The Vista - Sports

March 4, 2010

Homesick: Toreros look for win after road woes

The USD softball team is gearing up for a big week as they prepare to host six teams for the San Diego Classic. The participants for the inaugural tournament will include Buffalo, Wisconsin, UCLA, Fresno State, Cal Poly and Long Beach State. This incredible compilation of teams will undoubtedly prove to be one of the toughest tournaments in the country this year. 1 comment

Aztecs own Battle of Black and Blue

Things were looking up following an impressive opening weekend when the Toreros took three of four from the defending Big Ten Tournament champions,the Indiana Hoosiers. But that all quickly turned south this past week for the USD baseball team. The Toreros suffered a shocking loss last Tuesday against Cal State Northridge, a game they expected to win heading into the annual Black & Blue Series with crosstown rival San Diego State University.

Oh Canada!

When Sidney Crosby snuck one past Ryan Miller, proceeded to throw his mouthpiece in the air, dropped his gloves, tossed his hands in the sky and symbolically smacked the United States in the face, I could not have been more satisfied. Being one of the seven Canadians that attend USD, I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the line, “So, you are from Canada, eh?” When I hear this, I feel like firing back with my own ill-mannered comment about the high culture of America that consists of NASCAR and light beer.

The mirage: Toreros search for American Dream in Vegas

The American Dream is somewhere in Vegas. It’s in slot machines and strip clubs and behind the dumpster around the corner from the Flamingo. Starving souls striving for a heaping slice of the Great American Pie; souls with lustful eyes and greedy hands, reeking of desperation, make the pilgrimage to the Mecca of the American Dream.

Golf does more than win in New Orleans

The USD men’s golf team continued their stellar performance last week by capturing the All State Sugar Bowl Mardi Gras Invitational. The Toreros received seven votes for the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches Top 25 poll for their exceptional play in this tournament, along with the previous two tournaments.

Torero Diaries

Impossible is nothing: WCC Tournament awaits

So that was it for me! No more home games as a Torero. But one thing I can say is that it has been a pleasant experience being a Torero these past two years. This, in turn, means my basketball career in college is coming closer to an end. The past four years playing in the United States has been an excellent experience for me, both from an athletic and academic standpoint.

Torero Diaries

I am Oakland: Family First

Family First is a circle of friends bound together by a positive affiliation dissimilar to those associated with gangs and other negative stereotypes in which teens are labeled. The idea behind Family First is complex. Some may relate it to a fraternity, as we are establishing a brotherhood.

Weak weekend

This past weekend was simply brutal; as brutal as taking Kwame Brown with the top pick in the 2001 Draft. As brutal as the Detroit Tigers’ 119 loss campaign in 2003. As brutal as the Colts spurning the Baltimore faithful and ducking out in the cover of the night to Indianapolis in 1984.

Lady Toreros need a bit of luck to win big in Vegas

Last year, as a seventh seed, the USD women’s basketball team became the first team in league history to win three games in three days to make it to the finals of the WCC Tournament, where they finally fell to the Bulldogs of Gonzaga. After splitting a pair of games on the road last weekend, this year’s Lady Toreros’ only hope of making the big dance is to break their own record and win four consecutive tournament games in this year’s conference tournament.

February 25, 2010

Toreros crush Indiana to open up 2010 season

On a weekend when Mother Nature was supposed to intervene and deprive Torero fans of some baseball, the sun continued to shine and the Toreros took three of four games from the defending Big Ten tournament champions, the Indiana Hoosiers. From the first pitch on Friday to the last pitch on Sunday, the Toreros’ bats kept on swinging as the team outscored the Hoosiers 41-21 over the four-game series.

Despite big game from Conners, Toreros fall short

After suffering a gut-wrenching overtime loss to St. Mary’s at home less than a month ago, the USD women’s basketball team found itself in prime position to earn a little revenge in last Saturday’s game with the Lady Gaels in Moraga.

Toreros run out Rebels, wrangle Gauchos

The USD men’s tennis team looked stronger than ever in their two matches this weekend, as they went undefeated with victories over the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Saturday and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels on Sunday.

