The Monday Morning Wash
by John Berkowitz on Jun 8, 2009 6:54 AM PDT
Email
PrintLet's start off the morning by congratulating the Washington Husky Men's Crew for dominating the IRA's in California this weekend to win the national title! This is the second Varsity Eight title in the past three years, and the third consecutive overall team crown for the Huskies.
The call of the race supplied by our friend T90 is just fantastic. I listened to it this morning and was on the edge of my seat. Too bad they don't have these races on television. The IRA needs to make a TV deal with someone; in this age of sports broadcasting, one ought to be able to watch the championship of any sport.
The victory on Saturday gave the school its 28th National Championship.
Washington has won 13 IRA titles, the first coming in 1923. While on numerous occasions the University of Washington likely had the top rowing program in the country, administration chose not to send the squad to compete in the IRA due to conflicts with final exams and the expense of the trip, as until this year the event was held on the east coast.
Take a few minutes to check out the papers this week, which will hold quite a bit about former Husky head coach Jim Owens. The "Big Fella" (as he was known) passed away last week at his home in Montana, and was the top sports figure in the Northwest during his 18-year reign as Husky head coach. A truly amazing fact is he was only 29 years-old when hired by UW, and only 47 when he retired in 1974. We are all going to miss Coach Owens; he was the true architect of modern Husky football.
Burned firmly in my mind is the picture of Owens at the 1978 Rose Bowl holding court in the ballroom of the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. It wasn't the first time I had met him, but he was really on that night telling stories and entertaining friends he had known for years. It was really hard to find a nicer, or more charismatic guy.
Art Thiel has this take on Owens in the PI.
On the recruiting front, Nick Montana and family visited UW this weekend, coming away impressed. Nick has a good relationship with Steve Sarkisian, so the visit to Seattle was more about checking out the school, academics, and the stadium. Recruiting insiders believe it is a three horse race for his services, hotly contested between UW, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.
Sarkisian definitely has an advantage when it comes to familiarity in this one. He is well-acquainted with the Montana family and the Oaks Christian staff. Joe Montana, Nick's NFL-legend father, knows that Sark is one of the best QB tutors in the game. As Joe's alma mater, Notre Dame is an obvious destination for his son; however, I believe Charlie Weis may be viewed as a negative due to the precariousness of his position. I like Washington's chances with Montana.
Montana says he would like to make a decision before the end of the month.
Bellevue DT Julious Moore from Bellevue committed to UCLA over the weekend, giving the Bruins their first verbal for this year. While many thought Moore was an early lock for Washington, it seems he wants to leave the Seattle-area. While the close relationship Rick Neuheisel with the Bellevue HS coaching staff have didn't hurt in this instance, it is still early and I don't expect Sarkisian to back off in his recruitment of Moore.
Moore is a solid player, but I believe he may just a be a little undersized at this point. Obviously Pac 10 schools thought enough of him to offer, but I think he is far from being a sure thing. If the commitment from UCLA sticks, I don't see why there is any reason the staff can't find a player of equal or better potential to fill his slot. One has to think that Neuheisel can't resist sticking it to UW, especially since Sarkisan was all-over his recruits last winter.
22 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
If you look at body type...
I’d think Happy Ione would have a higher ceiling then Moore as Happy’s body at 6’2 280lbs could handle an extra 20 lbs or so while Moore at 6’ would have to add at least 30lbs to be a DT in the PAC-10. Moore strikes me as kind of a “tweener”.
Happy Ione
I’ve heard that he’ll likely be offered once his transcripts go through in the next few weeks. OSU just offered him, so maybe they know something Sark doesn’t when it comes to his grades. Or maybe they’re just taking a calculated risk.
The Weaz
Looks like Slick Rick (or The Weaz as I like to call him) is just being himself as usual. Wonder what lies he told to get Moore to commit to UCLA… or maybe he just played guitar for him. He’s sooooo Cali cool! (barf)
Nick Montana and Eric Kohler (sp)
John,
Thanks for all your work on the blog. I live in CA and this and Bob Condatta’s site are my llife lines to Husky football news. I appreciate your objective reporting and, lately especially, on Jake Heaps, Nick Montana and Jesse Scroggins. This early recruiting stuff, while fun to watch, is like a zoo. I am really happy though that the QB’s are making early commits as it helps us bring other talent in, especially Olinemen. So, Eric Kohler was with Nick this past weekend, right? Any word as to what he thought? Lots of talk that he will tag along with Montana.
