The American Heritage Dictionary -- as stated by Dictionary.com -- defines dynasty as
1. A succession of rulers from the same family or line.
2. A family or group that maintains power for several generations: a political dynasty controlling the state.
Earlier today I heard someone on the radio say the Spurs would be a dynasty if they won the NBA championship this season. How many in a row would that be for the Spurs? One. People use the term dynasty WAY too loosely and it bothers me.
A dynasty is the Boston Celtics winning 8 titles in a row.
To a lesser extent it's Jordan's Bulls winning three straight titles twice. Any other three-peat is arguable, because repeated titles shows that team maintaining power for several generations (seasons).
If the Spurs win the title this season -- and they probably will -- it will be their fourth title in nine seasons. The Lakers three-peated between the Spurs' championships in 99 and 03.
That's a great feat, it's not a dynasty.
Now that Steve Cleveland has assembled enough talent to secure competitive squads next season and after, which players should he utilize in 2007-08?
This is Cleveland's dilemma at Fresno State. It's a good one to have.
The only position where there's no debate is at point guard. Kevin Bell ended his junior season strong, and with Wednesday's news that USC transfer Kevin Galloway left the program, there's no competition at the position.
Every other position is a different story.
SHOOTING GUARD
Early predictions had Tyson Parker redshirting next season. Parker, a transfer from Fresno City College, spent much of last season catching on to the speed and physical nature of Division I basketball. By the time the Bulldogs defeated Sam Houston State in the ESPNBracketbusters, he had become a quality backup to point guard Kevin Bell and shooting guard Eddie Miller.
But with Louisville transfer Bryan Harvey being touted as Fresno State's next all-conference player and Dwight O'Neil coming back after redshirting last season, it made sense for Parker to take this year to further develop in practice and return to game action in 2008-09.
With Galloway leaving Fresno State, Parker's role may change.
So... who do you start at shooting guard? Eddie Miller, Bryan Harvey or Dwight O'Neil? Offensively, all of these guys can score at small forward, but on some game nights, defense could be tricky at that position because of a lack of size.
Unlike the three "Part III"s that are out at the movies now -- Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man and Shrek -- this is the best part of this particular trilogy. Not necessarily for the writing, but the adventure.
Quick movie review: Saw Spider-Man 3 a while back. Entertaining bad guys. Plenty of action. If you want deftly woven plot, read a book. Haven't seen either of the other two, but I'm sure they are highly disappointing as well. Just ask the critics.
But back to our trilogy, and unlike those others, this is the end. You're probably in for at least eight more Pirates and six more Shreks. And now, back to the story of "The Relay," a 199-mile running relay race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. I ran with a team from Fresno, and we, like everyone else, raised money and awareness for organ donation.
(Again, you will probably not understand what's going on if you don't go back and read the last two posts, and probably the column itself, the one that began this seemingly endless series of blogs. Just kidding. It's a trilogy, as previously stated. Not endless.)
I realize it's hard to imagine if you weren't there, so here's a picture of some of the runners near the beginning. This is what it was like. There was no "course," besides signs that told you where to turn. It was mostly just running by yourself on the edge of highways, wondering why your van drove TWO MILES AHEAD WHEN CLEARLY YOU NEEDED WATER EVERY MILE!
So we had a small problem about midway through the relay, and this is where the plot-thickening began. One of our runners, who will remain nameless, other than to say he is Jim Anderson, 591 S. Cambridge Lane, Fresno, Ca; social security number 520-124- ... OK, that's made up.
But anyway, "Jim" had some knee problems in his second run, both legs hurting so much that someone else had to finish the last couple miles for him. Which is completely within the rules, by the way. So no one knew if he could finish his third leg. He would be the guy who I handed off to after each of my runs, just for background information, just in case you didn't see where this was going.
