Thursday, March 21, 2019

News for CougGroup 3/21/2019


For Football Cougs, spring might not settle much at QB

By Dale Grummert, Lewiston Trib, 3/21/2019

At certain other positions, the narratives will be strikingly new. At quarterback, 2019 spring football drills at Washington State will seem oddly familiar.

Trey Tinsley, Anthony Gordon, Camm Cooper and others will begin vying for a starting role next season — knowing their toughest competition might be the new guy who’s not yet in the mix.

Very much like last year.

Gage Gubrud, the graduate transfer from Eastern Washington who’s trying to become the next Gardner Minshew, is expected to miss spring workouts after sustaining an undisclosed lower-leg injury during WSU winter-conditioning drills.

So he’ll presumably try to follow the Minshew script from 2018: Join the fray for preseason camp, win the starter’s role and eventually vault himself and the Cougs into the national limelight. Wazzu is coming off an 11-2 season capped by a win in the Alamo Bowl.

March and April, however, will be all about Tinsley, Gordon, Cooper and whoever else might insinuate himself into the QB picture. The candidates won’t include Connor Neville, who early this week announced plans to transfer.

The Cougars will gather at 2:45 p.m. today for the first of 15 spring practices, climaxed by the Crimson and Gray scrimmage at 1 p.m. on April 20 at Martin Stadium.

“Similar to last year – we’ve got three guys with some experience, or have been around,” eighth-year coach Mike Leach said Wednesday of his quarterbacks, though none of them has seen extended playing time at the FBS level (and Gubrud, of course, played in the FCS).

“We’ll split the reps up, and we’ll take a peek at where the young guys are. The thing is, we’ve got to get a starter (by August), so we’re going to invest most of the reps into those older guys, unless one of those young guys is able to really pick things up quickly.”

Tinsley and Gordon narrowly lost out to Minshew in a three-way battle for the starter’s job last August (“I think we could have won with either one of them,” Leach said), and they’ll have at least one clear advantage over Gubrud: a thorough familiarity with a deep receiver crew that loses only one significant member, Kyle Sweet.

At a number of other spots, the echoes from 2018 will be less distinct.

The running-back corps, where depth has been solid for years, now includes only one scholarship athlete unless you count Cole Dubots, who’s being converted from linebacker this spring. Last year’s top rusher, James Williams, forfeited his senior season to turn pro, and sophomore Caleb Perry is transferring.

So expect numerous reps for Max Borghi, whose impressive true-freshman season last year produced 366 ground yards and 53 receptions. He’ll be joined by two members of the 2019 recruiting class in the summer.

At offensive line, the Cougs return four starters but lose terrific left tackle Andre Dillard, who’s likely to be snatched up quickly in the NFL draft. The team is loaded at guard, so replacing Dillard might involve some position shuffling.

“You try to just find out who are the best five linemen, and then put them in the best positions for them,” Leach said.

On defense, the biggest challenge might be filling the leadership void left by middle linebacker Peyton Pelluer, a fixture in the program for six years, and by his position coach, Ken Wilson, who absconded for the Oregon Ducks. His successor is Roc Bellantoni.

The Cougs also need to find a cornerback to replace four-year starter Darrien Molton.
“We’ll have more bodies than we’ve had before,” Leach said of that position, where the standout now is Marcus Strong. “We’ll have more height than we’ve had before. One thing, at the end of spring, the hope is to have developed more depth in the secondary. And we have a chance to have more than we had last year, I think.”

There’s also a sense of anticipation regarding sophomore Lamonte McDougle, a transfer from West Virginia who redshirted last year and, at 6 feet and 305 pounds, perhaps sets a new WSU standard for lower-body strength at defensive line.

“I think he’s going to have a great career here,” Leach said. “And I do expect him to have a really good spring.”

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WSU Edible Book Festival

March 21, 2019

PULLMAN –

Giant meatball and pasta next to 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' children's book.
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” submitted by Chelsea Leachman, earned the Best Visual Presentation Award at last year’s Edible Book Festival.

By Nella Letizia, WSU Libraries

Judge a book by its cover and its culinary creativity during WSU Libraries’ fourth annual Edible Book Festival on Friday, April 12, part of WSU Mom’s Weekend activities.

Registration is now open, and entries will be accepted through April 5; to register and for more information, visit the library guide

athttp://libguides.libraries.wsu.edu/ediblebooks


Participants can register individually or as a group. Entry rules are simple: Submissions must be made from edible materials and somehow relate to a book.

Entries will be accepted through April 5; to register and for more information, visit the library guide website. Participants can register individually or as a group. Entry rules are simple: Submissions must be made from edible materials and somehow relate to a book.

Edible book festivals take place around the country and world to celebrate books, art, food and culture. They got their start with the first International Edible Book Festival on April 1, 2000. Since then, organizations and universities have served up their own versions of the popular event.

WSU’s festival begins with public viewing and judging at 2:30 p.m. in the Terrell Library atrium, with winners announced at 3:30 p.m. Awards will be given for People’s Choice, Best Visual Presentation and Punniest. Light refreshments will also be available.

“Celebrity judges” for the event will be Jamie Callison, executive chef and catering manager with the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management; Mary Jo Gonzales, WSU vice president of student affairs; Squeak Meisel, chair and associate professor of the Department of Fine Arts; and Joanna Bailey, library director of Neill Public Library.

New to the festival this year will be participation for People’s Choice Award by students of WSU’s Global Campus. Their entries will be judged before the Pullman event by the Global Campus community, and the winner’s submission will be on display April 12 in the Terrell Library Atrium.

