News for CougGroup 12/22/2019

Kyle Smith, WSU men’s basketball coach’s radio show set to start Jan 7^th, 2020

From WSU Sports Info

The U.S. Bank Cougar Coach's Show with head men's basketball coach, Kyle Smith, is broadcast live from Zeppoz in Pullman from 6-7 p.m., hosted by Matt Chazanow, play-by-play Cougar radio “voice”. Coach Smith and the “voice” will talk all things basketball throughout the conference season beginning Tuesday, Jan. 7.

Call In: 1-866-268-4825

Twitter:  Submit a question by using the Twitter handle: @M_Chaz

Listen Online: Listen online at the Washington State IMG Sports Network on TuneIn OR on tuneIn through the WSU Gameday App.

2019-20 Show Schedule
Tuesday, January 7 – 6-7 p.m.
Tuesday, January 14 – 6-7 p.m.
Tuesday, January 21 – 6-7 p.m.
Tuesday, January 28 – 6-7 p.m.
Tuesday, February 4 – 6-7 p.m.
Tuesday, February 11 – 6-7 p.m.
Tuesday, February 18 – 6-7 p.m.
Tuesday, February 25 – 6-7 p.m.

:::

The Captain Class: The Risks of Turning Our Backs on Football --- A sport that needs to be made safer is also uniquely effective at teaching kids about leadership and teamwork

Wall Street Journal, 21 Dec 2019

Every year, the National Federation of State High School Associations tabulates how many U.S. high school students played sports, and which sports they played.

The survey is inexact and its findings are usually too incremental to cause a stir. But the 2018-19 edition, released in August, contained one legitimate and widely reported bombshell.

For the first time in 30 years, high-school sports participation declined.

The 3% drop in participants from the previous year wasn't enormous -- that translates to roughly 44,000 empty uniforms. But it was definitely troubling. According to one projection, the total number of students enrolled at U.S. high schools was expected to rise by more than 50,000, which suggests the number of athletes should have risen, too.

I assumed this would be technology's fault; hard evidence that screen time is making teenagers more sedentary. But the numbers don't point there. By my calculations, high-school sports teams still filled nearly 8 million roster spots, which is roughly equivalent to 47% of the overall student body. That figure is in fact close to a historical high.

The chief culprit wasn't a lack of interest in sports. It's the accelerating rejection of the biggest high-school sport of all: 11-player tackle football.

Last season, football suffered its steepest loss of players in 33 years, according to the NFHS, while its share of total sports participants fell below 13% for the first time on record.

Before we continue, I should probably make a confession. I love football.

I've invested years of my life watching it, trying to play it as a kid, covering it as a reporter for this newspaper and, more often than I'd like to admit, beating the drum of its intangible value. The NFL appears in my recent book about leadership, and I have done and continue to do paid consulting work for college and pro teams. And yes, my wife and I allow our teenage son to play.

I am not, however, a football apologist. The game has some chronic problems, chief among them the potential effects of concussions. Repeated brain injuries can have devastating effects, which become compounded the longer you play. The sport is experimenting with new rules, better equipment and tighter medical supervision but I'm not convinced that football's establishment is capable of reforming itself without being pushed.

Meanwhile, the sport lost 31,000 high school players last year, according to the NFHS; its fifth consecutive annual decline. Forty-two states reported net losses, including football hotbeds such as California, Florida and Ohio.

I can't blame any parent, or child, for abandoning ship. Nobody needs to play football. But I sincerely believe that the sport is worth saving. Football will never be entirely safe. But if the sport's overseers figure out the right adjustments to make (see an entirely separate column), I have no doubt that its positive influence on kids will continue to outweigh the risks. Football, in my view, is one of the best tools we have for teaching teamwork and leadership.

Consider this: The U.S. has maintained a consistent global edge in business, scientific research, military power and (recent events notwithstanding) functional government. We've shown that we're pretty good at working together. And we've sustained this for decades even with schools that trail those in other nations by most measures of academic rigor.

Have you ever wondered why that is?

Most high schools don't teach "team studies" or "applied leadership." Traditional classes like social studies, history and civics may touch on those themes, but only in passing. My theory is that American schools haven't bothered teaching teamwork in classrooms because they didn't need to. That's what organized sports are for.