"Jim," you should know, is tough, real tough, tougher than navigating the California DMV in one day, so he decided he would try to walk his leg, or walk as far as he could with me going with him, and when he was in too much pain to go on, I'd finish it. So after I finished my third leg, five miles or so, I made it to the hand-off point to find out that the next leg was so steep -- 1,000 feet up in just three miles -- that the van couldn't even go up there, so "Jim" would have no exit strategy.
I was on my own. Two legs in a row. In the heat of the day. It's not like I didn't know the next leg was 1,000 feet up in three miles. There were maps of every leg, rated by difficulty and such. In fact, here is the map of the leg I'm talking about. It's just hard to comprehend 1,000 feet until you're halfway up, crying.
The point is, I survived. It wasn't nearly as tough as I'll say it was in the annual Christmas letter. My whole body ached, but it would have ached with or without a couple extra miles.
We handed off to the last van, finally, drove to Santa Cruz and checked into our hotel. I don't have many pictures of the last half of the race, because I was too tired and lazy. Technically, I have no evidence we ever crossed the finish line, because I was in a rental car on the way to cover former Fresno Grizzly Tim Lincecum make his debut for the Giants that night and wrote a column about that.
But they say the finish line on the beach was beautiful. We finished in 34 hours, 29 minutes and 21 seconds. Good for 169th place, and most importantly, ahead of six other teams. (An improvement over the year before, I'm told.)
By the time I got back to Santa Cruz that night, everyone had eaten and gone directly to bed. But "Jim" woke up and hung out for a while. He's a good guy, that Jim. And he owed me one.
Maybe the NHL has lost some of its appeal to sports fans since the recent strike year, but Californians should be a little excited that at least one team from the state is going to a Finals. It won't happen in the NBA, so, let's cheer for Ducks on Ice. Go Anaheim!
This will be Anaheim's second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals - remember they lost Game 7 in 2003 to the New Jersey Devils. Hopefully the Ducks can bring a title back to the state and ease the recent pain of Warriors, Lakers, all fans of California teams.
The Fresno area is assurred of some golfing star power this year -- even if the PGA Tour event falls through.
The Save Mart Shootout announced that the legendary Lee Trevino will be coming to town for the annual charity event at Riverbend on Oct. 14-15. Also, Charles Howell III, currently fifth in the FedEx Cup standings, will be here along with Natalie Gulbis, Brittany Lincicome and Peter Jacobsen, among others.
So, if the PGA Tour event that is supposed to make its debut in somewhere in Fresno the following week doesn't happen, at least area golf fans will have something to which to look forward.
Rachel Mitchell hit a one-out home run in the top of the ninth off Robin Mackin and Louisiana State completed a 1-0 victory over Fresno State Friday at the NCAA Palo Alto Regional.
Mackin went the distance, allowing eight hits and striking out 10.
Top-seed Louisiana State advances to the championship round on Saturday at Boyd and Jill Smtih Family Stadium. Third-seed Fresno State was scheduled to face the winner of the No. 2 Stanford-No. 4 Cal State-Northrdige game at 6 p.m. today in the double-elimination format.
If the Bulldogs win today's late game, they will play unbeaten LSU for the championship at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. That game, and a second if necessary, will be televised on ESPN2.
Mitchell hit Mackin's 141st pitch of the 148 she threw over the left field fence. The ball got help from a stiff wind blowing to left.
LSU pitcher Emily Turner limited the Bulldogs to two hits. Haley Perkins snapped the no-hit bid with a lead-off single in the sixth, and Nichole Willis led off the seventh with a base hit to left. The Bulldogs had only one runner reach second base.
LSU had at least two runners on base in four of the first eight innings. Each time, Mackin came through with clutch strikeouts.
Would NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson have suspended Michael Jordan for one game like he did Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire?
Me and my brother (Team IG stand up!) were discussing this morning whether the suspensions to the two Phoenix Suns players were justified.
My initial thought was that they should be punished because they came off the bench when the Spurs' Robert Horry hipchecked Steve Nash into the boards like his name was Donald Brashear (MD/DC baby). Rules are rules.
