My day Friday started with this voicemail from an older-sounding lady: "Pat Hill looks like he swallowed a billy goat and left its tail hanging out."
Not the response I expected from Friday's column about my apathy toward Fresno State athletics. I figured I'd probably get death threats. Seriously.
As the calls and e-mails kept rolling in, I got some of what I expected: "You shouldn't be talking s**t. Go back to the Bay Area, you moron." But here we are, on Monday, and the anti-Bulldog sentiment is still trumping the Red Wave. I'm surprised. With that, enjoy this installment of my mailbag:
I think it took a lot of "Huevos" to say what you said about Bulldog Football. There aren't many people that have the guts to speak their mind the way you did. Even though you look young in your photo, you are wise beyond your years. Keep up the good work.
20 years in the valley and "I'm still steadfast in my apathy toward the Bulldogs. Your article was right on. I fail to see what all the fuss is about, especialy with all the scandal, with both athletes and management that go back more than 20 years. lLke you said, if all that time and money were put into the zoo, parks and cultural arts Fresno really could be proud.
Not a bad article that you have written here. I too am a transplant, but I have gone the opposite route from Fresno to the Boise area. I am a Fresno State alum and I am a die hard sports fan. Needless to say, I was at the drubbing last year at Bronco Stadium and am still a loyal fan.
The one statement that did bother me in your column was the Bulldog gang comment. I am pretty sure that the college came before the gang, and I do not see it as the college's responsibility to change its name or clean up the cities gang problem. They have no control over such issues. If they did change their name to let's say the "Mighty Monkeys". Someone (or group or gang) could very easily adopt that name as well and put it to shame. Should they then drop that name as well? I guess the only way to beat it would be in fact to adopt feeble and fragile mascots. Why not try the "big sissies"
My response: The gang comment was made a little bit in jest yes, but it was more alluding to this huge gang problem we hear about all the time here in Fresno. If it's that big of a deal, why not get rid of all the red clothes? Of course it's never going to happen -- it's just something that I always thought was a bit funny. That people are so fond of their Bulldogs, but so scared of this gang.
Someone should by Mike Osegueda the Dale Carnegie book "How To Win Friends and Influence People". Coming into a new city and putting down the local college team and their fans zeal is not the way accomplish your own goals of culturally enriching your new home. It's understandable not being a Bulldogs fan, lot's of people don't care for the fervor that follows the local team. But going out of your way to put them down, and imply that pride in Fresno equates pride with the Bulldogs is laughable. I like the Bulldogs... in the past I've even gone so far as to split season tickets with my brother. But my love for this town has absolutely nothing to do with Fresno State football. This town is very much like the agriculture around it... the roots run deep and strong. My family goes back almost 100 years in Fresno, as do many other families here. We love Fresno not for what it has become, but because of what it was... before the transplants came. And like the local agriculture, the "grapevine" is very much alive in this Fresno as well. We don't cotton to folks coming here and telling us "You're doing it wrong".
If people who move to Fresno feel that some cultural changes should be made, fine. Get out there and get people on board by suggesting that there are other great cultural activities that can be enjoyed along with Fresno State sports.
You're more likely to gather support by being persuasive, than by blasting the very people whose support you desire.
My response: I suggest all types of cultural events in my stories and on my blog. Plug! Plug!
Hey Mike, I can see where you are coming from on your stand point on Bulldog Football. I myself was once a one sided football junkie player and fan. My fiance has introduced me to the fine arts. I have been to plays and musicals throughout our relationship I never thought I would attend if not for her. I went at first because I wanted to make my fiance happy. Now I attend because I enjoy these types of shows. I have to disagree with you on the support the valley has for our Bulldogs. It is a good thing, it brings people together if only for a little while to cheer and have a good time. A few bad eggs ruin it for everyone by using the Bulldog logo for other means. This goes for my Oakland Raiders also. I am a true fan that knows who actually is on the roster and does not just like the team COLORS. If you go to any city across the U.S. that has a sports team whether it is football, basketball, or baseball. You will always have the hardcore fans that are sometimes close minded. You can't say Fresno is the only city that deeply supports its teams. If it is the only turn off for people to move here I think you are wrong. It is probably the fog and smog. I was at the USC/Fresno game. You should have heard all the comments their fans said about us here in Fresno. "You can only park your tractor out back!" Classless I think but that is beside your point. We are all entitled to our opinions but I just wanted to let you know not all football fans are closed minded. This comes from a football junkie who is not afraid to admit that he has seen some culture in his life too.
