Monday, July 23, 2018

News for CougGroup 7/23/2018

==WSU FOOTBALL 2018 PRACTICE STARTS AUGUST 3==

Washington State releases practice dates, times for fall camp
Mon., July 23, 2018, 6:46 p.m.

Spokesman-Review
By Theo Lawson

PULLMAN – Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars will adhere to a similar routine as they begin fall practice next week.

The 2018 Cougars will open with one practice at Martin Stadium/Rogers Field in Pullman, set for 2 p.m. on Aug. 3, before moving to Lewiston for a week of practices at Sacajawea Junior High in Lewiston.

WSU is scheduled to practice in Lewiston every day from Aug. 4-9 – all workouts beginning at 2 p.m. The team will then return to Pullman for its first scrimmage on Aug. 10. The first day of practice in Pullman, and all practices in Lewiston, will be open to the public.

The team will wear only helmets for the first two days of camp, then layer on shoulder pads on day three. The Cougars’ first day of full-pads practice will be on Aug. 7 in Lewiston.

WSU opens the 2018 season at Wyoming at 12:30 p.m. PT on Sept. 1 in a game that will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.

The Cougars’ complete practice schedule for the month of the August is as such:

Aug. 3 (2 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 4 (2 p.m., Lewiston), Aug. 5 (2 p.m., Lewiston), Aug. 6 (2 p.m., Lewiston), Aug. 7 (2 p.m., Lewiston), Aug. 8 (2 p.m., Lewiston), Aug. 9 (2 p.m., Lewiston), Aug. 10 (TBA, Pullman), Aug. 12 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 14 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 15 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 16 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 17 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 18 (TBA, Pullman), Aug. 19 (8 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 21 (3:30, Pullman), Aug. 22 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 23 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 24 (4 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 25 (TBA, Pullman), Aug. 26 (8 p.m., Pullman), Aug, 28 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 29 (3:30 p.m., Pullman), Aug. 30 (3:30 p.m., Pullman)

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Glenn Osterhout Commentary: The ascent in WSU fundraising has begun

By GLENN OSTERHOUT Cougfan.com

DRIVEN BY THE dramatic change in the competitive landscape of college athletics, a new era is underway at Washington State that is laser-focused on fundraising. WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun, with full support from President Kirk Schulz, already has built a solid fundraising plan and he and his team have been traveling the country in recent months engaging donors at every level. In just a short period of time, we have already seen an improvement in our numbers, marking the beginning of the ascent to our rightful place in the Pac-12 Conference.

WSU today reported that donations to the Cougar Athletic Fund, which underwrites scholarships for student-athletes, increased by more than 18 percent, or $1.31 million, in the  fiscal year that ended June 30. That's a record. Here's a look at how the progress stacks up going back three years ...

Total donations to the CAF:

2016:  $5.80 million

2017:  $6.45 million

2018:  $7.76 million

Champions Circle members (annual giving of $25,000+)

2016: 8

2017: 15

2018: 23

Leadership Circle members (annual giving of $10,000 to $24,999)

2016:  61

2017:  105

2018:  120

In addition, revenue from ticket sales is tracking approximately $600,000 ahead of last year at this point. Now is the time to purchase single-game tickets for football and season tickets for basketball.

AS YOU CAN SEE, WE CLEARLY HAVE momentum. WSU alumni and friends are starting to understand that we must dramatically increase revenue for WSU athletics. The year-over-year improvement in the CAF is a good start, but we have a long way to go when you consider WSU athletics spends $12 million per year on scholarships and the number is climbing. That means the CAF, which is devoted exclusively to scholarships, was $4.24 million shy of filling the need despite the record year of fundraising.

Given the size and wealth of our alumni base, CAF support realistically should be about $15 million annually. And in terms of ticket sales, $10 million annually from all sports -- vs. the $6 million-plus currently -- is not unreasonable and can be reached in four years with low-double-digit annual percentage gains.

To put these numbers into context, look no further than the University of Washington.  Annual donations to athletics at the UW are about $23 million. WSU's undergraduate enrollment is roughly 60 percent the size of the Washington's so one can assume that WSU's donations levels should be 60 percent of the theirs -- or $13.8 million as opposed to our current level of $7.76 million.  Given the loyalty and passion that we all share for WSU, our annual donations should be even higher than UW's on a relative basis.  I should also mention that even though we are starting to close the gap, as I detailed in this recent column, we trail Oregon State by a substantial amount in both annual donations and season ticket sales.