But my brother said things should be taken on a case by case basis. It's the playoffs. They didn't get far enough away from the bench to make the situation worse. Stoudemire (averaging 23.5 points and 10.3 rebounds in the series) is one of the Suns' stars. If the Suns lose game 5 tonight that puts them down 3-2 -- on the verge of elimination.
So I asked myself, would they have suspended Jordan in the playoffs? The answer is no. IfJordan takes some steps away from the bench during a skirmish in the playoffs, there's no way they suspend him. (Another thought: Or maybe they do. Jordan was Superman, he could probably be down 3-1 and get his team back.)
This series is basically the NBA Finals. The team that wins this is supposed to win the championship, especially if it's the Spurs.
That's why the most interesting thing to me is this: The Spurs -- as dirty as they've looked with Horry, Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobli -- are the team basketball purists would likely rather have win the championship. If the Suns win --with their fast-paced, wild, fan-energiziing ball -- it's a statement that teams can win a championship playing that way. What does that say about basketball? What does it say about the NBA? What message does it send to the youth, whose fundamentals are being ridiculed from every direction, every day? Did that have anything to do with the suspensions?
Some are likely jumping up and claiming that the Spurs are being protected as they did when ref Joey Crawford was suspended for tossing Duncan in a regular season game late in the season. After all Robert Horry, though having a history of hitting HUGE game winners, is averaging 4.8 ppg this series and not much of a loss.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, "Jackson also reviewed a play during the second quarter when Tim Duncan walked onto the court after Francisco Elson became entangled with Suns guard James Jones after a dunk. Duncan wasn't suspended because there wasn't an altercation on the floor at the time, Jackson said."
Said Jackson about the three suspensions: "It is not a matter of fairness, it's a matter of correctness ... and this is the right decision at this point of time."
He added this is the way the NBA has implemented the rule since 94-95. Does that mean it's time for change?
Here's the suspension breakdown via the Express-News:
SPURS-SUNS PLAYERS SUSPENDED
Robert Horry
Averages 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in playoffs; He has made 3 of 6 3-pointers in this series.
Amare Stoudemire
The biggest loss to either team. He leads the Suns with 23.9 points, 12.1 rebounds in the playoffs.
Boris Diaw
A key reserve, he averages 24 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the playoffs.
The second portion of our "The Relay" experience included legs 13-18, and began the most perilous moments of the race. A little something I like to call ... darkness.
(If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go back one blog entry and catch up. Go ahead, we'll wait)
Many teams elect to have a male runner go along with a female runner at night, to protect them, I guess, from animals and cars and drunk guys coming out of bars on Cinco de Mayo weekend. I have no idea what good I would be against an animal or a car or drunk guys coming out of bars, but hey, at least there would be a woman there to protect me.
So I ran three miles with teammate Lisa, who had one of the toughest night legs, a winding, narrow, two-lane road through steep foothills. There was no shoulder to the road anywhere. We were in the woods. Cars and the vans of other teams were buzzing by us in our reflective vests and cute little forehead lights. Also -- and I think I speak for both Lisa and myself here -- there were a lot of scary noises.
It was actually pretty freaky. How the Relay has existed for so long without someone getting hit by a car is amazing. Well, with about a half a mile to go, Lisa rolled her ankle on the side of the road and went down hard. She got up, though, and finished. If I had taken the same fall, they would have probably had to airlift me out of there. Check out this picture of her knee after we made the handoff.
So you can see what good it was to have me running along with someone at night. I was there, holding a flashlight, helpless, wondering if it would be bad form to take a picture of someone lying face down on a country road.
My second leg was about 40 minutes later, much easier, a five-mile run through a town. We had gotten to civilization by then, and there were plenty of street lights and sidewalks. The only downer was getting passed for the first time, by a tall guy who went by me like I'd stopped to appraise some real estate.
Two legs later, the last runner of our van was crossing the Golden Gate Bridge around 1 a.m. The highlight of that stop was seeing a guy from another team in a red superhero outfit -- complete with cape! -- hand off to a guy wearing only tightie-whities and an apron. I couldn't tell you if everyone on their team was dressed up, because that was the last time we saw them. They were really fast.
