1-Man’s Opinion-Tuesday-11/17 “SDSU-A Loss is still a Win”

Posted by on November 17th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

Wow.

That was impressive, even if San Diego State wakes up looking at a loss on Tuesday from their Monday night game at Utah.

The Aztecs went hammer-and-tong with the big-bruising Utes, playing race horse basketball against the plodding Pac 12-team.

State would not wilt, not when Utah built a 9-point lead early, not when the hostile crowd turned wild over officials calls, and never giving up when at times, other young teams would cave in at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.

Winston Shepard had a strong second half, and needs 17-point halves like that to become the go-to veteran on the floor.

Dakarai Allen shows no fear firing up three pointers, as he showed early on with 3-treys to keep State close.

Zylan Cheatem is not afraid to dive to the  bucket, and this is a young redshirt freshman playing with the big boys.

Sophomore Trey Kell is bigger and stronger and can drill three point shots.

There’s still alot of growing to do with Malik Pope, who can get hot, but can also take a bunch of errant shots that kill momentum.

Jeremy Hemsley is so very young, but not afraid to matchup against veteran guards, or to take it into the paint against tall timber.

The bigs are the bigs, but it is disappointing there are still offensive deficiencies with some of these guys.

Skylar Spencer doesn’t have much of an offensive skill set.  For all the basketball Angelo Chol has played, you’d think he would have developed any type of a jumper, or a move to his right, to compliment his lefthanded power drive hook shots to the bucket.

Steve Fisher said he’d use the trip to Utah to figure out what the personality of his team would be.  I think he knows now, attack the rim, take it to the hole, kick it out, hit threes, and play big boy defense with shot blockers.

They lost to a firepower Pac 12-team, but they were not bullied.  SDSU is enormously athletic, and gifted with the ball.  Just think where they will be by January when conference play starts.

Good luck Boise, New Mexico, UNLV, the others who thought they were going to be basketball royalty in this conference.

I don’t think anyone can provide the blast furnace offensive and defensive power that State showed, on the road, in a brutally tough barn in Utah.

It might have been a last second loss, when Utah hit 20-of-22 free throws in the 2nd half to stave off the multiple SDSU comeback attempts.

But it was a win, to hang tough, keep roaring back, and finding out how good this bunch of guys wearing Black might be.  Really good.  Wow.

 

—0—

1-Man’s Opinion Column…Monday 11/16..”Padres-What’s the Blueprint”

Posted by on November 16th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

It’s started all over again, the wheeling an dealing involving the Padres second year (sophomore) General Manager AJ Preller.

Much like last winter’s baseball meetings, he turned last weeks GM sessions, into a trade fest.  3-deals in 3-days.

And like last year, he dealt talent to get a different type of player.

Last December he cleaned out the lower half of the farm system, moving 7-pitchers and 11-young talents in a series of deals that brought him veterans, with the hope it would put the team in a pennant race.  It didn’t.

Now he reverse field, and moves two veteran relievers, in Craig Kimbrel and Joaquin Benoit.  This haul netted him seven pretty good players off the minor league rosters of the Red Sox and Mariners.

It’s flashy, these middle of the night moves, the Kimbrel deal was executed at 5:30am with Boston.  But also begs a question.

So now the Padres are stockpiling players to rebuild the barren farm system.  But the big club has holes everywhere.

In Boston, they love the arrival of closer Craig Kimbrel, but they are lamenting the decision to move centerfielder Manny Margot and shortstop Javy Guerra.

Seattle got Benoit at the cost of a very good Class A-pitcher Eury de los Santos.

And the young infielder they got from the Yankees Jose Perila can hit minor league pitching.

Rumors circulating they may make a run at a 32-year old Japanese shortstop Nobu Matsuda also.

Who’s the 2nd baseman, shortstop, 3rd baseman?  Who’s’in leftfielder?  Who will be your closer an your 8th inning man.

In the process of guys being shipped out, and guys leaving as free agents, like Ian Kennedy and Justin Upton, the Padres have cleared 64M in payroll off the books.

That’s great, but don’t you create a bigger issue?  Now you have to overpay to get free agents to sign on with a strip mined roster left behind with all these deals.

