NEW ‘NINER NEW YEAR NEWS NATURALLY KNOWN AS NOTES ON OUR NAPKIN

Oh thank heaven it’s 2011, so naturally we begin the New Year with words written on champagne and a caviar-soaked napkin. (We suggest you digest this missive with long and strong coffee and a short attention span.)

I hope Santa was generous to all our insightful readers. He gave me stocks instead of socks, my first really good pair of pruning shears instead of prune juice, and an assortment of wonderful but light gifts what I could haul back from Florida without extra baggage charges.
49ers
As many might already know, the highlight of the spring for me is college baseball so I especially enjoyed the holiday greetings sent by LBSU head coach Troy Buckley and his invite for the upcoming leadoff weekend. It starts Thursday, January 27 at The Grand in Long Beach where the new team gathers and rookies have to actually speak out loud. The Dirtbag Alumni Golf Tournament comes up the next day, Friday, January 28 at Recreation Park next to Blair Field, and then the Dirtbags Old-Timers Game and Alumni/Intra-squad scrimmage wraps things up on Saturday afternoon January 29.

Evan Longoria joins a list of the fabulous keynote speakers in the past 20 years, including ex-players Jason Vargas, Troy Tulowitzki, Jered Weaver, Mike Gallo, Bobby Crosby and Jason Giambi and pro coaches Tommy Lasorda, Sparky Anderson, Mike Scoscia, Tony Muser, Bill Russell, Bert Blyleven and Terry Collins. Info and tickets from the Niner athletic department at (562) 985-4662.

A guy with the blog name “The Stick” dug out this list looking for the college that has the most players in the Bigs. Time’s up, did you guess Long Beach State? The list (from MLB.com) includes: Jason Giambi – Rockies; Bobby Crosby – Pirates; Jeremy Reed – Blue Jays; Paul McAnulty – Angels; Jason Vargas – Mariners; Jered Weaver – Angels; Troy Tulowitzki – Rockies; John Bowker – Giants/Pirates; Evan Longoria – Rays; Marco Estrada – Brewers; Brad Davis-Marlins; Vance Whorley – Phillies; Danny Espinosa – Nationals; and Bob Cramer – Oakland.
 
Numbers for the Niners in men’s hoops. The go-to guy is of course the hard-to-miss T. J. Robinson who averages a double at 15 points and 10 rebounds per game.  Nearly invisible, the friendliest ghost in college sports, Casper Ware, is a major pest on defense and throws a lot of dimes (translated: assists) at 6 per game.  The best number for Dan Monson and posse, a perfect 2-0 in the Big West and a reasonable shot to get to 6-0 after the upcoming four game home stand (CSUN, UCI, UC Davis and Pacific.) The ladies play the same four schools but on the road.
 
Too early to know if that trend means another NCAA invite (to go with the 2007, 1995 and 1993 dance parties) but playing tough, non-conference lifting-the-heavyweights does seem to be making conference work a bit easier.
 
Men’s volleyball played the Oh Canada national anthem a lot this week hosting talented north of the border boys but the early results sort of confirm the rough road the MPSF coaches predicted for Andy Read and the Beach – although the difficult to spell Srdjan Nadazdin is also difficult to stop. (You can just call #23 Serge.) LB opens for real this coming weekend with four games in the UCSB Elephant Bar rumble in Goleta.
 
Got nothing to say about women’s hoops except to note that UCSB’s head coach worries a lot in front of refs and their senior citizen fan bus (I heard that they now call their boosters  the Hip-Breakers instead of the Fastbreakers) is not as full as in the past. The best rag these guys had was to try and distract LB free throw shooters with the chant, “Hey, your shoe’s untied.” Devastating.
 
The numbers, if you must. UCSB wire to wire 70-43 on Thursday night and Cal Poly, struggling early, won 83-72 on Sunday afternoon. The Beach went out to a 12-0 lead in the first five minutes but melted under the Poly pressure in the last fifteen. “This team does one thing in practice, but when the lights go on…” Coach Wynn noted postgame, not really wanting to finish her own sentence.
 
My UCSB pal Alan said the ‘Niner men were very impressive in the game he saw in the former Thunderdome and when I told him the Beach held Cal Poly to 18 points in the first half Thursday he quipped, “My dead grandmother could score 18 points in a half!” I like grandmothers but I like relaxing wins even more, 16-point margins over both UCSB (71-55) and SLO (69-53.)

As if you needed more calories, the 2010 Track & Cross Country banquet is Saturday, January 15, 2011 at the Grand where they salute the seniors and introduce the new kids. As usual, you can get info and tickets from the Forty Niner athletic department at (562) 985-4662.

And now our Closing Quotes, first from me. I am a little weary listening to all the bowl and BCS experts, many of whom couldn’t tell The Statler Brothers from the Stater Brothers.

Finally from the Tough Break Department.  Rockies baseball prospect Kyle Parker — who doubled as Clemson’s starting quarterback —broke some ribs in his bowl game last week.    With spring training less than two months away his pro baseball career is going to be somewhat delayed.  Parker was offered a $2.2. million signing bonus last spring with the condition that he quit football. He turned it down and instead signed a $1.4 million bonus that allowed him to play.  “Remember, people: friends don’t let friends play football.”