Tuesday morning links and TV news from WSU
COUGARS
The reason this is a bit late this morning is simple. We have our usual morning links plus a detailed explanation about the television schedule for the week. And our boss called, so we had to take that. So now you can read on.
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• Washington State: Before we get to the links, it seems like a good idea to refute some rumors about what happened to TV. Remember all WSU games have a 2 p.m. default start time. That's the time the school feels is optimum for fans attending the game. Television is what changes that. The conference games are picked for certain dedicated TV times, say 12:30, 4:30 or 7 p.m. If those times are filled, than a waiver must be granted for any broadcast that conflict. For this week's game, if the conference and its TV partners had granted a waiver, the game would have been scheduled for 4:30 and televised. It would have been on Comcast in Oregon and FSN in Washington, which would have been a win-win for everyone (except Versus, which has the Oregon State vs. Arizona game in that window). But the waiver was denied. A waiver was proposed for a 12:30 start, but the game could not have been on FSN in Washington. Instead, it would have been shunted off to the same cable programming (FSN alternative) that caused such a problem with the Oklahoma State game. And there was no money involved. In fact, with a 12:30 instead of a 2 p.m. start, WSU estimates it loses about $30,000 in pregame concession sales. So let's review WSU's dilemma. You ask for a waiver for a 4:30 start time, which would allow the game to be televised on an easy-to-find channel, not disrupt your homecoming activities and not cost anything. Instead, the powers-that-be counter with a 12:30 start time that would allow live TV in Oregon, but everywhere else it would be a crapshoot to find. Plus, it costs you money and forces the rescheduling of some homecoming activities. So you opt not to change the start time and the game isn't on live TV. There will be replays on FSN and other places as well. ... The hidden benefit, as I see it, is only the folks in Martin Stadium will be able to swear witness if the game turns into the expected boat race. Others will have to follow along on radio or our Twitter feed. ... OK, let's get back to the on-field stuff. ... We had a lot of notes about the defensive alterations on last night's post, a subject we will examine in a story this week. ... We also a had a link to our first look at Saturday's game. ... If you want some news about the WSU women's basketball team, you'll find it here. ... Some final thoughts on UCLA from CougCenter and some video from the WSU Football Blog. ...
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• Around the Pac-10: ESPN.com's Ted Miller updates the performances of the conference's Heisman hopefuls as well as passing on the news concerning the players of the week. ... He also takes a quick glance at the Saturday ahead. ... There should be a bunch of stories this week about the athletic directors' meeting. Here is another one. ... Jon Wilner gives odds on what will eventually happen with football. ... Washington: The Huskies seemed to play without fear against USC – and, at times, without any tackling. ... They took advantage of USC's porous defense to make a statement. ... Oregon State: Ryan Katz avoided a blow to the head by Vontaze Burfict on Saturday. ... Oregon: Chip Kelly was reprimanded by the Pac-10 for comments he made on TV against Stanford. ... LaMichael James is in the middle of the Heisman hunt and this week shouldn't hurt his chances much. ... The Ducks and Cougars are a statistical mismatch. ... Cal: A feature on strong safety Chris Conte. ... Stanford: Wilner covers both the Cardinal and Cal in this piece about the Southern California schools visiting. ... Jim Harbaugh gets the star treatmentin Los Angeles. ... USC: The Trojans are more worried about Andrew Luck. ... UCLA: Kevin Prince should return this week against the Bears. ... Arizona State: Dennis Erickson defends Burfict (see Oregon State link above). ... Arizona: Some notes about the Wildcats.
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• That's all for this morning. Tuesday is crowded with media calls and practice, so we'll be back throughout the day with notes and thoughts. Until later ...
