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Chuck in the Morning 9/4 H4 : Hugh Millen, Alex Brink and · Chuck in the Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Former NFL quarterback, former UW quarterback, and our top analyst
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: around these here parts, Hugh Millen is with us here
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: on Chuck.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: In the Mornings. Happy Millen Day to you.
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: What's that?
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Well, I decided to launch a holiday. Every Friday from
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: this day forward before the start of the NFL season,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: I'm going to label Millen Day.
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  Speaker 2: Let's maybe come up with it. Nope. Nope. Merry Millen Day, Hugh.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Merry Millen Day.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Well, then I'm taking the day off since it's a holiday.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: You can do Millen Day without milling. You get time
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: and a half if you do.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: I think a very quick perusing of the actual internet
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  Speaker 2: would very much... I'll lead you to believe that I
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: am not worthy.
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  Speaker 3: Of a holiday.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, you'll have to leave that to me
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: to decide, unfortunately. Well, good to have you with us
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: for another episode. And we're going to do a lot
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: of Seahawks X's and O's, but it kind of feels
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: like it's right to do some college football X's and
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: O's with you as we get ready for a game
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: that you've participated in, the Apple Cup coming up on Sunday.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: But before we get started with the actual breakdown of
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Washington versus Washington State and your thoughts on that, I'd
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: just like to get your gauge for the state of
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: college football. I mean, another controversy going on with Lane
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Kiffin down there in LSU. It seems like we deal
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: with one of these monster controversies every year now. And
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  Speaker 1: so where are you at with that particular issue and
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  Speaker 1: maybe just the entire scope of college football right now?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think that And I'm not an attorney, but
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  Speaker 2: I studied the antitrust law as a player rep. And
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  Speaker 2: I think that that is the center of everything that
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  Speaker 2: we have had consternation about with regards to the NCA.
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  Speaker 2: But we're all protected by the Sherman Antitrust Act since 1890.
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  Speaker 2: It's why an employer can't rig the market against you.
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  Speaker 2: It's why companies can't fix the price of goods when
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  Speaker 2: you go to the store. And so for a hundred years, really,
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  Speaker 2: over a hundred years, college sports has acted like it
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  Speaker 2: was exempt from this because amateurism put it in a
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  Speaker 2: special box. The courts have said, no, it never was exempt.
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  Speaker 2: So really that's what this LSU situation is coming to.
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  Speaker 2: The SEC and the NCAA, they're telling former pros that
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: they're too professional to play Meanwhile, every teammate around them
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  Speaker 2: is cashing NIL checks. You can't pay the players millions
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: and then say that the product depends on them not
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: being paid. You can't call it amateurism when it's already
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: been monetized.
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  Speaker 3: So.
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  Speaker 2: That's why the NCAA keeps winning these things. The Supreme Court,
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  Speaker 2: the Alston case, I mean, the most ridiculous, ignoring of legal,
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  Speaker 2: obvious precedent, and the NCAA kept appealing it. They kept losing,
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  Speaker 2: and they lost 9-0. It was a very conservative court.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, they overthrew Roe versus Wade. They kept appealing
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: it to that Supreme Court and then allowed a 9-0
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: verdict to come down. And all Ellison was doing was
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: appealing education-related laptops and tutoring. That's all it was constrained to,
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: but the ruling left open the– the entire analyzation of
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  Speaker 2: the entire payment structure. So they turned a paper cut
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  Speaker 2: into an amputation, the NCAA. And it wasn't just antitrust law.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: You also had the house settlement, eligibility in the Pavia case,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: gambling discipline with the Sorsby case, right? So they've had
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  Speaker 2: different courtrooms, different laws, and the same result. Because every
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  Speaker 2: one of these rules were built for a world that
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  Speaker 2: doesn't exist anymore. And so, you know, this LSU situation,
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  Speaker 2: this is how the law sees it, Chuck, as I
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  Speaker 2: understand it. These guys got undrafted. They never made real money.
