Stomper Goes Dumb In Area Parking Lot (GIF)
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The A's Josh Donaldson Chats With Jim Rome, Does Not Disappoint
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When you’re hitting .296 for the second best team in the American League, while also turning in web-gems on a nightly basis, the national media is inevitably going to end up calling your cell phone, in search of the secret sauce. That’s just what happened this morning when the infamous Jim Rome gave A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson a ring.
To be sure, JD gave the people what they want. Donaldson had no qualms about discussing the A’s love for flying remote control airplanes, lessons from Bull Durham, his take on walk-off etiquette and Yasiel Puig, his long lost buddy Jonny Gomes, and what’s behind his faux-hawk/rat tail hairstyle.
It’s not often Rome throws an A’s player a vine and invites him into the Jungle. Fortunately, the A’s once again have “Jungle Karma” on their side as they forge on in 2013, defending their AL West crown.
Read the transcript of JD’s interview with Rome below...
Jim Rome: “Here we are Josh. End of July. You got a five game lead over the Rangers and the Angels are way, way back. How do you explain the success that this team is having once again?”
Josh Donaldson: “Well I think what you have here is a bunch of guys that play together as a team really well. I think the X-factor is you have guys that are winners, you know. We don't have the big name guys or anything like that, but we have a bunch of guys working together, really just trying to pull their own.”
Rome: “Hey Josh, what about the chemistry? You got guys working together, but you got guys that are just different guys and guys that are allowed to be themselves. Guys that fly remote control planes on the field, guys playing hockey in the hallway, and a manager in Bob Melvin who gives you the freedom to be who you wanna be. How big a part is that in your success?”
JD: “Yeah, I mean, I think that just comes with it. You know, just making that environment where it’s cool to have fun and stuff during the game. But if you're not winning, that kinda stuff doesn't seem as cool or fun. Kinda like that Bull Durham quote where Crash Davis is talking about Nuke LaLoosh's shower shoes. He's wearing ‘em and has fungus on ‘em. Until you actually win 20 games in The League, they’re not gonna think this is cool. But once you win 20 games in The League they're gonna say ‘wow, he's so different, and that’s what makes him have success.’ So I think winning is the ultimate thing. And just having fun while we are doing it. Obviously that’s going to be a big part of it.”
Rome: “You certainly have your own kind of personality and confidence. When you first got to the A's, were you free to express that? Or did you keep it under wraps?”
JD: “I definitely kept it under wraps. In 2010 when I first got here I was a catcher behind Kurt Suzuki. He had strained his oblique and he was gonna be back in 4 weeks so I didn't want to step on anyones toes... That’s probably not the best way to look at it. You look at the Puig situation this year. He was probably not gonna be a mainstay right off the bat, they have a lot of talent in the outfield, but he went for it and really busted out in a big way. For myself I wish I would've thought about it a little more that way.”
Rome: “You mention Puig, let me get your thoughts. You're not there, but you gotta have a thought on this. When a guy hits a walk off shot, flips his bat and slides into home plate. Ordinarily the old school would say, ‘man that's so out of line, you can't show people up like that.’ Is the code changing or is that kinda thing way out of line?”
JD: “No, I think pretty much on a walk-off homer just about anything goes now. Unless like you directly say something to the pitcher or an opposing player. I've had conversations with pitchers about how they feel about walkoffs. I've hit walk off homers myself and sometimes its borderline whether the guy would take it the wrong way. You play with that fine line a lot. To me it just shows you he's really a young kid. It’s still a kids’ game, Jim. You want to go out and have fun. I think his game will change over the course of time.”
Rome: “Hey Josh, This is a big Jonny Gomes house. And I mention him because he was your teammate in Oakland last year and he took you under his wing. Talk to me about him, what was your experience being with Jonny Gomes?”
JD: “Being around him, seeing how he prepares for the game everyday. You know his mentality. It’s just so, he's got the in-your-face personality that a guy like me really appreciates. Just the way he approaches the game of baseball. It doesn't matter if it’s a ball back to the pitcher or a ball in the hole, you know he's going to get after it down the line. He would run through the wall if you you asked him to… if it would help win us a game. I really have just tried to take that mindset into this year for myself and just kinda learn from that.
Another thing he told me not to do was bunt. I used to try to bunt a little bit. But he told me last year that if I dropped another bunt down he was going to fight me. I remember doing it one time and he said 'all right, thats your last warning' and I said 'ok i'll stop'.
Rome: “That's incredible. Has Mike Gallego ever given you the bunt sign?”
JD: “You know I've only bunted on my own. I can't recall ever being given the bunt sign.”
Rome: “When you were in high school you used to tell your teachers, 'save my signature, because it's going to be worth something someday.' It’s cool and it’s a confident thing to say, but did you really mean it and did you know you'd end up where you are?”
JD: “Actually it was more so when I was in elementary school. I was in the 5th grade, getting toward the end of the year and I remember saying, 'hey, you know, you might wanna keep this'. But i thought it was gonna be more for football. I was really big into football growing up. I'm from the South and football is king in the South. I felt like I was gonna be a professional at something, and it turns out I'm a major league baseball player.
Rome: “You are. Last thought, the Donaldson Haircut has become a popular look among A's fans. Break it down for me. What are the key parts of ‘The Donaldson’?”
JD: “Well you know, you gotta go with the faux-hawk. A lot of people think its a mohawk, but I don't see it as a mohawk. I see it more as a faux-hawk. Really the major thing you have to have to pull it off is you have to have a rat tail. You know, I like to keep mine curly, and I like to play with it. So I think thats really the big key. And you have to go pretty low on the sides. At least a 1, if not a 0.”
Rome: “Alright, so what about the tail itself? Do you braid the tail? What do you do with the tail?”
JD: “You know, I’ve got to get it long enough so I can braid it. I like to just put my finger in it and twist it. You know how people grab their chin if they have facial hair if they're thinking? That's my thinking cap, you know, the rat tail.
Rome: “Wow. Oakland is killing it. First in the AL West and now you know. Josh, great to have you on. That was fun. Good deal.”
“Country Comes to Town” - Sonny Dykes Arrives in Berkeley to Lead the Golden Bears
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By Connor Buestad (connorbuestad@gmail.com)
Deep in the heart of Texas, days after Sonny Dykes was introduced as Cal’s newest football coach, his father, Spike Dykes, is talking pigskin with a couple of football junkies on the “Cook's Pest Control Hotline.”
At 75 years old, and with a glorious football career in his rearview mirror, Spike has no politically correct filter, no recruiting agenda, no schtick, just some stories about the good ol’ days of amateur football in the Lone Star State. And when the topic comes up of his boy moving out west to coach the Golden Bears, Spike shoots straight as an arrow.
“You talk about country come to town,” says Spike with a chuckle. “I think we probably dance to different drummers, you know what I’m saying? I don’t think I’d fit too good out there (in California). But I hope he does, I hope he can do it.”
