• New woman’s sport
    "FAU reported it had more than doubled the number of athletes on its women’s track team from the previous year, but the team’s own website shows that was far from the case. The staggering numbers: FAU reported having 98 women’s track athletes. The roster showed no more than 43, and the team photo showed 38.

    The 98 women, FAU claimed, occupied 222 roster spots on its cross country, indoor track and outdoor track teams, more than any women’s track program among the 127 major sports schools."

    https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/gender-equality-fau-gave-feds-false-numbers-ranked-near-bottom/r1HcYrXaoDkiq5DbW8woOI/
  • New woman’s sport
    Shocked that FAU would be involved in anything like this. UCD's mens basketball coach for the 1989-90 year was Lonnie Williams who had previously coached at FAU. He left Davis after one year under a cloud...as I recall there were allegations that he had fudged a bit on his application.

    At least FAU has cleaned up their athletics with the hiring of Lane Kiffin as head football coach.
  • New woman’s sport
    Remember about 15 years ago when Stanford's rugby club forfeited rather than play Cal? Two Stanford alums reacted to the news by donating a spare million or so to the school to upgrade the club, including building an outstanding rugby facility. Got a problem? Throw money at it until it goes away.

    Would be nice to think Gates and Jobs might direct some spare cash (and a daughter?) to Davis. Less nice to think they might establish an equestrian facility on the Peninsula for the use of the Junior University...On the other hand it would help to have another school with an equestrian team in California, and since the home team provides horses, I bet Stanford would come up with some very nice ones.
  • 2017-18 Causeway Cup
    So we may have assured at least a tie. Still nothing in print about making up the rain postponed softball game. Looking at team schedules, it will be hard to find a date, unless both teams miss the play-offs and they can tack a game on after the regular season....assuming NCAA rules permit that. Hornet website simply does not show the game and lists a maximum of 75 points. http://hornetsports.com/fan_info/causewaycup/2017-18
    If that's the case, we've locked down a tie.
  • 2018 schedule released
    Old planes, poor maintenance, some scary incidents, some involving in-air cabin fires,...

    Here's the article from CBS news, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/allegiant-air-the-budget-airline-flying-under-the-radar/

    And in fairness, Allegiant's response, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/allegiant-air-60-minutes-defensive-2018-04-16/
  • 2018 schedule released
    "60 Minutes" ran a story on Allegiant Air a couple of weeks ago. Might be better to walk. Barefoot. At night. In dark clothing. Wearing blinders. On the wrong side of the road.
  • 2017-18 Causeway Cup
    According to the Slack sports site, UCD women defeated Slack women in tennis today, 4-3. Running score is now UCD 37.5, SUCS 25. Next up is Track & Field this coming Friday, at Slack. The second baseball game is scheduled for May 8th, and a softball rain-out remains to be scheduled. One win or a couple of ties and the Causeway Cup remains where it is happiest.
  • 2017-18 Causeway Cup
    Ouch. Baseball lost, 8-2. Giving up 7 runs in one inning will do that to you. Causeway running score is not UCD 32.5, SUCS 25.0. Next up is track this Friday and women's tennis on Saturday.

    The track meet, to be held at Sac, has been rescheduled to April 27th.
  • Non-US student athletes- no NCAA policy?
    Each of the Slack State tennis teams has eight roster players, and on each team only two are American.

    (Though perhaps we could recruit some foreigners for field hockey for a few years while the sport is still pretty much an emerging sport this side of the Mississippi River. We do have one Dutch player, but there must be some prospects in Asia or Down Under who could use an ag related degree.)
  • 2017-18 Causeway Cup
    Men's golf placed 5th in their own tournament, well ahead of Slack who finished 11th (of 13). With the higher placing, the Ags earn 5 more Causeway points. That brings the running score to UCD 32.5, Slack 22.5. Next event on the schedule is the first of two baseball games, to be played this coming Tuesday evening in Davis.

    Go Ags!
  • New woman’s sport
    Thanks for the information. Obviously I had no idea that the home school provides horses for visitors. I will have to read up a bit. How are horses distributed for the event? Is there some sort of drawing or lottery? It would seem to be a home-turf advantage if the home riders had horses with which they work everyday and the visitors are riding unfamiliar mounts. But as is apparent, what do I know?

    Many, many years ago the UCD horse polo club won a national club championship, largely with the support of a rancher/horse breeder from the central valley. Pattern story for a made for TV movie...the rough unpolished kids from the west beat the refined blue-bloods from the east coast. Coincidentally it was the backdrop for a movie for TV with John Ritter titled "Leave Yesterday Behind." Ritter plays a polo player and vet student who is paralyzed in a riding accident.

    And speaking of equestrian events, and with a John Ritter tie-in, I have two words in support of an equestrian team: Kaley. Cuoco.
  • New woman’s sport
    I am for any sport...but really don't get equestrian (and field hockey) in the California valley. Racing shells are expensive and you have to transport them, but you don't have to feed them or stable them, or stop every few hours to water them...and at the end of the meet you wash them off, not brush them down.
  • New woman’s sport
    Boise State has beach volleyball. They play their first home games next week. http://www.broncosports.com/sports/w-svolley/bosu-w-svolley-body.html
  • New woman’s sport
    It's all a matter of perspective. As I recall, when the Ags went to the Boardwalk Bowl in the early 70s some UMass fans displayed a sign that read "Beach Cal Davis." They were playing on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City with the Atlantic Ocean in plain view. Amherst, MA is about 90 miles from Boston, only slightly farther than Davis to San Francisco.
    Beach volleyball has been played in the Olympics in notable seaside retreats like Atlanta, Athens, Beijing and London.
    I think they have to call it beach volleyball because in this enlightened age we can't call it "another reason to watch women run around in bikinis."
  • New woman’s sport
    Other than being an ag school with a premier veterinary school I don't get adding equestrian.

    Look at Fresno State's schedule: http://www.gobulldogs.com/schedule.aspx?path=equest
    The season started in September with three home events over two weekends. Then they travelled to South Dakota in October and to Tennessee for two meets in November. Then a break, followed by two events on a weekend in Texas and two home events two weeks later back in Fresno. In March they traveled to South Carolina and Alabama. That month ended with the conference championship in Dallas. Next weekend they return to Texas for the national championships, a four day event. Transporting, boarding and feeding horses can't be cheap. And, according to the press release, the school is building ($$$) an equine facility.
    At least with a team in Davis, visiting teams can get two events on their west coast trip.
  • 2017-18 Causeway Cup
    Men's tennis lost a close one to Slack yesterday, 4-3. Running score is now UCD 27.5, Slack 22.5. Next up is a men's golf tournament (The El Macero "Classic") this weekend.
  • MBB: 2018 NIT Tournament
    I frequently tried to invoke something like that when it came to divulging my grades to my parents.
  • New woman’s sport
    I think that rowing is like cross country. Pick a spot and sit, the action comes racing by, and you're done....Not even like the Tour de France where idiots run out onto the course waving flags and almost knocking the cyclists down. As I recall the few times I have seen rowing in the Olympics there are often bike lanes on the shore and you can see cyclists following the boats.