz next year!  Just 160 yards on the season, only 3.0 yards per carry, he never seemed to get untracked after a promising 2008 frosh season.  Add in Arthur Burns, a promising frosh that they managed to keep the redshirt on this year, and you might have a nice little group of backs next year.  EDIT – never mind on Burns.  Thanks to Yaki for reminding me that BURNS MOVED TO LINEBACKER!  Hey, it’s Monday….  🙂

Monty’s return could be huge though.  It’s really easy to forget now, but he was actually leading the conference in rushing just two games into the season when he was hurt vs. SMU.  He caught seven balls out of the backfield as well, and clearly has a little bit of a dual threat going on there.  Good luck to Monty this offseason!  We welcome you back with open arms for ’09.

Some other quick links.  Howie Stalwick has an update from Wulff yesterday, where the assistants have hit the road recruiting this week.  Cougfan has an update, as well as something regarding Kevin Norrell and Toby Turpin and their return to the program (note – premium article).  But Grippi has similar info, and that both Turpin and Norrell will likely be back next month (hooray on Norrell!). 

Finally, our weekly blog ballot. Click through if you want to see it.  If not, I understand.  Enjoy your day, and GO COUGS!