PUB WISDOM
Back to schoolArchive for sports
Big West MVP = Kyle Austin? Axe somebody
MVP? Make it so.
I know that most folks are just sinking their teeth into the college football season, but college hoops is right around the corner. And it looks like the editors over at Athlon noticed Kyle Austin’s junior effort last season. I know that pre-season hype is basically worthless, but any longtime Highlander fans have got to enjoy this nonetheless. Athlon is projecting Austin as the Big West MVP. Nice. Bring on the double and triple teams. Drive and dish.
Also cool, Athlon picked the Highlanders to finish fourth in the Big West. Fourth place cool? Considering that the Highlanders have been picked dead last in just about every preseason poll going in the past few seasons, this is a nice bit of well earned respect.
Is this the year UCR punches its ticket to the Big Dance?
Highlander Hoops Release Schedule
"Where the hell is Berry College?!?"
Click here for a look at the 09-10 UC Riverside mens’ basketball schedule.
While it looks like the pendulum has swung back slightly, which will hopefully get the Highlanders’ SOS rating below 300, it appears Jim Wooldridge is still easing his squad into the nation’s top tier based on the competition he’s booked. There’s USC, which is legit on anyone’s schedule. But no other PAC10 teams? Really?
I, for one, am in the camp that believes that Wooldridge’s marked softening of UCR’s schedule last year was genius, letting the players get used to what it feels like to win. I figure we’re seeing a continuation of that strategy, which I find hard to fault.
Still, Pub Wisdom reckons there are others who are chomping for UCR to test it’s new-found success on some proven competition. Would’ve been nice to see a surprise or two on the schedule, especially since the USC date was pre-announced. Well, there was one surprise. Where is Berry College and how did they end up on the Highlanders’ schedule? Now that was a surprise, though without researching it at all, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I learned that Berry College is in the midwest somewhere and coached by one of Wooldridge’s buddies.
In the end, it all comes down to conference play, the goal being to reduce the number of games you need to win in the conference tourney to get that auto-bid to the dance.
See you at the Echo Chamber…
Rangers Unimpressed by Spendthrift Man City
Man City's money's no good at Ibrox.
Yeah, yeah, I know… it’s meaningless, just a friendly. You know what? I’ll take the Rangers 3-2 Manchester City result, meaningless or not. Read about the match here.
Pub Wisdom reckons that while Premiership sides that come North for friendlies will find a modicum of comfort in that alleged meaninglessness, the game was taken seriously on the pitch as no self-respecting English side wants to lose to a lowly Scots side, even if it is the reigning champs.
Goals by Nacho Novo and Kenny Miller set up late theatrics provided by wizened old Dave Weir. Must say, the juices are flowing for the campaign to start in earnest.
Austin Graham Sacks Up, Knocks it Down to Capture SCGA Title
Pride of the Pacific Golf Club, er, I mean, Bella Collina Towne & Golf Club.
You may remember a few years back when former San Clemente Triton golfer Austin Graham made mince meat of the South Coast League and was a serious CIF threat. Let’s just say he didn’t peak in high school.
Coming off a highly successful sophomore campaign at UC Davis, Graham is continuing his winning ways this summer, nabbing the Long Beach City Championship — including a career-best round of 62 – and on Sunday the prestigious 110th SCGA title. Yeah, the same trophy won by a certain young Mr. Woods several years ago.
After bogeying 16 in final round, he rolled in a clutch 30-foot birdie on 17 at the Wilshire Country Club to give him a one-shot lead. He finished with a 6-under 278, going 69-69-70-70.
Brenda Martinez Works the Europ-a-dopa
Ali-inspired?
After finishing 8th in the NCAAs, UC Riverside’s half-mile miracle, junior Brenda Martinez, took her act to Europe for a six-meet tour of the continent. However, Pub Wisdom reckons Martinez got a hold of some footage shot on a different continent, of the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire, for inspiration prior to her first 800 meter event in Belgium.
Fresh off the plane in the final of her first meet, Martinez employed Ali’s classic rope-a-dope, hanging well back and letting others think they might have a shot, but with perhaps 300 meters left, she straight blew past the field, briefly settled into third, then put on the afterburners for a precisely timed move at the last second that gave her the win and a personal record. The field included the two runners that have claimed the last three NCAA 800 titles. Yep, she’s the real deal.
Watch the race it here. It’s worth the click. She’s got the white singlet on.
The Nation’s Hottest Runner?
Poetry in motion, coconut lotion...
No Keeping Up with this Keeper
Score one -- or ten -- for the keeper.
Missed this gem in the fall, but just found it doing some digging in light of recent events involving current Rangers and former Scotland keeper Allan “The Playa” McGregor. This article spotlight’s one of McGregor’s love interests — one of at least 10 women with whom young Allan was romantically entangled during the previous year – promoting a tell-all sexploitation interview. Wonder if that’s aired yet, and how it went over…
Nice to see opinions softening about the Loch Lomond Liquor Lockdown in general. What a mess.
UCR Baseball Team Knocking On the Door of the Top 25
The helpful folks in the sports information department have put together this useful little roundup of just how much the UCR baseball team is turning heads nationally.
With quality wins over UCLA, Cal, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State, among others, the Highlanders are now in the conversation on many of the polls and rankings. Take a look here.
Akognon Dismantles the Big West’s Best Defense
Akognon: NBA bound?
The real John Akognon showed up in Anaheim for this one, and he was wearing his superman underoos, pouring in a tournament-record 37, including nine 3s. The chants of “You can’t guard him” were spot on. No one could, methinks.
At one point, with less than five minutes left and before Bob Burton subbed out his starters, the score was Josh Akognon 37, UC Riverside 35. Yikes.
Javon Borum having to serve a one-game suspension after punking someone in the Cal Poly likely made a big impact — not on Josh Akognon’s ability to score, but on the Highlanders’s own scoring. With him out, and Jalonni Diggs gimpy, Wooldridge came out with a very unordodox lineup. The Highlanders’s offense didn’t show up, save for 17 from Brandon Dowdy in the first half.
Despite the loss, this season has been one to celebrate for Rivi. Big props to the program. Truly an impressive campaign. And the Highlanders return all but two players next season…
Learn to Dance in Four Easy Steps
Take control of the rock, Kyle.
Okay, so it won’t be easy. On the contrary, it will likely be the toughest potential four-game stretch of the season. And it will be even tougher with starting point guard and No. 2 scorer Javon Borum sidelined with a one-game suspension for shoving a Cal Poly player in the regular-season finale.
But the Highlanders, who have gone 8-8 in conference play, have proven they can win in this league. They took a game off their first-round opponent, Cal State Fullerton (7-9 in the Big West). However, with the NCAA bid on the line in what is essentially a home game for the Titans, UC Riverside will have to find a way to raise its game in order to compete. The Highlanders’ defense, tops in the Big West, will have to play to form and the offense needs to come alive.
Still no word as to whether senior leader Aaron Scott will play. That would be a huge lift with Borum on the bench. And Pub Wisdom reckons time is nigh for a 30+ performance from Kyle Austin and also feels potential breakout performances from Brandon Dowdy, Rudy Meo, or Jalonni Diggs (if he’s healthy).
Essentially, only one of their best games of the season will see them through to the quarterfinals. Then they’ll have to do it again. And again and again. Consistency has been elusive, despite the program’s watershed year. Now would be a serendipitous time to acquire some.
Pub Wisdom sees a game much closer than last year’s second-round rout by the Titans over the Highlanders, who will contain the Josh Akognon show to provide some first-round fireworks.
Pub Wisdom Predicts: UCR 69, CSUF 65
