After the snow, sun
COUGARS
The snow fell last night and covered the streets of Pullman with an icy mess. The highway to Moscow was even closed for a while, according to a tweet from the police (yes, even the police tweet). But it's now 39 degrees and it's all gone. Actually it's really nice outside, what with the sun shining. So there's your daily nowcast of the weather. Read on for sports.
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• Washington State: Remember Paul Mencke? We do. He figures into the post a bit later. ... Before we get to Cougar news, I wanted to pass along this story from the San Jose Mercury News. It's about the new media contract and the rivalry games. In it, the Pac-12 is saying rivalry games may have to move to earlier in the year because the schedule "doesn't all fit together in a neat and tidy package, so that all the rivalries can be slotted in the final two weeks," according to Pac-12 deputy commissioner Kevin Weiberg. What? Why not? Are teams not going to be playing those weeks? And if every rival is going to be playing someone, why can't they be playing each other? Something doesn't add up here. OK, there are some mitigating circumstances, including Stanford and USC having contracts with Notre Dame that put their home game with the Irish on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. So the Big Game and USC's faceoff with UCLA can't be on that weekend. We get that. But why should any of the other games be affected? Could it be TV wants the games spread out so they're not all in the same basic window? Just speculating here, but the conference is getting a lot of money from its media partners, so I'm guessing those partners are calling a lot of shots. ... On to WSU items. We have a short advance on the first home game of the basketball season, which is tonight in Beasley. ... We also have a feature on Connor Halliday's background. And that's where Paul Mencke comes in. The former Lewis and Clark High quarterback is the last kid from Spokane to play extended time at the position for the Cougars. And that happened in 1998, when he was battling Steve Birnbaum for the job. ... Howie Stalwick has this piece on Halliday in the News Tribune. ... The Salt Lake Tribune also produced a Halliday story. ... Cougfan's Braulio Perez has this practice report from last night. ... Finally, we have out Pac-12 picks. I apologize profusely for last week and in advance for this one.
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• Around the Pac-12: ESPN.com's Ted Miller lets us know what to watch and who will win. ... Washington: There is no certainty on who will start at quarterback for UW on Saturday. ... Oregon State: The Beavers are looking toward next year down the stretch, starting with the Huskies. ... Oregon: The Ducks' exotic defensive looks are causing offenses problems, but the Trojans have the horses to attack straight ahead. ... California: Kicking could be important in the Big Game. ... Stanford: A senior says goodbye to the Big Game this week. ... Colorado: The Buffs have had to move people around this season. ... Utah: The Utes defense, which has a bunch of players whose names are hard to pronounce, is a fundamental bunch. The offense is too, built on the running game. But the turnaround recently is due to another reason. ... USC: Do the Trojans have enough speed for Oregon's offense? ... UCLA: Two former Buffs will see a lot of former teammates. ... From the basketball team, star Reeves Nelson has been reinstated. ... Arizona State: The journey to Tempe was a long, winding one for Brock Osweiler. ... Arizona: Another rivalry game in which kicking could play a large part.
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• That's all for this morning. We'll be back before the basketball game tonight with some thoughts. Until then ...
