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« January 2007 | Main | March 2007 » February 27, 2007One valuable cardThe most valuable version of the 1909 Honus Wagner tobacco card, referred to as the "Holy Grail of baseball cards," just sold for $2.35M. Click for photo How much have you spent on collectible cards in the past? Read the story February 24, 2007Fresno State men beat New Mexico StateLAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Maybe these Bulldogs are for real. Fresno State held on Saturday night for a 60-58 win against New Mexico State, ending the Aggies' 19-game home winning streak at the Pan American Center. Fresno State (20-8 overall) converted nine of 10 free throws in the final 3 minutes to improve to 8-6 in the Western Athletic Conference. Fresno State leads NMS 31-23 at halftimeLAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Fresno State, led by 11 points by Hector Hernandez, leads New Mexico State 31-23 at halftime Saturday night at the Pan American Center. Eddie Miller scored nine points in the first half. The Bulldogs shot 40% from the field. Tyrone Nelson leads the Aggies in scoring with eight points. Women's basketball: Fresno State 63, New Mexico State 57Tierre Wilson and Chantella Perera each scored 16 points and the Fresno State women's basketball team outlasted New Mexico State 63-57 Saturday afternoon at the Save Mart Center. Wilson's 3-pointer as the shot clock hit 0:01 clinched the win with 12.3 seconds left. February 22, 2007Fresno State men beat La TechThe Frenso State men's basketball team defeated Louisiana Tech 64-63 for its second road Western Athletic Conference victory of the season. Fresno State led 32-26 at halftime and held on to improve to 7-6 in the WAC and 19-8 overall. Dominic McGuire scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead four Bulldogs in double-figure scoring. Kevin Bell added 16 points, Hector Hernandez scored 15 points and Quinton Hosley had 12 points and eight rebounds. Fresno State next travels to New Mexico State on Saturday. Fresno State leads 32-26 at halftimeDominic McGuire scored 12 first-half points Thursday night as Fresno State leads Louisiana Tech 32-26 at halftime. Hector Hernandez (nine points) connected on 3 of his 4 shots, all 3-point attempts. Fresno State shot 44.8% in the first half. Louisiana Tech shot 41.4%.
February 21, 2007Still gettin' it doneIf you're familiar with running in the Fresno area, then you know this picture is priceless. When you and your friends sit around discussing the best over-70 male, amateur runners in the San Joaquin Valley -- don't lie, you know you do -- these are the three men you talk about.
From left to right, they are Frank Delgado, Chris Denny and Willie Leffall. All are more than 70 years old, and all very competitive runners. I had them get together Saturday for the world's first picture of the three of them together. (If you have a picture of these three, just let me pretend.) As you can see, Leffall won a medal on Saturday, finishing second to Denny in the 2-mile race for his age group. Fun story: For 20 years or so, Leffall lost to these other two guys, until one year he decided he was going to get serious. So he started eating two salads a day and running so hard he dropped 25 pounds. That was a couple years ago and he's been beating Denny pretty regularly since. (Although obviously not on Saturday.) But he's never beaten Delgado and he couldn't help noticing that as his times got lower and lower, they were never in the same race together. If he ran the 5k, Delgado was in the 2-mile. If he ran the 5k, Delgado was in the 10k. Turns out Delgado was purposely ducking him. Leffall says Delgado doesn't want to race him because he assumes if Leffall beat him, then he would never race him again and go out on top ... which is exactly right. That is what Leffall wants to do. It's the running joke between them. They have agreed to run the same race on Father's Day in downtown Fresno to finally settle who is the better runner. And I will be there to chronicle it. More importantly, though, how funny is it that a guy nearly 70 YEARS OLD would drop 25 pounds to beat a couple other 70-year-olds in a bunch of races with no prize money and only $5 medals as prizes?? And then a 70-year-old guy would duck another 70-year-old guy to make sure he didn't get beat, and then they would arrange a high-noon showdown. How crazy is that? Is that not the most guy thing you've ever heard? This is why women want us to get checked regularly for head injuries. Speaking of older runners. Here is a Franz Weinschenk, the oldest runner in Saturday's race. He's at least 80. No story. Just got a picture of him coming down the straightaway to the finish. Also, you should know that this girl pushed me down near the finish line, which is how she got a medal and I didn't. Do not be fooled by her cuteness. She's ruthless. Look, she's bragging to her mom about