Letters to the editor

EWU not WSU

Your headline implied that the WSU and EWU losses on Sept. 5 were equals.

I see it this way: WSU paid Portland State a large sum of money to come to Pullman and be their patsy, launching the Cougs to a six-win season and a bowl bid. WSU was not ready to play and when it did, it was not to lose. They got dumped on their wallet.

EWU, on the other hand, was paid a large sum of money to play Oregon in Eugene. The Eagles played as a team expecting to win. Ultimately, EWU showed why it has been highly regarded and WSU showed why it is not.

Maybe I should rethink that implication. Maybe the editors were already thinking about head coaches losing and changing jobs – Mike Leach for underachieving and Beau Baldwin for overachieving. Bo, don’t look to Pullman. That place is not kind to former Eagles.

My predictions: WSU wins one game (against UW. I’ll never pick the Huskies). EWU loses one game (to Oregon). As a fan, I reserve the right to be fanatical. I could be wrong about one of those.

Jay McArdle

Deer Park

Moos’ to-do list

Bill Moos’ Sunday morning to-do list:

1, Fire Mike Leach.

2, Call Mike Price.

3, Draft resignation letter.

Rick Robinson

Spokane

Walk the plank

As I sadly watched one of the saddest examples of football to be played in the entire country this year, I couldn’t help but wonder what Mike Leach was studying so intently the entire game. It was a little piece of paper about 4 inches square. He showed no emotion, no coaching actions, and was about as exciting to watch as a rock. The only thing I could come up with that commanded his attention to this paper must have been “$2.75 million,” his grossly overpaid salary to “coach” the worst football program in WSU’s history.

Enough is enough! Give him his walking papers!

Robert D. Jones

Kettle Falls

False advertising

I certainly hope that the Washington State athletic department is not paying some ad agency a lot of money for those insipid 2015 Cougar football billboards. You know the ones I’m talking about: “All Gas Pedal, No Brake” and “Down, Set, Gone.”

Following the debacle against Portland State, these two brain-damaged slogans (perhaps the designer suffered from one too many concussions with an unpadded equipment shed) lead me to wonder if they are actually meant to be sarcastic. Would Bill Moos even know the difference? How much will Moos have to fork out in additional auto insurance premiums each time Mike Leach crashes his no-brakes pickup into the Martin Stadium retaining wall? And after a fourth straight non-winning season at WSU, who will foot the bill for the huge U-Haul moving van to haul the going-going-gone head coach back to Lubbock?

Of course, since Misdirection Mikey is the highest-paid state employee in Washington, this whole affair simply proves that the billboard designer isn’t the only person taking the Cougs for a rainbow ride.

Dave Ayres

Spokane

Paid to lose?

How about a new contract for Washington’s highest-paid public employees?

Take, for example, head football coaches and their assistants at our two largest universities who are paid exorbitant salaries with your tax dollars. The aggregate total for these 20 or so individuals is in excess of $10 million annually. Over a 12-game schedule they collectively pocket, on average, around $835,000 a game. What about a proposal whereby they forfeit one-twelfth of their salary every time they lose a game?  This past weekend these two Pac-12 teams came away with a 0-2 record against inferior nonconference competition. Just think of the many state agencies that would have benefitted from this money, not to mention the possibility of even more losses down the road. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all be paid to lose?

Jim Mansfield

Spokane

Leach has unreal deal

Please, someone do the math and talk some sense to Mike Leach before he blames his team’s performance on one of his assistants and fires him?

Athletic director Bill Moos needs to take a class in coach performance contract negotiations. The only answer is to have Leach fire himself for coach impersonation. They will never be able to buy him out unless Donald Trump is an alum. I feel for the players and WSU fans. It is not fun to watch. Eastern Eagles show desire and legitimate coaching.

Thank you, alumni. That $2.75 million is a big bullet to bite in silence. If you want a real shock, ask about Leach’s buyout. Shame, shame, someone was asleep.

Larry Snyder

Spokane Valley

Blanchette a gem

Congratulations to the latest class of inductees for the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame and Scroll of Honor. All are worthy selections, but none more so than longtime Spokesman-Review sports columnist John Blanchette.

As a former S-R colleague, a longtime sports writer in the area and a lifelong admirer of great sports journalism and better people, I can attest to the fact that John is one of the very best sports writers and individuals I’ve run across in four decades in the business. We are so fortunate that John rejected much larger newspapers in much larger cities to remain in Spokane. He is one of the finest wordsmiths in American journalism.

John and I didn’t/don’t/won’t agree on everything, but I have always respected John tremendously as a journalist and a person. The Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame will add a heaping helping of class and talent when John is formally inducted Oct. 27 at the Spokane Arena.

Howie Stalwick

Post Falls