When Gonzaga sports fans look back on 2007, undoubtedly they will first think of the things they'd rather forget.
Phrases like "psychedelic mushrooms," "possession" and "suspended indefinitely" will stir up painful memories. Thoughts on Year One A.A. (After Adam) will only arouse visions of missed opportunities and failed expectations. On the surface, it would seem like the legacy of 2007 was that it would only be remembered for what went wrong.
But don't do it.
Don't give in to that temptation.
To do so would mean to forget the great accomplishments of 2007. It would mean to overlook just how special 2007 really was to many of our Bulldog men and women, and how much their achievements only reinforce what we love about Gonzaga sports.
Who could forget about the emergence of the women's basketball team? The Bulldogs caught fire at the end of last season, losing only one regular season game after January and advancing to their first NCAA Tournament. They've been even hotter this year. Bringing in versatile freshman point guard Courtney Vandersloot and redshirts Tiffanie Shives and Janelle Bekkering, the Bulldogs have been a gunslinging team, averaging 84 points per game en route to a 4-1 record. Credit the amazing job Kelly Graves did of bringing this team together and getting them to buy into the team concept. He now has himself a budding powerhouse, and the most successful and exciting Bulldog team of 2007.
Who could forget about the long-overdue homecoming of the baseball team? With the opening of Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field, the Bulldogs finally have a home again, after years of being in a sort of exile at Avista Stadium. More than just creating one of the best atmospheres for watching college baseball in the Northwest, the stadium gave Gonzaga back its baseball team, as fans were able to proudly watch as the Bulldogs delivered a winning record in their first year back on campus.
Who could forget about the men's soccer team's wild ride? A schizophrenic season in which the Bulldogs seemed both Jekyll (beating defending-champs UC-Santa Barbara) and Hyde (a 1-4-3 stretch to end the season) climaxed with an improbable berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Who could forget about the power the women's soccer team showed this year? The Bulldogs finished 12-7-1, tying the team record for wins. And although they came back down to Earth in conference play, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more exciting period this year than the Bulldogs' record-breaking eight-game unbeaten streak.
And even with the pitfalls of last spring, who could forget about the new-look Bulldogs of late 2007? Austin Daye and company are quickly showing that their fans should let go of the apathy and bitterness from last year and embrace this new team.
Gene Hackman said it best in "Hoosiers": "I would hope you'd support who we are, not who we are not." In 2007, Bulldog teams across the sports spectrum showed who they are, showed their commitment, strength and perseverance.
That truly is Gonzaga. These were your teams.
Gonzaga isn't off-court mishaps and disappointments, no matter how easy it may be to allow those to be the focus of this past year. The Bulldog spirit that Gonzaga truly loves was there in 2007.
All you have to do is remember.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Sportscamp Blog 11/18
- Well, for anyone who ever dismissed "Game of Shadows," it sure seems like many of the things it brought up are coming true. First Marion Jones admits to using performance-enhancing drugs, now Barry Bonds gets indicted for perjury about lying about taking steroids. I have one thing to say:PHHBBBBBBBBBBBBBTTTTTTTTTTT!!!
- I don't get the schizoprhenic Trail Blazers this season. First they can beat teams like Dallas and Detroit fairly convincingly, but then they can blow a 25-point lead to the 76ers (!) of all teams, before losing to a Wizards team without Gilbert Arenas. The main thing this team needs to learn is consistency; being able to bring that same intensity to the big games as to the small ones.
Of course, let's be patient, these guys are still a young team. Give them time to develop.
- However, some of the personel of the Blazers need to shape up for the team to be successful. I love Steve Blake's intensity and his ballhandling, but the guy needs to learn how to shoot! He's only shooting 35 percent from the field, and an abysmal 27 percent from the 3-point line. I thought we brought him in to shore up our long range shooting? Where's his touch that he showed in the black and red two years ago?
Don't get me started about Channing Frye. Let me say this, if the second unit is so week that you move your best defender (Joel Przybilla, who else?) to the bench and move Channing Frye to the starting center spot, its not a good sign. He's only averaging 3.5 rebounds per game, and has played some of the worst defense I've ever seen from a "center." He just looks clueless out there, with his back turned to cutters, not recovering quickly, and committing dumb fouls. I'm not sure he is much of an upgrade from Z-Bo. Yeah, I said it.