it right here and the mom is laughing. Your running series leaderHere's a picture of Roosevelt Cook, who has won the first two races of the Valley Runner of the Year Series. In January, he won the "Run for the Dream" event at Woodward Park in 26:03. It was a five-mile race this year instead of six, because of construction that cut off part of the course. If you're a math genius, you've figured out that his time means he ran 5-minute, 13-second miles, which should qualify as cheating. I took this picture of Cook at Saturday's "Race Judicata" in Clovis, where he won the 5k in some ridiculous time of 14 minutes and change. I forget the exact time. He's a cyborg of some kind. A really fast cyborg. He ran for Fresno State a while back, where I'm told he was also really good. Which I'm sure you'd figured out. Cook would be the tall guy wearing sunglasses, messing with his phone. He's not actually 9 feet tall. He's standing on something. It would be safe to call him a heavy favorite to win another Valley Runner of the Year championship. It's almost worth the entry fee of the races just to say you competed against someone that good. Watch out, softball BulldogsFresno State is picked to win the WAC every year and 2007 is no exception. But the Bulldogs better beware of a Hawaii team that is busting down fences. The Rainbow Wahine is 10-2 thanks to a pitching staff with a 1.75 ERA and an offense that already has blasted 17 homers, including two grand slams at the recent Las Vegas Invitational. Hawaii also has beaten No. 15 Nebaska twice and No. 24 DePaul. The Rainbow Wahine knocked Fresno State out of the 2006 WAC Tournamenet in the semifinals at Bulldog Diamond. The tournament again is in Fresno, but by that time it's doubtful Fresno State will be the favorite. The Bulldogs have yet to beat a ranked team and No. 1 Tennessee is next, Friday at the Palm Springs Classic. Coach Margie Wright lacks a power hitter in the mold of Christina Clark and that could cost her. Pitcher Robin Mackin, despite all her strikeouts, gives up a lot of homers. Hawaii's Kate Robison and Tyleen Tausaga each have four homers, compared to Fresno State's four as a team. Just food for thought. Running series 2007: Race No. 2I finally beat this woman in a race. Her name is Donna Aldrich. She probably had the flu or a severely broken ankle, but I'm still counting it.
You might be saying, "Hmmm, that woman seems to be somewhat older than you, Matt. OK, so she runs in the over-50 category and I'm 30. Big deal. She's really, really fast. Actually, she is just consistent. She starts at a good pace and finishes at a good pace. I have a problem with the latter. In the few races I've run, she is always just in front of me. I could put my head down and sprint as hard as I can and when I looked up, she would still be there. She's Pepé Le Pew. Can't shake her. So Saturday was the second race of the 2007 Valley Runner of the Year Series, "Race Judicata," a 2-mile and 5k put on by the San Joaquin College of Law. It mostly goes on the Old Clovis Trail. I ran a 22:16 in the 5k, which for me is darn good. I took my camera to the race and got some shots of some of the interesting characters in the Fresno running scene. And as soon as I find the piece of paper with everyone's name on it, I'll start posting them. Donna's name I could look up because she's No. 7 on the series standings. My goal for the year is to score one point in the series, which will be tough since I'm in the 39-and-under category. I'll be sure to go to all the out-of-town races, hoping not many people will show up. It beats having to train. Fresno State women's basketball forfeitBy now, you've probably read that the Fresno State women's basketball team might have to forfeit a Jan. 18 win at San Jose State because senior center Jenny Thigpin wasn't officially enrolled that day. (She rectified a class conflict a few days later). Fresno State, in a self-imposed move, suspended her for the Jan. 25 home game vs. Nevada, a 68-61 loss. The WAC, last week, then told Fresno State it must forfeit the San Jose State game. Fresno State is appealing. Athletic director Thomas Boeh was right when he told me, "It goes against the spirit of the rule to punish the team more." If Fresno State does take San Jose State as a loss, it could have far-reaching effects when the WAC Tournament comes around in March. It could drop the Bulldogs from third or fourth to sixth or seventh, resulting in playing one of the top seeds sooner than expected. Give Fresno State credit for self-reporting the incident and suspending Thigpin. But maybe next time they shouldn't take action against the player. The team was going to face a forfeit anyway. Why do the team more harm by suspending the player? The result? The Bulldogs could now lose two games; one (Nevada) they could have won with Thigpin in the lineup.
