Cal Poly Sports Blog

New Home for College Blog

2008-08-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

The new College Beat Blog is up and running OVER AT THE NEW ADDRESS.

There might still be a few kinks to work out, but I'm planning to start posting right away.

Please change your bookmarks if you made them, and I'll meet you over there soon!

Cal Poly run comes to an end

2008-03-15T17:28:00.001-07:00

Well, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team’s run has come to an end at the Big West Tournament, falling to eventual champion UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals.
That just about wraps up the winter season for Cal Poly athletics, minus what has probably been the best story of the season — wrestler Chad Mendes, who hopes to complete his undefeated season this coming week at the NCAA Championships. (I’m working on another Mendes feature for the middle of the week, so look for that.)
The conclusion of the winter season all but wraps up my tenure on the college beat, at least for the immediate future.
Other than a couple of stories I’ve had on the backburner, I probably won’t be taking on much on the Cal Poly beat this spring. Because of some changes around the sports desk, and in my own life, I’ve decided to pass the torch to one of our other reporters.
In the meantime, I’ll be filling in on the desk, editing and laying out the section, along with some general-assignment reporting, i.e. alumni updates, action and outdoors sports coverage and possibly a column. Stories that don’t fit on the college and prep beats, like the kayak series and the big-wave surfing piece that our readers really seemed to enjoy.
I’ve been covering college sports in SLO since 2000, so I still hope to get out to Cal Poly and Cuesta College from time to time for features and various columns. But the day-to-day beat work will be handled by someone else.
When we sort out the details, I’m sure the new reporter will let you know and pick up where I left off on the blog.
I’ll still be looking for column and story ideas, on and off the college beat, if you want to pass them along to bmilne@thetribunenews.com. Thanks for following my stuff over the years.

They call her Sparkle for a reason

2008-03-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

I’ve been covering Cal Poly basketball since the turn of the century (that makes me sound much older than I am), and I’m not sure I’ve seen a more impressive individual performance down the stretch than we saw from senior guard Sparkle Anderson today.
Sparkle. I mean, the name says it all.
Anderson scored six of her season-high 18 points in the final 71 seconds as the Mustangs overcame a 19-point deficit to upset Pacific 79-76 in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference Tournament. The Mustangs' comeback victory has been, by far, the most entertaining game of the tournament.
Now, I’m somewhat exhausted, having battled SoCal traffic and worked a 14-hour day yesterday covering both the men’s and women’s teams, but I can’t come up with many better performances by Mustangs on the hardwood.
Anderson started Thursday’s rally with a turnaround jumper with 8:50 left to cut the lead to three.
She also came up with a key steal with 1:56 left and hit Megan Harrison with a full-court baseball pass that kept the Mustangs within three and set the stage for her late heroics.
The senior guard hit a game-tying 3-pointer on the following possession with 1:11 left, hit two free throws to take the lead for good with 26.8 ticks left and added a third free throw with 1.1 seconds remaining.
All this from a 5-foot-2 guard who missed much of the last season with a major knee injury and still plays with a brace and a noticeable limp on that bum knee.
Anderson, a fifth-year senior, has set a school record by appearing in 117 games. In the regular-season finale against Cal State Northridge, she broke a 23-year-old record of 114 career games set by Terrie McDonald from 1981-84.
Again, I’m running on fumes at this point, and it's apples and oranges, but I’d have to put Anderson’s performance up there with Kameron Gray’s outing against USC on Dec. 23, 2003, the day of the San Simeon earthquake when the Cal Poly guard scored 20 of his career-high 32 points in the final 11 minutes of a 93-78 victory at USC.
Gray, who had a tooth knocked out in the first half of the USC game, added 12 rebounds in the win over the Trojans, in what I would argue is the best single-game performance I’ve seen by a Cal Poly hoopster.
Then again, Anderson’s performance came in an elimination game, in the Big West Tournament, in what was looking like the final game of her college career.
Now she gets one more game, Friday’s semifinal meeting with rival UC Santa Barbara.

That's all I got for now. I need to catch some zzzs before tomorrow's game. In the meantime, what are your most memorable individual performances by Cal Poly basketball players? Comment below.

It 'wasn’t a pretty game to watch'

2008-03-13T01:01:00.000-07:00

Finally, it’s over.
Instead of this prolonging a season filled with putrid shooting performances – from the arc, from the paint and from the line – the Cal Poly men’s basketball team made an early exit from the Big West Tournament on Wednesday.
The sixth-seeded Mustangs lost 62-54 to seventh-seeded UC Riverside in a fitting conclusion to their dismal season, hitting just 36.7 percent of their floor shots making just one FG in the first 17 minutes.
It was the only upset of the day.
UC Riverside head coach Jim Woolridge probably put it best, saying it “wasn’t a pretty game to watch.”
No it wasn’t.
Cal Poly’s shooting struggles – missing 13 of its first 14 shots and shooting 18 percent in the first half – was reminiscent of last year’s opener by the women’s team, which shot 16 percent in the first half of a 70-67 loss to Long Beach State.
This year, the Cal Poly women got off to a much better start, shooting 41.9 percent this time around, sprinting to a 29-9 lead before the seats in the Anaheim Convention Center were even warm. Then again, the seats were cold for most of the day as only a few hundred showed up for the opener – although the Big West never announced an attendance figure, probably for that exact reason.
What SoCal basketball fans missed was Cal Poly’s women’s team finishing off UC Irvine by shooting 56 percent from the floor in the second half and hitting nine of their final 11 free throws.
So for one more day, at least, Cal Poly basketball is alive and kicking.
The Mustang women play Pacific on Thursday.

4 wins + 4 days = Big Dance

2008-03-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

The sixth-seeded Cal Poly men’s basketball team (12-17, 7-9) will try to pull off the unthinkable this week, winning four games in four days to advance to its first NCAA Tournament.
The Mustangs open the tournament Wednesday night against seventh-seeded UC Riverside (8-20, 4-12) in the first round at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Four wins doesn’t seem like such a daunting task until you realize Cal Poly hasn’t won four straight all year and has put together a winning streak only twice (the best of which was a three-game streak in November).
But hey, a sixth seed has won this thing before. Don’t believe it? San Jose State, yes, the Spartans, took the tournament as the sixth seed in 1996 – only the tournament was a three-day event back then.
Wipe the Spartans’ win off the books and nobody lower than a fourth seed has won the tournament since it began in 1976.

See Tuesday’s paper for a story on all-conference selections and Wednesday’s paper for tournament previews for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Big West Tourney seedings set

2008-03-08T22:34:00.000-08:00

Big West Conference
Men’s Seedings
UC Santa Barbara (1)
Cal State Northridge (2)
Cal State Fullerton (3)
Pacific (4)
UC Irvine (5)
Cal Poly (6)
UC Riverside (7)
Long Beach State (8)

Big West Tournament
First Round (Anaheim)
Wednesday
Long Beach State vs. UC Irvine, 6 p.m.
UC Riverside vs. Cal Poly, 8:30 p.m.

Women’s Seedings
UC Santa Barbara (1)
UC Davis (2)
UC Riverside (3)
Pacific (4)
Cal Poly (5)
Cal State Fullerton (6)
Long Beach State (7)
UC Irvine (8)

Big West Tournament
First Round (Anaheim)
Wednesday
UC Irvine vs. Cal Poly, noon
Long Beach State vs. Cal State Fullerton, 2:30 p.m.

Poly football picks up another QB

2008-03-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

Cabrillo College quarterback and punter Harlan Prather, who made an official visit to Cal Poly last month, has decided to walk on for the Mustangs next fall, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Prather, a 6-foot, 210-pounder out of San Lorenzo Valley High (i.e. Jordan Beck's old stomping grounds), was an All-Coast Conference selection after passing for 2,159 yards and 27 touchdowns in a season and a half as Cabrillo’s starter.
While Cal Poly returns 10 of its 11 offensive starters next season, including quarterback Jonathan Dally, Prather could make an impact as a punter.
Cal Poly is looking for a replacement for Tim Chicoine, who averaged 42.5 yards on his 46 punts last season.
Jake West and Andrew Gardner are currently listed as the Mustangs’ punters during Spring Drills.

Losses to LBSU* will stand

2008-03-06T16:29:00.001-08:00

The defending Big West Conference champion Long Beach State men’s basketball program, which lost at home to Cal Poly on Thursday, has been slapped with a rash of NCAA- and self-imposed penalties.
According to The Associated Press, penalties against the 49ers include three years probation, forfeiting their 18 victories from the 2005-06 season, reduced recruiting and fewer scholarships. The limited probation will allow the 49ers to participate in postseason play and the Big West Tournament.
Cal Poly lost two games to the 49ers in 2005-06, but school officials said the Mustangs’ 2005-06 record (10-19, 7-7 Big West) probably won't be altered other than having asterisks placed next to the Long Beach State losses that season.
You can read more about the penalties in the Press-Telegram and a school-issued press release.

Cal Poly's 2005-06 meetings with Long Beach State:
Jan. 9 vs. Long Beach State, L 79-66*
Feb. 9 at Long Beach State, L 69-66*
*LBSU forfeited its 18 wins in 2005-06.

RPI could spell RIP for Big West

2008-02-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

Not that this is surprising news, but a look at the NCAA's latest RPI men's basketball figures shows the Big West Conference will be a one-bid league to the 65-team NCAA Tournament again this season. This also means the team that wins the regular season is assured of nothing, and the champion of the Big West Tournament could receive a very low seed.
As of Feb. 25, ESPN's Joe Lunardi projects Cal State Northridge will win the Big West Tournament and earn a 14th seed to the NCAA Tournament, opening against third-seeded Stanford.
But even a 14th seed might be too high for the Big West this year considering the league does not have a team ranked in the top 85 of the latest RPI, with UCSB leading the way at No. 89. Cal Poly is down to No. 209:

BIG WEST RPI

89. UCSB
93. CS Fullerton
116. CS Northridge
129. Pacific
184. UC Irvine
209. Cal Poly
296. UC Riverside
300. UC Davis
319. Long Beach St.

For surfing daredevils, it's an "Endless Winter"

2008-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

Editor's note: This story was originally published by The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA) on February 24, 2008:

By Brian Milne
bmilne@thetribunenews.com

"Get in and wrestle with the sea; wing your heels with the skill and power that reside in you; bit the sea's breakers, master them, and ride upon their backs as a king should."
- from Jack London's 1907 surf essay titled "A Royal Sport"

The sun hasn't even pierced the early morning cloud cover and the Jet Skis are already in the water.

Mike Jones and a couple of surfing buddies are gearing up the "skis" for another harrowing ride to their favorite reef break, located six stormy miles outside their launch site inside the Morro Bay harbor.

By the time these big-wave hunters reach the harbor mouth, their nerves are on full alert.

With massive swells swallowing the breakwater and a U.S. Coast Guard boat bobbing about like a rubber duck in a tub, it's no wonder their hearts are pounding on their tonsils.

And this is just the beginning of their epic journey, which will lead to the biggest waves of the winter surf season.

"We've been in some life-threatening situations and it can get pretty scary," said Jones, who owns Azhiaziam sportswear in San Luis Obispo and sponsors some of the county's top surfers. "On days like that, you leave the harbor mouth when it's 40 foot and the Coast Guard is like, 'What the heck are you doing?' They write down all your information, your name, next of kin, and that stuff doesn't help. It can be intimidating, and sometimes you don't want to leave the harbor, but it's what we do."

On this cold winter morning, the bravado pays off as Jones captures a jaw-dropping photo sequence of local surf legend Van Curaza getting towed into a two-story monster.

A 140-horsepower Jet Ski slings Curaza into an avalanche of whitewater, generated by a barnacle-covered reef only a few feet below the surface. Curaza disappears behind the frosted white crest and finds himself deep in the belly of a barreling beast. His green board nearly escapes the collapsing tube, but the power of the wave sends him tumbling down the face like a rag doll.

Curaza is pushed below the surface for a half-minute but pops up from his underwater pummeling with a smile that's as long as his shoulder-length locks.

"It's an adrenaline rush," said Curaza, 45, from Avila Beach. "When you surf a wave like that, dodging death and everything that comes with surfing big waves, it's a pretty intense feeling. Surfing has a certain amount of joy, but on these waves there's a spirituality and a mental reward that you just can't find anywhere else."

Storm surge

While spellbound beachgoers gawk at the giant storm surf from shore and the end of Cayucos Pier, the local gang of tow-in surfers finds itself in the middle of a white-knuckle waterworld, catching 20-to 25-foot-high waves that will later grace the pages of Transworld Surf and Surfer magazines.

Curaza's first wave of the day, which photographer Chris Burkard said "spit him out so hard that I lost him," is featured on a two-page spread in the March edition of Surfer magazine, giving the unheralded Central Coast charger more ink than surfing poster boys Kelly Slater and Rob Machado.

"No matter where you're from, chances are there's a distant reef, shelf or pinnacle that creates mutant formations every time the heavy water appears," the caption notes. "Most of these beasts were attempted long ago, examined up close and personal by previous generations only to be written off as undoable -- possibly unsurvivable."

But the personal watercraft --Curaza first began towing into these winter giants on an inflatable Zodiac--has made tackling Neptune's wrath a reality. Now surfers can be towed into waves that are too big, too fast, and just too dangerous for traditional paddle-in methods.

The gigantic swells reach the Central Coast only a handful of times each winter, so when the swell hits you can bet veteran watermen like Curaza, Chad Jackson, Gabe Gazzola and Jason Milner are on the scene. When the waves get too big for paddling, Curaza and company tow in behind Jet Skis, strapped to their boards like wakeboarders, only this isn't a lazy summer day and this isn't Nacimiento Lake.

"Luckily they surf far enough away that I can't see them," said Angie Morris, Curaza's girlfriend. "I've heard stories about Van being pounded by a wave, held under long enough where he can't breathe or see anything, but you just have to have complete confidence that he can handle it."

Earning respect

While the number of dedicated big-wave surfers in the area has grown since Curaza and his friends first began towing into Central Coast giants in the mid-1990s, frigid waters, sharks and state-issued disaster warnings keep most surfers away from the outer reef breaks this time of year.

And the locals would like to keep it that way, refusing to disclose their favorite spots to reporters and giving outsiders -- even the biggest names in the sport--a hard time if they show a lack of respect when surfing in their backyard.

"I take it pretty seriously," said Gazzola, a 35-year-old Cayucos native. "I'm a native of this place, and it's really a sacred and special place that we don't want to be overrun. The big swells only come a few times a year, so we don't want a bunch of outsiders coming in. I've seen what can happen to other big-name spots that have been ruined, and we don't want our waves to get overcrowded, polluted and all of that."

Despite a territorial crowd and the quest to keep their favorite spots out of the limelight, the word is getting out about the county's waves. Photos of the county's best spots pop up in magazines every winter with names such as "Mysto Reef" in the captions, but the state's best surfers know exactly where those breaks are located.

San Clemente's Greg Long, who won the prestigious Mavericks Surf Contest last month, says one of California's best breaks is off the Montaña de Oro coast.

"I've surfed out there plenty of times," Long said. "Those (local) guys would kill me if I say where, but there's some good waves down there."

Santa Cruz's Kenny Collins, who won the Billabong XXL award in 2007 for the best bigwave ride of the year, says he's partial to an outer reef break in Cayucos.

"A lot of people don't know it, but San Luis Obispo has some great surf spots," Collins said. "I've got secret spots down there, but I'm not giving them away."

The big break

The area's best big-wave riders also are making a name for themselves outside the Central Coast.

Curaza and Jackson finished seventh in last month's Nelscott Reef Tow-in Classic in Lincoln City, Ore., towing into waves with 30-to 40-foot faces, on a day when a massive great white shark was spotted in between heats.

Jackson was recently featured in the local surf documentary "Lost in the Middle," and is on the cover of the current edition of Deep magazine.

Templeton's Nate Tyler, the county's best-known professional surfer, grew up riding big waves on the Central Coast and has surfed everywhere from Pipeline to Chile.

In 1999, Pismo Beach native Sarah Gerhardt, a Cal Poly graduate who now lives in Santa Cruz, became the first woman to paddle into the infamous Maverick's break in Half Moon Bay, where renowned Hawaiian surfer Mark Foo died five years earlier.

Gerhardt's story is the focus of a new surf documentary titled "One Winter Story."

"I learned to surf in the beach break in Pismo Beach," Gerhardt said. "Even though the breaks around the Central Coast aren't as big or perfect as often as Hawaii or Northern California, I found plenty of opportunities to hone my big-wave skills. I just had to look diligently for them."

The search continues

Searching for big waves is half the fun on the Central Coast, which is probably best known for its shapeless beach breaks that close out and become unsurfable during larger swells.

When the giant swells arrive (21-to 23-foot swells are expected today), that's when the diehards head for the reef breaks off the North Coast or the infamous breaks in Northern California.

And whether they're seeking tow-in waves off the Cayucos coast or paddling in at Maverick's, the big-wave pursuit is the same, says bigwave pioneer Jeff Clark.

"That's what these guys do, they follow the storms around the planet -- it's like 'The Endless Summer,' Bruce Brown's first movie when they follow the surf season," said Clark, who discovered and surfed Maverick's alone for the first 15 years. "Today, things have changed, and now the surf season for the big-wave guys is following the winter storms, and it's become 'The Endless Winter.' "

Next to Maverick's, Northern California's next-most notorious break is Ghost Tree, located off Pescadero Point in Pebble Beach--about 85 miles north of San Luis Obispo County.

Jones was in the water photographing at Ghost Tree on Dec. 4 when legendary Monterey surfer Peter Davi drowned while surfing some of the biggest waves ever along that coast.