- The Gonzaga Bulldogs are looking good right now, but lets have them play a good team before we annoint them as the best team Gonzaga has ever had.
- The Browns? 6-4? Are you kidding?
- I don't get the schizoprhenic Trail Blazers this season. First they can beat teams like Dallas and Detroit fairly convincingly, but then they can blow a 25-point lead to the 76ers (!) of all teams, before losing to a Wizards team without Gilbert Arenas. The main thing this team needs to learn is consistency; being able to bring that same intensity to the big games as to the small ones.
Of course, let's be patient, these guys are still a young team. Give them time to develop.
- However, some of the personel of the Blazers need to shape up for the team to be successful. I love Steve Blake's intensity and his ballhandling, but the guy needs to learn how to shoot! He's only shooting 35 percent from the field, and an abysmal 27 percent from the 3-point line. I thought we brought him in to shore up our long range shooting? Where's his touch that he showed in the black and red two years ago?
Don't get me started about Channing Frye. Let me say this, if the second unit is so week that you move your best defender (Joel Przybilla, who else?) to the bench and move Channing Frye to the starting center spot, its not a good sign. He's only averaging 3.5 rebounds per game, and has played some of the worst defense I've ever seen from a "center." He just looks clueless out there, with his back turned to cutters, not recovering quickly, and committing dumb fouls. I'm not sure he is much of an upgrade from Z-Bo. Yeah, I said it.
- The Gonzaga Bulldogs are looking good right now, but lets have them play a good team before we annoint them as the best team Gonzaga has ever had.
- The Browns? 6-4? Are you kidding?
Thursday, November 15, 2007
A conduct code violation
The following is an open letter from the presidents of Guard University.
We here at Guard U have always enjoyed a certain level of ... consistency.
Dating back to the days of yore when this University was founded, the "Santangelo era" as we call it, we've always held ourselves to a certain standard. The Guard U Code of Conduct and Mission Statement adopted after the events of March 1999 were meant to ensure that all future generations at Guard U will not dare deviate from this established, consistent norm. After all, we were finally successful, and to maintain that success we adopted the Code of Conduct.
It reads: "All those who proudly don the Guard U colors hereby will forever wind the shot clock down, forever deter motion on offense, and forever allow the dribble penetration of one stand for the play of many." Don't mess with success.
However, it seems that the new class entering our ranks this year is choosing not to take that mission statement to heart. This letter is meant to ask those involved to cease and desist with their unusual actions.
To us here at Guard U, this is truly disappointing, but it's not like we didn't see this coming. That long-haired counter-culture advocate Adam Morrison started this trend a few years ago, claiming that life existed inside the three-point line and that it should be explored by slashers and big men. Naturally, this claim was dismissed, and last year we returned to our normal core curriculum.
Now this year's team seems to be taking up that foolish cause yet again. It seems to be headed by Jeremy Pargo, and his focus on athleticism over the usual stability has corrupted the minds of young men who follow him, like Austin Daye, Steven Gray and Larry Gurganious. They've moved away from the mission statement.
We've always expected our students to adhere to a strict regimen of halfcourt sets, perimeter passing and slow offense. But now, we're seeing something different. Cutting? Slashing? Those things are usually seen in a horror movie, not on a Gonzaga basketball court.
These bad apples have influenced other players as well with their deviating ways. The team's big men now think that they can do more besides grab rebounds and hand off to the guards. They think that they can post up, dish to cutters and throw outlet passes.
Here at Guard U, we take our image very seriously, and this corruption into athletic, energized play must stop immediately.
We on the board just can't take it anymore. We long for the sound of shot clock buzzers over the current sounds of rim-rattling and Kennel shaking.
Anything different truly frightens us. When we miraculously made the Elite Eight in 1999, we decided then and there to maintain that same level. We knew what methods worked, and any deviation from those methods could have resulted in not achieving that same level of success again.
We wanted to stay safe.
Risk is not something we here at Guard U like to dabble in. We don't want to even think of changing our institution, even if some believe that the reward would be greater than we have ever seen. Our courage isn't strong enough; we don't want to risk forfeiting our consistency.
Therefore, we strongly urge this year's team to attempt to keep things safe, normal ... and consistent. After all, with this newfound energy, excitement and athleticism, who knows what could end up happening to us?
We here at Guard U have always enjoyed a certain level of ... consistency.