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  Speaker 2: And they relied on information when they were told that
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  Speaker 2: they don't get the extra year.
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  Speaker 3: Well, they.
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  Speaker 2: that was an arbitrary assignment that the 2022 class was
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  Speaker 2: ruled out. And the courts are going to rule that
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  Speaker 2: as arbitrary, and they're going to be resistant to uphold
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  Speaker 2: the rule. So I think it's just a repeated miscalculation
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  Speaker 2: of the antitrust laws and how it impacts me. And,
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  Speaker 2: and you've got these, these players that keep going to
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  Speaker 2: antitrust court that you say, well, you got to have
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: collective bargaining, but the thing about collective bargaining, who are you,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: who are you bargaining with in the NFL? You're, you're
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  Speaker 2: bargaining with an entity, the NFL. Are you bargaining with
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  Speaker 2: the school? Are you bargaining with the conference? Are you
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  Speaker 2: bargaining with the, the NCAA? You don't even know who
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  Speaker 2: you're bargaining with. And the people who stand to, to,
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  Speaker 2: to facilitate the bargaining and with respect to the best players,
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  Speaker 2: the ones who would have the leverage to create it,
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  Speaker 2: they're not going to be incentivized because they're only going
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  Speaker 2: to use the system for a year and they're off
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  Speaker 2: to the NFL. So there has been nothing that indicates
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  Speaker 2: there's any collective bargaining on the horizon. And so, uh,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know, it's a mess. Maybe I, I spoke
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  Speaker 2: too much, but I will say this. Um, the one
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  Speaker 2: thing about that, that I do question is that, that, um,
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  Speaker 2: Here you have one judge in one parish in Louisiana,
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: a local judge. From what I understand it, There's this
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  Speaker 2: thing called the dormant commerce clause. You can't have one
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  Speaker 2: judge establishing the rule of law for the entire country.
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  Speaker 2: The players leverage is the antitrust law. Antitrust by definition
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  Speaker 2: is interstate commerce, meaning it applies to all 50 states.
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  Speaker 2: So here we've got one judge who's probably an LSU
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  Speaker 2: fan making a decision that's impacting everybody. So I think
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  Speaker 2: that there's going to be a confrontation between– you know,
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  Speaker 2: on that front, but we'll see how it plays out.
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  Speaker 2: But I just think repeatedly, we as fans, we keep
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  Speaker 2: analyzing this and we keep saying, when is common sense
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  Speaker 2: going to prevail?
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 2: And we keep forgetting that, that the players are winning
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  Speaker 2: on antitrust grounds every single time because the courts view
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  Speaker 2: the players as labor, the genies out of the box.
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  Speaker 2: It's not amateurism anymore. They are the labor. It is
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  Speaker 2: a multi-billion dollar game. economic entity enterprise, and the players
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  Speaker 2: are going to be thought of as labor. And if
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  Speaker 2: you restrain, antitrust basically means anti-competition. If you do anything
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  Speaker 2: that is horizontal price fixing or anything that restrains competition,
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  Speaker 2: you're going to be in violation of antitrust laws. And
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: that's why we as fans, we keep throwing our hands
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  Speaker 2: up in the air because we don't quite understand how
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  Speaker 2: the courts see the players the court see the players
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  Speaker 2: as labor and they're protecting those players just like you
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  Speaker 2: and me in every industry you want to go to
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  Speaker 2: a different radio station you're protected you want to go
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: uh to the grocery store there's 19 different brands of beer,
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  Speaker 2: 59 brands of beer because of antitrust law and how
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  Speaker 2: those laws keep the competition in a free market, a
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  Speaker 2: capitalistic society, greased. And yet we want to deny the
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  Speaker 2: players in some of these instances. We want to deny
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  Speaker 2: the players competition. What the court sees as their rights
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: in that system. So at any event, yeah, well, I
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: do ask the wrong guy the wrong question. No, I
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: do love the education. I do love the lesson lesson learned.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: What I hate is that it kind of sounds like.
