Washington’s offensive line showed great promise during the Spring game, although it appeared to lack depth. Nick Newton’s (6-5,320) return from injury should add depth to the inexperienced line.

At one time the coaching staff considered moving Kevin Ware (Jr, 6-2,275) from TE to guard. 

Ware is an above average blocker and has been around the team long enough to help out where needed on offense. Incoming freshman Joe Toledo (pictured above; 6-5, 285), an excellent prospect at TE, could have filled in for Ware at that position, if he hadn't broken a foot in practice yesterday.  At the earliest, Toledo could be back near the end of September. Since he is a freshman, playing time for him this year appears somewhat remote at this time.  

Although moving Ware to guard is a moot question right now, in general, its consideration is still worth noting.  Moving him to another position would have been a tough call, since I believe his father feels that TE is the best place on the team for Ware. And this could well be the case. The team has been through this kind of thing before with Willie Hurst, when he was moved to slot back. 

Although there is no "I" in the word "team," there are two of them in the word "spirit." The last thing a coaching staff needs to do is break a kid's spirit.  

(Pictures of Kevin Ware (shown above), courtesy of www.dawgman.com)

There are six ways to make seven

I remember my mother making sandwiches for men who were out of work, who came begging at our door during the depression. They were proud, spirited men whose luck had fallen on hard times--men whose financial state had fallen into penury. They couldn’t roll a pair of dice without crapping out, couldn’t make a blackjack if there were just tens and aces left in the deck. Never dealt a fair hand, they were always going bust.

My best friend, raised in a foster family, always wanted to be a Marine. We competed in the classroom and on the playing field. He couldn’t roll a seven or eleven either. He was killed in Korea.

Some of us were born into fortunate circumstances; others have not been as lucky. The guys who always crap out never seem to take the right path; somehow the yellow brick road that seems so easy to find, always eludes them. For those people—the less fortunate—everything can be a challenge, from taking a speech class, to meeting with a professor, to writing an essay.

As far as ‘Cisco is concerned, if things don’t pan out for him, the memory of that speech class will be forever haunting. He doesn’t need anymore piling on. In fact, a little sympathy is due him. None of us know the true story regarding the class. Let’s give him a break and hope that he makes it into fall camp—if not, then into Washington by the winter quarter.

In the interim, let’s hope that he’s not too hard on himself. We can help out here, by giving Francisco Tipoti the loyal support he needs. He wants to be a Husky, and he will be a Husky.

Keep the faith, ‘Cisco