Yes there are about 150-veteran free agents of all types on the open market, but convincing somebody to come here becomes a challenge, when lots of people are writing and saying they don’t think Preller knows what he is doing.

It’s early in the process, and there’s lots of time till mid December and the Winter Meetings, but we have already been thru one strange winter.  It appears a 2nd one awaits us.

So it begs the question.  What’s the Padres blueprint? Is there a game plan really here?  Whose next to vacate the San Diego roster?  Who is coming back in return.

At first glance, it sure looks like San Antonio is going to have a good team in 2016 in the Padres farm system.

What type of team will San Diego have?   No one knows what the Padres will be like, not even the night stalker GM himself, yet..

-0-

1-Man’s Opinion-Friday–11/13 “Aztecs basketball-Gruesome to Greatness”

Posted by on November 13th, 2015  •  2 responses  • 

Perseverance, Patience, Personality, Passion.

Pick any of those words and it describes the man who has had as a big an impact on athletics at San Diego State, in its long history on Montezuma Mesa, as anyone..

Steve Fisher belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and maybe soon, when he retires, he will get there. But right now he is still ours, and aren’t we lucky.

Think about how hard his job has been.

Coaching offices at one time in trailers. Playing once upon a time in dank and dirty Peterson Gym. Home games at the empty Sports Arena. No quality wins to speak of, an afterthought in a town that didn’t care about the sport. That’s what SDSU was prior to his arrival.

Fast forward to now at San Diego State. Sellouts at Viejas Arena. The Show putting on the show before the real basketball show begins. National rankings, March Madness a permanent fixture on the calendar. Deep runs into the tournament. 4-and-5 star recruits coming here from all over the country.

San Diego State basketball once upon a time gave us a failing Jim Brandenberg, an overmatched Fred Trinkle, and people like Tony Fuller and Jim Harrack-Junior.

And now it’s Steve Fisher.

Think about starting his coaching career, a year removed from the Fab 5-at-Michigan, going (0-14) in the conference and (5-24) overall.

Think about the leap of faith it must have taken, or maybe it was the sales pitch, to get Fresno State transfer Randy Holcombe, to come play for Fisher.

It started with quality JUCO’s, progressed to Division 1-transfers coming back home, to the point now, they get McDonald’s All Americans, and 4-and-5 star players signing here yearly.

Steve Fisher’s prized player is the unsung San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard. But it could be any and all Aztecs of years gone by.

They came, they played, they learned, they graduated, and they got good.

The man’s perseverance was something to behold. His persistence to keep recruiting no matter what the player’s initial decision was continued. His passion for the game, and his classy personality, are what allowed him to become great.

They’ve named the basketball court after him. Tonight is opening night against his Alma Mater Illinois State. There’s a season to be played, another championship to be won, and a tournament to get to, against all the other great programs in the country.

The best program on the West Coast is not UCLA nor Arizona, or anyone else, it’s San Diego State. They may not be blue blood like Kentucky or someone else, but the Red & Black are something very special these days.

He won’t admit to it, but I will say it. This basketball coach not only saved the program, he may have saved the entire Athletic Department. His success brought nationwide recognition to the school The tourney payouts made a difference. The name has become household across the country,

Thanks to that man, who took gruesome and made it into greatness., Steve Fisher is why San Diego State is where they are these days.

 

—0—-

1-Man’s Opinion Column-Thursday-11/12 “Do You Care-How Do You Feel Chargers Fans”

Posted by on November 12th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

Is anybody reading this? Does anybody care any longer?

From the “Just Asking” Department, I always wonder who reads my 1-Man’s Opinion Columns, and what they think about the topics I put on the table.

I also ask, with the latest developements in the last 24-hours involving the Chargers, the NFL, and Carson, what do you feel, do you care?

In the latest chapter of ‘upstaging’ Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s sales pitch to NFL owner, the Chargers conveniently announce they have worked a deal with Bob Iger, the CEO from Disney, to become the top executive of Carson LLC, the entire Stadum construction project, if the NFL approves the Carson project.

This within hours of the Mayor’s face to face meeting in New York with NFL owners, as he detailed everything he has tried to do, but has been rebuffed by owner Dean Spans and his carpetbagger spokesman Mark Fabiani.

Just another chapter in the book of how to destroy relationships with a city that has given you 51-years of loyal season ticket support.

