Story about WSU Tri-Cities vineyards
June 23, 2018 Tri-City Herald
A fire broke out Friday night at Washington State
University's Tri-Cities campus and burned some vineyard infrastructure.
Investigators don't know what started the blaze around
10:15 p.m. Friday in a vacant lot between a teaching vineyard and the St.
Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center.
The blaze damaged several composting boxes at the edge of
the vineyard.
WSU Chancellor Sandra Haynes thanked Richland, Kennewick,
Hanford and Benton County firefighters for putting out the fire.
(Note: The photo and info about photos below is not from
the Tri-City Herald and did not appear in the Herald in relation to the story above.)
Photo source:
https://www.goodfruit.com/wp-content/uploads/wsuWineCenter31850-050415tj-2.jpg
Photo info:
A small teaching vineyard, on the south side of the
Washington State University Wine Science Center, helps students learn hands-on
techniques, like pruning. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)
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College Football News previews the Cougars
We’re almost under two months!
By PJ Kendall Coug Center
June the 24th, 2018, 7:06am PDT
Good morning. This time next week, it’ll be July. That
means that once next Sunday rolls around, we can all say “college football
starts next month” and it won’t just be a dream! Normally I wouldn’t give
Northwestern-Purdue much of a look, but on the opening Thursday? Hell yes I’m
watching!
The Cougar season doesn’t start until the first day in
September, but the season previews keep rolling out. This week, it was Pete
Fiutak at College Football News taking a turn. I was particularly intrigued by
the headline, which read, “Did Wazzu miss its chance?” It’s hard to think that
isn’t the case.
2017 was when Wazzu had the team in place to do so much
more.
Stanford was just okay despite winning the North, Oregon
was down, and Washington – while terrific – was gettable
Now, all three of those teams are going to be better, Cal
is on the verge of being a thing under Justin Wilcox, and it’s impossible for
Oregon State to be any worse. So when looking around the Pac-12 North and
trying to figure out who the sucker is …
In 2015, WSU was a missed field goal from a likely date
in the Pac-12 title game. In 2016 and 2017, WSU was an Apple Cup win away from
a date in Levi’s Stadium. And even though it turned out that the last two
editions of Cougar Football probably weren’t as good as we thought they could
be, a chance at a real breakthrough was right there three straight times. Three
straight times, Mike Leach and WSU were left on the doorstep, just like Mike
Leach always has been.
So we’re on to 2018, and the lofty expectations held by
WSU fans and college football pundits have cooled considerably, for a variety
of reasons. The principle reason revolves around the situation behind center.
Anthony Gordon or Trey Tinsley would seem to have an edge, due mostly to their
experience in the system. Fiutak seems to think that incoming transfer Gardner
Minshew will be the guy.
The grad transfer from East Carolina originally appeared
to be ready to try his hand at Alabama, but wisely chose Wazzu instead. He
throws a whole lot of picks, but he’s also a good fit for the offense. When
he’s on, he’s a yardage machine. As long as he can keep the mistakes to a
minimum, the Cougar air show keeps on going.
While the idea of a senior transfer is intriguing, the
track record contains far more “meh” than “wow!” so how Minshew fits into the
system will absolutely be the top storyline of the preseason.
More cause for concern:
After losing just 17 turnovers in 2016, they gave up 31
last season. And now the offense has to be sharper with a new quarterback,
several key new parts to the receiving corps, three new starting linemen, and a
new starting running back.
Uh oh. I was quite surprised when I read that, seeing as
how WSU had a highly-experienced quarterback and what was supposed to be a very
solid offensive line. Given what WSU lost on both sides of the ball, they
absolutely can not afford to give the ball away that much.
So, is there any good stuff to talk about? There is!
Fiutak is bullish on Tracy Claeys at the defensive coordinator spot, going as
far as to say he will be an upgrade over Alex Grinch. While that obviously
remains to be seen, the potential is there for the defense to take another step
forward.
The longtime assistant under Jerry Kill is a star of a D
coordinator, with a smart, tough style against the run to go along with strong
play out of the secondary. His defenses don’t exactly bring the house when it
comes to applying pressure – the sack total will go down – but the run defense
will be terrific.
That last sentence is a bit of a sticking point, mostly
because of the losses suffered along the defensive line. The linebackers will
be solid, but if opposing blockers don’t have to double-team any linemen, guys
like Jahad Woods and Peyton Pelluer will get swallowed up.
Ok, so what are we looking at for the team, win-wise?
Pete is more optimistic than I am. Of course, Eeyore is positively myopic when
compared to myself.
The Cougars have to beat Wyoming on the road to start the
season, and they can’t slip against Eastern Washington. They’ll be 3-0 before
losing at USC, and then comes the key stretch – Utah, at Oregon State, Oregon.
Go 3-0, and it’ll be an interesting second half of the season. Lose two, and
it’ll be a struggle...
...Assume that even if everything goes wrong, there will
be a base of at least five wins, and then it’ll take a few big performances to
somehow get over seven.
So channeling my inner-Eeyore, and going by decades of
suffering along with this team and school, five wins is absolutely not the
floor. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cougs went 3-9. The hope (belief?) is
that Mike Leach has built enough of a foundation recruiting-wise that those
days are behind us. That five-win floor is possible, but I’d be hesitant to
believe it’s entirely probable.
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Preview 2018: Washington State Cougars. Did Wazzu Miss
Its Chance?
