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| Bill Moos |
Cougar Chats, Copyright 2011, Washington State University Athletics. All rights reserved.
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Cougar Chats presented by:
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Cougar Athletic Fund Spring Events
Chat with Washington State Athletics Director Bill Moos on Wednesday, April 27 at 3:00 p.m.
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| Moderator: Good afternoon Cougar Nation! Thank you for visiting WSUCougars.com and today's chat with Director of Athletics Bill Moos. Before we begin, you will notice two links at the top of this page: Buy Cougar Athletics Tickets Here! and Cougar Athletic Fund Spring Events. Click on the tickets link for information on all Cougar Athletic Tickets, including 2011 football season tickets, currently on sale. Click on the Spring Events link for information on the upcoming Cougar Athletic Fund tour of the state, featuring appearances by Paul Wulff, Ken Bone, and Bill. Without further delay, let's begin. Bill, thank you for joining us. |
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Bill Moos: It is a pleasure for me to have this opportunity to chat with my fellow Cougars, and hopefully get you up to speed with what we are currently doing in the world of Cougar Athletics. |
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| GunMetalGray (Vancouver): Bill,
We're dying to hear about the facility tour you just completed, and any new thoughts to the plans for Martin Stadium and the football facility?
Go Cougs! |
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Bill Moos: The recently completed facility tour that I took with members of our design team proved to be extremely beneficial and I believe valuable as we continue to proceed in the design phase of our football facility enhancements. The tour included stops at Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and LSU. The team took over 2,000 photographs and compiled pages of notes that we are in the process of reviewing. We will apply the very best ideas to fit what I believe will be most beneficial to our football program. |
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| Todd (Bellingham): You've done a great job with Cougar athletics so far! Have you found WSU's Phil Knight yet? |
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Bill Moos: Todd: No, but my vision for Cougar Athletics has been well received by alumni and friends with whom I have had the opportunity to share. In order to achieve what I envision, we are going to have to expand our donor base and have many more Cougars answer the call. It can be done and I'm confident it will be. |
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| Basheer (Richland): where do you see wsu in about 2 years |
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Bill Moos: Basheer, I envision Cougar Athletics to be in a position to be competitive in most or all sports in a very tough Pac-12 Conference. With some sports it may take a bit longer but I definitely expect to see signs of significant improvement. |
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| Shawn Tims (Antioch): Giving the situation and talent level that Wulff adopted when he came to Washington State, are you willing to give him atleast 4 years to see how sucessful he can be on this level? |
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Bill Moos: Shawn, this will be Coach Wulff's fourth year as head football coach and I have every reason to believe that we will be much improved this upcoming season. |
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| Phyllis Rice: I just wanted to say I knew you in Pullman when you had that fun restaurant the Misfits!! It was great...you are great!! I am full of confidence that you will do a great job for us Cougaws.
Thanks!! |
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Bill Moos: Phyllis, thank you for your confidence and for being a great Cougar. We are going to need you and many others to help us along the way. |
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| Todd (Bellingham): Hi Bill, any chance the Cougs will have their final scrimmage football on the west side of WA in the years to come? |
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Bill Moos: Todd, probably not as our plans for the future includes Pac-12 football in Seattle during the fall. Because of facility concerns we cannot offer the same for Spokane. We can, however, stage our spring football game there and plan to on an annual basis. |
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| Matt (Bremerton): Like the re-branding. Will something similar happen with the band? Seems like they've been stuck in the late 70's, with their look and song selection. |
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Bill Moos: Matt, rebranding of the band uniforms is something our fans will most probably see in the foreseeable future. |
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| Shane (Gig Harbor): Bill, will the pac 12 mean that all sports will have a longer season or we wont play a few pac 12 team or somthing like that? |
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Bill Moos: Shane, football will continue to see nine conference games with each school playing all five schools in their division and four crossover games. The season will extend to 13 games only for the division champions, who then will play for the conference championship. Men's and women's basketball will continue to play 18 conference games, protecting a home-and-home series with their natural rival. A Pac-12 Tournament, including all the schools, will follow the conclusion of the regular season. In sports such as volleyball and baseball, the expansion will necessitate a longer conference season, which will be attained by eliminating some non-conference competition. |
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| T.C.: Great job with the rebranding of the Cougar Nike apparel. Are you getting good feedback from the public? |
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Bill Moos: T.C., the feedback has been outstanding. |
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| Lance (Olympia): Regarding the new uniforms ... shouldn't they say 'Cougars or Cougs' on the home jerseys, and 'Washington State' on the road ones? Thanks ~ |
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Bill Moos: Lance, I feel it is important to have `Washington State' on the travel uniforms and either `Washington State' or `Cougars' on the home uniforms. My direction to the Nike designers was that only `Washington State' or `Cougars' were to be used and no reference to `Cougs' or `Wazzu,' which I might add, are fine for practice gear, and apparel made available for sale to fans, but not for formal competition wear. |
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| Calvin (Washougal): With there being a Vancouver campus, and a solid support foundation in SW Washington, what are your plans to increase Cougars exposure in that area? |
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Bill Moos: Calvin, we will continue to stage such events as our fundraising receptions, golf tournaments, `Nights With Cougar Football' events, and Cougar Night with the Blazers. In addition, you will see more visibility in regards to coaches and staff in a region that is proving to be one of our growing areas of support. Our next event in the region is the May 14 Columbia River Cougar Celebrity Golf Classic at The Cedar's on Salmon Creek Golf Course, in Brush Prairie. Registration information for this and all of our spring events can be found at the link at the top of this page. I hope to see you there. |
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| Dave Spokane: Gonzaga has two weekly TV shows during basketball season. WSU had a show with Tony Bennett one season. It may boost fan base if Paul and Ken could introduce their players and show some insights. |