And by “I hope he can do it,” we all know what Spike really means. Can his boy Sonny do what has proved impossible for the past 55 years in Berkeley? Can he bring a Rose Bowl berth to the faithful of Strawberry Canyon? Can he restore order in program that finished 3-9 last year while sporting the lowest graduation rate of all Pac-12 schools (48%)? One thing we’ve learned already, if Sonny succeeds, he’ll do so by keeping things simple, just like his old man did.
Born in the fall of 1969, Sonny Dykes grew up in Big Spring, Texas, as the son of a football coach. In a state certifiably obsessed with football, where a good seat at a high school game can require a Season Ticket Personal Seat License, Sonny was fed football for as long as he could remember. Naturally, he wanted to be the next Roger Staubach. The only catch was that he wasn’t very good. At least, not good enough to play for his dad, who was the coach of Texas Tech at the time. Fortunately, he knew how to handle a baseball bat.
“I was just kind of an average high school football player and if wanted to play I was gonna end up going to some school I’ve never heard of to play football,” Sonny told KNBR. “I just happened to be a little better at baseball. I could at least go to a school I’ve heard of. I was just kind of a guy on the baseball team.”
But following his graduation, there was no shaking the football lifestyle that had been ingrained in him at a young age. Even if he wasn’t good enough to cut it as a player, he couldn’t help but go back to it as a coach.
Sonny’s first legitimate coaching job took him 55 miles south of downtown Dallas to a small football town called Corsicana, Texas. The city’s motto is “Live, Work, Play.” It was Sonny’s kind of town. Sonny coached the quarterbacks at Navarro College. In his second year they made it to the Texas Junior College Championship. Soon thereafter, Sonny wound up at the University of Kentucky, where he served as an assistant to Hal Mumme, the Godfather of the “Air-Raid” offense. The Air-Raid concept led him back to Texas Tech, where he coached under fellow Air-Raid master Mike Leach. This was followed by a stint in the Pac-10 as an offensive coordinator at Arizona, and finally three years as the head man of Louisiana Tech in the WAC. Today, Sonny finds himself behind the wheel of a team and program ripe with potential, but fraught with flaws as he heads into the 2013 season facing perhaps the toughest schedule in college football.
This will be the first year Cal has had a new football coach since Jeff Tedford was hired back in 2002. Much like Dykes, Tedford was brought in based on his acumen as an offensive coordinator. Dubbed a “quarterback guru,” Tedford came to Berkeley with an offensive mindset, determined to jumpstart a god-awful program. In his freshman campaign, Tedford gave Bears fans a winning season, just one year removed from a 1-10 debacle under Tom Holmoe. By his third season, Tedford had the Bears ranked in the top 10 nationally, knocking on the Rose Bowl door.
During the middle of Tedford’s time in Berkeley, good times were rolling, and there seemed to be no end in sight. Tie-dyed “TedHead” shirts were printed, Marshawn and DeSean routinely ran wild, multi-million dollar stadium renovations were drawn up, and the Bears even flirted with a number 1 ranking. Somewhere along the line, however, Tedford seemed to lose his mojo, quality quarterbacks slowly stopped walking through his office door, and he was eventually forced to give up the once-promising program he cultivated.
In his shoes now stands a swashbuckler named Sonny Dykes who has been entrusted with the tall task of bringing the Bears back to Pac-12 prominence. It appears he plans to do so with the mantra of “KISS… Keep It Simple, Stupid.”
While Tedford was known for implementing a thick, complex playbook each fall, Dykes plans to take the exact opposite approach with the Air-Raid, or “Bear-Raid,” as it is now appropriately called in Berkeley. No doubt, Tedford’s offense worked wonderfully when it was run by a quarterback up to the task (see Rodgers, Aaron), but the complexities of the Tedford attack seemed to fall apart under his less adept signal callers in the past few years. Dykes, on the other hand, values the power of simplicity to make his offense move.
The Air-Raid style that Dykes will use traces itself back through a web of successful coaches. It is said the initial framework of the offense was spawned at BYU during the exciting passing years of Jim McMahon, Steve Young and Ty Detmer. LaVell Edwards was the coach during that era, and it was his mission to give his quarterbacks a simple, free and easy system to work in. Huddle only when you have to, use four wide receivers, let the QB go from the shotgun, and have him audible whenever he sees fit. This system worked, year after year, and it spawned a coaching tree that eventually named the system the “Air-Raid.” Hal Mumme took to it first, followed by Mike Leach, and now Sonny Dykes.
In his three-year stay at Louisiana Tech, Dykes more than proved the value of the Air-Raid. Last season, Dykes’ offense churned out 577 yards and 51 points on average per game—all with an offensive playbook that consists of roughly 20 core plays. Huddles were mainly an afterthought last season, as Dykes’ offense reeled off the second-most offensive plays from scrimmage in all of Division I. Get to the line, survey the defense, snap it and let your athletes make plays. Rinse and repeat.
“Athletes who make plays” certainly have not been in short supply in Berkeley over the past decade. One would be hard pressed to flip on the tube on a fall Sunday and not see a Cal alum starring for an NFL team. Pro talent has been steadily flowing through the Cal recruiting pipeline, but for whatever reason, it hasn’t fully blossomed in Berkeley, especially at the quarterback position. Sandy Barbour and company are banking on the hope that a little simplicity will be just what the doctor ordered.
While Tedford leaves behind all the positives that come with a renovated Memorial Stadium and a new high-performance training facility, he also leaves his successor with an incredibly competitive schedule to navigate. Dykes inherits the least experienced team in all of the Pac-12 (five returners on defense, four on offense to be exact), and must face Big-10 power in Northwestern right out of the gate. Two weeks later, the team expected to claim the national championship and the Heisman Trophy, Ohio State, will show up in Berkeley. Sprinkle in a late September road test at Oregon and you have yourself a murderous first month of the season to contend with.
Dykes can only hope his simple, straightforward offense will jibe with what will likely be redshirt freshman Zach Kline at quarterback. If Kline can channel his inner Jim McMahon and Steve Young, the Bear-Raid will provide all the freedom he needs to make plays. What the offense won’t provide is a complex, intricate system designed to deceive the defense and hide offensive flaws.
Sonny Dykes, born in America’s football heartland to the son of a famed Texas coach, knows the drill all too well. Success isn’t measured by progress, or talent, or potential, but rather the cold hard facts of wins and losses and BCS Bowl appearances. It’s “win now,” and after that, it’s “what have you done for me lately.” It’s coaches at SC and Oregon bending the rules and breaking for the NFL as soon as it gets too hot. It’s Mike Leach at Washington State, it’s Jim Mora Jr. at UCLA, David Shaw at Stanford. It’s non-conference games vs. Big-10 powers. It’s the Wild West of college football, and good ol’ Sonny now finds himself right in the thick of it all. The Bear-Raid era is upon us and Cal fans can only pray it delivers the Rose Bowl they have long deserved.
