Don't call
him a newbie
After
bouncing around college football for a few years, Robert Valencia has
established himself as a likely starter on WSU O-line
By DALE
GRUMMERT of the Lewiston Tribune Aug 6, 2018
There are
three new starters on the Washington State offensive line these days, and
typically that would be major cause for concern.
But one of
them has been around the block a few times.
Robert
Valencia played tight end in the Midwest, transferred to a junior college in
his native San Francisco, converted to offensive line and eventually was rated
the 18th-best JC tackle prospect in the country.
Plus, he's
a senior who's still trying to prove himself. The hunger factor is high.
"It's
definitely hit me that this year is my last year - and it might possibly be my
last year playing football as a whole," Valencia said Sunday at Sacajawea
Junior High in Lewiston after the Cougars' third preseason workout. "It
definitely affects me. It makes me want to concentrate even more."
Valencia
chose WSU over a host of other Pac-12 suitors last year, but undisclosed issues
sidelined him for the entire 2017 season. He re-emerged during spring drills
this year, seized a starting role and played almost every down for his squad in
the Crimson and Gray scrimmage. Two months later, he became even more valuable
to the Cougars when his main rival at right guard, Noah Osur-Meyers, underwent
season-ending surgery.
At
6-foot-6 and 300 pounds he hardly looks like a greenhorn, but he's projected to
make his NCAA starting debut at RG in the Cougars' opener at Wyoming on Sept.
1, while left tackle Andre Dillard and center Frederick Mauigoa resume their
starting roles. The other new first-teamers are Josh Watson at left guard and
Abraham Lucas at right tackle.
"Much
improved," WSU coach Mike Leach said of Valencia. "He's gotten
stronger. He uses his hands better, moves his feet better. Really he's gotten
quicker with all four limbs. And it started in spring. He had a pretty good
spring and he's continued to elevate from there."
Valencia
began his college career as a tight end at an NCAA Division III school, Coe
College in Iowa. Unhappy there, he moved back West, enrolled at City College of
San Francisco, redshirted in 2015 while learning a new position, then made big
strides during the course of the 2016 season. He appeared to be one of the top
acquisitions of the WSU recruiting class last year.
"I
did have a bunch of Pac-12 opportunities," he said. "All of them were
great, but WSU, when I came on my first visit, it just felt like I needed to be
here. ... I like how WSU was Pullman. The city doesn't take over the school.
The school actually takes over the city. I actually like that. It feels more
homey."
ROTATION
CONTINUES - As expected, Gardner Minshew and Anthony Gordon split most of the
first-team reps at quarterback Sunday, meaning those two and Trey Tinsley have
received almost equal snaps through three days of camp.
And
they're still operating at comparable levels of efficiency.
It's a
similar situation at running back, where junior James Williams, senior Keith
Harrington and true freshman Max Borghi are the top candidates. Leach said he
expects one of them to separate himself and begin getting more reps than the
other two.
::::::
WSU
FOOTBALL
Robert
Lewis signed with Washington State in 2012. Six years later, the wide receiver
is prepared for his second swan song with the Cougars
UPDATED:
Sun., Aug. 5, 2018, 10:12 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson
Spokane
S-R
LEWISTON –
The notion of ever catching another pass in a crimson jersey was so far-fetched
to Robert Lewis that by the time March came around, the well-traveled
Washington State receiver had already begun mapping out the next phase of his
football career.
Or, at
least, going through the preliminary steps to ensure there even was one.
Lewis
joined 17 other hopefuls at the Cougars’ pro day in Pullman on March 9, looking
to restore confidence in NFL scouts that he could still maneuver around a
football field despite the crippling ACL tear he suffered in a scrimmage one
week before the 2017 opener against Montana State, effectively ending his final
season in its infant stages.
Lewis
hadn’t given up on football, but he’d bid adieu to his time with the Cougars.
And nobody
in his camp could have foreseen the next detour.
