SB Nation Seattle: All Posts by Jeff Nusser

Steve Gleason responds to classless radio bit in typically classy fashion

2013-06-18T19:54:49Z

You might have heard that a couple of Atlanta radio hosts tried to make some ill-conceived "jokes" about Steve Gleason and ALS on the air yesterday. I didn't write about it then because, frankly, I didn't want to give those guys any more attention than they already had gotten and wanted the focus squarely on Gleason's published work. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can catch up here.)

However, Gleason's response to the whole affair is exactly what we've come to expect from him. Posted via his Team Gleason Facebook page today:

Regarding the DJ skit in Atlanta yesterday. I would like to thank the public for their support. 'Defend Team Gleason' now has been officially redefined. Additionally, the DJs have provided genuine apology. Received and accepted. We have all made mistakes in this life. How we learn from our mistakes is the measure of who we are.

I think everyone can learn from this event. Its clear to me that, on a national & global scale, ALS is not understood, which is part of why its under funded and largely ignored. In the past 36 hours lots of people have been talking. Lets talk about this... There are zero treatments for ALS. If you take any action as a result of this event, I prefer it to be action to end ALS. See what we are doing to change that @ teamgleason.org. SG

My first reaction to hearing about the skit was, "Seriously, what kind of a person thinks this is funny?" Which is why my reaction immediately following was actually very similar to what Gleason writes in that second paragraph. I've learned so much about ALS from his struggle, and it's obvious that there still is a lot of learning that needs to take place.

The guys at the heart of this have lost their jobs, and while it's an appropriate response to their mistake, you won't find me dancing on the metaphorical graves of their radio careers. While nobody would want a national conversation about ALS to come about like this, the conversation is here. Let's follow Gleason's lead and have it.

As one Facebook commenter said, "Forgiveness doesn't excuse their behavior. Forgiveness prevents their behavior from destroying your heart." Gleason has learned this lesson well.

Steve Gleason guest writes Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback

2013-06-17T19:58:11Z

We say it a lot around here: Steve Gleason is one incredible dude. The all-time Coug and former New Orleans Saint has been living with ALS for the past couple of years, and he never ceases to amaze in both his attitude towards life and what he's still accomplishing with that life.

Another chapter came this morning, when Gleason filled in for NFL writer Peter King by writing his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback feature. If you're wondering how a man with no use of his extremities or own vocal cords composed a 4,500-word column, well, here you go:

I have a tablet PC attached to my power wheelchair. This tablet, my command center, sits about 18 inches from my face. At the base of my tablet, I have a black bar that houses infrared cameras that track my pupils. From there, I have a toolbar on the right side of my tablet screen that has mouse commands: left click, right click, double click, etc. So, I look at my on-screen commands for half a second, and those commands select. Then I look wherever I want to click on screen. For example, if I want to minimize my Spotify application, I look at the "left click" command, then gaze at the app's minimize button. If I want to read today's MMQB column, I select the scroll button from my on-screen commands, then gaze at an area in the column. The technology senses where my eyes are as I read, and automatically scrolls down the page accordingly.

Sweet, right?!

It works the same way with my keyboard. This is how I speak: I type whatever nonsense comes to mind, click "speak," and a synthetic voice that sounds hauntingly like my old voice belts out the nonsense for all to hear.

I can crank out about 20 words per minute. For 4,500 words, that's almost four hours to finish this column.

The first thing I thought was, "Man, four hours is a long time." The second thing, though, was "damn, 20 words a minute is actually pretty fast" when you think about that process. Pretty awesome.

Throughout the rest of the piece, Gleason talks about what ALS is, how he's living (and parenting) with it, how he views football's role in his condition, the work that Team Gleason is doing for patients with ALS, and other random thoughts -- including how he got in tight with Pearl Jam. (Hint: It involves another Coug. Because of course it does.)

Please go read it. It's the best thing you'll read all day -- probably all month -- and it's especially informative if you're not as familiar with Gleason's journey as others of us.

The coolest part for me as I made my way through it was finding myself forgetting the painstaking process Gleason went through to write it, essentially forgetting the man who wrote it has no use of his limbs. I think that's exactly how he'd like it to be.

Gleason is living one pretty awesome life, but as he says, awesome ain't easy. No white flags. Go Cougs!

MLB Draft: Four Cougars picked

2013-06-07T20:54:43Z

Four Cougars have been picked so far in the 2013 MLB Draft: Jason Monda (Phillies, 6th round), J.D. Leckenby (Mets, 14th round), Adam Nelubowich (Astros, 18th Round), and Trace Tam Sing (26th Round).

