This Tanner is no Bad News Bear...

Did you guys all catch this big story in Baseball America?

It's all about Fresno State pitcher Tanner Scheppers, who coach Mike Batesole says is right around that 100 mph mark (so beware guy who hit the comebacker into Scheppers' face in last year's Regionals).

For years, I've been thinking the 'Dogs just need to get another one of those dominant pitchers to get back to the College World Series and the top 10. And I didn't really see this coming last year, but maybe Scheppers is that guy? Jeff Weaver was almost unbeatable. Bobby Jones was unbeatable (and he didn't even have to throw more than 92 to earn college pitcher of the year honors). Steve Soderstrom, dominant. Seeing Dick Ruthven get his jersey number retired yesterday made me realize he was pretty unhitable (no-hitter and career 1.51 ERA...who does that in college)!?

Is Scheppers going to be another on that short list? Maybe it's time to book those plane tickets to Omaha...? This week's tournament in San Diego should tell us plenty.

Cruel and unusual punishment

This is just downright mean. And I don't even know what I'm being punished for...but I'm pretty sure this punishment is unconstitutional.

Apparently it's because my hometown (and yours if you too live in Fresno or the surrounding San Joaquin Valley) has better weather than most other areas of the country. So the NCAA decided the great college baseball teams of the West aren't allowed to start until late February this season (so they don't get a unfair advantage that schools back east and up north who have colder weather don't).

And now look what happens. After last weekend's warm, sunbathing bliss, Opening Day for the No. 18 Diamond 'Dogs is finally here and Fresno (one of the dry cities of America) is experiencing monsoon rains that threaten to cancel this special day and cause fans to wait even longer to see their 'Dogs.

Thanks a lot NCAA. You took our Alumni Game, and about four weeks of could-be baseball greatness. And I want it back!

FS Dream Team: Wide Receivers

Time to open up the voting at wide receiver (one of the most storied positions in school history). Each Bulldog Bounce blogger has turned in his own votes for each position already, but we want to hear what you -- the readers -- think.

Then, at the end of all the voting we'll compare our results to yours. We'll go position-by-position with the idea of starting healthy debate about why so-and-so is better than such-and-such? YOU decide the criteria! What's more important? College stats or pro? Four-year starters or JC transfers? Single-season greatness or consistency?

Next up is wide receiver, and the nominees are:
--Stephen Baker
--Bernard Berrian
--Marque Davis
--Henry Ellard
--Joe Fernandez
--Charlie Jones
--Stephone Paige
--Brian Roberson
--Malcolm Seabron
--Paul Williams
--Larry Willis
--Tydus Winans
--Rodney Wright

The Bulldog Bounce selects Bernard Berrian, Henry Ellard and Charlie Jones as Fresno State's greatest all-time receivers. Berrian was a unanimous first-teamer, while Ellard and Jones each had three first-team votes and one second-team. Rodney Wright also received two first-team votes, and one second-team, while Stephone Paige, Stephen Baker and Brian Roberson each had three second-team votes.

And boy it was hard to leave guys like Adam Jennings, David Dunn, Jahine Arnold, Charles Smith, Jermaine Jamison, Dwight Pickens, Lee Harris and Latario Rachal off this list. But argue if you want one of those guys or someone else on.

Have fun, voice your opinion and let the voting begin! The nominees will remain posted in the right-hand column for you to choose from, but please add comments to this blog entry as well.

A must-read thread on BarkBoard.com

"I am a Bulldog, WE are Fresno State!"

That's the slogan of the new 'Dogs T-shirt, but what happens when someone says we're not allowed to refer to Fresno State as "we"...?

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=164&f=1687#s=164&f=1687&t=2032954

Here's my opinion, as posted on BarkBoard.com:

It's even on the back of the school's new T-shirts. That's absurd to tell someone not to refer to Fresno State as "we." I can see saying that about a NFL or NBA team, but it makes perfect sense to say "we" talking about our college team.

Why? Because:
--WE go to games and cheer tell our voices are gone to make the type of impact that helps the team win.
--WE have an emotional buy-in to everything that happens with Fresno State; a win makes us ecstatic, a loss takes us time to get over.
--WE donate money and time to contribute to Fresno State, through the Bulldog Foundation and other things.
--WE promote the university to our friends, our families and strangers.
--WE recruit new fans, exposing new people to the family known as the Red Wave whenever we can.
--WE, as a community, have banded together to ensure Fresno State is capable of competing at a national level. Without us, Jim Sweeney, Pat Hill, Jerry Tarkanian, Bob Bennett, Boyd Grant, Margie Wright and Dennis DeLiddo could never have accomplished as much as they have.

Listen here Margie...

