Good morning, Cougar fans. The WSU Men's Basketball team will take Friel Court for the final time in the 2015-2016 season Sunday night, facing NCAA Tournament bubble-sitting Cal. WSU will say "goodbye" to two seniors Sunday night, Junior Longrus and Brett Boese. I'll be honest, I didn't know either of these guys were seniors. It seems like they've been around a while, but these bad seasons have apparently blended together.
Both Boese and Longrus will fall in to that category of NCAA student-athlete that we get bombarded with every spring. They'll be going pro in something other than sports. According the the WSU Athletics website, Boese will get his Social Sciences degree this May, and hopes to run his own company in teh future. Longrus has been stellar off the court. He's already a two-time PAC-12 All-Academic team honoree, and will graduate with two degrees (Marketing and Management Operations) this spring.
A large amount of credit is due to both of these guys for taking full advantage of the college experience during their time in Pullman. Not only did they put in a huge number of hours in games and (especially) practice, they dedicated themselves to leaving with a college degree, or degrees in Longrus' case. It's kind of a shame that they both didn't redshirt, as both of them would seem like good candidates to do so. So here's to Brett Boese and Junior Longrus, two guys who exemplify the term "student athlete."
In WSU alumnus news, Seattle Times columnist/lava-hot take specialist Matt Calkins wrote a glowing piece about Klay Thompson. This was probably my favorite part of the article:
One of Bone’s more salient memories of Thompson at Wazzu came during a stretch in which he missed 24 straight field goal attempts over three games. However, in his final home game of the season, against Washington no less, Klay snapped the skid by sinking a game-tying three-pointer in the second half to cap a 16-point Cougs comeback. WSU won the game.
I remember that stretch well. For many guys, especially young ones, a cold streak like that could put a serious dent in confidence, which oftentimes leads to a sharp drop in production. Not for Klay. He kept shooting, and climbed out of the rut. Just call him bizarro John Starks. Klay put up another 32 Saturday night, and his Warriors needed nearly every one of them, as they narrowly edged the Clippers, 115-112. Here's hoping Klay and Golden State get to 73 wins.
Basketball
Pac-12 basketball: Power ratings, an eye to March and a note on Pac-12 Networks - College Hotline
Regionalized content has been a part of the Pac12Nets’ grand plan since inception; it just took a few years to build the library to make it work.
Football
Pac-12 position group reviews: North offensive line
Cal and Washington seem to be in good standing when it comes to how their offensive lines look heading into 2016. What about the rest of the division?
Baseball
Cougars Fall To Texas State in Game Two - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
Washington State dropped a 10-1 contest to Texas State University in the second game of the season-opening series at Bobcat Ballpark Saturday afternoon. Game three of the series is set for 11 a.m. (PT), Sunday.
Beer
Best beer(s) I had this week: I decided to try a couple Vermont beers this week, and wasn't disappointed. Long Trail's Double Bag Altbier was quite good, and not too malty. The better of the two was Otter Creek's Citra IPL. Great flavor, and not too hoppy.
Pay-To-Play Scandal Has Craft Brewers Crying Into Their Beers - Forbes
Cue Captain Renault.
Non-Sports
17 years after Columbine, the mother of one of the killers finally tells her story - The Washington Post
I don't want to read this book. I want to read this book.