I had a lengthy counter-argument prepared that would've pointed out how my last couple of posts have been twisted, but this time I'm going to take a knee. Had a change of heart. Students can support the teams or not. Now they can sit around blowing bubbles and celebrating how unbiased they think they are for all I care. I fulfilled my roles in the athletics machine at UCD to a great extent and now I've had enough.

The suspension of the baseball team was really a death blow to my interest in Aggie athletics, more like a delayed one that puts you in the hospital and you die months later from complications. The university administrators and their far-left agenda, their desire to crush the traditions I cared about, can go take a long walk off a short pier.

Sorry, just don't have the interest level in other sports to do more than make puns or random, fairly obvious observations.

So I probably quit this board every couple of months (sometimes not saying anything when I do and sometimes with a long rant.) over the groupthink problems that plague the board. Since the now-kaput Band-Uh performed a lot of their songs I felt it appropriate to paraphrase and re-purpose a Green Day lyric. I'm nuking the bridge I've torched 2,000 times before. This time I'll blast it all to hell.

God speed. I hope you have the time of your life

goags20172.

FIN

Remember when the program's biggest problem was that it was bad ? I miss those days.

Hopefully JMU will read them the Bill of Rights.

So Michael Campagna has transferred to San Francisco. That might be an incentive to go to another Dons game, assuming they allow spectators in 2022.. Given he'll be a redshirt sophomore in 2022 and not a redshirt senior he will probably get significantly more playing time than Logan Denholm did at Sac State this year.

Interestingly enough Denholm is now an assistant there. The Sac State coaching staff now has two UCD catchers (Tyler La Torre). Funny coincidence.

That comment by the parent about how their son knew nothing but didn't go to parties and events with all the other players got me to thinking along a different line. That and the freshman hazing someone else (69aggie ?) mentioned When we think of hazing it's easy to assume it's some members of a group initiating new members of the same group, but what if it isn't ? Isn't it possible the parties being hazed were students who had nothing to do with the baseball program and the players who did it were simply part of a group of students who were involved ? If the people being hazed recognized one of their tormentors as a baseball player and included that detail in their complaint it's easy to see that getting spun into a complaint about the baseball team hazing while the majority of the team isnone the wiser.

When I was in graduate school I had some very loud and obnoxious neighbors (about a half dozen or so) who I knew were Sac State football players (This was under Steve Mooshagian's time as coach if I remember right) whom I had regular complaints about. Noise complaints mostly, but there were a lot of drunken nights and they caused some property damage. Lots of crap. One of them urinated on the exterior rear wall of my apt, was awakened by that. As one student being harrassed by others I had the right to go to the university to complain. Hell, I could've ratted them out to their coach. But I knew neither would do anything, so I just complained to the property manager and it eventually stopped. I guess they flunked out.

In 2003 the school would have done nothing. However had this happened in 2021 and I had reported their behavior to the university and mentioned that one of them was making racist threats to neighbors (he was) suddenly the football team would have been accused of diversity and inclusion issues even though they were private citizens harrassing other private citizens. How times change.

I think we have very different definitions of school spirit, but that's ok. I believe it's more than just going to school, having a great time, getting a great education, and speaking well of it to others.

In fact, everyone plays a role in the success of the athletic programs, and also the university indirectly through those programs. People's roles are a subject I think would best be served with its own message board topic. Perhaps I or someone else will do that today.

It would be nice if the students even show up to take the seats allotted to them..

When you come right down to it this is about more than just simply liking a sport or not having anything better to do. It's about being willing to show up to support other students and their efforts on behalf of the school. College students sometimes forget to support their own immediate communities when they rhetorically defend others much further away. I blame the smartphone for creating the illusion of a single global community when really it's many distinct communities that can communicate with each other.

Now obviously a student can't attend every event or even most of them, but a few games here and there across multiple sports in the space of four years isn't asking much. They're paying for it-why not ? Sometimes you have to wonder what the level of school spirit is. If they sold other schools' gear at the UCD bookstore, would UCD students buy and wear it around campus if it were a little bit cheaper than the UCD stuff? That would be an interesting social experiment.

According to Simon Fraser's website they have a female kicker, and she was the first Canadian female to score a point in a college football game.

Not bad-looking either. No Kathy Ireland in Necessary Roughness (or is it Unnecessary Roughness ?), but that's a tough act to follow.

That sounds about right.

I don't know about a conspiracy, unless the hazing allegations were trumped up as a means to eliminate the program.
That seems less probable.

