Sitting on the hill with Father Time keeping watch

As 2007 draws to a close, I look back at the year that was Long Beach State Athletics. We had a very strong start to the season with our men's basketball team, and we ended up dancing for the first time in over a decade. Unfortunately, the coach was not able to perform consistently, and in spite of being named Coach of the Year, it was a pyrrhic award; he was fired soon after the 49ers lost to Tennessee. Men's volleyball fell far short of expectations. For the first time in a while, Alan Knipe's boys would not be in the MPSF tournament, much to my disgust.

In softball, we were improving under Kim Sowder, but in spite of having a wining record, the NCAA snubbed us. Bastards. Meanwhile, we get to see UC Irvine advanced for the first time to Omaha, while suffering a season-ending loss to UCLA in the Blair Field Regional. This from a season which saw us choke against the like of those hated Zotfags and the UC Riverside Highlanders. Underachieving year, and a season with too much Sheryl Crow. There's nothing more galling than hearing overplayed garbage from one of Lance Armstrong's ex-girlfriends. Well, maybe expired David Sunflower Seeds.

Actually, both of them would be topped in the fall, as the track teams plotted through their course, and the women's tennis team got the Big West crown once again.

The women's soccer team was overhyped and overrated. Losses to Cal State Fullerton (again), and UC Irvine (WTF!!?) and Cal Poly in the tournament (which probably was predictable to start with) made this another bridesmaid year for Mauricio Ingrassia. Contract extension may need to be on hold, and talks of perhaps finding a new manager to get them to the next level may be in order. As if things weren't screwed up enough, one of the losses was to USC, who ended up winning the national title. Another reason to hate Ali Khosroshahin, and pray that he takes over the program here when Ingrassia's contract is up.

Men's water polo (oh that's right, I forgot to talk about the women. Just as futile. Nuff said.). Oh man, Here I was, hoping we would get win number 18. It never came, and it probably should never have come at all, after playing like patsies in the MPSF tourney in Berkeley. Dropping matches after matches to UC Irvine, to the bigshots from Cal, USC, UCLA, and even a stinker to UC Davis is not going to be a good sign for Gavin Arroyo. He should be in the hot seat next year.

Women's volleyball. At last, something to cheer about. A solid year, save for some ugly efforts against Cal Poly, was the story of the season. Great year for Alexis Crimes, Misha Hasalikova, and newcomer Ashley Lee. Also, the regular season's biggest was against Florida. And we also defeated first-time entrant and Mountain West champions UNLV before being had single-handedly by Asia Kaczor, the Wench from Wroclaw, and the USC Women of Troy in the second round, and a five-game thriller.

Cross-country, it was more of the same, and we even won the Santa Clara Invitational. That was the only high point of the year, sadly.

Which brings us to the current things going on...men's and women's hoops. New coach: Dan Monson. The Rainmaker. Low expectations, and a work in progress. He said before the season started, "We are a work in progress." He was right. Maybe too right.

And that brings me to the women, who are currently 2-9 as this goes to blog. I have just witnessed the type of effort we put in against a team that's not ranked, but with a decent record, against Utah. During the shootaround, I was looking at both sides, and I saw a stark, bleak comparison...and perhaps a sign of things to come. On the Utah side of the warm-ups, their shots were falling in. Most of them. Very few misses. On the other side, I saw rimmed shots, rimmed three-point attempts, even rimmed lay-ups. It's as if these poor schmucks have never played a single game of basketball in their life. I was with my buddy Paul Lwin (who got his grades, and passed all of them, while I sit, stewing in waiting for one last grade to come), and we were the only two students in Section 111, the student section. All the others were on their break, and/or were out of town for the holidays. I said to him, "We're in trouble."

As the game ended, I met a sympathetic guy wearing a Rutgers women's basketball sweater, and I said to him, "We gotta have Vic Cegles call C. Vivian Stringer." He laughed, and I shook my head as I left the Walter Pyramid.

The decision should be easier for Dr. Cegles. Mary Hegarty is on the hot seat, and when you have a team that plays like they have never even played a single game of basketball in their lives...it's never a good sign. In this day age, people around the world who know the business of sports know that losses means less people going to the games. Less people means less money flowing in. And the coaching staff are going to be a huge liability. And they know that the chances of them not getting their contracts renewed, and being fired increase with every loss.

That's the thing. In a "perfect world", wins and losses don't mean a thing. Every game is just an exhibition and recreation, and not serious competition. However, in reality, Ws and Ls mean a lot. This is a program that historically, during the 70's and 80's, were actually GOOD. Those days are long gone, but then again, Long Beach City's basketball teams aren't faring any better. In fact, the Long Beach Breakers are playing decent basketball, and they are a fledling team, and I haven't even been to ANY of their games at the Hall of Champions gym yet!

I am confident we can start the new year off right. But maybe I am asking too much this year. But then again, it will be the Year of the Rat (I was born in that year)...so you never know.

Happy new year from BoBA, and Go Beach.