1996_08 The Daily Collegian August 1996

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Thursday, August 29,1996
Sports
Sports Editor: Tom Sepulveda
■ Telephone: (209) 278-5733
CORNER
TRAINING CAMP
MUSIC MOUNTAIN RUN :
Men
1. Alejandro Ramirez 58:43
2. Jon Steele 59:43
3. Greg Tademy 60:06
Women
I. Kelly Jacobson 64:58
1 Heather Langley 65:15
3. Amber Langley 65:21
2.2 MILE RUN
Men
1. Greg Tademy 12:59
2. Alejandro Ramirez 13:01
3. Chris Coleman 13:18
Women
!. Kelly Jacobson 14:35
2. Heather Langley 15:14
3. Amber Langley 15:27
Tuley eyeing another school
record
Senior outside hitter Tricia Tuley
could very well add another school
record to her resume after ihc first
weekend of the 19% season.
Tuley. who already ranks in three
all-time career records at Fresno Suite.
is just 31 digs shy of becoming the
school's career recordholder.
The iwo-timc all-WAC pick, who
ended her.junior season as the school's
all-time kill leader (1.311) and IV
WAC's all-time dig leader (1.420). is
chasing former Bulldog great Andrea
Radmilovich. who recorded 1.450 ca¬
reer digs from 1989-1992.
Bulldogs left QUI
Fresno State, ranked No. 16 in Col¬
lege Sport's preseason poll last month,
was not included in Soccer America's
preseason poll.
Do x/oii
LOVE
Sports?
Do you
WRITE well?
If so. The Daily Collegian
Sports Department is
looking for dependable
writers to cover exciting
Bulldogs sports.
Call Sports editor Tom
Sepulveda at 278-5733
for more information on
how to join the team.
Looks can be deceiving in 'Dogs schedule
■ Bulldog football set to kick-off new
season against Oregon on Saturday.
By Matt Croce
The Daily Collegian
After suffering two consecutive
losing seasons for the first time in
over 15 years.jhe hierarchy that
drafted up the Fresno State football
schedule might have taken it a bit
easy on the 1996 Bulldogs.
Like loading up against light¬
weight teams such as Southern
Idaho. Tennessee Tech. and South¬
ern Illinois. Like padding the non-
conference schedule to boost
Fresno State's overall record and
perhaps make the team more tanta¬
lizing to bowl selection committees
at the end of the season.
After al I. the program that had n' t
had back-to-back losing campaigns
since 1980 and made five trips to
bowl games from 1988-'93 sud¬
denly went an uninspiring 10-14-1
over the past two seasons.
Head Coach Jim Sweeney iden¬
tified the problem right away.
"Defense." Sweeney said in re¬
sponse to the main reason Fresno
State hasn't enjoyed the success it
has been accustomed to since the
early 1980's. "We have to improve
our defense drastically," he said.
"We have had a real tough time
stopping offenses the last couple of
years."
But a cupcake schedule? Hardly.
In fact, the opposite is very true.
'The Bulldogs plunge into the
new season against two very for¬
midable opponents. The Oregon
Ducks, whom the Bulldogs play
Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium,
have played in consecutive Rose
Bowl garner Then Fresno State
travels to Auburn on Sept. 7 to
battle the SEC powerhouse Tigers.
To help put some of the bite back
into the once tenacious Bulldog
defense. Robin Ross was hired as
the new defensive coordinator. Ross
returns the defensive scheme that
the Bulldogs used in past glory
years.
A breakdown of the 1996 Bull¬
dog team:
• Quarterback: The quarterback
position is traditionally a strong
point of the Bulldogs, and the situ¬
ation is no different this year.
Fresno State has the luxury of pos¬
sessing two more than capable sig¬
nal-calling seniors in Jim Arellanes
and Richie Donati. Donati started
last season's opener against North¬
east Louisiana, but gave way to
Arellanes by mid-season. Arellanes
has all of the tools — a rocket arm,
quick release, throwing motion and
scrambling ability — to make pro
scouts drool. He has a better grasp
of Fresno State's pro-style offense.
If he stays healthy, look for a big
year from Arellanes, to be contin¬
ued next year on Sundays in the
NFL „   \
• Running back: Freisno State
lost its leading rusher, Reggie
Brown, to graduation. Brown was
taken in the third round of the NFL
draft by the Seattle Seahawks. But
talented, oft-injured junior tailback
Michael Pittman returns. Pittman,
who rushed for 561 yards and seven
touchdowns in just 10 games, has
missed portions of each of his first
three seasons due to knee and col¬
larbone injuries. Pittman could
carry alongside former Bakers field
College standout Michael Gray.
