Speech
Speech at Wazzu is a file of 7 stories. The newest of them: “A Hall of Fame look back at the 1976 baseball Cougs”, “The 1981 Cougs get their due with a Hall of Fame speech”, and “2006 rowing team honored with Hall of Fame video and speech”. The 1976 baseball Cougs just got their flowers, and it's about damn time. When the 1981 Cougars walked into the Hall of Fame, it wasn't just a class getting its due. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every Speech story on Wazzu, newest first.
A Hall of Fame look back at the 1976 baseball Cougs
The 1976 baseball Cougs just got their flowers, and it's about damn time. That squad, the one that punched way above its weight and put Pullman on the map for something other than wheat and wind, is being honored with a Hall of Fame induction. You don't get a plaque like that for showing up. You get it for being the kind of team that makes a grown Coug get a little misty when you say "'76." They didn't just win games. They played the game the way it's supposed to be played on that dusty field: scrappy, smart, and unafraid of anyone. If you want to feel the full weight of what that era meant, go find the speech Lee Blakeney gave when he went in. It's the kind of thing that reminds you why we still care about a baseball program that's had more valleys than peaks. He talks about the guys, the bus rides, the way the Palouse wind made every fly ball an adventure. It's worth your time. This isn't a rewrite of history. It's a long-overdue nod to a group of guys who made Pullman proud when Pullman wasn't used to it. Go Cougs.
The 1981 Cougs get their due with a Hall of Fame speech
When the 1981 Cougars walked into the Hall of Fame, it wasn't just a class getting its due. It was a reunion of a team that spent decades waiting for the phone to ring. And when the speech finally came, it didn't sound like a highlight reel. It sounded like Pullman. That's the thing about these Cougs. They weren't the flashiest team in WSU history. They didn't have the national profile of some later squads. But they had something else. They had each other. The speech made that clear, not through stats or game recaps, but through the kind of stories you only get when a group of guys has been sitting on the same memories for forty years. There were jokes. There were pauses. There were a few moments where you could tell the speaker was feeling the weight of the room. It reminds me of something we ran earlier this year. If you liked the way Lee Blakeney's Hall of Fame speech let you hear the man behind the helmet, you'll want to catch this one too. Same kind of honest, unpolished love for the program. The 1981 Cougs didn't need a plaque to know what they meant to each other. But it's good that they finally got one. Go Cougs.
2006 rowing team honored with Hall of Fame video and speech
It is a fine thing when the program takes a moment to pull a team out of the past and say, "You mattered." The 2006 rowing team got that treatment this week with a Hall of Fame video and a speech, and good for them. Rowing does not always get the loudest cheers in Pullman, but that team put in the work on the Snake River when the water was cold and the mornings were early. You do not win a Hall of Fame nod by accident. You earn it in the dark. We have been writing a lot about these Hall of Fame honors lately. If you missed it, go back and read about the 1996 volleyball team getting its flowers. Different sport, same feeling. That is the thing about Cougar athletics. The wins are not always national headlines, but the effort is real and the memory sticks. The 2006 rowers deserve their moment in the spotlight. The video and the speech matter because they do not just honor a scoreboard. They honor the grind. The hours. The teammates who pulled together when the boat was dragging. That is Pullman. That is Wazzu. Go Cougs.
The 1985 Coug cross country team gets its Hall of Fame moment
The 1985 Coug cross country team finally gets to hear its name called in the Hall of Fame, and it's about damn time. These were the runners who tore through the fall of '85 with something to prove, and they did it without a lot of noise. That's how a lot of great Pullman teams work, they just show up, grind, and let the results speak. This group ran well enough to earn a spot among the best in WSU history, and now the Hall of Fame makes it official. We've been digging into these older teams lately, and there's a pattern: the ones who didn't get the spotlight at the time tend to have the best stories. If you missed our piece on the 1981 Cougs getting their Hall of Fame speech, that one hits the same note. Different sport, same feeling of overdue respect. These recognitions matter because they connect the current Cougs to the ones who built the foundation on cold mornings in the Palouse. The cross country team from '85 deserves this moment. Not because they were loud, but because they were relentless. That's a Coug trait you can't fake. Go Cougs.
The 1996 volleyball team gets its Hall of Fame flowers
The 1996 volleyball team is finally getting its Hall of Fame moment, and it's about damn time. These Cougs went 27-5. They swept through the regular season like a Palouse wind and punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament. That kind of dominance doesn't happen by accident. It takes a squad that moves as one, that digs for every loose ball like the floor is lava and the last slice of pizza is on the line. We love seeing this group get the recognition they earned on those blue courts. It's a reminder that Pullman has been turning out winners long before the rest of the country caught on. If you want to feel the full weight of what a Hall of Fame nod means around here, pull up the piece we did on the 1985 cross country team getting its own moment. Different sport, same Cougar pride. The 1996 volleyball team belongs in that conversation. They were tough, they were sharp, and they made Pullman proud. We're just glad the Hall of Fame finally caught up. Go Cougs.
Cindy Fredrick's Hall of Fame speech is one every Coug should hear
Cindy Fredrick stood at that podium and did what too few Hall of Fame speeches do: she made you feel something. Not the polished, thank-everyone-by-name kind of thing. She talked about the work. The grind. The players who showed up when nobody was watching. For anyone who has ever worn the crimson, it lands like a punch to the chest, the good kind. This isn't a speech you stream for background noise. It is one you sit down for. Fredrick built something real in Pullman, and hearing her tell it reminds you why Cougar sports matter beyond the scoreboard. She coached through the hard years. She won when it counted. And she did it with a kind of grit that doesn't make the highlight reels. If you want the full picture of where this program has been and where it is going, read our breakdown of how Cougar Soccer bounced back after the Texas State loss. Coach Citowicki laid out what is next, and it pairs well with hearing Fredrick's foundation for it all. Go Cougs.
Lee Blakeney's Hall of Fame speech is worth the watch, Cougs
Lee Blakeney didn't just give a Hall of Fame speech. He gave a masterclass in what it means to be a Coug, and you should stop what you're doing to watch it. The man has been around the block, coached under Don James, spent decades in the game, and when he got the call, he didn't rattle off a list of wins. He talked about the people. The ones who stayed late. The ones who believed before there was proof. That's the stuff that hits different when you've spent time in Pullman. We ran Cindy Fredrick's Hall of Fame speech earlier this year, and if you liked that one, this is the same kind of honest, no-script emotion. Blakeney doesn't perform. He just tells you what he saw, and you can hear the gravel in his voice from all those years on the sideline. It's worth every second. Go Cougs.