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  Speaker 2: You're defending Lane Kiffin, and it's ruining my Millen Day. Well,
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  Speaker 2: if that's what it takes to just squash Millen Day,
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: then I'll give you more. You know, I'll tell you
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: what's interesting about Lane Kiffin. This cannot be denied. The
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  Speaker 2: guy relishes being the villain.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, he does.
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  Speaker 2: And don't we? I mean, every single movie. What is
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  Speaker 2: the basis of every movie you've ever seen?
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  Speaker 3: A great villain.
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  Speaker 2: There's got to be a conflict.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: There's got to be a conflict, right? And he relishes
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  Speaker 2: being the conflict. So in a way, he's spurring interest.
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  Speaker 2: There's no doubt that more people are going to watch
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  Speaker 2: that Clemson game tomorrow because of Lane Kiffin, the villain. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: you're absolutely right about that. Hugh Mellon.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Breaking it down for you, X's and O's. Well, we
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: better talk about this game on Sunday. Where are your
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: thoughts on just your one-time beloved Apple Cup that has
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: been such a big part of your life and where
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: it is right now?
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's sad. It's nice to think that
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: West Coast football, the conference, could exist. You know, having
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: played in the pack, you know, whether it's 8, 10,
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  Speaker 2: or 12, you know, a lot of people played in
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  Speaker 2: that conference and you know during my childhood the the
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: pack uh won 20 out of 25 rose bowls and
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  Speaker 2: um so the fact that the the pack has dissolved
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  Speaker 2: and you say well they've wait a minute we've got
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  Speaker 2: a pack 12 no no no that you know the
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  Speaker 2: this new pack 12 doesn't doesn't uh constitute the pack
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  Speaker 2: in my opinion and so i think it's sad that
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  Speaker 2: we're not in the same conference but again I, I,
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  Speaker 2: I kind of understand the, the economics that drove it,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I mean, uh, finally USC and UCLA stopped
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  Speaker 2: thinking like socialists and started thinking more like a capitalist,
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  Speaker 2: like Notre Dame, uh, what's in it for me. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, isn't the, the, uh, the center of capitalism,
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  Speaker 2: those acting in their own rational self-interest. And so finally
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  Speaker 2: SC did that, and that led to the breakup of
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  Speaker 2: the conference, and Washington and Oregon obviously followed suit. So
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  Speaker 2: I think it's sad in that regard, something that we
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  Speaker 2: have nostalgia about, but it's just the vicissitudes of the
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  Speaker 2: free market finally making their way into college football.
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  Speaker 1: Yep, and the game itself is probably going to get
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: more lopsided starting this year as we get further into
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  Speaker 1: the NIL era. And so 23.5 points spread on Sunday,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: and so even if it breaks that way, that's a blowout,
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  Speaker 1: even if it goes 23.5 points.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I expect that if given the opportunity– Jed
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  Speaker 2: Fish will run up the score. Last year, DeMond Williams
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: was still in the game with two minutes and 40
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  Speaker 2: seconds to go. And he threw a ball deep down
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  Speaker 2: the field to get a touchdown to make it 50, what, 59,
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: 56 to 24, whatever the heck it was. The 50
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: high something. And so I think that Jed Fish will
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: have the desire to get DeMond Williams off. You know,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: in a possible bid for a early Heisman stake. You know,
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  Speaker 2: when you think Don James in his entire career, he
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: got to 50 points exactly 20 times, but he never
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: got to 60. His opinion was once we've got to 50,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: we've made our point. Last year, Jed Fish hung 70
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  Speaker 2: on UC Davis. So what we saw against UC Davis,
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  Speaker 2: what we saw throwing late against Washington State, we're liable
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  Speaker 2: to see tomorrow if there's an opportunity. But I'm going
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: to roll my eyes. I'm going to roll my eyes
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  Speaker 2: for the following reason. If you take the Power Four,
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: go back to a year ago. If you take all
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: Power Four teams in all the conferences and you say,
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  Speaker 2: how did they do against top 25 defenses today? measured
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: against how they did against non-conference. Well, the average is
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: that the Power Four teams had a 17 points more
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: against non-conference than they had against the top 25. Does