After the bridge, the other team took over and we drove to the designated sleeping area for Saturday night, Canada College. Sleeping bag on a gym floor. Forgot my pillow. Didn't matter. I heard they served breakfast. I slept until the second they dragged me to the van at 7 a.m.
This is a pic of the back of our van, complete with the cooler of water and the big, orange, "please don't run over us" sign on the back. The cooler never fell off, either, furthering my belief that Bungee chords are at least a top 20 invention of all-time.
If I'd have known what was coming, I'd have never left Canada College. I would be enrolled there right now, taking geometry or baking or whatever the specialty is there. Perhaps "hockey" or the "History of Quebec." Perhaps there should be a squiggly line over the top of the 'n' that I have not been able to replicate with my keyboard.
Perhaps this blog entry has been put off for so long because it is physically impossible to describe all the insanity that occurred at The Relay for Organ Donation, or as it is commonly known: "How I Paid Money to Become Road Kill." (Actually, everyone just calls it "The Relay," but they should look into that possible name change.)
So as you might have read in my column on the event last weekend, this blog entered the 199-mile relay race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz with a team from Fresno that called itself, "Slow ... The New Fast!"
Clever name, though there were many clever names ...
"Literally Running" (The IIndia Literacy Project)
"Cheaper Than Therapy"
"Sole Sisters"
"Sponge Bob No Chance"
"We Got The Runs!"
"Short Shorts Drive Us Nuts"
"Running Noses" (A bunch of Stanford University ear-schnaz-and-throat specialists)
"Just Watering Your Flowers, Ma'am"
And my personal favorite, mostly because it's a great visual, although I have no idea how it relates to running ... "Fat Kids Always Win At Seesaw"
We began at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 5. Here's a shot of the starting line:
For you non-Californians, Calistoga is way north of San Francisco and Santa Cruz is way south of San Francisco. Obviously, all 200-plus teams couldn't start at the same time or it would be mass hysteria, Iraqi politics, traffic gridlock, dogs and cats living together. So the slowest teams start at 7 a.m., and then a new set of teams every half hour until 3 p.m.
Each team has two vans with six runners each. I was Runner #4 in Van 1, which had legs 1-6, then we showered at a church in Napa, then went to eat while Van 2's runners ran legs 7-12. My first leg wasn't too awful, 7.4 miles, slightly uphill, although that was near midday and it felt like a 200-foot child was holding a giant magnifying glass over me. Other than that, it was quite pleasant.
The second van meeting point was at the Marin French Cheese Company, a farm outside of Petaluma, where I wrote my Sunday column, and caught a brief nap in a sleeping bag on the ground, which felt like the biggest pillow-top bed in the universe. The problem was, I had to describe an event that was barely one-third finished. The danger was yet to come... (Translation: There will be another blog entry to follow this one.)
Here's a random picture that pretty much sums up everyone's bathroom situation:
The announcement was made last week that Dale Earnhardt Jr. plans to leave DEI, the company his late father organized. Which team do you expect he'll sign with for 2008 - Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing? Where would you like to see him sign?
Robin Mackin pitched a seven-hitter and Fresno State beat Nevada 5-3 for the Western Athletic Conference tournament softball championship Saturday at Bulldog Diamond.
The Bulldogs (46-16) completed a 4-0 run through the tournament and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Fresno State will find out today its seed and whether the school will host one of the 16 four-team regionals.
Mackin spotted Nevada a 3-1 lead, then shut down the Wolf Pack on two hits the rest of the way.
Fresno State put together a two-run sixth to take the lead for good. Pinch-hitter Aja Scheuber drove in the first run with a single through the left side. Shannon Garvin's sacrifice fly sent the Bulldogs ahead 4-3.
In the seventh, Merryann Barr delivered an RBI single to give Mackin a two-run cushion.
