Football --- Pac-12 North: Analyzing the lines of
scrimmage
By JON WILNER San Jose Merc News
PUBLISHED: July 2, 2018 at 10:28 am | UPDATED:
July 3, 2018 at 3:27 am
The North possesses three of the top-four
offensive lines in the conference and potentially three of the best in the
country.
1.
Washington
Top offensive linemen: LT Trey Adams, RT Kaleb
McGary, C Nick Harris, LG Luke Wattenberg
Top defensive linemen: E Jaylen Johnson, NT Greg
Gaines
Division ranking (OL/DL/combined): 1/1/1
Comment: The situation on offense is more secure
than three returning starters — the official count — would suggest: All four
players mentioned above have significant experience, with Adams (assuming good
health) and McGary forming the conference’s top tackle tandem. Health is an
issue on defense, too. Gaines could be a dominant force — not quite at the Vita
Vea level, but certainly all-conference caliber — but was injured in the
spring. Watch out for Johnson, whose impact will be greater than his numbers
(four tackles-for-loss) suggest. Oh, and count on one of the underclassmen
emerging as a force — it seems to happen every year.
2. Oregon
Top offensive linemen: RT Calvin Throckmorton, C
Jake Hanson, LT Brady Aiello
Top defensive linemen: E Jalen Jelks, NT Jordon
Scott
Division ranking (OL/DL/combined): 3/2/2
Comment: Like UW, the Ducks lost two starters but
have four players with enough experience for us to credit them with an 80
percent return rate. The loss of Tyrell Crosby is significant, but with
Throckmorton and Hanson as the anchors — both received honorable-mention
recognition from the coaches — the Ducks will be sound up front. (The spring
arrival of grad transfer Dallas Warmack, from Alabama, provides added depth.)
On the other side, Jelks is positioned for a dominant senior season (15 TFL in
’17) and might be Oregon’s most gifted lineman since DeForest Buckner. Scott
gives the Ducks a top-tier complementary player: He would be the top lineman on
most teams in the conference.
3. Stanford
Top offensive linemen: C Jesse Burkett, LT Devery
Hamilton, RG Nate Herbig, OT Walker Little
Top defensive linemen: E Dylan Jackson
Division ranking (OL/DL/combined): 2/4/3
Comment: The Cardinal has the potential for a
dominant front five — and dominant offense in general — with Herbig as the
prime mover at 350 pounds and Little, the conference’s co-offensive freshman of
the year in ’17, as the Cardinal’s next elite tackle. There isn’t nearly the
talent on the defensive front. The departures of Solomon Thomas and Harrison
Phillips in back-to-back years has left Stanford with loads of questions and no
answers to this point. (Jackson hasn’t shown much in his limited career but is,
by far, the top returnee.) The North race might depend on how well Stanford
masks the deficiencies with its front line. Watch for plenty of 2-4-5
alignments.
4. Cal
Top offensive linemen: LT Patrick Mekari, C
Addison Ooms
Top defensive linemen: E Luc Bequette
Division ranking (OL/DL/combined): 5/3/4
Comment: The Bears should be markedly improved
along the offensive front with five returning starters operating within an
established system tweaked to their skills, and with the talented Mekari
locking down the left edge for quarterback Ross Bowers. The unknowns are on
defense, where Cal must replaced the dependable James Looney. Bequette showed
promise last season as a first-time starter, but the keys to the unit’s success
are nose tackle Chris Palmer (three career starts) and 300-pound end Zeandae
Johnson, who was expected to make an impact in ’17 before missing the season
with an injury. There are enough playmakers in the back seven for the Bears to
field a stout defense, so long as the front three is respectable.
5. Washington State
Top offensive linemen: LT Andre Dillard
Top defensive linemen: E Nnamdi Oguayo
Division ranking (OL/DL/combined): 6/5/5
Comment: Dillard is an all-conference talent who
gives the TBA-starting quarterback a chance for success, but one man does not a
line make — and the Cougars have questions elsewhere following the departures
of Cole Madison and Cody O’Connell. (WSU needs Robert Valencia, a touted JC
transfer, to make an immediate and consistent impact.) The situation on defense
is even more dire without Hercules Mata’afa, who made everyone around him
better. The slightly-undersized Oguayo is the top returnee (seven TFL in a
limited role), but the Cougars have major issues up front in a division loaded
with top-tier offensive lines. Bad combo.
6. Oregon State
Top offensive linemen: LT Blake Brandel, LG Gus
Lavaka
Top defensive linemen: E Kalani Vakameilalo
Division ranking (OL/DL/combined): 4/6/6
Comment: It would be easy, but inaccurate, to
assume the Beavers are in bad shape on the offensive front because of the
team’s woeful showing in ’17. The left side should be solid with Brandel and
Lavaka, and the right side has enough experience to make the five-piece set
function with reasonable efficiency. How the Beavers fare defensively is
another matter — the line is devoid of proven playmakers. A repeat of 2017,
when they ranked 123rd nationally against the run, seems likely. And that, of
course, would increase the pressure on every other unit, including the
offensive line.
//////////////
Inland 360 of Lewiston Trib and Moscow Pullman
Daily News
Not by the book: WSU library exhibit showcases
printed trickery
Posted By: Michelle Schmidt July 2, 2018
The library shelves at Washington State
University contain more scandal than you might think.
Examples of these, including forged historical
documents, rare books that were stolen and false first edition books, are on
display in “Frauds, Fakes and Forgeries: Deception in the Archives,” on exhibit
now through the end of the month.
The items on display are part of WSU’s
Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections, a department of the library that
collects and preserves documents, records, photographs and other items not
available for checkout. These items are often rare and historical — and thus, vulnerable
to various types of deception.
Among the items on display are those that tell
the story of the theft of nearly $500,000 worth of rare books and manuscripts.
During the 1980s, Stephen Blumberg broke into the
WSU library and took 357 books and around 2,500 manuscripts. It was just one of
numerous libraries that the Iowa book collector stole from in what is the
largest book theft in U.S. history. Work on the case by WSU Police Officer
Stephen Huntsberry lead to Blumberg’s identification and arrest in 1990.
These types of thefts are unusual, said Cheryl
Gunselman, manuscripts librarian. But the memory of the theft remains and
precautions are taken to minimize the chance of it happening again.
Another item on display is a historical newspaper
announcing the death of George Washington in 1800. Except, it’s not the real
thing — it’s a collectable reproduction. Newspapers often create these for
historical events and they are known to be reproductions at the time, but later
generations who inherit them may not know.
When it comes to heirloom newspapers that mark
historic U.S. events, Gunselman said a good rule of thumb is that if it seems
to good to be true, it probably is. She recommends consulting the Library of
Congress’ Information Circulars website which lists commonly reproduced
newspapers and how to tell — through a word being off or an ad appearing
differently, for example — if you’ve got an original or a later
reproduction.
The oldest item in the exhibit is a sophisticated
copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle from around 1500. But in this case,
“sophisticated” isn’t a good thing, Gunselman said, it means the book has been
cobbled together out of multiple incomplete copies. Because the book on exhibit
is not assembled well, it’s assumed it was never pretending to be an original,
but is an example of forgery practices. The book, which has not been on exhibit
for a long time, is in the original German and contains woodcut illustrations.
Among other items, the exhibit also includes a
forged manuscript said to be Abraham Lincoln’s, doctored photographs, false
first edition books and literary forgeries of those who published pretending to
be someone else.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Frauds, Fakes and Forgeries: Deception in
the Archives”
WHEN: Through July
WHERE: Terrell Library, Washington State
University, Pullman
COST: Free
:::::::::::::::
Sunnyside hosts annual July Fourth celebration
Community event will have live music, food,
colorful fireworks show
Fireworks fill the sky during the 2015 Fourth of
July celebration in Sunnyside Park. For the last 43 years, several local groups
have worked together to put on the event.
By CHLOE GRUNDMEIER, Evergreen reporter
July 3, 2018
The City of Pullman has banded together to
celebrate Independence Day for the last 43 years.
Several groups around Pullman work together each
year to give the town a spectacular Fourth of July experience that is fun for the
whole family and for the college students still in town.
The Pullman Chamber of Commerce has worked with
the Fourth of July Celebration Committee “so this celebration can go off
without a hitch,” said Glenn Johnson, Fourth of July celebration chairman and
Pullman Mayor.
Pullman Chamber of Commerce Events Coordinator
Britnee Packwood loves working on the event because it’s family-friendly and
allows everyone to spend time together and celebrate independence.
“It’s been around for over 40 years and thousands
attend each year,” Packwood said. “I think that’s partially because it’s always
family oriented.”
Johnson has been involved with the celebration
for over three decades and was originally the voice of the celebration. For the
past 20 years he has been the chairman of the celebration committee.
“It’s a great event for the whole region. People
come from Moscow and even further to celebrate American independence,” Johnson
said. “There’s inflatables for the kids, live music for the whole family and
any kind of food you could want at a barbeque.”
Because the celebration is put on by so many
different groups around Pullman, it helps to foster relationships that make the
community a better place, Packwood said.
“This event is put on by the community, for the
community and always with the community in mind,” she said.
Both Packwood and Johnson said they believe this
event is a great opportunity for the WSU students who are still in town.
“The college students are investing four years or
more of their lives into this town and this community,” Packwood said, “so
attending these kinds of events lets them understand it more.”
Johnson said he has heard students for decades
discuss how much they prefer the Pullman celebration to similar ones on the
west side of the state. He said the reason for this is in bigger cities, the
fireworks are farther away and the family aspect isn’t as pronounced.
“We have many international students attend this
celebration and for some of them it’s their first American Independence Day
celebration,” Johnson said. “It gives them an opportunity to enjoy the
community and the holiday while dancing along to great music.”
The Pullman Fourth of July Celebration will begin
at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Sunnyside Park. Admission is free and open to the public
and park and ride transportation is offered all over Pullman. For more
information, go to the Pullman Chamber of Commerce website
…………
