Cousin Andy actually found the following rant, written as an email response, regarding the Mike Price to Alabama situation, Helpful and Informative. I'm as scared as you all are, and a team of psychiatrists has been dispatched to Andy's house to check up on his mental state.

So, I thought I'd post it for y'all in the Manifesto, making it officially a part of The Record:

A HA!!! But you are forgetting something Very important in this
equation: At Major programs, like UW or Alabama, Public or Otherwise, the athletic program Pays For Itself! By loading up a football stadium 6-7 times a year, plus TV money, bowl money, marketing, etc, (and in many cases, with help from the men's basketball team, and in a Very Very few cases, the women's b-ball team) the Entire athletic department can pay its expenses. We're talking scholarships (it is an absolute myth that football players are taking "opportunities" away from "average" students!), travel expenses, and, yes, coache's salaries, for not just the football team, but the soccer team, swim team, golf team... Whatever! In addition to this, it is a little-known fact that a large chunk of the coaches "guaranteed" salary comes from funds set up by The Boosters! Yes, big-money "fans" (aka donors, an example would be the UW's Tyee Club, aka the "Husky Mafia") "chip in" to pay the coaches salary. Makes sense, why do you think these people get So turned off when the team loses!

Personally, I agree, to a point, that some of these players Should be paid... but it has the potential to open up one Nasty can of worms. Beyond that, it turns out to be overwhelmingly complex when you look into it. Who gets paid? How much? Is it standardized and/or regulated? Who does so?

I'm not trying to be condescending, because I know you are generally smarter and more well-informed than the Majority of people who bitch about these things. In terms of the "he did it for the money" approach, well, you are going to hold your own opinion about that, but I hold the following truths to be self-evident:
1) in 14 years, Price had turned WSU from a perennial laughing-stock into a "were legit contenders every few years," which, frankly, is all the higher a program like WSU (or OSU for that matter) is ever going to get. I.E. Price had done "the job" at WSU, and there wasn't much else to go... except maybe down...
2) Price is, always has been, and always will be a football coach. His sons are football coaches. His daughter married a football coach. Coaching football is his life. In the hierarchy of College Football Coaching, which is his chosen, dedicated life's work, Alabama ranks far, far, far ahead of where WSU Ever will.
3) and yes, the money Was good

I listened to/watched most of his press conference today. I have chosen to take him at his word. I don't believe this is a callous, laugh-all-the-way to the bank kind of move. It hurts, it sucks, and if I was a Coug, I would probably be crying just thinking about it (as I am, in my position as a general, local "sports fan" with no real allegiances, who happens to root for the WSU football team, I would describe myself as "heartbroken.") That's life, I guess... I'm not sure what else to think/say about it.

I'm glad he will coach the Rose Bowl and finish out the season. I think it's the right move on all three sides: Price, Alabama, and WSU. I guess I just wish him the best...