Mackin was named MVP of the four-day tournament. Catcher Nichole Willis, second baseman Jenna Cervantez and shortstop Haley Perkins made the all-tournament team.
Fresno State shocked 12th-ranked Hawaii 9-3 Friday to advance to the championship of the Western Athletic Conference softball tournament at Bulldog Diamond.
Nicole Willis hit her ninth homer and Robin Mackin pitched an eight-hitter with seven strikeouts.
The second-seeded Bulldogs (45-16) will face either No. 1 Hawaii or No. 4 Nevada at 2 p.m. today for the title. Unbeaten Fresno State needs one win to capture its second WAC tournament championship.
Fresno State chased WAC Pitcher of the Year, Kate Robinson, in the third inning. Robison allowed five runs on five hits.
The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead in the first and had a 6-3 advantage through five innings. Hawaii scored an unearned run in the sixth, but Fresno State answered in its half with three decisive runs.
Willis went 3 for 3 with a double, the homer and two RBIs. It was her second homer of the tournament. Mackin had three hits and drove in two runs. Lisamarie Coronado and Shannon Garvin each added two RBIs.
In the day's second game, Nevada eliminated San Jose State 2-1 to get its shot at Hawaii later in the day.
Junior second baseman Jenna Cervantez hit a towering, solo home run in the top of the seventh to snap a tie and send Fresno State to a 3-2 victory over New Mexico State Thursday in the Western Athletic Conference tournament at Bulldog Diamond.
The high driver to left was Cervantez's team-leading 12th and curled around the foul pole after it had cleared the fence.
Second-seed Fresno State advances to face top-seed Hawaii at 2 p.m. today in the winner's bracket.
Cervantez went 4 for 4 with a double. Kristin Sylvester tied it 2-2 with a two-out single to left. Merryann Barr's sacrifice fly opened the Bulldogs' scoring in the first inning.
Mackin struggled through the first inning, allowing three hits and two runs. But she settled down and retired 14 straight at one point, and finished with a four-hitter with five strikeouts.
Hawaii beat No. 7 Louisiana Tech 5-2 to open the day. Fourth-seed Nevada eliminated the Lady Techsters 3-2. Fifth-seed San Jose State took out Utah State 9-1 and was to play No. 3 in the late game.
The championship round is Saturday. First game is 2 p.m. and another if necessary at 5 p.m.
Robin Mackin pitched a five-hitter and senior catcher Nichole Willis hit her eighth homer, as Fresno State ripped San Jose State 5-0 on opening day of the Western Athletic Conference softball tournament at Bulldog Diamond.
The second-seeded Bulldogs (43-16), who have won seven straight, will play either No. 3 New Mexico State or No. 4 Nevada at 1:30 p.m. today. The Aggies and Wolf Pack were playing Wednesday's late game in the double-elimination format.
Fresno State had swept fifth-seed San Jose State 3-0 in last weekend's series.
Mackin, who beat the Spartans twice last week, struck out six on Wednesday. She got the side out in order in four of the last five innings, including the seventh when shortstop Haley Perkins fielded a ground ball, stepped on second and relayed to first for a game-ending double play.
Willis gave Mackin all the support she would need with a lead-off homer that sparked a three-run second inning. Haley Perkins capped the rally with a two-run single. Mackin's grounder scored the fourth run in the third and Willis drew a bases-loaded walk for the final run in the fourth.
Kristin Sylvester also had two of Fresno State's 11 hits.
Fresno State hit three home runs and beat San Jose State 4-2 and 9-0 Saturday at Bulldog Diamond to complete a three-game sweep.
Kristin Sylvester ripped her ninth homer, a two-run homer in the first game. Robin Mackin pitched a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
In the second game, the Bulldogs put it away with a seven-run fourth inning. They sent 11 batters to the plate, with the first six getting hits. Michelle Palazuelos opened the rally with her third homer to right. Aja Scheuber capped it with her first homer, a three-run, line drive to right.
Merryann Barr threw a four-hitter in a game stopped after 4 1/2 innings because of the eight-run rule.
