WSU’s Humpday Roundup

So, yesterday the Cougs were back at it after a Monday off, and things sound pretty positive.  One might expect the team to come out a little flat, you know, with the heat above 90, coming off a day off, and some bodies and minds starting to get a little fatigued.  But nope, the “dog days” haven’t quite set in yet, and the energy was pretty positive yesterday. 

NOTE – our own Longball was able to hit one of the practices yesterday, live and in color.  But unfortunately the opening paragraph went “live” on the site before the recap was ready to roll, so, that’s why you saw it briefly yesterday afternoon.  No big whoop, and no, we didn’t violate any confidentiality agreements ‘n such.  It was just a technical difficulty issue that was quickly corrected.  Stay tuned for Longball’s full recap, coming soon!

But before we get to the many links out there, some business to attend to.  See that RV in the pic above?  Why show a picture of an RV for a post about the Cougs?  Well, because WE BOUGHT IT! That’s right, we acquired the 30-foot Class C RV over the weekend.  What does that mean for you?  Why would you give a rip?  Some of you might remember, but last fall we put together a tailgate party for the blog.  Our own Hooty did the vast majority of the work, which wasn’t exactly easy.  He got most of the drinks, food, and his own travel trailer, as well as scouted out the spot for the get-together.  He even went out and bought a “WSU Football Blog” banner! 

Very cool.  But sadly, the WSU cheerleaders came by, and Hoot had to tell them to leave, as they just weren’t invited……

Seriously though, he totally stepped up and we are forever grateful to him.  Now, on to business – if you didn’t make it by last year, good news – you can just come by this year.  That’s right, we are going to hold our second annual WSU Football Blog tailgate party, coming to a Pullman home game near you! We will supply the refreshments, hot dogs and the RV, and now we just need you to come on by and say hello.  We don’t have the game picked out yet, as some busy fall schedules for all of us are making it a little tough to decide, but rest assured, we will be doing this again.  Stay tuned to the blog for the details as they come together, and we will give you notice way in advance, but yes, YOU are invited!     

Read on for the links…..

• The Seattle Times has a good read on the return of James Montgomery.  I know we’ve been hearing a lot about Monty’s recovery, and this story has been told a few times now, but it is simply remarkable each time you hear it.  As Bud Withers points out, to go from possible amputee victim to starting at running back the opening weekend of the upcoming season is just amazing.  But also part of the story is his experience with staying close to home, and that you know, maybe it’s NOT the best thing?  I know that flies in the face of what you hear out there, about the importance of keeping the local talent at “home”, but if you talk to different players, sometimes you’ll find it is both a blessing and a curse.  Sometimes it’s healthy in your personal growth to get away from the home front, go out there and live a little bit, you know?
• Ted Miller looks at the frosh who are making waves in Pac-10 camps this August, and projects the different rookies who will likely see playing time this fall.  Among the WSU frosh?

  Washington State
  WR Marquess Wilson, WR Kristoff Williams, OT John Fullington, LB C.J. Mizell, DT Kalafitoni Pole

  Notes: All five of these guys will play. Fullington has seen some action with the first-team. Mizell might be the Cougars fastest LB.

  It’s hard to disagree with any of the names listed, although it could be possible that Pole redshirts due to some still-OK depth at d-tackle?  But of course, that can change in a hurry!  And look for Longball’s report on practice for what he saw out of Mizell.  Miller saying “Mizell might be the Cougars fastest LB” might be an understatement! 

• Miller also weighs in, video-style, on the top backup QB’s in the Pac-10.  And yes, he mentions Marshall Lobbestael, and that overall WSU is in good shape!  Good stuff.
• Joe Nickell has the official practice recaps from Tuesday, the AM session here, the PM session here.  Among the highlights from the morning are Brandon Rankin and Alex Hoffman-Ellis giving the defense a “win” on a goal-line drill, and the afternoon highlights include a nice showing from the first-team offense, and yet another highlight catch by true frosh WR Marquess Wilson.  Plus, of course, Joe has the video highlights for you…. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzLIJLeLXp4&w=400&h=258] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSp5apuqKUA&w=400&h=258] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoVENg1HQZY&w=400&h=258]
• In the non-free stuff, Cougfan has recaps from the AM session here, and the afternoon session here.  While we can’t totally share the premium stuff, the return to practice by Jared Karstetter was a very good thing for the offense!  I know it hasn’t been played up a whole lot, but Karstetter has been recovering from sports hernia surgery in the offseason, and that can be a difficult road to recovery.  Let’s not forget that Karstetter led the team in catches, yards and TD’s last year, and he’s got that whole big-target thing going for him, which can be a nice option for the offense.  Remember Jeff Tuel’s two TD passes vs. Notre Dame last year both came on end-zone fades to the 6-4 Karstetter, so it’s nice to get that physical presence back among the wideouts. 
• So, who’s going to LOSE to WSU this year?  KIRO-ESPN Radio’s Bert Klasey has some ideas, and runs down the four Pac-10 teams that could lose to the Cougs. 

Finally, some very sad news from the Vince Grippi camp:

Long-time readers of this blog know one of the great perks of the job is my thrice-annual trips to Los Angeles and the ensuing visits with my 85-year-old dad. It’s been a godsend the past few years. Well, this week I’m making one last visit-my-dad trip to LA, this one unplanned. As you might know, he suffered a major stroke while I was visiting during the USC/UCLA basketball weekend last winter and has never really bounced back. And now, it’s time say goodbye. Due to that, our contributions to this blog will disappear until at least Friday. We know you will understand. So, until Friday then …

A tough time for Sir Vincent, who had a rough go of it in on his own health this spring/summer.  We wish all the best to Vince and his family, and hopefully this will be the end of the bad news for him for a long time to come.

All for now.  Enjoy your Humpday, and as always, GO COUGS!