Recount

First, the Steve Morton news of becoming the new WSU O-line coach is running over at Cougfan.  And while it won’t be official for another seven days or so, since the cat’s out of the bag, we can also confirm that we were hearing the same type of noise, along with another guy who just took a job with the Cleveland Browns (note – NOT Mike Holmgren).  Seeing the lead picture on Cougfan, you can probably figure out who we’re talking about.  We’ll take a deeper look at Morton in the coming days, and you can get his bio from his most recent gig at San Jose State here.  But the instant WSU Football Blog over-reaction?  HOME RUN! Nice job to coach Wulff and those involved, because it looks like they have gone out and added an established, well-regarded offensive line coach.

Moving on, you may notice the author name to this article you are about to read and wonder.  Well, we’ve got some news of our own.  Lucas Coug has agreed to join our little blog, and will be a regular contributor from now on!  You may remember Lucas from his numerous comments that he has left on the site since becoming a regular reader a few years ago, but he also did a guest post for us after the WSU – Notre Dame game in San Antonio, which you can find here.   Lucas is a passionate Coug fan who knows his stuff, and we believe he is the perfect addition to the site.  Welcome Lucas, and we look forward to the coming year together!

With that, here’s the first regular article from Lucas Coug.  Enjoy, and GO COUGS!

After losing reception to my car’s AM radio somewhere between Portland and Hood River last week, I would frantically change between three or four different stations desperately seeking the Cougs / Ducks basketball game.  My girlfriend was baffled when I pulled out my wallet and this post-it note along I-84 to try and figure out which station to had the best, crappy reception; hello double negative.

For those who don’t know me personally (97.63% of blog readers), this is my life this is my passion.  I was willing to risk our lives in search of Bud Nameck’s voice, while driving over the speed limit, in the pouring snow, with next to zero visibility.  It was entertaining to say the least, until the Cougs blew a 5 point overtime lead!

Eventually I turned the radio off and just got updates on ESPN from my Blackberry.  When the final score read 91-89, I was bummed but not livid.  Seeing that for some reason ESPN cannot update anything other than the score when a game is played in Pullman (ie, fouls called and free throws shot), I had no idea the hoopla that had ensued until I opened up Cougfan.com the following day.  We all know Pac 10 officiating is awful at football and basketball, so here is my proposal (not that I expect anything to happen) to help these clowns save face!  Read on for more…..

I am proposing a “re-count.”  That’s right, I said it.  Think Christine Gregoire or George W. style recount.

In a world so obsessed with getting things right (see, instant replay in sports and presidential/gubernatorial elections), here is what I propose to the conference.  Pac-10 supervisor of officials Bill McCabe, who already admits that call was wrong, creates an officiating oversight committee that has authority to review game film.  After reviewing the tape, the group votes and majority wins to overrule or sustain the outcome of the call.  In a year where the Pac 10 is viewed by “experts” as down, getting a call like this right could wind up being the difference in the Selection Committees eyes come March.

On a scale of 1-10, this bad call was an 11.  Watch the video and see what you can determine for yourself, be ready to pause as DeAngelo scores the go ahead bucket.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7TpwydftmI&w=300&h=340]

It’s bad.  Right up there with Montlake Jake’s celebration penalty against BYU last year, and Oregon vs Oklahoma a few years back. 

And then we had this bit from the Seattle Times’ Bud Withers after speaking with the Editor-in-Chief of the NCAA Rules Committee.

Bilik said he taped the game, and the video doesn’t show an immediate move by Oregon to try to inbound the ball, which might have created the interference with “continuous play” mandated in the rules for a technical.
“Those people didn’t interfere with that throw-in at all,” Bilik said. “If the ball isn’t prevented from being promptly put into play, the celebration can be ignored. From my perception, never did the Oregon player go out of bounds and become a thrower-in.”

I know this is beyond far fetched, but when you have a group of officials that like to put the outcome of games into their own hands on a regular basis, some accountability is a good thing to protect the integrity of the games! 

Have a great weekend.  Cheers to whooping up on a down Arizona team tonight, and hopefully exploiting ASU’s zone defense in front of a nationally televised TV audience on Sunday morning.  GO COUGS!