9:45am | Now when we consider a Fullerton vs. Long Beach match in the autumn (this outdoor one comes Sunday on George Allen Field, the practice home of 49er football) you used to think about the oblate spheroid of olden days not a round diamond-studded soccer ball.  In the long ago the two schools used to contest on the gridiron but the bankers won and both schools dropped the sport, first LBSU in 1991 then CSUF a year later.  Ironically the Titans had already cashed in their booster bucks to build a stadium with all sorts of donor dollars recognized on rooms and walls and other facilities.
 
The Niners put their faith in the future in a Pyramid, an iconic multi purpose palace for hoops, volleyball and some considerable potential for renting to outside folks thanks to good guys like AD Dave O’Brien, boosters Perry Moore and Frank Bowman,  and campus building czar Jon Regnier.  Oh yes, and the inspiring work of Joan Bonvicini who was the best basketball coach ever at Long Beach State (sorry for you Tark loyalists).  Her teams went to Final Fours and over flowed the Gold Mine.
 
The Mid opened in 1994 and has been busy since.  Titan Stadium does host soccer but it collects more foul balls from adjacent Goodwin field than it does ticket revenue.
 
Jason Reid, in the LA Times wrote of O’Brien at the time saying, “The opening of the Pyramid pleased O’Brien the most. He gambled somewhat by killing the football program in a cost-cutting move in 1991, and tying the future of the athletic department to the men’s basketball program and the yet-to-be-built facility.”

“He angered many students and alumni with the decision. O’Brien feels vindicated by the resounding success of the Pyramid’s inaugural season, although he won’t gloat.”

“For the first time we were able to open a marquee facility, attract a fan base and a marketing base we never had before,” O’Brien said. “By virtue of having a facility people wanted to go to, it created a feeling of community. Students, faculty, staff, the alumni and community members now had something to rally around.”

Fast forward to 2011 and the Titans come to campus twice this weekend, Saturday night for volleyball and Sunday when the Niner soccer stars, fresh off two road wins last weekend, try to give the orange blue a black and gold boot.  More later on that subject.
 
First the Saturday night date with CS Fullerton in the widely admired Pyramid.  The defending Big West Champions began the week in a two-way tie for first place in the Big West with UC Santa Barbara. Junior Kayla Neto leads the Titans, averaging 3.93 kills per set, while Bre Moreland is second with 2.91 kills per set. Senior setter Andrea Ragan averages 10.51 assists per set, third in the Big West. 
 
Times and tides change and after Long Beach State won 57 matches in a row against Fullerton, dating back to 1982, and hold a 79-4 all-time record against an opponent that the 49ers have faced more times than any school other the Santa Barbara. LBSU won both matches last season, going four sets on the road at Titan Gym and picking up a sweep against them at home, the only two conference losses for Cal State Fullerton in 2010. However, skeptics note, last weekend LB’s dominating streak over UC Riverside meant little when the almost tiny Highlanders upset the Beach. The bright news on the horizon is that doctors are expected to clear super-star Caitlin Ledoux by Saturday night.  And thankfully Haleigh Hampton hobbles onward and leads the conference in blocking with 1.57 blocks per set.

The soccer story is impressive.  On Friday the team (9-3-1, 2-0-0 BWC) beat UC Santa Barbara, 2-1 a minute into the first overtime and then buried Cal Poly, 6-0.  LBSU has scored a Big West leading 34 goals on the season and are just 10 shy of breaking the program record of 44 which was established in 2008.

DUSTY CALENDARS — Sophomore Rochelle Chan (Women’s Golf) won individual medalist honors by three shots at the Rose City Collegiate last week. She recorded a career and tournament low 66 in the opening round and led her team at the Rose City Collegiate where the 49ers captured the team title by 10 strokes.  In Women’s Tennis at the ITA All-American Championships Anais Dallara won three matches, including two against ranked opponents, to advance to the qualifying stage at the ITA All-American Championships. The team goes next to the Fullerton Invitational Friday-Sunday.
 
Men’s Water Polo (11-3) but has been up and down; Lost to Pepperdine, 11-9, lost to Princeton, 8-4 and beat both Pomona Pitzer, 13-7 and Air Force, 10-6.  Senior Aleksandar Petrovic scored his 35th goal of the season in the SoCal Tournament.

Basketball pundit Travon Free came up with this web witticism, “Four more ears! Four more ears!” –  to a crowd of people who didn’t want Mike Tyson to retire.
 
Names in the MLB news, the following Bags are in some of the box scores this week–Evan Longoria, Cesar Ramos, Marco Estrada, Vance Worley, John Bowker and Bryan Shaw.
 
In the Mid last week was one of the 49ers most faithful, Art Johnson who was the Director of Building and Safety for the City of Los Angeles and president of the women’s basketball booster club.  When I was teaching Public Admin I saw Art as a role model for our students.    Also temporarily on the DL is Les Robbins who is recovering from stomach surgery.  Get well soon guys.
 
Ryan McNeill, brother of Jeff of the current Dirtbag team has the scouts gushing.  They say, “he is 89-92 with natural cut, power slider at 79-84, and feel for a changeup at 81. Will be impact guy at Long Beach State.”  Yes, if he turns down the MLB moola.
Where are theys- how about Branden Pinder who adapted quickly to the closer’s role after the Yanks picked him in the 16th round in June. Pinder, predominantly a starter for the Beach and has been a star for Staten Island in the Class A short-season New York-Penn League. He was 2-2 with a 1.16 ERA, 14 saves, 38 strikeouts and five walks in 31 innings and a 0.68 WHIP. And he had three saves in the postseason, and was on the mound to close out the deciding game of the league championship series.  That is a significant upgrade from his stats in two seasons at Blair, where he had a 7-12 record, 5.04 average and 103 strikeouts in 148 innings. But Pinder, whose velocity was in the 88-91 mph range in the Big West, consistently threw at 93-94 as a professional and mixed in an effective slider.  And oh yes, got to hold his team’s championship trophy. – DR. DAN