More Madec storiesIf you read Sunday's column about Ed Madec, the first-year coach at Fresno City, here are a few more of the dozens of stories I couldn't fit into the article. Something about needing room for pictures and other stories about sports. (I nap a lot when editors are talking.) I spent one day with the guy. Keep that in mind. Here we go ... ... Madec has an aging Honda that as I mentioned in the column, was stolen while he was at the Fresno State vs. Nevada game at the Save Mart Center. They found it at the corner of Palm & Alluvial, apparently the new drop-off spot for stolen cars when you are done stripping them and joy-riding. When Madec lived in Weed, Calif., he used to leave the keys in the ignition and his wallet on the seat, but now he lives in the big-city of Fresno, so he is learning to lock up. (Weed, I'm told, has a population of 20,000, 17,000 of which are trees.) This weekend one of his buddies came into town from Las Vegas to watch Saturday's game and while Madec was holding the morning walk-through with his team, the friend did him a favor and took the car to get it washed. While the car was half-way through the contraption, somewhere around the rinse cycle, the carwash broke down and so it was stuck in there for two hours. Same car. The thing is jinxed. He should leave the keys in it and hope someone keeps it this time. So the friend -- David Dineen, if you must know his name -- was explaining what happened at the carwash and all Madec (the classic overanalyzer) could say was, "Did you get the deluxe wash, with the detailing? Did they really clean out the inside good? Did they use Armor All?" And Dineen just looks at him and goes, "It's clean, Ed. Don't worry about it." ... While he was at the College of the Siskiyous in Weed, Madec took his players on a field-trip to the beach one day because half of them had never seen the ocean. he was running around with his shirt off. A man came up and asked him how he stayed in such great shape. Madec started explaining his diet and workout ruitine, then suddenly stopped and said, how old do you think I am? The guy said 50-ish. Madec was, of course, in his early 30s. ... Madec's wife, Maija, was a great basketball player at Chico State. She was at the top of her class in engineering and also played trombone in an orchestra. A dollar to anyone who can find a basketball-starring, honors-engineering, trombone-playing student anywhere in the world. ... While coaching at Siskiyous, Madec lived in a secluded house in the mountains that he bought and completely renovated. Then, he sold it and bought another house in the woods. He still has that one. ... In practices earlier this season, Madec taped the rims at Fresno City so the ball couldn't go in, and his team would play games where the scoring went like this: one point for a defensive rebound; two points for an offensive rebound, two points for taking a charge. There was some other way to score, I forget what it was, but it did not involve making a shot. That, I know. Not a bad way to teach rebounding. Not a bad idea when you have a team of guards. ... Madec on his passion for, well, everything: "I'm always learning. It's fun to learn." ... Madec on his team's record: "They aren't very good, but they don't know it ... They get up for big games. They don't have that much talent, but they really think they're going to win. And then they do. I've never seen anything like it." ... Madec on who would win a basketball game between he and his wife: "I'm just a poser. She's the player." ... Madec's assistant, Tony Amundsen, on what it's like to guard Madec on the basketball court, where he is always shirtless, hairy and sweaty: "Nobody wants to cover him. You just get slimed." None tougher than Fresno CityThey may be mostly freshmen, but the Fresno City College Rams men's basketball team has a toughness that reflects its intense coach, Ed Madec. West Hills coach Mark Arce said the Rams play harder than any team he's seen. The Rams and Falcons both could reach the state tournament in Fresno. February 17, 2007Fresno State men 78, Sam Houston State 60The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated Sam Houston State 78-60 Saturday night at the Save Mart Center in a nonconference BracketBusters game. Guard Eddie Miller scored 27 points to pace the Bulldogs, who improved to 18-8. Quinton Hosley had a double-double -- 14 points and 10 rebounds -- while Tyson Parker had 12 points and Dominic McGuire had 11 rebounds. Miller hit 7 of 10 3-pointers and Parker was 3 of 4. Fresno State women 69, Boise State 61The Fresno State women's basketball team knocked off Boise State, the top team in the Western Athletic Conference, 69-61 Saturday at the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs improve to 7-5 in the WAC and 14-11 overall, while the first-place Broncos falls to 10-2 and 19-6. Tierre Wilson led the Bulldogs with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Chantella Perera and Erica Henry added 12 points apiece. The