Think back to all the other stunts announced engineered by Spanos, that co-incided with San Diego announcements of their plan to save the team.’

The announcement of the Carson land acqusition.

The linkup with Mark Davis as a co-partner in Carson.

The hiring of Carmon Policy to oversee Carson.

The Fabiani multiple-condemnation of the CSAG committee formation, its studies, its announcement.

Every day there would be something positive scheduled by the city-county civic leaders, it would be detonated by Chargers ownership attempting to usurp San Diego’s intentions.

Just wondering what kind of person Dean Spanos has become? Just wondering why fans would continue to go to games? Just wondering why corporate sponsors would want to continue to do business with him and his franchise?

Of course I will also ask, what does Spanos do the day the NFL signs off on Stan Kroenke getting the franchise at Hollywood Park?

Will there be another stunt, with Spanos announcing he will stay in San Diego, and try to sales pitch the community, ‘look at what I am doing, electing to stay in San Diego-let’s work together.’

The Chargers always try to be outfront and upstage Faulconer.

Here’s a real question.

I wonder what they are planning to do the day Faulconer announces the NFL stays in San Diego and Mark Davis will relocate the brand “Raiders” to be based in San Diego?

So I am asking for responses. What do you feel? Do you care? What do you think about the owner or about the mayor?

You may reply now. hacksaw5555@gmail.com

 

–0–

1-Man’s Opinion-Wednesday 11/11 “Defeats-Defiance & Denial-Chargers Football”

Posted by on November 11th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

The Chargers have skidded into the bye week, with a 5-game losing streak attached to their tail, like a tin can being dragged along by a dog. They have 10-losses in their last 13-games. There will be no January playoff games here.

The numbers are horrid, and all we get from Mike McCoy at his weekly press briefings, are the same clichéd quotes, and defiant answers to questions he doesn’t like.

The numbers do not lie. The defense is now giving up 372-yards a game, now ranked 20th in the NF, much damage done to them by bad teams you would think they could beat..

Despite the presence of a great quarterback, they still cannot win, having given up 28-touchdowns this season, while scoring just 23.

He’s not junking the “3-4” defense, despite getting gashed for big yardage plays every weekend, a total of 39-plays this year of Plus-20-yards.

That defense has just 16-sacks and only 9-takeaways in 9-games this year., but the defense does not change.

McCoy remains adamant they are not misusing RB-Melvin Gordon, and has no intention of taking blocking tight end David Johnson and loading up with a ‘big backfield’ or maybe an I-formation, to play to Gordon’s strength, where he starred out of the I-formation at Wisconsin.

The roster is a mess, with a team playing shorthanded. You wonder, with the desperation situation in the offensive front, why they did not put guard Johnnie Troutman on the 8W-Injured Reserve list, with the right of recall. Eventually they put him on the season long IR-list, and cannot bring him back. Ditto with the handling of LB-Tourek Williams broken foot

They never do anything bold. Didn’t make a push to get legendary pass rusher Jared Allen. Didn’t consider bringing back Dwight Freeney. No interest in the highly productive Wes Welker. Never looked at massive Browns NT-Phil Taylor. None of them could help this sorry bunch?

McCoy maintains his team is just a couple of plays away from being a much better record, if they had just made a play here-or-there. Of course nothing ever gets better, they keep losing close games, and they never make the plays.

Remember they struggled before finally beating a horrid Detroit team. They should have lost to the 2-win Cleveland Browns. They may be (2-7), could have been (0-9) and surely nowhere’s near McCoy idealistic thought, might be (7-2) “if we made a play here or there”

The injuries pile up but he refuses to admit that has anything to do with this record, as if it would sound like an ‘excuse’ rather than a legitimate ‘explanation;.

McCoy spent a chunk of time talking about his passion to excel as a coach, speaking glowingly of the passion of what few veteran players he has on his roster.

Defiant and Defeated, the rest of the season looks dreary in San Diego. With a stubborn coach who isn’t man enough to admit mistakes, not willing to change things up, or smart enough to see the cup half empty rather than half full.

The numbers do not lie, or as Bill Parcells would say, ‘you are what your record says you are’. Mike McCoy refuses to see it that way. He looks like he’s going down with his ship.

 

—0—-