Moving at the speed of the Internet, a lot of people have been quick to judge the recent run-ins with the law by a handful of football players over the past couple of weeks.
Not so fast, said Paul Wulff in an extended interview last night with KCPQ in Seattle.
On Tyree Toomer and LeAndre Daniels:
First of all, it's a mistake, and a poor choice by a couple young guys that have never been in trouble prior to Washington State or in their first year. Both have been done very well academically as well. I think when it's all said and done, there's a question mark on whether the charges will even be filed. There are some issues there behind the scenes that look favorable for the players.
And on Xavier Hicks:
Xavier's done a great job. He really had. What occurred was he had a traffic ticket in 2007 in Othello and it wasn't paid. And college students move around -- his address -- he didn't receive any of the information that it was suspended. And then he got pulled over and then he found out then. So, that's the offense. It's something he has to learn from, obviously, but those mistakes are going to occur.
Are there any repercussions?
We've got a few things we'll do to handle that, but for the most part, at this point, he's not going to be suspended.
So there you have it. All of you clamoring for justice to be swift and without mercy are going to be sorely disappointed.
The stuff with Hicks sounds plausible -- I had something come back to me from the people that run CCN after I moved a couple of times in college that took a letter from a lawyer to get sorted out. However, Hicks really might want to consider investing in some driving classes; he got pulled over after leaving jail, got a ticket in Othello that led to this license suspension, and had to be doing something he shouldn't have to be pulled over this time. The guy's been pulled over more times in the past few months than I have in my life. Perhaps he should just be a better driver.
I'm truly curious to see how the situation with Toomer and Daniels turns out, becuase I want to see just how what was reported can be chalked up to a misunderstanding. Makes me wonder if it wasn't them trying to play some kind of ill-conceived prank on some people who didn't think it was very funny. But, of course, that's just speculation.
Wulff talks about a lot of other stuff, too -- you can find the video from the three segments here. I put it on a separate page because of long load times.
Wrapping up the NCAA track championship from the weekend, Matt Lamb ended up finishing fifth in the discus competition. Pretty good showing for a guy who, by his own assessment, has been pretty off kilter all year long:
"All things considered, this was a pretty good way to end a mediocre season so I'll take it," Lamb said. "I'm about 30 to 35 pounds heavier than I was a year ago so I don't feel like I'm in the same throwing shape. I'm a lot stronger but I'm having a hard time transferring it into the discus. If I don't go to the USA nationals I'm going to relax and stay out of the weight room and get away from throwing for a little bit and focus on next season. I still have one more year and if I don't end up on the top of the podium I will be disappointed."
Marissa Tschida placed sixth in the javelin as well.
Lastly a couple of football notes:
- ESPN is continuing its slow march toward world domination, securing broadcast rights to the Rose Bowl in 2011. Beginning that year, all five BCS games will be broadcast on cable. I hold little doubt that in my lifetime pretty much all events such as these will be available only on pay-per-view; it's really the only way these ever increasing broadcast rights will be able to keep up, and taking major championship events off over-the-air broadcasts is the first step.
- Lew Wright over at Examiner.com has a cool little countdown of the top 10 most important Cougar football players for 2009. The latest installment places running back James Montgomery at No. 7.