"That was just an eerie day with all of the kelp churned up and the rocks out there," Jones said. "I don't know what (Davi) did. I got one shot of him trying to catch a 30-footer and then I didn't really see him the rest of the day. ... When we got the news that he had died, it was just surreal."

News of Davi's death steamrolled the surf community like a cleanup set, but it did little to prevent the bigwave surfers from chasing the next swell.

Jones, Curaza and Jackson, for example, were back surfing a hairy North Coast reef before sunrise the following day.

"It takes a certain type of person to want to go out and attack that kind of stuff," said Curaza, who spent the first half of February surfing in Hawaii. "I enjoy the rush. No matter what you do, accidents are going to happen. We always do our best to be cautious and prevent things like that from happening, but you never know when you're dealing with Mother Nature. At the same time, you can't live in fear. You have to trust your ability and have faith."

Gerhardt, 33, and her husband, Mike, who met while surfing Oahu's North Shore, have two children, but still surf Maverick's occasionally and hope to travel the globe in search of giant waves in the future.

For the Gerhardts, like many big-wave surfers, the thrill will always be worth the risk.

"We both know the risks involved in surfing big waves are heavy, and that we could possibly lose our lives, but we are calculated risk-takers -- not just throwing caution to the wind," Sarah Gerhardt said. "We also believe that God has our days in his hands. We all die, and if we are to die in a car accident on the way to work, or out at Mavs, there is no difference. When our time is up, it's up, so we choose to live each day to the fullest with full awareness that this may be our last day here."

Wisconsin beefs up 2008 slate

2008-02-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

Cal Poly has officially announced the worst kept secret on its 2008 football schedule.
The Mustangs will travel to BCS and Big Ten heavyweight Wisconsin on Nov. 22 (read The Tribune scoop here), which, if you do the math, is the final game of the regular season. I guess games against cupcakes like Iona and Savannah State are a thing of the past.
It will be very interesting to see how the Mustangs approach that game if they’re in the hunt for a playoff spot.
The Badgers, who ended the season ranked No. 24 in the AP poll, are projected to be in the FBS/I-A top 15 at the start of the 2008 season. You can read the Wisconsin side of the schedule story here (yes, they attribute stories out there in Madison -- unlike some of our media friends in SLO).
Good thing Ramses Barden didn’t turn pro and the Mustangs return 10 of 11 starters on offense. They’re going to need all of ’em against this schedule – which you can bet is one of the toughest in I-AA.
Here’s a tentative look at what the Mustangs will be faced with in 2008. Again, all of this is tentative and according to opposing schools and/or sources close to the program. According to AD Alison Cone, the Mustangs have 11 games and are looking for a 12th before announcing the entire slate. See Saturday's follow-up story for more on the Wisconsin game, including payout and buyout figures.

Aug. 30: at San Diego State
Sept. 6: Montana
Sept. 13: at McNeese State
Sept. 20: at Northwestern State
Oct. 18: at South Dakota State
Oct. 25: Southern Utah
Nov. 15: UC Davis
Nov. 22: at Wisconsin
TBA: Idaho State (in SLO)
Possible: No. Dakota
Not on: Sacramento State

D.J. joins SaberCats

2008-02-16T15:50:00.000-08:00

Another former Mustang has joined Dan Loney on the San Jose SaberCats.
Darrell Jones, Cal Poly’s all-time receptions leader, was signed by San Jose’s Arena Football League team this week, joining the SaberCats’ training camp in preparation for the March 3 season opener.
Jones played at Cal Poly from 2001-04, setting school records for career receptions and kick returns.
He joins Loney, an Atascadero High graduate who played at Cal Poly from 1996-99. Loney, entering his seventh season with the SaberCats, was the team’s lineman of the year the past two seasons.
The 5-foot-9, 190-pound Jones played for the AFL’s Arizona Rattlers the past two seasons, returning 57 kicks for 1,118 yards and two touchdowns. He was put on recallable waivers Dec. 14.
Jones was one of the most electric players in Cal Poly history, returning five punts and three kickoffs for touchdowns. The San Rafael product finished his career with 177 catches for 2,460 yards and 20 touchdowns. In his four years, Jones scored touchdowns five different ways — rushing (1), passing (1), receiving (20), kickoff return (3) and punt return (5).
The San Jose SaberCats open the season March 3 against the Chicago Rush at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Just another manic Monday

2008-01-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

"Big Monday" was a fitting label for all of the news coming out of Cal Poly on Monday, which is usually a quiet day for Mustangs sports news (with the exception of the made-for-TV press conferences at Mott Gym each week).
Not only did the news about Morro Bay football star Logan Budd committing to Cal Poly come out, but the Mustangs men's basketball team put together a winning streak, winning its second-straight game at Pacific and on ESPN2's "Big Monday" off all places. Cal Poly always seems to play big on TV, but in the two Big West Tournament finales broadcast by ESPN, the Mustangs couldn't finish. Last night, the Mustangs finally closed out a TV game, in what was their biggest win of the conference season.
If you missed the news, you can read about Budd's commitment here. Stay tuned for more signings next week. National signing day is a week away.
You can read about Cal Poly's five-point win in Stockton here, or watch it online at ESPN360.com. For those who haven't checked it out, ESPN360 shows most of the ESPN-televised games for free, both live and as replays. The only drawback for SLO County sports fans is ESPN360 is not supported by Charter as an Internet provider. But if you have AT&T DSL, it works like a charm. If you go to the replay list, the Cal Poly-Pacific game is toward the bottom (no word on if the games are listed by ratings, but I'm guessing this Big West contest won't be rivaling American Idol this week in the Nielsen Ratings).

'08 football schedule still taking shape

2008-01-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

Many of Cal Poly’s opponents have announced their 2008 football schedules, but the Mustangs are still a “ways away” from announcing their schedule, according to head coach Rich Ellerson.
Instead of waiting until late February (which is when the schedule was announced last year), here’s a look at what we know now about the 2008 slate:
Aug. 30: The Mustangs are scheduled to open at I-A San Diego State.
Sept. 6: The home opener is against Montana, which finished the year ranked No. 10 in I-AA.
Sept. 13: Cal Poly heads to McNeese State, which went unbeaten during the regular season and finished the year ranked No. 11 after a first-round loss to Eastern Washington.
Oct. 18: The Mustangs travel to South Dakota State for a nonconference meeting as the Jacks are no longer in the Great West.
Nov. 15: Cal Poly hosts rival UC Davis in a conference meeting.
TBA: The Mustangs will likely host conference foe Southern Utah and has at least one more conference game against one of the two league newcomers, likely South Dakota. The Mustangs also play a nonconference home game against Idaho State. A date has not been announced.
That leaves at least three more opponents to get to an 11-game schedule, with Big Sky teams like Sacramento State or Eastern Washington a possibility. There has also been talk about Northwestern State.
The NCAA has approved the addition of a 12th regular-season game for Championship Subdivision teams in 2008, 2012 and 2013, so there is an outside possibility the Mustangs have 12 games this fall.

Shotwell happy to play for Dungy in '08

2008-01-22T00:10:00.000-08:00

Former Cal Poly football player Kyle Shotwell is “elated” to hear Tony Dungy is coming back to coach the Indianapolis Colts.
Shotwell signed a free-agent contract with Indianapolis earlier this month and will join the team in March or April in preparation for mini camp.
“I have an enormous amount of respect for him not only as a football coach but more importantly, a man,” Shotwell noted of Dungy in an e-mail to The Tribune. “He seems to take the same approach to the game of football that I do, and am looking forward to the opportunity to be around a leader like him.
“...I think what separates him from other coaches is the way that he approaches the game. He approaches it with the right perspective, and that is that at the end of the day it's just a game. A very important and beautiful game, that is a large part of our lives, however, it is not your whole life. He prioritizes his life and priorities well, and it seems to me that it has worked out nicely for him and the organization as a whole. I really admire what he stands for and how he goes about his business.”
In the meantime, Shotwell said he plans to continue working out in Goleta and in San Luis Obispo and is gearing up for quite the road trip this week. He flies out to Atlanta on Thursday to visit with former Mustang teammate Jordan Beck.
Beck, who was cut by the Atlanta Falcons last year, is now with the Denver Broncos and Shotwell said he is helping Beck move all of his belongings to Denver — a 1,400-mile road trip.
I guess the two Mustangs — who went to the NFL immediately after graduation — will get to go on that senior trip after all.

Ramses remains a Mustang

2008-01-13T22:51:00.000-08:00

The NFL will have to wait for Ramses Barden.
The Mustangs' junior wide receiver told The Tribune on Sunday that he will return to Cal Poly for his senior season.
With 10 offensive starters returning, Barden said it would’ve been a tough call to make the jump to the NFL.
The All-American had considered leaving school a year early and filed paperwork with the NFL advisory committee. He was projected as a fifth-round pick for April’s NFL Draft but has decided to come back and might even run track this spring to improve his speed.
With his sights set on the 2008 football season, Barden feels the Mustangs are ready to make a run at a national championship.

“I can’t say (our goal) will be any different from any other year, but the possibility is a lot more real than it has been in the past,” he said. “We have all the right pieces in place at the right time. We have another opportunity this year. We have a little more talent than we’ve had in the past. We have a lot of experience, and we have a lot of people that buy into what we’re doing. We have a great community, too, so we have a good chance to get to that championship game and be the one team that can (win) it this year.”

Read more about Barden’s decision to return in Monday’s Tribune and at www.sanluisobispo.com.

• • •

In other news, I'm out of town for the week, so I won't be posting any more scoops until after Jan. 20. In the meantime, post your thoughts on Barden's return — and whatever else is on your mind — below:

Should he stay or should he go?

2008-01-11T01:30:00.000-08:00

That is the question facing Cal Poly junior wide receiver Ramses Barden heading into the weekend.
In an interview Thursday, Barden confirmed he has turned in paperwork to the NFL advisory committee and is considering leaving school a year early for the NFL Draft.
The 6-6, 228-pound All-American said he was projected as a fifth-round pick by the committee -- which some have said can be right on with its projections or be a bit conservative, depending on who you talk to.
Either way, it looks like leaving a year early could be a gamble for a FCS/I-AA player, even if it's someone with Barden's size, speed and play-making ability.
The general feeling I'm getting from players and others sources close to the program is that Barden is leaning toward returning to school but is keeping his options open just in case.
Then again, in the interview Thursday, he said he's "still not completely decided yet.”
Well, he better be soon. The deadline is Jan. 15. You can read the rest of the story here.

Saturday update:
Reached by phone tonight, the Cal Poly wide receiver told The Tribune he is still undecided on whether he will return for his senior season or forego his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft.

In the meantime, what do you think Ramses should do?

Shotwell signs with Super Bowl champs

2008-01-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

Former Cal Poly linebacker Kyle Shotwell has signed a free-agent contract with the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts.
Shotwell, whose five-week stint on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad ended at the conclusion of the regular season, is expected to join the Colts after the postseason in preparation for the 2008 preseason.
“When I was finishing up my time with the Eagles, I thought the (interested) teams would be the Eagles and the Raiders,” Shotwell said. “Then the Colts kind of came out of nowhere. I was excited when I heard that because that’s one of the teams that was interested in me from the start and a place that I saw myself fitting in with. I’m glad it worked out that way.”
The 2006 Buck Buchanan Award winner is one of five former Mustangs in the NFL.
Two others — Philadelphia LB Chris Gocong and Denver LB Jordan Beck — just finished up their first seasons with their respective teams.
The other two are in the playoffs this weekend.
Kassim Osgood, who played at Cal Poly for three years before transferring to San Diego State, is a wide receiver and Pro Bowl special teams player for the San Diego Chargers, who travel to face Shotwell’s new team in Indianapolis on Sunday.
Former Mustangs cornerback Courtney Brown is a defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys, who host the New York Giants on Sunday.
See Friday's Tribune for more on this story.

Trib sports staff BCS picks

2008-01-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

OK, so it's not exactly Cal Poly related, but it's college and it's local because I polled our sports staff to see who they like to win Monday night's BCS title game between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 LSU. Needless to say, the staff doesn't like the Buckeyes' chances.
• Tristan Aird: LSU, 35-24
• Ashley Conklin: LSU, 34-17
• Erick Smith: LSU, 34-14
• Donovan Aird: LSU, 35-21
• J.D. Scroggin: LSU, 42-13
• Brian Milne: LSU, 28-17
Well, I guess it's a clean sweep for the Tigers. If LSU wins, whoever is closest to the final score will get dinner or something on the rest of staff. If Ohio State wins, we should look into another profession.

MONDAY UPDATE:
LSU battled back from an early 10-point deficit to beat Ohio State 38-24 in Monday's BCS Championship Game in New Orleans.
The Tigers' second BCS title made The Tribune sports staff look smarter than some would think. But some looked smarter than others. While all of us picked the Tigers to win by at least two scores, Tristan "The Wizard of Odds" Aird was a mere three points off the final score thanks to the two late touchdowns. Nice work by Aird and the Tigers.

— Associated Press photo

Cal Poly aims to shoot out of slump

2008-01-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

Cal Poly guard Lorenzo Keeler was the first to field the question after Thursday’s blowout loss to Cal State Northridge.
What’s wrong with the Mustangs’ shooters?
The Cal Poly men’s basketball team had another miserable night from the floor in the 80-59 defeat in Mott Gym, signaling the start of what could be a long Big West Conference season if the Mustangs (5-8, 0-1) don’t turn around their dismal 38.5 shooting percentage.
“We need more confidence on offense,” said Keeler, who was 2 of 8 from the floor against the Matadors. “We haven’t shot well all year, and I think it’s a mental thing because in practice they’re going in. In the games, it’s been a different story.”
Has it ever.
Despite what Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley said were “three good days of practice” early in the week, the Mustangs were 19 of 56 from the field and 5 of 21 from beyond the arc in the loss to the Matadors. It was Cal Poly’s worst home loss since a 64-37 debacle against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 15, 2006.
And this is a Mustangs team that returned a conference-high 11 players from a squad that shot 46.5 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent from long range last season. It’s a team that obviously misses the shooting and leadership presence of departed seniors like Derek Stockalper and Tyler McGinn.
Cal Poly, which hasn’t shot better than 36 percent in its past three games, is now dead last in the Big West in field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage (29.4) and free-throw percentage (61.9).
The Mustangs hope to regain their touch tonight in Mott Gym when they host defending-conference champion Long Beach State (3-9, 0-1), which lost at UC Santa Barbara 79-64 on Thursday.
The 49ers beat Cal Poly in last year’s Big West Tournament finale to advance to the NCAA Tournament, but with both teams struggling. the Mustangs are more concerned with fixing their shooting woes than exacting revenge on a 49ers squad that lost its top nine scorers and is playing for a new coach in Dan Monson.
“This basketball team has to have a nice mixture of an inside presence, penetration and a 3-point presence. When we have that mixture, we’re going to be pretty darn good,” Bromley said. “We can’t go away with 30 3s. We can’t go away when we don’t have penetration in the paint. We can’t go away when we don’t have any post touches.”
In the first half of Thursday’s loss, Cal Poly center Titus Shelton did not have an official field-goal attempt, though he went to the free-throw line once.
Despite missing their first five attempts from 3-point range, Cal Poly attempted another nine treys in the first half. Mustangs guards Keeler, Chaz Thomas, Trae Clark and Dawin Whiten finished a collective 5 of 19 from beyond the arc while Cal Poly big men Shelton, Matt Hanson, Dreshawn Vance and John Manley were 6 of 15 inside.
“We’re not on the right page right now,” Bromley said. “We just have to get this out of our system. All I know is there’s no easy solution. ... You want it back hard enough, you just have to work harder and that’s when it comes. If you’re passionate about it, work hard for it and work smart, you’re going to get where you want to go.”

The latest from the sports desk

2008-01-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

Well, that Cal Poly men's basketball preview didn't make today's edition because of the power outage. In fact, no sports made today's paper, which is discouraging as that's never happened in my previous seven plus years here. But we'll have to blame Mother Nature on that one.
In the meantime, you can find a capsule previewing the game at SanLuisObispo.com.

In other Cal Poly news today:
The awards keep coming for Cal Poly football players Ramses Barden and Stephen Field.
Barden and Field, a pair of juniors who have one more year of eligibility, earned All-America honors Saturday when The Sports Network announced its Football Championship Subdivision All-America teams.
Barden, a wide receiver, earned first-team honors.
Field, an offensive lineman out of Arroyo Grande, was recognized on the second team. You can find the entire All-America list here.

Raining, pouring, sports desk is snoring

2008-01-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Luckily it was a slow night on the Cal Poly beat tonight as it appears there will be no sports section Saturday because of a power outage at The Tribune office – the first time I can remember us having such a problem in my seven plus years.
The only event involving a Cal Poly team tonight was the wrestling squad's 22-15 victory over Oregon in Mott Gym.
The fact that the Mustangs wrestled tonight at home, with power going out all over the place, is a good indicator Saturday’s Cal Poly men’s basketball game against Long Beach State (7 p.m.) should go off without a hitch. I’ll keep you posted tomorrow and will be sure to post a game preview if it doesn’t make the morning paper. I apologize ahead of time if this is the case.
Chad Mendes did not wrestle tonight because of a forfeit at 141 pounds.
Notable victories by the Mustangs included:
• Micah Ferguson’s 4-0 win over Joey Lucas at 125
• Eric Maldanado’s 9-5 decision against Jeremy McLaughlin at 149
• Chase Pami’s 15-3 victory over Elliott Trace at 157
• Ryan Williams’ 5-4 win against Kyle Bounds at 165
• AG’s Arturo Basulto’s 3-1 decision over Shaun Dee at 197

Rain, rain, go away

2008-01-04T18:23:00.000-08:00

The power went out at The Tribune at about 4:45 p.m. today and there is a possibility the paper won't be able to run the presses tonight. If we receive power, I'll try to post a preview I wrote for Saturday's Long Beach State-Cal Poly men's basketball game.
• Last time I checked, Cal Poly's 7 p.m. wrestling match against Oregon was still on for tonight. You can watch it online here.
• A handful of prep events have been washed for today. I believe J.D. will be posting an update on that on his blog.
• In other college news, soon-to-be Great West member North Dakota has already hired a new football coach. North Dakota assistant Chris Mussman has been tabbed as the replacement for Dale Lennon, who recently resigned to take over head coaching duties at Southern Illinois.

