The summer edition of Cougars Quarterly is hitting mailboxes. Featured in the issue is an exclusive interview with Director of Athletics Bill Moos. Moos covers a variety of topics ranging from facility development, including The Cougar Football Project, to The Seattle Game, the Cougar Athletic Fund, this season's Apple Cup, and what it means to him to be a Coug. Below is an excerpt from the interview.

Cougars Quarterly: As you begin your third season as Director of Athletics, has coming back to WSU been everything you expected it to be?

Moos: It has and then some. I've been very pleased with the support I've received from President (Elson) Floyd and his entire administration, from the Board of Regents, and all the fans. I really feel Cougar Athletics is ripe to make a move within the conference and be a respected and competitive program in all our sports. We're making some very good strides.

Cougars Quarterly: What did you take away from WSU as a student that you applied in your career?

Moos: The thing that is so special about Washington State is that in many regards it is timeless. The experience that I had as a student-athlete at Washington State in the early '70s is not dissimilar to the experience of the student-athletes today. It is a fabulous campus in a wonderful community where everybody seems to know and care about everybody else. What I took away in 1973 when I left are many, many fond memories and having learned some valuable lessons in becoming an adult and moving on with my life. It's a thrill for me to have an opportunity to finish my career where I started it and have the chance to give something back.

Cougars Quarterly: Can you talk about the Pac-12 television contract and what effect that has made to Cougar Athletics?

Moos: There are many features in our Pac-12 television deal. There are some that are essential for our ability to see growth and prosperity in Cougar Athletics. First and foremost is the fact that we are sharing our TV money equally. That has not been the case in the history of our conference. Without that, we would not be able to talking about the renovation of Martin Stadium, the football operations building, or even having Mike Leach and his football staff here. Those monies are invested and I think invested very wisely. However, along with that comes some sacrifices and some of those have to do with the days and times our football and men's basketball games are going to be played. This is not unique to the Pac-12 this is happening across the country as television partners are shelling out big, big dollars to have the opportunity to have key competitions on the TV windows they select. Our opener at BYU is going to be on Thursday in a prime window, an exclusive window. There will be no other competition in college football in that window. You can't put a price tag on that for exposure for our university. The same holds true two weeks later for a Friday game at UNLV.

Cougars Quarterly: Is that the reason why the Apple Cup was moved to the Friday after Thanksgiving?

Moos: I know there has been some concern from fans about the Apple Cup being played on Friday, but again that is the result of where our television partners have placed us that day. In fact, half the schools in the Pac-12 will be playing on that Friday. It's not unique to us and won't be happening every year. It's something our fans have got to get used to. I'm hoping they will understand and they will be here to support us. If we are going to have a successful football program we are going to have to sacrifice some holidays. Ideally, the main one that we want to sacrifice is New Year's Day.