Good job on your Sept. 7 column! Don't get me wrong. I firmly believe in community pride, but I have always surprised (in some cases, dusgusted) people by not being part of the football cult, much less local college football. I once even thought a job interviewer was asking me about the Bulldog when she asked me what I thought about Fresno State. She was asking about my years going to school there, and it turned out she was not at all interested in Bulldog football ('Oh, no, ugh,' she said).
You're likely right: Fresno would be a better place if we spent as much money on the cultural-arts scene as on the Bulldogs.
And I live near the university, which was convenient for me during college. It's a bit less convenient this time of year, what with all the pylons that go up on Shaw Avenue Saturday afternoons. And strange cars filling up my complex's parking spaces, etc.
I just prefer to go to Shakespeare at the Park. Or karaoke. Or something 'geeky' like that.
Your piece about the Bulldogs football in today's paper was just GREAT! It takes a lot of guts to say what you said, and I admire you for that. As a professor at Fresno State for the past 22 years, I feel the same way, but if I say those words, people think it is all "sour grapes" due to the longtime schism that has existed between athletics and academics at Fresno State. You hit the nail on the head. Bravo!
Mike the (current) writer for the weekend section - We don't care about you or what you like...we want writing that informs us about upcoming activities in our area...get it? One thing that is worse than rabid Bulldog fans is a writer who thinks he is important, and wastes half a page of newspaper print to write about his visit to Costco, a stop by the police etc We don't care...and quite frankly, if the Fresno Bee cares, they will get busy with hiring real journalists who are on top of city events, and get rid of egotistical wannabes who think the readers want to hear about THEIR opinions on sports. Good luck in your future...hope you find a career where you have talent...
My response: Upcoming activities? How about this, this, this, this and this?
WORD!!!
You probably won't get many emails like this one. Your opinion is shared by more folks than you think. Yes, Fresno would be a better place if the cultural arts were supported with half the passion of the red wave. Yes, bulldog hysteria is sometimes a turn-off.
Of course you don't give a Fu Manchu about Football because you have to be a MAN to give a heck. Besides, you're from the Bay Area and all you freaks over there only like eating fish and taking baths in the dirty coastal waters. Us Fresnans are not going to give in to a bunch of uneducated low-life gang members by changing the Fresno State Mascot. We do not give in as easy as the Bay Area. Remember Stanford used to be the Indians and they changed their mascot to the Cardinal. And yes, there is no denying that there are many problems that need resolutions here in Fresno, but look again buddy, you're here because your Bay Area is worse. I wish that kind hearted traffic officer, that let you slide, reads your column and gives you that citation, that you deserved to begin with, and charges you interest. You should also be ordered to perform community service by going around and picking up all the roadside trash along Bulldog Lane. Tsunami? No way. Wish the Bay Area would sink to the bottom of the ocean while you're there chilling on the beach playing with your Barbie dolls.
My response: Thanks for proving my point.
Great column.
I grew up here, left (LA and NYC), and came back about 10 years ago. I am amazed by the Philharmonic, the chamber concerts, and the fact that Victor Davis Hanson taught ('professored') @ CSUFresno. All this and David Mas Masumoto! From what I read in your columns, there is some great music for "young people," too.
But it is that boring Bulldog organization - football and basketball - that is supposed to make us proud. It is a two-bit, scandal-ridden organization plagued with so-so performance and populated with some questionable characters. Having graduated from UCLA, I know what a real sports organization is. Argh...Bulldog fans still talk about the USC game. We are NOT Appalachian State.
So when the red wave hits you......then again it might not. But if it does hit you, know that you are not alone.
And THANK YOU again for saying what needed to be said!
I wanted to write and tell you that I have read your column faithfully for as long as I have lived in Fresno and always enjoyed it until this past Friday. While I am not a Bulldog fan and could care less about them, I feel that they bring a lot of joy to their fans and that it provides entertainment diversity to Fresno. I was disappointed that you chose to criticize a long standing institution for no good reason. Just thought you would want to know.
My response: I can't win 'em all, right? But in my defense, I do say this. Read the column again. I don't say a single word bad about Fresno State, its football team or its fans. I wrote more about the experience of living in Fresno and not being a part of the Fresno State frenzy. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Mike,
Here is a portion of your column from a Fresno native living in the bay area.
It's not that I have anything against the bay area residents. My neighbor was flying his gay pride flag out his car windows last week. He's a good guy. He even invited me to a game with him and his crew.
