Be Still My Crimson Heart

Greetings Cougs, and a happy Tuesday to y’all.  I don’t know about you, but this whole spring forward stuff is ROUGH on the early risers.  And is it just me, or is the Tuesday morning after the spring forward even harder than the Monday morning??  I know we’ll all get used to it here shortly, but still.  I guess I feel like complaining, that’s all.

Nice shot of the WSU practice fields.  I found that earlier this morning as I had heard a rumor that Bill Moos mentioned that Martin Stadium was…..get ready for it….GETTING CRIMSON END ZONES for this fall!  As the headline says, be still my crimson heart!  I have been pining for crimson end zones since we first got field turf in 2000, and I wanted to try and find a link or something about it just to be sure.  In the past, whenever I had asked those in the know, I was told that they researched it and found that the cost was too high.  Too high as in somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 GRAND, something like that?  That it was special paint that was needed, and it was just too damn expensive. 

But then the crimson end zones popped up on the practice fields a couple of years ago, and I was all “WTF”???  Seriously, why can we have the beautiful crimson on our practice fields, even with the new logo rebranding, and not have it, you know, INSIDE the stadium!?! 

But as I looked for confirmation, it was hard to find.  At first there was no luck, no link to any stories or anything.  But then I was told that it was mentioned on one of the podcasts from Moos, and to try and track that down.  Still, no luck.  But then my good friend Google tipped me off to a chat that Moos had at the end of 2011, where he slipped in this little nugget:

Cougar Lance (Olympia): Hi Bill – any plans to replace the football field turf with crimson end zones and add new decor around the lower bowl of the stadium?

Bill Moos: Cougar Lance, yes to both, which will be in place for our home opener next season.

Moving on….

So forgive me for being a little too excited about crimson-effing-endzones, OK??  It’s March, what do you want?  A full-blown breakdown of the CBI!?!  You won’t find that here, although the Cougs do have a hoops game tonight vs. the mighty Dons of San Francisco.  The Dons might be better than WSU this year, but the Cougs historically OWN San Fran, per the WSU release on this game!

WSU AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO:
• The Cougars and the Dons have met just once with WSU holding a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series.
• Washington State won the lone meeting, 53-45, Dec. 23, 1950.

That’s right – OWNED.

And while the 2011-12 season was pretty much a bummer with the sub-500 record and all those painful losses, at least tonight we get to see Brock Motum and Marcus Capers one last time, plus some other youngsters get a chance to play another game.  And looking ahead a bit, the news is that it sounds like Motum is leaning towards returning for another season next year, and that’s a good thing when you can bring back a skilled big man like that.  But this will be the end of the road for Marcus Capers, and for that, WSU Football Blog tips our hat his direction.

A long, lean leaper, Capers was always a potential highlight waiting to happen.  And by all accounts, Capers is a class act on and off the floor.  He’s seen a lot in his years at WSU, and while he never did make the NCAA tourney, this will be his third postseason appearance out of four years.  While he never really developed into a high octane scorer, he’s always played hard and was a good example for WSU hoops.  He will be missed.

Meanwhile, the football team went out and got a JC linebacker yesterday, signing Justin Sagote out of the College of San Mateo.  Per Cougfan, Sagote is 6-2, 225 and runs a 4.6, with experience at both inside LB and outside LB in the 3-4.  Sagote was offered by Purdue and San Diego State, and had interest in Nevada as well before committing to WSU.  He will be headed for Pullman after graduating from the JC in May, and obviously has a real shot at contributing immediately after recent developments at the linebacker spot.  Sagote definitely fills a need, as has been painfully pointed out already with Sekope Kaufusi and CJ Mizell are “pursuing other opportunities”.  Oh, and Sagote fits the Hair Raid defense to a T, as Huddy pointed out yesterday.  So there’s that…..? 

Speaking of linebackers, there’s a great read on incoming WSU linebacker Jeremiah Allison in the LA Times.  Allison’s mother was struck down by a heart attack, and suffered brain damage as a result.  Powerful stuff in that article, and a good dose of perspective in your own world when you see what young Allison has been dealing with in his young life.   

I guess that’s it for now.  Enjoy your Tuesday, and as always, GO COUGS!