Hello Coug fans,

My good buddy Hurricane passed this little article on to me from the amazing Bill Simmons, which I am sure most of us can relate to. How did WSU not make that list??

With that in mind its officially Freak Out Friday for yours truly.  I am checking in today to make sure you are all properly prepared for what could be a week of unbearable heartache and pain on planet Coug. Tomorrow we have the first installment of the round-ball Apple Cup and on Wednesday its the much anticipated National Letter of Intent Signing Day in football. Now, I'm not necessarily pessimistic about the outcomes of either situation....but I am an experienced enough Coug fan to know that we would be wise to brace ourselves for some disappointment... just in case.

Of course, by "brace ourselves" I mean stock up on your favorite booze.


This just happens to be one of the weeks where there are about 50 things I have my heart set on for the Crimson and Gray and logic dictates that it would be a miracle if even half of them came to fruition. Think I'm being too gloomy? Well let's just take a quick tour of all the things I am hoping for this week that have the potential to break my heart and I'll leave it to you, loyal readers, to convince me its all in the bag and I've got nothing to worry about.

Since we are the WSU Football Blog, let's start with the upcoming signing day. There are a few unresolved courtships that are keeping me up at night:



Erick Dargan - Really, this one never even seemed possible, but its one of those stories that the folks at Cougfan have refused to let die. Thanks to them, I have some crazy irrational hope that this four-star all-everything safety is going to snub the Ducks and choose us on Wednesday.

In the Cougs' corner we have: 
1)  His Pittsburg High, CA teammates who have already committed in WR Robert Jiles and DB Tracy Clark;

2)  The opportunity to have a more immediate impact with early playing time in Pullman, and finally, and perhaps more importantly...
3)  His mom.

In the Ducks corner they have:
1)  Well, that whole reigning Pac-10 championship thing;
2)  The inside track on another championship next year; 
3)  And a locker room that makes the command deck of the Starship Enterprise look like Abe Lincoln's log cabin.


As a lifetime Coug fan, well.....I want this one bad.  If for no other reason, just to shut up the Duck fans who are laughing out loud that anyone would seriously consider choosing WSU over them.
Chances of Dargan inking with WSU on Wednesday?:  10%.

Asante Cleveland - One of our true "ooooh and awwww" prospects who committed to us early and turned out to be one of Paul Wulff and company's most impressive discoveries. Lately he has been getting the full court press from none other than Miami. He took a late visit there and the folks in Coral Gables have all but added him to their 2010 roster.

1)  Even after a cross-country visit, it still appears his verbal commitment is on the WSU list?
2)  The now-famous story of how Cleveland called another wavering WSU commit earlier this year and talked him out of taking an official visit to ASU, thereby sticking with the WSU pledge.

In Miami's corner they have:
1)  A program on the rise that churns out NFL tight ends at the same rate Hostess churns out Twinkies;
2)  You know, South Beach/Miami - beautiful weather, beaches, beautiful half dressed women, and...

3) Asante's Dad is rumored to be pushing for the "U".

Truth be told, I have been working on letting this one go for a couple weeks....but I just can't.  Not yet. 
Chances of getting Asante's signature?  25%

Legit D-Tackle - This is an area of critical need for the Cougar D, immediately and for the future.  The good news is we have been playing "footsie" with about a half dozen prospects. Some have committed elsewhere, and a surprise commit, Kalafatoni Pole, just emerged recently.  But there are a couple late undecideds that still may be in the fold for us.

Among them, JC tackle David Mahoney, JC tackle Deon Goggins, and Bellevue High School's Julious Moore.

Mahoney kinda fell into our laps as a number of other schools on his list had coaching changes, including Texas Tech and Tennessee.  As of right now, WSU is rumored to be his top choice, but he has one more visit this weekend.
Goggins continues to be undecided and reports were that he was a little unimpressed during his visit to WSU this month (he wasn't feeling well supposedly).
Meanwhile, Julious Moore seems to be interested in WSU after being either denied academically or asked to gray shirt at his top choice, UCLA.

Ok, I'm greedy and I want all 3 guys.....but I'm also realistic.  So I expect the Cougs to close on at least one of these guys.  In the end, I give us a 72.8% chance of getting one of these big fellas to commit.

Now there are always the signing day surprises, and I don't mean any of the possibilities discussed above. Rather I mean the completely unexpected signing, or de-commit that absolutely nobody saw coming (Micheal Bumpus ring a bell?). Lets just hope if there are any, they are of the happy rather than the heartbreaking variety. I won't truly be able to relax until those faxes from Aaron Dunn and Connor Halliday are rolling into the WSU offices, know what I mean?

Finally, basketball... Its Apple Cup Week on the hardwood! Unfortunately our Cougs have played themselves into a position where they really need this game, or we finish below .500 in the first half of Pac-10 play. If there is one thing you never want to have, it's a must-win in Hec-Ed. Frankly, if all games were played at home the Huskies would be a top 5 team in the country.

So, how on earth do the Cougs pull this out?  Right now our top scorer is out of sync, our top inside player looks to be worn down, and our coach has yet to settle on a rotation he can count on night in, night out.  Perhaps the long week of rest will have helped this team out, but will it help as much as the home cookin' of Hec-Ed helps the Dawgs? Did ya SEE their game against Seattle U on Tuesday night?  Yeah, 100+ points later, that was without Isaiah Thomas. Yikes.

I am also worried about the baggage two key Cougs bring into this game, namely Reggie Moore and Ken Bone. Both have ties to the UW program that make this an extremely emotional game for them. Can they overcome it? The Dawg Pound and Venoy Overton will be doing everything they can to get in these guys heads, so lets hope their tougher road experiences like K-State have prepared them to handle what's coming. All in all, I give us a 33% chance to escape Seattle with a W.

So, come next Thursday will I be dragging myself up to Beasley desperate for a win against ASU to help ease the pain of losing to the Huskies, losing Dargan to UO, Cleveland to Miami, signing no D-tackles and having Aaron Dunn commit to Cal???  I don't know if I could handle that! Please, please loyal readers, tell me it won't be so!

All for now.  GO COUGS!