Edit: Moving this to the front page because there's some fun comment action.

I get asked quite a bit how I got into this job and how it is working in online sports media -- new media, if you will. The short answer is I don't know. The longer answer is a bit of luck mixed with a lot of hard work.

For those that don't know, CougCenter is not my full-time job -- at least not technically. None of us do this full-time, though I'm the closest thing to an around-the-clock contributor. CougCenter is part of my job because I work for its parent company, SB Nation.

But it was never supposed to be like this. And since I keep meaning to write down how I got into this business, I figured I'd throw it up as a FanPost with a question at the end.

This is written in the same vein as Bomani Jones' post about his wild career path. It's something I've had bookmarked forever and open just about every month as a reminder about what it takes to succeed. I also get to work with Bo now, which is a great perk of the job.

Warning: This is a long piece. It might seem a bit navel-gazey, but whatever. I've been meaning to chronicle this all because it's been such a weird path.

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The WSU baseball team played their final home game of 2012, beating Gonzaga 1-0 in 10 innings. It was a nice way to end the home schedule of what has turned into a disappointing season. At 27-26 on the season and only three more games remaining, WSU is likely to miss the postseason for the second straight season.

The good news for the Cougars is a solid core of young players will return next season including nearly the entire pitching staff. The bad news for the Cougars is they are likely to lose a ton on offense including their top two hitters Taylor Ard and Derek Jones. Ard is currently second in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage. He is a redshirt junior, but was drafted in the 25th round last year and debated going pro then. At this point, i would say he is unlikely to return for his senior season.

The Cougars will have a lot of question marks heading into next season, but first they will wrap up this season with a weekend series at Washington.

WSU Baseball: Marbut after GU win! 5/22 (via WSUCougarAthletics)

WSU Baseball: Collin Slaybaugh after GU win! 5/22 (via WSUCougarAthletics)

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When Ken Bone reassigned Jeff Hironaka as the director of player development, it opened a spot on the coaching staff. Bone said he wanted to add someone with recruiting ties to the Midwest and apparently he didn't have to look far as today he added former Idaho assistant coach Ray Lopes to the WSU coaching staff.

Lopes spent the last four seasons with Idaho, first as an assistant then later as the associate head coach. He's bounced around college basketball and the NBA D-League quite a bit including a stop at WSU in 1993-94 as an assistant coach.

At WSU he coached under Kelvin Sampson then followed Sampson to Oklahoma for an eight year stint with the Sooners. Lopes was the head coach at Fresno State for three seasons. He also spent two years as the associate head coach of the Idaho Stampede, a NBA D-League team.

While Lopes may have developed some Midwest ties while coaching at Oklahoma, it hasn't shown in the makeup of the Vandals roster. Of the 13 players on last seasons Idaho roster, nine were from California, Washington, Idaho or Oregon. None are from Midwest states.

Lopes does come with some baggage, in the form of NCAA recruiting violations. He was the top assistant under Kelvin Sampson when Sampson received a one-year ban on calling recruits. Then when Lopes was the head coach at Fresno State, he was also punished for making impermissible calls. Lopes made 457 impermissible calls over a two-plus-year period and was given a three-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA.

At this point, it's tough to say whether or not Ken Bone made the right move demoting Hironaka and adding Lopes, but my initial reaction is this was one big swing and a miss. Maybe Lopes will come in and recruit the Midwest like crazy, I have no idea, but he wasn't successful doing so at Idaho and comes with a history of NCAA infractions.

Only time will tell if these moves pay off, but considering the damage it did to Hironaka's career path and Lopes history with the NCAA, this move feels underwhelming at best.

The Orlando Sentinel is currently running a series ranking all 120 FBS teams. They started counting down from 120 and yesterday they got to No. 84 which just so happens to be where your Washington State Cougars check in. The Orlando Sentinel write up isn't anything new or different, but it brings up an interesting question.

With what you know right now, both about WSU and the rest of college football, where would you rank the Cougars? Pre-season rankings will begin to come out soon enough and I expect to see WSU placed in a wide variety of ranges. Some will rank them higher based on Mike Leach's arrival, others will keep them low based on recent history.

We already talked about where WSU should rank in the Pac-12, but now let's expand that conversation to the entire country.

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Today is just one of those straight to the links kind of days. There isn't much in the way of news today, but Bud Withers article on the Pac-12 networks is worth a read.

Football

Washington State football coach Leach enjoys fruitful hunt in Canada | GantDaily.com
Pullman, WA, United States (AHN Sports) – Apart from his affinity to pirates, WSU head football coach Mike Leach spends time learning about various things during the off-season, including grizzly bears and recently enjoyed a fruitful bear-hunting trip in the deep woods of Alberta, Canada.

Baseball

Cougars Lose Rubber Game to Beavers - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site
PULLMAN, Wash. - Dylan Davis retired Taylor Ard with the tying runs on base in the bottom of the ninth to preserve Oregon State's 7-5 victory over Washington State, Sunday.

Cougs' postseason baseball hopes a lost cause - Spokesman.com - May 20, 2012
PULLMAN – Any remaining doubt was erased once the final out of Sunday’s game was recorded: The Washington State baseball team isn’t going to make the postseason.

Pac-12

Pac-12 entering new world with its networks | Bud Withers | The Seattle Times
We know that the Pac-12 Conference represents great geographic and cultural diversity, and that the interests of its populace are disparate rather than narrow.