Matadors dressed to kill

2008-01-03T22:53:00.000-08:00

Initial thoughts from tonight’s Big West Conference opener, which the Cal Poly men’s basketball team lost to Cal State Northridge 80-59 before only 1,500 fans in Mott Gym:
• The Mustangs might have returned a league-high 11 players this year, but they really miss those three seniors they lost – their best all-around player Derek Stockalper, the grit of Tyler McGinn and the emotional lift that one of their verbal leaders, Joe Henry, brought.
• Cal State Northridge is better than people thought.
• The Matadors' coach, Bobby Braswell, was sporting another sweet suit. Braswell, once named the conference's best-dressed coach by one random magazine or another, was wearing what was kind of a beige suit with a coral pattern this time around.
• Why am I going all GQ and writing about suits? That stuff happens in a 21-point blowout.
• Josh Jenkins, the Matadors JC transfer point guard, is the one who gets them going. When he’s under control, he’s fun to watch. He had 11 assists in like 20 minutes.
• Cal Poly had 11 assists, AS A TEAM.
• The Mustangs didn’t jack up 30 threes tonight, but they made just five of the 21 they attempted. Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley must have had a talk with his shooters at halftime because they attempted only seven treys in the second half. Should be interesting to see how they come out Saturday against Long Beach St.
• Cal Poly big men Titus Shelton, Matt Hanson, Dreshawn Vance and John Manley attempted just 15 shots inside the arc.

- Braswell photo courtesy GQ, I mean CSUN.

Great West will get another new face

2008-01-03T00:11:00.000-08:00

Another Great West Conference program will be playing under a new coach next season.
A week after Southern Utah announced the hiring of Ed Lamb, University of North Dakota’s Dale Lennon resigned from his post to take over head coaching duties at Southern Illinois.
North Dakota and South Dakota are set to play in the Great West in 2008, although you wouldn’t know it by the Great West Web site, which barely mentions the schools on its homepage. North Dakota State and South Dakota State are still featured on the site, although the two programs will be playing in the Gateway Conference in 2008.
Even though the FCS season is over, the conference site probably won’t recognize the realignment until the end of the current academic year.
In the meantime, there is a Web poll on the site that asks what team should be the preseason favorite in the Great West. As of Thursday at midnight, UC Davis led the poll with 2,508 votes (56 percent). Cal Poly was next with 1,252, followed by North Dakota (489), Southern Utah (112) and South Dakota (86).

Big zero for Big West women

2008-01-02T15:44:00.000-08:00

Zip, zero, zilch, nada.
I’m writing a Big West Conference women’s basketball preview and realized that’s the number of teams with a winning record heading into conference play.
Going into tonight’s opener between Pacific and UC Riverside, the league is a combined 28-76 this season. Yikes.
Only league newcomer UC Davis, which is 6-6, has a .500 record.
Everyone else has losing records, and the league favorite, UC Riverside, is 2-9 thus far. Double yikes.
Why is the Big West struggling so bad? Well, you can find out more about that tomorrow when the preview runs. Or you can just look at a never-ending injury list that includes: UC Riverside’s Kemie Nkele (knee), Long Beach State’s Karina Figueroa (foot), Pacific’s Jake Kelly (undisclosed health condition) and UCSB’s Jenna Green (back). Yikes times four. And those are only the injuries that have been announced by the respective programs and are expected to be season ending.
All of which should make for a wide-open Big West race this year.

Here's to a happier new year

2008-01-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

The new year couldn’t have come soon enough for the Big West Conference.
Of the conference’s nine men’s basketball teams, only three closed out 2007 with victories – and none of those teams is riding a winning streak heading into conference play.
UC Santa Barbara (11-2), Cal State Northridge (8-3) and UC Irvine (5-8) are the only teams entering 2008 on a high note. League favorite UC Santa Barbara is coming off a 58-51 victory at Eastern Washington on Dec. 29. Cal State Northridge, which opens at Cal Poly, is fresh off a 73-65 win at Utah Valley State on Dec. 28. UC Irvine needed overtime to beat Harvard 80-77 on Dec. 30 to snap a three-game losing streak.
The other teams will try to get their seasons back on track beginning tonight, when Pacific and UC Riverside officially tip off the Big West season.
Most of the league gets underway Thursday, with Cal Poly hosting Cal State Northridge.
See Thursday’s paper for a team-by-team preview of the league.

Liddell finishes '07 on winning note

2007-12-29T22:08:00.000-08:00

Maybe Cal Poly's basketball fans should have stayed home and watched the fight tonight.
While the Mustangs men's basketball team lost at home to 2-10 Southern Utah, former Cal Poly wrestler and mixed martial arts star Chuck Liddell ended his year in style.
The “Iceman” looked like his old self in Ultimate Fighting Championship 79 as one of the sport’s most feared strikers came out swinging and came away with his first victory of the year against former PRIDE star Wanderlei Silva.
The light heavyweight slugfest went the allotted three rounds, but an aggressive Liddell clearly controlled the bout and won by unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak by the former Mustang, who still lives and trains in San Luis Obispo.
Liddell’s last win came exactly a year ago, beating Tito Ortiz with his seventh consecutive knockout victory, solidifying his place atop the decision. But losses to Quinton Jackson (May 26) and Keith Jardine (Sept. 22) had many speculating about his future in mixed martial arts.
Some of those naysayers were silenced Saturday after Liddell came out with a flurry of blows that staggered Silva in the first round.
Silva recovered and came out strong in the second before a cut above his right eye slowed his attack. Both fighters went down briefly in the second round but avoided a stoppage.
Liddell took Silva down again in the third round just before final bell.
The "Iceman" improved to 21-5 with the victory, while Silva fell to 31-8-1 after his third consecutive loss.

One final serving of Mayo

2007-12-26T22:57:00.000-08:00

For those who missed O.J. Mayo’s no-look dish to set up a Davon Jefferson slam in USC’s 78-55 win over Cal Poly on Saturday, the highlight has made its way to YouTube.
While USC was scoring from all over the floor, the Mustangs struggled offensively and went just 6 of 30 from beyond the arc.
Cal Poly forward Matt Hanson hit a couple of those 3s early in the game but scored only one point after scoring the Mustangs’ first eight out the gate.
After the game, Hanson said the Mustangs might need to rethink their 3-ball mentality.
“We haven’t been shooting the ball well recently,” Hanson told The Associated Press. “We just need to get some better shots or do something different with our offense. What our team needs is to go inside a little more.”

Big West not at its best

2007-12-23T02:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday was not a good day for Big West Conference.
The Big West looked like it’ll be a one-bid conference again this year, losing what I believe was all five of its men’s basketball games on Saturday.
While three of those teams – UCSB, Cal Poly and UC Irvine – played top 25 teams, there were some cover-your-eyes-type losses by Pacific, Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside.
Pacific lost to Fresno State 75-58 in a game that saw the Tigers struggle defensively, forcing only nine turnovers and finishing with one steal and one blocked shot.
That’s the same Fresno State team that lost to Cal State Bakersfield earlier in the year. A Bakersfield team that could be joining the Big West in the future if the Roadrunners have their way. Speaking of having their way, the ’Runners, who are in the middle of a four-year transition from DII to DI, had their way with the Big West’s UC Riverside in a 71-53 victory in the Inland Empire on Saturday. It was only their second win of the season.
Then there was Cal State Fullerton’s 84-80 loss at home to Wright State. The other game between nonranked opponents was Washington’s 80-66 victory over Cal State Northridge in Seattle.
As far as the Big West against the top 25, No. 1 North Carolina rolled over UCSB 105-70, No. 25 USC beat Cal Poly 78-55 as O.J. Mayo had more assists the Mustangs team, and UC Irvine lost at No. 14 Texas A&M 88-66.
The good thing about this preseason is the top half teams in the league are scheduling games against some of the best teams in the country, and not just the Pac-10 squads as they have in the past.
Problem is, heading into the last week of 2007, five of the nine teams in the Big West have losing records.

GWFC foe hires football coach

2007-12-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

With former Cal Poly offensive coordinator Joe DuPaix removing his name from consideration to take an assistant coaching job at Navy, Great West Football Conference foe Southern Utah went with Ed Lamb as its next head coach.
Southern Utah, which went 0-11 last year, announced the hiring on Thursday.
Lamb was previously the special teams coordinator, recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach at the University of San Diego.
“We’re very happy and excited to name Ed Lamb as the new head football coach at Southern Utah University,” Southern Utah athletic director Ken Beazer said in a statement. “We had tremendous interest in the job and looked at a lot of candidates before focusing in on Ed as our man. I have confidence he will step in and get our program going in the right direction.”
Southern Utah is expected to travel to Cal Poly in 2008 for a Great West Football Conference meeting.

Shields returns to Cal Poly

2007-12-21T00:15:00.000-08:00

For those who missed today's paper, or didn't see KSBY swipe the story from our Web site late Thursday night, the Cal Poly football team will have a familiar face directing the offense next season.
Former co-offensive coordinator Ian Shields is returning to Cal Poly after a two-year stint as the head coach at NAIA Eastern Oregon. He replaces offensive coordinator Joe DuPaix, who told The Tribune last week he has accepted an assistant coaching position at Navy. Neither Cal Poly nor Navy have announced DuPaix's departure, although at least other two media outlets in the area have without crediting the original source, which is a Journalism 101 no-no, but I digress.
Shields' return -- he split coordinator duties with DuPaix in 2004 and 2005, when the Mustangs made the playoffs for the first time -- could mean Cal Poly's offense won't skip a beat after all this spring. If anyone knows the Mustangs' offensive philosophy and the playmakers Cal Poly returns, it's Shields. And it sounds like the coach will join the program at the end of the year, which means he'll be with the team during spring drills early in 2008.
In fact, it would be tough to find a more knowledgeable replacement at the Division I-AA level, considering so few teams run the triple option any more.
Keep in mind, Shields coached seniors-to-be Ramses Barden, James Noble and Stephen Field in 2005. Cal Poly averaged 27.2 points and 352.8 yards per game that season, going 9-4 and upsetting perennial power Montana in the first round of the playoffs.
In 2006, with the core of their playmakers returning on offense, Cal Poly struggled to match the offensive success it had when Shields was calling plays.
Cal Poly moved from a spread option to a triple-option based offense in 2007 and broke numerous school records in the process, averaging 39.3 points and a Championship Subdivision-best 487.1 yards per game. With 10 of 11 starters returing on offense, and Shields' creative playcalling back in the mix, the Mustangs could actually improve on those numbers next season.

Return of the Tribune curse?

2007-12-19T12:37:00.000-08:00

The day after our feature on Chad Mendes ran, the Cal Poly senior wrestler injured his knee in practice on Sunday.
The unbeaten wrestler, who has been the story of the winter sports season at Cal Poly, didn’t wrestle at Tuesday’s Reno Tournament of Champions – an event that Mendes said he was looking forward to when I spoke with him Friday night because it was drawing several top-25 teams such as No. 5 Oklahoma State and No. 6 Central Michigan.
Mendes’ injury got me thinking about curses, whether it be a Tribune Jinx or a Cal Poly Curse. The idea of a curse surfaced a few years ago when we were blowing out features on the likes of Jordan Beck and Chris Gocong prior to their season-ending injuries as rookies in the NFL. Similar fluke injuries occurred after features ran on former Cal Poly quarterbacks Anthony Garnett and Chris Peterson, when they went down with injuries.
Or was that the Madden Curse, since they were football related and John Madden is a former Mustang?
Mendes’ injury, however, doesn’t sound like a long-term deal. I’ll have update on his knee injury in Thursday’s print edition.

Mendes photo by David Middlecamp

USC hits books, Poly hits court

2007-12-17T23:47:00.000-08:00

While the USC men's basketball team is stressing through finals this week, Cal Poly plans on dedicating most of the week to preparing for the Trojans and the many matchup problems they present.
Cal Poly wrapped up finals earlier this month and its students are on Christmas Break. Does this help their Mustangs' chances come Saturday at USC? Maybe. Does it mean they're going to pull off another upset of the Trojans? If the Sagarin ratings are any indicator, the "outlook isn't good," as my lucky eight ball would say. USC is No. 41 in the ratings index. Cal Poly is waaaay down at No. 185.
But Mustangs forward Titus Shelton likes their chances. And you already know senior guard Dawin Whiten thinks they can win.
"They have good players at good positions," Shelton said over the weekend. "They have O.J. Mayo, they have good bigs, so my initial thought is they're a good team. We're a good team too, overall, so we're just going to go out there and give them all we got."
While Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley wasn't exactly happy about the coverage of his team when he spoke to reporters after Saturday's game, he was happy his players had the week off from classes so they could focus on the Trojans.
"We got some work cut out for ourselves," he said. "I'm glad we have a whole week to prepare for them, without school and with finals week over. We can condition, practice and have a chance to get better. We just haven't been able to do that," playing seven of the first nine games away from Mott Gym.

Go ahead and hold the Mayo

2007-12-16T01:22:00.001-08:00

I was going to write about Cal Poly’s upcoming opponent and how the Mustangs plan on defending USC star guard O.J. Mayo, but I really have no idea how they’re going to defend this guy. And I’m not sure if the Mustangs have a clue either.
I asked Cal Poly coach Kevin Bromley about the matchup problems the 6-foot-5 Mayo would present for the Mustangs’ undersized backcourt toward the tail end of an interview after the CS Bakersfield win, but instead of answering the question Bromley wanted to talk journalism.
“I’d like to talk about how there was nothing in today’s paper about today’s game,” he said. “That’s what I’d like to talk about. There wasn’t even one thing in today’s paper, not an ad or nothing.”
I was going to explain why there wasn’t a preview for Saturday’s game, but the coach turned his back to me after his “response,” so apparently we won’t know how the team’s going to defend Mayo until they play next weekend.

• • •

As far as our previews go, those who read the paper regularly know we don’t typically preview games against nonconference opponents unless it’s at least a decent DI opponent, like the Trojans, who I was trying to write a preview for, oddly enough. A game against a 1-8 Division II program that drew 1,600 fans didn’t fit that requirement with everything going on for Saturday’s paper. ... As far as footing the bill for advertisements, AD Alison Cone is probably the best contact for that one, not a beat writer who doesn't make a third of the coach's $160,000 salary.

• • •

Luckily Cal Poly forward Titus Shelton was willing to talk about the matchup with USC, although he was uncertain exactly how the Mustangs would be defending Mayo, too. All he knows is Cal Poly’s big men are going to have to play physical and might have to offer some help up top.
“I have a lot of confidence in our guards, defensively,” said Shelton, who at only 6-7 (two inches taller than Mayo) is the Mustangs’ starting center. “If they need help, we’ll help them. I have a lot of confidence in our guys, and they usually take the challenge when there’s leading scorers on other teams.”

Poly men beat Bakersfield

2007-12-16T00:36:00.000-08:00

Trae Clark had 15 points and Matt Hanson had 14 as the Cal Poly men's basketball team beat Cal State Bakersfield 66-56 Saturday night.
The Roadrunners (1-9) nearly erased a 10-point halftime deficit and cut it to 49-47 with less than 5 minutes remaining before the Mustangs (5-5) finished with a 17-9 run.
Cal State Bakersfield's leading scorer Terrence Johns went 0-for-13 from the floor and finished with two points.
Dawin Whiten, one of the Mustangs' top scorers, was held to 1-of-10 shooting. Whiten missed his first nine shots but made a 3-pointer with 4:38 remaining to push the lead to 52-47.
Hanson and Titus Shelton had eight rebounds apiece for the Mustangs, and Clark had four assists.

