Hard to beat a team the third time. Will the Cougs be up to the task?

Given that it's tourney time.....wanted to ask how people thought we'd do.

Gonna be Stanford.

Aka politics.

BB lost the rubber match at home against Utah in Pac-12 play. 8-6 now.

Gaza nightmare. Just horrible. Read an article on that US ship that will help this temporary dock/port facility for aid deliveries. Article also said pre-tragedy Gaza was receiving 500 trucks a month in aid - for how many months or years and paid for who knows (I have an idea, starts with U). For a place smaller than many US cities. Really?

The whole Gaza history is pretty interesting, and from reading up on it, the whole cluster F IMHO is the fault of the British and Egypt after WWI, Egypt and Israel after WWII, and those two and various Arab countries in recent decades. But of course, we have to stick our snout deep into it like we do with everything. I guess because of influences from Hymietown?

The border. Why the F can't we just say no. No more immigrant/refugee/asylum crossing for any reason. No "legal" crossing. No release of illegally crossing families. They start wading or swimming or walking/climbing across, "stop and turn around or we will shoot". Article below tries to explain how it all works. Per the flowcharts, I see shitloads of people legally let in by the US, and shitloads of illegal crossers being released.


Much as I abhor Trump, and much as I hate the lying Repugnant ones in Congress, this is the one issue for which I would fully support major, major draconian change. And we shouldn't have to resort to telling outright and now admitted lies in the post SUTA repugnant response where Sen. Britt referred to a sex trafficking situation that happened in Mexico when George W. Bush was President as an outcome of failures in Biden's current policies. She only fessed up 2 days later when outed by the press.

This oughta keep all you haters occupied until Thursday!

I look for USC to make a big run toward the final game. What are your thoughts?>

DJ Rodman returns to the Palouse!

Hoping for a big crowd.

anyone stay there? Guess its the old Manor Lodge with a facelift. Going back to to Pullman this summer - last visit was over 20 years ago - looking forward to it. Other lodging options and restaurant recos also appreciated! thanks !

Smith COTY, Rice FOTY, Jones and Rice all pac 1st team.

Heading to the Commanders for 3 years, $36M

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What town is packed. Place is hopping. Going to be a good night. Go Cougs!

Anyone else wish Go Big Cougs and/or Smoking Tongue were still running this site?

We ended up with the winner of Stanford/Cal in the quarters. I think that's the best possible match-up after looking at the brackets.

....and I could've had a V-8. USC beats Arizona by 13 tonight, which doesn't surprise me given the way the Trojans are now playing. Boy, that makes the loss to the Huskies sting even more. Arizona is the regular season champs by that one slim game over WSU. Oh well, on to the conference tournament and hopefully improved play by the Cougs.

Glad Cougar

Hopkins is gone.

Duke-UNC. WTH? How could he not be ejected for that? And isn't that the same leg that he allegedly hurt in that fan melee?

Per Brand X:

Coach Roth is one of the best around as far as analyzing and evaluating Pac-12 football programs — and he is very high on Coach Jake Dickert and the Cougs for this coming season.

“When I see the amount of players that did not leave, I see the players that came in, I see the system and the coaching staff that is here … And then you look at the slate of games and where they’re slotted. I don’t think this team is going to take a lot of time to build,” Coach Roth said.

“So if they can get through and beat Texas Tech, which I think is possible, if they can beat their rival in the Apple Cup here in Seattle in the Seahawks’ stadium, which is possible," he added. "Remember, they were a snap or two away from beating a team that went to the national title … They’re going to be the darlings in college football. And I know it’s bold, but I’m not afraid to say the Cougs have a real shot of going to the playoff next year. They just do.”

Exciting stuff from Yogi, who was back in the Evergreen State to support a Coug fundraiser

Herbie's opinion boils down to what we have discussed, 40-60 teams break away from the NCAA and form their own leagues. Unfortunately, college athletics as we once knew them will never be the same, greed and the networks took over, only time will tell where it all ends.

A new League?

Wellington Mara, owner of the New York Giants, who passed away back in 2005, always pushed revenue sharing for the NFL, while many opposed. His argument was, we are an entertainment business, people are entertained when we have exciting football games, that is why we need revenue sharing. No one will watch our product with scores of 55-0. You can thank Mr. Mara, who was in a large market, and could have dominated the league, but he understood that competitive balance was more important in the long run. And is why the NFL is so successful today. Not sure what will happen to college football, but the member institutions might learn something from Mr. Mara.

They should all read this book:

Wellington: The Maras, the Giants, and the City of New York​

Not unexpected but in my opinion the lights were too bright for the team in this one. They were anything but relaxed and loose. Bad defense and bad shot selection. Comes with having a team that hasn't gotten this far in a long time.

I look foward to the Pac12 Tournament where there will be far less shine.

Remaining times released today. Hoping for an October SDSU date

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If we can get the W and Arizona lose to UCLA………..

Alright y’all. I’ve got an unbeatable offer if anyone wants to go to B-Apple Cup Thursday but doesn’t want to drive and doesn’t have tix. I have at least 3 comp’d tix and I’ll drive (no charge) for (up to) the first 2 takers. So free lower bowl ticket and free ride. I may end up with another ticket as well.

