Stanford, show some pride. Cougs, show some smarts.

Standford's First Mistake
What was it? Underestimating Oregon's defense?  Abandoning their game plan?
No, it happened before their team even took the field at Autzen.

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Sad Stanford tree at Autzen.

A ficus. A FICUS?!?!?! They made their famed tree to look like a ficus!!  I know the Stanford band and cheer squad like to joke around; but to make their own mascot look pathetic in the biggest nationally televised game of their lives?!?!
   Oh the shame. It was bad enough to show that their team was nowhere near worthy of their top 10 rating. But to point at themselves and say "Hey, we're not the lone tall pine tree in the midst of the forest -- the Palo Alto. We're just a disposable office waiting room tree. And if you don't believe us, watch how our team blows an 18 point lead.

Pathetic, man. No pride.

   Now take the Cougars this Saturday. They're going to get their butts kicked and they know it. But you think they're going to trot out some mangy old alley cat onto the field?
   Hell no.  Butch T. Cougar will be out there getting whacked, stuffed and mounted with his head held high!

Message to Cougars
[Hey Coug fans, in this the third season of the Paul Wulff era -- where you've won four games to date (one Pac-10 win) -- I have a question. Are you by chance pulling your hair out and screaming at no one in particular when you read stories like this?
Excerpts from the Spokesman-Review this week . . .
Cougars making moves to help speed defense (Click title for link)
Vince Grippi The Spokesman-Review
 
PULLMAN – Change is coming to the Washington State University defense. And it’s coming fast.

[Mike Price is landing in Spokane at this very moment? No. Coach Wulff talks about how he needs to add speed to his defense . . . ]

“We’ll probably have to make a few moves with some personnel,” WSU coach Paul Wulff said Sunday night, talking about a defense that’s been gashed for 285 and 437 yards on the ground the past two weeks.

“We’re still mulling over the way we’re going to go with the personnel moves to help out our defensive unit a little bit,” he continued.

Though Wulff qualified his remarks with “we don’t have anything for sure set in stone” and “we haven’t come to a final conclusion,” he did add “we’re trying to move a few guys around to help us with some speed and obviously tackling.”

The goal, Wulff said, was to improve the defense’s ability to get to the ball.

“We’ve improved our speed,” he said, “but we’re still aren’t at the level we need to be. We’re making strides, but we need to continue to improve our speed.”

Speed is crucial this week because third-ranked Oregon, possessor of possibly the fastest offensive unit in the country, comes to Pullman this Saturday for a 2 p.m. Homecoming contest.

That will mean the Cougars will have faced, in order, the 15th-best rushing team in America (USC, 234 yards per game), the 10th (UCLA, 262.4), and the No. 2 team (the Ducks, 331).

[In the face of disaster, it bothers me when those in charge say things like, "probably have to", "a few moves", "mulling over", "a little bit", "haven't come to a final conclusion", "we're trying", "a few guys", "still aren't at the level we need to be" . . .
   Imagine if you're a part of the crew of the Titanic in full panic mode, and the captain says, "I think if we adjust the ballast a little bit, maybe add a few more bailing buckets, things should hopefully get to the level we need to be."
   A few years back, there was a notorious nickname earned for a guy who was "tweaking" this and "looking at" that in the face of a hurricane disaster: Brownie. 
To say the least, those sort of comments suggest a lack of leadership.

My favorite line is the next one . . . .]
“Everybody has to be involved in stopping Oregon and their running game because they spread you out,” Wulff said, “so your safeties and linebackers have to be good tacklers.”
["your safeties and linebackers have to be good tacklers.”  Well, he ain't lyin'. Give him that.]

Paul Wulff mulls it over.

The moves WSU can make are limited, [by the speedy players he could NOT recruit?] though some possibilities include freshman Deone Bucannon playing more at strong safety, which would give Sekope Kaufusi, a former linebacker playing defensive end, a shot at his old position; possibly shifting outside linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis back inside, where he played last season; or using Jamal Atofau, a converted safety, more often.

“The thing about is we can still be better and those are the things we keep driving (home). We’re not good enough but we know we can get better and better.” [Wulffy, you're doin' a heckuva job.]

[I'm sorry, am I being too hard on him? Unfair? Only his third season and things should maybe hopefully turn around once he mulls over a little bit of tweaking after he comes to a final conclusion maybe a little bit possibly?

   Listen Cougs, I know he's an alum and all. Oregon had this alum who was our basketball coach. He was a part of a legendary team. As a coach he led the Ducks to the elite eight. He won two Pac-10 tournaments.
   He will always bleed green. He loves Oregon. He will always be a Duck. That's what he said when Oregon FIRED HIM! They had to. In the end, it just wasn't working.
   You've won only one Pac-10 game in two years. It doesn't look like you're going to win any more this year. And in the next two years, the way you're going, you will have two more conference losses added to your schedule in the new Pac-12. 

   Hey Cougs, I'm trying to do you a favor here. I think of you as Oregon's Northwest country cousins.  Family, sort of.  Missing two front teeth, thin hair, sitting in a tree, playing a banjo like in the movie "Deliverance". . . . . but family nevertheless.
   And I'm telling you, I don't care how pretty Wulffy squeals like a pig, you need to cut him loose and send him down the river. Your only question should be how soon. 

   This Saturday, your football team will get completely humiliated. You had the chance to move your game up to 12:30 and earn some TV cash, but you decided you wanted as few people seeing this grease fire as possible.  So you kept your kickoff time at 2 pm. with the excuse that it was homecoming and you promised the alums they could have plenty of time to enjoy their homecoming festivities before the game -- Activities like beer drinking contest, beer tasting contest, beer chugging contest, beer belching contest,  "Shootin' thangs" (Bring your own firearm.), and the classic "Pin the tail on the roadkill".

   I completely get that, and respect your decision not to televise your embarrassment. But you can't keep hiding it forever. The sooner you face up to the fact that this was a bonehead hire, the sooner you can be done with it and move on. You did a smart thing by hiring AD Bill Moos. Now support him to "make the change".
   You would be wise to fire Wulffy at halftime when you're down 35-0 and you see Coach Kelly suiting up the cheerleaders and waterboys out of mercy.]

Gametime Saturday, 2 pm.
BULLETIN This just in:
Limited Live Television Broadcast Announced

Comcast will show the game live in Oregon ONLY. Still no live internet TV feed.  
The University of Oregon athletics department, IMG College and Comcast SportsNet have announced that a limited live television broadcast of Saturday's game between third-ranked Oregon and Washington State will air beginning at 2 p.m. PT.


The Oregon Sports Network football production will only be available within the state of Oregon on Comcast SportsNet, channels 37 and 737, and includes a pregame show starting at 1:30 p.m.

The Pacific-10 Conference office worked diligently with the league's television partners to secure the limited broadcast waiver. Provisions in the conference's television contracts with ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports Net protect exclusive television windows, making this broadcast difficult to secure.

The game will be replayed Saturday evening at 11 p.m. and will include a 10:30 p.m. pre-game show.

Oregon's premium online video service, the O-Zone, will feature a live audio-only broadcast starting at 1:30 p.m. and will feature a condensed game for on-demand replay at 6:30 p.m. For more information about our online broadcasts, view the list of live events or sign up for O-Zone.