So two-a-days are upon the Cougs, and while it is just five "doubles" this fall per NCAA mandate, some coaches still like 'em.  Count Paul Wulff in the "Old School" belief, that two-a-days can be a really good thing, per Grippi's recap from yesterday's long day:

So are two-a-days still viable?

WSU coach Paul Wulff thinks so. In fact, he thinks some of the limits have had a detrimental effect.

“That just continues to kind of follow our society, and that is to get softer all the time,” Wulff said. “It challenges you mentally to get up, come out and prepare twice a day.”

Wulff admits the old ways might not have been best, but says you can’t limit the practice too much, because “we want to do what’s best for the body, but you also want to train that mind too.”

Ah yeah, OLD SCHOOL!  Kids these days, just so soft, what with their internet/facebook/twitter and cell phones and microwaves.....but seriously, he makes a good point.  The two-a-days exercise can in fact be a bonding experience, and it makes players go through some tough adversity.  But it really isn't that bad, is it?  These days the NCAA has limited two-a-days to just five total prior to the start of the season, and no consecutive two-a-days at that.  This is all part of the NCAA's effort to police the practice times with coaches, and there is only so much time available for the coaches to work with their players.  This isn't exactly "Junction Boys", you know? 

If you recall, Junction Boys was the famous story of when Bear Bryant literally tried to kill his players by making them train in 100-degree heat for 10 consecutive days in some backwater berg called Junction, TX.  From the official Junction Boys website:

Texas A&M University hired Bear Bryant as head football coach in 1954 replacing former coach Ray George.  Bryant arrived in College Station, Texas in February of 1954 and began cleaning house. Bryant felt that many of the players on the team were weak and not properly trained or coached.  He decided that his players needed a camp away from campus. He arranged for the camp to be held at the 411 acre adjunct campus of Texas A&M at the small town of Junction. At the time of the camp, the Texas hill country was experiencing an epic drought and record high temperatures. The drought, the worst in the recorded history of the region, had lasted four years and would last another two after the camp was over. All 10 days of the camp saw temperatures rise over 100 °F (38 °C).

The oppressive heat combined with the brutal practice schedule caused many players to drop out of the football program from illness or disgust. The situation was compounded by Bryant refusing to allow water breaks. This practice is now widely recognized as dangerous, but at the time was commonly employed by athletic coaches in an attempt to toughen up their players. The only relief provided the players were two towels soaked in cold water, one to be shared by the offensive players, one for the defense.

One of the Junction Boys, future NFL player and coach Jack Pardee would later say in an interview that losing 10% of your body weight in sweat in a day was not unusual.Practices began before dawn and usually lasted all day with meetings in the evening until 11:00 PM. The conditions were too much for many players and each day, there would be fewer and fewer players at practice as men would quit the team. By the end of the 10 day camp, only a fraction of those that started were left.

Now THAT, my friends, is OLD SCHOOL.  10 straight days in 100+ degree heat?  A shared cold towel is all you got?  So, uh, yeah, times have changed just a little bit!  They'll get through these two-a-days, no problem.

Read on for more recaps, plus video from yesterday.

 

Greetings Cougs, and a happy Friday to you all.  So, you've probably heard, but Paul Wulff made it official after Thursday's practice - HE HAS NOT been lifting, thanks.  Nope, coach Wulff simply said he hasn't lifted for some time, and in fact, like many of you he's a "stress eater".....and he's put on about 30 lbs since he took the Coug job.  You can check out the video here:

So I guess we missed on our "has Coach Wulff Been Lifting?" theory from yesterday.  Still, I don't know, maybe we're out to lunch on this one but he sure looks fit these days.  He looks considerably more fit than a couple of years ago.  Maybe it's the angle on the photos?  Or maybe it's even the small things, like the clothes?  You know, instead of droopy drawers Russell sweats, now he's rolling with the black pants and fitted Nike coaches polo?  It's a decent transformation, whatever the deal is:


I don't know, it seems like it would take some work?  Maybe he is just blessed with good genetics.  But he just looks better, we can all agree on that, right?

Speaking of clothes and Cougs and all that, we thought it would be cool to check out some different celebrities over the years, celebs who were spotted wearing WSU gear.  Read on for our top six picks, plus a bonus for our UW friends, as well as the daily links from yesterday's day five of fall camp:

Greetings Cougs, and a happy Tuesday to you all.  WSU was back at it yesterday for day two of fall camp, and there are the usual roundup of links and such.  We'll get to that in a minute, but first, a moment on Don Wakamatsu and the M's....

I guess it was a little surprising, given the timing, but at the same time it isn't a shock that Wak is out.  The rumor mill was buzzing that he was in deep trouble, and there was strong speculation from Geoff Baker a week ago that Wak would be given a copy of the home game and shown the door, you know, "thanks for playing" style.  But for whatever the reasons, the M's GM-Jack-Z had enough of them to pull the plug immediately.  The statement from the press release says it all:

"I have concluded that these changes needed to be made now and that they are in the best interest of the Mariners as we move forward," Zduriencik said. "Don, Ty and Rick are all good baseball men and they have done their very best. But we are where we are. I no longer have confidence that Don, Ty and Rick are the right long-term fit for our organization. New leadership is needed and it is needed now."

Strong stuff, isn't it?  There are tons of reaction-type stories today, all trying to place blame on who got Wak fired, but whatever.  Some will blame Junior for poisoning the well, others will say Figgins led a revolt when he challenged Wak in the dugout.  But in the end I guess it doesn't really matter.  Jack Z pulled the plug, and that is that.  If you are looking for something really good in the blogosphere, read this from Lookout Landing.  It does a great job weighing everything, and focusing on what is important rather than trying to lay the blame at player X, Y or Z.  And by the way, Lookout Landing is an EXCELLENT M's blog. If it isn't part of your daily web browsing experience, you are missing out on the combo of humor, insight and just plain great writing from Jeff Sullivan and others. 

Anyway, on to Coug camp, day two edition.  Lots of stories and recaps to get to, so read on for links and stuff after the read more.....