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: that make sense? We're just talking offense. The average is
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: 17 points. Washington had 46.4 points more than they did
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  Speaker 2: against top 25. I butchered this. The gap between the
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  Speaker 2: point scoring they had against the non-conference versus how they
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: did against top 25 defenses, they had the biggest gap
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  Speaker 2: in all of Power 4, and in fact, the gap
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: between them and two was greater than the gap between
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  Speaker 2: two and 15. So I'm not, meaning you're going to
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  Speaker 2: score all these points against the non-conference and yet against
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  Speaker 2: top 25, you have the biggest drop. So until they
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  Speaker 2: play a good defense, I'm not, I'm just going to,
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: I'm going to roll my eyes on this. And the
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  Speaker 2: same thing is true on yards. They had the average
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: gap is 110 yards. Washington had a gap of 282
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  Speaker 2: on average, which was also number one in all of
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: power four. So I'm sorry I booted all the stats.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: The takeaway is this. Washington had the biggest gap between
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: how they played against non-conference versus how they played against
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: top 25. And no true Husky fan gives a damn
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: about a non-conference schedule that doesn't include anybody formidable.
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: Right.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not going to speak for Husky fans. I'm going
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: to strike what I just said. I'll say for me,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: I'm waiting to see this get done. I'm not going
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: to be impressed by scoring 50 or 60 or 70
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: points in these non-conference games because I'm waiting to see
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: if it actually plays out. Right, I get it.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Probably at the heart of that is going to be
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: improvements in a lot of areas from a very talented
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: DeMond Williams Jr. What is it about his game that
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: has to be taken to the next level? Other than
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: playing better against those same opponents, what do you see
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: tactically about his game that maybe are young mistakes that
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: should be remedied with.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: Experience now under his belt? Well, I think he's just
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: got to process a little faster. He has a penchant
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: to take a very deep drop. He's so springy and
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: athletic that when he takes a five-step drop from shotgun,
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: he's back there at 11 yards. His launch point, because
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: of his vision, these are all things that I would surmise,
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: he has a desire to be deeper. That is not
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: in question. I've compared him to other quarterbacks and what
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: his launch point is. He's routinely deeper than than other quarterbacks,
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: which means the defense has a chance to break on
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: the ball. And well, what defenses are going to break
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: on the ball more, the better defenses, the top 25.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: So I think, um, maybe be, you know, snugging up
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: to the line of scrimmage. If he can see, you know,
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: if he can, if he can be launching it at
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: seven and a half, eight and a half on those
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: deeper drops instead of, uh, you know, 10 plus, or
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: even nine and a half, you know, every yard counts when,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: when you're breaking on the ball, trust me. Um, So
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: that's a factor. But I think another part of this
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: is Jimmy Doherty, the offensive coordinator, is gone. Now Jed
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Fish is the play caller, but now that role wasn't
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: really assumed by anybody else. So Jed Fish takes a
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: bigger part of the offense. You throw on the Oregon tape.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: This is the last regular season game, second-to-last game. The
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: second play of the game, they're going play-action offensively. The
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: primary receiver is going 22 yards down the field. So
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: right when DeMond Williams plants his back foot, if he
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: took a quick hitch and throw, he would have a
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: chance to get a completion. 22 yards is like a
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: seven-on-seven play. That's going to take a half an hour
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: for a guy to run to 22 yards. The NFL
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: doesn't have 22-yard hooks. And so late in the season,
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: you either coached it or you allowed it. And so
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: when I see it, and it gets a sack on
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: a first and 10, and so they're facing second and 17. And, oh,
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: by the way, on the sack, you also had Jonah
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Coleman come over and completely um miss a mess up
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: the chip and that leads to the sack i'm not
