Monday, Jun. 09, 2008

Carville, Russert mock WSU football on XM program

By Eric Degerman, SportsTriCities.com

Washington State University's football program suffered a number of punishing body blows in the past few months.

And a recent program on XM Satellite Radio opened with the latest black eye — Tacoma prep star Calvin Schmidtke.

The high school quarterback recently was released from his WSU scholarship after accumulating 11 citations during an 18-month period. According to the News Tribune of Tacoma, Schmidtke's citations were related to traffic violations, alcohol and drug-related charges.

Political adviser/celebrity James Carville, age 63, and Luke Russert, the 22-year-old son of NBC-TV journalist Tim Russert, took both the Cougars and Schmidtke to task on the May 30 segment of 60/20 Sports.

In fact, they spent the first six minutes of the program mixing laughter with amazement. At one point, the 60/20 team called Schmidtke "The Ryan Perrilloux of the Northwest," a reference to the legally challenged QB who recently transferred from Louisiana State to Jacksonville State.

"Ryan Perrilloux looks like Jesus compared to this guy," Russert said.

Carville said, "I love that story. I just love it."

Russert wondered, "He gets released from the scholarship for 11 citations in 18 months. How do you do that? That's almost once a month?"

Carville said, "My favorite part, though, by the way, is Cougars coach Paul Wulff made the announcement (withdrawing the scholarship) saying, "We feel this is in the best interest of both Washington State University and Calvin.

"Well, what happened after the eighth, the ninth, the 10th (citation)?" Carville added. "He ain't even out of high school!"

Russert later quipped, "The (Cincinnati) Bengals had 11 arrests in 18 months, but that was a team!"

Carville noted WSU recently lost eight scholarships for failing to meet the NCAA academic progress rates over the past several years.

"You are not going to play at Washington State if you are arrested 11 times," Carville said to laughter inside the studio. "(Wulff) put his foot down."

Russert, who recently graduated from Boston College, said, "(Schmidtke) gets caught with open containers (of alcohol). He's 18! Go in your basement and drink by yourself and lock the door! What the hell are you doing? Ride a bicycle."

The segment closed with the following invitation by Russert:

"Calvin, if you are anywhere listening, we will give you the full hour to come on our show and talk to us about how it is possible for you to get 11 arrests in an 18-month period."

Cougar fans likely will not be interested, but Husky fans may enjoy the banter of the May 30 segment via this link or going on iTunes. The podcast is free.

Editor's note: My heart was saddened today (Friday, June 13) to learn that Luke lost his historic dad to an apparent heart attack. My prayers will be with Luke and his mother on this Father's Day.