While all of such rankings are subjective and beauty is
always in the eye of the beholder, one still has to wonder how or why some the
players ended up ranked where they did.
Take Bulldog senior Ryan Colburn for instance, who was
rated as the sixth-best quarterback in the WAC behind Kellen Moore (Boise
State), Colin Kaepernick (Nevada), Diondre Borel (Utah State), Nathan Enderle
(Idaho) and Bryant Moniz (Hawaii).
Most Bulldog fans will have a hard time seeing Colburn
below a couple guys on that list, especially Moniz.
Certainly Pat Hill's reputation for developing
quarterbacks is respectable. Of his four previous starting quarterbacks, three
earned first-team All-WAC honors (Billy Volek, David Carr and Paul Pinegar),
three were drafted in the NFL (Volek, Carr, Tom Brandstater) and are still
playing in the league.
By Alyssa Chambers / Fresno State Athletics Communications
The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA
Softball announced today the Top 3 Finalists for the 9th Annual USA Softball
National Collegiate Player of the Year Award. This award, which is considered
the most prestigious honors in Division I women's collegiate softball, is
designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate
softball players across the country. Past winners of this award include UCLA's
Stacey Nuveman, Florida State's Jessica Van der Linden, three-time winner Texas
pitcher Cat Osterman, Tennessee's Monica Abbott, Virginia Tech's Angela Tincher
and 2009 winner Washington pitcher/hitter Danielle Lawrie.
The three finalists are UCLA's Megan Langenfeld,
Washington's Danielle Lawrie and Georgia Tech's Jen Yee. The winner of the 2010
USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year will be named on Tue., June
1 at the Opening Ceremonies of the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma
City, Okla.
By Jennifer Jory / Fresno State Alumna (Class of 2010)
The time has come for me to hang up my hat and pass the
reins on to a new Fresno State Equestrian team member. I am now an
official Fresno State college graduate and no longer classified as a
student-athlete, but as alumni. My senior year flew by so fast and I felt
like I could not live in the many precious moments long enough. As a
senior captain of the Equestrian Team I knew it was my job to be an outstanding
leader and to leave behind large and defined footprints for fellow younger
teammates to fill in the years to come.
The first defined footprint I wanted to leave behind was to earn my degree by
the end of my four years of eligibility. Graduating in four years was an
important goal for me to achieve because I wanted to show the other girls on my
team that academic achievement is just as important as competition
achievement. If you can successfully compete for the Bulldogs both in the
arena and in the classroom, you will be a successful student athlete.
The second footprint I wanted to leave behind was in community
service. I participated in Holiday thank you calls, Light the Night Walk
for Cancer, Coats for Kids, and reading to younger Bulldog fans. As
student athletes we are very fortunate to be given all of the perks that come
with competing for the Bulldogs. I want my fellow teammates to remember
how important it is to be grateful and give back to the community and all of
the amazing Bulldog supporters.
The third footprint I wanted to leave behind was dedication to the sport.
Dedication and practice is the key to creating winners. The Equestrian
team has been blessed with three amazing coaches and a group of talented and
inspiring young women. With continued hard work and dedication this team
can and will earn incredible achievements.
The fourth and final footprint I wanted to leave behind was
sportsmanship and a positive attitude. Over the last four years I have
watched the Equestrian team improve in so many ways. The team unity
shared among the women has become so strong that nothing is impossible for this
group.
At the end of each college sports season, fans and
friends gather to say farewell to the outstanding senior class.
This weekend's commencement ceremonies on campus honored
thousands of students. Graduation is a special time in the lives of young
people. It's a time to celebrate a lot of hard work over the years, a chance to
look back and reflect, and equally important, a chance to look ahead to the
future.
It's fitting that this weekend includes "Senior
Day" for five outstanding Bulldog baseball players.
College student-athletes are most often celebrated for
the here and now. Their careers end after four years. Ask anyone of them and
they will tell you it goes by fast.
For two of the seniors, it seems like yesterday they were
in Omaha playing key roles in the Bulldogs winning the College World Series
title. That was 2008, just two years ago. Today they are on Beiden Field for
the last time.
Here is the second edition of "Just Being Frank" from women's
basketball assistant coach Brett
Frank.
Here's the sitch . . .
I was trying to determine what my loyal following wanted to read
about. By the way, if you are reading this blog for the second time as
my second entry, you're one of the people I'm referring to as my "loyal
following."
I realized school is winding down and the "newsworthy" events of
our women's basketball team are few and far between. Seeing as how many
of you are not from Fresno (hereafter affectionately referred as "the
'No), I thought it would be fun to highlight this great community and
all the wonderful things that go along with being in "the 'No.
Former Fresno State All-American kicker Asen Asparuhov set school records and kicked his way to Bulldog glory. After 12 years of hard work, he is now a naturalized citizen.
Former Bulldog equestrian rider Rebecca
Flood will share her graduation with some very special people in her life: her
three brothers.
Flood, graduating in Food and Nutrition
with an emphasis in dietetics and food administration, will attend commencement
ceremonies on Saturday on the Fresno State campus. Joining her in receiving
degrees are brothers Erik, Timothy and Steven.
As all four Flood children receive their
degrees on the same day, their parents, David and Susan, will be present for
the commencement ceremonies. As unique as the circumstance is, it will be
nonetheless a proud day for the entire family.
Rebecca has long been admired as a
tireless worker on a squad that not only practices and competes in their
beloved sport, but also must care for the horses on which they ride. Feeding,
grooming and cleaning stalls are as part of their daily routine as attending
classes and studying for tests.
He
talked with the Bucks about his expectations for the 2010 NBA Draft, the
process of working out for different teams, the type of player he will
be and more...