By: Pete Fiutak | June 17, 2018 11:04 pm College Football
News
Preview 2018: Previewing and looking ahead to the
Washington State Cougars season with what you need to know.
Preview 2018: Washington State Cougars
Was that it? Was that the shot at doing something really
big?
It’s the knock against Mike Leach and his tenures at
Texas Tech and Washington State, and it’s not exactly fair.
Yeah, his teams are able to be dangerous, and fun, and
good, and able to beat anyone on the right day, but there simply isn’t enough
there to get over the hump and actually win something big.
The schemes are great, the coaching – despite all his
bluster – is top-shelf, and there’s no question that he’s been brilliant over
his 16 years so far as a head man. But it was tough trying to compete with
powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas in the Big 12 South. And it’s hard to push
through the Pac-12 when the recruiting classes aren’t quite as strong as the
others.
That’s why it would’ve been so intriguing if Leach got
the Tennessee gig. What could he do when he was bound by absolutely nothing in
terms of facilities, recruiting base and resources?
And that’s what makes last year so disappointing. 2017
was when Wazzu had the team in place to do so much more.
Stanford was just okay despite winning the North, Oregon
was down, and Washington – while terrific – was gettable
Now, all three of those teams are going to be better, Cal
is on the verge of being a thing under Justin Wilcox, and it’s impossible for
Oregon State to be any worse. So when looking around the Pac-12 North and
trying to figure out who the sucker is …
But the system will get the Cougars through this. Yeah,
it’s a bit of a rebuilding year with several new parts to the passing game and
enough turnover on the defensive side to be an issue, but that doesn’t mean
this can’t be another winning season and a bowl game.
Being counted out, being the underdog, and being
disrespected – that fits into the fight that comes from Leach teams. As a
front-runner with expectations? They’re okay. But everyone will pick other
teams to do bigger things in the North – and that might be a huge mistake.
No, last year was not it. Eventually the Cougars under
Leach will win that one big game it needs to at the end to get to the Pac-12
Championship.
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Matt Calkins / Seattle Times columnist
WSU coach Mike Leach says criticizing columnist will be
selling Big Gulps in a few years. Here’s the columnist’s response.
Originally published June 22, 2018 at 6:00 am Updated
June 22, 2018 at 4:11 am
USA Today sports columnist Dan Wolken isn’t surprised the
Cougars coach has bad things to say about him: “If you’re a person in power who
does not like getting criticized, rather than focus on the substance of the
criticism, you attack the person making the critique.”
By Matt Calkins
Seattle Times columnist
Earlier this week, USA Today sports columnist Dan Wolken
took issue with Mike Leach’s Twitter behavior. When it became clear that the
Washington State football coach wouldn’t apologize for posting a heavily-edited
video misrepresenting a Barack Obama speech, Wolken wrote that Leach’s volatile
behavior was preventing more prestigious football programs from going after
him.
Not fond of the column, Leach tweeted that Wolken — who’s
been at USA Today for six years and in sports journalism for 16 — was a writer
“no one knows” before challenging him to a debate. And Thursday, Leach told me
that Wolken would be “selling Big Gulps in a couple years.”
Dan’s reaction? Read below.
Matt Calkins: So what do you think of all this?
Dan Wolken: Here’s what I think: Mike did something
inappropriate and refuses to back down from it, and so, one of the things that
we have learned about society right now and where we are as a culture is that
if you’re a person in power who does not like getting criticized, rather than
focus on the substance of the criticism, you attack the person making the
critique and try to make it a personality thing between the popular coach and
the media member, because the person in power knows that they’re going to win
that battle. So, I don’t really care to fight with him about what he thinks
about my credibility because I don’t really care.
Calkins: Were you surprised how he reacted? Not just in
coming after you, but in how he retweeted everyone who defended him?
Wolken: My only interpretation of that is that Mike for a
number of years has been able to, I think in the national media, enjoy a cult
of personality built around his quirkiness. And I think that has served to mask
the more unattractive aspects of his personality — at least on a national level.
So I guess what I would say is — name for me the other nationally-relevant
sports writers who have criticized him, like, ever.
Calkins: Yeah, I’ve been critical, but I’m certainly not
national.
Wolken: And that’s the difference — that’s what I’m saying.
Last year, when I wanted to write something about his ongoing fight with Texas
Tech, he couldn’t have been more accommodating or helpful or nice, but I’m just
not one of those people who worries about the personal standing of my
relationship with college football coaches. So I guess I would just say that
I’m not that surprised. Often times people who are used to getting their way,
especially when they act like bullies at times, they don’t like when that gets
turned on them.
Calkins: He’s been in Lubbock and in Pullman, where he’s
kind of had the scepter to the city. Do you think there would be more scrutiny
if he were at USC or something?
Wolken: That’s the point of what I wrote essentially.
What he kind of gets away with at Washington State or Texas Tech, it’s a
perfect platform for him in all that it encompasses. And when I wrote my
column, I mean — I’m not shooting from the hip. I’m not trying to toot my own
horn here, but I’m a pretty well-sourced person in the college athletic world,
and Mike Leach has been the topic of conversation among people that I’ve talked
to for years. People have been leery of some of that unpredictability.
Calkins: Dan, I really appreciate you taking some time.
Wolken: So that’s what he said, that I’ll be selling Big Gulps?
Calkins: Yeah…
Wolken: I guess we’ll see about that.
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