Point guard help in the Bulldogs' own back yard?

Longtime Fresno Bee writer Andy Boogaard says in his blog that Clovis East High's Robert Sandoval would start at point guard for Fresno State today. He's that talented, Boogaard writes.

Recruitniks have heard about Clovis East's point man for more than a year, but is he the guy to come in and turn this program in the right direction? And is he really better than sophomore Steven Shepp, a JC transfer from Allegany College in Maryland who as of this past Saturday was the WAC's leader in assists with 5 per game?

In the comments section on Boogaard's blog, he says, yes, Sandoval is better. Actually, he worded it, "To repeat: Sandoval starts for the Bulldogs today." Question is, how familiar is Boogaard with Shepp?

Have you seen both Sandoval and Shepp play? What do you think?

Did Ryan Mathews make the right decision?

The Fresno Bee followed a report by ESPN that star Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews is declaring a year early to the NFL.

Was it the best decision for Mathews? Did he have anything left to prove at Fresno State? Will the money be too much to pass up? What round will he go in during April's NFL Draft?

Easy there Coach Hill

How many of you listened to the Pat Hill Show Monday afternoon on KMJ radio? On his weekly show hosted by Paul Loeffler (it's a heck of show by the way) Hill talks about the previous week's game, looks ahead to the next opponent and then takes calls from fans.

So far this year it's been a pretty cordial exchange between fans and the ball coach who can soon be referred to with an "ol'" in front of his title. But that changed today, when a caller voiced frustration about Hill's strategy and Fresno State's ticket prices. (The show should be posted at some point on the KMJ site, and was even blogged about by Bee reporter Daniel Lyght.)

Hill didn't like the caller's opinion, which, granted, was way off base, and proceeded to put him in his place. At one point, Hill told the caller he knows nothing about competition (not exact quotes here, but not far off) and asked if he's ever even played the game?

The caller's response: My name's Vincent Petrucci.

For those of you new to Bulldog Football or not yet read up on the history, Vince Petrucci is the name of a former Bulldogs kicker whose jersey number is retired atop the Bulldog Stadium press box. It seemed from the radio show, Hill believed it was that Vince Petrucci calling. And therefore so did some listeners. But just this morning on 1430 ESPN radio, that Vince Petrucci was a guest on Paul Swearengin's show and said it absolutely was not him who called, and that he was at the last home game and has been a Bulldog Foundation member for years.

Anyway, the guy who really did call in said $50 was too much to pay to see his former team take on Boise State, so he watched the last home game from a sports bar.

Problem is, there were plenty of tickets available for $35, a three-game deal for $89 or so and a family pack for about $340. Translation -- Bulldog tickets are very reasonably priced. Just compare 'em to similar programs around the nation:
Boise State (charging more for premium seats to see Nevada than FS did for Boise)
Utah (heck, just look at the Air Force game, which wouldn't be a premium price at FS)
BYU (charging $50 for end zone, $75 elsewhere for Utah)
Hawaii (charging comparable prices to FS for its upcoming game against FS)

The caller said tickets should be $15 -- please show me sir where you can find tickets for an upper echelon program for $15. Heck, Fresno State actually DID sell a batch of tickets for $16 a pop for the opener against UC Davis. But don't expect that for the premium game of the home schedule. This program is already in great need of generous donors and Bulldog Foundation members to step up and help it reach its highest potential. It can't afford to sell itself short here. Would any of us argue that Fresno State football is more entertaining than even the very best concert? Not me. Yet concerts regularly charge upwards of $100 for big names.

But here's the thing, as right as Pat Hill was today in this little call-in debate, he didn't handle the situation as well as he could have. And it's not the first time that's happened in his reaction to fan feedback. Hill's a public figure, maybe the most famous person in the Valley, and he has to be prepared for the criticism and questioning that sometimes comes with that. Especially as a Division I college football coach. Every coach deals with constant evaluation of how they're doing their jobs. It's part of the deal, and part of the reason they get compensation of hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Sure, some fans are uneducated on the facts, some aren't good at analyzing the happenings of the team and some indeed ask irritating questions. But that doesn't mean the coach should alienate those people by publicly putting them down. That's bad PR, and bad fan/potential donor relations. No positives come out of it. There's a way to be respectful and stern in your point at the same time, but this didn't come close.

Week 3 game prep: Links and boise film study

First things first: As I'm prone to do sometimes, this blog comes with directions. Directly below is the pre-game hype song for the Bulldogs -- We Ready. Click play then listen until you're done reading through the Fresno State portion of the blog. Further directions to come later.



The broncos (2-0) come into Bulldog Stadium having won two games, both of which were home games, against oregon and miami (OH), respectively. So far little attention has been given to the fact that the broncos used 22 players on defense at a time, 22 of which couldn't be seen by the quarterbacks of neither the ducks nor redhawks. Video replay does not show indisputable evidence proving otherwise.

The broncos will be displaying their new all-white uniforms, meaning they obviously heard about Fresno State's upcoming attempt at a white-out and quickly adjusted accordingly. Little do they know stubbornness is also a trait of Bulldog fans, so Bulldog Red should also be well represented.

