Off To Anaheim To Face Arizona

The San Diego State Aztecs are on their way to Anaheim for their second Sweet 16 appearance in school history. In the 2013 tournament, they were upset by Florida Gulf Coast and Coach Fisher learned how to channel that experience into the team this year and got the team to understand that they are better than the mid majors that SDSU have had problems with in the past. They had to scratch and claw to get out of the first round this year, but had an easier time in the second round.

Coach Fisher says that this team could become elite. He should know. He coached elite teams in Michigan. He has a very good team that bought into the belief that the defensive end of the floor should be where they dominate. You cannot argue with the facts. Teams shoot abysmally against them. They can play real physical on defense. And the fact that during the year they had over a 12 point difference in scoring just shows you how well they play defense.

The team is great on the defensive end, but the Achilles heel of the team is the offense. If they cannot find somebody besides Xavier Thames to score more than a dozen points, the tournament will become tough real quick for them. Only Thames and Winston Shepard averaged double digits in the regular season. Josh Davis is the board cleaner for SDSU. He averaged 10 boards a game.

The Aztecs might not be favored for the rest of their games, but they can win them. The key is the stifling man-to-man defense that they have shown. I believe that the team that takes down the Aztecs will be one that runs and guns. If SDSU plays in a half court game, then they should be able to steal a victory over a team that is more talented.

Coach Fisher has the Aztecs being relevant. He is starting to transform the school into a basketball power. It is an exciting time for Aztec nation. The tell tale sign is that the Aztecs feel like they belong in the Sweet 16. Now it is time for them to continue to learn from the 2013 NCAA Tournament and the loss to Florida Gulf Coast and learn how the underdog can slay Goliath. They just need to look at things from the view of David instead of the view of Goliath from this past weekend.

I'M FEELIN' THOSE GOOD VIBRATIONS, I'M GETTIN' THOSE EXCITATIONS, AUTO CLUB RACEWAY, CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

It sure wasn't a dream, I think a lot of people wished it was, Goodyear take note, but tire problems created a lot of mayhem and quite possibly decided the end of the race. Starting with 35 lead changes and problems showing up early, and staying on throughout the race. Kyle Busch won his second straight race at Fontana with a wild two lap finish after Jimmy Johnson blew a tire and Jeff Gordon losing the lead after showing a strong run all race. The deciding finish came about as Clint Bowyer also blew out a tire with three laps to go, and forcing a green white checkered ending. Kyle along with brother Kurt Busch, Kurt's boss Tony Stewart and rookie Kyle Larson duked it out for a tight final lap. The Kyle and Kyle show was the second time this weekend that the two drivers fought it out on the final laps. The Sprint Cup race was so marred by tire problems that the Hendrick cars were left in the lurch. This writer feels if any other track conditions were present they surely would have gone at least one two. Kyle was happy to dig this win out and Kyle Larson had visions of sweeping the weekend. His Nationwide win on Saturday was textbook racing for any NASCAR fan. And fans had to be happy with the wacky way the Sprint race went. Kurt taking third and Matt Kenseth in fourth and Tony Stewart coming fifth. Nationwide fans also had a tight fifteen lap final with Larson in first, Kevin Harvick coming second, Kyle Busch coming third, Joey Logano finishing fourth and pole sitter Elliot Sadler rounding out the top five. I know the scuttlebutt is that Goodyear dropped the ball on this problem at Auto-Club, but I feel the teams have egg on their faces also, trying to run pressures that were way light of the recommended pressure, and trying to squeeze extra speed out of the new cars on bouncy older paved straightaways. Next week we are off to the paperclip, Martinsville, that little track that thinks it's a big track, yeehaw I can't wait. Also we have 'Dega coming up in the next little while, cya there.

Blog Challenge!

Fourth-seeded #AztecMBB will play 12th-seeded North Dakota State at 3:10 p.m. PT Saturday on TNT. The winner moves onto the Sweet 16.

— GoAztecs.com (@GoAztecs) March 21, 2014

It's on, Brent!

My lucky daughter

So my daughter went on a little vacation trip with her mom (my first wife) and she's been posting Foursquare check-ins and texting me pictures. The following one made her dad both envious and proud:

Jet Blue Park at Fenway South, Fort Myers, FL

Apparently, and I've seen the videos, Grady Sizemore more a couple of spectacular catches in this game.  I've got to get down to spring training someday.

THROWBACK SUNDAY: Baseball Season is Here!

An October 1, 1924 motorcade down Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, for the Washington Senators, following their first pennant victory. 