Laymen life

For many of us laymen on campus, we hung up our cleats or said goodbye to the game we loved and played since our days as a tyke to the concluding days of our high school senior year. We all cried in our locker room during our last game, when we donned our high school colors for the final time.

Carmelo

Tie game. Five seconds left. Ball in your hands. A 6’8”, 270-pound giant with more athleticism than he knows what to do with mimicking your every move. You give a jab step to the right and then throw a hesitation move for good measure. An inch of separation from the athletic freak foaming at the mouth is all you need, and for a split second you get it.

Torero Diaries

I am Oakland: My hometown

I am from the city of Oakland, a heavily populated city with a variety of ethnicities and fascinating personalities. I love where I am from and I think if you are linked up with the right people, that it could turn out to be a place where there is always something fun to do.

Torero Diaries

Opening weekend full of fun and fireworks

The long anticipated opening weekend for us finally came last Friday as we hosted the Hoosiers of Indiana. Any spectator could tell that we were excited to get on the field and face an opponent other than ourselves in another 10-13 inning practice intra-squad game.

As team tanks, time to develop Baby Bullfighters

The Toreros haven’t won a conference home game since Feb. 26, 2009. A dismal drought of collapses, embarrassments and dreaded moral victories. As the world has moved and progressed, the Toreros have sat idle, slack-jawed and bleary-eyed, drowning at the bottom of the WCC barrel.

February 18, 2010

Toreros slumping for second straight year

Confusion grips the mind after a night of hazy recollections. The details are blurry and explanations are needed: Why are a dozen egg yolks on the dining table? Why are Cameron’s pants in the sink? Are these two perplexities somehow related? Fortunately, there is always that one guy who remembers everything and can convey the story of the night.

Sign me

At the tender age of 10, I knew my dream of being an NBA superstar or NFL legend would not come true. I would not have endorsement deals to sign, autograph seekers to ignore, coaches to fight with and agents to fire. Most importantly, I would not receive the Jesus Shuttlesworth style recruitment trips, go through a combine and wear a sleek and sexy suit on draft night. 1 comment

Hopes are high as Toreros turn to 2010 season

The first pitch of the 2010 Toreros baseball season is set to be thrown at 2 p.m. tomorrow right here at Cunningham Stadium. If the game and the subsequent series to follow were a sports movie, the tagline on the poster would read: “The Road to Omaha Starts Here.

Softball has best opening weekend in 16 years

The 2010 softball team jump-started their season in the right direction by starting off with three great victories over opposing Boise State and UC Riverside. The softball team went undefeated on Saturday and split a pair of games on Sunday. Melissa McElvain helped guide her team to a 6-5 victory over Boise State and a 7-4 victory over UC Riverside this past Saturday.

Torero Diaries

American Culture: What I have learned

There are many cultural differences between Brazil and the United States, some of which I was not familiar with when I first arrived here. I knew simple things, like food and clothing styles, would be different, but I was lucky to have teammates that were able to teach me the customs of America and, in return, I was able to teach them about Brazil.

Torero Diaries

House of baseball and life of the laymen

Being a baseball player encompasses all aspects of college life, from the way we eat, dress and work, to our living situations. All the baseball guys live with teammates either on or off campus. However, the daily routines of an athlete do very much so differ from that of a non-athlete, or as the team has come to refer to them, a “layman.

Lady Toreros shot down by Pilots, bit by Bulldogs

After two big conference road wins last week, Toreros stumble at home

Coming off of a big two-game sweep of the Bay Area road trip that placed them at 6-3 in league, the USD women’s basketball team had a lot to look forward to this past weekend with Portland and Gonzaga coming to town, but by Saturday night, they had a lot to regret.

Olympic gems

“Cool Runnings” captured our attention as kids, and rightfully so. It is one of the best movies ever made about Jamaican bobsledding and can also lay claim to bringing more attention to the Winter Olympics for an entire generation. It was here where our generation learned of the Winter Olympics and it is here where we stopped learning.

