Winter 2023
From the president
WSU President Kirk Schulz addresses the rapidly changing landscape of Cougar athletics and the conference. » More ...
Student athletes
Fall 2023
A better deal
Washington State University athletes develop their personal brands through name, image, and likeness. » More ...
Fall 2022
Seeing a different future
Fighting for democracy and freedom on all fronts » More ...
Fall 2022
On a level playing field
Washington State University head volleyball coach Jen Greeny finds success. » More ...
Summer 2020
Nick Rolovich gets creative with scholarship awards
In the ever-revolving carousel of college football, a team’s head coach is often the most permanent fixture of a program.
Whether engendering support with their winning records or quotable moments during press conferences, college coaches must become well known if they hope to maintain a supportive fan base and attract the next generation of standouts on the field.
WSU Head Football Coach Nick Rolovich has spent the past four months acquainting himself with Coug fans; in-person at spur of the moment fan meetups or with his deft use of social media. His love … » More …
Winter 2018
A sacrifice, forgotten not
World War I ended 100 years ago this November 11, where 116,516 Americans gave their lives. Forty-two of them had attended Washington State College and their names grace a plaque on the Veterans Memorial at the heart of the Pullman campus.
Ivan Price was one of the fallen.
Price graduated from Pullman High School in 1915. He played football, basketball, and track, and helped Pullman High to the state football and basketball championships his senior year.
That fall he entered WSC and played on the freshman basketball team. The following season, Price started as forward in all 26 games for a Crimson and Gray varsity … » More …
Spring 2018
WSU Track & Field favorites
I didn’t realize until I compiled this favorite-moments list just how much the dictum of “no cheering in the pressbox” has come to dominate how I watch/enjoy the sport. Unfortunately, I’ve done a good job—too good, in fact—of learning how to be dispassionate. It makes me a better journalist and broadcaster, but it saps some of the vitality out of being a fan. So as you’ll see, my list is very much front-loaded.
Chronologically, these self-centered moments stick with me (noting that I’ve restricted individuals to a single appearance apiece, or it would run the risk of being all Gerry Lindgren and Henry Rono):
… » More …
Fall 2017
Live from New York . . .
When Ana Cabrera ’04 first set foot on Washington State University’s Pullman campus in 2000, she had no idea she’d be live on national television in 17 years.
She didn’t know she’d go on to work as a weekend anchor for CNN and live in New York City. She was unaware that she’d cover major stories like riots in Ferguson, marijuana legalization, and immigration—or that her life would soon be at the 24/7 mercy of the “news gods.” And she certainly couldn’t predict that the president of the United States would call her and her fellow journalists the “enemy.”
What she did know was … » More …
Winter 2011
Chance McKinney ’94, ’96—Country music working man
It’s vacation season, mid-August. A light breeze off Lake Chelan wafts over Manson, where Chance McKinney and his band Crosswire prepare to open for country music star Dierks Bentley at the Mill Bay Casino.
For McKinney ’94, ’96—an all-American javelin thrower at Washington State University, former high school math teacher, songwriter, and country music artist—it’s a working day. “We don’t have a full team like these artists that are coming out of Nashville. It’s running a small business,” he says.
McKinney wears a baseball cap, t-shirt and jeans, and his rich voice and country-boy good looks have an edge of exhaustion from days, weeks, … » More …
Winter 2011
Collegiate Athletics in the 21st Century
“Just Win, Baby!” was the motto made famous by legendary Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. His philosophy was that simple. Along the way the Raiders gained a reputation as one of the dirtiest, most penalized, but successful teams in professional football. Collegiate athletics seems to have adopted Davis’s philosophy as compliance and education are threatened by the very big business of college sports.
In Ballers of the New School: Race and Sports in America, I contend that the system of college athletics no longer works for the realities of the 21st century. There is simply too much media exposure and money at stake. For example, … » More …