Greetings Cougs, and a happy back-to-reality Monday to you all (bleh). That all out of the way, let’s jump in with links-n-such.
Paul Wulff surfaced, and talked to Christian Caple at the Spokesman. Wulff touched on a variety of topics, from his future to his assistants and helping them get work, to living in Pullman and having no contact with Bill Moos or Mike Leach. A good read, and interesting to hear directly from Wulff after some rumors and chatter recently about what he’s up to.
Is he bitter? That was the talk anyway, and it’s not too difficult to sense the resentment from the article. But it’s a great thing to see how he has moved forward, and he’s got a tremendous opportunity ahead of him with Jim Harbaugh and San Fran. And who knows, maybe Wulff’s future will indeed be within the pro game, where he can focus on his specialties and not worry about all that goes with being a head coach in the NCAA? He wouldn’t be the first former NCAA head coach who became a longtime fixture in the NFL as an assistant, and it could be a great experience for him and his family.
Speaking of Wulff, there was a good blog post right after his dismissal from a site called “Romancing the Bone”. The blog is maintained by an author who has been a Husky AND a Coug as a student, and clearly identifies himself as a WSU guy all the way. But while the post about Wulff wasn’t too long, it’s a good perspective of how WSU nation looked at Wulff, and still looks at him today:
I think the problem, looking back on Paul Wulff’s tenure as coach, is that he is a ‘Cougar’. He’s one of us. That alone makes me realize the toxic, almost incestuous nature of it all. ’Cougars’, for all the great things we do, I’m convinced are not suited to lead or inspire each other. We are suited, and have been bred to console each other. We love each other to a fault, wrap arms around shoulders and slap each other on the rear end and say, ‘Nice try…’ But we don’t yell at each other. We don’t expect the other to astound us, really, or wow us, and when we see them struggle, but improve, we say, “Excellent! I see where you’re going with this… Keep it up!”…
While I wouldn’t necessarily go along with the notion that Cougars can’t lead or inspire each other – after all, Bill Moos is a Coug and things have been moving forward quite well since he took over the athletic department – but from an everyman’s approach, it’s an interesting take. We generally do love each other, for the most part. So maybe the so-called “incestuous” nature of a hard-working, clean-living guy who was “one of US”, well, maybe it just wasn’t a great fit to lead the program?
Whatever the case, I think the guy does understand what it means to be a Coug:
Every decade or so a movie comes along; Rocky, Vision Quest, the Karate Kid, Rudy, the Waterboy… And suddenly the world sees what it means to be a ‘Cougar’. It is to defy the odds, to toil in adverse conditions and obscure places with little support from anyone. For years. But being a ‘Cougar’ means knowing deep down, eventually, someday, somewhere, somehow, something will transpire and you will sit atop the world. Even though it’s likely a brief moment and people will question how you got there – you did. And all of the journey leading up to it leaves you humble enough to appreciate it and be awed by it.
In the end, it’s great to see coach Wulff moving on. You can’t help get the feeling that Wulff staying in Pullman was akin to hanging around your home town after high school, just kind of waiting to see what’s going to come along in your life. It was time for him to let go and look forward, and the right opportunity has indeed come along. Getting on Harbaugh’s staff at San Fran is a tremendous, fantastic move, and we definitely wish him luck (see, we DO love each other)!
Moving on…
The National Football Post has a write-up of the top 5 breakout players of spring football. Not just breakout players on a specific team or even a specific conference, but of all teams in the country in spring football. And a guy who made the list? Andrei Lintz.
Hop on, there’s room for one more!
I know it was written about, time and again, Lintz and his emergence in the Leach offense. It was exciting to read and hear about how well he was doing, and it was great to see Lintz turn in a strong performance in the spring game. But to read Lintz mentioned as one of the top 5 players nationally as a break-out type guy? Very, very cool. Maybe it’s just the extra attention that will now be part of the deal with Leach in Pullman, or maybe Lintz clearly was a major story along the college football landscape. And Lintz truly is a match-up problem, a guy with his size and strength lining up in the slot, and he could do huge things this year as Leach and the rest are intrigued by the possibilities. But whatever the case, it’s cool to get some national pub!
So I’m sure everyone has seen and reacted to Mike Leach and the bear story. You know, how Leach shot a a 7-foot, 350-lb bear while on a hunting trip for the Outdoor channel? Leach tweeted the pic out over the weekend:
It’s a big one alright, measuring 7′ 4″. So he basically shot something the size of Ralph Sampson.
While I love to go fishing, I’m definitely no hunter. I never felt the urge to shoot bambi, I guess. But I don’t begrudge those who do hunt regularly, and I have several friends who have been hunting all their lives. But while the general response on blogs and message boards was “COOL!”, well, not everyone felt the same.
@Coach_Leach Let me know if u ever kill a pirate! Bears don’t shoot back tough guy!
— Wes Welker (@WesWelker) May 18, 2012
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Obviously some sarcasm there from Wes Welker, but still interesting to see a non-LEACH IS GOD type reaction to the whole thing.
Finally, a great WSU fan has shown up on Youtube, and was mentioned on MSNBC. Nicole Early was at a Red Sox game, and got “JIGGY” with it while Will Smith’s hit blared over the Fenway PA system. Check it out:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Niuqw7QbuvM&w=420&h=315]
This wasn’t Nicole’s first go at Youtube fame, however. Anyone remember this?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9aatKy0ueQ&w=425&h=246]
We’ll see if this new one goes viral, but over 42,000 hits and climbing this morning, it certainly could blow up!
All for now. GO COUGS!
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