Mendes dominating the competition

2007-12-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

Chad Mendes turned in another dominant performance for the Cal Poly wrestling team tonight.
Mendes, a senior who wrestles at 141 pounds, tallied six takedowns in the final period and beat Heinrich Barnes of Oregon State 20-6. It was one of the few highlights for the Mustangs, however, in a 23-16 loss to the Beavers.
Mendes is unbeaten in 14 matches this season and last weekend pinned second-ranked Manuel Rivera of defending national champion Minnesota in just 94 seconds.
Mendes, who is now ranked sixth nationally in his weight class, took the previously unbeaten Rivera down 1:30 into the match and turned him for the fall four seconds later.
Of his 14 matches this season, Mendes has won four by pins, five by major decision and one by technical fall.
Here's a YouTube video of Mendes' spectacular win over Rivera:

DuPaix jumps ship

2007-12-13T23:20:00.000-08:00

The big scoop of the day, which you'll read out about in Friday's paper, is that offensive coordinator Joe DuPaix is leaving the Cal Poly football team less than a month after guiding the Mustangs to one of the most impressive offensive seasons in program history.
Only DuPaix, one of two remaining assistants from head coach Rich Ellerson's initial coaching staff in 2001, isn't taking the Southern Utah job as some folks had hoped.
DuPaix told The Tribune today he has accepted an assistant coaching position with the Navy Midshipmen, which came as a surprise to his players and the T-Bird supporters back in Cedar City, Utah, where the Salt Lake City native interviewed for the Thunderbirds head coaching vacancy on Tuesday.
But after hearing all that Southern Utah had -- and didn't have -- to offer, he accepted the Navy assistant coaching position later that same night. DuPaix will be coaching the running backs at I-A Navy, which apparently is a better gig than the head coaching job at I-AA Southern Utah.
Neither Cal Poly nor Navy have announced the hiring as of late Thursday night, but you can read all about it in Friday's paper (and if you hear about it elsewhere, you know where they got it). A look at the Cal Poly assistants who have jumped to the I-A level since Ellerson took over prior to the 2001 season:

David Fipp, Nevada/San Jose St.
Joe Seumalo, San Jose St./Oregon St.
Jeff Hammerschmidt, Stanford
David Brown, Ohio
Brent Brennan, San Jose St.
Joe DuPaix, Navy

Piecing together Poly's '08 schedule

2007-12-13T12:29:00.000-08:00

The Cal Poly football team’s 2008 schedule is starting to take shape.
Nothing has been announced by the school, because the schedule makers are still trying to fill at least two open dates, but two opponents — San Diego State and Montana — have announced their season openers are against Cal Poly.
Keep in mind, teams can play 12 regular-season games next season. Here’s what I can piece together on Cal Poly’s schedule, which is very unofficial at this point:

Mustangs open at I-A San Diego State, Aug. 30
Cal Poly’s home opener is vs. Montana, Sept. 6
Mustangs also host GWFC games vs. Southern Utah, UC Davis
Idaho State and South Dakota St. should return nonconference games
and at least one of the newcomers, South Dakota/North Dakota, will be on the 2008 schedule.

That’s seven down, four and maybe five to go. The good news for Cal Poly fans is that at least six of those games look like they’re in the state.
Sacramento State is another opponent Cal Poly might be looking at. The Mustangs didn’t play the Hornets last season for the first time since 1983.
North Dakota State, which like So. Dakota State is leaving the GWFC, is not on the schedule at this point.
The game against I-A San Jose State is scheduled for the 2009 season.

Barden, Field All-Americans, too

2007-12-12T17:17:00.001-08:00

Cal Poly's football team also had a pair of underclassmen named to All-America teams Wednesday.
Wide receiver Ramses Barden and center Stephen Field, both juniors, were recognized on Associated Press Football Championship Subdivision All-America teams.
Barden was named to the first team, and Field, an Arroyo Grande High graduate, was on the third team.
The 6-foot-6 Barden shared the Great West Football Conference's offensive player of the year award with North Dakota State senior quarterback Steve Walker after catching 57 passes for 1,467 yards and 18 touchdowns. He broke Cal Poly records for receiving yards (1,467), points (108) and 100-yard receiving games (seven) in a season.
Field was an All-Great West first team selection for the third straight year, anchoring a Cal Poly offensive line that helped the Mustangs rank first nationally in total offense, fifth in rushing offense, and 27th in sacks allowed.
See Thursday's Tribune for more on this story along with the inside scoop on how the football team's 2008 schedule is coming along.

Atherstone an All-American

2007-12-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

Cal Poly volleyball player Kylie Atherstone was named to the AVCA All-America third team on Wednesday, become the Mustangs' first All-American selection since 1989.
The 6-foot-1, opposite-side hitter helped lead Cal Poly to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and is the program's first All-American since Michelle Hanson earned second-team honors in 1989.
Cal Poly middle blocker, Jaclyn Houston, also a junior, was an All-America honorable mention.
The All-American teams can be found at AVCA.org.
I'll be writing more on this story in Thursday's Tribune.

Poly volley can't pull off upset

2007-12-08T01:02:00.000-08:00

After cruising through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament unscathed, Stanford head volleyball coach John Dunning was obviously relieved his top-ranked Cardinal wasn’t one of the seeded teams that fell victim to an upset.
Of the 16 teams that made it to this weekend’s third round, six were underdogs that advanced via upsets – five of which came on the right side of the bracket. Oregon was the lone unseeded team remaining on the left side.
“Some amazing upsets, and it’s just a sign of the parity in the sport,” Dunning said after the sweep of Sacramento State in the second round. “There are so many good teams. Women’s volleyball is amazing, the number of good players. The skill level, all the teams are good.”
But in an NCAA Tournament that's been filled with upsets, the Stanford Regional went according to the seeds on Friday night.
Top-seeded Stanford swept 16th-seeded Cal Poly.
Eighth-seeded UCLA took out unseeded Oregon in four games.
No real surprises here, although the Mustangs were disappointed they didn’t really do any better against the Cardinal the second time around.
Cal Poly lost 30-15, 30-24, 30-20 on Friday, exactly three months after losing to Stanford on the same floor by scores of 30-20, 30-18, 30-28 in the Stanford Invitational.
Because the match didn’t get over until 11:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday’s story will be without any postgame reaction. I’m working on a follow for Sunday’s paper, which will wrap up the season and include plenty of player reaction.

Remembering Tom Lee

2007-11-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

I received word of Cal Poly Hall of Famer Tom Lee's death late Thursday night, but I wasn't able to write anything until today for the Web and for Saturday's paper. It was one of the toughest stories I've written having covered Lee's son, Larry, as Cal Poly and Cuesta's baseball coach for eight years now. I'd spot Tom at nearly every game I covered, sitting right there behind the plate rooting on his son's teams.
I also interviewed Tom dozens of times about his sons, or for Hall of Fame stories and obits on other Cal Poly legends. His stories were always classic.
Tom, a former Cal Poly coach and PE instructor, died at his San Luis Obispo home Thursday afternoon. He was 90.
Tom retired from the physical education and recreation department in 1988.
He came to Cal Poly in 1952 when he was hired as the varsity baseball, freshman football and boxing coach. Tom coached all three sports until the late 1950s and continued coaching boxing for 12 years until it was discontinued in 1963.
You can read more about his legacy in Saturday's paper, or you can find it at www.sanluisobispo.com late tonight. A funeral is planned for next Friday at the Old Mission Church in San Luis Obispo.
I talked to a bunch of people around the community today, and the stories they had about Tom Lee were almost as classic as his own tales. Everything from how he fought in WWII, had the brakes go out on the family car during their move to SLO (going down the Cuesta Grade of all places), and how he even played in the NBC World Series alongside Satchel Paige. I saw a comment had already been posted just minutes after posting a short breaking news story on Lee's passing at sanluisobispo.com and thought this could also be a good forum for readers to post their stories/memories about Tom as well. If you have any you would like to share, please feel free to do so in the comment section below.

Shotty signs with Philly

2007-11-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

Former Cal Poly linebacker Kyle Shotwell, the 2006 Buck Buchanan Award winner, was officially signed to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad on Wednesday.
The Eagles, who run a speed-oriented and blitz-happy 4-3 defense that could be well suited for the 6-1, 240-pound Shotwell, made the move to replace linebacker William Kershaw, who was signed off the practice squad by Houston.
The move comes just three days after former Cal Poly standout Chris Gocong turned in his best game as a pro for the Eagles, tallying a sack and four tackles in a loss to the New England Patriots.
Gocong’s big night against Tom Brady and company might’ve reninforced the belief that small-school products like Gocong, another Buchanan Award winner, and RB Brian Westbrook (I-AA Villanova), a Payton Award winner, can succeed at the next level.
Shotwell, however, still has his work cut out for him. As a practice squad player, there are no guarantees, and he isn't eligible to play on Sundays until he makes the active roster. Since September, five players have been released from the Eagles practice squad. Then again, two players have been signed to other teams and two others were promoted to the Eagles’ active roster after injuries hit Philly on the defensive side of the ball. Stay tuned on this one.

Barden doesn't make final cut

2007-11-26T13:36:00.000-08:00

The three finalists for the Walter Payton Award have been announced and, as expected, Cal Poly wide receiver Ramses Barden wasn’t one of them.
In fact, there were no wide receivers among the finalists as Barden wasn’t even among the top 10 receiving votes. Since the award was first presented in 1987, only one wide receiver has come away with the trophy -- Villanova's Brian Finneran won it in 1997. Four of the past five awards have gone to quarterbacks, starting with Tony Romo of Eastern Illinois in 2002.
The three finalists, as named by The Sports Network, were all quarterbacks: Georgia Southern’s Jayson Foster, San Diego’s Josh Johnson and Eric Sanders of Northern Iowa.
Yeah, can you believe it? Everyone’s favorite coming in, 2006 Payton Award winner Ricky Santos of New Hampshire, wasn’t among the finalists and finished fifth in this year’s balloting. Another surprise was where North Dakota State running back Tyler Roehl fell in the voting. He was eighth after a less than stellar finish for the Bison.
The Payton Award winner will be announced Dec. 13 at the Chattanooga Marriott during the annual Sports Network awards dinner.
The Buck Buchanan Award, given to the best defender in the FCS, and Eddie Robinson Award, for the best coach, will be handed out on the eve of the championship game as well. The Sports Network does not announce finalists for the Buck Buchanan, but Cal Poly does not have a player up for the honor for the first time in five seasons. Mustangs Kyle Shotwell, Chris Gocong and Jordan Beck won the previous three awards.
Delaware running back Omar Cuff was fourth in the Payton Award voting, followed by Santos, Southern Illinois quarterback Nick Hill, Richmond running back Tim Hightower, Roehl, Yale running back Mike McLeod and Appalachian State running back Kevin Richardson. That means Barden finished somewhere between Nos. 11 and 16. Here's a list of the 16 candidates coming into the week along with past winners of the award.

Poly volley off to Athens

2007-11-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

The Cal Poly volleyball team earned the No. 16 seed to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday but was not rewarded with a host site.
The Mustangs will instead travel to Athens, Ohio, to play Xavier in the first round on Friday.
Cal Poly (21-7) lost to Xavier (24-10) in five games on Sept. 14 at the ASICS/Coca-Cola Invitational in San Francisco.
The winner of the first-round match advances to play the winner of host Ohio (26-15) and Purdue (18-13).
See Monday’s Tribune for more on this story. The 64-team bracket can be found here.

Mustang men's soccer feeling left out

2007-11-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

The Cal Poly men's soccer team saw its season come to an end Monday when the Mustangs were not invited to the NCAA Tournament. Here's the bracket.
Getting left out of the tournament field wasn't all that shocking considering the Mustangs (11-4-4, 6-3-4 Big West Conference) won just two of their final eight matches after upsetting defending champion UC Santa Barbara at home on Oct. 17.
Cal Poly had an RPI of 31 last week, and 48 teams advance to the tournament, so it will be interesting to see where their RPI is this week after splitting its two matches over the weekend. Friday's loss to Portland might have been the one that burst the Mustangs' bubble. Like the Cal Poly football team, and the women's soccer team, Cal Poly might have been just one win away from the postseason.
The Big West Conference, which did not have a representative on the committee, got two teams into the tournament as conference champion UCSB and second-place UC Davis advanced. Cal Poly finished third in the conference standings, losing to UC Davis on Nov. 10. The teams split the season series.
The Pac-10, which had a representative on the committee as you can see in the previous post, got three teams in -- California (11-5-2), UCLA (8-8-3) and Washington (8-7-4).
This is not the first time a Cal Poly team has seen its bubble burst in its first attempt to break into the NCAA Tournament under a new coach. Mustang fans will recall a similar situation with the football team in 2004 and the baseball and softball teams the following spring. Same thing happened to the volleyball program three years ago. It's almost as if Cal Poly's upstart programs have to come back the following year and prove it wasn't a fluke to ensure a spot in the playoffs.
It will be interesting to see if Cal Poly's men's soccer program can bounce back from this next season and make the playoffs for the first time since 1995 .

I'm off for the next week, but will check in Sunday when the NCAA Tournament field is announced for volleyball. Cal Poly, looking for a top-16 seed, is hoping to host the first two rounds for the second straight season. The field will be announced at 5 p.m. on Nov. 25 (ESPNU).

Men's soccer keeps its fingers crossed

2007-11-18T15:33:00.000-08:00

We know the Cal Poly football team didn't make the playoffs today. Monday, we find out if the men's soccer team is going to the postseason. The Mustangs (11-4-4, 6-2-4 Big West) split two matches over the weekend, wrapping up the regular season with a 3-1 win over Cal State Fullerton today. The Mustangs, who came into the weekend ranked 31st in the NCAA’s RPI rankings, could have a tough time getting into the playoffs considering they dropped to third place in the league standings this week behind second-place UC Davis and league champion UC Santa Barbara. Cal Poly hasn't advanced to the playoffs since 1995 and only 48 teams are in the field. There are no Big West Conference representatives on the selection committee either, which won't help the Mustangs' cause. We'll find out Monday when the field is announced at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNews.

• • •

The selection committee is made up of:
Ken Kavanagh, Bradley University, chair
Craig Angelos, Florida Atlantic University
Elmar Bolowich, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
John Diffley, St. John’s University (New York)
Charlie Elwood, Fordham University
Mary Lu Gribschaw, University of Akron
Schellas Hyndman, Southern Methodist University
Gina Markland, Coastal Carolina University
Earl Koberlein, Stanford University
Seth Roland, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Metropolitan

Poly misses playoffs for second straight year

2007-11-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

As expected, Cal Poly's football season officially came to a close today when it was not among the 16 teams invited to the FCS playoffs. Here's the bracket. New Hampshire (7-4) was the only four-loss team to make the playoffs, which shows just how important getting to that eighth win is. New Hampshire will open the playoffs next weekend against top-seeded Northern Iowa (11-0).
Montana (11-0) and Eastern Washington (8-3) advanced from the West out of the Big Sky Conference. The Gateway Conference, where the North Dakota State and South Dakota State will be playing next season, got two berths to the playoffs. The Colonial Athletic Association raised eyebrows when it got five teams in. New Hampshire got in despite being ranked No. 20 in last week's Sports Network Top 25, only five spots better than Cal Poly. The CAA was represented by UMass and former Cal Poly AD John McCutcheon on the selection comittee. UMass earned an automatic bid as a co-champion of the league.
As expected, no Great West Football Conference teams advanced. Neither did any of the Mustangs' nonconference opponents. Cal Poly finished 7-4 the past two seasons after making the playoffs in 2005 with an 8-3 mark.

• • •

AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (8): Montana (Big Sky Conference), Massachusetts (Colonial Athletic Association), Northern Iowa (Gateway Football Conference), Delaware State (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley Conference), Fordham (Patriot League) Wofford (Southern Conference), McNeese State (Southland Conference).

AT-LARGE QUALIFERS (8): Eastern Washington (Big Sky Conference), Delaware (Colonial Athletic Association), James Madison (Colonial Athletic Association), New Hampshire (Colonial Athletic Association), Richmond (Colonial Athletic Association), Southern Illinois (Gateway Football Conference), Eastern Illinois (Ohio Valley Conference), Appalachian State (Southern Conference).

SOS distress call from Mustang fans

2007-11-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

If you were planning on coming out to a Cal Poly men’s basketball game during the nonconference season, I hope you made it out to Thursday's home opener against Utah State because that might be the only good one until the start of conference play.
Utah State, favored to win the WAC this year, could be the best team Cal Poly brings to Mott Gym all season - and that's not saying much considering the tumble the Aggies are taking - as the Mustangs were able to schedule only 12 home games this season.
Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley was hesitant about bringing Utah State in after losing eight straight to the Aggies, but the move paid off Thursday when the Mustangs ran away with an 83-69 victory.
“Nobody in our conference will play them because they used to own this conference,” Bromley said. “But we only have 11 home games if we don’t play them and then 18 on the road – so I have to play somebody at home. Our booster club and our student-athletes deserve to have some home games.”
Well, the part about nobody playing the Aggies isn't entirely true. Utah State, sliding to No. 222 in the latest Sagarin Ratings, lost 70-51 at UC Irvine on Saturday night. Which makes you wonder, what the heck happened to Utah State?
Well, here’s what you get to look forward to from the rest of the Mustangs’ nonconference home schedule:
Dec. 2: Menlo College, an NAIA DII team that went 15-12 last year but returns five starters.
Dec. 15: Cal State Bakersfield, a team transitioning to Division I that did manage to beat Fresno State the other night.
Dec. 29: Southern Utah, a team that is a Division I program but is ranked No. 265 in the Sagarin Ratings.
For the record, Cal Poly's Sagarin Rating is 156, middle of the pack for the Big West, which ranges from 101 (Pacific) to 292 (UC Riverside). Which, if these numbers hold up, means Cal Poly fans might not see a top-100 team in Mott Gym this season. With those RPI and SOS (strength of schedule) numbers it looks like the Big West is a one-bid league again this season.

One play away from the playoffs?

2007-11-17T23:26:00.000-08:00

Cal Poly head football coach Rich Ellerson says it all the time, the outcome of a game can "come down to one play." The play that everyone was still talking about following Saturday's victory over Iona College was Kole Heckendorf's 80-yard touchdown reception from Steve Walker a week earlier as North Dakota State overcame a 19-point deficit to stun Cal Poly and crush its playoff hopes. Even Cal Poly senior linebacker Jayson Relyea referenced the play today, knowing the Mustangs (7-4) were possibly one play away from making the playoffs, again. Last year's fourth-quarter letdown against South Dakota State likely cost the Mustangs a playoff spot during Relyea's junior season.
"That's kind of been our whole season," said Relyea, whose team lost three of its games by a total of 13 points. The Mustangs' worst loss of the year was a 48-35 defeat at Great West Football Conference champion South Dakota State.
"That one play. Those two plays that just kind of happen. That's kind of how it's been the past couple years."
As luck would have it, that "one play" has made its way onto YouTube for those who couldn't get a ticket to the sold-out showdown with the Bison. If you Poly fans can stomach it, it's embedded below.

