COUGARS

The 2009 Washington State football season is off and sprinting, though the Cougars didn't do much in the way of running at practice yesterday. Don't need it because a) there is so much running at practice and b) there is so much conditioning work during the summer. Players come into camp fit, ready to practice all out from the opening horn. Wish we could say the same for us spectators. Let's see what's going on around the Pac-10.
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• Washington State: We put together our story yesterday, then added this post. ... Freelancer Howie Stalwick was also at practice and he had this notebook in the Kitsap Sun and other papers. Howie and I weren't the only folks at practice, of course. Dale Grummert of the Lewiston Morning Tribune and Devin Rokyta of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News were also in attendance, but their stories require a subscription, so we can't link them. ... You should also check out Joe Nickell's Cougar football blog.

• Around the Pac-10: Our first stop is at Buster Sports, where Nick Daschel has 20 Pac-10 items he wonders about. Over at ESPN, Ted Miller examines the state of the conference now that every school is getting in the swing of practice. ... Washington: The Huskies kick off practice today, so Tacoma's Todd Milles shares their five key questions. And, according to the Times' Bob Condotta, there are plenty of positions open. ... Oregon State: There's a couple of items I want to share here. Paul Buker has an interesting blog post about Mike Riley's tenure at OSU and Bob Clark of the Register Guard looks at the Rodgers brothers' health. ... Oregon: Like Santa Claus, the Ducks' Chip Kelly has a list. You don't want to be on the naughty side. ... Cal: The Bears are looking for leadership, and one player is stepping up. ... Stanford: I think the Cardinal are going to be darn good this season, but it's more of a gut feeling. You want reasons? There are a bunch here. ... USC: It was Joe McKnight day in LA, with the Daily News and the Times having stories about the junior running back. Here is the Times' piece. ...UCLA: We had nothing yesterday, so today we give you two. The Daily News' Brian Dohn writes about the new quarterback Kevin Prince while the Times' Chris Foster examines the biggest battles of camp. ... Arizona State: Speaking of quarterbacks, Danny Sullivan is ready to be the Sun Devils. ... Arizona: The Wildcats are deep into camp at Salpointe Catholic High, so here's a summary of the day and an interview with two freshmen.

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• That's it for this morning. We'll be back after practice. Until then enjoy the first day of your work week …

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