Bulldogs next host Louisiana Tech on Thursday. Check fresnobee.com for updates and read tomorrow's Bee for the full story. February 16, 2007Should the All-Star Game be in LV every year?The NBA's All-Star game is in Las Vegas this year. Should it be held there every year? Tell us what you think. Catch the Valley's Fab Four of 2006 on TVSaturday's television lineup offers an opportunity to see four of the central San Joaquin Valley's finest exports - the high school basketball class of 2006. Starting at 11 a.m. on ESPN, catch Quincy Pondexter and the Washington Huskies as they visit Pittsburgh in an important nonconference game. Pondexter, a Memorial High grad, averages 11 points and 4.2 rebounds per game as a freshman forward. He has started 16 games for the 16-9 Huskies, who will be looking to improve their postseason chances against the nation's No. 7 team. At 3 p.m. on ESPN, Tre'Von Willis and the No. 8 Memphis Tigers visit Gonzaga. Freshman guard Willis, a Washington High grad, averages 3 points per game. He has played in 13 of Memphis' 25 games and averages 6.3 minutes per contest. The Tigers are 22-3. Then, at 5 p.m. on Fox Sports Bay Area, the Lopez twins and the Stanford Cardinal take the stage in a Pac-10 home game vs. 15th-ranked Oregon. Brook Lopez, who scored a career-high 20 points Thursday night, averages 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds, while his brother Robin averages 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. The 7-foot freshmen centers have helped the Cardinal to a 16-8 record this season. BracketBummer for Fresno StateIf your mid-major college basketball team is participating in one of the nationally televised ESPN BracketBusters games this weekend, its coaches and players are excited. If your school is one of programs left off the television schedule, playing a nonconference game nobody will see - like Fresno State - the deal isn't so sweet. Conference play is interrupted during a critical part of the season. Lucky for the Bulldogs, they host Sam Houston State on Saturday night at the Save Mart Center. But next season, they will make the return trip to Huntsville, Texas. The game means little to both teams. A win by either team will not be enough to "tip the scale" when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee meets next month. To reach the tournament, both teams must win their respective conference tournaments, and with it, earn an automatic bid. February 15, 2007Welcome to NASCAR Toyota?NASCAR fans ... how do you feel about Toyota joining Detroit's Big 3 in Nextel Cup action? Yeah, so Toyota has manufacturing plants in the U.S. now, but does that really make a Japanese product American? Does anyone really care if "foreign" automakers come in and try to steal the thunder? Toyota has already taken a huge chunk of wins and earnings in the Craftsman Truck Series. How long will it take them to have big success in the Cup series? February 13, 2007Women: Hawaii 79, Fresno State 65The Fresno State women's basketball team lost to host Hawaii 79-65 Thursday night to fall to 6-5 in the Western Athletic Conference and 13-11 overall. Chantella Perera scored 18 points for the Bulldogs, who next play Boise State, at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Save Mart Center. A team of Heckle and HydeOn Sporting News radio this morning, Tony D'Addato and I spent a good portion of the 7 a.m. hour talking about the Fresno State basketball players, their missed free throws and whether or not they should be booed for it. This was in response to Coach Steve Cleveland's comments after Saturday's win against New Mexico State, when he said there was no place for booing in college basketball. His team has had some poor free throw performances, including 15 misses in one game against Nevada, and the Save Mart Center crowd has booed a few times. Tony and I agree that missing free throws is probably not a boo-able offense. Actually, we agreed that booing your own team is pretty ridiculous no matter what. I mean, if they give up, stop trying, quit putting out effort, OK, maybe, but Fresno State has been hustling all year long. The Bulldogs have been pretty bad at the free throw line, though, especially the last couple weeks at home. The last three home games, they went 15-of-28 (Hawaii), 10-of-25 (Nevada) and 15-of-29 (New Mexico State), for a total three-game total of 48.8%. That, is unfortunate. And really, really bad. So here is one email response ... "I have a solution to our booing problem. Let's hold the coaching staff acountable for the teams poor free throw shooting performance. Why arn't the coaches taking the blame for the teams free throw shooting inadequacies. From this point on when fans boo a missed free throw, the coaching staff should take the heat. We are booing the coaching staff for not 'teaching these 19-22 year old young men' the fundamentals of the game. You can look these stats up just as well