U.S. high schools devote vastly more money, facilities and instructional resources to sports than schools in other nations do. Colleges also spend billions supporting athletes -- most of whom will stop competing after graduation. If American exceptionalism exists, is it really possible to disregard this country's exceptional investment in sports? And can we afford to turn our backs on the nation's No. 1 sport by participation?

The three qualities that make football teams unique are size, structure and choreography. Every football play is a complex, collaborative ballet in miniature. And within every team there are three distinct subgroups (offense, defense and kicking units) divided into roughly eight different position groups. In other words, joining a football team requires joining three or four teams at once. And all of them need leaders.

Football's violence is also unique; that's never been its finest trait. But the physical risk does serve a purpose. And it's not about "forging character in fire" or any other macho gibberish.

More than any other mainstream activity for kids, football drives home the value of being a competent, loyal, conscientious and selfless teammate. On the football field, the best way to minimize risk is also the surest way to win. You have to do your job. Mistakes aren't just personally humiliating -- they get people hurt. Putting the team's goals ahead of your own and earning the trust of teammates are valuable skills for navigating the real world.

Lots of team sports teach these virtues, of course, but football does it viscerally. The risk of injury accelerates the learning curve. In the age of helicopter parenting, it's one of the few supervised environments where kids can learn about risk.

One unique quality that rarely gets mentioned is football's inclusiveness. Soccer may be the world's game, but it demands a rare blend of quickness, agility and endurance. Basketball players are unusually tall and athletically gifted, while baseball players need superior hand-eye coordination. In youth football, the bar is lower. In fact, some kids make the team with only one thing: speed, strength, intelligence -- or just size.

That last trait is important. If you're large, slow and plodding, most sports want nothing to do with you. Football is the rare sport that welcomes big kids -- in fact, they often become stars. For this at-risk slice of the population, it's the only game in town.

Tackle football, of course, is primarily played by boys. The NFHS reports that only 2,400 girls joined 11-member teams last season, compared to just over a million boys. But if you think girls don't want to play football, or can benefit from it as much as boys, look up the Women's Football Alliance.

This full-contact football league for adult women has more than 50 teams across the U.S. and thousands of participants. And they don't even get paid to do it.

Is "more football" the ultimate solution? Absolutely not. At some point, we need to start teaching teamwork and leadership in the classroom. Until then, however, we'd be crazy not to employ every imperfect tool we have.

And we still have football. For now.

Mr. Walker, a former reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal, is the author of "The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership" (Random House).

::::::::

Isaac Bolton breaks out for WSU in victory  … JC transfer lifts Coug men’s basketball team  to nonconference rout of UIW

By Colton Clark, of Lewiston Trib 22 Dec  2019

PULLMAN — Isaac Bonton is modest enough to admit he’s been in a considerable slump early in his first season on the Palouse.

“All year, I’ve struggled a bit,” said Bonton, a Casper College (Wyo.) transfer guard for Washington State’s men’s basketball team. “I feel like I have the humility to confront that.”

Bonton’s also been persistent enough to face at full impact his challenges on the offensive end, where his month-long slide had been most prominent in the lead up to the Cougars’ game Saturday against Incarnate Word at Beasley Coliseum.



Bonton ostensibly snapped out of it, matching his career high with 19 points (on 7-of-16 from the field), and adding career-best marks of 12 rebounds and six assists to spearhead WSU in its 87-59 drubbing of the Southland Conference’s Cardinals from San Antonio.



Before Saturday, he’d shot under 30 percent on the season. It just might've been a turning point.

“Just stay positive, keep your head,” Bonton said after WSU’s fifth consecutive win. “Adversity’s always gonna come, so you gotta weather that storm.

“It feels good. I’m just trying to get back in a rhythm.”

Bonton, a junior who often ran the point with starter Jaylen Shead out injured, starred throughout the game, facilitating in transition and slipping by UIW defenders in the paint to tally a handful of fine finishes.

Perhaps his best play came early in the first half, when he collected an errant Cardinal pass, soared coast-to-coast, then hit trailing forward CJ Elleby with a dandy of a behind-the-back feed. Elleby dunked it two-handed, producing an 11-2 lead three minutes in.

“With my scoring ability now, I’m able to use that to get guys open,” Bonton said. “I love it. When I can get other guys their stats, that feels good as a point guard.”

