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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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WSU’s win over Western Oregon, the day after

COUGARS

In a sense it is Christmas week. Ya, we know the holiday isn't until Sunday, the start of a new week, but it is less than seven days until everyone opens their presents. With that in mind, we have a question for you. Read on.

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• Washington State: So, as a Cougar fan, what would you like for Christmas? If you could open just one present wrapped in Washington State paper – featuring the official Nike-produced font, of course – what would it be? A bowl game next year? A Cougar quarterback throwing for 5,000 yards? A surprise run to the NCAA tournament for the basketball team? A couple hours just sitting and talking with Marcus Capers? A chance to build a Lego pirate ship with Mike Leach? What? ... Just noticed I have a paper cut and a sliver within an inch of each other on my left hand. I can't for the life of me remember when either happened. And yet I am expected to recall the last time someone led WSU in scoring and didn't reach double figures, as was the case last night in the Cougars' 66-42 win over Western Oregon? If it weren't for WSU's Jessica Schmick reminding me of the NIT semifinal against Wichita State just last year (a game in which it looked for the longest time as if the Cougars wouldn't reach double figures as a team), I wouldn't have been able to figure it out. Duh. We had other, more interesting, notes on our blog post last night after the game. ... CougCenter has some interesting statistical notes from the win.

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• Around the Pac-12: The conference had two true non-conference tests yesterday and failed them both. Tony Bennett brought his Virginia team into Eugene and handed the Ducks a 67-54 defeat, pulling away in the second half. And Washington got torched by, let me get this right, South Dakota State, 92-73. The Huskies' defense took the day off. ... Besides WSU's victory, Oregon State put another one in the win column, routing Portland State 101-68 before 5,248 at Gill Coliseum. ... More bad news on the basketball front. California's Richard Solomon, who was suspended for two games earlier this year, will be out about three weeks with a stress fracture in his foot. ... Arizona is still trying to figure out how to start games better. ... USC is just trying to figure out how to get the ball in the basket. ... It wasn't a good day in Berkeley yesterday, as the Bears' football team suspended tight end Spencer Ladner for their bowl game, citing a violation of team rules. ... Washington's offensive line prepares for its bowl game with a new starter on the offensive line. ... The Arizona State players got to meet Todd Graham and liked what they heard. ... Utah's Norm Chow hasn't liked this year all that much. ... Oregon likes the matchup with Wisconsin, likening it to the one with Stanford, a game the Ducks won easily. ... The Pac-12 and the Big 12 meet in the three bowl games. That's fodder for ESPN.com's Ted Miller and his Big 12 counterpart.

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• That's it for today. We'll be back if events warrant. Until later ...



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

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