"When the floods destroyed everything in the Northwest, these rocks were the only things that remained." Jesse said that to me over a year ago and it gave me chills. No better metaphor for the Pac 2. Big ups to Jesse who has quite literally been pushing these rocks up a hill. Started with a Beav buddy of his. Hired the artist. Paid for it out of his own pocket. Got sign off from two ADs who then unceremoniously we're ADs any longer. It got put on the backburner as both schools had to do some serious recalibration.

Special experience to take the kids to see our name in the new locker room. Pretty cool that our neighbors are the Glasses and (not pictured) Next Gen himself, Matt Miera from @Marco_Polo_Bar. Thank you for a great weekend, @CougsFirst, @CougCollective & @WSUCougarFB! Can't wait for the season to start! Go Cougs!

Spokane and Chelan friends: Unfortunately, a lot of you will know someone who lost a home to the fires this summer. I was fortunate enough to find Ryan Pauley @pauleylg through @CougsFirst when I had to file a catastrophic claim a few years ago and he was a life saver. I only wish someone had encouraged me to call him earlier. It wasn't as traumatic as a fire, but our pipes in Chelan had exploded during a deep freeze with dozens of other homes in our area, leaving our house gutted to the studs. Insurance started with a laughable offer of 10K. After months of fighting and them strategically changing adjusters, losing emails and ignoring us, I had only gotten them up to 30K. I felt powerless. I was beside myself and I had no idea what to do. After one phone call, Ryan sent a letter outlining the insurance company's responsibilities and the penalty for playing games. (3x the property damage judgement for operating in bad faith in Washington). It was like a light switch flipped. We got payment for everything and were able to commence rebuilding. The next year is going to be stressful enough for anyone who lost a home. Encourage them not to wait or let the insurance companies drive the conversation.