UIW (3-9) came back slightly with a short-lasting 3-point barrage, and hung around for about 10 minutes before Wazzu (8-4) pulled away with a 12-0 spurt, also holding the Cardinals without a field goal over a six-minute stretch.

The Cougs, with significant advantages in size and talent, ballooned the lead to 19 by the half and kept piling on. They never were truly challenged, despite their 18 giveaways and UIW’s proficiency on ball screens that created open looks outside.

“I think we’re getting a little more comfortable with each other and getting better shots,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said. “We’re turning it over more, but the optimist in me says we’re being more aggressive and trying to make more plays. Sometimes, turnovers are a byproduct of that.”



Smith accepted it was his team’s most well-rounded offensive game of the year. Five players were in double figures, and WSU had a season-high 17 assists.

The Cougars shot 49 percent, but were above 60 percent from the field for much of the contest. Their attempts were settled, taken after court-clearing ball movement or netted inside with smooth transition play. They erred when trying to force the ball into the post.

Elleby contributed 13 points and seven rebounds; sharpshooting Aljaz Kunc logged 13 points and eight boards; Jeff Pollard kicked in 11 points and six rebounds, and was a defensive force; and Tony Miller finished with 10 points.

“Teams we’ve coached in the past — our staff — it’d usually be three guys in double figures, and pretty balanced,” Smith said. “We like to share the ball. It’s a fun way to play. I think we can be that way.”

Incarnate Word was outmanned on the glass 53-27. It was hard-pressed in finding any second-chance opportunities, and underwent lengthy shooting lulls while WSU became more fluid on both ends as the game proceeded.

The Cougars compiled 20 points on the fast break, with those coming either on UIW turnovers — it had 14 — or long misses. The Cardinals shot 34.4 percent, 25 percent in the first half.

“We’re a good transition team,” Kunc said. “It’s just about stops. It’s not a science.”



Dwight Murray and Drew Lutz had 10 points apiece to lead the Cardinals, who couldn’t contend with Wazzu’s mass down low, and couldn’t keep WSU’s backcourt out of the lanes.

On a breakout day, Bonton had a lot to do with that.



“When Isaac’s playing the point, it puts a lot of pressure on the other team’s defense,” Smith said. “When he gets penetration, good things happen to us.”

“You don’t have a good game, you can sulk or pout, and he didn’t. That’s progress. That’s good. And it’s funny, you play better.”

INJURY REPORT — Smith said Shead likely will miss the next two weeks after reinjuring his hip.

INCARNATE WORD (3-9)

Murray 4-12 4-4 12, Willis 2-12 0-0 6, Lutz 2-6 5-5 10, Larsson 3-7 0-0 6, Swaby 3-8 1-2 7, Sato 1-5 0-0 2, Miszkiewicz 4-6 0-0 8, Ene 3-8 0-0 8, Van Vlerah 0-0 0-0 0, Graham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 10-11 59.

WASHINGTON ST. (8-4)

Bonton 7-16 3-4 19, Kunc 4-11 2-2 13, Elleby 5-13 2-3 13, Cannon 3-4 2-3 8, Pollard 5-6 0-0 11, Robinson 4-8 1-1 9, Miller 5-7 0-1 10, Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Rapp 0-0 2-2 2, Markovetskyy 0-0 0-0 0, Rodman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-68 12-16 87.

Halftime — Washington St., 46-27. 3-point goals — Incarnate Word 5-17 (Ene 2-4, Willis 2-5, Lutz 1-3, Swaby 0-1, Murray 0-2, Sato 0-2), Washington St. 7-18 (Kunc 3-6, Bonton 2-4, Pollard 1-2, Elleby 1-3, Miller 0-1, Robinson 0-2). Fouled out — Miszkiewicz. Rebounds — Incarnate Word 24 (Miszkiewicz 8), Washington St. 46 (Bonton 12). Assists — Incarnate Word 13 (Murray, Willis, Lutz 3), Washington St. 17 (Bonton 6). Total fouls — Incarnate Word 23, Washington St. 12.