as I can, but here are the ones that stand out: Does that seem silly to anyone else? What exactly separates the great coaches of free throw shooting from the mediocre ones? I'm told the Bulldogs shoot free throws in practice. By college, I think free throws might be one of those things you can either do well or you can't. No one makes a Division I basketball team then improves his free throw percentage by 30 points. Ooooooh, I'm right-handed. I had no idea. All this time I was shooting free throws with my left. If anything, free throw shooting is affected by mental toughness, the ability to block out pressure, of being able to ignore the 10,000 people watching you. So, technically, the people booing probably are only making it worse. Which is probably why Steve Cleveland made sure to bring it up in the press conference. So people would stop. See, the coaches ARE doing something. February 12, 2007Coleman's last shotSo here is a random picture I took while messing around with my camera at the Fresno State-Hawaii game last week. No big deal, right? Except there is a somewhat eery part, and the somewhat eery part is that this might be the last photo of Ja'Vance Coleman taking a shot at the Save Mart Center. I wasn't even trying to take a picture of Coleman, it just worked out that way.
Coleman was, after one more game (at Idaho) kicked off the team for a reason that still hasn't been released to the general public. Everyone has a theory and the rumors are making their second and third trips around Fresno. This is not the kind of thing we will theorize about here. It is Coleman's life, after all, his career that could be finished should he not catch on with a pro team in the future. It would be more than a stretch to say he has a good shot at the NBA, but you would think he could catch on with a European team if he wanted. You'll notice a woman who walked right in front of me as I was taking the picture. I would not be surprised if she is still stumbling around blindly in east Fresno, wondering who the idiot was who (accidentally) flashed her right in the face with his camera. It used to be that Fresno Bee reporters sat on the sideline, where we could actually see both ends of the court and hear what was being said between players and coaches and referees. This season we are on the end of the court, where people stand in front of us for the beginning of each half and occasionally during exciting portions of the game. (Like many schools, the Fresno State fans have a tradition of standing until the home team makes the first basket of each half, and frankly, it sometimes takes a few minutes.) The odd relationship between Fresno State and the media continues. You might remember that Hawaii game at the Save Mart Center as the infamous loss with nearly unbelievable statistics for the Bulldogs. They scored 12 points in an entire half, shot 23.6% from the floor, went 1-for-24 from the three-point line, and had 21 turnovers and only four assists. How you play an entire college basketball game with only four assists, I'm still not sure, and I was there. Anyway, Coleman's game against Hawaii wasn't much different than his teammates, or the rest of his season, for that matter. He went 1-for-7 shooting and had no assists. This picture was a first half shot, and I'm going to guess it was a miss. Wasn't really keeping track. Didn't realize it would be one of the last. February 10, 2007Men: Fresno State 75, New Mexico State 69The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated New Mexico State 75-69 Saturday at the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs improved to 6-6 in the Western Athletic Conference and 17-8 overall. Women: New Mexico State 67, Fresno State 63The Fresno State women's basketball team lost at New Mexico State 67-63 Saturday in a Western Athletic Conference game. The Bulldogs, who dropped to 13-10 overall and 6-4 in the WAC, couldn't hold a 31-25 halftime advantage, getting outscored 42-32 in the second half. The Aggies improved to 10-13, 5-6. Fresno State leads 40-26 at halftimeJunior Alex Blair provided a spark off the bench during the first half of Saturday night's game against New Mexico State, scoring six points, playing solid defense as Fresno State jumped out to a 40-26 halftime lead at the Save Mart Center. Blair went 3 of 3 from the field with one steal and one rebound. February 8, 2007Women: Fresno State 86, Nevada 81The Fresno State women's basketball team defeated host Nevada 86-81 Thursday. The Bulldogs (13-9, 6-3 Western Athletic Conference) trailed by four at halftime, but rallied in the second half by outscoring the Wolf Pack 50-41. Nevada sweeps season seriesFresno State missed 15 of 25 free throws Thursday night, the difference in an 81-68 loss to No. 12 Nevada at the Save Mart Center. Nevada leads at halftimeFresno State rode the emotion of the Save Mart Center crowd Thursday night, but missed more than half of its free