Thursday, November 30, 2006

For the first time this year, I can honestly say I'm disappointed with the coverage local media has so far showed the Spartans heading into what I have called their biggest game of the season.


It's now Thursday, and the Merc has done nothing beyond their normal press-conference style coverage. That's not to say we've been ignored, as they noted Dwight Lowery's selection to the All-America team, but there's been hardly anything written about this week's game.


Maybe I've overplayed the importance, but the normal purveyors of hype, aka columnists, should be on this thing. I'm sure they'll give us a courtesy column in Friday or Saturday's paper, but that won't drive ticket sales or the weeklong attention this game deserves.


Let me reiterate: This is the BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR, maybe even bigger than our bowl date with New Mexico. Here's a few reasons why:
1. If for no other reason, it re-energizes our fanbase. An exciting win could very possibly encourage 3,000-5,000 more people to get on the bandwagon and attend the New Mexico game. At the very least, it could translate into a similar number of season tickets for next year.
2. It plays wonders with recruits. Face it, we recruit directly against fresno State more than other school. Right now, Pat Hill and his down's syndrom mustache can walk into a recruits house and just put this on the table: "You can play for us, or get beat every year by us. Which do you prefer?" No one likes those odds.
3. It guarantees us eight wins. Worse-case scenario if we win on Saturday 8-5. 8-5 just has a much better ring to it than 7-6, especially considering one of our wins came against a Division I-AA school.
4. It would guarantee at least one legit victory. As it stands now, this is who we've beat: Stanford (1-10), San Diego State (2-9), Cal-Poly SLO (7-4, but Division I-AA), Utah State (1-11), New Mexico State (3-8), Louisiana Tech (3-9) and Idaho (4-8); not exactly a murder's row. Granted, Fresno State would only be 4-8 if we beat them, but that's a decent team, no matter what their record says. I don't think we can say that about any of these other teams.
5. BRAGGIN RIGHTS. Alumni want to be able to rub football victories in each other's faces and for 16 years, SJSU alums have been unable to do that with their Fresno State co-workers, friends and relatives. We can take the verbal jousting from the likes of Stanford, Cal and maybe even the other UCs, but not from people at Fresno for god's sake. Right now, football is about all they have over us, but they have it in such a way that it almost negates our ability to brag about anything else. THEY WENT TO SCHOOL IN FRESNO! Let's remind them.


First step to victory is not letting this guy break the record.


Oh, and our basketball team is
awful.

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