I just don't care. I'd rather be at a Fresno State Football game. As a Fresno native living in the bay area suggested to me, the undying love that people have toward their political views in the bay area is actually a turnoff for anybody who moves there. Yet, I don't know how many times people have so matter-of-factly expected that I be at this weekend's gay pride rally.
Last week, I got an e-mail with a song about this year's democrat candidate attached to it. Supposedly, I would love it. Such things are assumed in the bay area. And when I admit "Oh, I don't like democrat candidates" people look at you like you've got the plague. It's like taking up residency in the bay area means any political opinions you have are drained from your brain and you have to get one of those rainbow flags or green peace stickers to stick on the back of your car instead.
Bay Area Pride, right? It's funny that a lot of people think Bay Area pride and Gay pride are one and the same.
Hey, I used to like the bay area. But I moved back to Fresno to not deal with short sided elitest thinking of bay area views. Don't get me started on the cost of housing and the traffic.
I lived in the San Francisco for two years and those words are to a tee to what it is like to live in the city. Hope this resonates on how ridiculous your article was. You should have written about your neighbor who invited you over to watch the game. That probably was not something that happens reguarly in the bay area.
There are plenty of people that support Fresno's creative side and go to Fresno State games and have bulldogs on their car windows. I'm one of those dudes.
Just because you're into the Bulldogs doesn't mean you don't support other things in Fresno.
I heard there were people talking potatoes on Fresno State, so I come a'runnin'!
I'm a Fresno State grad (sigh), and I can honestly say that it would be very hard for me to dislike the school any more than I already do.
I think the sports in general there are totally overrated. I have yet to be impressed. So much money gets poured into those programs (football being the major one), and what comes of it? Nothing! Except for maybe a few criminal charges, mediocre performances at best, and cases of academic dishonesty.
What else? The leadership (you know who I mean) is doing more harm than good at this point.
One thing that drives me crazy (this is just a personal thing and may not bother anyone else) is the fact that whenever anyone beomes famous that has the teeniest-tiniest affiliation with Fresno State, they latch onto them like a pit bull on a pork chop. The guy who died on the 9/11 flight went to Fresno State for about a semester. The astronaut-teacher who just went up into space attended the Fresno State PRE-SCHOOL! Did they need to do a press release for that?
I think it's safe to say that I don't really have a big spot in my heart for Fresno State. Some of the people there are cool, but I'm not a fan of the institution as a whole. Kudos to the students for pursuing their education and putting up with that school. Thanks to the staff who were helpful, and bravo to the faculty who actually take an interest in their students.
Finally, thumbs up to Mike Oz for taking a stand! I've always got your back, man!
"My family goes back almost 100 years in Fresno, as do many other families here. We love Fresno not for what it has become, but because of what it was... before the transplants came."
Your family goes back a whole 100 years? All the way to when Fresno was founded? Wow. I can see how someone who was here long before any other humans lived here - who apparently sprouted up spontaneously from the fine Fresno earth - would totally feel entitled to the area and all opinions contained within.
I mean, you were here FIRST, right - just like Columbus and the Pilgrims and Commodore Fresno von Bulldog.
"Your family goes back a whole 100 years? All the way to when Fresno was founded? Wow. I can see how someone who was here long before any other humans lived here - who apparently sprouted up spontaneously from the fine Fresno earth - would totally feel entitled to the area and all opinions contained within.
I mean, you were here FIRST, right - just like Columbus and the Pilgrims and Commodore Fresno von Bulldog."
Ouch, Heather! You tell'em!
Hahahaha! Heather, that is hilarious!
When I was a student at Fresno State I had a Thursday night class. The home opener was also on a Thursday night, the first week of school.
I knew parking was going to be bad so I stayed close to the campus at my favorite little watering hole at Shaw & Willow. I left that place 45 minutes before my class was to start, thinking I would be able to get in a parking lot in that amount of time.
I finally get to a parking lot (after 40 minutes of missing lights due to traffic) and I am told I cannot park in that parking lot because I don't have a football parking pass. I looked at the poor parking attendant and told him, "I am a student here, I have a class in 5 minutes, I am parking here."
I was completely disgusted in the fact that not only was I not allowed easy access to my classroom, but I was almost turned away because I wasn't going to the football game!
My teacher ended up being 15-20 minutes late to class. She came in, passed out the syllabus and let us go... she too was disgusted with te fight she had to go through in order to make it to the classroom.
At the point when my attendance, as a paying student, is not valued because I chose academics over athletics, I find that I can spend my tuition money elsewhere and be treated with respect.