Freezing the finances through suspending the coaches just makes sense if the university is not sure exactly what it's dealing with. What if it's a very serious matter, goes to court, and they have to pay damages ? And what if those damages make it too difficult to afford the program in the future ? They don't want the coaches promising new scholarships to players if the program might be cancelled or the NCAA imposes a reduction in scholarships. When it eliminated its baseball program Boise State had to honor the scholarships of any players who wanted to remain there. Also,baseball enters into contracts for the games it schedules just like football. Whether it's a cash payment, accomodations, or a commitment for a reciprocal trip there's always something offered up. In fact this might have something to do with why UCD baseball never schedules games against non-DI teams unless they are in transition to D1 (Cal Baptist, Seattle, Grand Canyon, and Utah Valley State being some past examples) The D-II schools UCD could schedule (Chico State, SF State, Cal State Stanislaus, etc) would all want cash-they don't need trip accomodations or return trips, being no more than a modest bus trip away.

This is not so much unlike when I have occasion to doubt my job security. I stop using my credit cards, cancel any cancellable excursions or memberships, look for other ways to save money. Much more effective when you start it before you're unemployed. When it eventually turns out fine and I'm still employed I'm still glad to have saved the money. UCD seems to employing a similar measure of caution.

Well, the key here is distinguishing whether it's just the team or the program that is suspended. I understand it to mean that there will be no NCAA ( suspension doesn't cover the club team I believe) baseball-related activities for UCD until the investigation is complete. If that's the case then it wouldn't do them any good to bring in replacement players or coaches.

The types of players you're suggesting they recruit as replacements they already do. Their maiin recruiting classes are mostly the un-flashy, overlooked, possibly under-sized, players make up most of the team in normal years. I don't want to say UCD has to scrape the bottom of the barrell, because that would be harsh and not really true, but the academic requirements and the pecking order in D-I baseball recruiting don't leave as wide of a selection of players as say Sac State. And continuous losing affects the pecking order and recruits'perception of the program.

The suspension is UCD's way of freezing future financial commitments. The hazing allegations may not have contained any complaints against the coaches, but they suspended them anyway to keep them from scheduling more games or recruiting players.

One other thing is that we don't know the full extent of the attrition. We know about the Carrell brothers leaving but how many other departures don't we know about ? Even more key players could be gone-one of us just hasn't located any evidence yet.

Also, we don't know if the NCAA will ultimately decide on the punishments, or if they will accept self-imposed ones. It could well be that UCD will not have the final decision. One thing's for sure-a postseason ban for UCD baseball will probably be a nothing punishment. It would be like telling The Incredible Hulk that he is not allowed to ride a bicycle.

From the wording of that press release they originally sent out it sounded like the investigation wasn't even going to begin until the fall quarter. I believe the reasoning might have something to do with the fact that both the school officials and returning team members would be on campus then for them to interview. If that's the reason why, then it's a pretty stupid one. If the hazing were conducted by upperclassmen, as hazing typically is, then it would make little difference if everyone were on campus. Some of the offending parties would have already graduated and would not be returning. If it's a serious enough matter you drag people in right away to interview them.

More likely the school officials investigating the case didn't consider it worth interrupting their summer breaks.

At this time I haven't heard anything, but I have done a little (very little) internet searching and have uncovered two potential clues that this is nowhere near finished.

1. The team Twitter account hasn't had a single post since before the original press release, nor does it seem that players or coaches have talked about the issue on their own social media accounts. The university likely instructed them to remain silent under penalty of losing their jobs/enrollment at the school if the investigation were to be compromised. As with a jury trial there is usually a very tight lid at the beginning that loosens as details are leaked. We're in tight lid phase right now.

2. No baseball schedule. It is very common for UCD to not have released a schedule in September: usually this happens in December or later. What is uncommon is that apparently no school thus far (that I can tell) has released a baseball schedule that includes UCD as an opponent. This detail could be nothing. Maybe the actual opponents are among those who haven't released their schedules yet. But not even one ? That's suspicious.

If the D1 baseball site where coaches have a bulletin board for requesting opponents is to be believed, then it would appear that UCD was still actively seeeking at least two weekend series at the time the team was suspended. One of the posts even had an early July 2021 timestamp. Since the coaching staff is responsible for scheduling, and not the athletic dept, I seriousvly doubt anyone is working on it right now. And it's likely some teams they did schedule have bowed out or will cancel due to the uncertainty.

I haven't seen anything yet that strongly suggests the program will be eliminated, but it looks more and more like there won't be a 2022 season. The biggest reason is the lack of time to prepare. They can't hold the full team practice schedule in the winter, even if the NCAA allowed it, due to the colder temperatures and wetter weather. That's just asking for more injuries.

