WSU Mom’s
Weekend 2018 = April 6-8, 2018 (Fri-Sat-Sun)
HONORING WSU MOMS
Mom’s Weekend is a fun-packed
tradition for families and friends of WSU students to honor their mothers and
showcase their contributions to the University. This event boasts more than 100
exciting activities—ranging from concerts, athletic events, exhibits, special
programs, and more— during the three-day celebration of our beloved moms.
A full calendar of events for the
weekend at link below:
https://momsweekend.wsu.edu/
While Mom’s weekend is traditionally
oriented towards mothers of WSU students, most events are open to the general
public and other family members as well.
History: “The
First Mom’s Weekend was sponsored by the Women’s League of the State College of
Washington on May 28-29, 1927.”
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Pac-12
football: Why spring practice matters more this year than other years … than
ALL years
By JON WILNER San Jose Merc News
April 2,
2018 at 6:32 am | UPDATED: April 2, 2018 at 6:40 am
The
midpoint of spring practice in the Pac-12 is as difficult to corral as Khalil
Tate, but the first Monday in April strikes me as an appropriate spot.
Colorado
is done, Oregon State has yet to start, and the remaining 10 are at various
points in the progression.
So we’ll
consider this week the start of the second half … the second half of what is
arguably the most important spring in the conference’s 12-team era.
Progress
made in March and April sets the parameters for what can be accomplished in
August, which, in turn, becomes the foundation for success in September.
About that
September …
It’s
bursting with marquee non-conference affairs that could set the Pac-12 on
course for a first-rate fall — one filled with top-10 rankings, national media
buzz, playoff contenders and New Year’s Six invitations.
Or:
The
results of those very same intersectional duels will send the conference down
another disappointing path, weakened and wobbly and painfully far from the
glamor of the playoff chase.
The
Pac-12’s make-or-break September lineup:
Oregon
State at Ohio State
Washington
vs. Auburn (in Atlanta)
Arizona at
Houston
North
Carolina at Cal
Michigan
State at Arizona State
UCLA at
Oklahoma
Utah at
Northern Illinois
Colorado
at Nebraska
USC at
Texas
Stanford
at Notre Dame
Those 10
intersectional games — because of the opposing team and the opposing conference
— will frame the perception of the conference for the remainder of the season.
Most are
squeezed into the first two weeks.
Six
opponents, at least, are projected for the AP preseason top-25 poll.
Nine of
the 10 games are on the road/neutral site.
And it’s
all made that much more daunting by the unsettled nature of the Pac-12
offseason.
Five new
head coaches and their staffs are churning through the spring, hoping to turn
every repetition into a teaching point and every sequence into an opportunity
to learn more about their personnel.
Add the
quarterback uncertainty at seven schools (because of injury, inexperience or
poor 2017 performance), and the spring to-do list becomes mountainous for a
conference that must be revving, collectively, when Week One arrives.
We’ve seen
the impact high-profile, non-conference results play in the postseason
selection process.
Oklahoma’s
win at Ohio State and Georgia’s victory at Notre Dame — both in Week Two — became
key lines on playoff resumes last year.
Playoff
access is possible without a major intersectional win (i.e., Washington in
2016), but that’s a more treacherous path.
(There’a a
reflective component to intersectional success, as well: An Arizona State
victory over Michigan State would, in turn, elevate any win over the Sun Devils
by Pac-12 playoff contenders.)
Against
the Pac-12’s double-whammy of offseason tumult and early-season duels comes the
ominous backdrop: The conference’s forgettable performance during the regular
season and its epic fail in the postseason.
The Pac-12
never recorded an elite non-conference win … never generated a serious playoff
contender … watched its top teams get undercut by the league’s very own
schedule … produced the worst bowl record in history (1-8) …
And here
it stands, on the first Monday of April — just four months from training camp —
with its reputation on the line and not a rep to waste.
Another
second-rate year, and the walls start to close.
The cycle
potentially becomes self-fulfilling as prime west coast recruits seek haven
elsewhere at accelerated rates,
undermining the Pac-12’s ability to compete with its Power Five peers
and creating a gap in talent and reputation that’s difficult to close.
One bad
year: Hey, it happens.
Two bad
years: A trend not easily reversed.
The
conference must dig in next season like never before. That process had best be
underway. This is no ordinary spring.
Why we
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