Fresno State’s Paul George Attempts to Dethrone King James in Game 7
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By Connor Buestad (connorbuestad@gmail.com)
At a certain point, when you hear something repeated over and over enough times, you start to believe it 100%. You just buy in completely and disregard all alternatives. I’m sure someone, somewhere, has proven this with a certified psychology experiment. Nevertheless, I did this with LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
Talk to anyone in the know about the NBA, especially two weeks ago, and propose an alternate scenario to the Heat boat-racing the field and cruising to an NBA title. What you’ll get in return is a “what have you been smoking” type look, followed by a laundry list of reasons why the Heat are unbeatable. How LeBron James is “a physical specimen that simply cannot be stopped.” How they have far too many weapons, how they reeled off a 27 game winning streak during the regular season. Even how “LeBron is better at the game of basketball than Michael Jordan.”
Fortunately, Fresno State product Paul George has stood up and had something to say about all of this, and by golly, it has been a pleasure to watch.
Rewind to last month and the Indiana Pacers were a marketer’s worst nightmare. The Pacers-Hawks first round series was billed as virtually unwatchable by the networks, as ESPN and Turner Sports wanted no part of it. Most games were relegated to NBA TV. Think of Knicks-Pacers in the 90’s on NBC, now imagine the opposite, and there you have Pacers-Hawks, Round 1.
Clearly, David Stern and co. were pulling hard for a Heat v. OKC NBA Finals, and who could blame them. Durant v. LeBron could, and still can, be the closest thing we’ve had to Bird v. Magic in quite a while. But god forbid if the Finals ended up being Pacers v. Spurs. The College Baseball Super Regionals on ESPN2 could potentially challenge those ratings.
Of course, this is sports, and there is a reason why you play the games. And after last night’s Pacer win in game 6, NBA fans will be granted a special treat on Monday, an Eastern Conference Finale featuring the untouchable, God-like LeBron James, vs upstart Paul George.
The media blitzkrieg began Saturday night and will continue up to tip-off on Monday, and the question is quite simple. Does LeBron re-announce his presence with authority and captivate America with a 35 point performance on the way to a resounding Heat win? Or does he try to get D Wade and Bosh involved too much, lose, and take all the blame?
Quietly, the even bigger story, is that Paul George has arrived on the scene out of nowhere and is primed to crash the NBA’s well crafted party.
Sure, Paul George has had a presence during All-Star Weekend in the past few years, and yes, he led the Pacers through an undeniably impressive 2012-2013 campaign, but taking LBJ the brink in the East Finals this early in his career seemed a bit of a stretch.
Palmdale, California, the desert community on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains from LA, is where Paul George grew up, and it is safe to say he was never mistaken for a future NBA superstar. One of the few schools that came calling during George’s Senior year was Fresno State. Not the Fresno State of old that featured Jerry Tarkanian, Chris Herren, and Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston, but the Fresno State that was a fairly bad WAC team that was hardly a threat to make the NCAA’s come March.
In his two years in Fresno, George developed a singular reputation for being a talented dunk-artist, who routinely posterized victims up and down the West Coast. Perhaps his signature collegiate dunk came inside the hallowed grounds of McKeon Pavillion in Moraga, when the 6’8” swingman plastered St. Mary’s guard Mickey McConnell all over the Contra Costa Times Sports Page.
Inevitably knocked for being just another super-athlete who loved to dunk but couldn’t shoot, George instead found the focus to develop all aspects of his game, blossoming into a knockdown shooter, all the while never sacrificing great effort and effectiveness on the defensive end.
No one would ever accuse LeBron james of being a manufactured superstar created by the NBA to sell jerseys and tickets. Looking for substance over style? Look no further than LeBron. A player that produces, and produces, and produces. Yet there is no denying the fact that wherever LeBron has gone in his career, drama has followed (much of it self-imposed).
It has been written many times over that once LeBron got that monkey off his back and broke through and won his first title he would never look back and take a complete stranglehold of the league. This could very well still be the case. Take care of business at home vs the Pacers on Monday night, then cruise past the aging/boring Spurs in the Finals, and LeBron suddenly has two in a row, with a Jordan-esque three peat in the crosshairs. Lose to the likeable, understated, electrifying Paul George in Game 7, and the LeBron James/NBA story takes a major, major twist.
A LeBron-Durant title fight apparently wasn’t in the cards, but I’m confident an LBJ-Paul George bout under the bright lights of South Beach will do more than suffice.
Section 925 Podcast Episode 26 - NBA Playoffs
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Kevin Weeks (@kpluswax) and Mike Carley (@BigWoaf88) join Connor on the Bianca's Fresh Take Hotline in a memorable Ménage à pod. 'Woaf calls in from Minneapolis with a stadium-souvenir cup full of Gin & Tonic, while Weeks checks in from an undisclosed location in Gotham City. The trio bounce around an array of topics, all loosely related to the 2013 NBA's Conference Finals.
Click here to listen: http://section925blog.podomatic.com/entry/2013-05-21T23_53_55-07_00
“Good Kid, Mad City” – Steph Curry Captivates The Bay, One Jumper at a Time
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By Connor Buestad (connorbuestad@gmail.com)
I received the text out of the blue, around 6:15pm, on a dreary late December Tuesday night.
“Dubs vs t-wolves tonite at oracle. Can you roll?"
Normally, the answer would be no. I was all the way out in the Sunset District of San Francisco, the game started in less than an hour, the Warriors were playing pretty awful, Monta Ellis had just been traded to the Bucks for a bloke named Bogut, the list of excuses went on.
But anytime you can watch Luke Ridnour run the point for the T-Wolves alongside Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, and Michael Beasley, you have to go, right? So I did. I dragged my ass through the city, over the bridge and down to The Oracle.
By the time I got to my buddy Mike's “lower-bowl-between-the-baskets” seats, it was already early in the second quarter. Beside some fundamentally sound pick-and-roll two-man game between Ridnour and Love, the game was sloppy at best. It had a “too many games in too few nights” NBA feel to it.
It wasn’t until just before halftime that I finally received the memo that it was “Chris Mullin Night” at the Arena. This meant that Mully would have his #17 jersey lifted to the rafters during a halftime ceremony. The ‘T’ and ‘M’ from RunTMC were going to be on hand, not to mention Tom Tolbert, Al Attles, Rick Barry, and Greg Papa. A who’s who of Warrior greats. Even Sharunas Marchulenis’ face was on my ticket stub. Suddenly, this night was shaping up to be much more interesting.
We all know what happened next. A dumpster fire broke out at center court. A textbook PR nightmare. An ugly lesson of sociology. An awful night in Warrior history.
It should have just been Mully out at center court with his wife and kids, and Mitch Richmond and Timmy Hardaway, and maybe Tom Tolbert. But god forbid if Warriors’ owner Joe Lacob decided to skip out to center court with a shit eating grin on his face and take the mic “to say a few words”.
When you are the owner of a franchise, there isn’t exactly someone above you to tell you when a bad idea is actually a terrible idea. So Joe Lacob went with his gut and took the mic, just days after trading away fan favorite, Monta Ellis.