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: going to get into the details there but you just
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: look and you say that's not precise football then then
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: two plays later this is just the fourth play in
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: the game they get they they run a fake uh
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: uh toss sweep to the right and then damon's going
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: to come out on a boot well the end comes
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: straight up the field and hits DeMond and literally de-cleats
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: him and lands on his side. The propensity for a
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: shoulder separation is so high. That's a 240-pound linebacker landing
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: on a 188-pound quarterback. The parameters have got to be–
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: you've got to get out of that play or you've
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: got to know that number 32 is going to be
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: straight up the field when you do that boot. Like,
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: it's late in the season. You have to know this.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: And so that's bad coaching. And then one more play.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: Three minutes ago in the first quarter, there's an interception.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: Ball's on the left half. Denzel Boston is 20– aligned
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: 24 yards from the sidelines. He's too close to the
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: middle of the field. So when the Oregon plays their
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: zone defense, the flat defender has three more yards of
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: outside leverage so that Boston has to run sideways. He's
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: not going to beat him. The safety has five yards
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: of outside leverage. So the ball is being thrown, and
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: the way the play is structured– Denzel Boston has too
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: much lateral space to go up the field, and the
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: linebacker cuts him off, the safeties overreact because the space
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: before they even snap the ball, Denzel Boston was too
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: far from the sideline. And so it's a bad structure play.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: So you get an interception. Everybody said, oh, DeMond Williams
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: threw an interception there. Well, go back and look at
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: the bones of that play. You are not giving yourself
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: a best chance. So my opinion is this. Jed Fish
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: is a good offensive coach, but he has to show
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: that he's better than good because the ones that he's
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: going against, and Ohio State down in the red zone,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: You say, well, Ohio State doesn't allow a lot of
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: people to score. Well, if you're a good offense, you're
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: going to score more than nine points, and you get
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: down in the red zone. And the way they were
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: double covering this cover seven, the particular type of double
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: teaming on Denzel Boston, there was other opportunities, and Jed
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Fish didn't see it. And so I think he's a
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: good offensive coordinator, but he has not proven that he's
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: really good or great or anything like that. He booted
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: his offensive coordinator, Jimmy Doherty. And so I think that
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of questions about Jed Fish and whether
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: or not he really has the vision to look at.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: Mike McDonald can look at defense. He knows exactly how
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: it's supposed to look. He teaches it. His players execute it.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: Jed Fish, I'm not certain that he has an elite
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: level of vision about how offensive football is supposed to
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: look in terms of the detail, the precisions in the detail. Sorry,
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: that's a little bit of a rant. But I'm just,
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: you know, the idea that Washington is just going to
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: play a weak non-conference schedule, we're going to try and
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: boat race everybody, you know, to me, Wake me up
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: when they play a good defense. All right, man. Well,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: we'll break it all down Monday. Rock and roll.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: We'll do a little Apple Cup Monday morning quarterback. So
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: we'll talk to you then, all right?
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: Hugh Millen, our QB1, joining us for his Friday X's
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: and O's segment here this morning. Coming up next, it's
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: time we heard from a Coug. I always love chatting
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: with Alex Brink. He'll join us next on Sports Radio
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: 93.3 KJRFM.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: A good perspective from the Cougs on this one.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: And the guy that I love to chat with before
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: every Apple Cup is the former quarterback of the Washington
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: State Cougars. Currently a radio analyst, of course, color analyst
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: for the Cougars broadcast. I think he is Ian Furness's
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: best friend and drinking buddy and Jessamyn McIntyre's mentor. I'm
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: pretty sure that all of that is accurate.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Mentee. Mentee. Mentee. Joining us now on the program. is
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Alex Brink.
