Sunday Morning Missal
The Terminator: No. There is one more chip.
[points to head where chip is located]
The Terminator: and it must be destroyed, also.
John Connor: No! You can't go! You can't go! No, stay with us it will be ok.
The Terminator: It has to end here.
John Connor: I order you not to go. I order you not to go, I ORDER YOU NOT TO GO!
[John starts to cry]
The Terminator: I know now why you cry.
[terminator wipes johns tear]
As we said good-bye to Blogger.com, sinking into the hot molten steel ala the end of T2, we went down with thumbs-up for our hope of a brighter future. And here we are, as you are reading this on the new site. We are alive and well, the newest college football blog on the Bloguin.com network. As you can see, our site has changed a bit, but most of the nuts and bolts are still here. We have our news feed to the right, instead of that widget-thingy from the old site that wasn't all exactly user-friendly. The news feed is a little different in that we don't have it broken out into sections among the different news sources that you have to click through to find what you are looking for. Instead it's just the very latest headlines from the WSU world as they hit these here internets 'n' whatnot. The feed should update every few minutes with the very latest.
There are the other usual things here as well, like the archives, the gallery of photos, the links, etc, all familiar to the blog-savvy reader such as yourself. But don't worry, we won't sit still now that we're here. The interface for the blog is brand new to us, but there are tons of different possibilities with the new setup. We have a lot to learn, and we'll be exploring different features as time goes on. My hope is that we don't completely "bog down" the site with far too many features, widgits and the like. We want to keep it clean and simple, but we also want to add things that we all find valuable to the daily blog experience. So we've got some work to do!
One thing you might want to change is how you are coming here. Some of you still hit the old URL at wsufootball.blogspot.com. Before that was fine, and it automatically routed you to the updated URL, wsufootballblog.com. But now if you hit the old URL, you are greeted with a redirect message from blogger, and you must select yes or no if you want to proceed on to the new site. If you want to get around that, just update your link to wsufootballblog.com, and save those precious seconds potentially lost from your web-surfing day!
Now on to some blog-stuff. First we'll look at the WSU universe, then check out what's going on with opponent number one, Stanford. And check back later, as we are hopeful of a practice report (among other things) from the boys in Pullman. So read on for more....
First, Grippi blew it up yesterday with all sorts of practice stuff. First on the situational drills, which try to simulate some game-type experiences as much as they can with a quick pace and interchanging of different team units. Grippi also bellied up with his look at the QB's, which is still a yet-to-be-determined issue (even if we are pretty sure K-Lopina gets the call!). Grippi hits on some key points about what will go into the decision at QB, and also offers up some sound reasoning that it's NOT all about who is looking the very best in practice right now. It's a good perspective to throw into the whole thing, from a guy who has watched basically every minute of WSU's fall camp. There really are a lot of other things, beyond what we witness at practice and in scrimmages, that will go into the final decision. But even all that said, it still at least sounds like it all will boil down to who the staff truly believes will give them the best chance to win, and win immediately. That sounds like number 9 to me. Anyway, nice work Vince. Now try and stay cool....
AllPac10.com took a look at the WSU secondary. It's a pretty strong read on the defensive backs, and I have to agree whole-heartedly with the author in that the secondary does look pretty promising right now. When we did our little secondary preview, I have to say that even with the loss of possible starters/experienced players like Devin Giles and Romeo Pellum, that things were looking up back there. The reviews from fall camp have been pretty strong, that it's a stronger, faster, more athletic group than we've seen in a while, and that can only play well with coach Chris Ball. They still might not be the most physical group around, and they were out-manned at times last year vs. the bigger, stronger WR's, but I think '09 is going to be different. Of course, that's predicated on the defensive front and what kind of pressure they can provide!......Ah, never mind. We've been over all that before. Anyway, DB's looking better. Got it.
And in that same line of thinking....Howie Stalwick basically pours cold water over any thought whatsoever that the defense will be better. WONDERFUL.
Meanwhile, Stanford. The first opponent of the year, now LESS than two weeks away? Wow. Anyway, there's some recent news from Dave at Examiner.com, who has been all over the Cardinal fall camp. He had this practice report, chalk full of practice highlights. And some other stuff, like quotes regarding this new phenomenon called EUTM ("Enthusiasm Unknown to Mankind") and what it means to so many of the Cardinal players. It's a pretty good read.
Hey, Harbaugh is as entusiastic as they come, and you would think that EUTM fits him like a glove. Whatever works, right?
Some other Stanford links out there - Ted Miller gave linebacker Chike Amajoyi his Stanford practice player of the week award. Amajoyi is a junior weakside linebacker for the Cardinal, and certainly looks the part at 6-0, 233. Amajoyi logged 51 tackles last year in five starts, but it wasn't exactly the breakthrough performance that some thought they would see out of young Chike. He had an eye-opening true frosh season in '07, with six starts, 47 tackles including four sacks and five tackles for loss. He looked like a real star in the making, but the sophomore jinx maybe got him a little bit? But it sounds as though he's had a pretty strong camp thus far.
AllPac10.com also looked at Stanford's secondary as part of their season preview. The Cardinal appear pretty set, and Bo McNally returns as one of the best safeties this side of Taylor Mays in the conference. But the most interesting part of the preview highlights Richard Sherman, thought of as the biggest "play" guy in the Cardinal receiving corps, and how he has switched over to corner. Sherman showed serious upside as a youngster, with over 1200 receiving yards on nearly 17 yards per catch from his frosh and sophomore years. But last year, in what was thought of as a season that should have seen Sherman take off into the upper-echelon in the PAC-10? Uh, yeah, it was pretty much a washout, where he went down with an injury just five games into an already-unproductive season. Faced with just one year of eligibility left, Sherman wants to make the most of it. Per AllPac10.com:
The surprising decision was actually made by Sherman himself. During the off-season, head coach Jim Harbaugh received a number of text messages from Sherman who insisted that he could help the team most if he moved to cornerback. After thinking about it for a while, Harbaugh eventually agreed, as the move would give the secondary a huge boost of athleticism.
Many wondered if Sherman could successfully make the transition to CB, but after a spectacular spring performance there are far less doubters. Sherman continues to get better with each practice, and he’s now working with the first team defense.
At 6-3 190 pounds, his combination of size and speed will provide the secondary with a defender for physical wide receivers. He possesses obvious ball skills, as his prolific receiving numbers will indicate, and his instincts as a wideout also seem to be translating well to CB.
Sherman is certainly a guy to look out for in week one. Will Kevin Lopina/Marshall Lobbestael test him early to see what he can do, given that it will be his first-ever game experience in the secondary? But wow, 6-3, 190 and his kind of athleticism could make for one tough combination at corner. You can just envision him lining up directly across from Jeshua Anderson, right up in his face, and jamming him on every snap. Get healthy Jeshua, and get ready to use your hands and strength to get off the line!That's about it for now. Again, be on the lookout for a possible report from Pullman. ENJOY the rest of the weekend, as always, GO COUGS!