I don’t give a shit what your political leanings are or anything like that as long as you don’t talk my ears off about it on the way 😊. We are all Cougs and we all want to beat UW, the more butts in seats the better.

Hit me up and we can figure out a good meeting spot for a pick up if you are interested.

UW, WSU men’s basketball teams heading in different directions ahead of regular-season finale​

Percy AllenMarch 6, 2024 at 4:55 pm
By
Seattle Times staff reporter

It’s been said that misery loves company.

However, Mike Hopkins, who may be in his final days as coach of the Washington men’s basketball team, expressed genuine admiration for cross-state counterpart Kyle Smith, the presumptive Pac-12 coach of the year favorite following his remarkable performance with the 18th-ranked Washington State Cougars.

“I believe that Kyle Smith shouldn’t just be coach of the year in our league, there’s an argument for him to be national coach of the year,” Hopkins said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. [Former UW assistant] Jimmy Shaw, his assistant, I have a lot of respect for them.

“They’ve done a phenomenal job. They have a completely new roster, which has been very difficult to do. And they’ve got them playing at a high level.”

So often during their Apple Cup rivalry, which began in 1910, the Huskies (16-14, 8-11 in Pac-12) came into the annual regular-season finale matchup with sights set on grander prizes, while the Cougars were playing the role of spoilers.

This year, the Cougars (23-7, 14-5) flipped the script while posting their most wins since the 2007-08 season, which is also their last trip to the NCAA tournament.

Regardless of what happens before Selection Sunday, Washington State is going to break its 16-year Big Dance drought. However, if the Cougs continue their strong finish — they’ve won 10 of their last 11 games — then they could potentially receive a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN’s latest projections.

More to the point, WSU, which is 15-1 at home, is still in the hunt for the last Pac-12 regular-season title before the conference essentially suspends following a mass exodus of 10 teams, including the Big Ten-bound Huskies.

If WSU, which is a half-game behind fifth-ranked Arizona, beats UW in Thursday’s 6 p.m. regular-season finale at Beasley Coliseum and the Wildcats (23-6, 14-4) lose either of their two road games against UCLA or USC this week, then the Cougars will capture a share of the championship and their first league title since 1941.


Washington Huskies coach Mike Hopkins is 71-83 over the past five seasons. Hopkins has $3.2 million remaining on his contract. (Luke Johnson / The Seattle Times)
After being picked 10th in the Pac-12 preseason poll, Washington State is enjoying one of the best seasons in program history, which has made Smith an early candidate for possible coaching openings.

He has two years left on an extension signed in 2021 that paid him $1.5 million last season.

When asked this week about contract-extension talks with WSU, Smith told reporters the topic has been “tabled” until the end of the season.

Roughly 285 miles separate UW and WSU, but the distance between the two teams feels like so much more as the Huskies head into an uncertain future.

For the second straight year, Hopkins, who has $3.2 million remaining on his contract, is facing questions about his job security, which stems from UW’s 71-83 record during the past five years.

“I focus on one game at a time and doing the best job I can,” Hopkins said. “I love the University of Washington. People have been great to me and great to my family. You guys [the media] have been great [and] fair. You know, time will tell. I love coaching. Had a lot of great moments. Just got to keep doing what we do and try to finish up strong. Whatever happens will happen.”

Despite the swirling speculations, Hopkins is hoping to get the Huskies to focus on a dangerous WSU team that beat them in overtime, 90-87, on Feb. 3 in Seattle.

Following their dramatic win, which was sealed by Myles Rice’s three-pointer in the final two minutes, the Cougars partied on the Alaska Airlines Arena floor with their fans.

“The last game, they were dancing on the W and doing all kinds of stuff,” UW sophomore guard Koren Johnson said. “So, we’re going to take this game personally.”

After four months, the Huskies still haven’t fixed a porous defense that allows 79.9 points in Pac-12 road games. Hopkins put the onus on Pac-12 scoring leader Keion Brooks Jr. (21.3 points per game) and mercurial center Braxton Meah to lead the defensive effort.

“There’s no more scouting reports,” Hopkins said. “We’re not going to have a secret play that we’re going to work on for these next two days that we’re going to come out with. … This is a mindset game.

“Washington State has got a great belief right now. They can score from multiple positions. People have taken away [Isaac] Jones and taken away Rice and all of a sudden you see [Jaylen] Wells and [Andrej] Jakimovski making big shots.”

When asked what the keys to beat the Cougars are, Hopkins used the word “tough” nine times.

“They’ve built an unbelievable résumé and to be able to beat them there, we’re going to have to play well,” he said. “We have the ability to do it, but we’re going to have to play well.

“But the biggest thing is … we’ve got to be tough. We’ve got to be tough with the environment. Tough with the refs. Tough with their players. Adapt to how the game is being called and stay together and hopefully put ourselves in position.”

Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com; Seattle Times staff reporter Percy Allen covers the Washington Huskies and Seattle Storm.