“We really hope that people will take inspiration from a favorite book or author and run with it,” said Erica England, organizer and first-year experience librarian. “Every previous festival has drawn more than 100 people who voted for their favorite entry, including many WSU moms with their students. We’d like to see this become a popular Cougar tradition as well as a celebration of literature.”

A sliced gourd, grapefruit and lemon presentation and 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' book.

“The Gourd of the Rings: The Two Sours,” submitted by Erin Hvizdak, won the Punniest Award at the 2018 Edible Book Festival.

“I like seeing everybody’s creativity in relation to books and food,” said Chelsea Leachman, science and instruction librarian at Owen Science and Engineering Library.

Leachman, a two-time winner at previous Edible Book Festivals, drew her creative inspiration from children’s books for her entries.

“I always do children’s books because their whimsy lends itself to baking,” she said.

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Baseball analytics conference March 8-0 in Phoenix drew WSU student team

February 26, 2019 from WSU News

Students gathered around laptop discussing upcoming conference.
Alex Yano, Dante Ludlow, Reagan Stubb, Matthew Cho, lr, discuss plans for upcoming Society of American Baseball Research's annual Analytics Conference

By C. Brandon Chapman, WSU College of Education

A group of four Washington State University students will take part in a competition at the Society of American Baseball Research’s annual Analytics Conference in Phoenix on March 8–10, 2019.

While it’s the eighth annual conference for the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR), cosponsored by Major League Baseball, its the first conference of its kind for this WSU group, made up of three sport management students from the College of Education, and one mechanical engineering student from the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.

The quartet, helped by a financial travel gift from the sport management program, will take part in the Diamond Dollars Case Competition, where they will receive an issue or challenge from SABR president Vince Gennaro, that might be similar to what an actual baseball general manager and their staff my face over the course of a season.

The competing groups prepare an analysis of the baseball operations challenge they’re given, and then present this to a panel of judges that includes Major League Baseball front office executives.

“Case competitions present students with an opportunity to apply the contents we discuss in class to professional scenarios faced by top executives in their chosen field,” said Simon Licen, chair of the sport management program. “So it is only logical that we try to support their involvement in such initiatives whenever possible.”

Licen readily admits that the support given by a program might need to include a financial one.

“The most valuable thing we as a program provide them is the knowledge to successfully address such situations,” he said. “But in some circumstances, knowledge alone will not suffice, so we try to provide them with the financial support to help them participate in these opportunities.”

The goal: a career in baseball
Per SABR, more than 70 alumni from this competition have secured internships or permanent positions with the baseball industry.

One of the students hoping to succeed in this same fashion is sport management student Alex Yano.

“It has always been a dream of mine to work for a professional baseball team and I believe that this conference definitely gets me one step closer to fulfilling my dream,” he said.

Sport management student Dante Ludlow said he has been seeking an internship in baseball. He recently sent a letter and resume to 116 different baseball organizations. He got “helpful responses about how I can improve my skillsets in looking toward future internships.”

In other words, not a single fish was biting.

In an industry where interns are a dime a dozen, Ludlow came to realize the Diamond Dollars Case Competition was one way to stand out.

“There was one individual working for the San Francisco Giants, and he recommended this competition,” Ludlow said. “He said it was how he was noticed and ultimately hired.”

Reagan Stubb’s unique contribution to the team — and to any employment recruiters — may be his field of study. Just a hint: it’s not sport management.

“Being an engineer may allow me to stand out and draw some good attention to WSU,” Stubb said. “I hope this conference allows me to make connections all over the country with people in all sorts of positions.”

Those connections may not always lead directly to a job. And that’s fine to sport management student Matthew Cho, whose approach to this opportunity is a little more measured. He speaks of simply acquiring knowledge.

“I’ve always loved baseball, and learning analytics was one way for me to learn more about the game I love,” he said. “I’m hoping to learn from, and meet some of, the best baseball minds in the world, as well as help me get a better feel of what the baseball industry is like.”

One source of inspiration
For those who are slightly older, the words “baseball analytics” conjures up images of Bill James and his work, as well as the word “sabermetrics”, obviously coined from the work SABR does.

Enter Moneyball. Again, the older era knows this started with Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, a book by Michael Lewis.

For those slightly less long in the tooth, Moneyball is simply the movie that starred Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

In all cases, it deals with stakeholders taking the game they have known for so long, and requiring them to assume that everything they thought they knew about baseball might just be wrong.

“I really got interested in baseball analytics after watching Moneyball,” Stubb said. “It’s really impressive how you can turn a whole organization around by looking at numbers.”

Yano said the release of Moneyball was also his introduction to baseball analytics.

“I’ve always been a huge baseball fan and that movie opened me up to a whole world that I had no idea existed,” he said. “Now in today’s day of baseball, you almost need to know most analytics to follow along with the trends and jargon of the game.”

Most important part of the whole thing
Just like any other competition, one group will win this SABR competition, and a whole lot more won’t. But that isn’t the only thing that matters.

“This is a great opportunity to measure their professional and applied research skills against peers from other top schools,” Licen said.

Those top schools routinely represented at the SABR conference include Cornell, New York University, Tufts, and Yale. They may hold an inherent advantage at the competition, but it’s based a lot less on pedigree and a lot more on familiarity — it won’t be their first goround.

And that’s OK, said Licen, who believes the WSU students have so little to lose when compared to what they can gain in experience, knowledge, professional and intellectual development, and maybe even with a networking opportunity that can turn into good professional employment.

“Perhaps even more than in the Olympic Games, the most important things in competitions like this is not winning but taking part,” he said. “Students should be curious, should be eager to strive for more and should be willing to face challenges and unexpected scenarios. We want students to take chances to change themselves — and, in the future, their chosen professional fields — for the better.”

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