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Diamond Dust At Long Beach State
By Dr. Dan Barber
By Dr. Dan Barber
Our first Notes on My Napkin for the New Year covers a wide range of topics, including that most controversial monogram, BCS.
I know that many of the faithful are still upset about college football’s BCS, but let me help you with the long-awaited announcement of my own BCS, the Barber Championship Series.
This is not that complicated 64-team deal, nor the intriguing 24-team mess. It’s not even the plus-one setup. Nope, like an aging Las Vegas hotel, we just blow up the current BCS and play the existing bowl games. Period. Fini.
Let the alums, the media and the web wags duke it out for the mythical National Championship The current BCS bucks could be used to sweeten the pot for all the present bowl games and add one game for any two winless teams (maybe the Washington Huskies and the Detroit Lions) so that one of them gets to start the New Year with a nice taste in their mouth.
While we are on the topic of that oblate spheroid, news from San Diego worries many about the major investment that Long Beach State’s big sister, the SDSU Aztecs, are putting into football. By way of history, SDSU President Stephen Weber had a football budget of $4.3 million in 1999, $7.5 million in 2006 and, using an imposed raise in student fees, this year has added another $4.5 million to fire old Coach Chuck Long and lure Ball State’s winner Brady Hoke to the Mesa. The numbers? Well, the team went 2-10 this season and next year will depend on a couple of other numbers: Title Nine (the federal gender equity law) and Chapter 11, and you know what that adds up to.
Name Drop Dusting — Two of the leading ladies around LBSU aren’t going to be around anymore. Veteran Athletics front office smile Pat West has retired, as has 49er setting coach and volleyball assistant Debbie Green Vargas. The joint won’t be the same without them.
The early college baseball polls are out, the Dirtbags are MIA and the only player on the hot prospect list is sophomore outfielder Jonathan Jones. JJ batted .338 in 2008, but despite his youth, may have to lead the team after the loss of most of the infield and the top half of the pitching order, 11 in all, going in the MLB Draft. Three good relievers return: Adam Wilk, Jason Markovitz and Dustin Rasco.
Maybe this rebuild by the Beach explains why rivals Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine are joining forces with the Niners in The Big 3 of the West High School Showcase Jan. 17-19. The kids (ages 15-19) will work out in front of Head Coaches Mike Weathers from LBSU, Dave Serrano from CSUF, and Mike Gillespie at UCI; rotating from Fullerton’s Goodwin Field to Irvine’s Anteater ballpark to Long Beach’s Blair Field.
Back to the here and now. The not-so-friendly circuit called the Big West basketball season gets underway for both the Niner men and women soon. The opponents this weekend are UCSB and Cal Poly, with the men hosting those squads Friday and Sunday while the women are on the road. The ladies have taken their lumps in the out-of-conference sessions, but the men have given the 49er faithful glimmers of hope with a four-game win streak and a win over national power Temple.
Where Are They Dept. Beach hoop legend Joan Bonvicini, one of only 18 head coaches in Division I women’s basketball history to win 600 games, is still out of coaching but has joined the staff at Sport Tours International setting up basketball tournaments.
Her glory days began in 1979, and before she left for Arizona, her LB teams went 325-71. Her 49ers made two NCAA Final Fours, six Elite Eights and nine Sweet Sixteens. Now there is a chorus of Auld Lang Sine I wouldn’t mind hearing again.
Our first Notes on My Napkin for the New Year covers a wide range of topics, including that most controversial monogram, BCS.
I know that many of the faithful are still upset about college football’s BCS, but let me help you with the long-awaited announcement of my own BCS, the Barber Championship Series.
This is not that complicated 64-team deal, nor the intriguing 24-team mess. It’s not even the plus-one setup. Nope, like an aging Las Vegas hotel, we just blow up the current BCS and play the existing bowl games. Period. Fini.
Let the alums, the media and the web wags duke it out for the mythical National Championship The current BCS bucks could be used to sweeten the pot for all the present bowl games and add one game for any two winless teams (maybe the Washington Huskies and the Detroit Lions) so that one of them gets to start the New Year with a nice taste in their mouth.
While we are on the topic of that oblate spheroid, news from San Diego worries many about the major investment that Long Beach State’s big sister, the SDSU Aztecs, are putting into football. By way of history, SDSU President Stephen Weber had a football budget of $4.3 million in 1999, $7.5 million in 2006 and, using an imposed raise in student fees, this year has added another $4.5 million to fire old Coach Chuck Long and lure Ball State’s winner Brady Hoke to the Mesa. The numbers? Well, the team went 2-10 this season and next year will depend on a couple of other numbers: Title Nine (the federal gender equity law) and Chapter 11, and you know what that adds up to.
Name Drop Dusting — Two of the leading ladies around LBSU aren’t going to be around anymore. Veteran Athletics front office smile Pat West has retired, as has 49er setting coach and volleyball assistant Debbie Green Vargas. The joint won’t be the same without them.
The early college baseball polls are out, the Dirtbags are MIA and the only player on the hot prospect list is sophomore outfielder Jonathan Jones. JJ batted .338 in 2008, but despite his youth, may have to lead the team after the loss of most of the infield and the top half of the pitching order, 11 in all, going in the MLB Draft. Three good relievers return: Adam Wilk, Jason Markovitz and Dustin Rasco.
Maybe this rebuild by the Beach explains why rivals Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine are joining forces with the Niners in The Big 3 of the West High School Showcase Jan. 17-19. The kids (ages 15-19) will work out in front of Head Coaches Mike Weathers from LBSU, Dave Serrano from CSUF, and Mike Gillespie at UCI; rotating from Fullerton’s Goodwin Field to Irvine’s Anteater ballpark to Long Beach’s Blair Field.
Back to the here and now. The not-so-friendly circuit called the Big West basketball season gets underway for both the Niner men and women soon. The opponents this weekend are UCSB and Cal Poly, with the men hosting those squads Friday and Sunday while the women are on the road. The ladies have taken their lumps in the out-of-conference sessions, but the men have given the 49er faithful glimmers of hope with a four-game win streak and a win over national power Temple.
Where Are They Dept. Beach hoop legend Joan Bonvicini, one of only 18 head coaches in Division I women’s basketball history to win 600 games, is still out of coaching but has joined the staff at Sport Tours International setting up basketball tournaments.
Her glory days began in 1979, and before she left for Arizona, her LB teams went 325-71. Her 49ers made two NCAA Final Fours, six Elite Eights and nine Sweet Sixteens. Now there is a chorus of Auld Lang Sine I wouldn’t mind hearing again.