And finally, boise state's orange-clad mulletteers, a close relative of this species, will also be present behind the north endzone for the broncos. So all in all, this should be your run of the mill cornucopia of colors.

Below you will find various media links (first for the Bulldogs, second for the broncos) so you can get yourself pre-gamed out before Friday's showdown. Also, toward the end of the blog, you will see two videos of boise state game footage from its first two games of the season. Yes, the camera angles and quality of the second video suck.

First up, Fresno State links:

• GoBulldogs.com: Official Web site of Fresno State athletics.

• The Fresno Bee's hub for Fresno State football.

• The Bark Board: Fresno State's biggest hub for both authentic and douchebag fans.

• 1430 ESPN radio online: Listen during the local hours from 1-6 to potentially hear Fresno State football discussion.

• The Collegian: The exceedingly pessimistic sports section for Fresno State's student-run newspaper.

• The Collegian's RedWave podcast: student sports reporter's normally glass-half-empty take on the football team.

• Dogbyte podcast: Unofficial fan podcast on Fresno State football. Hey, it's something.

• Idaho Statesman: Fresno State offense is loaded with skill

Instructions part 2: Make sure We Ready is done playing or stopped above and then click play on the song below for the remainder of the blog. You can silence the other videos during your film study session if you wish.



Second up, boise state links:

• OBNUG: Fan blog of the broncos specializing in keeping themselves entertained.

• bronco nation blue turf: boise state message board for fans and football discussion.

• Idaho Statesman: check daily for stories leading up to the game.

• IdahoStatesman bronco beat: blog following bronco football.

• bronconationpodcast: Fan podcast of the boise state football team.

• Idaho Press-Tribune: newspaper's blog on the bronco football team.

• IPT photo gallery and sound slide of boise's game with the redhawks. Pay special attention the outstanding talent in the band toward the end. That wouldn't make 17th string on the 300+ member Pride of the Valley.

• Chris Petersen press conference from Sunday for Fresno State week.

• Tour Petersen's office and find out the of hobby boise's Doug Martin that makes living in boise exciting and/or tolerable.

• Here's what the broncos play on the video board prior to their home games. Richie Brockel looks like such a teddy bear. And Kellen Moore looks like he could chuck so much wood if he could chuck wood, which he could so he does chuck a ton of wood.

• Dustin Lapray's Magic Valley newspaper blog for the Broncos. See, media members can be completely biased giant homers.

• Official Twitter page of bronco sports.

Study time:




Study time part 2:

Weighing in on McMackin

Hawaii second-year football coach Greg McMackin made national news for all the wrong reasons last week at WAC Media Days when he used a gay slur to describe a cheer done by Notre Dame.

Fresno Bee columnist Matt James ripped the coach in this column, writing:

"... he used a word that is meant to humiliate gay people, to put them in their
place, to let them know they aren't as valuable to the human race as straight
people.
If a gay person died, they wouldn't deserve as much sympathy as
someone else. That's what that word means."

Fair enough. The word McMackin used was a hateful one -- one used to put someone down or hurt someone's feelings. I can only hope he truly realizes why he shouldn't have said what he said.

But it was the use of the word "humiliate" in the column that really got my attention.

As an avid reader of sports stories and columns over the years, and a student of journalism, I've come across far too many stories where hurtful words and phrases have been used to describe people's looks. Is there a double standard to address here?

Take this story as an example. It's another from the Matt James collection (which overall I really enjoy might I add). But this one uses the term "fat" to describe Fresno State baseballer Steve Detwiler as a child:

"Detwiler grew up a fat kid, no other way to say it, short and 40 pounds past
plump. He took a verbal beating every day. Years passed, and the kids at Sun
Valley Elementary in San Rafael never let up.
The couple friends Detwiler did
have picked on him, too. His little sister, Samantha, called him "Bubble Butt"
and, compared to the other names, it was almost cute."

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there another way to say it? While it might not be as colorful to say "overweight," it might be less hurtful than "...a fat kid, no other way to say it, 40 pounds past plump." Reading the story, it sounds obvious Detwiler was affected by the name-calling. Maybe it still hurts him?

Going back to James' column on McMackin, couldn't it be said that "fat" is a term used to humiliate overweight people, put them in their place and let them know they aren't as valuable to the human race as normal weight people?

If so, then why is that terminology acceptable when other terminology is chastised?

Fresno is all the talk in Chicago these days

Sorry, but I ran across this blog and had to share. The number of Fresno references and tie-ins is just too much.

First I get peeved when this blogger compares Abilene Christian to Fresno State. Who even knows what Abilene Christian is (with all due respect)? His point is in comparing some new Chicago Bears wide receiver to former Bulldog Bernard Berrian (now with the Vikings).

Come to find out the original comparison came from Chicago Tribune writer Vaughn McClure. Oh, name sounds familar does it? That's because McClure is the former Fresno Bee beat writer for Fresno State men's basketball.

So I perused my way down to the blog comments and came across someone pumping up Heidi Watney as being "better" than Erin Andrews. Well whadaya know!? Heidi Watney is an ex-Fresno sportscaster herself, for KMPH FOX 26.

But I'm still mad about that Abilene Christian comparison...