Long time comin'

The last time we won at Spanos Center was on February 14, 2002. Valentine's Day. I was still in my senior year of high school, still traumatized from being treated like a piece of meat by my Intermediate Algebra teacher. If I could relieve those days again, I would have Lucy the Diclonius' personality. I'm still in a bit of an agitated mood that the Tigers of the University of the Pacific defeated our guys last year in the Big West Championship Game.

See, when I saw Bob Thomason (the Riley Wallace of the Big West) get lifted into the air, I was furious. When the PA announcer said Larry Reynolds's name as part of introducing our team (that was with Jibril Hodges and Shawn Hawkins), I yelled out "Thanks for the memories!" Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately), Vic Cegles came in and let Coach Reynolds finish the last year of his current contract.

It turned out to be a smart move, in spite of a early "here-we-go-again" rusty stumble. We won the Big West regular season title, and blackwashed Pacific, rocking them at the Walter Pyramid, and then defeating the Tigers in Spanos Center for the first time in over five years, 82-76.

I knew that our team was capable of running the tables. This was a great warmup, and the next match would be against the scum that is UC Irvine. I plan to tear my shirt off if we score over 100 in the game. And I will probably stick to my Red Bull or Rockstar next time. No more of that carbonated cough syrup from SoBe. Please.

Homecoming reflection

As Homecoming Day began, I didn’t know what to expect from the Aggies of UC Davis. While most of our local teams fell the night before (save for the Dirtbags, thank god for Danny Espinosa), I was very unsure if our guys learned their lesson from choking in the 2nd half against a mediocre Hawaii side during the ESPN Bracket Buster match from Hell.

As I got on the 91 to Cal State Long Beach, I played the extended version of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”, knowing that in any game, weird things can, and will, happen. The game before, UC Irvine easily put the boots to the Aggies. Since UCD was in their last year as a provisional, there were no odds on this game.

I was still reeling from the fact that DJ Quik called for a 70-58 Long Beach State victory two nights before. Essentially, Quik called for a defensive match marred by sloppiness and bad shots all around…with the Beach still getting the victory. As of this writing, UC Davis is near the bottom when in comes to RPI. They are currently 312th. The team at the very bottom is Alabama A&M, based on Ken Pomeroy’s site, at 336th. While UC Davis is not the worse, I would be surprised if the Aggies made a game out of this.

But then again, very few people gave Hawaii a chance, and they ran away with it in the 2nd half. That loss was bad news for Larry Reynolds, who is in a precarious situation in the last year of his contract. Again, as everyone in Long Beach speculated, the only was he could be spared his walking papers if the guys won the conference tournament. Everyone, the fans, students, alums, boosters, news agencies…everyone in the world knew that Larry was under the microscope. With this win, this team would be the winningest in his years as the Long Beach State head coach.

The big question was not how much Aaron Nixon, Kejuan Johnson and company would pile on the Aggies, but whether or not Davis would make a game out this. I don’t remember last year’s homecoming game, but I believe we lost that one. I checked the program, and yes, it was against the hated Gauchos from UCSB. Fortunately, we made them pay dearly for that by piling 101 point in the home contest, before Sterling Byrd sealed the regular season blackwash.

I love Gnarls Barkley, the duo consisting of Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo. St. Elsewhere is one of my favorite albums of all time.

After watching the rugby first side get clobbered again, this time by up-and-comer Claremont, I went over to Wally’s (my name for the Walter Pyramid), and saw DJ Quik’s prediction get bested by a country mile. Great shots, great defense, and sloppy play that had been the epitome of UC Davis’s season saw the Long Beach faithful enjoy a 102-77 victory over the Aggies, who will fall in with the Big West next year.

You had to see it to believe it. I am planning to create a video on this one, and the footage is ready. I just have to convert, and give it the usual trimmings.

SIDE NOTES FROM BoBA:

LMU goes full circle: The LMU men’s basketball team put the ghosts of our heartbreaking victory to rest, defeating Santa Clara on a last-second shot, 67-66. After going though a season forged in hell, they get a brief respite in purgatory.

Posse savvy knows its trade: One of the members of Pete’s Posse said to the Davis players, “You women have a better shot of winning than you.” While I will absolve him of any jinxing on grounds that our women’s team are worse than advertised this year, our women did lose, getting trampled 60-50.

Shirt taken off second time this year at Wally’s: I said to the guys, “Hey, we have plenty of time to score 100 or more. If they do that, I’m ripping my shirt off, and waving it like a scarf. And I did so after Artis Gant made the three-pointer that sent us over the top. Not to be outdone, I did two Angus Young spasms at halftime. I didn’t have that space, though, to do it right. Luckily, I didn’t hurt my shoulder.

Never again: Before I took the buses to get to Wally’s, I drank this drink from SoBe called “Superman Special Brew.” While I was able to down it, it tasted, to put it in polite terms, out-of-the-ordinary. Like carbonated cough syrup. Think Flaming Moe without the flame. Homer Simpsoy’s wrath is now completed.

AMGEN Tour of California on Sunday: Yes, it was one of those wonderful finishes down in Long Beach. Flying colors going up and down Ocean Boulevard on two wheels. Levi Leipheimer finished the tour on top, while Ivan Rodriguez won the stage. I have the footage, and I will post it when the time comes.

More of the same from the exams: Stuck in the middle, but a precarious position. I got 31 out of 50 in the first Stats midterm. (And that's without remembering the equations to heart!) I wasn’t the worst, but there should be room for improvement, and fast.

The power of sport bureaucracy

While I am a business student, I have to say that this article links sport with business. I'm an Info Systems major, and while the important objective for my majors is to transmit the information from the other branches of the company into something those outside can read, this is a good reflection of what happens when you team loses big.

It's a cruelty, indeed. When a team performs this poorly, the bureaucracy deems the coach and players as liabilities. Here's an article from the Adelaide Advertiser about how all this works.

United finds fall guy
GRAHAM CORNES
February 24, 2007 01:15am

JOHN Kosmina didn't realise, until it was too late, that those "dark forces" that he was talking about weren't from the eastern states, they were actually operating from within the Adelaide United Football Club.

Just when we thought the Reds were different from all those other soccer clubs, they prove that nothing much has changed.

Coaches and players can still be dispensed with at the whim of owners to whom pride, status and reputation are paramount.

I know how Nick Bianco must have felt last Sunday evening. The grand final was a debacle, and as the owner of the club, seeing his team disintegrate while he could but sit and watch, would have embarrassed and humiliated such a proud, successful man. But that is sport.

Unlike business, where successful systems, training, staff and quality control can withstand all but the most unusual economic circumstances, sport can break your heart in a second. Regardless of your standards, expectations and the amount of money that you pour in, success is never guaranteed.

Kosmina's gut feeling before Thursday's highly-publicised board meeting was not good. Like many successful coaches, he follows his instinct. There may be plenty of logic in planning and deliberations, but their actions are predominantly instinctive. Kosmina's instinct detected too much negativity around the club, and the pressure was building by the minute. He made the decision on his own behalf, that the right thing to do, for himself, his family, and importantly his players, was to resign. Despite the fact that he had no other job to go to, his relief was immediate and profound.

Bianco distanced himself significantly from Kosmina in the wake of the the grand final defeat. His public criticisms of the coach may have been distorted in translation, but they were scathing and indicated that the relationship between owner and coach had been fractured.

It's unlikely that they were ever best mates, but the club had achieved beyond expectations in its first season-and-a-half, so in those circumstances, even the most impatient owner has to tolerate a coach who marches to a different beat. But that's the thing with most great coaches - they march to a different beat anyway.

Kosmina's job wasn't made any easier this year by the recruitment to the club of Brazilian "legend", Romario, a decision that he publicly and privately supported.

Romario might be a god in Brazil, but to those of us raised on different sports, he was not instantly recognisable and when we saw him on the park, we wondered what all the fuss was about. Small, even by soccer standards, the Brazilian no longer had the pace, fitness or presence of his glory days. The true devotees of soccer fell at his feet, but the rest of us wondered where on earth Kossie was going to hide him

The team's dismal results when the Brazilian was in Adelaide tell the story and, while those responsible for bringing him to United continually extolled the spurious benefits of his recruitment, it was obvious that his presence was an unnecessary distraction. One can only wonder what the powerbrokers in the stands thought when Kosmina was forced to substitute Romario in the third of his four highly-paid appearances.

Inevitably, we will all be judged by our actions and our results. Kosmina has been judged extremely harshly for what have been only minor indiscretions. The critics point to his behaviour as the reason for the disintegration of his players' discipline in the most important match of the season, but that is a simplistic assessment. Volatile coaches can still impart discipline to their teams; Malcolm Blight is a prime example of that. What has been overlooked, simply because there can be no excuse for a 6-0 loss, is that Adelaide United coach, players, fans, and indeed, administration, had been subjected to a range of different inequities and biases. Refereeing performances, ticketing, financing, FFA indifference and marketing bias are but a few of them. At least Kosmina was prepared to take them on.

Unfortunately, when all was lost, the frustrations bubbled over and his players lashed out as well. They should have learned from those footballers who have transgressed in AFL grand finals, or who have not waited around for the presentation, that the whole word watches you and judges you during and after a grand final.

Everybody has learned a very hard lesson, none more so than Ross Aloisi, whose passion and intensity was severely misguided.

And so another coach departs, perhaps before he was going to be sacked. It appears only a championship would have saved him, but Adelaide United never had the talent to win the championship. We will miss him, because he was so passionately South Australian and he fought so hard for our state against those who would try to ignore us or discount us. He becomes just another victim of the ambitions and the pride of those who drive their clubs.

Of course, the club will go on although, given the vulnerability of many of the A-League clubs and ongoing rumours of Adelaide's viability, this can't be assumed.

Bianco has expressed publicly his dissatisfaction with the way the club and the team has been run. He wants to run it more like he runs his successful business. He wouldn't be the first successful man to express that intent, but successful businesses are not the best models for successful sporting clubs. There are similarities of course, particularly when it comes to bringing the money in, but in the end, the club rises and falls on the performance of the team, and not too many coaches are Masters of Business Administration.

I will put a rebuttal on the last part to the the fact that there are coaches in sport who also majored in business at their university, whether grad, undergrad of even doctorate, and there are a good number, if not plenty, of them.

A Quik Prediction

So I talked with DJ Quik after the Pyramid Pep Rally Remix. He was signing autographs. I said to him “Yo DJ Quik, what will be the score on Saturday?”
He said, :”In basketball? Who are they playing?”
I said, “UC Davis.”
Quik was flabbergasted. “UC Davis!?” After a pause, he said, “I think it will be…70-58.”
“70-58 Long Beach?”
“That’s what I think.”
To make a prediction for a defensive game marked by possible shabby, dubious play reeking with sloppiness, and the Beach performing against the spread for the second straight game takes guts. I will give him that as I walked to the bus stop, Quik still signing autographs.

70-58, Long Beach State. My, my. I really won’t comment on anything else other than, “Whoa.” It's a good thing the bookkeepers are leaving this match alone.

A schizoid weekend it was.

I'm celebrating Melbourne Victory taking the double as I post this. I should be sleeping right now, in a disgusted mood after I saw my men's basketball team collapse against Hawaii, but I'm actually in an elated mood right now.

Who would have thought Archie Thompson would bag five goals in the win, with young up-and-come Kristian Sarkies getting the last one? You wonder if Victoria Premier Steve Bracks had second thoughts about building the white elephant that is Melbourne Rectangular. But I'm not going to jinx the poor guy. I'm in too gleeful of a mood to do so.

It looks like this year, the soccer capital of Australia moves to Melbourne. At this rate, I'm gonna take a power nap. I've got more rugby to watch, in less than 11 hours.

A veteran's farewell

I would like to take this moment to say farewell to my colleague, Wayne Stickney-Smith, who will be leaving Long Beach State to work for a company up north that specializes in manufacturing plumbing parts. Wayne was the Super Fan who came before me, and gave me some sage advice during his days working at the Beach Pride Center.

He also was an ASI president for one semester, the semester before I became Long Beach City College ASB Cabinet Administrative Assistant for President Michael Brignac in 2004-05.

BoBA, and its sister blogs Bedlam on MySpace Boulevard (BoMB), Love and Liberty (LoLi) II and Love and Liberty Lite, thank Wayne for his continued support of Cal State Long Beach.

Long Beach State breaks Fullerton’s hearts on Wednesday night

Long Beach State breaks Fullerton’s hearts on Wednesday night

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
February 15, 2007


They say it’s tough to beat a good team twice.

But that’s what Long Beach State did. While I was taping on my cell phone me and Pete’s Posse’s forays into Titan Gymnasium, I knew that while the odds were against the 49ers numbers-wise, it put a lot of pressure of us. If we had dropped this game, of course I would be stoic and disgusted with the result. But if we won the game, it’s because of the pressure of having 15 straight games without a loss at their home floor (including 11 this season) became too much to bear for Bobby Brown, Scott Cutley, and Frank Robinson.

As we got on the coach to the Gym via 22 and 57, Dr. Vic Cegles, LBSU Athletic Director, as well as Bob Keisser of the Long Beach Press Telegram, accompanied us on the trip. It was a mellow ride, delayed by the usual evening gridlock, but as I got off and planted my feet on the ground, I said, “Fullerton, I have returned.”

We had some problems with our seating, but we eventually sat on the balcony. There was a railing, and this allowed us to stand on the seats, and even lean on the railing if we were to protest our decision. This was very advantageous for our group, as it allowed us to jump like the Cameron Crazies (whoever they may be), as well as yell obscenities when the calls by the officials were suspiciously questionable.

I helped lead some chants, as well as others, and I paced around to make sure they were fired up from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer. And they were. A couple of campus event staff tried to limit our antics, but they might as well get out of the way instead to relieve their stress. They couldn’t handle us, and neither did their players.

We won by ten point-again. 94-84. I was very proud of my team’s effort, as well as the Posse’s effort. But I knew at the back of my head that we have a long way to go before we get to where we need to be. On top of that, Homecoming week was on tap after a luau with the Warriors.


While Long Beach City is also taking care of things, sweeping through the South Coast regular season with a 76-73 win over El Camino, I have to feel for another junior college miles away that lost one of its players.

I don’t know Grayson County College that well. Heck, I don’t know how the Texas junior college system works. But whenever something like this happens, it really is depressing. Mike Ndiribe, a 6-8, 210-pound freshman who had big dreams ahead of him, got that-and his life-taken away in the locker room. I looked at the story on ESPNU, and I thought it was Deon Tresvant, but thank goodness it wasn’t that close to home. Again, you never want something like this to happen at any level. Because, when will it be my time? Or when will it be your time? Who will be next?

It’s like the day Hank Gathers collapsed on the floor during a Loyola Marymount game in 1990. But that was because he did not listen to his doctors. I don’t know about this. One thing’s for sure; you will be seeing an ESPN special on this. They are notorious [sic] for capitalizing on demises like this.

I hope Deon Tresvant becomes a 49er

I hope Deon Tresvant becomes a 49er

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
February 11, 2007

In between savoring the Dirtbags hooking the Horns, the men’s and women’s basketball team continuing to go different directions, women’s tennis doing business as usual, men’s volleyball pummeling NAIA doormats, and softball and women’s water polo going on shaky ground, and cross country becoming world-beaters, I must go ahead a provide a special announcement: Long Beach City’s basketball teams (yes, even the women) are good.

No, scratch good, GREAT. No, scratch GREAT, UNBELIEVABLE. I’ll get to the men later in this entry. First, the women. How do say consistent? T-r-i-m-e-k-a J-a-c-k-s-o-n. That’s it. Coach Trimeka Jackson is building a strong foundation at City. Her women’s basketball team wrapping up a share of the league title. Mary Hegarty’s women wouldn’t stand a chance. Sorry, but it’s the cold, hard truth. 18-9, 6-1 in South Coast Conference play, with El Camino left before playoffs.

Now, we go to the men. Mention the name “Deon Tresvant” and every opponent raises his arms and hands in despair. Against L.A. Harbor, the team he left ship from to join Gary Anderson’s Vikings: 48 points in a double-OT win, 100-94. The game after that against L.A. Southwest: 63 points in a triple-OT win-and the title, 132-131. Don’t even bother topping that, Kobe Bryant.

(Well, maybe he already has, but in this situation? I would reckon against it.)

I hope Deon Tresvant signs with Long Beach State. With Kejuan Johnson (who is a fellow LBCC alum) and Aaron Nixon leaving, we can use him, most definitely. I kid you not. When you have someone in the clutch like that who wins in that dramatic type of fashion, you gotta be salivating at that type of effort.

By the way, the men so far got another 20-win season (with our guys soon to follow). They are now 20-10 (7-0 in SCC play) and will probably be hosting a round or two in the playoffs heading to Fresno.

I won’t be surprised if Tresvant wins in quadruple-OT, with 100 points, and a ridiculous bevy of clutch shots and some to go with. Curse my inability to split into two people. I need to get out more.

Cal Baptist – No pushover, but it’s the usual business

Cal Baptist – No pushover, but it’s the usual business

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
February 10, 2007

Cal Baptist. Ranked 1st in men’s volleyball in the NAIA. Humph. I will give this for them. They are feisty. Alan Knipe used a 2nd-string lineup, and we were on our toes. Cal Baptist-an NAIA team! I was very impressed by their effort the first game, which we won 30-27. We weren’t going to have an easy one against them. They could sweep Stanford if they could-but they weren’t on their schedule.

Had a little bit easy against the Lancers in the 2nd game. This was going to be another sweep, as expected, but the 3rd game, in typical form, would be elusive at first. I wasn’t crazy when I said the season would be on the line (albeit it was a half-joke). This would count against us if we were to fail tonight. Besides, I wanted to get back to Blair after this.

Eventually, it seemed very apparent that the Lancers would falter again…for the eighth straight time. We would sweep them 3 games to nil.

Off to Blair for me. I was able to watch the last few innings of the game. It went down to the bottom of the ninth. I though, Hmmm, this Texas team should be able to finish things off. Turns out, they wouldn’t. A couple of players hit a pitch plus a walk sent in Bobby McMurray, a JC transfer from Arizona, and Mesa Community College, who drove in two runs on a RBI. The throw to home plate was not in time, and with score tied 6-all, the home fans chanted “Long Beach State! Long Beach State!” and as saw the fans get louder and louder, my eyes panned the atmosphere around me, as if I was Maximum from the movie Gladiator. And my mind said, “Checkmate.” Danny Espinosa, who is my favorite player on this year’s Dirtbags team, drove home the winning run, and I walked out of the park singing EMF’s Unbelievable, possessed by the glory of victory.

It’s not very often we get a win against a team like this. Still early to say, but that loss to the Alumni may have become great motivation for Mike Weathers’ bunch of boys from the Beach.

Article on Long Beach State by ESPN

I love this article. I give props to the guy who wrote this one.

Snubs, suspensions haven't slowed 49ers
By Kyle Whelliston
Special to ESPN.com

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Back in the 1970s, inventor Patrick Flanagan discovered what he termed "pyramid power." He claimed that placement of objects inside pyramids produced electromagnetic effects that could keep fruit fresh and maintain the sharpness of razor blades; it was all easily disproved by everyone from Scientific American magazine to TV's "MythBusters."

The Long Beach State basketball team might seem to be another proven failure of that cockamamie theory: With the exception of their inaugural year in the cool cobalt blue Walter Pyramid (1994-95), it has been neither fresh nor sharp enough to reach the NCAA Tournament. But now, the 49ers have rebounded from a 2-4 nonconference start, lead the Big West Conference with a 6-2 record (15-6 overall) and have cracked the RPI's Top 100. And the team sports a perfect 10-0 record at its very triangular home.

Aaron Nixon, center, is among the 49ers who have risen to the challenge.
"Our guys have a definite mind-set," said fifth-year coach Larry Reynolds. "Nobody's going to beat us in the Pyramid."

Take Saturday afternoon, for instance, when the homestanding 49ers dismantled three-time defending league champion Pacific (a program that has won two NCAA Tournament games in the past three years) by a 92-64 count, a revenge win after a 78-70 Tigers victory in last year's conference title game. There was no pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo about it -- Long Beach State overwhelmed the visitors with its potent blend of speed, shooting and seniors, and the game was virtually over after 10 minutes of play.

"This is a veteran-laden team, a very balanced team," said Reynolds of his squad, which features eight seniors. "They have a lot of confidence in their abilities, almost to the point of being too confident. They're all very competitive … that, I think, is our greatest asset, that every kid out there wants to compete. Sometimes we can't make it through practice."

But that depth and resilience are being sorely tested as Long Beach State contends with two other "s" words: snubs and suspensions. The 49ers are the best BracketBusters team you won't see as part of the ESPN television package, and the Pacific romp is all the more impressive considering that the program was dealing with the temporary loss of two key seniors -- 6-4 guard and second-leading scorer Kejuan Johnson (15.1 ppg) and 6-9 sixth man Mark Dawson -- along with associate head coach Reggie Howard.

Johnson and Dawson were stuck in street clothes for three games during an NCAA investigation into payments for their pre-Long Beach State educations -- they are junior college transfers who attended Long Beach City College and Pasadena City College, respectively. But they will become eligible again in time for Saturday's game at UC Santa Barbara, and despite the combined disappearance of 20.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, those who remained won two straight games in their absence.

"Give them all the credit," Reynolds said of his other 12 49ers. "Their backs are against the wall, and we've had some guys who haven't played before, others who've had to step up minutes. And Kevin Houston, Sterling Byrd, Aaron Nixon, those guys have all stepped their games up to another level."

And despite having the highest RPI in the Big West at the time of the BracketBusters pairing selections Jan. 29, the 49ers (a predetermined home team) were left out of the 14-game TV slate and will take part in one of the 37 nontelevised games. According to their coach, two shootout losses away from the Pyramid -- a 90-83 loss at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 13 and a Jan. 25 88-84 loss at UC Irvine -- sealed the team's television fate. Instead, ESPN360 viewers will see Cal State Fullerton.

"I think we brought that on ourselves," Reynolds said of the snub. "I think that if we had won one of those games, at Irvine or Northridge, we might have been in there. I thought it was unfortunate for our guys that we didn't play very well at that particular time, because that's when the decisions were being made."

So for the second straight year, Long Beach State won't be on TV -- but soon will be able to watch plenty of it as in-flight entertainment. The event's rules stipulate that teams must return the game within two years, and after drawing WAC school Hawaii, LBSU will have to plan an overseas trip. Last year, the 49ers were 9-9 at the time of the selections, and as a road team were sent all the way to Manhattan of the MAAC.

"The kids were excited about going to New York, and they enjoyed it," Reynolds said of last year's matchup, a 108-94 Beach win. "But Hawaii? You have to fly over the ocean, as a coaching staff you only get a day to prepare … but the kids get to think we're going on vacation. It's a 'budget-buster' for us, but at least this time we have a year to prepare for it and get the budget in line. Last year we didn't, and the expense just killed us."

So if anyone has a right to gripe about the current format, it's Reynolds; in Long Beach State's two years of BracketBusting, his program has been saddled with 10,734 road miles (to and from both the Bronx and Manoa) and has zero minutes of ESPN time to show for them.

"As long as our conference wants us to participate in this, I'm for it," Reynolds said. "I don't know if repaying the game is so good, though … . A lot of coaches have talked about playing just the one game and alternating between home and away every year, I think a lot of people would be more comfortable with that. The way it is now, if you're a road team two years in a row, you get two BracketBusters away dates, the game in February and the return game. That really messes with your schedule."

“ We want to go and prove to the country what kind of team this is. ”
—Long Beach State coach Larry Reynolds

But the Hawaii trip, and the looming need to replace eight seniors from the current roster, are all problems for next year -- LBSU's current incarnation will indeed get to show its wares on national TV before the season is through. On Feb. 26, the 49ers' return trip to Pacific will be televised on ESPN2 as the late game on "Big Monday."

"It's the first time the Big West has been on that platform," Reynolds said. "We want to go and prove to the country what kind of team this is."

The home fans are hoping this team is a lot like the Beach squads of the mid-'90s, when current Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg piloted the 49ers to two NCAA berths. The school isn't shy about tapping into the pre-Pyramid era for inspiration: At halftime of the Pacific game, Lucious Harris' number 30 was retired to a prolonged standing ovation. "Sweet Lou" played out his college career at the old Gold Rush Gym, but his Big West all-time record of 2,312 points and his heroic 27-point effort in a 75-72 loss to No. 6-seeded Illinois in the first round of the 1993 tournament helped lay the Pyramid's foundation.

"Feels good, seeing it up there," said Harris, before turning his attention from the steel-tube rafters to the halftime shootaround. "These guys? They had a tough start, but they're really coming together. I think they could make it all the way to March Madness."

First, though, the 49ers will have to survive a rigorous weeklong road trip, a stretch that includes games against fellow Big West tourney top-seed contenders Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara. By the time BracketBusters rolls around Feb. 17, it likely will be known whether this is the result of some mystical phenomenon involving the harmonic convergence of blue pyramid, rectangular brown floor and round orange ball … or this really is an NCAA-caliber basketball team.

"The road will be a different story and another test for us," Reynolds said. "That will define how good we really are. We'll just have to wait and see."

Kyle Whelliston is the founder of midmajority.com and is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.

Hockey night in Long Beach

I just talked with the people from Beachsort Technologies, a fledgling computer science club who are due to get some strong connections, and a bevy of projects on the way. Unfortunately, when I was accompanying the club president with another person, the advisor for the club, who was the Computer Science Department Chair, and a head of the World Wide Web Consortium, slammed the door in our faces when the president wanted to speak with him.
I hope he realized he was speaking to a business student as well. In a business setting, slamming the door on anyone can bring serious damage to relationships with people who you hire, people who want to do business with you, et al. It’s a polite way of giving the finger to someone, and telling them that they will not have any business or relationship with you ever again. I expect an apology from him very soon, because, again, that type of communication brings irreparable damage, no matter how big your plate is. Very unprofessional for someone like him. He should know better.

Anyway, I did say that I will talk about the trip I had to Glacial Garden a Saturday ago. Originally, after the Beach’s women edged UC Irvine in a rare conference win (or any win for that matter), I wanted to go home, but I thought to myself, I’ve got time to watch this game. So, I took the 20’s up to Cherry and Carson, and walked over to the Garden. There was a tryout going on before the main event took place.
Already there was some intensity going on, as a BYU hockey player made a critical mistake of breaking a fiberglass barrier during warm-ups. I hope he knew that this takes a lot of money to replace. So, as the crew replaced it with a wooden barrier, the game was delayed 30 minutes. The shrapnel were sharp, and my right thumb was unlucky to get lacerated. Fortunately, Neosporin and a bandage made it look nonexistent. But those guys will now have to pay for the damage.
A few young girls were selling 5050 raffle tickets. At first, I decided not to, but given that this could be the last Beach hockey game I see this season, I decided to give it a go. 3 tickets for 5 dollars. I ended up being the first number called, and received a $10 gift card from some local Italian restaurant in Lakewood. $5 well spent.
As for the game, it became very tense late in the 2nd period, with goals scored within 20 seconds of each other. It was 3-3, Long Beach over Brigham Young, whose team was called the IceCats. I was laying out every epithet about our incapability to finish. But four unanswered goals in the 3rd period left the home fans happy. I was even happier, because I was able to barely take the bus home, and when I got home, it was already Sunday morning.

I hope the volleyball team wakes up, and dusts Stanford, just like they did at the E-Bar Invitational earlier this year in Santa Barbara. Clap for the Chopman.

As the all-stars are recognized, the Beach soldiers on

Blog mood today. The entry after this will be my experience watching Long Beach State’s hockey team. Could you believe it: today is the day that Long Beach State’s academic all-stars for Fall and Spring 2006 are honored, and I’m blogging. I committed myself to one blog night per week if there are more than 4 games held that week at the Walter Pyramid. So here it is for the first day of February 2007.
Anyway, I’m a bit steamed that we’ve been having a spiel of futility against Cal State Northridge. Tonight, our men’s basketball team is facing them, and while I should be in Section 111 whooping it up, I want to save my energy for Friday and Saturday, where there will be action around every corner. After my blogging, I’m bent for a night of Visual Basic rundowns.
But right now, I’m hoping we can turn things around. The last game, our guys were snubbed at the end by Irvine, 88-84. Oddly enough, in my recent order for a couple of Famous Cheese from Carl’s Jr., I got an order #55, Aaron Nixon’s number. At the same time, I picked a couple of pennies, but that’s aside from the situation at hand.
Poor Kejuan Johnson, suspended three games due to team violations. That’s bad timing for the 49ers, who now have to find someone to replace him for the next three games, including the home contest against Pacific on the 3rd. Ouch. I’m also listening to the broadcast on longbeachstate.com. So, I’m getting the best of both worlds.
I don’t know what KJ did, but it placed us at a disadvantage, as the Matadors went on a tear after Long Beach State went to an early lead. Once again, I can see my fellow Super Fans enjoying themselves in the first two rows of 111. The 49ers are shooting themselves in the foot with errant plays. Cal State Northridge has been notorious for shooting the 3-pointer impressive, and they are spreading the ball around so far this first half. I am starting to be very disgusted with the 49ers’ defensive pattern, as it has been useless against the perimeter shots the Matadors have been putting out.
9:11 1st half, send help. The ill-advised play that killed us against Irvine is making its ugly appearance tonight. Interesting fact: the Matadors actually have a player named Austin Powers. Actually, his first name is Austen. E, not I. A shot-clock violation, even, and the Northridge is making us pay for our transgressions to the game. A traveling violation by Nixon. Thumbs down. I’m wondering to myself, what the bloody hell is going on here? We haven’t been able to catch up to them, and the closest we’ve gotten is tying the game at 37 with over 3 minutes left in the half, and 38 with less than 3 minutes left.
I nagged Nixon and Co., “Pretend that this is Long Beach City you’re facing.” The Vikings have similar, but more streamlined uniforms, to Northridge’s this year. We were finally able to get a one-point lead in the last couple of minutes. The sound system played the Black Crowes’ signature hit, “Hard to Handle,” during a CSUN timeout. That was the epitome of Northridge this half.

This was an interesting game, most definitely (Long Beach State University, established 1949). I wonder if we could open the gap a bit more. I think Kevin Houston may not be on pace to pass Ratty (Ed Ratliff)’s record of 410 assists, but mind you, there is still plenty of basketball to be played.

I got some Round Table for a midgame energy boost, and I’m checking the other conference scores. Actually, I prefer Papa John’s™, but this will suffice. Poor KJ, he wants to be on the court, but he has to serve his time. I feel for the guy. As a fellow Long Beach City graduate like him, I have to feel for him, because he’s one of the big scorers on the team. Had he not become suspended, he would have made the margin a bit more comfortable; we’ll never know.

Over 250 student athletes were honored-262, to be exact, as Academic All-Stars, spaning all sports. What does it take to be an Academic All-Star

The game so far has been a bit close, with the biggest lead from us in the 2nd half with less than 10 minutes to go being 5 points. It might become a defensive contest from here on, or it could be a race.

While I am seeing the other scores, UCSB is leading Davis 49-37. Apparently, the last result I saw was a typo. The usual business, and the quality win is holding firm, while Fullerton is off. With less than 8 minutes remaining, it would come down to who could do the charity tosses, and the finish the plays that turn the momentum better. A couple late team fouls by the Beach are making this run a bit sour, but some more big shots from #55, the one, the only, Aaron Nixon are making it a bit sweeter. Slowly, but surely, we were making the charity tosses, but I knew, it was gonna be a race. Just like the 95-85 win against Fullerton, who would be playing one game, against lowly UC Riverside, on Saturday.

This Northridge team would be a resilient bunch of scalawags, as they made a 3-pointer with less than a minute left. But, they ended up using too much time, and we won, 79-72. I found out that Mark Dawson also was suspended, which makes the win even more special. I think we’ll be able to replicate this on Saturday.