throws, giving No. 12 Nevada a 40-38 halftime lead. Dominic McGuire (nine points) and Quinton Hosley (eight points) excited the crowd with consecutive dunks midway through the first half. Nevada center Nick Fazekas leads the Wolf Pack with 12 points. Coleman watching from the outsideFor the first time this season, men's basketball practice is closed to the media at Fresno State, so we may have to wait until tonight's game against No. 12 Nevada to find out how the Bulldogs respond to the loss of one of their seniors. Guard Ja'Vance Coleman, who has struggled through his own adversity this season on the court, was dismissed from the team Monday for violating undisclosed athletic department rules. Rumors of why he was kicked off have ranged from academics to some story about aliens and spaceships. I wonder if Coleman will watch tonight's game. We've talked before about the pressure of playing college basketball in his hometown, how hard it would be for him to fail in front of so many people. That's a feeling few of us will ever fully understand. What's next for JC? Working out, sign with an agent, finish the spring semester and, most of all, clear his mind of this season's troubles. Doesn't do him any good now to mope over his decisions. He can't change anything now, so it's time to move on. Coach Steve Cleveland has said he will do anything he can to make sure Coleman graduates and to help him play on the next level. I'm wondering what Coleman will do to If Fresno State upsets No. 12 Nevada tonight, I get creditI'm hearing that the Bulldogs are using my Pro/Con argument from Tuesday's edition as motivation. To catch you up, every Tuesday, two Fresno Bee staff members take turns writing different sides of one argument, from "Is Fresno State good enough to reach the postseason?" to "Who has the best hairdo on the team?" Oftentimes, we flip a quarter to decide who writes what argument. It's not easy; most subjects have valid points on both sides. Anyway, all I heard last weekend in Moscow, Idaho, was how I wrote that Fresno State would win a Western Athletic Conference road game this season, thanks to the cellar-dweller Idaho Vandals. Matt James wrote the opposite, saying Fresno State would not win a road game this season. Of course, Idaho coach George Pfeifer posted my story in the locker room. He teased me about it when I interviewed him before and after the game ... The Vandals lost, of course. Taking a page from Pfeifer's bag of tricks, Fresno State's coaching staff is doing the same thing. I wrote that the Bulldogs would not upset Nevada tonight, or New Mexico State on Saturday night. Both games will be played at the Save Mart Center, where the Bulldogs have lost just twice this season (Stanford and Hawaii). Wonder if the players read Daniel Lyght's counter argument, saying they would win? February 7, 2007Bulldogs with a causeBy Jeff Davis Call the Fresno State softball team Rebels with a Cause. Those chips on the Bulldogs' shoulders aren't just for show. The Bulldogs haven't reached the College World Series since 1999 and they're mad as hell and don't want to take it anymore. If you noticed the photo on the front page of the sports section in last Thursday's edition of The Bee, the Bulldogs were wearing dark blue T-shirts with the word "Rebel" on the front. The shirts are motivation to remind them of the goal that has escaped them for so many years now. Bulldogs coach Margie Wright said it's something the team decided to wear. "They had to earn that shirt," she said. "They had to decide that they'd do everything they could to resist defeat." If Fresno State does make the CWS, it will be one of Wright's best coaching jobs since she arrived 22 years ago. In 1998 she won an NCAA championship, but that team was loaded with U.S. Olympians and pitcher Amanda Scott, one of the best to ever wear a Bulldogs uniform. The last two years, Fresno State had All-America pitcher Jamie Southern (2005), a member of the U.S. national team, and three-time WAC player of the year Christina Clark (2006) ... and still couldn't pull it off and reach Oklahoma City. Wright is big on talking about total team efforts to get the job done. This year will test that philosophy and the coaching staff's ability to bring out the full potential in the players. Fresno State has budding star pitcher Robin Mackin and an offense that seems to be strong throughout the order. Missing is a player like Clark, who can be counted on to get on base, smash homers and drive in runners. There are no fearsome bats this time around, unless Wright is hiding one in the locker room until the season starts. The Bulldogs will see where they stand right out of the gate. They face Texas A&M and 2006 NCAA runner-up Northwestern Feb. 9 to open the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. Stay tuned. February 5, 2007Coleman dismissed from teamJa'Vance Coleman was dismissed from the Fresno State men's basketball team for