Dating back to the days of yore when this University was founded, the "Santangelo era" as we call it, we've always held ourselves to a certain standard. The Guard U Code of Conduct and Mission Statement adopted after the events of March 1999 were meant to ensure that all future generations at Guard U will not dare deviate from this established, consistent norm. After all, we were finally successful, and to maintain that success we adopted the Code of Conduct.
It reads: "All those who proudly don the Guard U colors hereby will forever wind the shot clock down, forever deter motion on offense, and forever allow the dribble penetration of one stand for the play of many." Don't mess with success.
However, it seems that the new class entering our ranks this year is choosing not to take that mission statement to heart. This letter is meant to ask those involved to cease and desist with their unusual actions.
To us here at Guard U, this is truly disappointing, but it's not like we didn't see this coming. That long-haired counter-culture advocate Adam Morrison started this trend a few years ago, claiming that life existed inside the three-point line and that it should be explored by slashers and big men. Naturally, this claim was dismissed, and last year we returned to our normal core curriculum.
Now this year's team seems to be taking up that foolish cause yet again. It seems to be headed by Jeremy Pargo, and his focus on athleticism over the usual stability has corrupted the minds of young men who follow him, like Austin Daye, Steven Gray and Larry Gurganious. They've moved away from the mission statement.
We've always expected our students to adhere to a strict regimen of halfcourt sets, perimeter passing and slow offense. But now, we're seeing something different. Cutting? Slashing? Those things are usually seen in a horror movie, not on a Gonzaga basketball court.
These bad apples have influenced other players as well with their deviating ways. The team's big men now think that they can do more besides grab rebounds and hand off to the guards. They think that they can post up, dish to cutters and throw outlet passes.
Here at Guard U, we take our image very seriously, and this corruption into athletic, energized play must stop immediately.
We on the board just can't take it anymore. We long for the sound of shot clock buzzers over the current sounds of rim-rattling and Kennel shaking.
Anything different truly frightens us. When we miraculously made the Elite Eight in 1999, we decided then and there to maintain that same level. We knew what methods worked, and any deviation from those methods could have resulted in not achieving that same level of success again.
We wanted to stay safe.
Risk is not something we here at Guard U like to dabble in. We don't want to even think of changing our institution, even if some believe that the reward would be greater than we have ever seen. Our courage isn't strong enough; we don't want to risk forfeiting our consistency.
Therefore, we strongly urge this year's team to attempt to keep things safe, normal ... and consistent. After all, with this newfound energy, excitement and athleticism, who knows what could end up happening to us?
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Kennel spirit hung over
Seats 1 through 6 in section 106, row 1 of the McCarthey Athletic Center are dedicated to the founders of the Kennel Club, the veritable Gonzaga institution meant to spark support for the basketball team.
It is fortunate that those six men are long gone and graduated, because it would be a terrible shame for them to see what their club has devolved into.
The Kennel Club had developed a stigma over the past several years. Once known as the social group that inspired some of the best team spirit in the nation, it seems the group's most accurate description now is the resident "frat house" at basketball games.
It started innocently enough, as the chants at basketball games got a little raunchier here and there, but you could forgive that as simply a bunch of fans trying to maintain the homecourt edge. But they soon got worse. The "Brokeback Mountain" and "you, you, you (rhymes with witch)" chants being the obvious examples.
Since then, the entire mindset - and subsequently the identity - of the Kennel Club has changed. At basketball games, the Kennel is nothing more than a haven for drunken men to scream obscenities and for women to wear revealing clothes and grind to hip-hop. Slowly, this faction took over the Kennel, with those who were serious about supporting the team being pushed to the minority. This was most evident last year; suddenly the cheering become more intermittent, the support less enthusiastic, the motor skills a little more impaired.
You got the feeling that many in that group didn't have cheering as their top priority. Rather, the basketball game was merely a distraction, something to take drunken pictures at before blacking out and forgetting about it by the next day. It's a bad sign when the home crowd is struggling like Joe Namath to spit out a sentence.
The Kennel board saw all of this happening, and only watched as this perception spread from the stands to the campus.
At one point, the Bulldogs could have boasted that they had the nation's best fans, with enthusiasm so big that opposing teams would shiver. Then, when the team hit a rough patch last year, what little threads of total enthusiasm that were left gave way to this group of inebriated undergrads. In turn, this eliminated the Kennel's uniqueness, as their ascension to the forefront of the Kennel made Gonzaga's fans look no more special than any other college fans.