Over the years I've heard many explanations from fans why our donation levels are not where they should be. One of the chief among them is that football season tickets are tied to CAF donations and because WSU is in a remote location, there's not enough ticket demand -- and therefore, not the accompanying donations. I also hear people say "I will start donating when we start winning." Quite frankly, if we are passionate and loyal to WSU, none of these reasons hold water. The remote location is what creates the loyalty and passion we all share for WSU. As such, even if you don’t attend games you can still donate to the program (in fact, this is critical for our success). As for winning, the Cougars have 26 victories over the last three football seasons -- the third-most in the Pac-12.

I should also point out that WSU has made donating much easier and you can literally donate from anywhere in the world in less than five minutes. And here's another important point: a massive number of our alumni and friends live and work in Greater Seattle, which is one of the strongest economies in the country. We need to capitalize on that fact. WSU partisans in this region alone have the capacity to close the revenue gap in athletics; the economy here is a competitive advantage for WSU that schools in Oregon, Arizona, Utah and Colorado don't have.

For those of you who are donating to athletics, thank you and please consider stretching your donation by clicking here. To join the Cougar Athletic Fund, click here. If you have questions regarding gifts to WSU Athletics, please reach out to the talented development team, all of whom can be found here.

Season ticket holders and members of the CAF can order single-game tickets now and can click here to order. If you have question regarding football tickets, contact Casey Van Sickle at casey.vansickle@wsu.edu or 509-315-8465.

I challenge all WSU alumni and friends to support the ascent to our rightful place in the Pac-12 Conference!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Glenn Osterhout, a 1982 WSU graduate, is a director on the WSU Foundation Board and chairman of CougsFirst!. He has donated large sums to WSU athletics to, among other things, name the recruiting suite in the Cougar Football Complex after Steve Gleason and the Gray W Lounge in the Complex after Jack Thompson. He is a periodic columnist for Cougfan.com.

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WSU POLICE FACEBOOK PAGE POSTING:

“We are saddened by the line-of-duty death of former Cougar and Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his family, friends, and Kent PD. He will always be a Coug.”

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Police ID officer killed in car chase in Washington state

UPDATED: Mon., July 23, 2018, 8:36 a.m.

By Mike Carter Seattle Times

A Kent police officer was killed when he was struck by another officer during a chase early Sunday, police and the Washington State Patrol said.

Police and media reports said a preliminary investigation showed the officer was killed when he was struck by another Kent police officer chasing a pickup truck. The officer who was struck had apparently been deploying a strip of spikes across the roadway, intending to flatten the fleeing pickup truck’s tires. After the collision, the driver of the patrol vehicle that struck the officer went on to crash into three cars parked at a nearby in intersection and was seriously injured, said Kent Police Cmdr. Jarod Kasner in a news release.

“An officer deploying a spike strip for the pursuit was struck and killed, it appears at this point, by a pursuing officer,” said Washington State Patrol District Commander Ron Mead during a news conference Sunday.

Late Sunday, the department identified the dead officer as Diego Moreno, a decorated eight-year veteran with the department who was from Venezuela.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of Officer Diego Moreno. He was part of our family and we will always have him in our hearts. Please continue to keep Officer Moreno, his family, friends, and colleagues in your thoughts and prayers.

A woman who identified herself as Moreno’s widow, Shelly K. Moreno, posted a photo of the two of them and wrote: “It is with the sorrow of a million heartbreaks that I announce the death of my beautiful husband Diego,” she wrote. “He was killed in the line of duty last night. Thank you to everyone who has been and will be at our side.”

Moreno worked for Kent Police Department for eight years, according to a department’s Facebook post.

During that time, he worked as part of the civil disturbance unit, was a hostage negotiator and a defensive tactics instructor, according to a video on the Kent Police Department’s website.

In 2016, he received the Chief’s Award for Exceptional Duty after saving an elderly woman from a fire, according to the police department.

In June 2017, he received a Lifesaving Medal from the Kent City Council for saving someone from an opioid overdose, using Naloxone.

“At times I felt like I didn’t deserve them because I was just doing my job like anybody else,” Moreno said of the awards in the department’s video.

Shelly Moreno said services will be held at ShoWare Center July 31st.

Kent Police Cmdr. Jarod Kasner, his voice cracking at a televised news conference outside the police station, said officers had responded about 1:50 a.m. to a report of shots fired near Russell Road South and West Meeker Street, near a Shari’s restaurant. At the time the 911 call came in, a Kent police officer was also in the area and heard the gunfire. The officer witnessed a red pickup truck fleeing a parking lot as the witness described the suspect vehicle to dispatchers, he said.

