July 7, 2008

GALLERY

FRESNO, Calif. - - Pat Hill is ready to take the Valley by storm. The Bulldog football coach along with Fresno State athletic department personnel take the Bulldog Football Caravan to Visalia and Fresno on Thursday, July 10.

Hill concludes the tour that included stops in seven different cities across the Valley to meet fans and help generate support for the upcoming football season where the Bulldogs host Big Ten Powerhouse Wisconsin and travel to Big East foe Rutgers and Pac 10's UCLA.

Hill will be providing a "Bulldog Blog" during his travels this week. Check back with gobulldogs.com as Hill reports from the road:

At each stop Bulldogs fans will have an opportunity to purchase 2008 football season tickets, mini-plan packages and family plans. When season tickets are purchased fans will receive an official Nike coaches hat signed by Hill. Wisconsin Game Day T-Shirts will be on sale for $15 as well as other Bulldog merchandise. Hill will sign autographs at each stop and fans will have an opportunity to participate in a Question and Answer session with Hill and be entered in a grand prize drawing at each location for autographed merchandise. Red bracelets with "Go Dogs!" will also be available to those in attendance.

The first caravan stop will be July 7 in Bakersfield from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. The caravan will stop at Me-N-Ed's at 9000 Ming Avenue with KNZR-AM 1560 providing exclusive remotes. Coach Hill will then travel to Paso Robles where he will be at the Robert Hall Winery (3443 Mill Road) from 5-6 p.m.

Pat Hill Bulldog Caravan Blog Monday, July 7
9:45 a.m.
"Welcome to the Bulldog football caravan. Reaching out to the Valley is always a priority for us. We are the Valley's team and we are proud that nearly 70 percent of the players on our team come from right here in the San Joaquin Valley.

David is one many great college football players from Bakersfield who have played for the Dogs. One of best receivers we've ever had was Rodney Wright, plus other All-WAC players Bryce McGill and Jason Stewart, all made Bakersfield proud

Other Kern County products who've done well include Cory Hall who had an outstanding career with the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals and Chris Denman who's with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We have a couple key guys on our team this year that has a lot of Bulldog fans excited in Ryan Mathews and A.J. Jefferson who are both from Bakersfield. We have some talented young players like Matt Akers of Liberty High, who in his senior became a top student and we are really proud of what he's accomplished. Phillip Thomas and Ryan Skidmore are from Bakersfield who could see some time this year. We are on the way and should be rolling into Me-and-Ed's at around 11:30 a.m. Hope to see you there...Play Hard!"

Pat Hill, Head Coach

1:35 p.m.
"We had a great time at Me-and-Ed's in Bakersfield this afternoon and are headed to Paso Robles for the second stop. We will be at the Robert Hall Winery from 5-6 p.m. It was great to see so many great fans come out. We sold some season tickets and mini-plans and the Bulldog Shop merchandise was very popular.

It was great to see the Carr Family at the Caravan today. David, Melody and the boys, Austin, Tyler and Cooper were there, as were Dave's parents Roger and Cheryl and his brother Darren.

We had a chance to spend some time with KNZR Radio talked Bulldog football for an hour.

The highlight for me was seeing Enrico Mazzei, one of the all-time great Bulldog fans. Enrico has been a season ticket holder since 1963 and goes to all of our games, home and away. He told me today that Bakersfield Bulldog fans will be is planning to take four bus loads of fans to the UCLA game on Sept. 27) . There's a lot of excitement in Kern County for the 2008 Fresno State season. Fans can get tickets by clicking the tickets button at the top of this game. More later..."

Pat Hill

6:15 p.m.
"We toured the beautiful Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles. Robert Hall, the owner, and his staff were very gracious.

We are lucky to have some real "die hard" fans from the Central Coast who stopped by to say hello. A lot people are excited for the 2008 season. It's great to have this much excitement about college football in July.

The guys back in Fresno have been working hard this summer to prepare for the season opener at Rutgers. We have great leadership by our upper classmen and they have worked hard to get ready for fall camp.

Rutgers is a team that will contend for the Big East title and from what I've seen on film is a very well coached team. They play physical football and it's going to be a heck of a game. We are looking forward to getting started the first week in August.

Come out and join us in Merced at 5 p.m. Tuesday night at Big Bubba's B ad BBQ. Until then...

Pat Hill

Tuesday, July 8
3:45p.m.
"We are heading to Merced this afternoon, the home of some great Bulldog fans. After spending time in the South Valley and fans from the Central Coast yesterday, I'm looking forward to heading north on Highway 99.

The Merced area has given the Bulldogs some truly outstanding players. Bernard Berrian (Atwater), Wendell Mathis (Merced) and Logan Mankins (Mariposa) were recent greats who not only played great football at Bulldog Stadium, but went on to the NFL. Logan was a Pro Bowl pick in his third season and Bernard just signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Vikings.

