billingsgriz
Well-known member
I have driven by Cheney just west of Spokane on my way to and from the Emerald City, Seattle and that's my only knowledge of EWU so I am definitely no expert on Eastern's football program !!!
Fortunately, I have a friend here in Billings who 20 years ago played for the Eags so this past spring I asked him about Coach Best, knowing that the Eags had gone 3-8 in '22 and 4-7 last year and while getting a vote of confidence from new EWU AD Tim Collins last November but also with the implication that the Eags needed to return to the their winning ways from Coach Best's early tenure and previous to that under then-Eag's HC Baldwin, Wulf and The Big Human, Mike Kramer and do so this year !!!
My friend told me that Coach Best, who has coached 24 years in Cheney, where he played OL for the Eags before that, was OL Coach and while CB was not his position coach, he and his teammates loved CB, who had a great repore with both his O Line and the rest of the team. He told me last May that CB was on the hot seat @ EWU, and he really hoped he got the Eags turned around this year--he didn't think CB would survive a third consecutive losing season !!! ( He got a good laugh when I told him my favorite nickname for MSU out of many was The Shi##y Kitties !!! He asked me what was my favorite nickname for his Eags was so I told him the War Sparrows though I also like Magpies and Pigeons !!! )
It would seem on Saturday in Cheney on that God-awful red turf, his Eags might be playing with a sense of urgency for Coach Best, given their lousy 1-3 record, including an " Inferno" home field 35-3 loss to non-scholarship Drake from the Pioneer League.
So while I hope we pound the War Sparrows on the eyeball-hurting horrid red turf Saturday night, I do hope that Coach Best's Eags play well and go 6-0 after our game.
And if CB doesn't stay in Cheney as the Eag's skipper, I hope he lands on his feet elsewhere. I was reminded watching the KC-Atlanta MNF game last night by Mike Torico that Falcon DC Jimmy Page was the former UDUB HC, the UDUB HC when our GRIZ beat the Huskies 14-10 in 2021, our first win over Washington since 1920 in the aftermath of the last pandemic and WW I. That 5-7 or 4-8 season in Seattle was I believe his first and last.
And then that reminded me of former Idaho HC Tom Cable, who after the Vandals canned him after not doing well in Moscow and losing a game @ WA-GRIZ to us in 2003, a real no-no since Idaho was FCS at the time and according to the NCAA, was only to host FBS teams @ the Kibbee Dome, and not travel to play the FBS team at their place, said he would go somewhere else and " coach a bunch of fat guys."
And boy did he, winding up as Pete Carroll's OL Coach for Seattle, and winning a Super Bowl as The Hawk's OL coach.
On behalf of my Eag's friend here in Billings and myself, good luck Coach Best !!! On my behalf only, except for this Saturday, Sept. 28 vs. us.
Go GRIZ !!!
Fortunately, I have a friend here in Billings who 20 years ago played for the Eags so this past spring I asked him about Coach Best, knowing that the Eags had gone 3-8 in '22 and 4-7 last year and while getting a vote of confidence from new EWU AD Tim Collins last November but also with the implication that the Eags needed to return to the their winning ways from Coach Best's early tenure and previous to that under then-Eag's HC Baldwin, Wulf and The Big Human, Mike Kramer and do so this year !!!
My friend told me that Coach Best, who has coached 24 years in Cheney, where he played OL for the Eags before that, was OL Coach and while CB was not his position coach, he and his teammates loved CB, who had a great repore with both his O Line and the rest of the team. He told me last May that CB was on the hot seat @ EWU, and he really hoped he got the Eags turned around this year--he didn't think CB would survive a third consecutive losing season !!! ( He got a good laugh when I told him my favorite nickname for MSU out of many was The Shi##y Kitties !!! He asked me what was my favorite nickname for his Eags was so I told him the War Sparrows though I also like Magpies and Pigeons !!! )
It would seem on Saturday in Cheney on that God-awful red turf, his Eags might be playing with a sense of urgency for Coach Best, given their lousy 1-3 record, including an " Inferno" home field 35-3 loss to non-scholarship Drake from the Pioneer League.
So while I hope we pound the War Sparrows on the eyeball-hurting horrid red turf Saturday night, I do hope that Coach Best's Eags play well and go 6-0 after our game.
And if CB doesn't stay in Cheney as the Eag's skipper, I hope he lands on his feet elsewhere. I was reminded watching the KC-Atlanta MNF game last night by Mike Torico that Falcon DC Jimmy Page was the former UDUB HC, the UDUB HC when our GRIZ beat the Huskies 14-10 in 2021, our first win over Washington since 1920 in the aftermath of the last pandemic and WW I. That 5-7 or 4-8 season in Seattle was I believe his first and last.
And then that reminded me of former Idaho HC Tom Cable, who after the Vandals canned him after not doing well in Moscow and losing a game @ WA-GRIZ to us in 2003, a real no-no since Idaho was FCS at the time and according to the NCAA, was only to host FBS teams @ the Kibbee Dome, and not travel to play the FBS team at their place, said he would go somewhere else and " coach a bunch of fat guys."
And boy did he, winding up as Pete Carroll's OL Coach for Seattle, and winning a Super Bowl as The Hawk's OL coach.
On behalf of my Eag's friend here in Billings and myself, good luck Coach Best !!! On my behalf only, except for this Saturday, Sept. 28 vs. us.
Go GRIZ !!!