Kasner said officers were in pursuit and that spike strips were deployed near Reith Road and Kent-Des Moines Road (Highway 516).

“One Kent Officer was struck and the pursuing officer was involved in a collision,” Kasner said in a news release.

The suspect vehicle, at least one tire flattened, continued east on Kent-Des Moines Road until it crashed and rolled onto its roof near Washington Avenue, he said. One person was arrested.

“It is directly because of this suspect or suspects’ actions that led to this officer’s death,” Mead said at the news conference. “While that vehicle may not have been the one that struck the officer, make no doubt about it that had it not been for their actions this officer would be alive right now.”

The officer who was struck by the vehicle died at the scene. The second officer was transported to Harborview Medical Center and is in satisfactory condition, Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.

Washington State Patrol is assisting with the accident investigation, while the Valley Investigation Team is conducting the criminal investigation, Kasner said. He said Highway 516 would be closed for several hours.

“This is a very sad day for law enforcement,” Mead told reporters. “Our hearts go out to the Kent Police Department.”

Detectives had marked off a number of shell casings located in the parking lot of the Shari’s restaurant. Kasner said anyone with information regarding the initial illegal firearm discharge or the accident to call the Kent Police Department tip line at (253) 856-5808.
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WSU POLICE FACEBOOK PAGE POSTING:
“Due to a sharp increase in 911 calls, we would like to inform everyone that Whitman, Latah and Asotin Counties are experiencing significant smoke due to surrounding wildfires in The Dalles, OR, Spokane, WA and Garfield County. While we are experiencing smoke from these fires, our counties are in no danger of them. IF this changes, advisories will be sent out. While waking up to poor air quality can be unsettling, please refrain from calling 911 to report/inquire about the smoke as emergency situation can be delayed due to a flood of calls about smoke….”

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PULLMAN

Brief: Pullman Police officers to read at library

Moscow Pullman Daily News

Children and families are invited to join the Pullman Police Department at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Neill Public Library as officers read some of their favorite books and share information about fire safety.

The 45-minute reading will be in the library's Heritage Addition, and pre-registration is not required for the program.

The reading is part of the library's Summer Reading events.
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Football can look toward rugby for safety

Sport has a dangerous dependence on padding which results in more head-to-head collisions

WSU men’s rugby club faces off against St. Andrews University in a scrum. Players often go with minimal or without head protection.

By HANAH GOETZ, Evergreen opinion editor
July 19, 2018

The condition of football players has been under contention for years, but not in terms of physical fitness. Instead, the problem lies with the abundance of concussions and the long-term effects that come with them.

In 2016 alone, concussion injuries increased by 58 percent, according to ESPN.com. This year the NFL is once again changing the way they approach this diagnosis, including increased medical staff on the field during games to identify injuries as they occur. Despite this, many players have been known to return to play despite concussion protocol and teams have been fined for failing to bench the player at risk.

Even with these changes, we still see issues that affect the players long-term. Tyler Hilinski was the latest victim when an autopsy revealed he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy¸ a degenerative brain disease, at his death.

Though it is a factor, the problem I see isn’t so much in the level of care but in how the sport itself is played.

This is where we should turn to the sport across the pond known for its own breed of contact sport — rugby.

Amber Stotts, a member of the WSU women’s rugby club team, said that football is known for its dependence on padding.

“You see people leading with their heads a lot more and also a lot more grabbing than actually blocking,” Stotts said. “In rugby, there isn’t that dependence because all we have is a mouth guard, sometimes a scrum cap for some head protection and occasionally you’ll meet someone with joint issues that will use like a shock shirt or padded compression shorts, but those aren’t common.”

Stotts said that the difference is not only in the padding, but also in the way the football players tackle.

“There is a different style of tackle used in football, where it tends to be in a higher body position and trying to stop their forward motion, she said. “While in rugby it’s using the opponent’s momentum to carry them down. It’s a lot like the motion of a take-down in wrestling.”

Stotts said she has had only one concussion in her seven years of play.

“Concussions are very serious deals in every sport but especially in [rugby] where there isn’t head protection,” she said. “Coaches are trained to be aware of concussions symptoms and players generally have to be checked by a medical professional and be cleared for return.”

Rugby tackling has been noticed. Boise State University hired three former rugby coaches to help their players perfect the safety of their tackling technique.

While it’s true we can’t count rugby as the safest game on the planet, where spinal injuries from scrums and untrained players cause problems statistically, we can still look to it to modify football to where our players can be much safer.

We don’t have to imitate rugby completely, but we can afford to learn from it.

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