In late
April, the receiver learned the NCAA voted to approve an extension of clock
waiver, affording him an additional college football season provided Lewis
complete six course credits, pen an appeal letter and submit a waiver.
“Not at
all,” Lewis said, if he thought there was even a remote chance of this scenario
playing out. “… It was a shocker to me.”
“I wasn’t
really (confident), to be honest with you,” inside receivers coach Dave Nichol
added. “Just over the years, how they decide stuff, it’s kind of hit or miss,
so I was pleasantly surprised.”
The bylaw
that allowed WSU linebacker Peyton Pelluer to gain another season of
eligibility didn’t apply to Lewis because the receiver had only missed one
season due to medical hardship, as opposed to Pelluer’s two.
But a more
recent provision, approved by the NCAA last spring, came to Lewis’ aid. The
language states that if a player has already exhausted his redshirt year, an
extension of clock waiver can still be granted if injury/medical hardship is
sustained before the start of the season.
“As they
changed (the rule), and I read it and all that stuff, it was pretty clear,”
Cougars coach Mike Leach said. “He was well within it … so we’re really happy
to have him back.”
So, if
you’ve attended the first three days of camp and wondered about the player
wearing No. 15 on offense, your eyes aren’t deceiving you: It’s still Lewis,
the 24-year-old, sixth-year senior who has the unique distinction of being the
only remaining member of Leach’s original signing class in 2012, and the only
Cougar receiver who’s caught a pass from Connor Halliday. He and Pelluer are
the only ones on the roster who’d be able to recall what Martin Stadium looked
like before the school dropped a five-story, $61-million football palace into
the west end zone in 2013.
“When
you’ve been around this long you know all the secrets and spots,” Lewis
laughed. “The hangouts and stuff like that. It’s definitely been a journey, so
yeah, I’ve been around.”
All that
mileage could pay major dividends for the Cougars this season. On offense,
they’re ushering in a new quarterback and three new starters on the offensive
line. The wide receivers aren’t quite as green, but Leach’s eight-man rotation
could still include as many as four underclassmen – and the true freshman
wideouts who don’t make the cut could still gain to spend ample time in Lewis’
shadow this fall.
Redshirt
sophomore Renard Bell and redshirt freshman Travell Harris are a few of the
players Lewis helped bring up to speed while he was sidelined last year. Now
all three pass-catchers are competing for reps at WSU’s “H” receiver position.
Bell, in particular, seemed to inherit one of Lewis’ most recognizable traits
last season when he started springing other receivers free with crushing
blocks, which often came against more robust defensive players.
“I think
that started with Robert Lewis,” Leach said. “Robert Lewis is kind of the guy
that set the standard because he was the smallest receiver out there and the
best blocker for a long time. Then made it very obvious to these other guys –
Jamire (Calvin), Renard, Travell – that it’s a matter of position and getting
into somebody’s body and not allowing them to have separation or space that’s
key to blocking.”
Lewis has
clocked more hours than any player Leach has had in seven years with the
Cougars and the record books could begin to reflect that at the end of the 2018
season. The Los Angeles native from Watts has recorded 117 career receptions
and 47 more would secure a place in the school’s all-time top-10.
Mind you,
that would just be icing on the cake. Lewis has already given the Cougars a
boost they didn’t expect, but gladly welcomed during an offseason that was
highlighted by the tragic death of quarterback Tyler Hilinski.
“It was
kind of like a Christmas present coming in the summer,” quarterback Anthony
Gordon said. “It was great to see Rob Lew come back. We crack some jokes saying
he’s old but we love having him back.”
Added
Nichol: “Him and Pelluer, man, they’re like 35 years old. We joke with him. But
it’s good. He’s smart and crafty and we’ll see how it goes.”
It’s been
approximately a year since Lewis hobbled to the turf and held his knee in
agony. That’s not an image that’ll ever leave the longest-tenured Cougar.