::::::

WSU football

Ready or not, Air Force and its vaunted triple option are coming for Washington State in Cheez-It Bowl

By Theo Lawson S-R Spokane 22 Dec 2019

PULLMAN – Most of his teammates have seen nothing like it, but Justus Rogers already has a pretty good beat on the unconventional offense Washington State is up against this week when it faces Air Force in the Cheez-It Bowl.

The middle linebacker doesn’t claim to have an expert-level understanding of the triple option, but the run-heavy offense also isn’t a foreign language to him.

Much of the ideology behind the triple option is similar to the offense Rogers ran in high school, at 3A juggernaut Bellevue, where the “wing-T” has been an institution for more than a decade.

It would’ve been helpful for Rogers to see the offense in practice every day as a linebacker. Even better, he got to know it as Bellevue’s quarterback, leading the Wolverines to a 24-3 record in his two seasons as a starter and multiple appearances in the Washington State 3A title game.

“It has some similarities and some differences as well, but they just rely on playing downhill,” Rogers said. “Air Force is one of the top rushing offenses in the country, so we just have to make sure we read our keys and stay disciplined.”

But it’s been four years since Rogers last wore a Bellevue uniform and he’s only one of 11 defensive starters who’ll be required to do their part when the Cougars take on the Falcons on Friday at Chase Field in Phoenix.

For all the challenges that come with defending the triple option – Air Force’s variation of it is also known as the “flexbone” – the most important one is the probably the least complicated.

Well, in theory.

“Everybody’s got to do their job, because you have to have all the space on the field covered as well as the personnel,” Cougars coach Mike Leach said. “It’s the ultimate in executing your job.”

The Falcons average 57.1 rushing attempts per game and 292.5 yards per game, which puts them third nationally behind only two other service academies who employ an identical offensive strategy: Navy at 363.7 ypg and Army at 297.2 ypg.

The diversity of the triple option is not necessarily in a traditional balance between run plays and pass plays, but in the variety of ways the Falcons can move the ball 10 yards on the ground.

“Just having good eyes, discipline, all those good things,” said cornerback George Hicks III, asked what the Cougars can do to counter the triple option. “Fundamentals. It’s going to be a big fundamentals game.”

Quarterback Donald Hammond III has rushed for 491 yards and 11 touchdowns this season and if the Cougars choose to focus on his other weapons in the backfield, the next thing they see could be his blue No. 5 trotting into the end zone.

In many ways, defending the triple option is a numbers game. Since Air Force employs its quarterback as a runner, and because the system relies on reading defensive movement rather than blocking it, the Falcons have an extra-man advantage that allows them to carve out bigger holes or put two players on the opponent’s stud defensive lineman or linebacker.

And, if WSU does hunker down and throw multiple bodies at Hammond, he’s liable to flip the ball to running back Kadin Remsburg, a small, swift junior who’s spent this season busting through big holes and slipping through small creases, to the tune of 872 yards and seven touchdowns.

But, even if the Cougars do have a handle on both the QB run and pitch, it still doesn’t mean they’ve stymied the triple option. The fullback dive is the third fundamental play out of Troy Calhoun’s offense. It’s often used to keep defenses honest, but equally potent if it’s not accounted for.

Air Force’s fullbacks, Timothy Jackson and Taven Birdow, add another 1,576 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns to the Falcons’ absurd rushing totals.

WSU’s defensive linemen figure to be much more involved on Friday than the linebackers, and the linebackers much more than the defensive backs, so in the trenches, nose tackle Dallas Hobbs said the key to playing well is “just making sure we’re staying extra low and just doing our job.”

Hobbs added: “Because there’s going to be a lot of moving parts I feel like and we’ve just got to hunker down that middle and spill it more.”

Another peculiarity when it comes to the Falcons are the offensive linemen, who aren’t intimidating on paper and average just 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds. But they’re quicker than most the Cougars see and utilize cut-blocking to open running paths for the tailbacks, fullbacks and quarterback.

“You just have to stay more aware of your surroundings I feel like and you just have to keep moving your feet because you don’t want to be planted in there and have someone come from this side and this side,” Hobbs said. “So just being more aware and keeping your feet moving.”

The Cougars have had various running backs and receivers shuffling in and out of practice as their scout team quarterback, though it’s usually been true freshman slot receiver Billy Pospisil imitating Hammond.

