Talkin' Beast Mode, Yankoff and other stuff
NOTES AND quotes while thrilled to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Here’s a special holiday shout to all the kind readers who’ve got in touch to chat about these columns — whether you agreed with me or not.
In fact, it’s actually fun to exchange emails with folks who wonder if I’ve gotten something right or only managed to toss up an air ball.
Have a wonderful holiday season, everyone — and keep writing!
ITEM: How many people actually wished that Santa would bring them a Beast for Christmas?
Well, now we know that Pete Carroll was one of them, and somehow Marshawn Lynch managed to fit down the coach’s chimney.
Or maybe he just knocked the whole thing down.
It’s impossible to know just how much Beast Mode can add to the Seahawks as they hit stretch of their playoff drive.’
But man, it’s gonna be fun.
ITEM: Cory Paus is tight with the UCLA football program, and does a regular podcast called “Somethin’s Bruin.”
On his most recent show, Paus expressed disappointment (again) at the quarterback play and continual antics of Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
But Paus took the issue a bit further, and said that for the first time on the air, he wanted to look into the future of Bruins coach Chip Kelly.
Despite a 4-7 record, Paus said, Kelly has success coming soon, and his resurgence will be tied to QB Colson Yankoff — the former Coeur d’Alene High star who transferred from Washington.
Yankoff hasn’t exactly been given the No. 1 job over Thompson-Robinson and current backup Austin Burton, but the insider Paus said he believes Kelly sees Yankoff as the quarterback who can turn the Bruins’ program around.
Great news for Yankoff, who loves it at UCLA and obviously has made quite an impression during his redshirt year.
ITEM: Serious props to the Washington State women’s soccer program.
The Lady Cougs used a dominant string of upsets to reach the NCAA College Cup — soccer’s Final Four — where they played great but suffered a tough 2-1 loss to perennial powerhouse North Carolina.
But the success didn’t stop there.
Senior Morgan Weaver and junior Makamae Gomera-Stevens, a pair of Wazzu forwards who combined for 20 goals this season, were called up to join the U.S. women’s national team.
Yowza!
They are the first WSU players ever to play with the national team.
On top of all that, Coach Todd Shulenberger pulled off a sensational coup with the signing of Trinity Rodman, considered the nation’s best high school player.
Trinity had committed to UCLA, but changed her mind and wound up in Pullman. She’s the daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman, and her brother, DJ Rodman, is a freshman on the Cougar basketball team.
ITEM: Hey, nobody has correctly identified the girl whose picture we published in a Cheap Seats column last week.
C’mon, are you serious?
One reader guessed that it was the daughter of Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto.
Another said she might be a Gonzaga Prep cheerleader.
I’ve got news for you, folks, she’s an athlete and a doggone good one.
Since no one clicked on that shot of her just hanging out, we’ll make it easy and add another shot along with the original this time around.
I can tell you for certain that our mystery young lady had a lot to celebrate this Christmas — and millions of people saw the reason.
Have a great holiday, y’all — and be safe as the roads get slick.
Please.
Email: scameron@cdapress.com
Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.
Steve’s various tales from several decades in sports — “Moments, Memories and Madness” — run on Sundays.