Not a bad first year for Dally

2007-11-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

I know, it’s apples and oranges comparing FBS and FCS players, playing USC or LSU vs. Idaho State, but after hearing Florida QB Tim Tebow became the NCAA's first 20-20 player today, it got me thinking about the numbers Cal Poly QB Jonathan Dally put up in his first season with the Mustangs. After Saturday’s 55-7 romp of Iona College, Dally finished with a school-record 29 touchdown passes and a 12 rushing touchdowns (four shy of the school record). Forty-one TDs isn't a bad start for a JC transfer who was largely overlooked by most FBS and FCS schools for that matter.
It's a stretch, but for snits and giggles and the stat geeks in the Cal Poly crowd, here’s how Dally’s numbers look when put up against the two big-name, double-threat QBs in the Heisman Trophy conversation. Dally, for the record, is not up for the Walter Payton Award, the FCS version of the Heisman, although his favorite target Ramses Barden is - and for good reason - after catching a school-record 18 touchdowns as a junior.

Tim Tebow, Florida
Rushing: 181 carries for 749 yards (4.1 avg) and 20 TDs
Passing: 198-289-6 (68.5 percent) for 2,870 yards and 26 TDs
Total offense: 329 yards per game

Dennis Dixon, Oregon
Rushing: 105 carries for 583 yards (5.6 avg) and 9 TDs
Passing: 172-254-4 (67.7 percent) for 2,136 yards and 20 TDs
Total offense: 271 yards per game

Jonathan Dally, Cal Poly
Rushing: 182 carries for 763 yards (4.2 avg) and 12 TDs
Passing: 104-192-5 (54.7 percent) for 2,238 yards and 29 TDs
Total offense: 272.8 yards per game

Comparing the stats show exactly what Dally wants to work on this offseason, passing accuracy. While Tebow and Dixon were completing close to 70 percent of their passes this year, Dally was down around 55 percent for most of the season. After getting picked off just once in the first nine games, he was intercepted four times over the final two (including three times in the red zone). The turnovers are the top concern, including the lost fumbles - which Dally had one more of in the finale. But all in all, it was a pretty good debut for the Santa Maria product, and if he improves on these numbers (with 10 starters coming back on offense) he might find his way on the Payton watch list in 2008.

Mustangs finish on a winning note

2007-11-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

Quarterback Jonathan Dally threw two touchdowns and ran for three more as Cal Poly closed out its season with a 55-7 victory over Iona College.
The win ensured a second-straight 7-4 season but is not expected to earn the Mustangs a berth in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs.
Dally threw a 48-yard touchdown to Ramses Barden to give Cal Poly a 7-0 lead with 5 minutes left in the first quarter as the Mustangs never trailed. Dally was just 4-of-10 passing but hit Ryan Mole with an 11-yard touchdown that gave the Mustangs a 21-0 lead.
The junior playcaller added 100 rushing yards on 17 carries, scrambling for touchdowns of 2, 9 and 7 yards out of the triple option.
Iona (7-4) foiled the shutout on Dane Samuels' 5-yard touchdown run with 10:12 remaining.
Cal Poly's defense scored for the third consecutive game on David Fullerton's 95-yard interception return.
Kevin Spach and Michael Chowtham rounded out the scoring with touchdown runs of 1 and 5 yards.

Offense vs. Defense

2007-11-16T00:59:00.000-08:00

Statistically speaking, Saturday's football game between Cal Poly and Iona College pits one of the Football Championship Subdivision’s top offenses against the top-ranked defense.
Cal Poly comes in ranked second in the FCS in total offense at 491.4 yards per game. Only Appalachian State, which beat Michigan to open the season, has put up a better numbers at 492.9 yards per game. Iona is 50th among 116 FCS teams, averaging 383 yards.
Iona comes in ranked No. 1 in total defense, allowing just 254.1 yards per game. Cal Poly ranks 78th in allowing 386.9 yards per game.

Cal Poly beats Utah State in home opener

2007-11-16T00:04:00.000-08:00

For those who can't get enough Cal Poly hoops, here's my first-run story from tonight's men's game. I usually write one quick first write for The Tribune Web site minutes after the game and then follow it up with my typical game story with quotes, etc., which you'll find in the next day's paper and at SanLuisObispo.com. Many of you have bookmarked this site, so I'll try to post the first-run stories here after games. You also can usually read them in the breaking news column at SanLuisObispo.com.

Cal Poly 83, Utah State 69
Cal Poly had four players in double figures in an 83-69 victory over former Big West Conference foe Utah State.
Titus Shelton and Lorenzo Keeler each had 19 points to lead the Mustangs, who were 7 of 12 from the 3-point line in the second half.
Dawin Whiten added 17 points, and Chaz Thomas had 14 for Cal Poly (2-2).
Thomas broke a 36-36 tie with a layin early in the second half and the Mustangs never trailed again. Cal Poly’s next 18 points came on six three-point plays.
The preseason favorite in the Western Athletic Conference, Utah State came into the game with a 15-1 record against Cal Poly, winning the previous eight meetings.
The Aggies (2-2) were led by Stephen DuCharme’s 22 points and 10 rebounds. Jaycee Carroll had 18 points.

Van Ostrand represents Canada at World Cup

2007-11-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

Former Cal Poly baseball player Jimmy Van Ostrand and the Canadian senior national team were knocked out of the IBAF World Cup on Wednesday with a 7-6 loss to Australia in Taipei, Taiwan.
Canada fell one win shy of moving on to the medal round, finishing fifth in Pool B.
Van Ostrand hit .400 in Canada’s seven games, going 8 for 20 with a triple.
The first baseman’s biggest game of the tournament came Nov. 8 in an 18-0 romp of Thailand. The former Cal Poly outfielder and first baseman was 3 for 5 with two singles, a triple, two runs score and four RBI.
The national team went 4-3 at the World Cup and will return to Taiwan in March for the final qualifying tournament for the Olympics.
Tribune file photo by David Middlecamp.

More Minnesota players coming to Poly?

2007-11-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

Two more Minnesota products are expected to sign with the Cal Poly men’s basketball program.
Hopkins’ Anthony DiLoretto and Maranatha’s David Hanson, brother of current Mustang forward Matt Hanson, will sign with Cal Poly during the early signing period, according to today's Minnesota Star Tribune.
The NCAA’s early signing period began Wednesday and runs through
Nov. 21.
Cal Poly has not announced any signings as of this post.
The Mustangs have drawn a rash of players from the North Star State, including current Mustangs Hanson, John Manley and Zach Thurow.
Cal Poly's all-time leading scorer Chris Bjorklund was from the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" as was former Minnesota transfer Shane Schilling.

'They should fire me'

2007-11-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

I’m writing more about this topic in Monday’s paper, but it’s already quite evident Cal Poly head football coach Rich Ellerson’s emotional postgame comments after the fourth-quarter letdown against North Dakota State tonight raised eyebrows everywhere from SLO to Fargo.

“I let (my players) down,” Ellerson said minutes after the 31-28 loss. “That’s on me. They should fire me.”

The game’s only a few hours old and Ellerson’s “fire me” comment has already been published on Web sites by The Tribune, Lompoc Record and The Forum in Fargo, N.D., where the North Dakota State Bison took a step closer to the Great West Football Conference crown and remained unbeaten after overcoming a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Ellerson apparently echoed similar comments during a postgame interview with ESPN 1280 AM, which I’m sure added to the disbelief of Cal Poly fans as they drove home after another Homecoming collapse.
While the comments were surprising, it was evident Ellerson was trying the shoulder the load of the loss and did not want the debacle being blamed on his assistants, an interception in the red zone, a blown assignment in the secondary or a missed field goal early in the game.
Because I’m a beat reporter, and not a columnist, I try to refrain from injecting my opinion on these types of topics (which has been the challenge of trying to publish and interesting blog), but I will reiterate what I wrote in my game story for Sunday’s paper.
It’s doubtful Ellerson would find himself on the hot seat any time soon after leading Cal Poly (6-4, 2-2) to its fifth straight winning season -- not to mention the fact that he’s under contract through at least the 2013 season.
This is Cal Poly football we’re talking about, not New York Yankees baseball.
After enduring three straight 3-8 seasons, Cal Poly fans and message board honks should keep in mind that the Mustangs have enjoyed winning campaigns in six of Ellerson’s seven seasons. The Mustangs went to the playoffs in 2005 for the first time and were one win – make that one quarter – away from a possible playoff bid the next two seasons. Two bad quarters against the Dakotas shouldn’t override 47 wins in the Mustangs’ other 76 games under Ellerson.
Flipping through the Mustangs media guide, Cal Poly hasn’t strung together five straight winning seasons since Joe Harper put together 13 straight dating from 1968-80.
Ellerson also has a .603 winning percentage in his seven seasons. Only three of Cal Poly’s 15 head football coaches have done better – Howie O’Daniels (.621), Roy Hughes (.662), Joe Harper (.685).
What are your thoughts on Ellerson's "fire me" comment?
I'd like to hear your thoughts on this one. Post your thoughts in the comments section below.

Bison trample Poly's playoff hopes

2007-11-10T23:40:00.000-08:00

Here are the early stories from the Cal Poly football team's heartbreaking 31-28 loss to North Dakota State tonight.
As always, our full coverage of the game will be available at sanluisobispo.com later tonight.

Cal Poly football team stunned by North Dakota State
The Tribune
Steve Walker hit Kole Heckendorf with an 80-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds left as North Dakota State stunned Cal Poly 31-28 on Homecoming ...

Walker caps another fourth-quarter comeback
Dickinson Press
The legend of Steve Walker outgrew the size of the state of California on Saturday night...

Bison win in a flurry of late tds over Poly
Santa Maria Times
For the first 50 minutes of Saturday night's Homecoming game at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, the Cal Poly football team ...

Poly coach says he’s to blame for loss
In-Forum
It was stirring with big plays by NDSU and a major collapse by the Mustangs. ...

Bison pull off improbable come-from-behind victory
In-Forum
North Dakota State University kept its dream of a perfect season intact, scoring on an 80-yard pass play from Steve Walker to Kyle Heckendorf in the final ...

A closer look at the big game

2007-11-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

If a page and a half of Cal Poly football previews in Saturday's paper isn't enough, here are some additional stories previewing Saturday's Great West Football Conference showdown between No. 24 Cal Poly and No. 2 North Dakota State:

At 6-foot-6, Cal Poly receiver creates havoc
In-Forum, N.D. - Nov 7, 2007
For Cal Poly to knock off North Dakota State on Saturday, wide receiver Ramses Barden will probably have to play a big role.

A road trip to forget
In-Forum, N.D. - Nov 6, 2007
North Dakota State is still looking for its first win at Cal Poly, where the Bison are 0-2 in San Luis Obispo.

Mustangs return home to face a big challenge in Bison
The Tribune - Nov 5, 2007
Cal Poly goes from 0-9 Southern Utah to 9-0 North Dakota State.

College football: Bison are on a roll behind Roehl

The Tribune - Nov 9, 2007

During a weekly Great West Football Conference coaches teleconference this week, Cal Poly head coach Rich Ellerson was asked how the Mustangs planned on slowing down Tyler Roehl and North Dakota State's dominant running game. He didn't have an answer.

Great West Conference Game of the Week

www.greatwestfootball.com - Nov 9, 2007

Columnist Chris Kelly breaks down the game and picks North Dakota State to spoil Cal Poly's Homecoming festivities.

The end of the road ... is here ...

2007-11-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

The mountains behind the Southern Utah campus in Cedar City make for a great backdrop on a lazy Saturday afternoon, especially when there are no fans to block the view. According to Saturday's box score, only 4,021 fans attended the game - and that number was probably a bit high.

The longest road trip in the Rich Ellerson era has come to an end ... thankfully.
The Cal Poly football team finished its grueling four-game road trip on Saturday with a lackluster 28-21 victory at hapless Southern Utah (0-9).
When it was all said and done, and the Mustangs finally rolled into town Sunday, Cal Poly had gone 3-1 and traveled more than 7,500 miles in the process.
Yours truly followed every mile of the trip and every minute of the four games, which is why I’m falling asleep ... as I write ... this last post.
I’d give you a rundown of how the game went and how beautiful Southern Utah was but ... my eyelids can’t keep up with fingers any more.
Instead of falling asleep by reading my sluggish post here ... read about the game here ... and here ... and here.
Before I doze off ... the news worth mentioning today is Cal Poly moving up to No. 24 in Monday’s Sports Network top 25 media poll.
Cal Poly (6-3) remains unranked in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll.
The Mustangs have won six of seven since dropping two straight to Texas State and Idaho to open the season.
Cal Poly hosts one of the top teams in the country when 9-0 North Dakota State comes to town for a Homecoming game Saturday. ... The Great West Football Conference favorites are ranked No. 1 in the coaches poll and No. 2 in the media poll.
The Mustangs have to win and then pray like heck if they want a part of the Great West title and a spot in the postseason.
Just thinking about the possibility of another road trip for the playoffs — the day after stuffing myself on Turkey Day — makes me sleeeeeepy ...

Poly still on outside looking in

2007-10-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday’s 48-28 victory at Idaho State wasn’t enough to sway the voters.
The Cal Poly football team was left out of both major Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 polls on Monday.
Cal Poly dropped out of The Sports Network media poll and FCS coaches poll with a loss at South Dakota State two weeks ago and was still stranded in the “others receiving votes” category again Monday. The Mustangs were 34th in the FCS and 28th in the TSN.
Prior to the South Dakota State loss, the Mustangs hadn’t been out of both polls since early in the 2004 season.
Here is The Sports Network poll and the FCS poll.
The poll position doesn't exactly help Cal Poly's playoff cause, although opinion polls are not supposed to be a factor in the committee's decision in picking eight at-large candidates. But to have a chance, Cal Poly has to be considered among the top 20 teams or so in the country.
The Gridiron Power Index, although it hasn't been updated as of this post and Cal Poly is still 31st, is usually a better indicator than opinion polls as far as playoff consideration is concerned. Another good power ranking system is Sagarin, which includes all Division I teams. Cal Poly is 34th in the Sagarin ratings.

Poly poll position likely to improve

2007-10-27T22:33:00.001-07:00

The Cal Poly football team’s win over Idaho State on Saturday could land the Mustangs back in the top 25, which is key considering only 16 teams advance to the playoffs.
The Mustangs, out of the top 25 in both major polls last week for the first time since early 2004, likely have to win out to be considered for one of the eight at-large spots and have a big home game looming against No. 2 North Dakota State in two weeks.
There were very few upsets in the top half of The Sports Network’s top 25 on Saturday, although there were plenty of losses by lower-half teams, which should help Cal Poly. A look at the top 25 losses on Saturday:

No. 6 James Madison (6-2) lost vs. Richmond, 16-17
No. 15 Hofstra (6-2) lost at Villanova, 31-35
No. 18 Nicholls State (5-3) lost at Central Arkansas, 42-49 (2OT)
No. 19 Montana State (5-3) lost at Northern Colorado, 13-16
No. 20 Youngstown State (5-4) lost at Northern Iowa, 13-14
No. 23 Norfolk State (6-2) lost vs. Howard, 10-17
No. 25 The Citadel (5-3) lost at Georgia Southern, 17-21

Bye-bye boo birds

2007-10-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Five weeks ago, Cal Poly football fans actually began to boo the Mustangs’ triple-option offense at Alex G. Spanos Stadium as it struggled for a half against Division II Western Oregon.
Fans were upset with the option run calls as Cal Poly struggled to get much going offensively with two of its top wingbacks dinged up.
Now that the Mustangs are healthy and rolling up yardage again, Cal Poly fans are buzzing not boo-hooing over the triple option.
Cal Poly put up 35-plus points for the fourth straight game Saturday as the Mustangs won at Idaho State 48-28.

QB Jonathan Dally had five touchdown tosses (not to mention a quarterback rating of 294 and 572 yards of total offense) and matched a school record with his 23rd touchdown pass of the season. Dally finished 16 of 24 for 453 yards passing – the second greatest single-game total in Cal Poly history behind Seth Burford’s 566-yard performance versus Northern Iowa in 2000.

WR Ramses Barden broke the school’s all-time touchdown reception record and had three touchdown grabs of 27, 85 and 79 yards – the first of which broke Kamil Loud’s program record of 26 career touchdowns from 1994-97. The 6-6 touchdown magnet finished with a career-high 10 catches for 268 yards.

WR Tredale Tolver caught four balls for 154 yards, with touchdowns of 38 and 62 yards – the second of which came on a screen.

The Mustangs have now scored in 19 consecutive quarters since getting blanked in the opening quarter against Western Oregon, sending those boo birds into hibernation in the process.

The most dominant program on campus

2007-10-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Can you say perennial power?
The Cal Poly men’s cross country team defines the term, winning the Big West Conference Championships for a record fifth consecutive time Saturday when the Mustangs swept the top five individual places and Phillip Reid took the individual title for the second straight year.
No other men’s cross country team in Big West history has won more than four consecutive titles. The only other team to win more than three straight titles was Long Beach State in the first four years of the league’s existence, meaning Cal Poly has put together one of the most dominant stretches the conference has seen in any sport.
The five straight titles is the most consecutive conference crowns by any current Cal Poly team, making Mark Conover’s squad the most dominant program on campus.
While some would hesitate to put a cross country team and dominance/dynasty in the same sentence, five straight conference tiles is certainly a monumental feat for a school that started the academic year with a total of 23 team conference titles since moving to Division I in 1994.