The Philadelphia Phillies made junior WSU outfielder/first baseman Jason Monda their sixth round selection today, making Monda the first Coug to come off the board in the 2013 MLB Draft.

Monda has been a mainstay in the WSU lineup ever since stepping foot on campus, starting 142 games in his three seasons. At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, he has begun to fill out his lanky frame and it showed this season as he hit .294/.346/.422 with seven home runs and six doubles. He had just three home runs combined in his first two seasons.

Additionally, Monda saw some action on the mound this past season, posting a 1.57 ERA in 34 1/3 innings pitched, primarily out of the bullpen. He struck out 22 and walked 12.

Monda's future as a professional baseball player is as a hitter, though. Monda was originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 32nd round out of high school, and it's not hard to see why scouts are high on him. He possesses a sweet lefty swing that has drawn comparisons to another former Cougar, John Olerud -- something obviously helped along by his pitching prowess this year, as well -- and he's smooth in the outfield and on the basepaths. Here's MLB.com's scouting report:

Monda is a projectable college outfielder who hits for average and should add power down the line. Monda, out of Washington State, has shown that he can handle center but might have to move to a corner as he fills out, a place where his glove could be plus. He has average speed on the basepaths but possesses great instincts that allow his speed to play up. If Monda can add power, then he could become a solid everyday player in the Majors.

Monda now faces a choice. He has one year of eligibility remaining, and while most players selected this high typically make the jump, some aren't so sure that Monda to the Phillies is a done deal:

#Phillies pick Jason Monda could be a very tough sign. I heard he wants to pursue medical school. We'll see... #mlbdraft
— Conor Glassey (@conorglassey) June 7, 2013

If Monda does choose to stay, he'll be one of the centerpieces of what ought to be an incredibly potent offensive attack that featured a number of freshmen and sophomores, including third baseman Nick Tanielu, who was hitting .409/.500/.627 before being sidelined with 20 games left in the season.

Monda becomes the 26th player drafted since coach Donnie Marbut took over, and almost certainly won't be the last current or future Cougar to hear his name called today or tomorrow. Fellow outfielder Adam Nelubowich probably will be the next current Coug to come off the board.

Jason Monda selected by Philadelphia Phillies in 6th round of MLB Draft

2013-06-07T20:43:03Z

The Philadelphia Phillies made junior WSU outfielder/first baseman Jason Monda their sixth round selection today, making Monda the first Coug to come off the board in the 2013 MLB Draft.

Additionally, Monda saw some action on the mound this past season, posting a 1.57 ERA in 34 1/3 innings pitched, primarily out of the bullpen. He struck out 22 and walked 12.

Monda is a projectable college outfielder who hits for average and should add power down the line. Monda, out of Washington State, has shown that he can handle center but might have to move to a corner as he fills out, a place where his glove could be plus. He has average speed on the basepaths but possesses great instincts that allow his speed to play up. If Monda can add power, then he could become a solid everyday player in the Majors.

Monda now faces a choice. He has one year of eligibility remaining, and while most players selected this high typically make the jump, some aren't so sure that Monda to the Phillies is a done deal:

#Phillies pick Jason Monda could be a very tough sign. I heard he wants to pursue medical school. We'll see... #mlbdraft
— Conor Glassey (@conorglassey) June 7, 2013

2013 WSU Football Schedule: Cougs travel to Auburn, USC to start the season

2013-05-29T18:16:00Z

In addition to a non-conference slate that features Auburn, Southern Utah and Idaho, the Cougars will face their Pac-12 North rivals, as well as Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and USC.

I wasn't going to break this out in its own post, but the Pac-10/Pac-12 was so gracious as to post a graphic displaying the conference opponent rotations for the next eight years. It's going to be done two-year cycles:

It's hard to see, but you can click on the image for a larger view. Here's what it means for the northwest schools, including WSU.

First, we'll play USC and UCLA four times each, alternating every two year period. We can assume since we play UCLA at home next year, it'll probably continue to alternate home and away with the Los Angeles schools:

UCLA in 2011 (away), 2012 (home), 2015 (probably away) and 2016 (probably home)
USC in 2013 (probably away), 2014 (probably home), 2017 (probably away) and 2018 (probably home)

Additionally, the Cougs will play each of the other four schools in the Pac-12 South six times each. When a school is out of WSU's rotation, we won't see them for two years. Here's how it breaks down:

No Arizona in 2011 or 2012;
No Utah in 2013 or 2014;
No Colorado in 2015 or 2016;
No Arizona State in 2017 or 2018.