violating athletic department rules, coach Steve Cleveland said before a news conference scheduled for 6:45 p.m. this evening. What now sports fans?With the Super Bowl in the books, which sport(s) are you currently most interested in? The upcoming NASCAR season, NBA, NHL, other? February 4, 2007Giordano to the rescue6:43 p.m. - Matt Giordano comes in because of an injury, or maybe it was just because it was an obvious throwing situation, and he makes the hit on fourth down that knocks the ball out and essentially ends the game. Good for him. If he's not eventually going to be re-signed by the Colts, or given a chance to start, having his name said on the air during the Super Bowl, probably won't hurt his chances of getting a job with another team. 6:49 p.m. - The saddest shot of Rex Grossman I've ever seen, just standing there, hat tilted to the side, looking like he was just mugged at Disneyland. No way around it, he was bad. Obviously, he didn't handle the wet ball as well as Manning did. He fumbled two snaps. The ball seemed to be coming out of his hand early. His deep ball to Bernard Berrian, who was open, went straight up like there was a huge vaccuum above the stadium. His other interception was also a floater, a ball he shouldn't have thrown because the defender never went for his pretty pathetic pump fake. Maybe his hands are smaller than most NFL quarterbacks and the rain affects him more. But like I said before, it's not like he didn't have terrible games during the season. 6:58 p.m. - The game is over. The Indianapolis Colts are your Super Bowl XLI champions. They just showed a shot of Giordano hugging someone who might have been his dad. Not sure on that one. A couple notes that I didn't mention earlier. Ray Reyes, who coached Ricky Manning Jr. at Edison High School went to the game, all expenses paid, thanks to Manning, and Reyes said the face value of his ticket was $600. The players each got two free tickets and then had the option to buy 13 more. So most of the players spent around $7,800 just in tickets for friends and family. Not a bad game at all. Wish the Bears could have actually moved the ball, but at least Dan Marino's hair still looks good. And can CBS please put some closed captioning up on the screen when Shannon Sharpe is talking. The guy doesn't pause between words. Maybe next year. Score update4:31 p.m. - There is a game going on, as it turns out, so it's time for an update. The rain is still coming down, which isn't helping the fumbling situation. Colts just scored and now lead 16-14. Something bad is developing. The Bears aren't moving the ball at all. Besides that one Thomas Jones run, they basically haven't done anything. That's not good. 4:37 p.m. - Phil Simms keep talking about how much criticism Rex Grossman got during the year. Coach Lovie Smith seems to hold entire press conferences just to remind the media that Grossman is his starting quarterback. The guy seems to take it as a personal insult that people criticize his QB. It's not like Grossman had a couple below average games. He turned the ball over six times in a game. He was Brett Favre in the later years. Oh, Grossman just fumbled. I hate it when I forsee these things. Fresno players producing4:03 p.m. - Former Fresno State star Bernard Berrian makes his second catch of the game. The umpires discuss whether he was in bounds or not, and it is ruled a catch. They say he was forced out of bounds. He has 19 yards so far, the leading Bears reciever. That's not saying a lot, though. 4:15 p.m. - The Bears continue to fumble and the Colts slowly catch up. We're getting to see why Matt Giordano doesn't start. Bob Sanders can really hit. We are nearing the end of the first quarter. Praying for decent commercials at this break. Almost forgot about the hamster and the rabbit in the pet shop, trying to get the "mouse" to work. That was pretty funny. These ads are weakThe commercials are pretty below average to this point. The only one that was really funny was the two Bud Light commercials, the first where the two guys are paper/rock/scissors for the last beer, and the guy flings a rock into the other guy's head on. The second was where the groomsmen hire the auctioneer to perform their buddy's wedding ceremony, so they can all get to the Bud Light faster. Good stuff. The rest have been pretty bad. The Sierra Mist commercials were decent. (The beard come-over was delightfully disturbing.) All car commercials are just stupid. And these companies that buy ads during the Super Bowl and then try to actually tell us about their product, should be fined. Nobody cares about your product. Just make us laugh. Somebody should probably stop him3:33 p.m. Devin Hester is off and running, touchdown, on the first kickoff, WOOOHOOO! OK, so I'm cheering for the Bears. I lived in Chicago for a year, so I'm allowed. Isn't it weird that they really didn't talk about Hester that much on the pregame. And