I want to apologize to everyone about the lack of coverage while I have been on vacation. I will be back home on Friday and we will be back to our normal schedule.
Woody
Scott Woodward's comments about Oregon picked up some flack this week. While everything he said was true it was politically inappropriate enough to the point you have to wonder if he was slamming tequila shots before he said it. This guy was hired because he was supposed to be politically savvy but the pressure obviously got to him during Oregon week.
Oregon will never be Washington. Washington will never be UC-Berkeley. There is no shame in that. Oregon does a great job with its undergraduate programs but because it is located in a population poor state it will never be able to compete with a public Ivy like UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UW, or Stanford as a research institution.
One comment that made me shake my head was the comment that Oregon was once a great academic institution. During which lifetime is he talking about? Oregon is what it is and will always be what it is...it isn't Harvard but it is quite a bit better than lets say a LSU or any other school in the SEC.
Woodward's comments are nothing but sour grapes in my personal opinion. UO has invested significantly in their athletic plant and we haven't despite having every advantage to do so over the past twenty years. You can bring up Phil Knight all you want but Oregon alumni donate way more per capita than the UW alumni do toward athletics.
I am reading a lot of criticism directed toward Phyllis Wise who is the interim president of the University of Washington. She had absolutely no choice when it came to asking Woodward to make a public apology to the University of Oregon. Mark Emmert would have had to make exactly the same decision.
Woody knows better and you have to wonder if it was a planned parting shot on the way out the door to join Emmert in Indianapolis. I have been real supportive of this guy...I know he isn't stupid...so this may be a signal that he has other plans for his future.
Dave Niehaus
Dave Niehaus passed away today after suffering a heart attack at his home in Bellevue. Dave was a Northwest legend who entertained generations of Mariner fans and he will be missed. For most of the sorry history of the Seattle Mariners he was the one bright light the franchise had going for it. No matter how bad the product was on the field he always made the games entertaining. Who else could make Enrique Romo sound like a Hall of Fame candidate?
Romar Signs Four
Jernard Jarreau became the fourth member of Washington's 2011 class joining Garfield High's Tony Wroten Jr., Rainier Beach's Hikeem Stewart and Andrew Andrews of Portland's Benson Tech.
WAC Expansion Passes on Seattle U for now
The WAC expanded today by adding University of Denver, Texas-San Antonio and Texas State. Seattle U was left out of the equation for now which is pretty stupid. Denver doesn't draw at all while SU is a program with a lot of potential ceiling over the next couple of years. It looks like the WAC is waiting on Montana. If Montana declines to join SU is next in line for an invite. If you are an SU fan it isn't that big of a deal because the WAC is definitely a dead man walking type of conference at this point.
Special Teams
UW defensive line coach, recruiting coordinator, and special teams coach Johnny Nansen has gotten a lot of criticism this week. Fans forget that he isn't playing with a full deck. Washington special teams will not improve until the quality and experience of the depth improves. You throw a bunch of guys out there one year removed from high school against the number one team in the country and bad things are bound to happen. This isn't an excuse...it is just the reality of the situation.
Jason Gesser Critical of Locker
Ex WSU QB Jason Gesser says that Locker should have played against Oregon.
Gesser said he played with a similar injury for most of his junior and senior seasons at Washington State.
"You take the shots and you get out there and you play," Gesser said. "I'm not going to lie. Those things suck. They hurt tremendously. ... But I know you can play with them."
It kind of amazes me that Gesser was able to get a job at FSNW because he has the speaking skills of a third grader from a country where English isn't a first language.