Previewing a big sports day for Poly

2007-10-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday is a big day for Cal Poly athletics. Here’s a rundown of stories previewing today’s action, which includes the Big West Conference Cross Country Championships in SLO, key soccer matches and the football team’s game at Idaho State:

Mustangs expect Idaho State to be rushing a lot
After giving up 259 yards rushing to South Dakota State’s Cory Koenig last week, the Cal Poly football team figures Idaho State will attempt to follow the same path ...

Poly hopes to improve out-of-state success rate
While Cal Poly snapped a fourgame road losing streak Oct. 13 with its 63-28 win at UC Davis, the Mustangs are still looking for their first out-of-state victory ...

Idaho State plays host to Cal Poly
The Idaho State Bengals host the Cal Poly Mustangs in thier final non-conference game of the season at 3:05 pm Saturday at the Holt Arena in Pocatello. ...

ISU looks to keep pace with high-scoring Cal Poly
Before facing Portland State last week, Idaho State head coach John Zamberlin said the goal for the team is to get a winning ...

Idaho State hosts Mustangs
Idaho State hosts the Cal Poly Mustangs in their final nonconference game at 3:05 pm Saturday at Holt Arena in Pocatello. ISU (3-4, 2-3 Big Sky) is coming ...

Idaho State game again key for Poly
Cal Poly and Idaho State are meeting Saturday for the fifth time in six seasons, with four of those games coming in the final month of the regular season. ...

College Cross Country: Cal Poly’s drive for five
Phillip Reid has been running with the Cal Poly men’s cross country team for five years now. An All-American as a redshirt junior last season ...

UCR Runners Aim for Title
The Highlanders enter the Big West Championships at Cal Poly undefeated and have been training since the summer to not only capture the conference title ...

Soccer: 49ers battling for the top spot
For the sake of argument, the BWC is a down to four-team race for the title among LBSU, Fullerton, UCI and Cal Poly. LBSU (11-5-0, 4-1-0) is tied for first ...

And if you missed this story, former Cal Poly pitcher Greg Bochy had to evacuate his parents’ house in San Diego because of the recent fire storms:

Former Cal Poly pitcher forced to evacuate
Former Cal Poly pitcher Greg Bochy, son of San Francisco Giants manager Bruce, was house-sitting his parents' home in Poway on Monday when he was forced to evacuate ...

Greetings from Big Sky country

2007-10-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Pocatello, Idaho, where’s it’s a cool 40 degrees as I attempt to write blog entry No. 101.
While it’s a little cold for us Californians, Pocatello – and the rest of Big Sky country for that matter – is beautiful this time of year. The leaves are turning. There’s snow atop the mountains. The late-afternoon sunsets are gorgeous (as you can see in my great camera phone shot of Holt Arena).
It’s really not that cold during the day, but I’m sure the Cal Poly football team is happy Saturday’s game is indoors at Idaho State’s good ol’ Holt Arena.
Holt Arena, for those who have never been here, is by far the oldest “dome” in Division I football.
The arena, originally called the Mini Dome, was built in the early 1970s entirely by voluntary student fees and was the first covered football stadium built on a college campus.
The idea of a covered venue, which would protect the Idaho State Bengals – and fair-weather sportswriters – from the elements over the latter half of the season, was dreamed up by former athletic director Milton “Dubby” Holt.
The only domed arena built before 12,000-seat Holt Arena was the Houston Astrodome. And like the Astrodome, the surface at Holt Arena is good old-fashioned Astroturf, which was reset in 1999 but still gets a thumbs down from most of the Mustangs.
I remember Cal Poly quarterback Chris Peterson said Astroturf was the “worst invention ever” when he played here a few years back. Peterson also had one of the nastiest rug burns I’ve ever seen on that day.
Welcome to Pocatello.

Is it hoops season yet?

2007-10-23T03:01:00.000-07:00

A lot of Cal Poly fans are asking that question this week after the Mustangs football team dropped out of the national rankings for the first time since early in the 2004 season.
The good news is Cal Poly still has an outside shot at the postseason and is two wins away from ensuring its sixth winning season in seven years under head coach Rich Ellerson.
Other good news for Cal Poly folks, the men's soccer program has cracked the rankings for the first time since 1995, according to the school. You can read about the ups and downs of those two teams here.
But now that the fall sports are into the second half of their seasons, it probably isn't a bad time to start talking basketball.
After all, practices have started and the Mustangs open the season next month. Hungry for a Big West Conference preview already? Here's a brief team-by-team breakdown of the Big West at SI.com.

• • •

P.S. This is a noteworthy update in that it is post No. 100 for me, which is kind of a surprise considering I was initially against taking time away from writing for the print edition to publish a blog -- which is still a four-letter word in my eyes. Now the question is, has anybody been reading this thing? Does anyone even care about blogs, particularly one on Cal Poly sports?Likes? Dislikes? Do you think blogs are lame and the print edition is better and where The Tribune should be focusing its attention/resources? Share your thoughts by commenting below.

Running wild in the Dakotas

2007-10-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

If there’s one thing the Mustangs learned from their trip to the Midwest this weekend it’s that the FCS schools in the Dakotas certainly know how to run the football.
South Dakota State running back Cory Koenig lived up to our Gameday feature and ran all over the Cal Poly football team on Saturday, rolling up 259 yards on 21 carries in the 48-35 victory. Koenig, who missed last year’s meeting with a shoulder injury, came into the game with four touchdowns and was averaging four yards a carry. He matched that touchdown total and more than tripled the average against the Mustangs’ struggling defense, which was once built on stonewalling the run and pressuring the quarterback up front.
But on this day, Cal Poly did neither, coming up with just one sack and failing to prevent Koenig from reeling off touchdown runs of 32, 46, 52 and 11 yards. Those numbers are that much more impressive when you consider Koenig’s longest carry of the season had been 27 yards.
Koenig’s 259-yard night would’ve been a Great West Football Conference record if not for North Dakota State running back Tyler Roehl’s monster day in a 27-21 victory at FBS Minnesota (making that Fargo Farmboys 21, Golden Gophers 17 prediction on the previous post look pretty darn good … I guess it pays to wake up early and milk those cows).
Roehl, who grew up in nearby West Fargo, N.D., rushed for the school-record 263 yards on just 22 carries, pushing North Dakota State’s record to 7-0 on the season.
Second-ranked North Dakota State, which plays unranked Southern Utah and Illinois State next, could easily be 9-0 by the time the Bison roll into San Luis Obispo for Cal Poly’s Homecoming game on Nov. 10. And if Cal Poly doesn’t figure out what’s wrong with its run defense soon, the Mustangs are going to be very happy to see North Dakota State leave the Great West after this season.

Safe landing in Sioux Falls

2007-10-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday's news about USC’s thunderstorm-plagued flight to South Bend, Ind., along with my Friday flight back to my favorite airport in South Dakota, got me thinking about a harrowing trip to the Dakotas three years ago.
Eerily similar thunderstorms rocked the Midwest in 2004 while I was on a commercial flight to Fargo, N.D., for Cal Poly’s game at North Dakota State. (The Mustangs were on a separate flight, and I’ll get to that adventure in a minute.)

Like the USC flight, our pilot was forced to abort a landing at the last moment because of the stormy conditions in Fargo. I’ve been on some bumpy rides before but nothing like this, balking on a landing attempt when the airstrip was within sight … in the middle of an already unnerving thunderstorm.
We circled the Fargo airport for 45 minutes before the gas gauge started pointing toward empty and forced us to land in Sioux Falls, S.D. – the same airport the team and I flew into today without any hassle (here's a preview of Saturday's game along with a story on Cal Poly's bend-but-don't break D).
It was a different story three years ago when a few dozen Cal Poly fans and I were forced to drive the eight-hour trek from Sioux Falls to Fargo because our pilot didn't want to brave the storm.

• • •

During my eight-hour drive to North Dakota State three years ago, I called Cal Poly assistant SID Eric Burdick to see how the team’s earlier flight went and found out they encountered a similar scare in Fargo. Their pilot aborted a landing at the last minute, too, although he made good on his second attempt after a brief stop in Sioux Falls. Unlike yours truly, they were able to fly to Fargo later that night while the rest of us hydroplaned our way across the state in our compact rental cars.
So that’s my white-knuckle airline story in seven years of covering this team.

• • •

I asked former Mustang Kyle Shotwell about that Fargo flight the other day, and he said it was the scariest flight he’s ever been on. He recalled the pilot announcing over the speaker that he was going to “try landing again” the second time around.
Shotwell recalled teammate Karl Ivory yelling out: “Try! No, you’re going to land this thing.”
The good news was the team landed safely and all of Cal Poly’s followers made the drive to North Dakota in one piece.
Luckily, Friday’s flight to Sioux Falls was a piece of cake. Let’s hope Saturday’s 45-minute drive up to Brookings is uneventful as well.

• • •

P.S. Cal Poly better get used to these fall trips to the Dakotas. While South Dakota State and North Dakota State are leaving the Great West after this season, North Dakota and South Dakota will be joining the conference in the near future. Cal Poly is also trying to schedule nonconference games against South Dakota State in 2008 and 2009.

Hey Coach, what do you think about ...?

2007-10-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy when media members ask college football coaches about the time of day, weather or venue they’re playing in because in the skewed minds of the coaches those “distractions” have nothing to do with the game, and you never know what kind of response you’re going to get.
You have to ask the question, because it’s your job, but don’t be surprised if the response is a little cold.
Ask an offbeat question on game day, and you'll likely get an, “Are you kidding me, asking me that on game day?”
If you ask it after practice during UC Davis week, you might get an expletive-laced tirade.
Ask it during a Great West Football Conference coaches call early in the week and you might get the best response of all.
Here are a couple quotes from the teleconference call that I couldn’t fit in the paper this week:

North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl on Saturday’s 11:07 a.m. start at I-A Minnesota, accommodating the Big 10 Network’s TV coverage:

“That’s one of the advantages of having a bunch of farm kids. They’ve been used to getting up in the morning and milking cows.”

I’m calling the next FCS upset win right now: Fargo Farmboys 21, Golden Gophers 17, with the winners landing a sponsorship deal with Rodenator.

Cal Poly head coach Rich Ellerson on leaving California, where the Mustangs have won their previous four games, to play in the Midwest weather at South Dakota State’s outdoor stadium on Saturday:

“We’re not going to bring our surfboards if that’s what you’re asking. I think we’ll be OK.”

Game time weather forecast in Brookings, S.D., according to weather.com: 57 degrees and partly cloudy. Game time forecast in San Luis Obispo: 61 degrees and mostly sunny. Hope the Mustangs can adjust to the climate change. I’ll ask Ellerson if he thinks his team can overcome it just before kickoff Saturday and let you know what he thinks.

Look Mom, one hand!

2007-10-14T02:11:00.000-07:00

For the next four weekends, we're sending postcards from the various college towns the Cal Poly football team travels to during its grueling four-game road trip — its longest swing of the Rich Ellerson era. The Mustangs kicked off the road trip with a 63-28 victory at rival UC Davis on Saturday.

Greetings from Davis,
Didn't have a chance to catch SportsCenter tonight (being I was in the middle of a 560-mile trek on the I-5), but if Ramses Barden's third touchdown catch wasn't part of "Top Plays," it should have been.
Barden's one-handed grab in the second quarter was one of the most impressive catches you'll see at the I-AA level this season. Cal Poly's 6-6 receiver hauled in Jonathan Dally's perfectly thrown ball to the right corner without the use of his off hand. He caught it with his right, held it up to the crowd with his right and even flipped it to the ref with his right. The pigskin never even touched his left hand. The touchdown drew mixed reviews, with some thinking the play was a show-stopper and others thinking it was more showboater. After the game, Barden admitted he might have been able to use two hands and probably will go the two-hand route in the future, a comment Ellerson greeted with a nod and a smile.
Either way, the junior made up for a fumble earlier in the game and it was certainly an unbelievable catch. On the left is our first postcard of the catch, a photo by Tribune photographer Joe Johnston. After the catch and the buzz around the press box died down, one of the writers noted:

"I haven't seen anything like that since Keyshawn Johnson at USC."

Other impressive notes from this one:

One of the largest Cal Poly crowds to travel to a road game, filling two entire sections at new Aggie Stadium, with green and gold clad fans scattered about the bowl-shaped venue and the two grass sections as well.
Four Mustangs scoring multiple touchdowns, including Ryan Mole and James Noble scoring their first two TDs of the season.
Dally throwing four more touchdowns, eclipsing 1,200 yards on the season with only one interception.
704 yards of total offense, a school record.
Four straight victories by the Mustangs heading into next week's trip to South Dakota State.

That's it for now. One trip and 560 miles down. Three out-of-state dates to go.

Ex-Mustangs still waiting for the call

2007-10-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from Cal Poly fans lately about the whereabouts of some former Mustangs football players.
Well, here you go:

Kyle Shotwell is home in Goleta.
Jordan Beck is home in Atlanta.
And Kenny Chicoine is home in Newport Beach.

The three former Mustangs’ football careers are on hold this week as they play the waiting game until they get a call from another pro team.
You can read more about Shotwell and Beck’s hopes of filling a free-agent linebacker position in the NFL in Friday’s Tribune. Shotwell had a workout with the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday, not Monday as many of the local media reported.
Chicoine, as I wrote this past weekend, was bummed he missed the Hall of Fame activities at Cal Poly because he was looking forward to meeting former Cal Poly career interceptions record holder Mark Davis. Chicoine broke Davis’ record of 17 career interceptions last season.
Chicoine was in Japan last week where he was playing for the Fujitsu Frontiers of Japan’s X-League and had been living in Kawasaki, Japan, but appears to have moved back to Newport Beach after what he called a “fallout” with the Frontiers.
Chicoine did not comment on the reason for his departure in an e-mail today, but I do know he had an opt-out clause if things didn’t work out there. So like Beck and Shotwell, it sounds like Chicoine’s playing career is on hold as well.

Chicoine photo courtesy Kinzo Takaba/Fujitsu

Good, bad & ugly from Poly's romp

2007-09-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

The good, the bad and the ugly from the Cal Poly football team’s 56-21 victory over Northern Colorado on Saturday:

THE GOOD:

QB Jonathan Dally is obviously the right guy for the job. JD had six TDs in the romp, rushing for four and throwing two more out of the improving triple option.
RB Jono Grayson is starting to get it going after missing the first two games of the season thinking he was going to redshirt. In his third game, JG went over 100 yards for the first time in his career, rushing for 127 yards on 15 carries.
Cal Poly had 11 different ball carriers Saturday, giving the backups a better feel for the pitch-happy triple option.
The Mustangs were 8 of 8 in the red zone and tallied 600+ yards for just the third time at the I-AA level.

THE BAD:

While key players like C Stephen Field, RB James Noble and RB Ryan Mole were able to rest their injuries, FB Jon Hall, RB Jaymes Thierry and LB Marty Mohamed were among the Mustangs who left Saturday’s game with injuries. With Mohamed out, Fred Hives had to come on and had a team-high 12 tackles. And while it was a good breakout game for Hives, the Mustangs are looking thin at middle linebacker.
The botched pitch from Dally to Grayson in the second half did not sit well with head coach Rich Ellerson.
A bye is finally here but after that it’s four straight games on the road, three of which are out of state.

THE UGLY

All that “good” stuff and all that “bad” stuff came against Northern Colorado. The Bears were "the ugly" and have now lost 13 straight games. They are 0-5 this season and 1-15 since leaving the Great West Football Conference two years ago. Dakota schools beware.

Poly football facing must win

2007-09-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

Cal Poly is only five weeks into the 2007 season, but is it possible the Mustangs are faced with a must-win scenario this weekend?
If they intend to make the FCS football playoffs, they probably are.
A loss to winless Northern Colorado (0-4) would just look plain bad for Cal Poly (2-2), not to mention it would hand the Mustangs their third loss in five weeks.
With three losses, Cal Poly would likely have to run the table to have a solid shot at the playoffs. Even if one of those losses is to a FBS school.
Teams with more than three losses just don’t make the playoffs very often unless they’re an automatic bid. And we all know the Great West Football Conference is years away from any automatic bids. And we all know winning six straight to end the year would be difficult for this young team considering four straight are on the road (look what happened at the tail end of last year’s brutal road swing). And that next home game against No. 4 North Dakota State on Nov. 10 isn’t exactly your typical Homecoming cupcake.
The Mustangs already have as a tough road ahead of them having dropped out of The Sports Network top 25 this week. And that was after a win over a Division II school.
Imagine how far the Mustangs would drop in the rankings if they lost to Northern Colorado.

Liddell's future in question after UFC 76 loss

2007-09-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

After Saturday’s football game I caught a replay of Cal Poly graduate Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell’s UFC light heavyweight fight against Keith “Dean of Mean” Jardine.
Just like I was surprised that Division II Western Oregon was able to hang with the Mustangs on the football field, I was somewhat surprised when Jardine hung with Liddell in the Octagon.
I’d seen Jardine fight a couple times before as an undercard to Liddell’s main events and always thought he’d be a good test for “The Iceman.” But I never though Liddell would get beat by him.
That’s what happened late Saturday night when Jardine shocked the former light heavyweight in UFC 76, going the distance and winning a split decision. Jardine made the most of his legs, kicking Liddell throughout the bout and handing the San Luis Obispo-based fighter and former Mustang wrestler back-to-back losses for the first time in his storied Ultimate Fighting career.
In less than a year, Liddell has gone from the most feared striker in mixed martial arts to a second-tier contender for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s belt.
Saturday’s loss will make it extremely tough for the 37-year-old Liddell -- who was once the face of the sport -- to get a timely rematch with “Rampage” and could signal the beginning of the end for a fighter some have called the greatest MMA light heavyweight ever.

