Swimming through some thoughts

If you woke up like me this morning, opened your front door, and walked barefoot across cold, wet (recently sprinklered) cement to get to your newspaper -- which for some reason is always left as far as humanly possible from my front door -- then you may have noticed this story.

Work is set to start later this year on Fresno State's new, $7.5 million aquatics center. We've known for a while this was in the campus master plan, but the fact that it's happening this soon, one year after women's swimming & diving was reinstated at Fresno State, is somewhat of a surprise...albeit a pleasant one. The North Gym pool is greatly outdated, and not wow-factor enough or large enough for a university like Fresno State.

Problem is, this announcement is coming just one year after women's lacrosse was born at the university, and ground also broke on a new women's soccer/lacrosse stadium smack dab in the middle of the greatest tailgate spot in the West -- the Red Lot on Cedar & Barstow. When announcement came that lacrosse was the school's newest sport, many were scratching heads as to why. Some even argued the school should have started a women's water polo program instead with hordes of local talent available and absolutely zero local talent in lacrosse.

The biggest argument against that was that Fresno State would then have to build a new aquatics center. Well, here it is. So is Fresno State planning to add another women's sport to maximize use of what will be a sparkling new facility? Or maybe even (do I dare think it?) a men's team?

Did you guys read that today...?

The story in today's paper says Fresno State is thinking about adding one or two more women's sports -- makes sense, until you see the "emerging" list of NCAA "sports" they're thinking about adding.

If it's badminton, I'll show them a birdie. No one wants to watch that. Squash? Are we talkin' 'bout eating or competing? (What the heck is squash anyway!?) Archery, team handball, synchronized swimming? Anyone know what high schools you're gonna recruit those athletes from...? And rugby...who even knew girls play rugby? (OK, actually I might be tempted to go see this).

But let's think a second here. The athletic department just eliminated swimming a few years or so ago. Swimming couldn't have been that expensive to run (here's some cool bathing suits and a towel, good luck). But, heck, if you're not going to reinstate that program, let's at least create one that's gonna be great on a national level (which every program on campus should be).

Wait, here's an idea...women's water polo. Think about it. You have a handful of some of the state's most talented teams right in your own back yard. Clovis West. Clovis. Buchanan. In a few years Clovis North will be one. Maybe even Clovis East? Throw in a couple-few girls from the south Valley and north Valley and you've got an instant top 25 threat. Heck, two of San Diego State's best players right now are Clovis West and Buchanan alums. And the Lady Aztec-sters just finished third in the country! Ta-da...it's a no-brainer.