So, THERE's the beef.

Thanks to our friends at Cougfan I have been perusing the Spring Football Roster and, of course, there is a lot to talk about. A few familliar names are no longer with us such as Brandon Golden (transfer), Justin Clayton (injuries) and Kalil Pettaway (concussions), and there are a few startling weight gains/losses. Most notably Conner Hallady lost, yes LOST 6 lbs. Probably just making sure he has that super model career to fall back on if this football thing doesn't work out. Meanwhile the offensive line which will be bolstered by a bunch of guys leaving their red shirt year behind has made some impressive looking weight gains. It wasn't too long ago that the only chance you had to see over 300 lbs sprinting accross the Rogers Field turf was during a 3 legged race. Others that stood out to me: Kristoff Williams, Destiny Vaeao, Taylot Taliulu... all made some impressive gains. Take a gander and tell us what you think.

Hello Followers.  Long time no see.  Hope you all are doing great.

As for me, well, the seas have parted just enough for me to fire up a quick post.

So, for a few quick thoughts about Ken Bone and Cougar Basketball on the eve of the NCAA tournament, read on.

Happy Humpday Cougs, as we hope all is well with you and yours.  Tonight the Coug hoopsters take on UW in Vegas, as the strip comes alive with Coug fans walkin' around, checkin' stuff out.  Of course, the last time Cougs were in Vegas, well, we kind of made ourselves at home?

something something something GO COUGS!

Anyway, lots of stuff floating around and not much time, so, here we go.....

Happy Monday Cougs.  After some time away from this space, here's hoping you and yours are hanging on in your corner of the world.  

Ya know, I thought about the blog quite a bit lately, about losing some passion here and there and how it's a slow/dead time at the moment for all things WSU football.  And you know what?  I realized something that is pretty important - whether it's a dead period or not, whether it's slow or not, you just can't have a blog if YOU DON'T WRITE(!), know what I mean?  But some time away can be a good thing, and not just in a recharge-the-batteries kind of way either.  I know our content is down and likewise, the blog traffic right along with it.  But it is what it is, and this is a blog where we share thoughts and ideas and such.  It might not be life-altering content on a regular basis around here, but this space is here for what it is.  And if you don't write, well, what's the point of even having a blog to begin with??

Anyway, while I can't fully speak for the rest of the writers around here, I will do my best going forward with posting in the morning hours with "stuff" that might be interesting to you and yours?  It probably won't be every day, but I can say it will be more than it has been in the last few months.  So there's that.

With that, happy SPRING FORWARD MONDAY (read: today sucks).  It's weird but in years past, the first Monday after the time change isn't the hard one for me.  Where I usually feel it is on Tuesday for some reason.  Maybe it's just that you are in the mode of "I can get through this" on that first work day after the change, but then reality hits the following day when you realize your body clock just isn't quite there yet?  I guess we'll find out tomorrow, but in the past today isn't usually too bad.  

Moving on to your morning drip stuff......

Eighteen years ago famed music producer Rick Rubin staged an elaborate funeral service for the word "def". With Reverand Al Sharpton presiding over the ceremony and stars such as Tom Petty in attendance, "def" was laid to rest in a Hollywood cemetary. As I was remembering this strange event it occured to me that we Coug fans could use a similar vocabularical purge.

Friends, loved ones, curious passers-by; today we lay to rest one of the most tired tropes in all of Cougar fandom... the idea that some fans are "afraid of winning". Rest in peace you silly, rediculous bit of total nonsense.

Fans show their concern that the Cougs might stage a comeback and ruin everything.