Mustangs need to get healthy

2007-09-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

After the Cal Poly football team found itself trailing Division II Western Oregon 10-0 in the second quarter Saturday, a few of the 8,837 fans on hand began to boo, which is something I haven’t heard since Mustang Stadium was renamed Alex G. Spanos Stadium a couple years ago.
On the kickoff following Western Oregon’s field goal making it 10-0, one of those disgruntled fans even showered the Mustangs with a, “Where’s your varsity squad?”
It was a tongue-in-cheek comment, but one had to look no further than the Cal Poly sideline to see where the Mustangs’ first team was.
Starting running back Ryan Mole was in street clothes with a sprained left knee.
Nose tackle James Chen was on crutches with a season-ending knee injury.
Defensive end/linebacker Ryan Shotwell had his helmet off for much of the game because of an ankle injury.
And the Mustangs’ other starting running back, James Noble, watched the latter half of the game with an ice pack taped to his left knee.
It was fitting ending to the Mustangs’ 24-17 victory over Western Oregon considering how beat up they are four weeks into the season.
Heading into Week 5, the Mustangs must feel like they’re entering Week 11.
Players held out of the starting lineup Saturday included Noble (knee), Mole (sprained left knee), Shotwell (ankle), strong tackle Mike Porter (undisclosed medical condition) and center Stephen Field (foot). Backup fullback Kevin Spach also was out, which left the Mustangs’ triple-option without three key running backs on the two-deep (which is exactly why Cal Poly hasn’t rushed for a touchdown in 15 quarters).
After the game, head coach Rich Ellerson said he expects a handful of those players to be available for Saturday’s game against Northern Colorado, a team that is still winless on the season after dropping its Big Sky Conference opener to Northern Arizona.
After the Northern Colorado game, the Mustangs get a much needed bye before four straight road games. If Cal Poly doesn’t get back to full strength by the conference opener at UC Davis, the Mustangs are going to be in trouble come Great West Football Conference play.
Don’t believe me? Look at Saturday’s scores and you’ll see just what I mean:
UC Davis 28, Northeastern 10.
North Dakota State 44, I-A Central Michigan 14.
South Dakota State 38, Texas State 3.

Tale of two halves for Poly football

2007-09-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

Listening to the fans and media members during the Cal Poly football team’s home opener at Alex G. Spanos Stadium tonight, I realized there are two types of people out there:
Glass half full kind of people. And glass half empty kind of people.
I try to be the former, but in this profession, you have to spend a lot of time being the latter.
But I’ll say I came away very impressed by the game-day atmosphere, from the tailgating to ESPN Radio’s live Cal Poly Gameday show at the BBQ pit (hopefully their ratings didn't go in the toilet during my guest appearance). And there were solid upgrades all around Spanos Stadium, from the comfy pressbox to the new player’s tunnel and giant Mustangs logo at midfield.
Here are some additional reasons for Cal Poly fans to celebrate after the 47-19 victory (along with some reasons for concern for the half-empty bunch in the crowd).

Half full: The brand-new tailgate area was a hit, according to the fans I talked to.
Half empty: It cost $20 a parking spot and was closer to Baggett Stadium than it was to Spanos Stadium.

Half full: The west concourse renovation, complete with a posh suites and a stat-geek’s paradise in the pressbox.
Half empty: The east concourse.

Half full: The vociferous student crowd livened up the aging east side of the stadium, helping Cal Poly set a school record with 11,075 fans.
Half empty: Most of those fans left after Cal Poly jumped to a 33-3 lead in the first half.

Half full: The 33 points in the first half. ... Six touchdown passes by Jonathan Dally? Yes, a school passing record for a so-called “option quarterback.” Dally threw some nice balls tonight, particularly the pass down the sideline to Tredale Tolver for a TD.
Half empty: Getting outscored 16-14 in the second half. ... Dally had some passes that were flat out dropped and could've had eight TDs. ... The Mustangs still have a lot of work to do running the triple option if they’re going to stick to it this season. The passing game looked great, but dare I say they (gulp) probably have to run the ball more … and better. James Noble is the most electric player on that offense and they need to find a way to get him more involved and get Ryan Mole healthy.

Battle of winless teams still draws enthusiasm

2007-09-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday’s home opener at Cal Poly’s “newly renovated” Alex G. Spanos Stadium should be quite an event.
While the Mustangs are 0-2 for the first time since 2002, there is no lack of enthusiasm for the nonconference football game against winless Weber State (0-1). [See today's Weber State team preview here. The Cal Poly preview runs Saturday along with our traditional Gameday Page.]
After two (three, or is it four?) years of renovations, the stadium is truly complete – pressbox and all.
The current capacity is 11,750 and, as of today at 4 p.m., only 500 reserved tickets are left.
I’m no math major, but I’m guessing the stadium record of 9,387 fans for the UC Davis game in 2004 could come crumbling down tomorrow.
Cal Poly fans also are jacked up about having a designated tailgate area for the first time.
With ESPN Radio doing a “Cal Poly Gameday” show 90 minutes before kickoff outside the stadium (I’m slated to kill ratings with a 5 p.m. appearance), tailgating, a sold-out crowd and a completed west concourse, game day is starting to take on a whole new meaning at 1 Grand Ave.

Mustangs trying to do what 2002 team couldn't

2007-09-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

The Cal Poly football team is off to an 0-2 start for the first time since the 2002 season when the Mustangs lost five straight to open the year and finished the season 3-8 – the Mustangs’ only losing season under seventh-year head coach Rich Ellerson.
Like the 2002 team, this year’s club is young and inexperienced but has the offensive firepower the ’02 team was lacking.
The Mustangs also have an easier schedule than the ’02 team, which would make a turnaround more likely considering the ’02 team faced I-A Toledo and I-A Kent State along with a rash of solid Big Sky Conference squads that season.
The problem with this year’s schedule is that it could be too soft in the eyes of the playoff committee in the event that Cal Poly finishes strong and ends the regular season with say three or four losses.
North Dakota State is the only top-25 caliber team on the Mustangs’ schedule at this point.
Sure, Texas State was ranked 19th last week after its win over Cal Poly, but the Bobcats backed up that performance with a brutal 45-27 loss to Division II Abilene Christian and should be in the top 25 no longer (so much for the reader comments about Texas State being underrated).
The Mustangs could drop out of the rankings as well this week but might hang on considering they lost to a I-A team.
So two weeks into the season, not only is Cal Poly 0-2 and sliding in the polls, two of the Mustangs’ better opponents (Texas State and UC Davis) have already lost to Division II schools. That’s certainly not going to help the Mustangs’ strength of schedule if they put together a storybook turnaround this year.

Poly football fumbles one away

2007-09-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

When Cal Poly head football coach Rich Ellerson emerged from the locker room after Saturday’s 20-13 loss at Idaho, the first question he asked the writers was: “How many fumbles did we have?”
The response was quite a surprise for anyone who’s followed Cal Poly since Ellerson took over seven years ago.
“You put the ball on the ground seven times and lost four.” (And that didn’t include the botched snap on a field goal attempt that resulted in a turnover on downs in the first half.)
Seven fumbles, four of which were lost by a team who’s No. 1 "key to victory" each week is to “win the turnover battle.”
Well, the Mustangs lost Saturday (read more about the game, and all the fumbles, here).
As quarterback Jonathan Dally put it afterward, “Today, we let it slip out of our hands, literally.”
Seven fumbles is the most by a Cal Poly team in I don’t know how long. (I have Cal Poly’s sports info. department trying to track that one down.)
But it could’ve been worse, I guess.
Looking at the Division I-AA record book, the I-AA/Football Championship Subdivision’s dubious record for most fumbles in a game is 16 by Delaware State in 1980. Delaware St. lost six of those drops against Portland State that season.
The most fumbles in a game by both teams?
That would be the 21 combined fumbles by North Carolina A&T and Lane in 1995. NC A&T had 15 drops in that one, losing nine!
Now that's what I call dropping the ball.
------------------------------------
9/11 update: Cal Poly stat guru Eric Burdick says the seven fumbles are the most since the Mustangs' eight fumbles (two lost) against Humboldt State in 2002 -- you know, the wet and wild mud bowl game at Mustang Stadium. The Mustangs also fumbled seven times, losing four, against Northern Arizona in 1999.

Beck, Shotwell playing waiting game

2007-09-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

Former Cal Poly linebackers Jordan Beck and Kyle Shotwell are still waiting for “the call” after being cut by their respective NFL teams this week (see below posts).
As reported earlier this week, Beck worked out with the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday. Beck would be a good fit in Cincy because the Bengals list only two LBs at the middle and weakside spots and could use help on special teams.
Beck also had workouts scheduled with Baltimore, Minnesota and Tampa Bay, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Shotwell is back home in Goleta and has not worked out for any other clubs. He is hoping to rejoin the Raiders this season and said he likely won’t go the CFL or arena route to continue his football career.
In the meantime, Shotwell will help us out with his three keys to victory each week for the Cal Poly football team. See Saturday’s Gameday page (S3) for his take on that day’s opponent.

The real reason Shotwell didn't make the cut

2007-09-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

I spoke to a couple Raiders beat writers over the last two days and got some more information on the mixup that had two Northern California papers publishing an Oakland practice squad list that mistakenly listed former Cal Poly linebacker Kyle Shotwell as making the squad.
They said the Raiders had Shotwell on their practice squad list when they released it to the local media around 11 a.m. Sunday.
The Raiders did not call Shotwell back to let him know he had not made the practice squad until around 3 p.m. Sunday, so obviously there was a change of heart between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and nobody from the Raiders informed the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee of the change.
It's pretty obvious what happened now: The Raiders said Shotwell was not at Sunday's morning practice session because they were still working out the details of adding him to the practice squad.
But the real reason was: the Rams had surprisingly cut LB Jon Alston (a third-round pick in the 2006 draft) on Saturday and the Raiders were waiting until he cleared waivers Sunday to make a decision on their practice squad linebacker. Alston received offers from four teams and decided to go with the Raiders. That's when Oakland went with the former Stanford LB instead of the undrafted Shotwell, meaning the former Cal Poly standout was the last player cut from the Raiders. He was that close to making the team.
See my story today for reaction from Shotwell.

Beck, Shotwell cut from NFL teams

2007-09-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

Former Cal Poly linebackers Jordan Beck and Kyle Shotwell got the bad news on the same day, although that news wasn't made public until Monday — and when it did finally come out, it wasn't exactly published accurately.
Beck was officially released by the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, although the Falcons let him know he was being waived when they signed three new additions on Sunday — the day after Beck appeared to make the 53-man roster.
Shotwell was released by the Oakland Raiders on Saturday when they trimmed their roster down to 53 players but was told he had a shot at the practice squad announced Sunday.
Late Sunday he was told by the team he was not one of the eight players on their practice squad, although no announcement was made publicly and it was actually reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee that he made the practice squad. As of Tuesday, those stories had not been corrected.
Confused yet? You should have seen me trying to write and re-write this story over and over tonight.
I finally talked with Shotwell late Monday and he confirmed that he did not make the practice squad and that he and Beck are both hoping to catch on with another team. But that will be tough considering few teams are looking for linebackers at this point. See Tuesday and Wednesday's Tribune for additional updates.

Bad weekend for the Great West

2007-09-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

The Great West Football Conference isn’t looking so great this year.
For the first time since the league was formed in 2004, a Great West team did not win a game on opening weekend.
South Dakota State kicked off a week to forget on Thursday with a four overtime loss to Western Illinois, falling 29-26.
The Great West then went 0-for-3 on Saturday as Southern Utah lost at Montana, 37-17, UC Davis lost a hot one at home to DII Western Washington, 28-21, and Cal Poly suffered a “third quarter debacle” in the words of head coach Rich Ellerson and lost at unranked Texas State, 38-35.
So when does league favorite North Dakota State play again?
Here is Saturday’s schedule, which doesn’t look any easier for the Great West:

Saturday, Sept. 8, games:
Cal Poly at Idaho, 2:05 p.m.
UC Davis at Portland State, 6:05 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin at North Dakota State, 6 p.m.
North Dakota at Southern Utah, 6 p.m.
South Dakota State at Youngstown State, 5 p.m.

Don't mess with Texas

2007-09-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

Cal Poly used to enjoy its trips to Texas.
In 2003, the Mustangs opened the season with a program-defining 34-13 upset victory at I-A Texas-El Paso.
But their last two trips to the Lone Star State have been bad, bad news.
In 2005, they lost 14-7 at Texas State in the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs.
On Saturday, another loss in San Marcos, 38-35, in a somehow winnable game that was much more lopsided than the score indicated.
Cal Poly came in ranked No. 15 in the country.
Unranked Texas State was picked to finish fifth in its own conference, so if you’re wondering if it’s time to hit the panic button, it might just be.
Cal Poly next travels to I-A Idaho, which covered the spread and looked tougher than many would expect in a 38-10 loss to USC. Yes, that USC. The No. 1 team in all the land (FCS and FBS).
Idaho goes from USC to Cal Poly, which after Saturday’s game isn’t exactly sure who its No. 1 quarterback should be and is obviously young and very inexperienced on the defensive side of the ball.
And the botched fake punt attempt? ... I'll be shocked if they ever call that play again. The Mustangs are 0-for-3 on that one.
The most disappointing part of the game for the Cal Poly faithful was the struggle in the running game (on both sides).
The Mustangs’ touted running back combo of Ryan Mole and James Noble barely combined to rush for 100 yards. On the other side of the ball, the Mustangs’ usually stellar run defense allowed almost 400 yards rushing.
Cal Poly, a team built on a triple-option offense and a run-stuffing defense, isn’t going to win many games if those numbers continue - even if the fake punts start working

What a day for I-AA (FCS)

2007-09-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

The Cal Poly-Texas State opener hasn’t even started and it’s already been a crazy day in Division I-AA football, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision.
The talk in the Texas State pressbox during pregame warm-ups Saturday afternoon was centered around defending I-AA champion Appalachian State’s unbelievable 34-32 upset of No. 5 Michigan, at Michigan Stadium of all places.
But when the UC Davis score came across on the sports ticker, the talk quickly changed to the Aggies.
While I-AA football took a step forward with App State, it also took one back thanks to UC Davis.
A few hours after the Appalachian State shocker at the Big House in Ann Arbor, I-AA and Great West Football Conference member UC Davis lost to Division II Western Washington, 28-21.
It’ll be interesting to read Michael Mirer’s blog on the UC Davis letdown.
It was UC Davis' first official game as a Division I-AA/FCS member and its first game at brand new Aggie Stadium, a $31 million facility that is the newest collegiate stadium to open in the country.
Maybe they should rename Aggie Stadium the Little House.

A little taste of Texas thunderstorms

2007-08-30T02:12:00.000-07:00

Cal Poly head football coach Rich Ellerson had to be loving that thunderstorm that came through early this morning.
Ellerson is known for his oddball game-week preparations, trying everything in the book to prepare his team for the “adversity” it will face on the road.
Prior to any game in a dome, Ellerson has his assistant coaches running around the practice field all week screaming and blowing whistles as loud as they can in hopes or re-creating the ear-piercing crowd noise the team will endure away from Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
But there’s usually no way to re-create the weather conditions the Mustangs will see at outdoor stadiums on the road, not here on the sunny Central Coast.
Well, early Thursday felt like a muggy Texas night all right with scattered thunderstorms rolling through town and surprising many SLO County residents with window-rattling thunder and a spectacular lightning display.
The Mustangs will probably be dealing with the same scene Friday night when they touch down in San Marcos, Texas, where the weather forecast calls for temperatures in the upper 80s and scattered thunderstorms throughout the weekend.
Saturday’s kickoff at Texas State is scheduled for 6:05 local time (4:05 SLO time) at outdoor Bobcat Stadium where the hosts are used to thunderstorms like this.
I’m guessing it will feel a lot like the 2003 opener at muggy Texas-El Paso, or in this case, a late August night in San Luis Obispo.
So it’s not exactly sports content, but if you missed it, here’s part of that lightning display I caught this morning along with some pictures at the end of the 30-second clip:

Who's the next Buchanan candidate?

2007-08-30T00:44:00.001-07:00

The Sports Network just announced its preseason watch list for the Buchanan Award, given to the best defensive player in FCS/I-AA football each year. As expected, there were no Mustangs on the list. There just isn't a big name that stands out on this defensive unit as of yet. That will likely change in coming weeks, which got me thinking: Who should Cal Poly's next Buck Buchanan candidate be?

Football season is almost here

2007-08-29T16:57:00.001-07:00

The countdown has begun.
Only a few more days until the Cal Poly football team opens the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as I-AA but changed by the NCAA this season to “avoid confusion” with I-A, errr the Football Bowl Subdivision) season at Texas State on Saturday.
Our coverage of Cal Poly football continues Friday. Until then, here’s a look at some interesting stories about Cal Poly’s first opponent of what should be another exciting season of I-AA, I mean FCS football:

Texas State switches to flex defensive scheme. Hmmm … sounds familiar. You can get the complete story Friday when I write about my interesting interview with former Cal Poly linebackers coach Terrol Dillon, now a linebackers coach with Texas State.

Old friend becomes the new coach at Texas State. This isn’t the same Texas State team or coaching staff the Mustangs saw in the playoffs two years ago. Brad Wright has since taken over for departed head coach David Bailiff and has cleaned house.

Texas State will be without a key fullback and wide receiver for the Cal Poly game because of an injury and an arrest.

The weather forecast for the San Marcos area on Saturday calls for temperatures in the upper 80s and scattered thunderstorms. The muggy kickoff is scheduled for 6:05 local time (4:05 SLO time) at outdoor Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium (capacity of 15,218).

