Greetings Cougs, and a happy Humpday morning to you and yours. Normally we’d lead off today with your usual round-up of links and such, but not today. Today, we hail the KING! And how ’bout the KING last night?? No, he wasn’t perfect, but just 1 ER allowed over 7 2/3rds, with 5 K’s along the way. But to come off the perfecto and still be able to allow just 1 run over nearly 8 innings, the guy has just been brilliant and is in the midst of a run that is amazingly impressive. His second-half ERA has now dropped to 1.41 (although the baseball nerd in all of us knows that you never fully judge pitchers by ERA!), and he has given up 2 or less runs in 7 of his last 8 starts. He has just as many shut-outs already this year (4), then he had in his CAREER coming in to 2012! Righties are hitting just .198 against him, and overall the league is only at .222 against the KING.
And don’t look now, but the M’s are HOT. 7 straight wins, and an amazing 14 out of 15 in Safeco Field?? What’s up with that?? Maybe shedding Ichiro was a great thing for this franchise, as they are now 17-8 minus the mysterious #51. Let’s not get crazy and start talking playoffs……but they have crept to within 7.5 of the Wild Card. Crazy talk, I know. Until you look back a year ago and realize that on the same date in 2011, the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals were 8 games behind ATL for the Wild Card! I know, I know, it’s crazy talk, and they would have to pass like 5 teams in the process just to snag one of two AL Wild Cards this year. But hey, at least they are interesting to watch again??
But with Felix, it’s not just the numbers. Watching him pitch is just a treat. The way he can still bring the heat when he wants to, several times up in the mid-90’s on the fastball, but also the electric breaking stuff that is straight out of Nintendo is simply amazing. He truly is like watching Pedro Martinez in his prime, and all I can say is I’m going to enjoy this ride for as long as it lasts. Felix did say in a radio interview yesterday that he “promises” Seattle fans that he is going to be here for a long time, but we all know how crazy baseball free-agent money can get. Can you imagine the amount of money teams would be willing to fork over for the KING in a couple of years, when he hits the market at just 28 years old??!? Yes, he’ll have a lot of mileage on that right arm in two more full seasons of 200+ innings, and like NFL running backs there’s only so much tread on the tire for MLB starters. But I sure hope Jack Z and the M’s brass roll up their sleeves and figure out a way to get him to sign a contract extension, because there couldn’t be a more important player in the franchise right now than Felix Hernandez.
OK, back to football. Well, sort of. First, we have to mention this – remember our good friend Hooty, a former blogfather around these parts who is now famous for the Wave the Flag campaign?? How he has a billboard and a video and all that, in just a wonderful, touching tribute to his mother? Well guess what – HIS MUG IS NOW ON A SPOKANE CITY BUS!
I think to get him to “make an appearance” at our next tailgate, we’re going to have to do more than fill him up with free beers and hot dogs. There’s probably going to be a fee involved, plus a tent set up for autographs and a way for him to schlep his own merchandise. I don’t even know if we can contact him directly anymore, I tried the other day and was immediately greeted by a rather large individual who told me to call his agent, and then slammed the door in my face…..OK, not really, but still. This is getting a little nuts??
In all seriousness, congrats to Tad/Hooty! Keep on keepin’ on. Oh, one other quick thing – the Snow Bowl from ’92 was replayed the last couple of nights on the Pac-12 network. What’s weird is that in a game that ended 42-23, did you know UW actually led 7-6 at the half?? I remembered the explosion of points in the third quarter when the Cougs simply ran away from the Dawgs, and it was absolutely stunning. But I forgot that it was only 7-6 at the half?? Weird.
But also I saw in one quick shot, you can see Bill “The Beerman” walking the sidelines in a WSU jersey, which is kind of strange? I knew he was a Seattle icon for so many years, and he sadly passed away in 2007. I remember seeing him at Seahawks or Mariners games, trying to get different sections to start the wave or do some sort of cheer. He was always drenched in sweat and had that crazy, sweaty, red-faced thing going on. And I knew he sold beer at the Kingdome, and then was a cheerleader for hire for many years, turning it into a career of sorts.
$1.25 for a King Beer?? What a RIPOFF!
But what’s great is that Hooty was able to get a pic with Bill after the ’92 Snow Bowl!
And yes, I think that is an old-school Pizza Pipeline hat on Bill’s head?? Oh, the memories. Anyway, I wonder if WSU hired him to be on the Coug sideline during that game, just to “cheeze off” the UW/Seattle folk?? Strange.
On to today’s links!
Caple hits on Tuesday’s practice, which was a little unusual in an attempt to simulate game week for the Cougs. Basically Tuesday’s practice was supposed to be like a Thursday practice in a normal week, since next week they play a game on Thursday….or something like that? Anyway, check the link for Caple’s round-up of the action.
Included in Caple’s piece, but also touched on by Cougfan, is the departure of a couple of players from the WSU roster. Chas Sampson and Zach Koepp have both left the program, confirmed here by Cougfan on Sampson and also Koepp. We’ll probably find out more in the days ahead, but seems kind of strange to see these players leave now.
Howie Stalwick has a notebook-style article that touches on pretty much everything going on with WSU athletics. Interesting on the football angle is how the positive talk of confidence and the we’re-going-to-be-better-this-year-REALLY has been flowing, and Howie asks Wade Jacobson about all of it and how, uh, we’ve kind of heard this before??
“Last year, we said the same thing,” he admitted. “You know: ‘We’re going to be good.’ I think last year we just said it to (try to) change people’s minds. But right now, we actually feel the team and individuals have changed. We’re ready for the season. We feel more confident.”
We’ll find out soon enough, but even the biggest cynic can tell you that this year has a different feel to it. Leach’s arrival has upped the stakes, and in turn the confidence is on the rise in every corner of Coug-ville. We can speculate all we want, but it’s all just talk right now. The beauty is that we will all find out TOGETHER if this is real or imagined, and sooner rather than later!
A good read from Bud Withers, who goes into the details on kicker Michael Bowlin’s journey to Pullman. Bowlin was originally an Oregon Duck, then was booted from the team. After a couple of years at a JC, Bowlin was set to sign with San Jose St. Leach and company jumped in late in the recruiting process, and got Bowlin to sign on the dotted line to come to Pullman. And boy do we need the kickoff ability of Bowlin! Per Withers, he had 14 touchbacks last year kicking off from the 30. And when you consider per Withers that WSU opponents averaged getting the ball at the 36 yard line last year?? Sounds like a great fit for kickoff duties! Here’s hoping with the new kickoff rule of kicking from the 35, I’ll definitely take several possessions starting from the 25-yard line (also part of the new touchback rule, you get it at the 25 if it’s a touchback).
All for now. GO COUGS!
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