Even if they made it to opening day unscathed the team would be so under-prepared that even the weakest opponents would slaughter them. For one thing, getting stretched out to be a starting pitcher or even a multi-inning reliever is a longer process. You're not getting that done in a few weeks. They can't use a bunch of 1-2 inning pitchers to cover the whole game like the Giants have often done of late. San Francisco can claim players off waivers or summon reinforcements from the minor leagues-can't do that in college baseball.

I have to wonder if they even would have enough players to fill a roster at this point. At least ten players graduated in 2021. In addition the Carrell (sp ?)brothers are gone. UCD baseball typically does not announce signing classes that are as large as other D-I universities', which could be a reflection of both the more stringent entrance requirements and the reduced year-to-year turnover (fewer two-year transfers in other words).
And now we know at least 1 member of the class that was to replace the graduates has already de-committed (Luke Carrell). The summer is also a time when some uncommited players can find their ways to UCD, but that activity has been stopped because of the suspension.

So what do you do if the team is cleared this month and you need at least 6-10 more players in a hurry ? Hold campus try-outs ? Do you really want to see what will happen when all the players who wouldn't have made the team under normal circumstances suddenly do ? At most you'd likely only find 1-2 keepers.

USD has a very nice campus. I thought the people were very nice there, but I guess you would be if you lived in SD and went to that school everyday. Beware of co-eds offering donuts. I didn't want one so I avoided the trap, but the perception is if you don't look like you belong there then you need to be saved.

Prior to my visit I did not know that the Cubs' (Now Giants') Kris Bryant and Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons were alumni.

The home side is the worst. It's incredibly unnerving to think about how that structure supports a press box and an elevator. A former neighbor of mine-a retiree with a pension and a part time job-had it figured out. Keep taking classes at CSUS and you can sit in the student section just up the ramp. No stairs to climb. I don't know how many degrees he's wound up with. That's the way to do it-keeping his mind sharp and watching all the college sports he can handle.

Sac State used to fire a cannon too for touchdowns. Maybe they still do-haven't been to a game there since before the last Aggie game I saw, and that was in 2017 against San Diego. A friend asked me if I were going to the CSUS vs UNI game. Sure, I'd love to fall through the stands and break my neck.

In 2019 I went to 6 Giants games, 4 in SF and 2 in Phoenix. In the four SF games they lost all of them, but won the road games.

I am planning to skip Oracle this year. With the virus making a big comeback not comfortable with the huge crowds.

It's been a good year to see single-A baseball. Saw a few Visalia Rawhide games a few weeks ago. The ballpark's capacity is significantly less than Dobbins Stadium with a crowd to match. It was such a small crowd that when they turned on the Kiss Cam the PA announcer knew the names of all the kissing couples. They automatically knew I was new there and gave me a sticker. Still a fun place, right in the middle of a neighborhood. Foul balls literally wind up in people's yards.

And the Davis tie-in to keep it relevant. Downtown Visalia reminded me of Davis a lot. Except it's not really a college town, so no lines of students waiting for sushi.

Hopefully the games will go better for you than the last time I went to see the Giants (2019). Went to see them play the Dodgers for a pair of September contests. They were shut out both times ! That was a wasted weekend.

Hope you enjoy them.

Hue Jackson ? Cheated and looked it up

This is horrible. I'm glad to see on a UC Davis board people reaching out with sympathy when a rival suffers a loss of life.

That's as it should be. This kind of accident brings home the point about how fleeting life is and how safety can be an illusion. We can take all the care we want in our daily routines, but all it takes is one careless idiot and it's all over. It should give you pause to think of all the things that have to go right for us to do what we do safely. And thanks to smart devices there are exponentially more idiots than there were 10-15 years ago.

Now, let's be honest here Drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians- there's lots of terrible ones to go around, and that is because at least 90 percent of the population is comprised of stupid, selfish, scum. There is no moral superiority among users of any of these methods of transportation

I deal with terrible cyclists and motorists everyday, and I see pedestrians jaywalking across ridiculously busy streets to catch a bus. Risking their lives and those of others to get somewhere 15 minutes earlier.

E-scooter riders are pure garbage though.

Dixie State is changing its name to Utah Tech next year.

The online articles I've browsed have stated it's about technology and moving forward, but I have to think there had to be some woke reasoning beyond that too. Dixie reminds one of the south. The south is associated with the confederacy, which is racist: therefore Dixie State is a racist name ? The "Utah" part is probably for more recognition. Who thinks of Utah when they hear Dixie State ?

So when you say Californians are not well-liked in Tulsa do you mean the residents were rude to you at the game or the townspeople were just rude in general ? And is this typical of Oklahomans in general ?

I am asking because I have a trip planned to OKC in a few weeks.

How very elevated the board content is. I don't believe anyone mentioned what Tulsa spelled backwards is.