FanHouse Aaron Johnson

On Wednesday night in Chicago, San Jose Sharks forward Mike Grier drilled Blackhawks defenseman Aaron Johnson from behind and into the boards. Johnson spent a couple of minutes on the ice writhing in pain before finally skating off the ice and onto the team's injured list. Grier got a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct, and is certain to be waiting by the phone for a call from NHL disciplinary czar Colin Campbell to hear if any supplementary discipline is in store.

So what say you, dear readers? Is a suspension in order, or should Grier -- who first caught my eye with a devastating open ice hit while at Boston University -- skate away without any additional punishment?

They were two of the most boneheaded plays you may ever see in college basketball, like Chris Webber somehow calling two timeouts instead of one.

The University of Arizona, battling the University of Alabama-Birmingham, was trailing most of the night in a contest to see who would advance to Madison Square Garden to face Oklahoma in the NIT semifinals, but then late in the game they started to come back. That comeback ended with two "seriously, guys?" fouls that could best be described as poorly coached and poorly executed.

After the Wildcats put together a comeback that had the team down three, Arizona's Garland Judkins got fouled, and after making the first and missing the second, freshman Kyle Fogg made a great play on the rebound, snatching it up, avoiding the defender and laying the ball in with just over 26 seconds left in the game. All tied at 71-71. Great. But what Fogg did next was inexplicable. The freshman, obviously confused on where he was or what the score was -- or even what game he was playing -- fouled Aaron Johnson right as the ball was inbounded, putting UAB on the line in a one-and-one opportunity.

As the foul happened, interim head coach Russ Pennell could only put his hands on his head in disbelief. You could almost read his mind, as you could most Wildcat fans, who probably have never played college basketball in their lives but know that when the game is tied you don't foul to put a guy on the line.

Through the first five games of 2007, it's hard to find a defense that's played much worse than WSU. Last in the Pac-10 in scoring defense, total defense, and passing defense among the major categories, a program that used to pride itself on playing fast and aggressive has turned into a passive group lacking experience and, most of all, confidence.

It's gotten so bad, this defense ranked "in the hundreds" among the nation's teams, that even the few productive players on defense are going to be replaced. Newcomers Alfonso Jackson and Kendrick Dunn, two of the top tacklers on the team, are both out this week after suffering injuries last week vs. Arizona. So changes are in fact coming for this beleagured group, but sadly, it's not really even by choice. At least four new starters will be in the lineup Saturday when WSU hosts ASU. Among the new starters is junior defensive tackle A'i Ahmu (pictured), a player who's battled stress fractures in his foot for the last year. Ahmu will start in place of senior Aaron Johnson. But at least Ahmu has a few starts under his belt, even if it is just a few. The rest of the new faces, led by safeties Christian Bass, Xavier Hicks and linebacker Andy Mattingly, will all be making their starting debuts this weekend.

But the seeds of what we are seeing today were planted last year, when the WSU defense lost so many productive players. The Cougars lost five of their top seven tacklers from 2006, including all-conference safety Eric Frampton and all-conference defensive end Mkristo Bruce. They even lost starting corner Tyron Brackenridge, who was last seen scoring a touchdown for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. In other words, this defense was already a thin, inexperienced unit before they ever lined up for the 2007 season. When you look at everything as a whole, the results thus far aren't exactly a shock. But what it does show is that WSU has come up short in terms of recruiting defensive talent. A lot of painful lessons are surely on the horizon when you realize that ASU, Oregon, and Cal, along with their athletic, dynamic offenses, are still on the schedule. In other words, if you can fathom it, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.

So much for wearing a life jacket and wading into the shallow end of the pool. Bill Doba is instead grabbing his young WSU defense by the back of the neck and tossing them off the diving board. The head coach and defensive coordinator is taking the tough-love route with his fresh young faces, as the Cougars will start three newcomers in the secondary as WSU gets set to take on Wisconsin at Camp Randall.

The scary part for Coug fans? Two of the newcomers couldn't be any "newer" at one of the toughest positions to play in a BCS conference. That's right, Doba has chosen to start a true frosh in Chima Nwachukwu at one corner spot, and JC transfer Devin Giles at the other. Chima is thought of as a rising prospect, and clearly had a fine camp by passing the upper class-men ahead of him on the depth chart (for sake of spelling errors, we'll just go with Chima this year). He's earned the right to start based on what coaches have seen thus far. But it's hard to envision a true freshman coming in and excelling right away. It might be a feat if he can simply tread water and not get beat too badly. But Doba certainly has confidence in the young prospect who has played on a big high school stage:

Nwachukwu is from Allen, Texas, and Doba said big-time high-school football in Texas has prepared him to step into pressure situations. Doba said Allen High School has a 50-yard indoor practice facility, a 15,000-seat stadium, 17 assistant coaches and a football-program receptionist.

"It's a different type of intensity," Doba said, comparing it to other high-school programs.

Giles may be a JC guy, but he didn't even play football last year, instead taking a redshirt and running track at Coffeyville JC in '06. The third new face in the secondary is JC transfer Alonzo Jackson. At least Jackson played JC football last year at Blinn College, and has shown the WSU coaches a lot thus far in camp. However Terry Mixon, the five-star JC recruit thought to be a starter immediately at strong safety when he signed with the Cougars, has battled weight and injury issues since the beginning of camp. That opened the door for Jackson, so he will get the start.