A litany of angry boos rained down from the upper deck when Lacob tried to congratulate Mullin for being one of the best Warriors of all time. Mully attempted to take the mic back and put out the fire. It didn’t work. More boos rained down.
The lower bowl decided not to boo. Maybe because they were just stoked to be sitting in the lower bowl and were in a good mood, maybe because they were close enough to Lacob’s seats to feel some sympathy for the 5’2” owner. The upper deck, meanwhile, was unmerciful.
Rick Barry stole the mic (wearing a tan corduroy blazer, no less), and basically yelled at the fans to shut up and respect Mully’s night, but to no avail.
At that moment, the “We Believe Era" of Warrior basketball seemed like a lifetime ago. The Dubs were getting their ass-kicked by the T-Wolves, Monta was gone for good, and Mullin Night was getting drowned out by drunk/angry boo birds.
What a difference a year makes.
As it stands today, Lacob’s decision to get rid of Ellis not only seems defensible, but maybe even advisable. Curry and Ellis were allegedly not getting along, and there wasn’t enough room in the Warrior backcourt for two small guards who needed to constantly be shooting. Warrior brass decided to roll the dice on Curry’s ankle and not look back. If the 2013 playoffs are any indication, this has been the smartest decision Lacob has ever made in his life.
The phase “that player was born to _____” gets thrown around quite a bit. But in Stephen Curry’s case, it is safe to say he was indeed born to shoot. His dad, Dell, wasn’t much of a jumper, or a passer, or a defender, but if you left him open he didn’t seem to ever miss. A journeyman in the truest sense of the word, Dell played for five different NBA teams during his career. The formula went something like this: give Dell a uniform, give him a point guard that can find him open (ie. Muggsy Bogues), and he will nail jump shots for you. Rinse and repeat.
Now, what do you get when a shooter of that caliber marries a standout ACC volleyball star? Well, you get a more athletic version of Dell. And for this, Warrior fans are grateful.
Even though Steph was born with the perfect shooter’s DNA, it was always tough to believe the younger Curry would turn himself into a top tier scorer in the NBA. Talented, yes, but not LeBron, Carmelo, or Durant talented. Having the name Curry written on his back wasn’t enough to get big college basketball programs to give him a look. Instead, he had to settle on tiny Davidson College as a proving ground for his NBA worth. Three years later, after dominating the mid-major circuit, the NBA finally came calling.
Curry’s rap for his first three years in the league was “great shooter, bad ankle”. It seemed anytime Steph found himself getting in a groove and putting up big offensive numbers, his fragile ankle would give way. He’d spend a few weeks on the injured list while he tried to find a new ankle brace that would work out better. All the while Bay Area sports talk would argue whether or not Steph “would ever get right”.
The “Stephen Curry National Coming Out Party” took place where coming out parties are supposed to take place, at Madison Square Garden. On sport's biggest stage, in a nationally televised game, Mr. Curry went unconscious for four quarters. When he awoke, the 25 year old had poured in 54 points and 11 three pointers. Even though the Knicks ended up winning the game versus the shorthanded Warriors (D Lee got suspended for fighting the Pacers the night before), the New York fans were sheepishly cheering on the three-point artist by games end. The performance was a spectacle in a very Steph Curry kind of way. It wasn’t LeBron manhandling lesser opponents; it was Steph simply mastering the art of the three point shot. Just casting up a ton of shots… and not missing.
More of the same Steph Curry heroics were put on display when the underdog Warriors took on the Denver Nuggets in round one of the playoffs. Steph single handedly turned the series into appointment television for basketball fans across the nation. The 6’3” guard whipped The Oracle faithful into a frenzy, basically shooting whenever he touched the ball, draining three after three. In game four, Curry scored 22 points, in the third quarter alone.
Now in the Western Conference semi finals, the Warriors are flying back to Oakland tied 1-1 with the experience laden San Antonio Spurs. Game 1 turned out to be one of the more gut-wrenching losses in franchise history, with the Dubs blowing a 16 point lead with four minutes left in the game. Steph Curry’s second 22 point third quarter outburst of the playoffs had gone to waste and the Charles Barkley’s of the world seriously wondered if the Warriors could overcome such an inexcusable loss.
Game 2? Well game 2 turned out to be the Klay Thompson show. The second year player out of Washington State pulled his best Steph Curry impression and made 8 of his 9 three point shots on his way to a career high 34 points. The last time the Warriors had won a game in San Antonio, Thompson was a six year old.
Now dubbed the “Splash Brothers”, the Steph-Clay combo has no shortage of confidence from their coach, Mark Jackson. Says Jackson about his youthful backcourt, “I have the greatest shooting backcourt that has ever played the game… call my bluff.”
Calling Steph Curry and Klay Thompson the greatest shooting backcourt that has ever played the game is more than a little ridiculous when you stop and think about it. But at this point, no one in Dub Nation is thinking twice about anything, not even Joe Lacob. The hopes of a Warriors trip to the Western Conference Finals rests in the hands of Steph Curry. A good pair of hands indeed.
"A Team From Berkeley Bound by Tragedy" - The Cal Bears Reach The Women's Final Four
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Three of Cal’s players have had family members slain by gunfire (McClureImages.com)
By Connor Buestad | Connor@Section925.com
For as long as Barack Obama has been the President of the United States, he has stayed true to an annual tradition come every March. He takes the time to fill out a bracket.
Not only does Barack spend hours navigating through the Men’s field of 68, but he also makes sure to pencil in his predictions for the women as well. And of course, as with anything the president decides to do, he catches some flack from an opposing side.
Shouldn’t Mr. Obama be spending his afternoon on foreign policy rather than bracketology? Isn’t this just a publicity stunt to win over the 18-34 ESPN demographic? If it weren’t for Title IX, would Obama ever fill out a women’s bracket?
Regardless of where you find yourself in the petty debate, there is no argument when it comes to Obama’s passion and knowledge for the game of basketball. The man knows his hoops. So when he sat down with ESPN to walk America through his Women’s Final Four predictions, it meant something when he chose the California Golden Bears to be one of the last four standing. In retrospect, when one understands the story behind the 2013 Bears, Obama’s upset pick begins to start making sense.
We’ve all heard the rhetoric a million times. Turn on any press conference after an important athletic event and the word “adversity” will start to bounce around like a ping-pong ball. Every team has adversity and every good team ends up overcoming it. But what the Cal Women’s basketball team has experienced goes far beyond adversity. The Cal women have overcome tragedy.
If there was a cover girl for the Bears’ excruciating hardship, that girl would be Tierra Rogers. Now in her Senior year as a scholarship athlete at Cal, Rogers has never stepped foot on the Haas Pavillion floor.
Growing up in the Hunter’s Point district of San Francisco, Rogers was a basketball prodigy from the moment she was old enough to dribble a ball. On the playgrounds near Candlestick Park, Rogers was known affectionately as “The Lady Iverson”. There was nothing Tierra couldn’t do on a basketball court. She was so good, her father, Terray “Tat” Rogers, used to take her to the park and bet other grown men that her daughter could make more than 7 out of 10 shots from the free throw line. It wasn’t that Terray had to do it, but the money was too easy. Tierra was virtually automatic.
