Good afternoon Cougar fans.  Quite a bit to discuss since my last post.  Are any of you as giddy as I am about the potential of Bill Moos taking over the reigns in Bohler?  How can you not be, after reading things like this?

Read on for more news, as well as a look at tonight's Pac 10 action....

Some of the notes that really stood out to me from the Moos Wednesday meeting are:

President Floyd stated this would be finalized by the middle of next week.  Hopefully this is some good old fashioned "under-promising, over-delivering" in action, and it gets done even sooner.

Referring to himself as a 37 year old senior, recently hired Grad Assistant Chad Eaton said "That competitive spirit that us Cougars have, that you have, needs to return.  It needs to get back, we need to find our identity.  For some reason. that's not here.  I'm not ok with that.  I know there's lots of people in this room who are not ok with it.  So the time is now.  It's our legacy, it's your legacy, it's the school's legacy that we need you.  We need your kind of guidance."

Moos stated he has never been a fan of the much-maligned Pac 10 officiating.

He also stated that he is not in favor of Pac 10 expansion, as he believes it would hurt WSU as it wouldn't give us the needed exposure in California.

Other favorite quotes from Wednesday included:

"I don't need this job.  I'm here because I want it.  But it has to be right for both sides.  I think we can get it done, I'll tell you that right now." ~Moos

"He fills the bill real well.  He's been a Cougar since the day he was born." ~Bobo Brayton

"Oregon insisted on a no-compete clause, because they don't want to compete with me.  And I don't blame em" ~Moos

"We need to make this place a destination and not a stepping stone...and it's all about attitude." ~Moos

"If I'm fortunate enough to be named the new athletic director, I'm a lot more seasoned of veteran (now)." ~Moos

In other news around the conference:

It appears the University of Washington is going to have to fund a remodel of Husky Stadium with their own money.  Per the Seattle P-I:

House Bill 2912 was approved 53-45 and now heads to the Senate. The Associated Press reports the bill would allow tourism-related taxes in King County to be spent on housing, human services, public health, arts, amateur sports and other projects, after the stadium debt is paid off. However the measure explicitly bans any of the money being spent on a university sports stadium. And it allows two stadium sales-tax credits to expire, giving the money back to the state general fund, AP reports.

Notice the bold?  Again, the caveat thrown in there was that the tax money would not go to Husky Stadium.  For an "unbiased" opinion, click here. 

If there truly was an imminent safety issue with the current state of the stadium, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be allowed to play there.  Besides, UW'ers are always ones to gloat about how great they are at raising funds while pointing out Wazzu's struggles in the same arena.  So go raise some funds then.

I can say I am pretty happy with the no-state-tax assistance for their facility.  Even though some will point out if the UW received state funds, the Cougs probably would too, I personally don't want them!  And if the House did allow funding for Husky Stadium, I would probably no longer dine out or take cabs in Seattle.  This would be bad for a few reasons - A) I love going out to eat, and B) I cab so often, I should probably find stock options with Puget Sound Dispatch!

In other news.....the University of Oregon football team continues to have players add to a growing list of recent off-field issues.  It is unbelievable that a team with all the potential in the world heading into the 2010 season (some have said they could be dark horse contenders for the National Championship??) cannot keep themselves straight off the field.  And we are not talking about back-ups or other small time contributors here either.  We are talking about their starting quarterback and now, their starting running back!?

With the starting QB, it's Jeremiah Masoli.  A grand jury will decide his fate, per an interview between KJR's Softy Mahler and some guy from their sister station in Portland.  I couldn't find the link for the audio clip, but the Portland radio host does not believe Masoli will be charged with theft of those laptops from the SAE house.

Meanwhile, the news sprung yesterday that starting running back LaMichael James was arrested in the morning on domestic violence charges.  James' girlfriend claims on Tuesday night he grabbed her neck during an argument and threw her to the ground.  The incident didn't require medical treatment, and James is currently being held in Lane County Jail on $40,000 bond.  Oh, and this isn't his first arrest, in case you were wondering.  In 2008 he was charged with disorderly conduct and third-degree battery in 2008, but the charges were later dropped.

Also this week, Kicker Rob Beard was charged with misdemeanor assault for his role in a January brawl.

But with Masoli and James, you are talking about two Ducks who likely would lead the team in total offense this fall.  Could be a big problem for Oregon trying to defend that Pac-10 title!

A surprise from Berkeley. Wazzu alumni Bob Gregory has left the defensive coordinator post, for a similar gig at Boise State.  Weird in the step down from Cal to Bronco Land, where he's not even going to be the outright defensive coordinator, and weird at the timing as well?

Moving on, to tonight's basketball action.  I took last week off from making predictions, but I am back with a vengeance this week:

California at Oregon State: Coming off of Saturday's upset at Arizona (thanks Beavs, you kept me from hitting a five game parlay on Saturday) some might pick the Beavs to surprise here.  I think California rolls from the hot hand of Jerome Randle. I cannot wait for their four Seniors to graduate because they are darn good. Bears 88 - Beavs 61.

Stanford at Oregon: I wouldn't exactly call this going out on a limb, per se.  But Oregon really hasn't played too bad of late.   Besides, the Cardinal are one of a small handful of teams without a road win all season.  TaJuan Porter gets loose from outside and drops a surprising 25 + on the Trees.  Oregon 75 - Stanford 68.

USC at Washington: The Dawgs have won 5 of 6 and even managed to sneak in their first road win of the year last week at Stanford.  The Husky Honks are in full force in Seattle, trying to make a case for them to be in the Big Dance.  USC absolutely punched the Huskies in the face in LA last month, and they pose matchup problems galore for the Huskies with their length, athleticism, and solid defense.  USC 70 - UW 67.

UCLA at Wazzu: The Cougs haven't won in Pullman against the Bruins since 1993. Last week the Cougs struggled mightily with second half collapses against the Bay Area schools, after great all-around first halves.  Watch for an improved DeAngelo Casto to make Reeves Nelson (aka Kevin Federline) work for it down in the post. Happy Belated 20th Birthday DeAngelo. Nikola Dragovic, who has been a Cougar killer the last two seasons, might get flustered with the zone.  Cougs 73 - UCLA 64.

That is all for today Cougar fans.  Check back Saturday morning for more predictions.  Go Cougs!