As I build to my Post deadline for the Dust Plus column, I sort through my contacts from a posse that passionately follows all things Long Beach State. This weekend they kept saying, “It’s all about the Benjamins.”
That name didn’t ring a bell so I dove into the musty, dusty archives for who this Benjamin is, was, or will be..
Well back in the in the fall of 2010 there was a modestly talented golfer named Benjamin Lein who competed in four tournaments for the 49ers with a stroke average of 75.00; his season low round of 71 at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in Dallas, Texas; in 2011 he had his highest finish, a one over par to tie for sixth in the Del Walker Intercollegiate. Then the kid had the audacity to graduate and leave the Beach without any Benjamins.
I reported that fact to my editorial advisors and they jumped all over me, “Benjamin’s mean money Dr. Dan and we don’t have enough to compete with (fill in the blank).” Ah ha, Benjamin Franklin, like on the One Hundred dollar bill. Theme established, we will now report on sports that do a lot with a little.
The hardware won this weekend came from a couple of the ladies entries, tennis played on tennis courts and sand volleyball (on the Beach but the NCAA doesn’t like us to say that.)
Our source for understanding is the American Volleyball Coaches Association who hosted a final four with Long Beach, Pepperdine, Florida State and the College of Charleston fourth.
“The team format is really incredibly exciting,” AVCA executive director Kathy DeBoer said, noting that the bleachers at center court were packed with about 1,000 spectators. “I’m so excited about this as a collegiate sport.” (Collegiate sand volleyball – they called it that to avoid scaring away the landlocked schools). “There are about 16 kids who are doing some serious competing,” DeBoer said. “It’s in the low 80s, with deep sand. It is ideal conditions for spectators but pretty hot to play in.) So the results were fabulous considering the Benjamin’s at play. The Beach gals Won vs. Florida State, 3-2 (First Round); Lost vs. Pepperdine, 3-0 (Winners Bracket); Won vs. Florida State, 3-1 (Semifinals) took Pepp to extra innings for the final. Caitlin Ledoux and Tara Roenicke were named to the first ever Sand Volleyball All-American team. Ledoux actually may have another year of Beach eligibility in 2013, so keep your sun block handy.
Last add sandy beaches, “The information we’re getting from coaches is that we could see another 15 programs next year,” DeBoer said. “Once you get to 40 for two years, the NCAA takes over the championship. We believe we will have enough teams for an NCAA championship in three or four years.”
Five of the schools fielding teams this year were from the Atlantic Sun Conference, which held a conference championship that was won by North Florida. Two schools from BCS conferences have added the sport: Florida State and Southern Cal.
The competition was played in Gulf Shores, Alabama where they set up 26 courts and besides the big college girls there was a junior tournament drawing 120 teams and an adult event with 25 teams. The AVCA praised the host city. “This community has absolutely opened its arms to this sport and said, “We want to be your Omaha. We want to be your Oklahoma City. We want to be a place you never want to leave,” referring to the homes of the NCAA baseball and softball championships. “These guys have set the bar pretty high.”
Next up on the hardware haul was the rather expected, and pretty easy, run to the Big West women’s tennis crown. Long Beach State’s dynasty at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden continued when the Beach beat UC Irvine black and blue in a 4-1 romp which meant their eighth Big West Women’s Tennis Championship crown in nine years. (See story on Tuesday about where the Niners play in the NCAA tourney). It also improved the 49ers to 6-1 all-time against the Anteaters in championship matches. LBSU notched the all-important doubles point to take the 1-0 lead. Rachel Manasse and Laura Bernard claimed the point with their win at No. 3 over Courtney Byron and Hannah Holladay. In singles Jenny Hilt-Costello’s bunch got early wins from Manasse who topped Byron 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 and Sarah Cantlay defeated Kat Facey 6-1, 7-5 at No. 4. That made it a 3-0 lead and the engravers could start on the trophy.
Baseball had a strong week, including a rare power surge. The Dirtbags beat USC, 1-0 and took two of three at CSUN. (Won at Cal State Northridge, 8-2; Lost at Cal State Northridge, 6-5 (12); and Won at Cal State Northridge, 12-3) Freshman Josh Guerra hit .500 last week with a double, a triple and a home run for the Dirtbags and fifth year catcher Kellen Hoime went yard for the first time in a really long time. The team sits atop the BWC this weekend but
Softball is also in first in the BWC but like the baseball boys there is work to be done. The two headed (and handsome) mound monster was again Erin Jones-Wesley and Taylor Petty. EJW got the Big West POW after her two-hit shutout for the second consecutive day as Long Beach State swept UC Riverside Sunday at the 49er Softball Complex. The Niners upped their numbers to 23-22, 11-4 and remain in a first-place tie with Pacific in the Big West standings with two weeks to play the title battle should be played out at home May 11-12.
Dollar Dusting
I went to three events raising money for good works, athletic and otherwise, last week and here are some unschooled observations. The first was the Century Club which will vote in another set of gifts this week: $10,000 to Long Beach State; $5,000 Long Beach City College ($2,500 to the new weight room and $2,500 to the General Athletic Fund); $5,000 to Long Beach Middle School Athletic Fund (Save Middle School Sports); and $1,000 to each of the local High School Athletic Programs – Wilson, Poly, Jordan, Cabrillo, Lakewood, Millikan & St. Anthony’s. Remarkable foot note, since the members (thankfully) pay their own bar bills, the overhead is zilch. Footnote two—and these are the big gifts to established organizations but the club gives another five to ten grand throughout the year to individuals and smaller organizations.
Friday I hit the Long Beach Municipal Band “Grand Sousa Gala”, a hundred dollar ticket, which had a fancy dinner, table of auction items, and of course great band work conducted by former Long Beach State music maestro Larry Curtis. Not sure of their overhead but the faithful did seem to pony up the Benjamin’s.
Saturday was the new look Jewels of the Night. I especially liked the one floor format, the looping video of athletic events, the strong auction work of Randy Gordon on the live auction, the interview of volleyball setter Erin Juley by event newcomer Ryan Choura, the piano player, and the Alaskan Fish Fry by Les and Cindy Robbins. I less liked the fewer number of silent auction items (most with big minimums), the fewer number of restaurants, and the two tiered patron plan, VIPs with sofas, premium beverages and similar perks. Don’t know the net proceeds as a fund raiser but again Jewels is a great friend raiser.