“It was
kind of like a roller coaster,” he said. “You’d never think your senior year
you’d tear your ACL a week before the game. It was rough at first, but then I
kind of got over it. My dad, he was telling me there’s nothing you can do about
it, just rehab and come out stronger.”
So dad got
the first call in May, when Lewis had more uplifting news to pass along.
“He’s my
biggest fan, so I called him and let him know,” he said.
“He
couldn’t be any happier.
…………………………
New
affordable housing could be a disaster for Pullman market
Programming,
development could force families to remain in poverty for support
New
development can cause a market surplus that will effect low-income households.
By SAAD
NABIL ALI, Evergreen columnist
July 19,
2018
Confirmation
of plans for the new affordable housing project in Pullman, promoted by the
Community Action Center, has had many relishing in its potential.
“Our goal
at CAC is to help every Whitman County resident improve their ability to be in
stable housing and to increase long-term self-sufficiency,” said Jeff Guyett,
executive director of the CAC in a statement reported by the Moscow Chamber of
Commerce.
The
funding, a whopping $800,000 granted by the Washington State Housing Trust, was
awarded to the CAC for meeting the requisite criteria for building affordable
housing.
“We
considered a combination of factors, including a delayed capital budget, the
current affordable housing and homelessness crisis around the state and the
high level of project readiness displayed in the 2017 application pool,” said
Corina Grigoras, managing director of the housing finance unit at the
Washington State Department of Commerce.
Under the
Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, funded by various federal and state
agencies, low-income families will be able to receive rental assistance and
accommodations for as long as they qualify.
But with
no limit to the period of participation, families are backed into a corner with
essentially no incentive to exit these housing programs.
The CAC
surely means well in its pursuits to provide affordable housing for low-income
households. However, from an analytical stand point, it would appear that the
main driving forces of these projects are not rooted in necessity, rather
stemming from the ability to undercut the market, stunt income mobility and
induce low-income households to perpetuate the cycle.
Since the
WSDOC reflects a decrease in homelessness over the past couple of years in
Pullman and the greater Whitman county area, this cannot be the reason for the
continual growth in affordable housing projects.
The
poverty rate in Pullman is around 25.9 percent, making it one of the poorest
cities in Washington, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
This
figure, however, has never been adjusted for the students that attend
Washington State University and make up a substantial portion of the
population.
“Because
the census treats students living apart from their families in off-campus
households … it has been recognized that in communities with high numbers of
post-secondary students relative to total population poverty figures are
distorted,” according to the League of Women Voters of Pullman.
When
accounting for this distortion, the numbers are rather telling.
“For the
city of Pullman the adjustment was from a poverty rate of 44.8 percent to one
of 20.9 percent,” the league reports.
Unemployment
has also generally been listed among the reasons for the surge of these
developments, but this has no statistical bearing either.
Just this
year, Forbes ranked Pullman as the No.1 manufacturing small city in the nation.
“[Pullman]
has 60 percent more industrial jobs per capita than the national average and
since 2007 has more than doubled its industrial employment to nearly 2,800,”
Forbes reports.
There’s no
ability to take advantage of the economic gains offered in Pullman long-term
without being withdrawn from programs like Section 8, which allow low-income
people to remain in subsidized homes.
“Participants
are responsible for reporting changes in income or household make-up. Failure
to do so can result in termination from the program. These must be reported,
but depending on the amount and how the funds are used, they may not affect the
rental assistance,” the league reports.
Ultimately,
having subsidized housing inherently creates surpluses in the market,
generating inefficiency that would cause property value to decline
dramatically.
Artificially
increasing the demand for these affordable housing projects by undercutting the
market will lead these very people to be confined to the required income for
continued support, subsequently bringing about an even greater divide among
income earners overtime.
However
helpful these projects may seem, they are not necessary for a flourishing
economy that would otherwise provide for the people of Pullman
…………….
See below
about Dale Grummert, who covers WSU Athletics for Lewiston Tribune morning daily
newspaper, Lewiston, Idaho. HE grew up in Vancouver, Wash., and attended WSU,
studying journalism.