Shocking development for Poly volley

2007-08-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

They don't call it the Wichita State Shocker Classic for nothing.
The Cal Poly volleyball team, which was 22-6 in season openers since 1979 and came into the season ranked 14th nationally, were shocked in five games by unranked Kansas State on Friday at the season-opening tournament in Wichita, Kan.
The Mustangs simply had no answer for K-State slugger Natalya Korobkova, who torched Cal Poly for 26 kills.
“It was a real difficult way to start our season,” head coach Jon Stevenson said Saturday morning. “We’re not the same team we were last year and have to figure it out.”
The Mustangs try to bounce back against North Texas tonight and Wichita State (whose mascot looks like the Scarecrow on steroids) on Sunday before their schedule gets really nasty.
Cal Poly plays its first 12 matches away from Mott Gym, including contests against No. 3 Penn State (Aug. 31), No. 1 Nebraska (Sept. 3), No. 17 BYU (Sept. 6) and No. 2 Stanford (Sept. 7).
The Mustangs don't return home until Sept. 21 when they open Big West Conference play against 19th-ranked Long Beach State.

Hives gets defensive

2007-08-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Fred Hives II looked like a good fit at the Mike linebacker spot in Cal Poly's scrimmage on Thursday.
Hives you may recall was a fullback last season, rushing for 221 yards and two touchdowns in six games.
But with the departure of all-everything linebacker Kyle Shotwell last season, the Mustangs needed somebody to fill the Buck Buchanan award winner’s shoes at the Mike spot.
In keeping with the tradition of moving offensive skilled position players to the defensive side of the ball, head coach Rich Ellerson approached Hives about playing the Mike position and the now former fullback jumped at the chance to play everyday.
In the scrimmage, Hives came away with a nice interception on deflected pass across the middle and returning it down the sideline for what might’ve been touchdown had the coaches not blown the play dead to prevent any unnecessary collisions.
This isn’t the first time the Mustangs have converted a running back, quarterback or wide receiver to a key defensive position. Former Cal Poly cornerback Courtney Brown (converted wide receiver), safety/cornerback Cordel Webb (converted quarterback), linebacker Adam Martinez (converted fullback who went back to running back as a senior) and cornerback Anthony Randolph (converted wide receiver) all followed the same path. Heck, even NFLers Chris Gocong and Jordan Beck made a name for themselves as offensive players at the prep level before evolving into Buchanan award winners at Cal Poly.
So who’s Cal Poly’s next Buchanan candidate? Maybe it will be Hives.

Junior-laden Mustangs hope their time is now

2007-08-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

Man is this team going to be good — next year.
That’s the first thing that ran through my head as I flipped through the 2007 Cal Poly football media guide today.
The Mustangs won’t be favored by many to win the Great West Football Conference this year, but they should be among the favorites in 2008.
Don’t get me wrong, this year’s junior-laden team could do some damage in the Great West if they figure out the quarterback situation and hold it together in the secondary, but look at the projected starting lineup and you’ll find only two seniors on offense and three seniors on defense. They lost a lot of experience, especially on defense, last year.
Next year, they’ll have seniors all over the place, including wide receivers Ramses Barden and Tredale Tolver, center Stephen Field, quarterbacks Matt Brennan and Jon Dally, and running backs Ryan Mole and James Noble.
That’s going to be big for the Mustangs, who are already under contract to open at I-A San Diego State in 2008.
In 2009, Cal Poly is scheduled to play another I-A in San Jose State but will likely be without all of the above skilled position players. Not good.

Former Mustangs part of MLB history

2007-08-07T23:48:00.001-07:00

The game was blacked out locally for some reason, but had you been watching Tuesday’s San Francisco Giants-Washington Nationals game, you might have noticed a couple of Cal Poly connections during the historic night at AT&T Park.
Two former Mustang pitchers were on hand for Barry Bonds’ 756th home run, which came in the fifth inning of the Giants’ 8-6 loss to the Nationals.
Kevin Correia, drafted out of Cal Poly in 2002, came on as a reliever in the eighth and actually suffered the loss on the night Bonds became MLB’s all-time home run leader. Hey, I guess it’s better to get the loss than to be remembered as the guy who gave up the homer to Bonds.
Correia failed to get an out, allowing two runs on three hits along with a walk as Correia and the Giants squandered the one-run lead Bonds gave them three innings earlier. The right hander is now 1-6 on the season.
Cal Poly Hall of Famer Mike Krukow was also on hand as a radio broadcaster for KNBR.
“Kruk” was referenced a couple times by Bonds during his postgame news conference.
I’m looking forward to Kruk’s take on the home run tomorrow morning on KNBR 680 AM.

Taking a summer vacation

2007-06-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

To my loyal blog readers, all three or four of you.
I am sorry to ruin your summer vacation, but the NCAA has banned me from blogging about Cal Poly sports for the next month.
OK, not really. But the NCAA is cracking down on blog updates from NCAA Championship events if you can believe that. Read all about it here.
I am going on vacation through July and probably won’t be posting any updates until the football team opens camp on Aug. 8.
Until then, check out my blog updates from the 98-mile kayak trip down the coast of SLO County.

Big West among best in college baseball

2007-06-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

How about a hand for the Big West Conference.
The Big West tied a conference record when it sent four baseball teams to the NCAA Tournament a couple weeks back and two teams are still alive.
Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine, two teams that lost 2 of 3 to Cal Poly this season, have advanced to the College World Series.
UC Irvine, which did finish ahead of the Mustangs in the Big West standings, is going to the Series for the first time in program history.
Cal State Fullerton, which finished behind Cal Poly in the standings and lost a series to the Mustangs eight days before the 64-team field to the playoffs was unveiled, is going to the College World Series for the 15th consecutive year.
Two other Cal Poly opponents, Rice, and it appears Oregon State (which is up early against Michigan in the second game of their super regional), are on their way to the College World Series as well.
Which solidifies Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee’s recent comments about the Mustangs playing “one of the toughest schedules in the country” and that the disappointing part about not making the tournament is, “if you can just get to a regional, anything can happen.”
Look at Cal State Fullerton. The Titans lost 11 of their final 17 games going into the tournament and are off to Omaha.
Cal Poly was likely one of the last three teams left out of the tournament, a committee chairman recently told Baseball America.
The baseball publication also points out a notable fact about the tournament:
“Every single West Coast team is on the left side of the bracket, making it impossible for two West Coast teams to meet in the national championship series and making it more difficult for Western teams to get to the College World Series.”
East Coast bias anyone?

Day 2: Running MLB Draft blog

2007-06-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

Tribune college beat writer Brian Milne is writing a running draft blog during the two-day MLB First-Year Player Draft. Here is Friday's live entry, which will be updated throughout the final 45 rounds scheduled for today:

Welcome to Day 2 of the draft. Today will be a little slower since the three main Cal Poly guys went yesterday in the first five rounds. All three were underclassmen who confirmed they will be forgoing their final years of eligibility at Cal Poly. The Mustangs have now lost 10 underclassmen in the past three drafts.

The three who have been wiped off the board: OF Grant Desme, RHP Evan Reed and RHP Thomas Eager.

There were two other selections that may hurt Cal Poly in the future. Two players who had already signed with Cal Poly were drafted yesterday as well. Cabrillo High left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy was taken by the Kansas City Royals with the 96th overall pick early in the third round. Fresno City College catcher Jameson Smith was drafted 10 picks later by the Florida Marlins. Both will likely go pro.

8 a.m. – Today’s draft, which begins shortly after 8 a.m., continues where Thursday left off with as many as 45 rounds taking place. The draft will conclude after all 30 teams have passed on a selection or after the final selection of the 50th round.

Who to look for locally: Kansas shortstop Erik Morrison, from Arroyo Grande. Oral Roberts right-handed pitcher Chance Chapman, from Templeton. There are a handful of Cal Poly guys that could get a sniff. LHP Grant Theophilus and OF Logan Schafer would be on my board, but neither player will probably garner much attention until next year. … One additional Cal Poly signee should go today in David Van Ostrand, younger brother of former Mustang Jimmy Van Ostrand. The younger VO played for Hancock and the SLO Blues.

There are some noteworthy players from outside the county who may pop up: Devin Lohman, for example, who has played for the SLO Blues and signed with the Big West’s Long Beach State. MLB has ditched the draft-and-follow rule, so that is expected to cut down on the number of prep and community college draft picks. A couple Hancock and Cuesta players could slide in there late.

11 a.m. – Finally a local player goes on the second day. Templeton’s Chance Chapman, a senior right-handed pitcher at Oral Roberts, was selected with the 263rd overall pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth round. The 6-4, 210-pounder also pitched locally at Cuesta College.

Noon – Morrison still hasn't gone. The Arroyo Grande prospect, who was a junior shorstop at Kansas this past season, was projected to go as high as the seventh round, according to Kansas head coach Ritch Price (formerly of Cal Poly). His signability may be a problem for some teams.

1 p.m. – At the 30-round mark, still no Morrison or Van Ostrand for that matter. I'm guessing those two play another year of college ball. Van Ostrand may be the only good news for the Cal Poly program in this particular draft.

1:30 p.m. – As expected, Chapman was thrilled with his selection in the eighth round – a pretty impressive feat for a unheralded pitcher out of Templeton High who got zero scholarship offers and played a pair of mediocre seasons at Cuesta College.
Chapman evolved into a lights-out starter for Oral Roberts this year and was a second-team All-American who struck out 17 and then 19 batters in a game this season.

“Man, I’m pumped,” he said in a phone interview. “I didn’t really know what team I was going to. I just wanted to get picked up by somebody. … Growing up, I was always and Oakland A’s fan. I didn’t really pay that much attention to the Phillies, but I’m their biggest fan now.”

3:30 p.m. - The second day of the draft has been slooooooooow for locals. Only Chapman has gone. Cal Poly’s Adam Buschini’s brother was drafted though. OF Shane Buschini, who plays at the University of San Diego, was selected in the 11th round (357th overall) by the San Diego Padres.

4 p.m. - A rash of guys went late in the draft but aren't expected to sign, according to their coaches. ... Cuesta RHP Jason Roenicke was drafted 829th overall by the Cincinnati Reds (27th Round). He is likely attending UC Santa Barbara next season.

Arroyo Grande’s Erik Morrison, a junior shortstop at Kansas, slipped down to the 49th round where he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates (1,415th overall).

Also, Righetti’s Devin Lohman, who has signed with Long Beach State, went 1,277th overall to the Colorado Rockies (43rd round).

Cal Poly’s Logan Schafer, a third-year sophomore, was also drafted by the Rockies with the 1,376th overall pick (47th round).

Under the new rules set on draft picks, players have until Aug. 15 to sign with their respective team.

I think that's it for this year's draft. Thanks for following. See Saturday's Tribune for a complete wrapup of the final day.

Running MLB Draft blog ...

2007-06-07T11:39:00.001-07:00

Tribune college beat writer Brian Milne is writing a running draft blog during the two-day MLB First-Year Player Draft. Here is Thursday's live entry, which will be updated throughout the five rounds scheduled for today:

11 a.m. The draft is a go. ... The first player with a local tie expected to go in today's draft is Cal Poly RF Grant Desme. He is expected to go in the first two rounds. The first round is being covered by ESPN2. The best bet would be late first round or compensatory pick for Desme. If he doesn't go by the second round, Desme could possibly consider returning for his senior year.

11:50 a.m. Here's our draft preview from today's paper, which takes a closer look at Desme and also lists other players with local ties who may go in the draft.

Noon Talking to local scouts the past couple days, they said they would be shocked if Desme is around after the second round. If he slides, it's probably because of the broken right wrist, which he injured in the final game of the UC Davis series. He hopes to get the cast off by next week and would like to play short-season ball by early July.

12:30 p.m. A lot is being made about Canadian-born players in the draft after Seattle picked Phillippe Aumont (Ecole Du Versant) with the 11th pick of the first round. Among the batch of Canadians in this draft is Hancock and SLO Blues first baseman David Van Ostrand, brother of former Cal Poly slugger Jimmy Van Ostrand. Jimmy Van Ostrand is the leading hitter for the Lexington Legends, a Class-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. David Van Ostrand has also signed with Cal Poly but will have to consider a draft offer.

12:45 p.m. Another player Cal Poly fans should be aware of is Cabrillo High pitcher Danny Duffy, a 6-3 left-hander who has a 94-mph fastball. Duffy has signed with Cal Poly, but few think he's going to make it there considering he's pitching before a dozen scouts a game in high school. Here's the scouting report on Duffy along with a video if you've never seen him pitch.

1 p.m. Desme said he's been contacted by every MLB team and that no one team has stood out in the predraft process. His favorite team growing up in the Bakersfield? The New York Yankees of all teams. The Yankees have the 30th and final pick off the first round before the compensatory round. They also have the 94th pick in the second and 124th pick in the third round. But I'm guessing the Yankees are looking at pitchers the way their rotation has been of late. ... Here's a list of the draft order.

1:20 p.m. Of the first 25 picks in the draft, eight are originally from California. None are from Big West schools. It just goes to show what a hotbed California is for baseball talent and what big-name programs recruiters from West Coast schools like Cal Poly are up against.

1:30 p.m. Check that, with the 26th pick in the first round the Oakland A's took Big West Pitcher of the Year James Simmons from UC Riverside. After the selection, Peter Gammons said, "I don't think there's any question he'll be pitching in the big leagues." Sounds like something I alluded to in a blog entry on Simmons earlier this year. Maybe I should be working for ESPN.

1:45 p.m. Many fans are checking out the draft process for the first time because it's being televised on ESPN2. While all of these guys sound good, I believe only four players from last year's draft have made it to the majors, so it's important to note that it takes some time. Look at Atascadero's Scott McClain drafted out of high school by the Baltimore Orioles in 1990. McClain, one of the best homegrown products this area has seen, is still playing minor league ball and has played in a total of 22 big league games, cracking an MLB lineup for the first time in 1998.

2 p.m. First official round ends with the Yankees taking ... a pitcher of course, Andrew Brackman out of No. Carolina St. Desme won't become the first Cal Poly position player since John Orton to go in the official first round. Orton, a catcher, was taken by the California Angels with the 25th overall pick of the 1987 draft. Cal Poly LHP Garrett Olson was drafted in the compensatory round after the first round in 2005 (48th overall selection) in 2005.

3 p.m. Another Big West pitcher goes, but still no position players. Cal State Fullerton right-hander Wes Roemer goes in the compensatory round to Arizona (50th overall pick).

3:30 p.m. The compensatory round is complete and no players with county ties have been picked. The draft pool is relatively shallow in terms of power outfielders, which is why Desme should be going soon.

3:37 p.m. Desme is selected by Oakland Athletics, who apparently need some hitters after nearly getting not hit by Schilling and the Red Sox today, in the second round with the 74th overall pick.

Desme becomes the fourth-highest draft pick in Cal Poly baseball history. Left-handed pitcher Garrett Olson was taken in the compensatory first round in 2005 (48th overall). Catcher John Orton was drafted by the California Angels in 1987 (25th overall) — the highest-ever selection of a Mustang baseball player. And infielder Dave Oliver was selected by the Cleveland Indians in 1973 with the 53rd overall pick in the third round.

4:20 p.m. Over the weekend, Desme told me he would likely leave Cal Poly a year early if taken in the first couple rounds of today's draft. He should address that question at a 5 p.m. press conference today at Baggett Stadium.

5:30 p.m. Sure enough, Desme confirmed that he plans on signing a professional contract, leaving Cal Poly a year early.

6 p.m. Two other Mustangs were drafted on the first day and told The Tribune that they will leave Cal Poly early. RHPs Evan Reed and Thomas Eager were drafted while I was at the press conference for Desme. Reed, a closer, was taken in the third round by the Texas Rangers (110th overall). He confirmed he plans to leave school a year early like Desme. Eager, Cal Poly's No. 1 starter as a third-year sophomore, was taken in the fifth round by the St. Louis Cardinals (172nd overall). He will leave the program with two years of eligibility remaining.

That's it for now. For more on the draft, see Friday's Tribune. I'll also be writing a blog on Day 2 of the draft tomorrow.

What scouts think about local prospects

2007-06-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

Seven years of covering the local side of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, and I still run into the same problem every year.
No matter how many voicemails and emails I send out, I almost always get shut down when trying to get on-the-record comments from big league sources on the small-time prospects out of Cal Poly and Cuesta College.
Coaches, front office execs, even scouts rarely talk publicly about potential draft picks in fear of giving away their team’s draft-day plans.
The scouts will talk about players off the record, or go on the record if they can remain anonymous, but rarely is one willing to attach their name to the comments.
That’s what makes MinorLeagueBaseball.com's online scouting reports interesting. While there are no names attached (shocker), the reports are supposedly filled out by major league scouts.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there were reports posted on Cal Poly OF Grant Desme and RHP Evan Reed.
Both have been listed among the top 100 players in the draft, according to Scouts, Inc., and are projected to go on the first day (Rounds 1-5).
The local birddogs I’ve talked with echo those projections as well, speaking on condition of anonymity of course.

Liddell beats "Rampage" at the bank

2007-05-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

Former Cal Poly wrestler and SLO-based ultimate fighter Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell might have lost to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson inside the Octagon on Saturday, but he beat him at the bank.
According to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday, Liddell took home $500,000 in the loss to Jackson at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. And that figure does not include pay-per-view earnings or endorsements.
Jackson, a relatively unknown fighter before Saturday, won $225,000.
The main event took $725,000 of the entire night’s $920,500 purse.
UFC reported the fight night produced a gate of $4.3 million.