With all of this going on right underneath their noses, how can the Kennel board be proud of this?
As the ones in charge of fan support, it is their responsibility to maintain the image of Gonzaga's fans. Last year especially, when the erosion became more obvious, they could have done something about it. They could have set an example or made a statement, something to show that Gonzaga fans were special.
Instead, they sold key chains for house parties.
So much for fixing the image, boys.
The new leaders of this year's Kennel Club are now presented with a unique opportunity: They have the power to change things. Will they continue to head down the current path, where parties and profanity currently define the Kennel Club, or will they realize what made the Kennel Club so important in the first place, the identity it gives to Gonzaga basketball? In their position, this year's Kennel board has a chance to erase the stigma surrounding the group, and bring basketball back to the forefront.
The ball is in their court now, and with game time approaching on whether change can be made, you can only hope they didn't go out drinking the night before their big game.
It is fortunate that those six men are long gone and graduated, because it would be a terrible shame for them to see what their club has devolved into.
The Kennel Club had developed a stigma over the past several years. Once known as the social group that inspired some of the best team spirit in the nation, it seems the group's most accurate description now is the resident "frat house" at basketball games.
It started innocently enough, as the chants at basketball games got a little raunchier here and there, but you could forgive that as simply a bunch of fans trying to maintain the homecourt edge. But they soon got worse. The "Brokeback Mountain" and "you, you, you (rhymes with witch)" chants being the obvious examples.
Since then, the entire mindset - and subsequently the identity - of the Kennel Club has changed. At basketball games, the Kennel is nothing more than a haven for drunken men to scream obscenities and for women to wear revealing clothes and grind to hip-hop. Slowly, this faction took over the Kennel, with those who were serious about supporting the team being pushed to the minority. This was most evident last year; suddenly the cheering become more intermittent, the support less enthusiastic, the motor skills a little more impaired.
You got the feeling that many in that group didn't have cheering as their top priority. Rather, the basketball game was merely a distraction, something to take drunken pictures at before blacking out and forgetting about it by the next day. It's a bad sign when the home crowd is struggling like Joe Namath to spit out a sentence.
The Kennel board saw all of this happening, and only watched as this perception spread from the stands to the campus.
At one point, the Bulldogs could have boasted that they had the nation's best fans, with enthusiasm so big that opposing teams would shiver. Then, when the team hit a rough patch last year, what little threads of total enthusiasm that were left gave way to this group of inebriated undergrads. In turn, this eliminated the Kennel's uniqueness, as their ascension to the forefront of the Kennel made Gonzaga's fans look no more special than any other college fans.
With all of this going on right underneath their noses, how can the Kennel board be proud of this?
As the ones in charge of fan support, it is their responsibility to maintain the image of Gonzaga's fans. Last year especially, when the erosion became more obvious, they could have done something about it. They could have set an example or made a statement, something to show that Gonzaga fans were special.
Instead, they sold key chains for house parties.
So much for fixing the image, boys.
The new leaders of this year's Kennel Club are now presented with a unique opportunity: They have the power to change things. Will they continue to head down the current path, where parties and profanity currently define the Kennel Club, or will they realize what made the Kennel Club so important in the first place, the identity it gives to Gonzaga basketball? In their position, this year's Kennel board has a chance to erase the stigma surrounding the group, and bring basketball back to the forefront.
The ball is in their court now, and with game time approaching on whether change can be made, you can only hope they didn't go out drinking the night before their big game.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Out of obscurity ... a new hero emerges!
The fans in the Kennel had waited for hours in line to witness this moment. Finally, during the pregame player introductions, that moment came, and the throng of Zags fanatics in the crowd let out a thunderous ovation.
But these cheers were not for a returning superstar. These cheers were not for a highly touted freshman recruit. No, the biggest ovation of the night was for the smallest guy on the court, junior walk-on from Quincy, Wash., Chris Pontarolo-Maag.
"P-Maag!"
"It was an awesome experience," a smiling Pontarolo-Maag said after the scrimmage. "I was stoked, and a little nervous, more than a little nervous!"
In a Bulldogs season that features storylines about redemption, leadership and expectation, perhaps the best one of all is Pontarolo-Maag's story of triumph.
Friday's scrimmage was the culmination of three years of work for Pontarolo-Maag. He had attempted to make the Bulldogs as a walk-on in each of the past two years. Both times, he met rejection.