On how he
would compare his workout with the Bucks to the one he had with the
Bulls...
"This one
was a lot tougher. It was a lot more transition type of stuff, but it
was pretty
similar as far as competition. We competed pretty hard and had some
pretty
decent players at both ends so it was kind of the same in a way.
On what
he would bring to the Bucks... "Just
another guard that can kind of handle some pressure and take it off of
Brandon
Jennings a little bit in the backcourt. Just be another shooter and get
out and
defend. I think I can bring a lot to the Bucks."
The art of defending your position as a pitcher
requires precision, skill and heart.
In the third inning of tonight's 10-0 victory over San Jose State in seven innings, Josh Poytress showed the Bulldog
faithful at Beiden Field how the will to win can be exemplified in the fundamentals.With the Spartan's Nick Borg running at
second base and nobody out, Poytress reeled in a quick chopper by SJSU's Jason
Martin to the left side of the infield grass, made sure he was balanced and
delivered perfect throw over Bulldog third baseman to Isaac Vivas, who applied
the tag on Borg.
Yet, it was talented southpaw's
impressive reach across his body to snag SJSU's Tim Quiery bullet up the middle
and start a 1-6-3 double play that really energized the Red Wave. The crowd also came to its feet when Poytress
used his cat-like reflexes again to snatch another Spartan hit to the first
base side of the pitcher's mound, that Josh flipped to Jordan Ribera at first
base to end the sixth inning.
"Josh was outstanding and had good movement within the zone
and out of the zone," said Batesole. "When you can move the ball around
like that and throw three balls for a strike, you give yourself a great
chance."
While home runs and strikeouts are
also critical and often garner the headlines and highlights of a box score, the
importance of defense and a little extra effort is magnified as a difference maker at the end
of the season.
Poytress' left arm produced a
masterful four-hit, mercy-rule complete game shutout in one of his best outings of the
year.
Fresno State continues their push for the 2010 WAC regular season
championship with a Saturday doubleheader at Beiden Field that starts at 2:05
p.m. with tickets as low as $8 for adults.
Jay Udwadia recognized the magnitude of the opportunity
for his team as an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament.
By winning today's first round match 4-2 over BYU, the Bulldogs secured
the
program's first NCAA victory since 2003 and earned a second round date
with the
host and fifth-seeded USC, who swept Marist 4-0 in the afternoon match.
"We're happy to advance to the next round and we hope to
keep it going," Udwadia added
The drive, determination and passion must remain constant
and focused.It is a process and a way
of life - champions are battle tested and as powerful as the pureness of their
heart.
The tradition and
excellence of the Bulldog Baseball program is unmatched and the innate
ability of Mike Batesole and his staff to create a culture of winning the right
way sets the standard - through hard work, incredible athletic ability and academic performance
in the classroom leading to the graduation of student-athletes.
The Bulldogs made significant progress on the field towards adding another
championship chapter last weekend by
sweeping the then first-place New Mexico State Aggies to catapult into
Collegiate Baseball's Top 25. The Fresno State baseball team returns home for the final
eight games of the season and can sweep their way to their fourth regular
season WAC title in five years and remain one of only four teams in the Western
Region to make five consecutive NCAA appearances.
The 2010 College World Series will be the last NCAA baseball tournament
to be played in the famous Johnny
Rosenblatt Stadium.
The stadium originally named Omaha
Municipal Stadium was built in 1947
for the single-A Omaha Cardinals of the St. Louis Cardinals
organization. A few years later it became the home of the Kansas City
Royals triple-A team.
In 1964, the stadium was renamed to honor
former Omaha mayor Johnny
Rosenblatt, who was instrumental in bringing professional baseball as
well as the College World Series to Omaha.
Rosenblatt Stadium has
been home to the College World Series since 1950.
Baseball is the only NCAA sport that has held their championship in the
same venue year after year.
Currently, the NCAA and the city of
Omaha
have agreed to continue hosting the Men's College World Series in Omaha
through the 2035 season.
Jonathan
Stempel of Reuters wrote this great article "Baseball Coaches will
miss Rosenblatt Stadium" and Fresno State head coach Mike
Batesole is featured in the story with a quote on the Bulldogs time
spent winning the national championship in the `Blatt in 2008.
It's time to provide some insight into the Fresno State women's
basketball program. To help us with that every other Friday assistant
coach Brett
Frank will give us snap shot of what is going on with the team
throughout the course of the year in a series titled, "Just Being
Frank." The story goes like this . . . .
I was recently assigned a great and overwhelming task by our
Sports Information Director, Steve Schaack. He requested I use my
creative talent (a scary thought since there's very little of that to
begin with) to begin a new blog for the women's basketball link on
gobulldogs.com. Obviously, if you're reading this, you've successfully
found it and my work is being rewarded as you scan and process each
word.
Initially, I was torn on whether to talk about our past season or
the season that lies in front of us. I thought maybe you would want to
know more about the stars of the past season, or the newcomers that will
be instrumental in building on our recent success. I thought of
entertaining you with funny and anecdotal stories of trips on the road
or of a gathering with Fresno State's Tim Anderson and the Fresno State
band performing an impromptu concert for our team.
As I was desperately trying to find my groove, I realized that
before I could dedicate myself to any of these ideas, I needed to have a
title for the blog. "Brett's frets" took the early lead as I was
terrified of not being able to ever figure out a direction to go with my
assignment...
College Football News recently ranked the WAC's top 10
quarterbacks and a couple things didn't seem to add up.
College Football News recently ranked the WAC's top 10
quarterbacks and a couple things didn't seem to add up.
