WSU still loose despite struggles
COUGARS
Before the Cal game Thursday night, Taylor Rochestie and Caleb Forrest – later joined by Aron Baynes – took the court a couple hours before game time, shot a while and then played a game of horse. The seniors were loose and ready, enjoying one of the last few home games of their college career. But when it came time, they turned serious and prepared to face one of the Pac-10's hotter teams. Tonight, another one of those teams comes to Beasley, the Stanford Cardinal. And, as Rochestie said this week, it's time for the Cougars "to start protecting our home court." Read on.
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• One thing to always remember about college athletics, no matter how good or bad a season is going: These are young men or women playing a game they love. No matter the sport, it is just a game, the same one you and I and our buddies and friends played in the backyards, on the streets, in the parks, while we were growing up. That's what I got out of Thursday night's horse game. These guys put in a lot of hours trying to get better. They are competitive. They have pride. They still enjoy what they're doing and they want to have fun. And that's the right attitude to have.
Now on to the links. We have our notebook that we posted here yesterday – though I screwed up something and somehow it didn't appear until long after I put it up. Oh well. ... Freelancer Howie Stalwick had an advance in today's P-I and other West Side papers. ... And, from San Jose, there are two stories about Stanford, one an advance on tonight's basketball game and, maybe more crucial for Cardinal fans, a piece saying all the talk about Jim Harbaugh staying on The Farm for a long time might be going up in NFL smoke. ... Speaking of football, this is a big weekend of recruiting for WSU, with many of its recruits on campus. Cougfan is reporting another wide receiver (a position of need), Canadian Johnny Forzani, will be enrolling at WSU on Monday. If all the commits come through, this year's cupboard is almost full.
• That's if for this morning. We'll be back before tonight's tipoff to share our thoughts about Stanford. Till then ...
