AP Writers give Calvin Jackson, Jr. the nod

Good morning! Or almost afternoon! (sorry, blame the Cologne Christmas markets) As your Washington State Cougars get set to begin Sun Bowl preparation, all-conference honors began to trickle out this week. First was the coaches all-conference team, which CougCenter covered earlier. There were plenty of Cougar players littered throughout the first, second and honorable mention teams, but a couple receivers weren’t exactly thrilled with the fact that they did not garner first team honors.

One was Travell Harris, who finished third in receptions, third in yards and second in touchdowns. The other was Calvin Jackson, Jr., who led the conference in yards-per-game (USC’s Drake Jackson was a god among men but didn’t play enough to qualify), and also finished third in touchdowns. Well, it turns out that all Jackson had to do was wait a few days, as the AP came out with its all-conference selections later on.

Calvin still didn’t forget how the coaches voted!

On the other hand, we get to watch this awesome video as may times as we want.

Along with Jackson, right tackle Abe Lucas and kicker Dean Janikowski were honored with first-team placement. On the second team were Travell Harris and Ron Stone Jr. Unlike the coaches, the AP only names first-and-second teams.

Pro Football Focus apparently didn’t watch any games and just dialed up some nonsensical algorithms, because there weren’t any Cougars on the first team offense or defense. To make it even better, PFF put three receivers on each team, and Harris was still relegated to third team. Jackson and Lucas both made PFF’s second team, while Max Borghi, Stone and Armani Marsh joined Harris on third team. Safety George Hicks III was named Honorable Mention.

You may notice that while both the coaches and writers thought Dean Janikowski was the conference’s best kicker, PFF didn’t think he was among the top four. Okie dokie!

Congratulations to all the Cougars who earned all-conference honors this season.

Football

If you’ve ventured over to the WSU athletics website lately, you’ve been greeted with bowl game announcements and ticket purchase opportunities. This part made me laugh:

The Cougar travel experience is very important to the WSU Alumni Association. Given the wide availability of commercial flights and hotel accommodations in El Paso, the WSUAA will not be offering travel packages this year.

Anyone who has looked at airfare to El Paso knows this is high comedy, and the school knows that interest in going back to El Paso is about nil, which almost certainly led to its decision to pass on travel packages.

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Basketball

We suck again!

Baylor Scheierman's buzzer-beater lifts South Dakota State to win over Washington State 77-74 | The Spokesman-Review
WSU opened the second half on a 19-5 run to take a 50-44 lead, but South Dakota State (9-3) scored 20 of the game’s next 24 points to seize a 64-54 advantage with 6½ minutes remaining.

Non-Sports

Marilyn Manson Abuse Allegations: A Monster Hiding in Plain Sight - Rolling Stone
He was a provocative media darling for decades. Offstage, exes allege, he was an abuser who made their lives hell.