The Timmy Awards

First and foremost, I want to say, “Nice get Adam”! His interview with Donnie Marbut is yet another example of why I’m thrilled to be a part of this site. I extend a huge thank you to the WSU Football Blog team for letting me share my insight (such as it is) on our beloved Cougs. I’ll now return you to our regularly scheduled programming…

I dwell much more on Cougar football games than what is probably healthy. Throughout the fall, I spend Sunday through Wednesday reliving details from the previous Saturday games, either reveling in the good or cursing the bad and trying to figure out how it could have gone differently.  By Thursday, I usually move on and start thinking about how we’re going to win the next Saturday. Now that Auburn has at least temporarily been crowned national champion, I figure this is a good time to relive the Cougs’ 2010 football season one last time before fully moving on and thinking exclusively about what is to come.

This time of year is what Hollywood types call award season so with that in mind I’m unveiling the Timmy Awards, which are  nothing more than a thinly veiled excuse to talk about my thoughts and memories on the season that was 2010 Cougar Football one last time. Without any further ado, lets starting handing out some awards…

The “Holy Crap I Can’t Believe This Guy is a Freshman and I Can’t Believe We Get to Watch Him Play in a Cougar Uniform for a Few More Years!” Award

We have a tie! Our Co-winners are Marquess Wilson, CJ Mizell and Deone Bucannon. I can’t remember a time that there has been such a bounty of young talent roaming the Palouse. There are a number of guys I could have listed as honorable mention in this category.  Several redshirt and true freshmen contributed this season (Washington, Kaufusi et. al.), but I wil be more succinct and  simply say the future is bright. Based on what they showed this year, nowhere does it look brighter than projecting the careers of Wilson, Mizell and Bucannon.

The “I’m Fist Pumping in My Car Because We’re Coming Back to Win and I Don’t Care Who We’re Playing!” Award

This award goes to the Montana State game. Look, was I disturbed that this game looked as bleak as it did for so long? Yes, of course I was. Did that prevent me from being excited about the fact that we won? No, it didn’t. The track record the last few years put us in no position to get greedy about the way games are won. Never has “a win is a win” been more true.

The “I’m Having to Follow the Aforementioned Awesome Comeback Against an Inferior Opponent in my Car Because Fox Sports Sucks!” Award

Congratulations, Fox Sports. This might be the only award you ever win. Imagine my surprise to see the replay of a college soccer game when the schedule clearly said, “Montana State at Washington State”. The expiration of the tv contract can’t come fast enough.

The “Here We Go Again” Award

Oklahoma State: 65 – Washington State:17. This one hurt and it hurt immediately. I’d be lying if I said this result didn’t make me think that a threepeat of the ’08 and ’09 seasons was in the offing, but then came…

The “Could it be? Maybe Today’s the Day! Nahhhh, I Guess Not.” Award

This award has an unprecented seven way tie. The first half against SMU, the first drive against USC, virtually the entire UCLA game, hanging around against #3 Oregon and again against Arizona, the late push at Stanford, and the woulda, shoulda, coulda’s against Cal; every single one of these games for different reasons made last season infinitely more exciting than the previous two. We were watching the Cougs grow up right before our eyes and seeing plays made in ways that we’d grown unaccustomed to in 2008 and 2009. Even if the record didn’t show it, hope was restored.

The Ruettiger Award for Exemplary Service by a Walk-On

Paul Wulff’s invited walk-on policy paid dividends this season and laid the groundwork for the Ruettiger Award to be a mainstay for years to come (you know, assuming that Coach Wulff keeps his job and this “Timmy Awards” gimmick also sticks). The award for the 2010 season goes to Jack Wilson. While he may not have filled up a highlight reel, Wilson represented the turning of the tide in the depth of the WSU program. For two years, unable to field enough quality athletes, the Cougs suffered noticeably on special teams.  A combination of walk-ons like Wilson and Bennett Bontemps, along with new special teams coach Dave Ungerer allowed the Cougar coverage units to evolve from a liability to incredibly stout. Seemingly a small change, this was another positive sign of the health of the program.

The “Alright Fine. These Guys Were Due to Poop the Bed After a While. At Least it Wasn’t on TV. I’m Just Gonna Watch ‘Saw’ and Forget the Game Ever Happened” Award

Clearly this award goes to the Arizona State game. There are a few things to work  through here. “Saw” ended up being an incredibly fitting movie choice given the game’s grisly box score (albeit an incredibly random choice since my girlfriend decided that day she wanted to watch a scary movie for the first time since I’ve known her). Secondly, my parents and oldest brother attended this game. My big bro wore an Arizona Cardinals shirt and no WSU apparel. In spite of his, “my only WSU shirts are sweatshirts” excuse, I haven’t yet acquitted him for costing us the game. Lastly, I let this one go quickly. Let’s face it. The team was due for a letdown and it happened that day in Tempe. These things happen.

The “I’m Much Happier than I Thought I’d Be When You Consider our Overall Record. I Mean, Really, I Feel Like We Just Won a Bowl Game. Do I Have Allergies or is That a Tear in My Eye?” Award

Beating Oregon State was simply awesome. I was happy for Coach Wulff and his staff. I was happy for all the veterans that had spent the better part of three years getting their heads kicked in and I was happy for the young guys that now understand that the work will pay off. Most of all I was happy to think that my fellow Cougs felt exactly like I did.

The “I’m Running Out of Ideas, But This Guy Deserves an Award” Award

Do you think that the other Pac 12 coaches are excited that Jeff Tuel is coming off only his true sophomore year? Yeah, me neither. I can’t wait to watch him progress even more and I’m thrilled he’s ours.

So what did we learn this year? For one, we learned that I need to come up with a better system of naming awards. I also learned that I couldn’t include the Apple Cup because I’m not yet prepared to write about it without vulgarity. Mostly, though, we learned that the seasons of total embarrassment for Cougar football appear to be history. Enough occurred to provide reasons for optimism and to think that in the very near future, the Cougs will not only be highly competitive, they’ll also (in my opinion) start accumulating wins and making bowl appearances again.

Go Cougs.