Long Beach State will face many of its former players this weekend, as the 49ers host the alumni in a preseason exhibition match, beginning on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid. The 49ers were ranked No. 22 in the AVCA preseason coaches poll.

The folks in front of the microphone had traveled a long distance to get back to their faithful at the Beach and talk volleyball Tuesday night.

Game moved to new date along with two other 49er games.

There was a classic action movie when I was a kid (ok, a circa 1958 kid) entitled Run Silent, Run Deep. I am not sure that the marketing department at the LBSU has fixed on a slogan for the 2011-2012 athletic year but I kind of like the sound of that title.

Long Beach State was picked to win the 2011 Big West Women’s Volleyball championship, in a poll of the league’s coaches released today. The 49ers received seven of nine total first-place votes.

Pairings for the 2012 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu were recently released and Long Beach State’s men’s basketball team, the 49ers, will face defending Atlantic 10 champion Xavier in the first round of the tournament on Dec. 22.

The Long Beach Sports Council was created to promote economic development through sports in the city of Long Beach. Their first goal is to bring the Long Beach Armada, a minor league baseball team, back to the city for the 2012 season. The Armada played for five seasons at Blair Field as part of the North Division of the Golden Baseball League. They were unable to renew their permit to continue playing there when the City of Long Beach leased Blair Field to Cal State Long Beach after the 2009 season.

Despite the fact that the summer book for many of the 49er faithful is “How to Lie With Statistics”, the bottom line for the Beach fan is “The Kids are Alright”.

James Harden, Demar DeRozan and 2010-11 Rookie of the Year John Wall took to a jam-packed Long Beach State floor on Monday night, running the courts with Long Beach State players and awed onlookers.