Story from
JUNE 14, 2017, Cougfan.com
The
unknown legend of Dale Grummert
By Barry
Bolton, June 14, 2017 , Cougfan.com
WHEN IT
COMES to the great scribes who have covered Washington State
athletics
over the generations, the late Harry Missildine of
Spokesman-Review
and Palouse Daily News fame...
The reason
for his relative anonymity is two fold:
Lewiston
is not a collection point for WSU alums the way Seattle and
Spokane
are, so he works off the beaten media path and thereby isn't
the easy
source of Cougar-focused talk over the water cooler.
The
Tribune was one of the first newspapers in the West to put up a
full-blown
paywall to access its copy via the web, so in the
cyber-crazed
world that has allowed CF.C to flourish since 1998,
Grummert's
work has been hidden from broader view.
In many
ways, that's befitting of the man himself. He's an
understated,
low-key guy. Except for the really-long hair that sets
him apart
in the Martin Stadium press box, he lets his articles and
columns do
all his talking for him.
Grummert
was a communications major at WSU but didn't graduate. He
did,
however, toil on the once-proud Cougar bowling team. "I was the
sixth man
on a five-man team -- I got in there occasionally at
nationals."
he says with dry wit.
His first
job out of college was at the Coeur d’Alene Press where
writing
about the Cougars was one of his duties. He moved to the
Lewiston
Tribune in 1985 and has been churning out copy on the Cougars
that is
both informative (think John Clayton) and beautifully written
(think
John Blanchette minus the acidity).
When it
comes to tenure covering the Cougs, nobody is likely to top
Missildine,
who held the beat on a daily basis from 1953 to 1981 and
then
covered them as a columnist until his passing in 2005. But
Grummert
is giving it a go, with 2017 being his 33rd season.
Covering
the Cougars has changed a lot over the years, along with
college
football in general, he recently told CF.C in a wide-ranging
interview.
Access -- or lack of -- to players is probably the biggest
change. Indeed, Grummert said back in the 80's, he
did a few
interviews
with senior Cougar footballers in bars.
Can you imagine
that
happening today? Here are the highlights
from our talk with the
dean of
Cougar sports writing.
Player
access:
"In
the 80s, the access I had seems like it was another lifetime. If I
had a
story or theme I wanted to pursue, and wanted to talk to a
number of
players in an off-the-cuff way, I remember just hanging
outside
their dining room area at the CUB and just picking guys off.
And they
enjoyed it. It didn’t seem at all to be a distraction. And
that’s
what Mike Leach seems to be worried about … they are pretty
accommodating
(with one-on-ones) given the restrictions that are built
in but
obviously you can’t request a guy in-season except for
postgame."
On Mike
Leach:
"He
is obviously a very interesting, intelligent guy. He has a unique
approach
to football. He approaches everything with a fresh outlook.
The only
dogma he falls prey to is his own. And that makes our job in
some ways
more difficult: ‘Don’t talk about injuries, ever.’ No access
to players
in-season aside from the three they bring out on Mondays
and
post-game situations. It’s just so radically different from the
approach
that the school has always taken. I think we’ve adjusted and
this past
season it was refreshing to see Gabe Marks break through
some of
that and holding court in those Monday sessions, going past
those
allotted 10 minutes."
Best
Cougar player interview:
"Maybe
it’s just because he’s fresh in my mind but it’s hard to beat
Gabe
Marks. I’ve never known a college athlete who was so self aware.
There have
been more polished interview subjects but you always felt
it was a
two-way street with Gabe and that he also expected you to
keep it
real. That was an interesting challenge."
Best
current WSU assistant coach interview:
"The
first that comes to mind is Alex Grinch because he’s so smart. He
knows
exactly what he’s trying to do, knows exactly what the results
are and
what the difference is between those two things. He also
knows what
you’re after. And even if he doesn’t have the same
perspective
you do, he’s a broad-minded enough guy to at least know
what
you’re after. And he’ll let you know that’s not his perspective.
