Cal Hippies Abduct Mike Montgomery

I guess the lure of Berkeley was overwhelming. Per Andy Katz this AM, Mike Montgomery is back in the Pac-10, taking the helm at Cal. Are you nervous? He was a heck of a coach at Stanford and the rivalry there should grow new legs because of this one. If you’ve seen him lately, he’s looked tanned, rested and ready for the grind that is the Pac-10.

I know, the hippies thing is a shot at Berkeley. I guess it’s because of my lone experience there. A few years back, a bunch of us went down to take in the Cougs getting blown out in Strawberry Canyon. The game was forgettable. But after the game was what I’ll remember. First we went to some bar with a sun deck and all the Cal fans walked by after the game. Of course it was full of Cougs, and we were, well, getting our drink on…to say the least. I’ll never forget the shocked look on Cal fans as they walked by, and they would try to say stuff like “you guys lost, why are you celebrating?” I won’t repeat here what we said in response, but you can probably imagine what the response was.

I’ll also never forget Fat Slices. Great pizza. But I’ll also never forget the teenage burn-outs flipping over garbage cans, looking for pizza crust. I saw three of them right on the sidewalk devour half-eaten crusts. Gotta love Berkeley.

Then again…Cal can’t be THAT bad. They did land pole-vaulting sensation Allison Stokke.

Moving on, links are everywhere on our own coach handsome.

I won’t link everything, as you can see to the right of the page the latest. But the P-I was the strongest yet, stating Tony has agreed to some sort of restructuring. Raises for Tony, raises for the assistants, charter travel, the whole deal sounds as though it’s in motion. KJR has been reporting it as well, per favorite son Ian Furness. It really sounds like President Floyd stepped up huge to make it known his commitment to building a program, and that has to be a big factor to Tony. Beyond the usual things you hear, I think President Floyd is a huge asset to WSU athletics. Time will tell, but we’re in pretty damn good shape. Also, I don’t know how many have heard, but President Floyd was reportedly wooed by his alma mater, UNC, to become Chancellor. He said no, of course. It shows his desire to make our situation special. We couldn’t be in better hands!

Next, ESPN had a great write-up of coach Wulff. I would imagine if you are reading this you already know the back story on Wulff, which is remarkable. But this is a chance to get some national exposure for what he’s all about. Thanks to Ted Miller and his NW ties for getting after this story.

Speaking of coach Wulff, he sounded a little cranky in today’s SR.com story. He makes it very clear that these guys better bust their humps between the end of spring and fall camp, because there is SO FAR TO GO before they are good enough! I don’t want to get too down on things now, and it’s easy to over-react during spring ball. We know things are going to look a lot different by the opening kickoff at Qwest Field. But man, is it just me or do things not sound all that hot? Our own Hooty McBoob is possibly going to take in the scrimmage, so, we’ll see what his eyes tell us. But right now? Not feeling full of Cougar optimism.

Finally, Snap Shots. It’s that little preview window that pops up over links to give you a sneak peek at what follows the link. Do you like it? Hate it? Don’t care? I admit it, I stole it from Nuss and his hoops blog. I like it myself, but it can be killed easy enough. Let me know what you think.

HAPPY FRIDAY!