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“Aztecs Football-The Arrow is Pointed Up”

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It’s been quite a run at San Diego State. What Brady Hoke started, what Rocky Long has delivered. His record on Montezuma Mesa is (56-24).

Mountain West Conference titles, bowl games, bowl wins, and now a Top 25-ranking heading into training camp.

It’s been a nice start to the career of young QB-Christian Chapman, forced on the field as a raw freshman, and developing strong leadership skills, mistake free play calls, and a calmness, as he prepares to start his 3rd season in a row with the Red & Black. By the time he is done, he could top the successes that Ryan Lindley and Kevin O’Connell had.

Both had lots to say at Aztecs Media Day.

Rocky Long-Quotes..

..”OL-Big-Strong-Talented-Inexperienced”

..”Unique schedule…7-homes games have never had that-host Boise State”
..”Wants to play 2-PAC 12-teams every year-show we can play with them”
..”Preseason ranking is great-sets bar really high for program”
..”Believes there will be more college expansion of conferences coming”

..”Critical season SDSU-show we belong in rankings”
..”Home-Home schedules with Power 5-teams gives us chance to win”
..”Mountain West-loaded with talent..10-veteran QBs return”

..”Christian Chapman must make passes down field-no longer just manage games”
..”Rashaad Penny-versatile-runs with power-has quickness-catch ball-speed-makes people miss…a 225-pound load”.
..”Juwan Washington will rotate with Penny”

..”1 of freshman running backs-Kaliel Williams-Texas may play”
..”Chase Jasmin becomes key addition as backup RB also”

..”Fred Truvillion-JUCO-WR-Mississippi-has had great spring”
..”QB-Chris Laviano-transfer Rutgers-started 2-years..we need maturity backup.”
..”Expects to redshirt both freshman QBs-including Marc Salazar-Rancho Bernardo”

..”Defensive front seven in solid, but we must get 18-year old safeties to hold up against veteran receivers…18-year olds never win the battles”

QB-Christian Chapman-Quotes

..”I am a player with experience now-feels so different”
..”I know what to expect on game-day”
..”Time to also step up and teach young guys about what this is like”
..”Thumb surgery-completely healthy..100% go time”

..”I understand defenses…recognize things…know playbook”
..”I have become a student of the game in the video room”

..”We were all blessed to be part of the DJ Pumphrey experience”
..”He was a gamer-he didn’t care who you were-how big you were”

..”Rashaad Penny is a beast-great potential”
..”Penny has all the ingredients..size-speed-versatility-run-catch”

..”Passing game in the past-we didn’t have to throw much.”
..”We have to throw much more this year-not just lean on run game”
..”We will open it up this year”
..”We have added bullets in the gun, new WR-Fred Truvillion..growth of Mica Holder..Quest Truxton”
..”Look for our TEs to become a bigger part of pass game too”

..”I love playing Power 5-teams-it can put us on the map”

..”Kid offensive line has come a long way-but will have to grow quick”.
..”Key for the kid OL-recognize defenses-that comes from studying film”\
..”Biggest transition for them-speed of the pass rush guys”

..”This could be breakout year for the program with the preseason rankings”

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“Bad-Getting Worse-Before It Can Get Better”

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Andy Green is really a bright light to deal with.

A baseball junkie, street smart guy, intelligent, handles the media well, blunt honest, and I assume can be tough on his players behind closed doors.

His Padres franchise is a mess.

In fact, thru all the bad years of Padres baseball, and there have been lots, they have had some gruesome days with Andy Green as manager.

Not his fault, he is a victim. Just like the Padres fans are.

The Colorado Rockies beatdown yesterday at Coors Field was hideous. An (18-4) trashing-thrashing. Nolan Arenado had 5-hits in a row..including 3-straight home runs. The Padres were down (12-0) only 3-innings in, and then suffered more.

A wretched 3-game series. The Rockies scored 36-runs in 27-innings against Padres pitching, and this from a Colorado team that stumbled in have lost 16-of-21 coming into the slugfest series at Coors Field.

Andy Green is now (108-148) in a year and a half in the early phases of rebuilding.

He has had to sit in this dugout and deal with a (15-0) first game loss to the Dodgers. You do remember that series? LA swept all 3-games to kick off the 2016 season, outscoring Green’s guys (25-0).