Gray, a fijst team All-American se¬
lection by JC Grid Wire, rushed for
1,923 yards and 33 touchdowns last
season. At fullback, sophomore
Jaime Kimbrough and Robert
Jenkins will battle for playing time.
• Wide Receiver: Usually a po¬
sition filled with tradition, this sea¬
son the Bulldogs have just one
proven receiver at the college level
in senior Brian Roberson. Follow¬
ing in the footsteps of former Bull¬
dog greats Henry Ellard. Stephen
Baker, Malcolm Seabron, Tydus
Winans, David Dunn and last year
Todd Warshaw — Sports Information
Fresno State's main weapon, wide receiver Brian Roberson,
needs to have a big game against Oregon this Saturday.
NFL draftees Jahine Arnold and
Charlie Jones, Roberson possesses
good speed, reliable hands, and he
runs precise routes. JCNjxansfers
Greg Minnatee and Jason
McCorvey could help rebuild the
Fresno Stare-NFL Bulldog receiver
connection. Blocking specialist
Warren Forner should start at tight
end, spelled By pass catching spe¬
cialist O'SheaiNero.
• Offensive Line: Four starters
from lasrseason. Honorable men¬
tion alii-WAC performer Gary
Osmundson should anchor the line,
along wiih 6-foot-7-inch giant jun¬
ior Chris Conrad, Michael Carr, and
Allen Weathers.
• Defense: The main area of fo¬
cus for the Bulldogs. The defensive
line returns plenty of experiences J
with seven lettermen. Only gritty
Steve Casner is gone from last
year's starting frontline group. At
linebacker, the Bulldogs lose
Alphonso Bigelow and Gene
Smith. The group remains relatively
inexperienced, and hopes to im¬
prove a defensive unit that allowed
a whopping 32.3 points per game
last season. Senior Omar Stoutmire,
the leading tackier in the WAC last
season, will head the secondary.
Fresno State takes step towards new stadium
By Robbie Miner
The Daily Collegian
It's just one more step toward
that seemingly endless journey for
an on-campus arena, but a big step
nonetheless.
Fresno State athletic director Al
Bohl announced last week that the
university has begun a fund-raising
project in hopes of attaining the
$100,000 necessary to begin a fea¬
sibility study for the on-campus
arena which has been rumored since
the days of Gary Colson.
The idea was nothing more than
just that — an idea — until the
March 1995 resignation of Colson,
the former Fresno State men's bas¬
ketball coach. The idea didn't actu¬
ally reach the proposal stage until
the university nabbed its star celeb¬
rity endorser, Jerry Tarkanian, in
August 1995.
Tarkanian's arrival created more
than just improvements for a strug¬
gling basketball program — it cre¬
ated a sporting frenzy in Fresno, for
the basketball program and all
sports on campus.
It created a fund-raisjng extrava¬
ganza which is mostly responsible
for the new state-of-the-art softball
diamond, the 10,800-square foot
weight room and the many other
casual improvements to the Fresno
State athletic program. Most of all,
it's likely to create the finances and
excitement needed (o make that
"only in your dreams"-type idea
into a reality.
Associate athletic director Scott
Johnson said the study should take
approximately three months. After
that the project moves to the Fresno
campus master plan calendar where
it would then undergo an environ¬
mental study.
Johnson said the money needs
to be raised by next year. It should
take approximately two more years
to find a contractor and to build the
arena. By the year 2000, them Run¬
ning Bulldogs should be moving
their show to campus grounds. Or
will those hopes of an on-campus
arena continue to linger in the
dreams of the sports department for
decades to come?
President JoHn Welty said the
study proposal is no indication that
the university is close to harboring
an on-campus arena. "We're just
trying to make a judgment on the'
costs of such a project,"* he said.
"It's way too early tc discuss the
likelihood of an on-campus arena."
In essence, Welty*s right. No one
knows for sure when that fcomely
basketball palace will be con¬
structed but everyone knows it will
— some day. If there's a Tark,
there's a way. That's why there's a
softball diamond; that's why there's
a new weight room; that's why stu¬
dents are willing to mortgage their
car for 1995-% season tickets.
.Fresno's a big-time city that
wants big-time sports. Tarkanian is
the vehicle Fresno needs to get what
they want," senior Mike Tozi said
in reference to Tark's influence on
the proposal for an on-campus
arena. "Power brings money.
Fresno needs a name like Tarkanian
to bring in the type of fundraising
necessary."    i
Once speculation of hiring
Tarkanian hit the local media, the
case was closed. Fresno's anxious,
sports fanatical citizens wouldn't
have had it any other way.
Fresno has absorbed media
speculation for an on-campus arena
for too long; it won't take no for an
answer anymore. Tarkanian's one
of the biggest names in college bas¬
ketball history — and he's coach¬
ing at Fresno State. If the time's not
now, it never will be.