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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Following WSU in the modern age


COUGARS

One of the crucial skills in the modern world is an ability to point-and-click. It's not as important as say hunting was 10,000 years ago, but without it, some folks might starve. I've always felt pointing a cursor to the right spot and clicking was perfect for me, the pinnacle of my athletic strike zone so to speak. Until this morning. Then, for some reason, I started to struggle. A wrong link here, a mistaken double click there. An Alex Rodriguez-in-the-playoffs type of slump. It made finding the morning links a laborious chore. Now that, hopefully, I've elicited some pity, will you please read on? Thanks.
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• Washington State: We brought you our advance last night, so all we have to add from the S-R today is a our two-minute drill. The main thrust of both is today's game should be a monster as far as hitting goes – and let's hope no one on either side gets hurt – as both of these teams play a physical brand of football. Stanford is where WSU wants to be at some point. Also, today's game will be played on grass, with a good chance the rhythm of the falling rain will accompany the Stanford band in providing a soundtrack to the game. So it may not be too long before the field becomes a soggy mess. Old-school football indeed. ...

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• Around the Pac-10: If you want to have a good laugh today, don't miss Chris Dufresne's mailbag in the LA Times. ... If you want to read praise for the WSU defense – now, I haven't written that often the past couple years – don't miss Greg Hansen's column in the Arizona Daily Star. ... Ted Miller has his mailbag and his did you know column on ESPN.com. ... Washington: The Huskies hope to get out of their up-and-down pattern this week vs. Arizona. ... To make a bowl, they must start putting wins together. ... Oregon State: Bob DeCarolis and WSU AD Bill Moos saw the Pac-12 discussions the same way. ... Oregon: Darron Thomas is proving his worth to the Ducks. ... Up next: USC. ... Cal: One of today's teams – the Bears and ASU – will probably be eliminated from bowl contention. OK. That's a little harsh. Let's just say the loser is going to have a real tough time making a bowl game. ... The Bears' defense hopes to bounce back. ... Stanford: The Cardinal offensive line, which WSU coach Paul Wulff believes is the best in the Pac-10, is having a banner year. ... USC: With a bye, nothing here. ... UCLA: Poor Kevin Prince. This has been a god-awful year for the Bruin quarterback's health. ... Arizona State: The Sun Devils have their eyes set on Cal. ... Arizona: The Wildcats believe one thing: Stop Jake Locker and stop Washington.

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• That's it for this morning. We'll be back before the game with some thoughts – and a weather report. Don't forget, we're on Twitter (vinceg55) during the game. Until then ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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