CougCenter Has Arrived!

CougCenter.com

If you read Stadium Way or WSU Hoops regularly you may have noticed some recent hints involving a new blog. Well, Jeff Nusser and I have finally been able to combine forces and create a brand new SB Nation blog, CougCenter.

We’re incredibly excited about this, and I hope all of you out there are too. If you’re not familiar with SB Nation, just know that it rocks and has tons of great features that I could never dream of having here on WordPress.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Stadium Way over the six months of its existence. It’s been a fun ride and I’m stunned at how much my readership has grown in such a short time.

Head over to CougCenter, and as always…

GO COUGS!

Something to Ponder

ESPN’s Ivan Maisel on Rick Neuheisal:

We got it wrong all these years. Wrong. All of it.

Really?

Well at least the article doesn’t get weird or anything.

He is as handsome as ever. The only evidence that time has made a visit are the crow’s feet that frame his otherwise unlined face.

Oh.

Nevermind.

Read the whole article. Then tell me honestly if the exact same article, maybe with a couple minor tweaks, couldn’t have been written about Dennis Erickson when he agreed to return to Moscow to coach Idaho two years ago.

Meanwhile, from Beijing: America swept the gold, silver and bronze in the men’s 400m hurdles. This is the same competition that Jeshua Anderson attempted to make the Olympics in just a few weeks ago. Now we know what he was up against – and why his 8th fastest time in the U.S. trial semifinals was actually pretty awesome.

OT: Michael Phelps is Decent at Swimming

Hey – thanks NBC, for making me wait three hours to watch something that happened live at about 8:10 pacific time. Not to mention avoiding any site on the Internet or TV station that might give away the result early.

NBC is also to blame for the buzzkill during the next commercial break that featured a Phelps-specific Visa commercial (Morgan Freeman’s voice isn’t just for marching penguins) and another for some NBCPhelps video thing you can order. Personally I’m stunned – stunned – that we didn’t see Phelps record followed up by the record 244,583rd playing of the Sprite commercial where the basketball court turns into a swimming pool.

Don’t let the above paragraphs fool you. That was one of the most incredible sports moments we’ll ever experience. I was glad to be a witness to it.

A Bad Monday for WSU

Ok. Do you want the bad news, or the worse news, first?

The bad news first?

Per KHQ:

Kyle Weaver has been traded to the Oklahoma City Fighting Satans, for a second round pick.

Even though he’s a perfect fit for Larry Brown’s system, I can only assume Kyle was traded for one of the following two reasons: either the Bobcats didn’t think he’d make the opening night roster, or Larry Brown continues his blind hatred of rookies. Because, as I’m sure you’re aware, rookies never contribute anything valuable in any sport whatsoever.

The worse news:

Jeshua Anderson is expected to be out six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery to treat a hernia.

Now the pressure becomes even greater for Brandon Gibson and Daniel Blackledge, who lose the aid of the fastest man on the football team.

A silver lining: Nik Koprivica and Serbia won the Under-20 European Championships in basketball, defeating Lithuania 96-89. Koprivica, who captains the team, scored only five points in 11 minutes. More details in the link.

Update (6:30pm): If Anderson is out six to eight weeks, it means his earliest return would be 9/20 against Portland State (would probably only see a few snaps anyway), and the latest 10/4 at UCLA. Either way this comes out to a loss of about four to six games. That is bad news for the Cougs.

The Worst Logo in Sports

Deal with that, Joel. If that is your real name.

By the way, have I ever mentioned how much I love that blog template? And the SB Nation network it’s connected to? It’d sure be great to be a part of that…

Cole Morgan Goes West; Jeshua Falls Short

Cole Morgan is transferring to Western Washington University, as reported by the Seattle Times on Saturday.

What does it all mean for Cougar football? Well, not much. Quarterback is one of the few positions on either side of the ball this year where there will be depth. This certainly solidifies Gary Rogers as the favorite to take the ball in 2008, with Kevin Lopina and Marshall Lobbestael in line for the future.

The good news for Cole is that he can play right away at Western, because it is a lower division school and therefore has no transfer penalty. The Times suggests he will challenge WWU Senior Adam Perry for the starting job there. My prediction is that Morgan will win the job – he still has a gifted arm and good enough poise in the pocket to do well at any level of college football.

Jeshua Anderson fell just shy of Beijing in the 400m hurdles at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene. He placed fifth in the a semi-final heat where only the top four were set to advance. The silver lining is that Anderson will still be blazing past defensive backs this fall for the Cougar offense (which takes the field in just 60 days).

Channeling my Inner Fire Joe Morgan

Fire Joe Morgan, by the way, is a sports blog dedicated to cruelly ripping apart a wide variety of poorly written sports articles.

I didn’t think I would post again before I leave on my trip (see post below), but I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity, courtesy of The Columbian (his words in bold, mine in not bold). It’s not poorly written, I just feel like defending my anti-Hansen stance:

Commentary: Pac-10’s Hansen often gets bad rap

When Pacific-10 Conference commissioner Tom Hansen announced his retirement earlier this week, there were likely more responses of “It’s about time!” than “That’s too bad.”

Yeah, that seems about right.

And that’s too bad.

Okay, Skip Bayless. I’ll bite. Let’s see if you can back it up.

Hansen has had plenty of critics during his 25-year tenure as the league’s commish. He didn’t land marquee television slots on ESPN, stuck the league with a lackluster bowl game lineup, wasn’t proactive enough in the BCS mosh pit, and took an unpopular stance against a college football playoff.

Exactly. Now blow me away with the counter-argument.

To listen to some, it’s as if the Pac-10 is on a par with the Patriot League.

Now I can start diasagreeing. It’s not that we think of the Pac-10 as the Patirot League, it’s that we feel it is not on par with the other BCS conferences. A reasonable assertion.

That’s just dumb.

“dumb”?!?!. Hey, I’m not insulting your intelligence – don’t insult mine (which happens to be in agreement with a huge number of people).

All Sorts of Cougar News

Off-season news surrounding the Cougs seems to come in waves. Well, there’s plenty to pass along on this otherwise unremarkable Tuesday.

First, another edition of Buzzin’ The Palouse on Cougfan. This week covers not one, but two drafts: the MLB draft (four Cougars taken), and the upcoming NBA draft (with Kyle and Derrick working out for multiple teams). I also touch on the golf course, stadium renovation(s) and the continued success of Cougar rowing.

Next, we head over to WSU Football Blog, who attended the Columbia River Dinner and went home with shots of the newly rendered proposal for the Phase III designs of Martin Stadium. These are very different from what we’ve seen in the past, and if this is the one we ultimately go with it’s going to have a major impact on the stadium’s future. I’m sold.

Finally, and this truly is wonderful news, Tom Hansen is retiring as Pac-10 commissioner. Of course, he can’t be fired (that would be silly) so he will finish out the upcoming academic year. I thought about devoting a whole post to this, but I really can’t say it any better than Nuss over on WSU Hoops. I echo the sentiment that it is time for the Pac-10 to move forward, with a new commissioner that can take the conference into the new millenium. I’m all for experienced leadership, but 26 years of Tom Hansen?

What is Wrong With This Picture?

The answer: It was taken today. It’s June 10th, and it is snowing in Pullman. It is snowing in Pullman…

…and it’s June 10th.

……

……

[head explodes]

More pictures after the jump…

Scholarship Chart Updated

Link here, or at the top of the page.