When I decided a few months ago to take The Spokesman-Review's early retirement offer and ride off into the sunset, my boss, Joe Palmquist, solicited my advice on who he should talk with as my replacement. I immediately thought of Christian Caple. After the uproar of the past couple days, I thought you might want to know why.

Please go read this. And while you're at it, go ahead and read the the comment left by The News Tribune's Ryan Divish on our other thread. I know it's hard for many of you to understand. But Divish really is right when he says that it's just different when someone is on the job. I covered UW sports when I was at the TNT. My personal distaste for the university and its fans had nothing to do with anything, and even if Caple really felt that way about WSU -- which he doesn't -- it just doesn't matter.

By the way, listening to Bill Moos talk recently, I'm beginning to get the feeling (Paul) Wulff's job doesn't hinge on a number of victories and probably never did. It's more about how Moos and president Elson S. Floyd feel about the direction of the program. I will say this, I told my boss this week I'm sorry to be retiring after this football season, because I think the Cougars are going to be really good next year. And after the past few years, I won't get to see it.

-- Vince Grippi, this morning Just thought you all might that interesting. Feel free to discuss.

23 Combined margin of Washington State's last three wins against FBS opponents (Washington by three in 2008, SMU by three in 2009, Oregon State by 17 in 2010) before their 59-7 shellacking of UNLV on Saturday more than doubled that margin. Against cupcakes, there is no pass-fail scale, only meh-fail. But two "meh" finishes are a step forward for Wazzu, and you do have to take notice of the fact that, without starting quarterback Jeff Tuel, the Cougars outgained the sad Rebels, 610-158. They gained 35 percent more yardage than what Vanderbilt and Connecticut combined for in their battle.

Bill C. is back with another Numerical. He also looked at Pac-12 expectations and reality for this past weekend. See also: Spencer Hall's Alphabetical, in which H is for Hades and blood is falling from the sky because of the Cougars.

5,068 Days between 60-point games for Washington State. The Cougars scored 63 on California on October 18, 1997, then finally broke the barrier again against Idaho State on Saturday. It had been 1,820 days since they had scored even 50 points (September 9, 2006). Their reward? Losing quarterback Jeff Tuel for an extended period of time to a broken collarbone. Chin up, Cougs. Bill Connelly gets numerical. In addition, Spencer Hall's alphabetical is back. I'll be back with something on the Cougars after I finish trying to make sense of the Pac-12 turning into a smoldering pile of rubble this weekend.

Now the personal news. Kim had a doctor's appointment today and texted this to me afterward (I was at practice). "Just got out of the dr office. No more cancer. No chemotherapy needed." That's what I call a real win. By the way, thanks for all the support here. It did make her feel better.

From Mr. Vince Grippi. This is the best news you'll read all day. If you didn't know his wife, Kim, had cancer, now you do. I say had because, as you can see above, it's gone now.

It really isn’t possible to make an objective prediction of success for any unit on this team without a big fat "IF" in front of it. ... I think it’s fairly normal to have a few IFs on a team before every season given the natural attrition in college football, and I usually end up in the glass-is-half-full camp. But I just can’t muster the enthusiasm to fill my glass this time around.

State of My Fandom – July 25th, 2011 " Cougar Athletic Supporter Go read it, and then come back. Curious how many of you are feeling this way.

The Pac-12 conference is seeking a 10-year deal worth $220 million a year, plus a commitment to launch a regional sports network, people with knowledge of the talks say. Start-up costs for such a venture would likely run in the neighborhood of $100 million, most of which would come from the media partner. Negotiations are likely to conclude in the next few weeks. Executives including Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis, Matt Bond, who oversees content distribution, and Jon Litner, who leads Versus and the company's regional sports networks, see a deal as a potential rainmaker that will improve the Versus sports network and allow the company to collect carriage fees for a Pac-12 network, according to people familiar with the matter. They also fear watching another company launch a Pac-12 network and then being forced to pay to include it on their cable systems, these people said.

Comcast Eyes Sports Deals to Build Up Cable-TV - WSJ.com The dream scenario is developing, people. Don't be shocked if the final number ends up higher than $220 million a year.

Washington State basketball player Reggie Moore will have his record cleared of marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession charges if he remains out of legal trouble through June 9, a Whitman County Prosecutor’s office spokesperson said Thursday.

This according to Howie Stalwick for Cougfan.com. I have no idea what this actually means with regards to guilt, innocence, etc., but I would be surprised if there is any further team discipline stemming from this incident.

Sitting courtside last night, I had a flashback. No, not like that. A basketball flashback. To the NCAA tournament, circa 2008. Just about three years ago, when Washington State played Notre Dame. The Cougars won that night in Denver 61-41, but it wasn't that close. WSU just dominated the Irish's offense, taking Luke Harangody and company out of everything they wanted to do. Crushed their will. It's what that WSU team did when it was playing at its best. And it's what Wichita State did last night.

WSU's loss to Wichita State, the day after - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - March 30, 2011 This is a must-read from Vince Grippi this morning.

The Washington State baseball team has added a pair of games to its 2011 schedule. May 9 at Portland (3 p.m.) May 25 at Seattle in Bellevue (6 p.m.)

WSU Sports Information Department