The Bulldogs (42-16) finished second at 15-3, one game behind 13th-ranked Hawaii, in the Western Athletic Conference.
Fresno State hosts the WAC Tournament Wednesday through Saturday. The Bulldogs open with San Jose State at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Nevada beat Hawaii for the 2006 title and the automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.
That should make for an interesting rematch. Spartans baserunner Liz Robertson took out second baseman Jenna Cervantez on the final play of the day. Cervantez had made a relay throw to first to complete a game-ending double play. Robertson slid late and hard into Cervantez's legs, knocking her to the ground.
It was several minutes before Cervantez was helped up and left the field on her own.
You've heard by now that Tim Lincecum is starting for the Giants Sunday at AT&T Park. My COLUMN TODAY was all about other "Lincecums" across the west who've been following the Grizzlies pitcher, just because he has the same unusual last name.
It just so happened that while I was writing the column, a preview to what was supposed to be Lincecum's sixth start for the Grizzlies today, the Giants put Russ Ortiz and most of his ERA on the DL. That meant Lincecum would be called up and take Ortiz' start on Sunday on ESPN. If you bought tickets for tonight's Grizzlies game hoping to see him throw one more time, sorry, you waited too long. Enjoy the Friday night fireworks.
The Giants probably wanted to wait a couple more months, and the Grizzlies definitely did, but what can you do? The kid has given up one run in five starts. His last start he struck out 12 in six innings. Why waste another pitch in the minors?
I was already going to spend this weekend in San Francisco, running in "The Relay," the nickname for the Relay for Organ Donation. It's a 199-mile relay race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. For you non-Californians, it starts waaaay north of the Bay, and ends waaaaay south of the Bay. There are 12 runners on each team and you each run three legs of around 6 miles apiece. It's a continuous race. You run at night. You run along lonely highways. You run in downtown San Francisco. You sleep in a van. One runner gets to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. It's crazier than Wal-Mart Thanksgiving prices. (That's what I'm told. I've never done it before.)
The Fresno team I'm on is called, "Slow ... the New Fast," and I'll be writing a Sunday column about the whole experience. I'll try to post updates and photos here, as well.
The race starts Saturday morning and ends Sunday afternoon. So as soon as the race ends on the beach in Santa Cruz, I'm driving to the Giants' game to cover Lincecum's debut. Hopefully, I'll still be able to walk by then. Should be entertaining.
For the first time since 2001, the Fresno State women's tennis team will host an NCAA regional.
The Bulldogs will host Army, Pepperdine and Long Beach State on May 12-13. The regional champion advances to the NCAA Championships beginning May 18 in Athens, Ga.
Fresno State will face Army at 1 p.m. May 12, following the 10 a.m. Pepperdine-Long Beach State semifinal. Those two winners will meet for the regional championship at noon Sunday.
Saw this today from Page 6 of the New York Post. Apparently Alycia Lane, a Philadelphia TV reporter/anchor, sent pictures of herself in a bikini to Rich Eisen, the NFL Network analyst and former SportsCenter anchor, but they went to an email account shared by Eisen and his wife.
The response by Eisen's wife, a sideline reporter, is classic. My question is, did Lane really need to send sexy pictures? How about a little mystery? I mean, you're a television personality in a major market, I think Rich can safely assume from your head-shot that you don't weigh 300 pounds. Does no one play hard-to-get anymore?
No surprise, Lane is recently divorced. Found this "news" piece she did while preparing for her own wedding less than two years ago. Shocked that it didn't work out.
Can you believe Golden State has eliminated No. 1 seed Dallas in the Western Conference? How far can the Warriors go in the playoffs?
Golden State beats Dallas to become the first 8 seed to defeat a 1 seed since the format switched to best-of-seven games for all rounds. The only other 8 seeds to knock out a 1 seed was the Denver Nuggets (1994) and the New York Knicks (1999), but that was in best-of-five series'.
Audio from Dale Earnhardt Jr.