He’s just
a sharp guy."
What's
changed most over the years:
The degree
of obsession and fanaticism away from the Saturday game
situations,
that has changed a lot.
Top 3
moments (with the first being far and away No. 1)
1. 1997
Apple Cup and postgame scene
2. 1992
Snow Bowl vs. Washington
3. 1998
Aloha Bowl vs. Houston: "... a pleasant experience the whole
week --
and that was a really good, underrated team."
Another
sportswriter he's admired:
"Craig
Smith (Seattle Times) is the first guy that comes to mind. He
was a
really thorough and conscientious beat writer. Anyone could
learn from
him, just his attention to detail. And he was just really
an
interesting personality and very inclusive. He had a novel approach
to the job
even though he was by the book -- he would ask completely
off-the-wall
questions. He and Leach would have been an interesting
combination.
We would have seen a whole different side of Leach that
Smitty
would have brought out."
Favorite
part of covering the Cougs:
"It's
the writing, it's always been the writing. When the writing is
going
well, that's always the fun part."
Where
newspapers are headed:
"Changing.
Becoming smaller and more online. The thing that I loved
about
newspapers is starting to become obsolete ... that idea of ink
on paper
and starting your day off with the enjoyment of a
well-written
piece from last night's game. It hasn't changed in its
substance,
it's changed in its details. Where is it headed? That's a
really
tough question. I just hope the appreciation remains for that
cleverly
turned phrase from last night's game. I hope it doesn't get
overwhelmed
in this notion of getting it out quickly and moving on."
After
watching spring ball, early assessment of the 2017 Cougs:
"I
would think this team would be on a par with the last two, and
probably
better. Offensively, I don't think
they're going to miss a
beat and
they'll probably be better ... the outside receivers in
particular,
the young ones, I think are really good ... they've got to
find a way
to replace (River Cracraft). The
defense, in the two
seasons
Grinch has been there he's exceeded my expectations so just
based on
that, I'm assuming the defense will be OK. But I'm also
expecting
the Pac-12 will be better so it will be tougher to show
whatever
improvement is made."
A SAMPLING
OF THE GRUMMERT PITH IN ACTION:
After WSU
defeated Idaho last season:
"As
he crossed the goal line to give Washington State its first
special-teams
touchdown in 11 years, Marcellus Pippins thought about
breaking
into a Thizzle, a dance move spawned by the rapper Mac Dre
that would
have thrilled Pippins' friends in the California Bay Area.
But he
looked warily at an official in the end zone and decided not to
risk a
penalty for excessive celebration."
After WSU
lost to UW in 2014:
"Washington
State prides itself on making routine plays. But in the
coldest
Apple Cup on record, there was nothing routine about pitching
and
catching 'the rock.' For once, that bit of slang was apt."
After WSU
lost to Arizona in 2008:
"But
the Cougars (1-9, 0-7) quickly ended their streak of 10
consecutive
scoreless quarters, opening a lead against a conference
opponent
for the first time this season and going on to tally a
touchdown
in each quarter. In the context of this season, these were
signs of
life."
After WSU
defeated Nevada, in Seattle in 2002, with Will Derting serving notice:
"How
perfect. On a day when Washington State finally took its shtick
to the big
city, on a day when more than 60,000 fans poured into a
spanking-new
NFL stadium to watch the new and improved Cougars, the
show was
stolen by a modest farmboy whose family has yet to install a
telephone."
After WSU
defeated Cal in 2001:
"Coaches
like to say you can measure an athlete's strength and his
speed, but
you can't measure the size of his heart. Presumably, then,
the health
of the rib cage is a bit of a quandary too. So Washington
State
coaches don't know how much pain Jason Gesser felt Saturday when
he took a
blow to the thorax or tried to heave a football 50 yards
downfield.
They only know he endured it, beautifully."
////////////////////////////
Photo: Dale
Grummert as a WSU Bowling Team member in 1976 WSU Chinook student yearbook