 

The Senators went on to win the 1924 World Series over the New York Giants, 4-3.  That team included Hall of Famers: Goose Goslin, Bucky Harris, Walter Johnson, and Sam Rice.

 

Washington's first professional baseball team was the "Washington Olympics" (1871-72).  Several more Washington teams played in the 19th century including the first incarnation of the "Washington Senators" (1891–99).  A different "Washington Senators" team began play in 1901.  The Senators played most of their home games at Griffith Stadium, winning one World Series (1924) and three American League pennants (1924, 1925, and 1933). 

 

Washington was continuously home to a major league baseball team from 1901-1971.  Currently, the Nationals are one of two MLB franchises (and only one in the National League) that has never played in a World Series (the Seattle Mariners are the other).

Guess Who’s On Twitter?

Look who I ran into at the Daytona Experience. Dad's Happy! #2XDaytona500Champ pic.twitter.com/I0zf5PLfr5

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 24, 2014

@DaleJr is late to the Twitter party, but it’s better to be late than never when he posts cool selfies like this one the day after his second Daytona 500 victory.

WHAT A RACE, WHAT A WIN, I'M JUST A HAPPY JR. FAN AND MAYBE A LITTLE BIT MORE.

Well here we are at the start of another NASCAR season with the Daytona 500, the race that everyone knows about, like the Indy 500 this race is one of the granddaddy races that all the drivers want to win, and they all have an honest chance to win. Through rain and wrecks this was Daytona's longest day,and it was a drought Dale Earnhardt Jr. was determined to end. NASCAR's most popular driver won the Daytona 500 on Sunday night for the second time, ten years after his first victory. And with this he snapped a 55 race losing streak dating back to 2012. It also ended the frustation of coming 2nd in three of the last four Daytona races. After he crossed the finish line the fans who withstood the 6 hour 22 minute red flag delay were screaming their support. Dale Jr. dominated at the track where his father died on the last lap of the 2001 race. He led six times for a race high 54 laps, all after the rain delay and seemed to have it under control until things got chaotic near the end. There were 42 lead changes and four multi car accidents as the field closed in on the checkered flag. Denny Hamlin was second in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Brad Keselowski was third in a Team Penske Ford. Jimmie Johnson who beat out Jr. in last years race commented how "He's been knocking on the door of the 500 for a lot of years. He got it done tonight, he did an awesome job". Well folks,on to Phoenix next week, and coming up in the next weeks is my personal fave, DEGA BABY. Enjoy the season.

We Have A Winner?

Congrats Fox News!!! Hahahaha #fail #nascar pic.twitter.com/vaOL5Jv685

— Scott Speed (@scottspeed) February 23, 2014

Oh. My. God. I know one time Fox News once reported a story from The Onion as fact, but I think this tops that on hilarity alone.

While you’re at it, go follow @scottspeed on Twitter. He’s a hoot!

Long Overdue

Today marks the first time in thirteen years we’ll see a black #3 car on a NASCAR track. If we were having this conversation a few years ago, I would have been very upset if had happened then. It’s a different time now. The car belongs on the track, and probably should have returned several years ago.

Back in the day, I was a huge Dale Earnhardt fan. I owned a couple of his GM Goodwrench hats. I watched every NASCAR race on the schedule. I participated in several online racing leagues and won championships the way he did – with a cinder block on my shoulder and nothing to lose in the final laps.

You can imagine how devastated I was when Dale died and the #3 car disappeared from the track. I always held out hope another ornery, aggressive driver would step in and return the car to glory. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was an obvious choice for his lineage. Tony Stewart, my favorite driver since Dale passed away, would have been a perfect fit. But as time passed, it was obvious neither of them would ever drive the #3 car for Richard Childress Racing full-time.

Now we have Austin Dillon doing what I had hoped Jr. and Stewart would have done. How do I feel about this? The more I think about it, I really like it. Austin is Richard’s grandson, has only driven the #3 in his short career, and already has championships in the Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series to his credit. It also helps that, like Earnhardt and Stewart, Dillon won’t take crap from anyone on the track.

For us longtime Earnhardt fans, we have to keep this in perspective. Before Sr. drove the car, drivers like Buck Baker, Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd and Junior Johnson won races while driving the #3. It’s not like that number belongs to Dale. It belongs to NASCAR – and back on the track.

While I’ll be rooting for Stewart to win the Daytona 500, I wouldn’t mind seeing the #3 car run up front or end up in Victory Lane today.

Sweeet!

I know somebody who's gonna love this!!!!