When I was a “wee lad” (as opposed to a “we lad”), my OCD for following sports teams would find me on occasion sneaking in an unlocked door, gate or tunnel. Later, with my favorites farther away, my connectivity usually involved long-distance phone calls. Some times a dear friend would take his phone off the hook and put it next to the radio. And remember, there were no unlimited minutes back then.
Fast forward to the waning days of 2013 and technology is now my friend–in fact my BFF. One day this week I watched on pretty good broadcast feeds the Niner women’s and men’s basketball and volleyball teams. I surf around a lot of Big West member sites, and with the new connections to ESPN (thanks especially to conference tech guru Steve Chen), the future is so bright you need sunglasses.
Connectivity however doesn’t change results and the bell cow of the Beach athletic program, men’s basketball, is a case in point. Consider these numbers–Lost at No. 5 Arizona 91-57; Lost vs. Loyola Marymount 74-73 and Lost at Kansas State 71-58. The best of the LB lads probably was Dan Jennings, who is averaging a double-double on the year for Long Beach State, putting up 14.5 point and 12.0 rebounds per game for the 49ers. The team will try and break the curse by leaving the continental US for a tourney in San Juan. Alas the line up in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off (November 21-2 begins with a game against No. 7 Michigan at 2PM PST. Sneak out of work and watch it on ESPN2.
No word on whether those three Big West Refs who worked the K-State game (Tony Padilla, Chris Rastatter, and Mike Scyphers) will make the trip but it is unlikely.
The Beach women were winless until Sunday when newcomer Raven Benton got 22 and a fine finish by another rookie, Madison Montgomery, led the Beach to a nail-biting 85-82 double-overtime victory against the University of San Francisco. This Saturday vs. LMU is the home opener and the annual Pack The House game for the program. 50% of ticket proceeds for the event will be donated back to support Long Beach Ronald McDonald House and the families seeking care at Miller Children’s Hospital. Tip-off is set for 4PM.
WHERE ARE, AND WHERE WILL, THEY BE–Mary Hegarty a basketball coaching name from recent LBSU days, is now switching to athletic administration in new duties at LBCC… Last weekend she was checking in the crowd at an actual LBC football game, the homecoming for the Vikings at Veteran’s Stadium. Another admin on the move is Bill Brady who was the senior associate AD at the Beach and announced Tuesday he is leaving LBSU “with very mixed emotions…Diana and I have decided to accept an opportunity at a private foundation in Fort Worth, Texas which is near where we both grew up.” Brady played QB for the Beach before the Niners packed up their pigskins.
Another name report is that of Debbie Green who made the trip to Malibu to watch daughter Nicole’s Pacific volleyball team play the Waves. She still is enjoying retirement. Also giving up the whistle in the WVB world is Nina Matthies of Pepperdine, following Kathy Gregory of UCSB out the door. Veterans who will be missed.
And now to the local recruiting report. Long Beach State basketball head coach Dan Monson has announced that three freshmen –Justin Bibbins, Jack Williams, and Temidayo Yussuf– have signed National Letters of Intent to enroll at Long Beach State and compete during the 2014-15 season. Bibbins is a 5-8 point guard with a strong upside and joins forwards 6-8 Williams and 6-8 Yussuf.
Meanwhile LBSU women’s basketball head coach Jody Wynn announced the signing of guards Jessica Gertz (Oregon City, Ore.) and Cecily Wilson (Gilbert, Ariz.) to National Letters of Intent.
“Both Cecily and Jessica are wonderful additions to our program and to the University,” Wynn said. “They are dedicated student-athletes who want to achieve success both on and off the court. CeCe and Jess are winners and we are excited to have them continue their winning ways here at The Beach!”
In the “not gonna play here” list, from baseball we had two honorary 49ers (due to their dads being such great LBSU fans) smiling on NLI day. Investment ace Ben Goldberg enjoyed the day when his Wilson pitcher son Josh Goldberg signed to San Jose State and real estate magnate Doug Shea’s son Eric inked a scholarship offer from Eastern Nazarene back in the Boston area.
Last add recruiting, the women’s volleyball team received four LOI’s from Hannah Henriksen (6’4” outside hitter, Frontier HS), Ashley Murray (6’2” OH, Bishop Montgomery HS), Missy Owens (6’1” setter, Yorba Linda HS) and local product Sherridan Atkinson, a 6’5” middle blocker from Millikan.
Second voice on the K-BCH broadcast in the LMU game was last year’s scoring surprise Peter Papageorge. Nice pairing and Mr. Brender used him very wisely…Brender has a lot of upside and does a schedule for the NY Mets, pod casts, writing etc. Meanwhile the LBSU and Arizona hoops game had some guys with special insights, a pair of writers from the Daily 49er who now work for the web site GoAz Cats….that would be Tracy McDannald and Mitch Moreno. The senior former DFN sports guy, now that Jim McCormick has quit, is Irvine World News editor Tim Burt. And the sports beat goes on.—DR. DAN