By high school, Tierra found herself as the best player on the best team in the nation, the Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep Irish of San Francisco. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, the Lady Irish won the State championship. For two straight seasons in ‘07-’08, Tierra’s team never lost a game. She was a can’t miss star in every sense of the word, but on Jan 12, 2008, things would never be the same for Tierra. This is when two men in hooded sweatshirts rushed at Terray Rogers in the parking lot of a basketball gym. As the gunshots sounded outside, Tierra was in the gym getting ready to play the second half of a regular season game. Terray was pronounced dead at the scene.
In many ways, Tierra was the reason her dad was doing well at the time of the shooting. If it wasn’t for her inspiring potential on the basketball court, her dad might have already been gone well before she reached high school.
Adam Rogers, Tierra’s grandpa and Terray’s dad, was murdered in San Francisco back in 1977. He had been in and out of jail and heavily involved with drugs and gangs. In his later years, Adam had rehabilitated himself to the point where he became a community activist. “Adam Rogers Playground” still stands in Hunter’s Point today for the good things he did, but he ultimately fell short of outrunning his demons.
The same story could be told of Tierra’s dad Terray. Shortly after Tierra was born, her dad was locked up in jail for his involvement with drugs and gangs. When he got out, he followed his father’s footsteps of reinventing himself as someone with a job and a positive presence in the community. Perhaps what truly kept him on track was his daughter and the athletics gifts she had that made everyone in the Rogers family so optimistic about the future.
Just months after her father was murdered outside the gym of one of her games, Tierra found herself inside Arco Arena in Sacramento. Another State Championship would be won for SHC Prep. Another undefeated season in the books. Of course, this time it didn’t feel right. Tierra wanted to quit basketball entirely. The basketball court didn’t serve as a sanctuary for her to remove herself from Tat’s death, it only made the memories more vivid.
A year later, now as a McDonald’s All American, Rogers choose to stay close to home and take her game across the Bay to play for the Bears. Tierra forged a fast bond with the Cal coach that recruited her, Joanne Boyle. Boyle promised her a fresh start. A new school, a new campus, a new home gym to play in.
In late September of 2009, just weeks before Rogers would put on a Cal uniform for the first time, she collapsed during a routine workout and nearly died. Rushed to the hospital, doctors were able to keep the freshman guard alive, but her college basketball career would be over. At the hospital, Rogers would be diagnosed with a rare heart condition, Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia. A defibrillator was implanted and rigorous exercise was deemed out of the question. Overnight, Rogers went from a world class athlete, to someone who wasn’t allowed to run a mile in under nine minutes.
Fast forward four years and Tierra can still be found on the Cal bench, supporting her teammates. Joanne Boyle, the coach that brought Tierra to Berkeley, has since left Cal to coach at Virginia. Somehow, Tierra has stuck it out. Showing up at practices and games week after week, year after year. The University has honored her scholarship all the way through and rightfully so, as Rogers has found a way to make an indelible mark on the Cal program, even without a uniform on.
Rogers starred in high school for the Irish of Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Francisco (photo by Glenn Nelson/ESPN)
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As the Cal Bears sit in their hotel rooms in New Orleans on the eve of the Final Four, there is no doubt some reflection being paid to the greatest season in Cal basketball history. Cal has never appeared in the Women’s Final Four and outside of Stanford, it has been 25 years since a Pac 10 team has made it this deep into the tournament. And while Tierra Rogers wasn’t able to contribute in the box score to help this team accomplish so much, her intangible contribution as an unofficial trauma counselor can’t be measured. Two of Tierra’s current Cal teammates have also lost family members to gunfire.
Gennifer Brandon, Cal’s Junior interior scorer and rebounder, was a young girl living near LA when her dad was shot and killed after being mistaken for an armed robbery suspect. Greg Brandon had recently retired from the NBA, where he played for the Seattle Supersonics. The shooting sent shockwaves through the family and Gennifer’s mother began fighting a battle with alcoholism. Sooner than later Gennifer wound up in foster care. Fortunately, Brandon found her way to Berkeley where she has slowly blossomed into one of the most dynamic players in the nation. If the Bears expect to be the last team standing in New Orleans, much will be due to Brandon’s ability to change the game with her athleticism.
Perhaps the Bears’ fiercest defender also happens to be the team’s shortest player. Senior Eliza Pierre, who with feisty energy, cornrows and a pair of her signature glasses, comes off the bench for Cal and seems to wreak havoc on opposing teams’ point guards.
Sadly, Pierre has been the latest Bear to lose a loved one to murder. In the summer of 2011, Eliza received a call only to learn that her older brother Wilson had been killed in a gang-related shooting at a party in North Hollywood.
Fortunately for Brandon and Pierre, they have not needed to look far for advice on how to get through a basketball season with the unfathomable weight of murder on one’s mind. Tierra Rogers has done it. She has done it as a starting guard for one of the best Bay Area high school basketball teams ever, and she has done it from the sidelines for one of the most inspiring college basketball teams ever. She has done it and lived to tell about it.
When the Lady Bears take the floor in New Orleans on Sunday evening, it will be a far cry from a half full Haas Pavillion. Instead, it will be under the bright lights of New Orleans arena where the NBA’s Hornets call home. It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to believe President Obama will be tuning in via Air Force One to check in on his underdog pick that proved him right. As they pronounce in a recent viral youtube video, a team that has been to the darkest of bottoms, is now here. “The whole Cal team is here”, at least for 40 more minutes.
Cal will battle Louisville on Sunday at 3:30 on ESPN for a trip to the National Championship (McClureImages.com)
It's Opening Day
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By: Josh Hunsucker (@jphunsucker)
It’s Opening Day And the new spring brings the same dream, As the green and gold faithful awake. Throw on your cap, bitter winter has given way.
Echoes of familiar cracks, Line drives in the dry and distant Arizona sun. Cold, hardened hearts warm, The season has begun.
Forget the sting of seasons past. Forget bitterness and doubt. Buy into possibility That we will be standing after the final out.
Today is our new chance To raise up together and stand. So we can shout over and over, Let’s Go Oakland.
That is why we come. That is why we stAy. That is why we cheer. And that is why they play.
It’s our year, See you at the ballpark, It’s Opening Day.
Oakland's Kardiac Kids Get Set To Defend Their AL West Crown
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By Connor Buestad (connorbuestad@gmail.com)
On Monday night in Oakland, the 2013 version of the Oakland Athletics will get back in the saddle and embark on another 162 game journey. They are coming off one of the most exciting seasons in franchise history in which they somehow stole the bacon from the Texas Rangers and Anaheim Angels to capture the American League West Championship Trophy. With last season’s dramatic run now in the rearview, Bob Melvin and his troops are set to open yet another chapter in A’s history when they host the visiting Mariners and 175 million dollar man, "King" Felix Hernandez.
