It begins — fall or not
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- So, fall camp is upon us. Even if it's still summer, and won't actually be fall until the Cougars take the field for their fourth game of the season. Oh, well. We have links, regardless.
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I've long found it strange -- thanks to my dad harping the point every year when I was growing up -- that we refer to these four weeks of practice as "fall" camp (a phrase I use often myself). Sure, the practices are in preparation for the fall season. But every single one of them takes place during the summer. Fall of 2012 won't be here until Sept. 22. Then again, if we referred to it as "summer camp," that might give people the wrong idea. ... We'll start you off with our story in today's newspaper, focusing on the depth issue created, in part, by coach Mike Leach's low-tolerance of rules violations. We also recapped Leach's press conference on the blog yesterday, and passed along the team's preseason practice schedule. ... Freelancer extraordinaire and Twitter hater Howie Stalwick has a story in the Kitsap Sun. ... Ted Miller writes a bit about WSU's depth over on the Pac-12 Blog. ... Adam Lewis writes about Leach as a disciplinarian for Sportspress Northwest. ... The AP previews WSU's camp, too.
Around the Pac-12 ... Arizona begins camp today. ... Here are five things to know about new Arizona State coach Todd Graham. ... California is picking up a Penn State transfer. ... Utah has concerns across its offensive line as it opens camp. Here are five things to watch down in Salt Lake. ... Can Colorado make it to a bowl game? That's the Buffs' goal. ... Oregon State will be without an offensive lineman who was expected to play right away. ... Want to know what it took for USC to land Silas Redd? This is worth checking out. ... UCLA is taking its pre-season practices off campus.
That's all for now. We'll be out on the Rogers Field turf tomorrow at 2:45 when WSU begins camp. Fall, summer, whatever. It all means the same thing -- we're getting closer to real football.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple