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.