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: Hi, Alex. What's going on? Happy Friday.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Happy Friday to you. How strange does it feel to
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: you to be playing this game on a Sunday?
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: I mean, is that the only thing strange about it? Yeah,
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think all of it feels very odd.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Why don't we list in order the things that feel
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: strange about it, Alex?
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: Well, I just want to say how unimpressed I am
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: with this whole situation because it's typically my week one
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: of preparation and all the things that go into a
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: week one game is not... What is happening this week?
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: I feel bombarded with all that.
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: Goes into it being Apple Cup week this week. So
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: I'm very unimpressed with all the powers that be that
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: scheduled this week one.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: But here we are. Yeah. Yeah.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: Here we are.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: What does feel stranger that it's at the beginning of
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: the year or that obviously we're drifting further and further
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: away from it? being what it was meant to be,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: that you're non-conference opponents now, that maybe we won't keep
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: playing this game. I mean, what is the strangest element
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: for you as somebody that's lived this rivalry as a
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: broadcaster and as a player?
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: It's certainly the talk around the potential to not play
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: the game moving forward and those sort of things. The
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: fact that it's beginning of the year, middle of the year,
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: end of the year doesn't really matter to me. I
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: can appreciate where those things can change for sure. But
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: this idea, and this is more from a macro perspective,
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: this idea that... 100 plus year old regional rivalries may
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: go out the window because teams have, you know, I
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: dreams of playing in the playing in the college football playoff,
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: I think is laughable. And I think it's just one
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: of those things that, you know, is what everything that
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: is wrong with this, you know, the current. and state
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: of the sport, frankly. And so, you know, I hope
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: the people, the adults in the room, you know, get
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: together and realize how special things like this are for
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: fans and players and coaches and the universities and.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: The history, right?
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: And so, you know, I'm optimistic. I'm a glass half
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: full type of guy, so I'm optimistic that some smart
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: people will come together and make it happen.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Number 10, Alex Brink with us right here. on Chuck
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: in the Mornings, getting you ready for the Apple Cup,
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: certainly from the Cougs' perspective. All right, so how big
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: of a factor is 36-year-old Kirby Moore coaching his first
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: game as a Division I head coach, and who knows
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: what that certainly creative mind might hatch that is a
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: complete unknown to the opponent this week?
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think it should be, I mean, for
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: everybody involved to envision a coach on the sideline that
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: was mentored by, you know, Chris Peterson and Kalen DeBoer
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: and Jeff Tedford and Eli Drinkwich should, you know, it
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: should excite.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: Coug fans and maybe scare, you know, a dog.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: Fan just a little bit, right?
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: Like no matter how old Kirby Moore is, he's seen
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: a lot of football. He's been, you know, his dad
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: was obviously a legendary high school coach. We all know
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: the story of his family and his brother. It's, You know,
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: I'm excited from the Crimson Gray side to have Kirby
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: Moore as our head coach, just being around him, his personality,
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: his demeanor, and then all that experience he can draw
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: from in his time on this earth as a football
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: player and a football coach.
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: And the people he can lean on in this situation.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: What do you think of Caden Penick, the new quarterback?
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: I'm trusting he's your starting quarterback on Sunday, that nothing
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: has changed on that front in the last 24 hours.
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: To my knowledge, nothing has changed. I'm high on Caden Pinnock.
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: I think nobody.
• 25:40
  Speaker 5: Nobody throws for 3,200 yards and 30-plus touchdowns in any
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: league if they're not a good football player. Obviously, it's
• 25:48
  Speaker 5: a step up for him competition-wise to go from the
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: big sky into the Pac-12 and into the FBS level,
• 25:54
  Speaker 5: but there's been plenty of quarterbacks that have done it.
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: Shoot Trinidad Shambles that went from winning a D2 national
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: championship to taking Ole Miss to a playoff. He's not
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: the first one to have made the jump and had success.