I am really happy you said UW has a good chance at Nick Montana, he really could be special; his name will not only lure other big time recruits but bring a lot of national attention on the Dogs! I can already see Joe Montana on the sidelines wearing UW gear. Hopefully Sark’s relationship with young Mr. Monana will continue in the land of Purple and Gold. Thanks again. Go Dogs!
coach sark, joe, nick and........
if there was time who might else have been in a get together with these three?
he attended a spring practice, coached at sark’s alma mater and coached joe professionally.
any gueses?
Moore
Moore is a very longshot to qualify and he is only 5’10 so I don’t think it is much a loss. I think Iona is a better prospect and he is actually getting it done now in the class room. The kid isn’t lazy…he just had to learn English.
What’s irritating is hearing Moore talk so much about UCLA’s academics as a main reason for committing there. Yeah, UCLA’s academics are top-notch, but so are the UW’s. There’s very little difference in prestige between the two.
Makes me think there’s still not the best of relations between the BHS coaching staff and the UW football program…
Remember the source...
…this is coming from an 18 year old kid so it shouldn’t be surprising that he’d say that.
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
My issue is whether he’s been fed this line of thinking from his H.S. coaches. Not that UCLA isn’t a great school, just that there’s really very little to distinguish UCLA academically from the UW, his other major consideration.
Now, maybe his talk about academics was just a cover for another reason – maybe he’s really enamored with the whole idea of LA with Hollywood, the hot girls, beaches, warm weather, etc. Some guys also just want to get away from home too.
As I said elsewhere, if Sarkisian and Holt really want him, I expect them to continue recruiting Moore hard until signing day (or he asks for a restraining order). They’ll be able to figure out pretty quickly whether academics really are a deciding factor for Moore, and if so point out that he can get just as good an education at the UW.
Goncharoff and Neuheisel are tight
Sarkisian needs to build his own relationship with Goncharoff and that takes time. Willingham really damaged things with countless stupid acts as far as Bellevue is concerned.
UCLA’s academics? How about the party life in Westwood? That is what got Moore’s attention. Interesting thing I heard today is the commit may be pretty one sided because the Bruin staff knows he will never get in.
by John Berkowitz on Jun 8, 2009 7:45 PM PDT up reply actions
have you ever met coach goncharoff?
i have and i found him to be arrogant.
don’t know what his problem with udub is but ej is the only standout produced by bellevue.
Most HS coaches are arrogant
I don’t want to name names but most I know are pretty egocentric.
I imagine the Goncharoff is no different than the ones I personally know.
The pay isn’t good, the hours aren’t great….so it is all about the ego IMHO.
HS coaching is all about the power trip for most of these guys.
by John Berkowitz on Jun 8, 2009 7:48 PM PDT up reply actions
From a UCLA fan
I never hear Neuheisel talking down Washington at all. If anything, he sounds pretty positive about his time there, although he obviously regrets how it all ended. I don’t think he was trying to stick it to Sarkisian, just go after a good recruit. For good reason many of you don’t like him, but from a local standpoint, there doesn’t seem to be any residual ill will towards Washington.
I like Neu
I think he was a great game day coach who should have done better at UW if he hadn’t screwed up so much. I think UCLA got themselves a pretty good coach who has learned from his mistakes. I wish Neu nothing but the best.
Rick still has plenty of good friends up here in the Northwest.
Let’s face it…he got screwed…but he walked right into it by doing pretty stupid things considering how smart he actually is.
by John Berkowitz on Jun 8, 2009 7:54 PM PDT up reply actions
I've got a
Rose Bowl Champions T shirt and a Rose Bowl hat because of Rick. He was smart enough to figure out what kind of horse he had in Tui and rode him to the Rose Bowl. The off the field stuff=not so bright.
Jack
Rick is pretty much a slimeball!
Fellas, the cupboard was empting up here when the betting pool scandal came out. Rick DID NOT recruit very well in the trenches. He got by with Jim Lambright’s kids. Other then Kai Ellis, who was a juco, the guy didn’t recruit very well on the line. It was just a matter of time before it all would come out. Luckily for Rick the betting pool scandal surfaced. Because had it not, he would’ve been exposed as a fraud. Rick is not a good coach!
He gets by with hiring a good coaching staff. He is this generations Barry Switzer (minus the trophies) Good Grief! He is the worst bigname coach in the game. Even Colorado fans would agree with me. WOW!
All I saw was purple
well down here
he has netted two excellent recruiting classes so far…
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
