Admission of Guilt

Hello Followers.  Hope you’re having a GREAT first week of camp.

As for me, well, things have been a bit mixed.

On one hand, I have been really enjoying Longball’s one-of-a-kind reporting from Camp Cougar.

But, on the other hand, I have found myself feeling a bit guilty, if not glum.

So, if you want to read my latest admisssion of guilt, then read on.

Followers, it doesn’t feel like August of 1997 was that long ago….

At that time, I was just finishing up my old master’s (of the universe) thesis in Seattle and was about ready to head down to join my new wife in the Sacto area.

But, before I headed south–and unknowlingly out of the Northwest (perhaps) forever–there was a date to be had.

You see, SeanHawk and I had a long running tradition of having lunch every Friday–a date which we still call “Football Friday.”  And this time was no different, except the location was.  Instead of meeting downtown, he and I met at Kidd Valley up on Capitol Hill.

And, at that date, with a Lindy’s preview magazine in tow, I sat at the table showed their prediction of our finish ito Sean.  It said “6th place.” 

And then, I said the following: “Sean, do you know that if we win our first two games, we’re going to the stinking Rose Bowl?!”

Of course, thanks to one of the greatest clothes-line blocks in program history by Mr. McWashington, the Cougs broke the USC/LA jinx and went on to our first Rose Bowl in 67 years (or some such).  And what a ride it was.

Unfortunately, the sweet ride of Ryan Leaf and the Fat Five didn’t last long. Leaf left for a disasterous NFL career and the days of Poop Island came before you could say, well, “Poop Island.”

And frankly, during that time, I just completely tune out the Cougs.  Mind you, I still watched them whenever they were on, but with Raycom still controlling a lot of Pac-10 games, and with FSN Bay Area showing San Jose Sharks games instead of the late Pac-10 contests, there just was not a lot of Cougar Football to be had.  Plus, we were awful, and with a little Sutra then in my arms, I had better things to do.

So, as the 2001 season dawned, I was as uninformed as I was apathetic. And, as I’ve written on this blog before, my response to a fraternity brother’s prediction that we might be improved was to say “No we won’t, we don’t have any receivers.”  Of course, it turns out that the group led by Mr. Bush et al. were pretty darn good.

What makes the story even worse is that I didn’t even know how good we were until I saw us play for the first time in 2001.  It was the Oregon game when we were 7-0!  And it was then that I realized that we were headed for a really great run–one that would lead to the coming/creation of this here blog.

*********

Of course, the point of this story is that, in spite of the fact that I lived and breathed Cougar Football for a decade (yes, I was a fan of another Pac-10 school prior to my enrollment at WSU in 1988), the Poop Island days took just too much out of me–so much so that I really didn’t pay attention until we had emerged as a top 10 team (at least in the BCS) in 2001. 

And so, notwithstanding the outstanding contributions of Longball and company, I now find myself writing this post as uninspired by training camp as ever before..

And because of that, I can’t help but think about the overall mood and attitude of Cougar Nation as a whole.

To be sure, there are fans like you out there–as my good friend Hooty was then (he was the one who e-mailed everyone to say that he thought we would contend for the title that year)–who know that this team will be much, much improved this year.

But overall, I think it is going to take a HUGE start to get most of Cougar Nation to even pay attention, let alone be inspired, again.  And that dear Followers, is what should have fans of Paul Wulff (LIKE ME) very, very concerned.

*********

LAST WORD:

I write the following EVERY single year, but it bears mentioning again, again, and again. 

Typically, injuries do not happen the first few days of camp.  Instead, they tend to happen in days 4-7.  The reason:  After three or four days without a break, the muscles get REAL tight and sore.  Not so coincidentally, that fourth day typically coincides with the dawning of pads.

The result:  Just when some guys are really stretched thin, they start getting punished physically. Add the heat and resultant dehydration to the mix and those hamstrings tend to go “pop” as do those knees and high ankles–especially early and late in practice.

So, by the time I return next week, I think we’ll have a pretty good idea of where we’re at injury wise.  While the first scrimmage or two typically yields an unwanted injury or three, it always seems like the end of the first week is where stuff happens in a bad way.

So, if we emerge clean and healthy by this time next week, we’ll be that much closer to capturing the magic of 2001–one which saw Cougar Football rise to the Glory we have coveted ever since.

All for now.

Go Cougs.