HOT COUGAR ACTION: Tackling The Focus For WSU

No time for an intro today. On to the links!

WSU News

WSU tackles a problem - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Sept. 8, 2010
A couple of players sat out, including starting middle linebacker Mike Ledgerwood (stinger) and defensive tackle Bernard Wulfgramm. Wulff said they both would be questionable for Saturday.

Back to basics for WSU football - Spokesman.com - Sept. 8, 2010
So just how do you tackle someone? And, no, it’s not as easy as just knocking them to the ground, as we’ll see later. There are fundamentals. And we asked WSU linebackers coach Travis Niekamp what they are. "You lead with the stub, drive and tackle with that stub," Niekamp said. "Have good pad leverage, a good base, and then lead with the stub. We talk about leading with the stub and we talk about tackling as a one-legged takedown."

FOOTBALL: Wednesday Recap - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - Blog
Rain started to come down towards the end of practice, just in time for the first-team offense to line up against the first-team defense in a one-minute drill. Jeff Tuel threaded the needle on a pass to Daniel Blackledge, but Rankin came through a couple plays later for a sack. With four seconds left, and the ball at the 20, Tuel hit Marquess Wilson for a touchdown.

ESPN GameDay Flag Wavers to be Recognized Prior to WSU-Montana State Game - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
The individuals who have waved Ol' Crimson, the Washington State Cougar flag, on ESPN College GameDay telecasts will be recognized in pregame ceremonies. In attendance will be Tom Pounds, the founder of the tradition that dates back to 2003, and other flag wavers who will be traveling to Pullman from distances as far as Oklahoma and Michigan. They will proudly wave the actual flags flown on the ESPN telecasts when Butch runs out of the Martin Stadium tunnel before the team.

Football Friday on Thursday - Montana State Edition - WSU Football Blog
Fime to lead by example and carry on bravely with this weeks picks as if life still has meaning. Last weekend was a bitter cocktail of 2 parts downer, 2 parts kick in the nads, and 3 parts "OH THE HUMANITY!"

FBS stat of the week: Which teams played the most true freshmen | College Hotline
WSU's ranking might surprise you.

Bud Withers | Washington, Washington State didn't live up to hype in openers | Seattle Times Newspaper
True, it's one game. Let's not go overboard. But I feel like I just ordered over the Internet a fine teakwood deck chair and what showed up was a cheap, dented aluminum thing with frayed plastic slats.

BCS games equal big money for UI - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Sept. 8, 2010
One option is reigniting a series with Washington State. Spear said he’s spoken with WSU AD Bill Moos about playing the Cougars as early as 2013, and at one point he thought they had an agreement. "But that has not come to fruition," Spear said. "There is interest on our part in doing that in the future. It makes sense, I think, for both schools because of the location. I’m not really in favor of doing it every year. But I do think doing it every few years would be the right thing to do for both schools."

Basketball World Championships Wrap-up - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - Blog
Aron Baynes recently competed for Australia at the 2010 World Championship in Turkey. Baynes was one of 12 members of the Boomers' squad, which finished third in Group A (Kayseri) and went 3-3 before falling to Slovenia in the Eight Finals. Baynes played in four of the team's six games, scoring a tournament-high four points against Angola (Sept. 5) in five minutes of action. He averaged 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds a game, converting his only 3-point attempt.

Soccer Notes and Quotes - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - Blog
In my weekly visit with Washington State Head Soccer Coach Matt Potter, the Cougar mentor had these thoughts about the program.

Gurveen Clair Diary Day 14 - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - Blog
Washington State freshman goalkeeper Gurveen Clair is training with the Canadian National Team. You can follow her experience here.

Video from yesterday's practice, Pac-10 News and other stuff after the jump.

Pac-10 News

What to watch in the Pac-10: Week 2 - Pac-10 Blog - ESPN
6. Washington State buries Montana State from the get-go: It's fairly simple. Washington State needs to go out and whip Montana State. It needs to start quickly, establish dominance and allow its fans to feel good about the program. The Bobcats are a quality FCS team, but the Cougars should have restocked their talent enough in year three with coach Paul Wulff to take them to the woodshed. Jumping to a big lead will boost the confidence in the locker room. Struggling and playing a tight game into the fourth quarter won't. Losing? Let's not even go there.

Pac-10 predictions: Week 2 - Pac-10 Blog - ESPN
Went an extremely unsatisfying 7-3 last week. The seven games I picked correctly were basically sure-things, and my read on how the Washington State-Oklahoma State game would go was completely wrong, even if the pick was correct.

Pac-10 football ratings: It’s a scramble for the top spot, but not the bottom | College Hotline
The ratings are back for another year, with a twist: Utah and Colorado will be included.

Other Stuff We Like

On the Media: ESPN can't just bigfoot its way into local markets - Los Angeles Times
Includes information on SB Nation, the parent company of CougCenter.com. Interesting if you want to learn more about the battle for eyeballs on the Internet. (h/t LeaveItToWeaver)

Keys To Victory For Tennessee: Shower Discipline - From Our Editors - SBNation.com
A rash (get it HAHAHA) of staph infections in the Tennessee football locker room forced first year coach Derek Dooley to re-educate his team on the finer points of properly showering. I did not just make this up. This happened. For real.