Many would argue that the two spiritual leaders of last year’s magical club were Jonny Gomes and Brandon Inge. For better or worse, those two are now gone, Gomes to the Red Sox and Inge to the Pirates. The gentlemen replacing Gomes and Inge will be Chris Young and Jed Lowrie. Young comes over from the Diamondbacks and gives the A’s another athlete in an already deep outfield. A seven year vet in the big leagues, Young is a proven threat to steal bases as well as hit his share of longballs.
Lowrie, meanwhile, comes to the A’s from the Houston Astros where he hit 16 homers last year. Before that Lowrie performed admirably in the pressure cooker that is Boston. The shortstop’s presence is especially welcome in Oakland when one considers the struggles Japanese import Hiro Nakajima has shown on American soil.
Despite his uncanny ability to charm Billy Beane in his welcoming press conference in Oakland, not to mention his unabashed love for In-N-Out Burger, Nakajima's performance in the Cactus League left much to be desired. Those hoping Ichiro 2.0 would be arriving in Oakland have been let down thus far, judging by Hiro’s sub .150 Spring batting average and disappointing defense at shortstop.
Of course, the argument could very well be made that Hiro just needs some time in the States to get his feet wet. Hopefully this turns out to be the case. As for now, he is starting the regular season on the Disabled List with a faulty hamstring.
Eric Sogard on the other hand, was scorching hot during the spring season. In 46 at bats, the unassuming Arizona State product tallied 23 hits. Hitting coach Chili Davis was even rumored to have politely asked Sogard to save some singles for the games that count. Nevertheless, he has hit himself into the A’s starting lineup and that’s where he shall remain until he starts to cool off.
The Buster Olneys and Tim Kurkjians of the world have been raving about the 2013 Athletics' depth and rightfully so. An everyday outfielder on most big league teams, Young will start the year on the bench to give way to the likes of Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick. Pound for pound, the A’s don’t stack up to the Anaheim Angels of the world with Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Erik Aybar, and Josh Hamilton, but if they can hang their hat on a competitive advantage as they enter 2013, it would most definitely be depth.
On the hill, the A’s will once again feature an uber young, albeit talented group of pitchers. At one point last year, down the stretch mind you, the A’s were trotting out a five man pitching rotation of all rookies. One would think a year of experience could only help this youthful bunch.
Atop the rotation will be Brett Anderson. The laid back lefty proved last year that he has a penchant for pitching in big games, even despite coming back from Tommy John Surgery. Behind him will be the electric right hander Jarrod Parker, as well as Tommy Milone and A.J. Griffin. And don’t let us forget about Bartolo Colon. The well fed right hander who was popped for PED’s last year will be serving a suspension to begin the year, but he will be thrown into the fire upon his return. Perhaps the biggest question mark involving the A’s pitching staff is whether Grant Balfour will be able to avoid injury following a stressful workload in 2012. The Australian’s health will be paramount to the A’s success in tight AL west contests down the stretch.
It’s not every year that Billy Beane is afforded the opportunity to present A’s supporters with a legitimately competitive team who are in “win-now” mode with no thoughts of rebuilding. With Billy in the front office and Bob Melvin on the dugout steps, there is no reason to belive the A’s can’t once again defy the odds and repeat as AL West Champs. Chapter 1 of a 162 page book will be played out tomorrow in Oakland. Buy the ticket and take the ride...
"Tales from Tobacco Road" - A Duke Alum Recounts Life in Krzyzewskiville
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By John Crowell, Class of ’08
33 years ago, when the legendary Mike Krzyzewski first stepped foot on the Duke University campus, no one could have predicted that he would build a college basketball empire inside a tiny 9,000 seat gym in Durham, North Carolina. There were no national titles at Duke. There was no Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick or even DeMarcus Nelson. Today, Duke proudly hangs banners from 4 NCAA Championships, 15 Final Four Appearances, and countless ACC Championships at the crown jewel of college basketball venues, Cameron Indoor Stadium. This article will take you on a journey to a place you may have never seen or heard of before. A place where students endure one of the harshest environments on planet earth. The conditions are grueling. Temperatures can reach as low as zero degrees. An average day may consist of rain, snow, sleet and bitter winds. There are no restaurants, no vendors, and no source of readily available nourishment. An individual may consistently fight hunger and thirst with Natural Light and ChexMix. This, my friends, is Krzyzewskiville.
Day 1
6:30AM - A familiar blue hue is reflected within the tent of a Cameron Crazy. The sun has risen above the gothic architecture at Duke University, casting majestic shadows among Krzyzewskiville (K-Ville). With the ascending sun comes rising temperatures. From the bitter cold and damp night, comes a humid, sweat filled morning in an 8-person tent. Cell phone alarms sound and chatter breaks out. It is time for the Crazies to take on the day and head off to class to earn their degree.
For many freshman Crazies, there is no time to shower or change as their dormitories are located 2 miles away on a separate campus. In droves they file towards the Old Chemistry building as most enter Duke with Pre-Med or Engineering aspirations. The stench of the average Crazy is palpable. As a freshman, every academic course is in the morning and a considerable distance from home, leading to afternoon showers and naps. Unfortunately for some, this blissful moment may be delayed when returning for a check-in at K-Ville is required.
12:30AM - An ear piercing crackle emits from outside of Cameron Indoor followed by a blue coated individual on a megaphone calling for a mandatory check-in. This person is the Line Monitor. They are fellow colleagues at Duke of all classes, from freshman to seniors. However, to many they are viewed as reincarnations of the Blue Devil himself. Armed with the power to “bump” tents and give “warnings”, they are no better than the parking police. Emboldened by their artificial power, they cause panic among the Crazies.
12:35pm - In the distance, a gangly student, having never taken a full running stride, races awkwardly toward the check in. Papers are flying, books are crashing to the concrete and unfamiliar muscles are pulsating. “Tent 31, Tent 31!” proclaims the Monitor. At last, the Crazy arrives in a sweat, gasping for oxygen in the crisp winter air. He presents the Monitor with his student I.D. and a check mark is made, confirming their presence.
This ritual is performed all throughout the day at intervals even the best of engineers cannot predict. The only solution is to have one member in the party remain at the tent at all times. Tempting fate by leaving the tent unmanned could result in the loss of a coveted tent position, or even worse, stadium seating (or standing room only in this case).
5:30PM – As the sun arches across the gray sky, temperatures begin to decline and darkness sets upon the campus. Dinners are finished, showers are completed and homework is organized for the upcoming evening. The Crazies must now return to K-Ville for the night.
7:00PM – What happens next is a sight to behold. One by one Crazies return to K-Ville and an incredible transformation occurs. What was once a tranquil and barren landscape now turns into a bustling town. Roars of laughter erupt inside of a tent as a story about an uneducated Tar Hole is told. Not far away, the nostalgic sound of ping pong balls careening off red solo cups can be heard long into the night. All the while, dedicated students huddle under the lamps lining K-Ville, surrounding the extension cords which supply a lifeline to their bulky laptops.
