Have we ever mentioned how certain newspaper writers will never understand why their career is being flushed down the toilet as blogs such as this one and other innovative Internet publications thrive?
NW Briefs | Cougs men's basketball nation's No. 1 in defense
By Howie Stalwick
Special to The Seattle TimesWashington State was officially crowned the national leader in men's basketball defense when the NCAA released final Division I statistics Wednesday.
The Cougars gave up just 55.4 points per game. That is the lowest total in the Pac-10 Conference since Oregon State yielded 55.0 in 1981-82 prior to the addition of the shot clock and three-point field goals.
Washington State led the Pac-10 in defense for the sixth consecutive year. That breaks a tie with Oregon State (1984-88) for the longest string of defensive titles since the conference began tracking annual leaders in 1959.
Howie makes himself such an easy target, but equally at fault is the editor who assigned and paid for this, as well as the headline writer. There's a reason why people are coming to us more and more, and them less and less.
If you're new around here and have no idea why this is comical, take a few minutes to read this.*
* If you're curious, the Cougs were actually 25th nationally in raw defense this year, measured by efficiency. However, they faced the third-toughest opposing offenses of anyone in the country this year, so their adjusted defensive efficiency was actually No. 6. But that's beside the point.