Let's be clear; Nobody is "afraid of winning". You will not find a Coug fan who would rather be 5-7 than 12-0. They don't exist. This trope is trotted out to bully fans who express concerns about the cost to the instiution that some methods to achieve wins come with. It seems the "win at any cost" camp isn't interested in those concerns, so to cover for their shameless disinterest in fairness, integrity, loyalty and just about anything else that scholastic athletics are supposed to promote, they create the ultimate straw man; an imaginary legion of (old, weak, sad, pathetic, etc.) fans who form a fifth column dedicated to keeping their own team down. Suddenly a 30 year multi-sport season ticket holder and CAF member who has dedicated a good portion of their lives and income to supporting the Cougs is "afraid of winning" since they don't agree with you that coach X should be fired. Nevermind that when the Cougs won conference championships, this fan didn't exactly burn all their gear. Rather they booked their flight to Pasadena before the clock hit 0.00 on the last game of the season.

Right now there is a tension between fans who are demanding success now and those who can somehow make it through an entire basketball game without throwing the remote through a window. I live in both camps at different times and sometimes I inhabit both during the course of a single game. But lets just drop this false premise that only the angry, fed up fans "want to win". We all want the Cougs to win every single game they play. We disagree with how they can, or should accomplish that, but that's it.

Just because "def" was dead and buried doesn't mean that zombie "def" doesn't continue to stock the earth, and  I don't expect  "afraid of winnning" to stay 6 feet deep in the Palouse clay either. But at least now we can acknowledge that all its good for is lurching about snacking on the brains of the living.

RIP, "afraid of winning". You will mos def not be missed.

Not sure if anyone noticed, but it happens to be Apple Cup on the Hardwood week for our Cougs with a game at UW on Sunday afternoon. While our season thus far has been forgettable, the Huskies have not been lighting the world on fire themselves and leaving Seattle with a win is still a distinct possibility. Would it heal all the wounds from a season that has been the sports fans’ equivalent of rooting for Walter Mondale in the ‘84 presidential election? Not really, BUT it would definitely feel better than losing (Like nabbing those electoral votes from Minnesota, right?). All you have to do is harken back to football season to appreciate the magical healing power of beating the Dawgs. Still, it makes one wonder, is there anything left to salvage from this season besides a smidge of pride in beating our rival? Hmmmm, If there is I will let you know after the jump...

Hello Followers.  Hope you’re having a great week.

Today, I continue my solo album-esque series called “Losing Your Lunch.” The name of the game:  Write as much nonsense as possible in 20 minutes, paste it onto the Penguin (Bloguin) Platform….

And fire the stuff into cyberspace…

Today, I take a quick peak at a current football issue that should be instructive to all of us moving forward.   Read on.

Might I use this this picture forever more?  YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Followers.  Hope you’re doing great.

In the midst of taking a lunch break, I stumbled across a little bit of e-football news via that fancy little thing called Twitter.

After thinking about it, I decided to take a few minutes and throw together a new type of post, which I just decided to call “Losing Your Lunch.”  This series will represent a hodgepodge of things that may or may not fit together.  My goal:  Get out whatever comes out until such time that my lunch break is over (I will have 25 minutes to get this done).

Now, will I ever launch another such post under this moniker?  I don’t know.  But for today, I am going to write a few sentences about why the Big Ten sucks.  Read on.

Happy Hump Day evening, Cougar Nation! I've interrupted a pretty intense game of FIFA 13 to tune into Cougar hoops for the first time in what feels like weeks. I'm thinking this is because it's been weeks. It's good to be back. Really, I'm happy to be watching anything at all. My tv died over the weekend so this post comes with a huge shout-out to my buddy Paul for coming through with a n extra flat screen at a moment's notice. First world problems resolved, let's watch some hoops! I'll take you through the action as I saw it. Just be warned that I may be blogging about the season premier Survivor if this thing gets ugly. More after the jump...

Hello Followers.  Hope you’re doing great.

As for me, well, the last several weeks of this has pretty well taxed my ability to become the super-human blogger that I almost entirely never am.  But today, I am back in the saddle...

After the jumperoo, I will offer the most incredibly poignant analysis of the state of Cougar basketball that has graced these pages since yesterday...

Read on.