He was an afterthought, a footnote. They never even knew his name, but P-Maag was going to make sure they learned it.
Pontarolo-Maag continued to work hard every off-season, determined to improve his game despite the odds against him.
"When you first talk to them, they give you some pretty serious statistics about how few people make it," he said.
Nevertheless, he wasn't about to give up on his dream just yet, and his resolve made an impression on junior Andrew Sorenson, an acquaintance-turned-teammate.
"I had assumed that he was probably going to be one of the guys who were going to try out," Sorensen said. "He was the one guy you would have thought could make it, because he works so hard."
Sorensen himself made the team as a walk-on two years ago in a tryout in which Pontarolo-Maag was cut, a fact P-Maag took to heart during his journey to become a Bulldog.
"It showed me that someone can actually make it as a walk-on," he said. "That gave me a little boost right there to just keep working."
Finally, on his third attempt as a walk-on, Pontarolo-Maag was rewarded for his efforts with that long-coveted roster spot.
"I was glad that all the work paid off," he said. "Eventually, if you keep working on something, you can achieve your goals."
Now, he finds himself alongside the players he watched from a distance in years past, but his passion for Gonzaga basketball and his drive for so many years to join those ranks have kept him humble. For a guy who will see little if any playing time this season, Pontarolo-Maag still gives his all every opportunity he has, all in the name of the team.
His team.
"This program has always been about hard-working guys, guys who are about doing whatever it takes to get the job done," Sorensen said. "He is another one of those guys who will give up his body for the team. He fits right in."
And when Pontarolo-Maag finally took the court for the first time in the team scrimmage, he couldn't help but feel a few butterflies at the power of it all.
"I actually messed up on the drill! I was supposed to take the next pass on the layup drill, but I just followed behind Andrew and looked stupid!"
But for those in attendance, all they saw was a Bulldog.
But these cheers were not for a returning superstar. These cheers were not for a highly touted freshman recruit. No, the biggest ovation of the night was for the smallest guy on the court, junior walk-on from Quincy, Wash., Chris Pontarolo-Maag.
"P-Maag!"
"It was an awesome experience," a smiling Pontarolo-Maag said after the scrimmage. "I was stoked, and a little nervous, more than a little nervous!"
In a Bulldogs season that features storylines about redemption, leadership and expectation, perhaps the best one of all is Pontarolo-Maag's story of triumph.
Friday's scrimmage was the culmination of three years of work for Pontarolo-Maag. He had attempted to make the Bulldogs as a walk-on in each of the past two years. Both times, he met rejection.
He was an afterthought, a footnote. They never even knew his name, but P-Maag was going to make sure they learned it.
Pontarolo-Maag continued to work hard every off-season, determined to improve his game despite the odds against him.
"When you first talk to them, they give you some pretty serious statistics about how few people make it," he said.
Nevertheless, he wasn't about to give up on his dream just yet, and his resolve made an impression on junior Andrew Sorenson, an acquaintance-turned-teammate.
"I had assumed that he was probably going to be one of the guys who were going to try out," Sorensen said. "He was the one guy you would have thought could make it, because he works so hard."
Sorensen himself made the team as a walk-on two years ago in a tryout in which Pontarolo-Maag was cut, a fact P-Maag took to heart during his journey to become a Bulldog.
"It showed me that someone can actually make it as a walk-on," he said. "That gave me a little boost right there to just keep working."
Finally, on his third attempt as a walk-on, Pontarolo-Maag was rewarded for his efforts with that long-coveted roster spot.
"I was glad that all the work paid off," he said. "Eventually, if you keep working on something, you can achieve your goals."
Now, he finds himself alongside the players he watched from a distance in years past, but his passion for Gonzaga basketball and his drive for so many years to join those ranks have kept him humble. For a guy who will see little if any playing time this season, Pontarolo-Maag still gives his all every opportunity he has, all in the name of the team.
His team.
"This program has always been about hard-working guys, guys who are about doing whatever it takes to get the job done," Sorensen said. "He is another one of those guys who will give up his body for the team. He fits right in."
And when Pontarolo-Maag finally took the court for the first time in the team scrimmage, he couldn't help but feel a few butterflies at the power of it all.
"I actually messed up on the drill! I was supposed to take the next pass on the layup drill, but I just followed behind Andrew and looked stupid!"
But for those in attendance, all they saw was a Bulldog.
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