This year has been horrible…with 12-losses already when the opponent has scored 10-or-more runs.

The team stats are staggering. Last in hitting, on base percentage, near the bottom in slugging percentage.. First in strikeouts. One of the worst ERAs in baseball. And pretty shabby fielding in the outfield from virtually anyone and everyone.

We know you don’t win when you hit (.231)…strikeout (891) times. When your team has a (4.68-ERA)…starters at (4.90)…relievers at (4.50).

Help is on the way, but not for a couple of years. The farm system is getting results virtually at every level, but these young players are no where near ready to play at the majors, regardless of what they are doing at Tri Cities, Ft Wayne, Lake Elsinore, San Antonio or even El Paso.

Look at the Dodgers, Rockies, Diamondbacks. Look at their lineups compared to San Diego. Look at those pitching staffs vs the rag-tag outfit of refugees Andy Green has to choose from.

One other set of stats. After AJ Preller burned thru all that money he took on with the contracts of Matt Kemp-Justin Upton-Melvin Upton-James Shields and more, his team has a combined (162-236) record.

Since the day he fired Bud Black, the Preller-led-Padres are (148-213)…and his hand-chosen manager is (108-148).

And to add to the angst..the hated Dodgers have won 31-of-35. You’ll find them in 1st place at (66-29)..with an 11-game winning streak.

Sadly it seems it’s going to get worse, maybe alot worse, before it gets any better.

Andy Green can’t do anything about it, for he has to manage the players Preller gives him.

And that’s pretty bad. It’s like we’re heading to an all time low in San Diego

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“The Open-The Best”

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I don’t know if it is the history that makes the British Open so very special.

Or maybe it is the wide array of courses they have used in Scotland, England, Ireland.

Maybe it’s the venues of all the small villages wrapped around the links they have been tramping around at since the 1860’s.

Or it could be the weather that crops up off the Irish Sea that can turn nasty in an hours’ notice.

Then there is the pressure to win it on the final day, with the networks, the galleries, and the history of Old Tom Morris peering down.

They tee off on Thursday morning , just after midnite-Wednesday our time, in what may be as wide open a tourney as we have seen.

The hottest golfers aren’t playing all that well.

Don’t know where Dustin Johnson’s game has gone too this year. Back issues are plaguing Jason Day. A wide variety of nagging healt issues has impacted Rory McIlroy.

Who knows if a kid like Jordan Spieth or Jon Rahm are ready to step up.

Maybe it’s Ricky Fowler’s turn to string together four good days against the course and the competition.

Tiger Woods is home and Phil Mickelson’s game is no longer what it once was.

There are oh so many flashbacks when you think the ‘Open Championship’.

Tiger Woods, coming off a 15-stroke US Open victory, winning back to back tourneys in 2000.

Phil Mickelson roaring from 5-strokes back on the final day to get a win in 2013.

Johnny Miller’s 3-days of 66-66-69 right there at Birkdale..

Tom Watson-Jack Nicklaus in the ‘Duel in the Sun’.

Rory McIlroy shooting a 63-one day, and then an 80-the next as the winds came up and his game went away..

The wild weekend of Jan VandeVelde, heard from once, but never again.

It’s where Seve Ballesteros wowed us. Old warriors like Mark O’Meara and Tom Lehman had special days.

A tourney that gave us greatness like Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Arnie Palmer, credited with actually coming up with the idea of the “Grand Slam” of golf in the 1960s.

When you think Open championship, you close your eyes and see the picture book snapshots.

Greens, fairways, the clubhouse…and all the layouts of St.Andrew’s…Hoylake..Carnoustie…Troon…Turnberry…
and Royal St. Lytham.

It’s special, maybe because it’s on foreign soil, or it’s at the place where the game was born.

The Open Championship, as great as the Masters, and just ahead of our US Open.

Enjoy it.

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“Thinking Outside the Box-On a Tuesday”

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Padres….Wouldn’t it be nice if the Padres stopped trading veteran players having good seasons? The young kids are playing better, and a veteran starting staff has had more good starts lately than bad ones, and the bullpen has found its niche and role. Why trade Brad Hand, Brandon Mauer, Jhoulys Chacin or Travor Cahill. The Padres have added 110-young players to the organization thru the draft and international free agency since June lst of 2016. How many more young players do you need to develop? How poor will this season and next be, if you move more veterans off a fairly young roster?