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Day 30
Fast forward four weeks and students are still camping out in line. Arduous days have passed. Grass has turned into mud. The orchard of tents sway meekly in the wind as the past month has taken its toll. Tarps overlay broken tents, piles of beer cases lay amongst the rows and many other signs of a battered community are displayed. But a scent of excitement is in the air as K-Ville is about to embark on another remarkable transformation.
There are parts of the basketball universe that tailgate before big games – in Durham, North Carolina there is the 24 hour party to tip-off of the world’s best rivalry. As the day before the game progresses, K-Ville’s population grows vigorously with the advancement of more Crazies. Tents are abandoned and the grounds become rich with students, fans and relatives. There is a glorious influx of Natty Ice, pizza, red solo cups and glee. Games of beer pong, flippy cup, kings and many other inventive games are taking place.
8:00PM (Rivalry Eve) - As the students "party on Wayne", out comes the man himself. Below his office building, Coach Krzyzewski, in all his magnificence, gathers a crowd of awe stricken Crazies around himself and the team. He then calms the rabid fans and delivers an inspirational speech that drives a tingle up your spine. One final gesture towards the parking lot as Domino's Pizza arrives by the truck load and the real party commences.
The 6th man has just been emboldened and raised to a herculean level of pride. All through the night, music echoes off the stone walls, sending out a resounding message for miles that Duke is ready and UNC better be wary. Tents are thrashed as an animalistic mentality erupts. Men beat their chests and women dance around jovially. It is truly a site to be had.
The night passes and the sought after day has finally arrived. The weather is perfect as the sun beams down on Cameron Indoor creating a radiant and pulsating aura. GAME DAY. The Crazies ritually paint themselves blue and white in preparation for battle. The rest cannot be described in words. The atmosphere inside that building versus UNC can only be truly appreciated in person.
Standing sideways in the bleachers with arms extended, the Crazies are now inside. The journey is complete and now it is time for Carolina to go to Hell.
GO. DUKE.
John Crowell's Definitive Guide to Surviving Krzyzewskiville
- Tent: The quality depends on the size of your group, your affinity for tents, and cost. There is a low survivability rate of tents after "Tent Diving" before the game.
- Chairs and Tables: It's your new home for a month, make it comfortable.
- Electronics: Extension cords, computers, ipads, etc. Education is still required when tenting.
- Snacks: Food is available nearby, but sometimes that's just too far. Always have a supply of munchies around.
- Walkie-Talkie: Because cell phones are boring.
- Bedding: Face it, you're going to be living in a tent for 4-6 weeks, get comfy. Air mattresses are critical to survival in K-Ville.
- Warmth: It's not the Midwest, but it gets damn cold, and damp, and muddy, and rainy, and then sunny, and crisp like Thanksgiving morning, or then lightning and thunder. Who knows. It's North Carolina. Sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, sweaters, jackets, beanies, uggs, other people. Anything you can do to stay warm.
- Booze: And lots of it. The best warmth is often found within a cold Natty Lite... or 15. It also adds to the entertainment value. A lot of time is spent sitting idly, so why not crack a 24 rack and invent some games.
- Friends... Good Friends: This may seem obvious, but you will get to know your peers at Duke quite quickly. Cannibalism no, but it is not a far cry from some of the intense moments you'll have in K-Ville. The tent police are strict and you must work together to stay alive in line, literally and figuratively. There is no greater test of friendship than a month in Krzyzewskiville.
Section 925 Podcast Episode 22
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Kevin (@kpluswax) hops back on the pod with Connor (@fake_boestad) to recount his trip to Cajun Country for the Super Bowl and and his experience inside MSG when Steph Curry went off for 54 points. They also discuss the recent sanctions levied upon the Gaels of St. Mary's.
Check it out here or on iTunes.
Bill Walton Delivers one of the Best Podcasts of All Time
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Bill Walton came on the Dan Dakich podcast last week and turned in 40 minutes of listening bliss. From Jerry Garcia to Larry Bird to Dr. Martin Luther King, Walton discusses everything under the California sun. Enjoy it here... http://media.1070thefan.com/Podcasts/2155/022213_BIllWalton.mp3
"Talking Bourbon Street Karmic Super Sunday Superdome Letdown Blues"
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By Josh Hunsucker (@jphunsucker)
I still feel this way.
It's been two weeks since Super Bowl XLVII and I can’t stop feeling like my girlfriend broke-up with me. Let me preface this entire diatribe with the fact that I know it is completely irrational. With that said, I still blame myself.
During the Giants 2012 World Series run, Murph and Mac always talked about “particles”. The mystic, fleeting, and intangible thoughts and feelings that fans have. On some level, the particles swirl together and make some sort of a karmic difference, good or bad. For example, before the NLCS game Barry Zito pitched (sorry for the lack of details, I’m an A’s fan) a woman named Inga (check out comment 63, called during both the NLDS and NLCS) and spoke about a how she envisioned Barry Zito rising to the occasion and how the stars were aligning for him. This is particles.
Fast forward to SB XLVII, I know that we (yes we) got down 28-6, but I can’t help thinking about the fact that some of my decisions heading into the game added up to some particles going against us. First of all, we went to The City for the game. Prior to that, we never left the 209 for a game. I also wore a gold satin jacket for the game for the first time all season. I even rationalized that it was like the team wearing the SB patch. Among the myriad of particles that added up against me though, not watching the game with my kids, which we had done all season, may have been the karmic back-breaker.
When I look back on all of the karmic particles that I spun in the Ravens direction, I feel like Maverick after he gunned Viper and left Hollywood and Wolfman's wing. You never leave your wingman, you should always dance with who brought you, and you never change up routine before the big game. Maverick's immortal words echo in my head every time I think about SB XLVII, “I know better than that. . . . That will never happen again.”
After the game The City felt and looked like someone had died. People wandered the Marina looking like they had just succumbed to the drunken zombie Super Bowl apocalypse. I felt dazed all night. A fight in the bar spilling over into the area I was standing couldn't pull my sullen gaze away from Steve Young begrudging praising the Ravens. I even had a random dude ask me if I needed a hug as I blankly stared at one TV showing highlights and another showing Mexican League baseball.
On Monday, I knew the first week would be bad. I knew I would feel terrible. Losing the Super Bowl is undiscovered territory for Niners fans. What I didn’t know is that this empty feeling would continue to linger for two weeks with no sign of going away. Pitchers and catchers didn’t help. The Warriors having a “great” year hasn't helped. Nothing is working. I feel as lost as Lewis and Clark if they had never found Sacajawea.
I still log onto 49ers.com or go onto the 49ers App like a sullen ex stalking their long lost love on Facebook. I can’t put my 49ers jerseys away for the spring. I keep wearing my Niners shorts to bed hoping to wake-up on Super Sunday with the chance to change my mind about going to The City. But I know its not going to happen. Where do we as Faithful go from here? How do we get through this?
Unbreak My Heart.
"A Rivalry Renewed" - Saint Mary's and No.5 Gonzaga Square off in Moraga
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By Connor Buestad (connorbuestad@gmail.com)
It was 1999 and Matt Santangelo, Casey Calvary and Richie Frahm were doing damage at the Big Dance.
