WSU senior RB Dwight Tardy (© Lewis Wright Jr. Photos)
Frustration.
It’s becoming much too easy to empathize with Washington State Coach Paul Wulff, his staff and the roster of student/athletes who are Cougs through and through. The chorus of critics who have never coached football at any level is dominating talk about Cougar football.
Frustration.
Watching Cougar football as a fan this season has been more about endurance than excitement. WSU has been outscored nine out of ten times they’ve taken the field. There hasn’t been much for Cougar Nation to boast about this season between Saturday evening and the following Saturday morning.
The glimmer of hope for a win has been reduced to a window of about four hours before gametime for many who follow WSU football.
One thing about true Cougs, they are an unflappable lot. The bonds unifying the crimson and gray community run deep.
Frustration!
A bastion for good news about Washington State athletics has long been Cougfan.com. Articles appearing on Cougfan are honest, insightful and rooted in two things: facts and a passion for WSU.
So on a Friday morning after a tremendous performance by Klay Thompson and the entire WSU men’s basketball team, this guy was looking for a take on last night’s game by any number of talented contributors who write for Cougfan. Instead of an inside-basketball recap of the 89-70 victory over IPFW, I was treated to an editorial by Jim Moore of the seattlepi.com.
Frustration comes from being tricked instead of treated.
Moore is one of the finest sports writers I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Not only is the guy talented, witty and articulate… he’s a Coug.
That said, Moore disappointed by focusing on the struggles of Coach Wulff and his team this season with tunnel vision that would make a bulldog proud. He chose to latch on relentlessly to the lack of scoring production by Washington State’s offense in 2009.
Useful stuff?
Yeah, right.
I’m not going to parse words with Moore, but his penchant for grinding away on just how “bad” this Cougar football team might be isn't simply a glass-half-empty perspective. You best duck because Moore intends to throw the glass in your face.
In terms of useful, his prose are at the opposite end of the spectrum. If overstating the obvious with the occasional misstatement serves to promote discussion, Moore hit one out of the park with his essay.
For the record, Moore’s reference to the “99-yard shocker of a connection between Marshall Lobbestael and Johnny Forzani” was only partially correct. True freshman Jeff Tuel and Forzani did something practiced virtually every day prior to Tuel injuring his knee. Jeff floated a ball down the sideline and Forzani ran under it, then ran away from an ASU defense that earns the accurate label as one built on team speed. For the record, in football terms speed is a euphemism for talent.
Why Moore whips out his broad brush to label the entire offensive unit as possessing “LOFT (Lack Of Friggin’ Talent) defies logic. Kenny Alfred lacks talent? Gino Simone lacks talent? Jared Karstetter lacks talent? Dwight Tardy lacks talent? Jeffrey Solomon lacks talent? BJ Guerra and Zack Williams lack talent? Carl Winston lacks talent? Alex Reitnouer lacks talent? Johnny Forzani lacks talent?
Look who’s grinding now. Sorry.
Any of the aforementioned student/athletes can be reasonably labeled undersized, inexperienced or hobbled by injury. Sorry, but I don’t share the opinion any of those young men lack the talent to play competitive Pac-10 football. They do and they will.
If much of what Moore wrote in his article is truly what he believes about the current and future state of Washington State football, we agree on one thing. Glad he won’t be in Pullman this coming Saturday to watch the final home game for 15 seniors who have dedicated themselves as student/athletes and Cougar football players.
Then again, I’m wondering if Jim Moore has been watching the Cougs at all this season.
Talent?
Jim Moore is loaded with talent. Though I’m suggesting he fumbled one here, that doesn’t wipe the slate clean. Besides, when Coach Wulff begins spring practice and Moore has a chance to sneak over to Pullman and see what’s in store for the team in 2010 he’ll come away proudly proclaiming the return of Cougar football.
So will Cougfan on Friday mornings!
Correction: Checking my links on this story revealed Cougfan.com caught the erroneous mention of sophomore Marshall Lobbestael throwing a school record 99-yard touchdown pass to first-year player Johnny Forzani. Jeff Tuel has been properly credited with the throw.
Former All-American WSU player Paul Sorensen offers his opinion as a college player, NFL player and radio color commentator for Cougar football, on what direction Coach Paul Wulff has the program headed. Funny thing. Sorensen uses facts to support his opinion. Check out his article on Cougfan.com by clicking HERE
RSS
Home
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