Chargers….The building is almost empty and you ache when you drive by it, Chargers Park in Mission Valley. Be prepared for emptiness a week from now when NFL training cmaps open, and we have no team to watch, nor talk about. You do remember the days of the open training camp in the Pacific Breeze on the UCSD-campus?

Aztecs….They are the only team in town now, and yet they continue to do business in a strange way. SDSU is holding its football media day on Thursday, with players given access to TV and newspaper working media. But Coach Rocky Long and his staff won’t be part of it. Makes no sense, when you have a captured media in attendance, not to flood them with every possible interview guest you can, especially with a vibrant quote a minute guy like Long..

Lakers…A fascinating two weeks in the Las Vegas Summer League, the growth of Lonzo Ball as their lead guard…the sharp-shooting of Kyle Kouzma, the Utah rookie…and the discovery of explosive guard Vander Blue. They still need help with veterans on the roster though aside from the importing of C-Brook Lopez..

Clippers…Weeks ago Jerry West said ‘changes are painful-but you have to make changes’, and so he did with the Chris Paul-blockbuster trade to the Houston Rockets. He got firepower in guards Pat Beverly and Lou Williams…a 3-point shooter in Sam Dekker and then imported Dino Gallinari and his offense from Denver. It will be a very different team, more athletic, a bit younger.

Gulls…They didn’t lose their coach, but they lost their goaltender if the off season deals. Dallas Eakins did interview last week for the Arizona Coyotes-NHL job that went to Rick Tocchett, and has bypassed the chance to go be an NHL assistant. But as he returns, they lose goalie Jhonas Enroth, who is headed to the KHL to play in Russia this season. The Gulls will get 30-year old goalie Rito Berra, a former Florida Panther, who played in Switzerland last year.

Golf..Phil Mickelson looks sharp in practice rounds at Royal Birkdale. Can he string 4-rounds in a row to win the British Open this week in Southampton.

Horse Racing..The summer racing season kicks into gear at Delmar this week, with Bob Baffert’s stables showing off Arrowgate in what promises to be a couple of weeks of entertainment where the Turf meets the Surf.

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“Lakers Fans-Having a Ball-Lakers Find a Baller”

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He is humble, he is vibrant, he is selfless, he is exceptional.

Lonzo Ball has given a good accounting of himself for the Lakers, as they get ready to play in the NBA Summer League championship game in Las Vegas.

Take away opening game jitters, and that (2-15) shooting night, you have seen enormous upside in the 2nd pick in the draft.

He is averaging 16 points a game….7-rebounds and 8-assists per game.

His all-court vision and his rifle passes to any and all teammates is spectacular.

His quickness and his length to create plays off the dribble has been exceptional.

He is not a complete player, but then again, at age 19, who is?

His shooting percentage is in the 37% range, but this is just the first time he’s matched up with some NBA rookies.

He gets lost on defense, has not shown the ability to physically fight thru picks, and seems a step or two slow on pick and rolls.

But then again, he is a 1-and-done player who got his first taste of big time competition and really overwhelmed foes in the Pac 12-Conference.

His conditioning seems above the line, and he has averaged almost 32-minutes a game with the Lakers rookie.

His biggest challenge, will his unorthodox jump shot, fired from chest high, become an issue when he starts to play against the big boys? And that promises to be a real challenge against fast twitch and physical defenders he will be facing in the association.

And yes, it is against summer league competition, most guys he is beating won’t be in anyone’s camp come September.

But it’s a start, and it’s not just Lonzo as the storyline on the Lakers.

Big forward Kyle Kozma is averaging 24 a game. Vander Blue has come out of nowhere to get a contract, and is averaging 17 a game.

So the Lakers look forward to camp, with possibly 3-hot rookies to join the young vets on the roster, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.

It’s too early to say ‘Showtime’ is back, because Lonzo has yet to lineup against Chris Paul, James Harden and all the other firepower guys in the NBA.

But the explosive plays have been spectacular to see, and the noise from his father is seemingly gone too. Positives all the way around.

Lakers fans are having a ball. And the Lakers look like they have drafted a baller.

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