The Washington Husky basketball team makes it's first journey to Boulder tonight as a Pac 12 member. The Huskies have been terrible on the road this season but they are coming off a strong weekend in which they swept the Oregon schools at home.
Tony Wroten was named the Pac 12 player of the week for his performance against the Oregon schools. He and the rest of the gang need to follow that up with solid play tonight (6:00 pm ROOT) if they want to get that road monkey off their backs.
On Saturday they face Utah in Salt Lake City. The Ute's are simply terrible at the moment and you can almost mark it down as a victory before the Huskies even get on the plane. Of course we could have said that about playing South Dakota State at home too.
Al Simmons Rumor
The rumor that current UTEP and former Cal DB coach Al Simmons was coming to Washington is now officially dead. Simmons told an El Paso paper that he hasn't even been contacted for the position. That being sad if he was offered he would be on the first plane out of El Paso. He has 25 years of coaching experience and would be an asset on any coaching staff.
2012 Apple Cup
If i was Bill Moos I would make a one time move of that game to Seattle because Pullman is going to be empty on the day after Thanksgiving. He could sell the place out if the game is played in Seattle while in Pullman I think they would struggle to get 20,000 on that date because the majority of the students will be in Seattle.
John McGrath of The News Tribune agrees with me on a number of things related to playing on Friday's.
"Another thing that jumped out at me was an early over-under line for the Apple Cup in Pullman. I'd put it at 75. I'm not referring to 75 points. I'm referring to 75 spectators."
Comparing Pac 12 schedules
Ted Miller of ESPN does a nice job of breaking down everyone's (including Washington's) schedule in the Pac 12.
That trip to LSU will be a doozy -- the Tigers are likely the preseason No. 1 -- but a 2-1 start seems certain. The early conference schedule is brutal: Stanford, Oregon and USC in a row. Three of final four on the road.
Mr Sandman
Steve Sandmeyer (The Sandman) was canned at KJR and that is too bad because I always liked Steve. He was a guest at our Notre Dame tailgate a couple of years ago where I got to know him and he is a really good guy. Of course most people are when you are giving away free booze, food, and shelter.
Here's to you Steve! Here is a post holiday wish that you land on your feet and hopefully that landing is over on 710 so you don't have to relocate.
Semper Fidelis Bowl - Lindquist to Mickens
UW recruit QB Jeff Lindquist was named the player of the game in the Semper Fi Bowl held earlier this week in Phoenix. Despite starting the game on the bench he ended up being the best looking QB on either squad and led the West to a 17-14 while tossing two TD passes.
WR Jaydon Mickens was the best looking receiver on the game and he was on the receiving end of one of thse Lindquist TD passes. UW fans were encouraged when he flashed the "Dubs" sign during the game. He says that he is feeling 60% UW at this point and 40% Oregon. He will be visiting Eugene later in the month and he will make up his mind after the visit.
Walker Williams and Nathan Dean also participated in the game. Both these guys are raw at this point with plenty of upside. If I had to pick between the two based on that single performance I would take Dean because he is more polished and mobile at this point. Walker is just huge and you can't teach huge. I imagine by the time he is a junior at Wisconsin that he will be a pretty good player.
Coffee is for closers
Three prominent guys that Washington did recruit this season announced they were going elsewhere. C Matt Cochran is headed to Cal. DE Deforest "Duckner" Buckner is headed to Oregon while LB Jared Aflalava is headed to Nebraska.
The UW coaches are all on the road at the moment according to Coach Sarks website. Expect plenty of new names to pop up over the next few weeks. I am not saying it is Plan B time yet (getting close) but I still expect UW to bring in a minimum of four offensive linemen in this class.
Here is a link to an interesting article on modern day recruiting from ESPN that has quotes from MLB Dalton Santos who was recruited to Tennessee by Justin Wilcox and Peter Sirmon.
"People on the outside don't know what it's like when you've got coaches running through your house every day," said Santos, the nation's top inside linebacker who is committed to Tennessee. "They're telling you that you can have everything you want. Coaches say you can live the easy life."