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: And so I'm excited for Kane to get out there.
• 26:08
  Speaker 5: He's an incredibly mature young man. He physically can make
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: all the throws. He's really athletic. He's on the smaller
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: side stature-wise, but as we all know, that's not really
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: a prereq for winning at the quarterback position these days.
• 26:23
  Speaker 5: So I think he's going to find success. But ultimately,
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: it's the first game of the season. On offense, with
• 26:28
  Speaker 5: a new system, you've got to establish a lot of scrimmage.
• 26:30
  Speaker 5: So I think the bigger story is Washington State returns
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: three veteran running backs off of last year's roster that
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: were all very productive in the entire offensive line. And
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: so I think that gives Washington State, hopefully, the opportunity
• 26:42
  Speaker 5: and chance to run the football.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: You know, we have two very immature people that work
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: in our afternoons you might know of, Dave Softy-Mahler and
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: Dick Fane here at the radio station. And they were
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: going over the size differential between the two lines, or
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: the four lines, I guess you should say, going into
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: this game and how much different it is now compared
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: to just a couple of years ago. This is probably
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: just going to have to be Washington State football for
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: the next few years, having a hard time to get
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: those big horses up front from a recruiting standpoint. What
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: kind of effect do you think it will have on
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: this game and going forward this game?
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 27:24
  Speaker 5: I mean, arguably that, that can also be a roster
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: construction and scheme related situation, right? Like Trent Bray is
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: a defensive coordinator has never had, never wanted to have
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: big space years in, you know, in the middle on
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: the defensive line. He wants guys that are athletic and
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: penetrating and can make plays, you know, And then I
• 27:40
  Speaker 5: think offensively, if you are on the offensive line a veteran,
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: you've seen it, you know what to expect, oftentimes that
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: can outweigh, quote-unquote, somebody's size differential on you. So, yeah,
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think it matters. But to your point
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: about it's football and it's the tale of all the time,
• 28:02
  Speaker 5: there's usually a bigger guy and there's usually.
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: A smaller guy, and leverage wins and technique wins. So
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: it'll be interesting to see how that plays out on
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: the field on Sunday.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: What is your feel as somebody deep in it for
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: the Cougar community right now when it comes to its
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: football program? What do you think the temperature is of
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: where we are with Cougs football in this new modern
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: era right now?
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: I think this is the excited, the most excited people
• 28:27
  Speaker 5: have been in a long time about Cougar football, you know,
• 28:31
  Speaker 5: probably since, you know, the Mike Leach era, you know,
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: because when you think about the transition from Mike Leach
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: to Nick Rolovich, like obviously there's a lot going on
• 28:38
  Speaker 5: with COVID and all the things that went along with that.
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: And the transition to Jake Dicker was, although, you know,
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: Jake had some positive years in positive.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: Moments probably didn't you.
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: Know lend to the success that Coug fans in that
• 28:50
  Speaker 5: that time frame were used to and then obviously you
• 28:52
  Speaker 5: rolled into all the Pac-12 dissolution and all the things
• 28:55
  Speaker 5: the last few years I mean it's been a really
• 28:57
  Speaker 5: tough time and I think credit to Washington State and
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: Oregon State for holding on and and recreating the Pac-12
• 29:02
  Speaker 5: in in a way that I think can have a
• 29:03
  Speaker 5: sustained success in the in the current state of college
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: football like let's just you know just look at what
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: happened last night right like you that's beat the brakes
• 29:11
  Speaker 5: off of big 10 Rutgers, you know, Rutgers program that,
• 29:13
  Speaker 5: you know, is, is loses $ 40 million a year, right. Uh,
• 29:17
  Speaker 5: in their athletic department and is a full share member.
