Hello Coug Fans!  Of course, happy T-day to you all.  I'm sure we're all thankful for so many things, including good health and happiness of all our friends and loved ones.  Here's hoping you all have a great holiday today, as we head towards the Apple Cup.

There's some good stories about there, plus the FSN weekly highlights show is available for your viewing pleasure.  It was a pretty good show this week, with a lot of Apple Cup talk.  But be sure to pay attention towards the end of the video, and the HUMONGOUS hit on Jacquizz Rodgers, delivered by none other than Xavier Hicks!  I'm not sure if you heard about the hit, and it obviously wasn't on TV, but wow, he laid the wood to young Rodgers.  As Jim Walden said on the radio broadcast, "he's not even seeing stars, he's seeing MOONS!" 

Some quick links for you, then the video.  First, speaking of Xavier Hicks, a good, quick story from Howie Stalwick on the senior safety.  Yeah, he made a lot of mistakes in his time in Pullman, and we don't need to rehash all of that now.  But you now realize that Hicks hasn't had an easy road, raised by a single mother who had him when she was only 16 years old.  But even with the mis-steps Hicks made in Pullman, Paul Wulff and the rest have stuck by him, and it appears that loyalty has paid off.  Hicks has had a decent season, leading the team with 78 tackles and doing all he can while those in front and next to him have fallen by the wayside due to injuries in '09. 

And, seeing how it worked out well for Hicks, here's a big hope that coach Wulff and the team are ready to welcome back Kevin Norrell to the program.  If you missed the story last week, Norrell was finally sentenced for his incident in September that led to his season-long suspension from the team.  It's no secret that Norrell was regarded as one of the most talented skill position players on the roster, and made huge strides heading into this year before his trouble at the beginning of the season.  We're fans of Norrell around here, so let's hope the program is ready to embrace him again as one of their own!

Meanwhile, a Coug in dog's clothing - Bob Condotta - had this write-up in the Times, regarding the youth on both UW and WSU's roster.  A little bit of a sobering reality if you want to know the truth.  The gist is that yep, UW and WSU are both awfully young.  But you know what?  So is the rest of the conference.  Want proof?  Per Condotta:

However, the unfortunate reality is that while UW and WSU are admittedly experiencing growing pains, it's not as if the rest of the Pac-10 is ready for the Denny's Senior Menu.

Consider that of the top 10 rushers in the Pac-10, eight are underclassmen, and one of the two seniors — Stanford's Toby Gerhart — could be back next season if he's granted an extra year of eligibility for missing most of 2007 due to injury.

Also potentially back could be all but two of the top 10 passers. And one of the seniors is Arizona State's Danny Sullivan, who has already been benched.

Seven of the top 10 receivers are underclassmen, as are eight of the top 10 in sacks and six of the top 10 interceptors.

The only teams with even as many as 10 senior starters are the two Arizona schools and Stanford. No one else has more than eight seniors starting.

Damn. 

While there is still hope in the future as the Cougs grow up.....uh, well, the reality is that they have been getting beat pretty handily by some other young teams along the way.   But instead of getting overly gloomy, maybe this isn't so much a downer for the Cougs as it is a reason to look at the Pac-10 and realize how GOOD it really is, top to bottom?  Sutra and I had a conversation earlier this week, about how tough the conference is right now.  I mean yeah, we have been the "layup" or "guaranteed win day" for every other Pac-10 team on the schedule this year, but, overall it's a good, deep conference.  Given all the youth that has played so well, it's going to possibly be an even better conference next year.  So, all that said, maybe it's time they revisit the idea, again, of ditching the round robin schedule format?  The SEC doesn't play everyone in their conference, nor does the Big 10.  Heck, the Big 10 only plays eight conference games every year, yet they have eleven members in the conference, and all without a conference title game!  In 2008, Iowa missed both Ohio State AND Michigan, and that worked out well for them.  They ended up winning nine games that year, including a blowout over South Carolina in the Outback Bowl.  This whole Pac-10 round robin schedule thing has gone on far enough!

Finally, the weekly highlight video....check it out after the read more:

 

Happy t-day, and GO COUGS!