Hello everybody. Its your good friend, Cletis. In case you missed last week, I am a graduate of Indiana University. Until last week, I was also Sutra’s special assistant.
However, because last week was judged to be among the worst posts in the 8 year history of the blog, I have since been nearly shut out of the internal workings of the compound.
Thankfully, I have been given one last shot. But since my “Wednesday Top Five” came up short last week, I have decided to shrink my thoughts a bit.
So, read on after the jump to see what us Hoosiers think about your Cougars.
1) Fashion. I know that many of you folks in the northwest don’t think much about fashion. I mean, whenever I have visited areas such as Seattle I have been perpetually amazed that nearly everyone looks like they’re coming from, or going on, a two week camping trip.
Moreover, when it comes to you folks who herald from the great Lilac city, well, you all aren’t much better. Instead of playing the “grunge” part familiar to you westsiders , many of you Eastern folk–including YOU, Mr. Moos–seem to have adopted the “grange” look. Instead of rain jackets, you all tend to dawn barn jackets.
Of course, the flannel, jeans, and waffle-stompers look remains largely the same…..
In contrast, us folks in the Midwest tend to have a much more refined, if not traditional look. And while folks from my hometown of Evansville, Indiana tend to think about fashion in relation to whatever is on-sale at Walmart,, more kindred folk in the Nation’s (true) capitol of Bloomington, Indiana tend to think about fashion with respect to our secular lord and savior: Robert Montgomery Knight.
You know, there were a lot of things that were great about Bobby Knight. But around here, the one thing we all loved about the General was that he always brought a certain consistency to the fashion world. I mean, if it was Winter, the General always had a nice, red V-Neck sweater. If it was Spring, the general always had a nice, red V-Neck sweater. If it was summer, the General always had a nice, red V-Neck sweater VEST. And if, if it was fall……
And so, when we hearken back to the days of successful Cougar basketball, it is hard not to see a parallel between the General and your previous Hoops success. I mean, the dude who put the Cougar Hoops Renaissance in motion, Jim Sterk, LOVED the v-neck sweater vest.
Of course, his genius hire, Dick Bennett, also used the v-neck sweatervest as an instrumental sideline feature of his “real man” coaching style. And even though T-Bone Bennett eschewed the sweatervest in favor of the no-tie blazer look, it should come as no surprise that Dick was in the stands for EVERY big game–and yes, in each of those games he dawned a plad, button down shirt along with a V-NECK SWEATERVEST!
So, as you all think about what is needed to restore your hoops and football prowess, I encourage each and everyone of you to think about a new and better (fashion) branding for WSU sports.
I mean, its all nice to have those new unis and stuff, but why not start and even bolder, better fashion statement by making a swift move toward becoming the first school known as “Sweatervest Nation?”
I mean, can you imagine what it would look like on TV if the entire ZZU-crew were all wearing v-neck sweatervests to every game? Can you imagine an Apple Cup where 30,000 Cougar fans are wearing sweatervests on top of their parkas and windbreakers?
Think about it Cougar Nation, think about it.
2) Is Four Years a Must? I know that Sutra had his pants on fire this past season over Ken Bone’s seeming lack of ability to assert a vision for “Cougar” basketball. But really, when you take a look at the current state of Hoosier Hoops, you all have it made in the shade. I mean, take a look at our current coach, Tom Crean. To be sure, the guy had some nice success at Marquette–including a final four appearance with some guy named Dwayne.
But, when you look at his bio ON OUR WEB PAGE, the guy just says nothing about the divine right of being a Hoosier. Instead, he just goes on and on and on and on about how great he was at Marquette, how Jim Harbaugh’s sister is his wife, blah, blah, blah.
Meanwhile, during this time at IU, Purdue has run a top the Big Ten, Butler has made the national title game two years in a row. And Indiana–the GREATEST basketball school EVER–has sat at the bottom of the Big Ten.
Brutal.
Unfortunately, our AD appears content to continue our current losing and sweatervest-less direction. So, where your Cougars are concerned, expect Bone to get a few more chances to try to get his program in place.
But if I were Bill Moos, I think I’d be apt to can him after this next season if WSU fails to crack the middle of the Pac-12.
The reason: Its usually a good thing to give a new coach a chance to win in his first year. With Ladd, Reggie, Lacy, Shelton, and Sequele set to return in 2012-2013, it seems to me that would be a good time to give a new guy a shot.
And yes, hopefully, he’ll hire a guy that knows about the comforts and styles of the v-neck sweater vest.
3) Four Weeks. I know that a lot of you are all in a bunch about Paul Wulff’s contract status heading into this most important year. But, really, you all need to relax. For one, this year’s recruiting class appears to be a small one in number, so if the world caves in, you’re only having to fill 16-17 slots at the last minute instead of 25. But even more than that, you all need to take an objective look at your first four games. U-Da-Hoe State? That’s a W.
UNLV? W.
San Diego State? Toss-up.
UCLA after Texas? W.
So, after the first four weeks of the season, you all are going to be 3-1. And at that time, expect Moos to extend Wulff’s contract. And then, you all can continue to emulate my Hoosiers: Turn an early season hot start (4-1 or 5-0) into a good old fashion train wreck. I’m looking for you all to start 4-1 and finish 5-7.
We’ll probably do the same.
Okay, back to my meds. Hope you all have a great week. And in the meantime:
GO HOOSIERS!
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