If you want to see what next year's composite schedule looks like, you can view that here.

WSU Football Schedule: USC to be televised on Fox Sports 1

2013-05-29T18:12:07Z

On the heels of the Pac-12 announcing the first few weeks of the Pac-12 Networks slate, ESPN and Fox have jumped on board by doing the same, and we now know that WSU's game against USC will be televised on the new Fox Sports 1 network, which will launch in August.

If you're wondering what this means for your ability to watch the game ... well, I have no idea. Having gone through the Pac-12 Networks carriage mess over the last year, we know that distribution can sometimes be ... complicated. That said, Fox Sports 1 is part of News Corp which (obviously) has great negotiating leverage to get the network carried on a tier that's accessible to most fans.

The downside -- besides the possibility that the new network might not be on a tier that you already get -- is that this also likely limits exposure should the Cougars somehow figure out a way to travel to Los Angeles and pull off an upset. It's not like Fox Sports 1 will already be a destination channel for sports fans on Sept. 7.

As for the Auburn game ... it's curiously blank next to it on the master schedule. Not sure what's going on there. I had figured it would be on ESPN, given that it's on the road against an SEC opponent, but who knows? I don't!

WSU Football Schedule: Southern Utah to be on Pac-12 Networks

2013-05-29T17:14:08Z

If you're in the process of planning out just how you're going to watch WSU over the first few weeks of the 2013 season, good news! We now have a pretty good idea of how the Cougars' television schedule is going to shake out early in the season after the Pac-12 announced today that the home game with Southern Utah will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.

That's significant for those of you who don't yet have Pac-12 Networks because that means the first two games, at Auburn and at USC, will be broadcast on a more traditional outlet such as the ESPN family of networks. We should hear more about that soon.

If you're not going to be able to make it Pullman for Southern Utah (why wouldn't you???) and you're holding out hope that the conference and DirecTV finally end their impasse so you can watch the game, you might end up disappointed yet again. Lydia Murphy-Stephans, the president of Pac-12 Networks, spoke directly to you all a couple of weeks ago, via Bud Withers:

"We're on schedule, and right on plan, in terms of distribution for the Pac-12 Networks," she said. "I feel good about that. There's an obligation as fans, that if they want Pac-12 Networks and DirecTV is not carrying the Pac-12 Networks, the fan has to be willing to drop DirecTV and pick up a carrier that is.

"It's a very difficult and complicated business and I am in the trenches with it. Fans just can't hang onto DirecTV and put all the onus on the Pac-12. We can offer it and provide DirecTV with a very fair business offer, the same one (other carriers have contracted for), but we can't force DirecTV to take it. This is where I'm going to ask fans to step up."

Sounds like a thaw in that relationship is still a ways away. As for how many of the rest of the games will end up on Pac-12 Networks, we don't know yet -- the conference only announced the first few weeks of the season today.

Jake Rodgers leaves WSU, headed to EWU?

2013-05-22T02:45:43Z

If there is one unit on the field where WSU really can't afford to suffer losses, it's the offensive line, but suffer a loss it did today: WSU confirmed to Christian Caple that junior offensive lineman Jake Rodgers has left the program.

Rodgers started all 12 games in 2012, moving all over the line as Mike Leach continually shuffled the deck in an effort to put together a competent group. It didn't really work, as WSU put up staggeringly bad rushing numbers that were exacerbated by a whopping 57 sacks.

Rodgers experienced his fair share of struggles as part of that line, but that doesn't mean that he won't be missed. WSU's linemen tend to come into their own as upperclassmen, and Rodgers -- a converted high school tight end -- gained valuable experience last year.

It's no guarantee Rodgers would have been starting, but WSU simply needs all the warm bodies it can get along the line. Depth has been a major concern for years, and Leach said at the end of spring that he finally was feeling good about the Cougs' depth up front. Rodgers didn't practice all spring with what appeared to be an undisclosed injury, but it was anticipated he'd be back for fall.

So, I guess I'd put it this way: The loss isn't devastating, but it ain't good, either. I'm not convinced that he wasn't going to end up a decent a Pac-12 player.

Adam Lewis of SportsPressNW.com is reporting Rodgers, a graduate of Shadle Park in Spokane, will head back home to play for Eastern Washington. Caple reports that he can't confirm Rodgers' destination, but Lewis is pretty plugged in with the players.

I guess we now have our answer to this. Best of luck to Jake and his fabulous mullet.