OK, we just got back from the softball season-opening doubleheader (two 'Dogs wins). First, let me say this...I'm bummed Robin Mackin is taking a year off for her Olympic dreams. We FINALLY decided to get two star pitchers in the same year and now Mackin redshirts. Freshman Morgan Melloh looks good, REAL good. And she's a lefty...her and Mackin together next year will be our best 1-2 combo in recent memory, if not ever.

It's exciting. Poor Jenna Cervantez...she won't get to join those two next year (she homered today in Game 1).

But listen Margie Wright...there was practically a full house out there at Bulldog Diamond today -- you know, the LARGEST college stadium in the country that Fresno State built for you and your team. It seems to me softball has some pretty nice facilities, a heckuva following and gets as much marketing as any program not called football. Here's to hoping you recognize softball gets its fair share from the university because we really want to keep being a fan of you as coach and supporting your program...and that's something we might not be able to do if this Title IX card keeps getting played...

Fresno State Dream Team: Fullbacks

Time to open up the voting at fullback. Each Bulldog Bounce blogger has turned in his own votes for each position already, but we want to hear what you -- the readers -- think.

Then, at the end of all the voting we'll compare our results to yours. We'll go position-by-position with the idea of starting healthy debate about why so-and-so is better than such-and-such? YOU decide the criteria! What's more important? College stats or pro? Four-year starters or JC transfers? Single-season greatness or consistency?

Next up is fullback, and the nominees are:
--Nate Adams
--Reggie Brown
--Myron Jones
--Anthony Mosley
--Lorenzo Neal
--Lavale Thomas
--Ted Torosian
--Roshon Vercher

The Bulldog Bounce selects Lorenzo Neal as Fresno State's all-time greatest fullback. Neal was a unanimous first-team selection. But we were split evenly on the second-teamer, with two votes for Reggie Brown and two for Roshon Vercher, so help us decide...

Have fun, voice your opinion and let the voting begin! The nominees will remain posted in the right-hand column for you to choose from, but please add comments to this blog entry as well.

With LOI Day done, it's officially baseball time!

Before I get to baseball, let me touch briefly on yesterday's recruiting class. If it's not clear yet, Fresno State is beginning to get guys who are ready from day one. Last year gave us a sneak peak of that, and this year the door has been blown off. But the best part, these guys aren't recruited unless they have the Bulldog football mentality, which is what makes it exciting.

February 22, 2008: mark it down. That's the home and season opener for the Diamond Dogs. If you've never been, sorry you've missed out for so long. If you are on the fence, this should get your butt in the seats (the brand new, contoured Bulldog Red ones). And if you are already standing in line, this will only be reinforcement.

Here's why you need to be a part of this:

First is tradition. I've been going to Beiden Field for 22 years. Not much has changed, which is good, because everything that is there is good. The best grounds crew in the biz, a passionate base of vocal, smart (with rare exceptions) fans, the red-clad and legendary yell leader Inman Perkins and of course, the great vacation spot that is Beiden Field. When you go to the games, you are a part of a family. There are familiar faces, Bulldog Baseball bingo and Sugar Bear, the drunkest (yet surprisingly able), loudest, most booming voice man ... well, ever?

Then there is the tradition on the field itself. Taking the field in unison, taking off the batting helmets and slamming them together, fans taking off their hats and waving them in the home run signal, the best umpire taunting around and the reason we all go in the first place, a consistently nationally competitive team that bonds with the fans.

Second is the unique nature of baseball. As great as football, basketball and all the other sports are, nowhere can you feel like you are a million miles away from stress or any of the other daily annoyances like you can at Beiden Field. It genuinely feels like a vacation. It genuinely feels like you are 12. I still dream about running onto that field in a Bulldog uniform. There are so many sights and sounds to take it as well, yet they are subtle enough to please. Let me list a few: ball hitting glove, ball hitting bat, crack of peanuts, music played between innings, music with clever lyrics making fun of the other team, hazing the other team and umpires, the rally claps and more. Then there are the sights and smells, which you have to be there to understand.

And then of course, when you combined this all, and some of which I haven't even touched on, you get some memorable stories. Whether it be a grandfather teaching his grandson the game and connecting like they couldn't anywhere else (and for that matter where people of all ages connect for a few hours, related or not), or maybe it's just the fact that the Bulldogs put together a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to win. If you couldn't tell, I get pretty excited about anything and everything surrounding baseball, especially the Diamond Dogs, hence my struggles to say something in a non-fragment.

Nobody will ever force you to go out to Beiden, but if you don't go, there's no other way around it—it's your loss.

If you have your own stories or want to add some other reasons why Beiden is the place to be, please comment.