This is no huge breaking news deal, but it was interesting, especially since he brought up Fresno State...
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy (he of "I'm a man! I'm 40!" lore) said in a Tulsa World interview published Thursday that he could see both sides of the argument over whether the final ballots of the USA Today coaches' poll should be made public.
Here's how it went down.
"Q: Starting with the 2010 season, the final regular-season ballots in the USA Today coaches' poll will not be released to the public. How do you feel about coaches not being obligated to release their ballots?
Manny Ramirez is scheduled to return to major league action tomorrow. It's a holiday weekend and the Dodgers are home hosting state rival San Diego.
Should be a blast for So Cal baseball fans. Read the 
story here
Shaquille O'Neal was introduced as a Cleveland Cavalier today and among his best quotes was, "Win a ring for The King," in reference to his new pairing with reigning MVP LeBron James. O'Neal said he plans to play three more years and has a lot left. Read the story here, and watch 
related video
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield had his NASCAR-imposed suspension lifted by U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen. Mayfield had tested positive for methamphetamine during a random drug testing. "The truth came out and now I can go back and say now we're cleared of all this," said Mayfield. "I cleared my name and now we can go back racing again. It feels good to get this off our back and now we can move forward." It is not known if NASCAR will appeal the ruling. Read the story here Several drivers have shared their thoughts on the situation - Read the story here and see related video
A Miami-Dade judge refused to release surveillance video depicting the moment a car driven by Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian in a drunk-driving crash stating the privacy interests of the family of victim Mario Reyes outweighed the public's right to view the video. Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, made public records requests seeking release of the video. Read the story here
With former Fresno State guard Rafer Alston landing with the New Jersey Nets after last week's trade, the Nets now have two links to Fresno area basketball.
Former Memorial High center Brook Lopez is preparing for life after Vince Carter and good friend Ryan Anderson*, two of the players dealt to Orlando for Alston, Courtney Lee, and Tony Battie last week. Lopez averaged 13 points, 8 rebounds and finished 3rd in rookie voting last season.
And though Alston definitely still has connections to Fresno that won't be forgotten, especially because he has a child living in the area, I really don't think Fresno State can claim him and write about him on their sports website like they did when he helped the Magic reach the NBA Finals this year. I don't really think you can kick a player out of school (read this fourth 'graph from the bottom) and then claim him years later when he does something good.
* I thought it was ironic that Anderson and Lopez were friends despite Lopez playing at Stanford and Anderson hooping at Cal.
The New York Times has been ranking college football teams for weeks now, and slugged a couple of the WAC's teams as some of the nation's worst.
Fresno State is ranked No.62 in the list and the writer found coach Pat Hill's position on the hot seat surprising.
"It may be hard to believe - especially when considering how consistently good Fresno has been - but Hill finds himself on somewhat of a hot seat in 2009; I don't think he'll lose his job, barring a sub-.500 finish, but it is surprising to me that a coach who has meant so much to the program could find his job in jeopardy."
Other WAC teams already ranked: LaTech (67), Hawaii (71), San Jose State (90), Utah St. (115), New Mexico State (118), Idaho (119).
A little good news for foes of the BCS system, which includes some Fresno State football fans.
According to the AP: The Senate plans to hold a hearing next week to look into antitrust issues regarding the Bowl Championship Series. It's the second time this year that Congress is shining a light on the polarizing system the Football Bowl Subdivision uses to crown a national champion.
Legislation has been introduced that would prevent the N.C.A.A. from calling a game a national championship unless it is the outcome of a playoff.
This comes after some bad news for those hoping the BCS system would soon give way to a playoff. The BCS presidents rejected an 8-team playoff proposal from the Mountain West Conference last week, which led to Air Force coach Troy Calhoun's comparing the current system to that of the former Soviet Union. More details here and here.
Yao Ming has a hairline fracture in his left foot. Reports are that he could miss next season and the injury could be career ending. The injury was expected to be healed by now, instead it grew worse despite treatment, and no timeline was set for his return to basketball activities. Read the story here
With the 2009 Tour de France set to begin Saturday, the ugliness of "doping" is bound to surface, again. Pierre Bordry, the president of anti-doping agency AFLD, has vowed to treat riders including Lance Armstrong with fairness. Wouldn't it be nice to get through an entire 3-week event and no aftermath of doping for a change? What do you think the odds are of a completely clean race with no perpetrators? Who's your favorite to win? Follow tour coverage here
The Detroit Pistons will need a new head coach - Michael Curry was fired today by Joe Dumars, the team's president for basketball operations. Curry coached the team for one season. Though the team's record was sub .500, it reached the playoffs but was swept in the first round by Cleveland. Read the story here
Since some of the comments the always entertaining Forrest Griffin said was a bit over the top, only a portion of my interview with the mixed martial arts fighter was published in hardprint.
But here's a bit more of what Griffin had to say. But first off: warning... some of the comments are quite ... what's the word I'm looking for ... well... just read at your own risks.
Though not very exciting this year, an NBA Draft took place. As I noted in yesterday's post, the biggest news so far are the player trades and selection swappings going on. But in case you missed the results, here are the picks...
The Orlando Magic picked up veteran Vince Carter to help bolster the defending Eastern Conference champions, and likely to keep pace with Cleveland after it acquired Shaquille O'Neal. Carter, now 32, brings leadership and talent to a young Magic team. "This a dream come true for me. Now I have a chance to win a championship," Carter said. Read the story here.
Not being a big golf fan, I had no idea that none of our U.S. presidents are in the World Golf Hall of Fame. I learned this today when former president Dwight D. Eisenhower was selected to be inducted. He will be the first U.S. president in the Hall of Fame when he is inducted posthumously Nov. 2. Eisenhower is credited with promoting the popularity of golf as well. Read the story here.
Floyd Mayweather will return to the ring this year after a brief retirement. Mayweather has been cleared by doctors after an injury during training. Juan Manuel Marquez is the opponent and the fight is set for Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand. Read the story here.
The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be playing hard ball NBA style. The team has acquired Shaquille O'Neal from the Phoenix Suns, according to reports that started Wednesday. The Cavs are sending Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns, along with a second-round pick in the 2010 draft and $500,000 in cash, one of the people close to the deal said. The trade has been confirmed. Read the story here.
The NBA Draft begins today, but there's not a whole lot of buzz about this year's talent pool. The best action so far is the swapping of positions and trades around the league. Here's a preview of the draft and some projections - Read the story here.
The LSU Tigers' baseball team has won its sixth national title with an 11-4 victory over Texas on June 24. Jared Mitchell earned the series Most Outstanding Player Award. He previously won a national championship in football and was a first-round draft pick in baseball. Pretty hard to top that for a college athlete. Read the story here.
The times for Fresno State's football games at Wisconsin and Illinois this fall season are now set.
The Bulldogs will play Wisconsin at 9 a.m. on Sept. 12 inside Camp Randall Stadium. The game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.
The Big Ten Network will televise Fresno State's Dec. 5 matchup at Illinois at 9:30 a.m.
The Bulldogs are 1-2 against Wisconsin. They lost last season's home opener to Wisconsin 13-10 inside Bulldog Stadium and lost 23-21 to the Badgers in a 2002 road game. Fresno State won the first matchup between the schools, a 32-20 road win, in 2001.
The Bulldogs have never played Illinois.