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: Like it's, it's, It's not sustainable. UCLA is an issue
• 29:23
  Speaker 5: that popped up this week. So I think the new
• 29:25
  Speaker 5: Pac-12 provides opportunity for Washington State in particular to have
• 29:29
  Speaker 5: sustained success against, you know, quality regional rivals and opponents
• 29:33
  Speaker 5: and athletic departments that can, you know, put out a
• 29:35
  Speaker 5: product that people get excited about and fill stadiums and
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: people will watch on broadcast televisions. So this is an
• 29:40
  Speaker 5: exciting time, exciting head coach, great opportunity. And, you know,
• 29:44
  Speaker 5: we'll see how the duration of the year goes. But
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: I think Coug fans are fired up.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: If you and let's say Cam Cleland, the color analyst
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: for the dogs, came across an Aladdin's lamp and you
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: had You each got one wish apiece for this rivalry
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: going forward. But Aladdin was like, you got to be reasonable.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: You can't just predict something that is out of the question.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Give me a reasonable wish that you have that if
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: you would like to submit it to the people that
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: are in charge of keeping this rivalry alive, what is
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: the one thing that you would like to submit?
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think you keep it as is.
• 30:26
  Speaker 5: I mean, it's a home-and-home rivalry. It's a home-and-home rivalry
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: that happens year in and year out, just like it
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: has for the last 100 plus years.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: So just keep it. That's all. I mean, you just
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: said just keep it.
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: I mean, the conversation is pretty easy.
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: Like, I don't know.
• 30:42
  Speaker 5: I mean, again, I think the ideas around it and
• 30:46
  Speaker 5: what kind of the Big Ten and the SEC and
• 30:49
  Speaker 5: the rhetoric they're trying to push is, you know, is
• 30:51
  Speaker 5: a protectionism idea of like, well, we can protect our
• 30:54
  Speaker 5: 24 if we have, if everybody plays 10, you know,
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: quote unquote, you know, power conference games. And well, maybe
• 31:00
  Speaker 5: that's just a schedule. That's like, you know, again, you're
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: just running from something. that, you know, that is unrealistic
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: in my opinion. So I think in the end, it's,
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: you just keep it like, it's good for, it's good
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: for everybody. Um, it's good for both communities. It's good
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: for both fan bases. Like there's nothing to change.
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Every year, one year in Pullman, one year in Seattle, uh, and, and,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: and just keep it the way that it is structured
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: to be. You don't care about the date necessarily, but
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: you just want to keep the rivalry alive.
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, again, date doesn't matter. That's fine.
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: Just keep the rivalry as it is. That's what college
• 31:38
  Speaker 5: football is all about. We're not playing the NFL, guys.
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: Let's be real clear.
• 31:42
  Speaker 5: As much as everyone wants to try and make it,
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: it's not the NFL.
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: It's college football. We got the NFL. We got the NFL.
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: It's starting next week. We're all excited for it.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: Is there any truth that Jessamyn McIntyre on your sidelines
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: on Sunday plans to sucker punch Husky sideline reporter David
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Softy Muller. You got any inside information there for us?
• 32:02
  Speaker 5: I think it's like an Achilles slice or something like
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: that to affect the walking.
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: I think that's what it is. But you didn't hear
• 32:10
  Speaker 3: it from me.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's just a small incision right there. It
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: doesn't have to be anything gruesome. It just changed his
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: gait for the rest of his life.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: All right, man.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you for being with us. Always great to
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: chat with you. Enjoy Sunday, and we'll bug you again
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: another time, all right?
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll look forward to it. Thank you. Take care.
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: Go Cougs. All right.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: Alex Brink joining us right here on the radio program.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Apple Cup this Sunday, 1 o'clock kickoff, right here on
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Sports Radio 93.3 KJRFM.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: You're going to get the Elyse Cam call. You're not
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: going to get the Alex call. But always great to
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: check in. I like him a lot. He's really good.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: He's really good. All right, we'll close out the week
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: with Booze News next on KJR.