Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports It’s the hottest thing on the internet, and a trio of WSU players had a pretty unique take on it. If you’ve been on the internet over the past couple of weeks, chances are good that you’ve seen the bottle cap challenge. The series of videos challenge people to open a bottle by kicking off the lid. Numerous celebrities have taken the challenge and posted the results on social media. Everyone from Jason Statham to John Mayer and even Mariah Carey joined the viral video phenomenon. Well... Step aside Mariah, because there’s a new name at the top of the bottle cap challenge leaderboard... Actually, there are three names. On Tuesday, WSU punter and holder Oscar Draguicevich, WSU kicker Dean Janikowski and WSU long snapper Simon Samarziach posted this video on Twitter putting a unique twist on the video. The kick is obviously the thing that will get the attention here, especially because it physically takes the cap off the bottle. However, I would assert that the hold is the most impres
Block was selected in the 17th round of the MLB Draft A month after being selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 17th round of the MLB Draft, left handed pitcher A.J. Block announced that he would be remaining in Pullman for his senior year and will pass up on his opportunity to play in the big leagues... for now. As a junior he started 14 games for the Cougar baseball team and racked up 68 strikeouts in his 71.1 innings pitched. He not only did it on the field but in the classroom as he was named to Academic All-Pac-12 First Team for the second year in a row. In his three years in a Cougar uniform he has tallied up 144 strikeouts in his 148 innings pitched. While he has not had the individual success he would have liked, sitting at just 1-15 in his career, he has never given up on the Cougars and has only improved on all categories each year. He was also apart of the Cougars combined no-hitter thrown in April of 2018. Block is taking a risk that not many seniors in his position would take as the Cougars are
Mike Leach is arguably Texas Tech’s most successful football coach in the last half century. His Red Raiders finished as the joint leader of the Big 12 South in 2008, the only time the school could stake a claim to anything resembling a conference title since 1976. That year, he led the team to an 11-2 record, only to be fired a year later under controversial circumstances. Leach clearly has not forgotten his dismissal from Texas Tech, and still harbors some hard feelings. He made that clear Monday, when he liked a tweet that outlined the Red Raiders’ football program’s extensive struggles both before and after Leach’s tenure. Leach has proven his worth since then, reviving a moribund Washington State program and finishing in the top ten nationally in 2018. It came after Texas Tech let him go over allegations that he mistreated Adam James, the son of former SMU star Craig James. Leach made clear how he feels about James last year, and this seems to be an indication of how he feels about Texas Tech. It’s fair
ESPN college football broadcasts might have a little extra WSU flair this season. And it won’t just be from the Cougars playing every Saturday night on ESPN. Ryan Leaf joined ESPN as an analyst, including a role calling games. “Ryan has experienced the highs and lows in the game of football, putting him in a position to relate to a wide range of situations players can find themselves in,’’ said Lee Fitting, via ESPN. “He will be able to rely on those experiences -- including an unbelievable college career where he was an All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist -- in his analysis, making him a tremendous asset for our team.’’ The role won’t be unfamiliar for Leaf. He served as an analyst for Pac-12 Network last season. “Five years ago, sitting in a prison cell, I would have never imagined that I was going to be part of ESPN and the Disney Corporation,’’ Leaf said. “If you would have told me that, I would have said you are absolutely crazy. And I can’t believe it. I lay my head down every night with a ton of
Washington State head football coach Mike Leach offered a funny comment about a video that has gone viral online. This 3-minute-long video shows a woman casually making saves and perfectly-timed moves throughout the neighborhood in a series of clips. It’s worth your time: Leach joked that he wanted to make her his latest quarterback recruit. We’re all for it. Coach Leach has been on a roll with his Twitter account, sending several gems lately. This is what happens when a pirate has too much time to swing his sword while bored.
The 2019 supplemental draft now has four entrants, and the latest may have a good chance of enticing a team to sacrifice a 2020 draft pick. Washington State safety Jalen Thompson will enter the July draft, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. The three-year Cougars starter learned Friday he would be ineligible for the 2019 season, which would have been his senior year at the Pac-12 program. Thompson attained freshman All-America status in 2016 and was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection as a sophomore. In 2018, he picked off two passes, made 66 tackles and forced a fumble. Thompson wrapped up his Cougars career with six interceptions. The Downey, California, native has a good chance of being selected next month, per Rapoport. Should a team do so, it must forfeit its corresponding pick in next year’s standard draft. A former three-star recruit as a cornerback, Thompson is the second defender to enter this year’s summer event. He joins less heralded Syracuse linebacker Shyheim Cullen. West Virginia wide receiver Mar