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Bill Moos: Dave, we do have the Cougars All Access show on Root Sports (formerly FSN Northwest), which is a quality production that provides insight into football, men's basketball, and Cougar Athletics in general. For additional inside information you should consider attending our Cougar Club luncheons held weekly in the fall and monthly in the winter at the Spokane Club. |
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| Jason (Bellevue): Hey Mr. Moos! Great job on the re-branding of WSU. I love the new uniforms and everything you've done so far. My only question is when is the new merchandise going to be for sale so we can show our re-branded Cougar Pride? Go Cougs! |
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Bill Moos: Jason, replica jerseys and other gear are being manufactured as we speak and should be available for retail sale by early summer. |
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| Ron from Centralia: Any update on the announcement of the new Seattle flagship station for WSU FB & MBB? |
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Bill Moos: Ron, we're expecting an announcement that should excite our Seattle area fans within the next couple of weeks. |
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| Scott (Fargo): For your out of state fans do you have any update on how Pac-12 TV negotiations are going? |
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Bill Moos: Scott, all reports are positive to date. Pac-12 Athletic Directors will be formerly briefed during conference meetings next week in Phoenix. |
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| Bill (Lacey, WA): Is the classic and cherished Cougar script helmet now gone for good??? |
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Bill Moos: Bill: No. I made sure to protect our primary and secondary marks (Cougar Head and Cougar Script) for use as desired. |
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| Meg (pullman): What is your favorite color? |
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Bill Moos: Meg: Crimson AND Gray! |
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| Bruce Johnson (Virginia Beach): Bill- UVA has three names associated with their stadium..."Carl Smith Center, home of...etc". Are there any plans to seek naming rights for the field, football operations facility...or to honor a great Coug like we did with Friel Court, Hollingberry Field House, Bohler Gym? I realize that Gov Martin was a mutt, and his family did help us literally rise from the ashes...but I think we've got some additional possibilities to honor our distinguished past while building our bright future. |
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Bill Moos: Bruce, we will explore all naming opportunities. It will be an important component to our fundraising efforts. |
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| Gary (Spokane Valley): Do you feel you can attack every sport at once or should it be taken on like eating an elephant, one bite at a time? It seems the energies might be split thin, along with the money. Some areas need help. Leadership and motivation are two attribute that are tough to teach. We probably will never have the depth of most Division I teams, but we can have a bigger heart and desire. That take leadership. Is this being addessed for some of the coaching staff? Some are great. Those are the true Cougs. Thanks, |
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Bill Moos: Gary, all that you have mentioned are equally important ingredients in the recipe for success. We plan to include all in our final product. |
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| Frank (N. Las Vegas): I've heard you speak about WSU being Washington STATE'S University. I'm loving that sentiment! PLEASE don't let the folks outside of Eastern Washington off the hook! Make 'em "wave the flag" in all four corners of the state! |
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Bill Moos: Frank, Cougar Pride is and always needs to be statewide. |
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| Austin (Pullman): Mr. Moos, you have started your re-branding effort with the cougars, are their any plans to brand the endzones with our new font, what about other branding efforts in Martin Stadium or Beasley that are being considered? Thanks a bunch! You're the man! |
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Bill Moos: Austin, all uniforms, facilities, letterhead, and anything else associated with Cougar Athletics will be branded in the consistent look that was revealed April 11 in Spokane. |
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| Brian (Kennewick): People have been saying the new PAC-12 deal could mean $15M-$20M. What would you priorities be for this new revenue? |
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Bill Moos: Brian, those figures are perhaps a bit ambitious; however, we expect there to be a significant increase, which, by virtue of the revised television revenue sharing model, will greatly benefit Washington State. We have a great many needs at this time of which I believe the most important being the enhancement of our facilities. |
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| T.C. (New Philadelphia, Ohio): in regards to the new football uniforms, where did the concept come from for the gray Coug logo on the gray helmet? |
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Bill Moos: T.C., it is one of several options presented to us by our friends at Nike. |
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| Mike (Pullman): What is one thing that University of Oregon athletics had, that you would like to see improve, here at WSU? |
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Bill Moos: Mike, a winner's mentality, which, by the way, was not present upon my arrival at the U of O in 1995. At Oregon, like here, a change of attitude was necessary in order to move our agenda. I feel that we are making progress in this all-important area but still have a ways to go. |
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| Bob ( Spokane): Bill, I was impressed with the turnout for the scrimmage here in Spokane, The restaurants in the stadium area were packed after the event. Any chance of a non league Football game here in Spokane in the future? |
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Bill Moos: Bob, the only games that will be played outside of Pullman will be those played at Qwest Field in Seattle. Albi Stadium no longer has the infrastructure necessary to stage a major college football game. In addition, we are in the process of designing improvements to Martin Stadium that will make it one of the premier football venues on the west coast. |
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| Meg (pullman): Is more investment going to be made in recruiting efforts? |
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Bill Moos: Meg: Yes, and the majority of that investment will be in facilities, which in my experience is what prospective student-athletes are looking for when making their decisions on what school they plan to attend. |
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| Moderator: That is all the time we have. Bill, thank you for joining us once again. |
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Bill Moos: I want to thank everyone for joining us today. Your interest in Cougar Athletics is appreciated and your support of Cougar Athletics is essential for us to move our program forward. |
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| Moderator: Thank you to everyone for your questions. Please check back to WSUCougars.com soon for future online chats. |
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