did you notice who ran him down at the end? That's right, Fresno's own Matt Giordano, #43, who tackled him about a yard or two into the endzone. In this week's column about Giordano, he and I talked about whether he could run down Hester or not. He apparently can, though it didn't do much good, and Hester probably ran farther. I even joked that Tony Dungy probably didn't want to find out if he could or not. 3:46 p.m. - The Colts strike back, a touchdown to Reggie Wayne, who must have taken his defender and buried him in the Everglades somewhere because he was wide, wide open. Manning is a genius. That is the only thing to be taken away from this play. And every play. Let's get musical3:10 p.m. - The city of Miami must keep Gloria Estefan in a vacuum-sealed container somewhere, like Han Solo, and they bring her out for all major events. No one sees her for years at a time, then suddenly there she is, introducing a musical group before the Super Bowl and representing an entire city. At least I think that was a musical group. It was some sort of circus, jazz thing. But seriously, is there no other Miami celebrity? And what happened to the Sound Machine? I miss those guys. 3:21 p.m. - Billy Joel just rocks. I don't care what anyone says. So he missed a note early on there, and he pronounces all the words in some strange maybe-I'm-a-New-Yorker/maybe-I'm-European accent. Great National Anthem. It's just cool to hear Billy sing it. I have a bad, bad feeling about halftime. Don't ask me why. A little insider informationBefore we get going again here, a little insight they don't have at CBS. Or at least they haven't mentioned it yet. According to Fresno native Ricky Manning Jr., the Bears cornerback, Chicago coach Lovie Smith told the players on Friday that he would be doing the midnight, hotel curfew checks himself, because he didn't feel like he'd seen enough of his players during the week. He was only half-kidding. No word whether he actually did the checking. You think when he checked Tank Johnson's room, he knocked and then leaped off to the side, just in case Tank peeled back the door with a sawed-off shotgun? Just a thought. 2:21 p.m. - We now stop the pregame to bring you the obligatory Archie Manning interview. Thank goodness the Manning family is doing OK. It's important that we get these constant reminders that the Manning family is more blessed than your family. 2:40 p.m. - The Dan Marino/Peyton Manning interview is highlighted by Marino teasing him about doing so many commercials, and Manning showing how all of his receivers ask for the ball during games, and how ignores them most of the time. 3:05 p.m. - I promise, as you are all my witnesses, I will never watch the movie "Norbit." Poor Denny Green1:31 p.m. - Lesley Visser joins the crew on the desk. I'm OK with sideline reporters. Don't mind them. Don't lose sleep over them. Can live without them. But they've been a pretty big debate this year. A couple networks have ditched them altogether, and the movement is away from dingy hot women who just want to be on TV, and toward actual reporters. And then of course you have FOX, who has Tony Siragusa waddling up and down the sideline interviewing no one and finding absolutely no stories. Occasionally he bantors with the play-by-play and color commentators as if he were in the booth. If he's that interesting (which he isn't), just put him in the booth. Maybe -- and I'm just throwing this out there -- there isn't room. Anyway, Visser looks nervous. Holy cow. She's spastic. Hugging James Brown's arm, laughing at her own jokes like a madwoman. She's awesome. No matter what they do, there are just those people who are likable and she's one of them. 1:37 p.m. - They finally show the Dennis Green clip from the loss to the Bears. That's about an hour later than I figured it would be. Everybody thought Jim Mora was crazy back when he used to do his wild press conferences where he would just go nuts and no one would know what he would say next. Now he's beloved for it. Maybe Green will get that kind of respect someday for the best news conference of 2006. I fully support coaches being lauded for actually saying what they're thinking. That's probably why I like Fresno State coach Pat Hill so much. Nice touch by CBS of playing that "So Ya Had a Bad Day" song with the clip of Green saying his now-famous lines. This pregame show is what I thought it would be. You want to crown it, then crown it, but it IS what I thought it would be. Boring. 1:48 p.m. - A great piece about Hines Ward and his mother, with Katie Couric making an appearance on the desk, doing that lovable, weird mouth thing she does. Ward's childhood relationship with his mother is beyond interesting. Could watch another 20 minutes of interviews with both of them. Uh-oh, just found out Dan Marino is going to be interviewing Peyton Manning later. I'm double-checking my TiVo. |
Honus Wagner baseball card nets $2.35M
