Heard on "The Herd"

I don't normally listen to the Colin Cowherd show because, well, his opinions aren't very good. That said, I figure a lot of these big-time radio voices purposely form bad opinions to generate listener feedback.

Well today it worked, but I'm not calling in or emailing his show (which would allow said plan to work), I'm just writing about it here to get your feedback. The debate at hand is whether the NCAA basketball tourney should expand to 96 teams?

Syracuse's Jim Boeheim is in favor, as is Fresno State's Steve Cleveland. I haven't yet decided where I sit on the fence.

But get this, Cowherd says people don't want to watch underdogs. It's a "myth" he tells us. The ratings aren't good. The ratings plummet when Duke is eliminated. People want to see Duke and North Carolina and Kansas an Kentucky. And in football, the lowest rated BCS game will be Boise State-TCU, because people would rather watch USC (his favorite team), Ohio State and Notre Dame. Is this true? Is that who you'd rather watch? I certainly wouldn't.

But let's take Cowherd's argument as fact for argument's sake -- and now let's apply that logic to Title IX. If what's important in bowl games and NCAA tourneys is what gets the best TV ratings, because we have to give the people what they want, then apply that rule across the board. WAY more people like to watch men's football and men's basketball than all the women's collegiate sports put together. So does that mean women's sports don't deserve as much funding as the men's from their respective institutions?

And Mr. Cowherd, if I'm not mistaking the most popular College World Series ever for TV ratings was Fresno State's national title run in 2008.

Hardwood "glory days"

There's been lots of chatter on the streets (and airwaves) today about Matt James' column in this morning's Fresno Bee. Most seemed to have loved the column -- which is odd in itself because fans never like newspaper reporters.

Makes sense why people liked the column. It was well-written. It was an interesting topic. 'Dogs hoops news is long overdue. And it argued why the Steve Cleveland regime is a success, despite coming off the Fresno State program's worst record in more than two decades. I liked the column too.

But there were two nuggets in there -- two nuggets -- that nearly ruined it for me. Here's one:

"Selland Arena was a better venue for college basketball. Still is. No doubt about it."

Not true. Selland was a great college basketball atmosphere, but it was also home to the Bulldogs during their glory days (more on this later). If Save Mart Center was filled to capacity with fans practically begging to see super-talented teams and had students entering a lottery just to buy season tickets, it would be significantly louder and tougher for visitors to win in than Selland (think about it, 16,000 people vs. 10,000). Essentially, we're talking about taking most of the same Selland fans who earned a reputation for being the Red Wave and adding 6,000 people to it. Louder. More imposing. When Fresno State has its next serious threat on the hardwood, and fans fill the stands, the Save Mart Center will be an unreal venue.

Now on to this "glory days" issue. The column says there never were any:

"Let's be perfectly clear. There were no glory days. They never happened. Since 1982, the Bulldogs have two conference titles. Since 1984, they've been to one NCAA Tournament. One."

James explained that he didn't count one of Jerry Tarkanian's NCAA appearances because it was given an asterisk in the record books due to NCAA violations. But saying there were no glory days is wild. What do you call Fresno State basketball being a national story all season long during the Tark era? A good column would be comparing how many regional and national TV appearances the 'Dogs had under Tark and how many they have had under Cleveland. Another good column idea would be to research all the ranked and traditionally strong teams Tark scheduled and won against. To me -- when a program is mentioned in all the preseason mags and on TV by prognosticators as a threat to go to the Final Four, when guys are going to the NBA (some as lottery picks), when high school All-Americans are anxious to visit Fresno State, when the Bulldogs have a legit shot to win against ANY team in the nation -- those are glory days. In a way, that's what Fresno State's football program is right now -- one that can beat any other team on a given day and has proven it.

Wow, this blog's getting long enough, so I'll spare the fact that the Boyd Grant era could be defined as another set of "glory days." A NCAA tournament final 16 appearance, and a 1983 NIT championship in Madison Square Garden (when the NCAA tourney was smaller and the NIT was much tougher) that led to a parade rivaled only by last year's national championship in baseball.

Women's basketball vs. softball?

Listening to the final seconds tick down as the Fresno State women's b-ball team beat Nevada for the WAC tourney championship on Saturday, I couldn't help but let out a "WOO!"

This is an exciting bunch of Lady Bulldogs, and coach Adrian Wiggins is a genuine guy -- the type of guy who's easy to root for because he seems to be rooting for everyone else around town just as much. And hey, the 'Dogs are going dancing for the second straight year -- after never having gone to an NCAA Tournament in school history before. Take that Stacy Johnson-Klein...

Now to the whole point. A friend of mine brought up an interesting question this week when he said he never thought he'd see the day Fresno State's women's hoops team was better than its softball team. My reply: "Is it better?"

While Margie Wright's softball team has been a big disappointment so far in this young season, many Red Wavers are shaking in their cleats hoping the team's nation-best consecutive NCAA Regionals streak continues this year (Fresno State is the only school in the country to make every NCAA tournament -- ever)! But, superhero pitcher Morgan Melloh is battling a sophomore slump of inconsistency and the team's offense is, well, pathetic. We here at The Bulldog Bounce knew losing Jenna Cervantez and Aja Schuber would hurt -- but we didn't realize it would be this bad.

Last year, Fresno State finished 54-13. So far this year, the Bulldogs are 14-12.

But if you're thinking it's obvious the women's basketball team is more successful right now, not so fast. Let's consider the softball team plays a juggernaut of a schedule, with top 25 teams in at least 50% of its games so far. The women's hoops squad plays a decent non-conference slate, but then strolled through the dreadful WAC, which isn't much of a conference since Louisiana Tech's fall from grace.

Consider this, if winning the WAC was all that on a national scale, why has Fresno State been seeded 13th and 14th in the past two NCAA tourneys?

So Red Wave, you tell us. Which program is more successful today -- women's basketball or softball? And why?

Not even close to "Comcastic"

Comcast is not "Comcastic." Don't believe the lies. Don't believe the hype.

I rush home to catch Fresno State's first-ever women's NCAA Tournament game on ESPN2 -- you know, the one that's been advertised on ESPN2 all week during men's games and was written about in The Fresno Bee with quotes from Jimmy Dykes about how this is the network's No. 1 game.

And what do I get when I power up my Comcast box and turn on ESPN2 (in HD)...? I get freaking Auburn and George Washington. Two teams who most of western civilization couldn't even locate on a map. How many people in California do you think can even name what state those colleges are in? No matter the answer, there sure as heck aren't many Californians all amped up about watching those two schools play women's basketball.

So I wait 'til halftime, after hearing on the radio the 'Dogs make a late first-half run. Then the ESPN2 network switches games. "Finally!" I exclaim out loud. And what pops up on screen...? Hartford-Syracuse. What in tarnation!? NO ONE IN FRESNO CARES!

I called Comcast. "It's a national telecast and ESPN switches back and forth," I'm told. "It's up to ESPN, I can give you their number." Well it turns out the Comcast liar of an employee gives me a BOGUS ESPN number. It's been disconnected. Doesn't even work. What a bunch of bogus garbage...

DirectTV here I come...and I encourage others to join me.