They played for a small Jesuit school out of Spokane, Washington that nobody had ever heard of, but these guys didn’t seem to care. Santangelo ran the point, Calvary crashed the boards and Frahm casted three bombs from the corner. It was a formula that somehow worked well enough for the Zags to knock off Minnesota, Stanford and Florida that year en route to the Elite 8, an awe-inspiring tourney run that still to this day is not forgotten by college roundball purists.
On Thursday night in Moraga, the ghost of that special Gonzaga team will be present when the Zags go on the road to face St. Mary’s College in a game to decide first-place position in the West Coast Conference. The 3,500 seat McKeon Pavilion will be filled to the gills, the game will be on ESPN2 and the level of play will be extremely high. All this is thanks in large part to the tone that ’99 Gonzaga team set during that special tourney run. In that one year, the WCC went from being an afterthought to becoming a conference basketball fans can’t take their eyes off of.
The year following Gonzaga’s magical Elite 8 run, Mark Few took over as head coach. Few has now been at the helm for 12 seasons. He has won the WCC regular season crown 11 times. Through the years, Few has coached the likes of Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Adam Morrison, Derek Raivio and Matt Bouldin. The Zags have yet to make it back to the Elite 8, but they are always a tough out in the NCAA tourney.
The school is undoubtedly the class of the WCC, not to mention maybe the most consistent college basketball team on all of the West Coast. Gonzaga routinely packs their raucous home gym, “the Kennel”, and has the guts to play the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation, year in and year out.
Up against Few and the Zags on Thursday will be a team in St. Mary’s who has been building a formidable program over the past decade. When head coach Randy Bennett arrived in Moraga in 2001, he inherited a team that had just gone 2-27. St. Mary’s had no football team (they still don’t), a small gym, a tiny fanbase, little funding and not much upside to speak of. Unfazed, Bennett took the challenge head on, using a creative strategy to recruit talent from the shores of Australia to come play hoops for him in the Bay Area.
Perhaps his biggest star from Australia in the early going was Daniel Kickert, who took the Gaels to the NCAA tournament in 2005. Bennett then struck it rich with Patty Mills who got SMC into the field of 64 in 2008. Today, the Gaels feature a host of impact players from Australia including Matthew Dellavadova, Jorden Page, and Mitchell Young.
Thursday’s matchup should be a high-scoring affair with tremendous guard play on both sides. Neither team is up to par with North Carolina or Kentucky when it comes to athleticism, but when it comes shooting the three, both teams can really stroke it. Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga’s Sophomore guard out of Canada, is one of the most pure shooters in America. One of Pangos’ backcourt partners just happens to be David Stockton, so you can bet Gonzaga knows how to tickle the twine. On St. Mary’s side, Dellavadova, Page, Stephen Holt and even Beau Levesque all know how to connect from long distance.
Tune into ESPN2 this Thursday at 8 Pacific, 11 Eastern, 5 Hawaiian to see the latest installment of this red hot rivalry. And, oh yes, don’t forget to pay homage to Richie Frahm by getting some shots up at halftime in your backyard. Enjoy.
(Note: A portion of this article was writtten and published by me on another site at an earlier date. This is the first time it has been on Sec925)
Section 925 Podcast Episode 19
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With the start of Spring Training just weeks away, Connor has Adrian Spinelli (@Spinelli37, www.EverythingEcstatic.net) on The Pod to discuss big league baseball. Spinelli takes listeners around the league, starting in Oakland as he breaks down the A's acquisition of Jed Lowrie. Spinelli also weighs in on Hall of Fame voting, Hiroyuki Nakajima, Josh Hamilton, the Upton Brothers, and Mike Trout.
Check it out here or on iTunes.
Section 925 Podcast Episode 18
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Josh (@jphunsucker) brings in his buddy Huss, an all-time great "Displaced Faithful," to talk all things Super Bowl XLVII.
Check it out here or iTunes.
Section 925 Super Bowl XLVII Mix Tape
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Enjoy the Section 925 SBXLVI Mix tape here or from iTunes. GO NINERS!
Section 925 Podcast Episode 17
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Mike Carley (@BigWoaf88) calls into the Section925 Mobile Podcenter from a snowed in Minneapolis. 'Woaf gives his two cents on the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Weekend, Royce White and Mantei Te'o. Carley also chimes in on Randy Moss calling himself the GOAT, Joakim Noah leading the league in assists, and half baked ideas to make All-Star Weekend better.
Check it out here or on iTunes.
Battling a Knee Slow to Heal with a Spirit That Won’t Die
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By Connor Buestad (connorbuestad@gmail.com)
For the better part of Paul McCoy’s life, no athletic feat seemed out of reach. Blessed from a young age with explosive quickness and breathtaking body control, McCoy enjoyed a remarkable high school career as a three-sport athlete in Oregon, competing in basketball, football and track. After winning the Oregon State Championship in basketball as a senior, he went on to Southern Methodist University, where he became the first SMU freshman in history to lead his team in scoring. Even at a shade under six feet tall, McCoy quickly established himself as the big man on campus. The game seemed to come easy to him, the sky was the limit.
McCoy had his sights set on a possible career in the NBA until one fateful day during his sophomore year in college. He went up hard for a layup, and an excruciating pain shot through his right knee. That’s when everything changed.
The ACL was torn, and for the past three years, McCoy has been a prisoner to a knee that has refused to fully heal. Since February 2010, he has gone under the knife four times and has been in and out of training rooms and rehab facilities.
“Paul is definitely battle tested,” explains teammate Kyle Rowley. “What’s it been? Four surgeries? Coming back from that is not easy. He’s put in a ton of work.”
After transferring from SMU, McCoy is now in his senior year at Saint Mary’s – and eager to return to the court. McCoy was expected to play for the Gaels last year, before reinjuring his knee on the second day of preseason practice. Fortunately the rolling hills of Moraga have served as a nurturing backdrop for a tireless recovery process filled with starts and stops, ups and downs.
“It’s weird, coming from SMU, this is like a totally different school,” said McCoy. “It’s more than just basketball. It’s the stuff we do outside of basketball. It’s a team. So much credit goes to Coach Bennett and how he runs things here.”
Despite his long layoff, McCoy still shows superstar qualities. Quick with a smile and always engaging in conversation, he displays a confidence level and sense of pride that rubs off on everyone he’s around. No wonder: He has succeeded in big games and huge moments. But he still wants one more chance to compete at the highest level.
Now, after years of rehabilitation and recovery, it looks like his time has finally come to return to the hardwood, this time in a Gael uniform.
“I can only control how much effort I put into it,” he said. “It’s more on Coach Bennett, having faith and trust in whatever role he gives me. At this point, with four surgeries and sitting out for three and a half years, I’ll do anything to stay on the court.”
No matter what kind of results he sees on the floor this year, though, it’s likely that the Gael community won’t soon forget the character and resolve Paul McCoy has exhibited in his quest to return to the game he loves.