Our caravan travels bring out the best of the Red Wave fans. We are looking to grow the Bulldog fan base and hope that each current fan and season ticket holder will bring a new fan along to games this year. We are heading toward an exciting year and we want everyone along for the ride.

Valley Pride is something special. We see that with the response of the National Championship baseball team. Our team has enjoyed that when we reached No. 8 in the nation in 2001 and beat No. 18 Virginia in the Humanitarian bowl a few years ago. Those are special times in our program's history and we have produced some special people who've gone on to great things. We want to make more history this season.

With six nationally televised games, including two at Bulldog Stadium, the national will again be watching. When ESPN comes to town we love sharing with them the value that our university and the Valley community provide to California and the nation. Join that Valley Pride and become a part of something special...come out and see us on our Caravans this week.

Go Dogs!"

Pat Hill

6:45 p.m.
"Our friends at Bubba's Big Bad BBQ were terrific hosts for the Bulldog fans tonight. The food and atmosphere was great.

We had dinner with a nice young couple, Cameron and Kristi, who are getting married on the day of the UCLA game (Sept. 27). Both are Fresno State graduates and great fans.

The highlight of the night was riding the mechanical bull. I challenged Alexan Balekian from KSEE 24. I made it more than eight seconds and needless to say Alexan wasn't quite as fortunate and got bucked off. He should stick to reporting and not get in the ring.

We had a great turnout. There are a lot of great fans in Merced. HANK 106.3 and Brian Montgomery were on hand to broadcast from Bubbas and we had a great time. They did a great job promoting Fresno State football.

Tomorrow we are heading to one of my favorite places to eat in the Valley and that's Espana's in Los Banos. We will be there from Noon to 1 p.m. After that, we head to Madera and the Madera Auto Center from 5-6 p.m. We look forward to seeing a great Bulldog supporter in Marty Mayfort.

Our ticket office tells me we have approximately 8,000 tickets left for with the Wisconsin game. The only way you can get tickets to for that game at this time is to buy a season ticket or mini-plan.

The Badgers are going to be a very good football team and a lot of people think they will battle Ohio State for the Big Ten title this year. They are ranked somewhere around 11th in preseason polls. They will be a fast and physical and well coached. Their back P.J. Hill will be one of the best we've seen since Reggie Bush. That is going to be a "big time" football game.

I'll check back in with you tomorrow...Come to Los Banos or Madera and get your season tickets! Don't get left out!

Pat Hill

Thursday, July 10

11:15 a.m.
"After a great day in Los Banos and Madera, we wrap up the Caravan with a trip to Big Bubba's Bad BBQ in Visalia at Noon and at the Doghouse Grill in Fresno from 5-6 p.m.

Our trips have been a lot of fun and it's great to see so much excitement about the season. Coming off the great National Championship by the baseball team, it's a great time to be a Bulldog.

We look forward to seeing our South Valley fans in Visalia today.

Go Dogs!

Pat Hill

Thursday, July 10

1:35 p.m.
"It was great to see so many South Valley fans at Bubba's Big Bad BBQ in Visalia. As always, the food was great.

Visalia is home to some of our greatest fans and the South Valley Quarterback Club has provided tremendous financial support to the Bulldog football team through the years.

The area has provided us some outstanding football players, including James Sanders, who's now with the New England Patriots, Awan Diles, Grant Harrington and Maurice Rodriguez. Some of the others who you will see this fall include Vince Pascoe, Ryan Colburn and Bryce Harris.

Getting out in the Valley this week has made me more excited to get this season underway.

So many of our fans have renewed their season tickets and we thank them and want to remind people season tickets and mini-plans are still available. Good seats are still available for all of our home games, especially the Wisconsin game, the home opener on Sept. 13. Tickets are available by clicking the tickets icon at the top of this page or by calling the Bulldog Ticket Office at (559) 278-DOGS.

We will wrap up the caravans this afternoon at the DogHouse Grill on Shaw across the street from the Save Mart Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

Go Dogs!

Pat Hill

Fresno State finished last year with a 9-4 record and a victory over ACC foe Georgia Tech in the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl. This year the Dogs are ranked No. 25 in the Athlon's Preseason Top 25 poll, the ESPN.com and CBSSportsline.com preseason polls. More information on the college football magazines projections will be on gobulldogs.com later this week.

Pat Hill Caravan Map Click Here

Pat Hill Caravan Stop
July 7, 12pm-1pm - Bakersfield first stop at Me-N-Ed's on Ming Ave. (by CSUB) with KNZR-AM 1560
July 7, 5pm-6pm - Paso Robles at Robert Hall Winery
July 8 - 5pm-6pm - Merced Big Bubba's Bad BBQ with KNAH 106.3 FM
July 9, 12pm-1pm - Los Banos at Espana's
July 9, 5pm-6pm - Madera Cheverolet/Toyota Dealership with 105.9 Jack FM
July 10, 12-1pm - Visalia Big Bubba's Bad BBQ with 93.7 FM Kiss Country
July 10, 5pm-6pm - Fresno at Dog House Grill with KMJ 580 AM