A few of WSU’s offensive players, who won’t have to deal with the triple option headache, have offered their thoughts on Air Force’s unique system since the bowl pairing was announced.

“I watched bits of that Navy-Army game,” quarterback Anthony Gordon said. “It’s pretty crazy, it moves quick. You’ve got to keep your eyes on the right spot and all that. I’m confident our defense is going to come out and play hard and play well against them.”

Gordon and the Air Raid have to do their part, as well. The Falcons have lost the time of possession battle just twice this season and they keep the ball 33 minutes on average, which underlines the importance of being efficient on offense and avoiding turnovers.

“We’ve just got to be crucial about every time the offense gets the ball we need to score,” said WSU running back Max Borghi, who was familiar with Air Force while growing up in the state of Colorado and turned down an offer to play for the Falcons as a tailback. “Obviously when they run it, they eat up the whole clock. So, every drive’s going to be important so we’ve just got to do our best out there and make plays.”

Mike Leach has long been fascinated with the triple option and the WSU coach stated a few weeks ago he’d experiment with Calhoun’s offense if he wasn’t so entrenched in his own Air Raid system. While Leach said teaching the triple option would be “quite an overhaul,” noting “you can’t just switch it back and forth,” he also said “throughout my career I’ve tried to learn as much from it as I can.”

When Leach taught an “Insurgent Warfare & Football Strategy” course in Pullman last spring, one of the preliminary application questions was, “Is the wishbone (a system that derives from the triple option family) a viable offense for the NFL? Why/why not?”

Leach agreed with approximately 50 percent of students who theorized it could work at the next level.

“I think it would be very difficult for teams to prepare for a triple-option team,” he said. “I do think you’d go through some quarterbacks and you’d have to make sure all your quarterbacks can run. … I don’t think you’d want to have quarterbacks where it’s mixed, where you’ve got the drop-back guy and the option guy. I think you want all three of them to be option guys.

“And yeah I do think it would work.”

Just as long as it doesn’t five days from now.

:::::::::::::

Hot Cougar Gold dip a cheesy crowd-pleaser

By Carolyn Lamberson, Spokane S-R Nov 19 2019

Reader Marie Holst wrote a few weeks back requesting a recipe for the Hot Cougar Gold Cheese Dip served at the Peacock Lounge of the Davenport Hotel.

Executive Chef Bryan Franz was happy to oblige. And I was quite happy to test it – until I read the recipe.

It calls for six pounds of cheese. That’s a lot of cheese dip.

Even when I halved the recipe, I had plenty of dip – more than 2 1/2 quarts. Fortunately, I had two different social functions to attend on a recent weekend; my friends and colleagues eagerly scooped it up to rave reviews.

For home purposes, it’s printed here at a quarter of the original recipe, which should make roughly 1  1/2 quarts of dip – plenty for a big gathering.

I baked mine in a 1  3/4–quart casserole dish, but Franz also suggests portioning it out into individual ramekins. At a quarter of the original recipe, the dip would fill 12 four-ounce ramekins, give or take a few.

So what’s the secret of Cougar Gold Cheese Dip? Of the three cheeses it contains, Cougar Gold represents the smallest amount. Go figure.

Still, it’s mighty tasty served along with a nice baguette. We also enjoyed it as a dip for carrot sticks and apple wedges. What was left over I reheated the next day with no discernible decrease in quality.

Best of all, it can be made in advance. Simply combine all the ingredients in an oven-safe dish and refrigerate overnight. Let it sit out at room temperature for a bit before baking, or else plan on keeping it in the oven for a longer period of time.

The Davenport’s Hot Cougar Gold Cheese Dip

1 teaspoon olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1 large shallot, chopped fine



Handful of flat-leaf parsley, washed, dried and chopped

12 ounces cream cheese, cut into small cubes

1/4 pound Cougar Gold cheese, coarsely grated

1/2 pound gruyere cheese, coarsely grated

Cayenne pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat olive oil in pan over medium high heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or so, just enough for them to sweat and open up the flavors. Set aside.

Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add in shallot and garlic mixture, season with pinch of cayenne and salt. and combine.

Place in individual ovenproof ramekins or a large ovenproof dish. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or longer if baking in a larger dish, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Finish under the broiler for a few seconds until the top is caramelized.

Yield: 12 servings.

#