February 11, 2010

Super Sunday

As I was aimlessly scouring the Internet trying to whet my appetite for some sort of entertainment this past Monday, I stumbled across a poll on ESPN.com. The question was which event are you most looking forward to now that the Super Bowl is over? Not surprisingly, the NFL Draft garnered the most support out of the five options.

Playing with the big boys on the PGA Tour

This past week I had the unique opportunity to play in the Farmers Insurance Open, formally known as the Buick Invitational. This has been one of the main stops of the PGA tour for many years now and draws some of the world’s best golfers, including Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Robert Allenby.

Torero Diaries

Brazil to USA: My Transition

Coming from Brazil to the United States was a very difficult transition for me. I had to adapt to many changes in order to become comfortable living in a country very different than my own. My first and largest obstacle to overcome was the language barrier.

Down goes De'Jon: USD loses iron man

Albert Samaha

De’Jon Jackson made eye contact with the referee. His grimace was nearly indiscernible. The official stopped play and the gallant leader calmly limped to the sideline for the final time in his USD career. That limp had become ubiquitous with Jackson. 2 comments

True Warrior

The crowd never chanted his name as they did Gyno Pomare’s when he sauntered up and down the hardwood here at the JCP. He never received the plethora of media attention that Brandon Johnson has garnered over the years, from beat reporters to bloggers alike.

February 4, 2010

Super Bowl full of super subplots and storylines

This Sunday marks the Super Bowl, which signifies the inevitable Super Bowl party. Now, this may have you saying, “Shoot, I know nothing about either of these teams, what will I talk about?” But don’t worry, The Vista has you covered with the ten most compelling storylines, subplots and topics for discussion for Super Bowl XLIV.

Lady Toreros topple WCC opponents over break

While winter break for the vast majority of USD students was a time of rest and vacation, for the USD women’s basketball program winter break marks the beginning of Conference play. The team who is presently beginning the second round of their conference games has a record of 4-2, and they hope to finish the remainder of their season strong and hope to make another NCAA tournament appearance.

Fowler dazzles

While USD’s own Gunner Wiebe put up a valiant effort in this past week’s Farmers Insurance Open, another young golfer caught my eye. Rickie Fowler electrified the crowd at Torry Pines throughout the week coming up only two shots short of champion Ben Crane.

Torero Diaries

Alumni game provides positives

As the spring semester begins to unfold, baseball season rapidly approaches. In these next three weeks, many students are painfully attempting to focus on school after such a long break. However, for a certain group of 35 guys, break was not so long. We reported back to USD on Jan.

Torero Diaries

Gridiron goals

As the 2010 off-season kicks off, I reflect back in order to further affirm closure on the previous season, which was an unfortunate eye-opener for our program. In order to look ahead into the future and make improvements, one must learn from their mistakes and challenge himself to grow and press forward.

Successful Snyder signs extension, stays in San Diego

The University of San Diego has signed Ky Snyder, their current athletic director, to a contract extension. Snyder has been the executive director of athletics at USD for the past seven years and during his tenure has boosted the reputation of Torero athletics both regionally and nationally.

Sundance kid

Out of respect for Allen Iverson: Sundance? We’re talking about Sundance? A film fest? In the sports section? I mean Sundance… you’re about to read about Sundance…in the sports section?! Now before I get carried away doing my best Iverson tribute on paper, I want to share with you my experience as a sports fan while being at an independent film festival.

Miller Time: Chasing the cool at Sundance

showed the bouncer their IDs. My mind raced with potential excuses. I lost my driver’s license at the airport… I was pick-pocketed earlier today… I don’t have my ID but I can give you a twenty instead… I desperately wanted to get into the party.

December 10, 2009

Howlan outlines his upcoming tryout at MLS Combine

At the peak or end of your college soccer career, you look forward to getting invited to the Combine. Getting the opportunity for professional scouts to possibly recruit you is a motivating feeling. They may want to see you in a few different positions, so it’s possible you can play two, three or even four different positions.

BCS bonanza over, intriguing matchups are set

When Texas beat Nebraska on a last second field goal in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship game, BCS chaos was avoided. The match-up desired by everyone, Texas vs. the SEC champion, in this case Alabama, was preserved. Two of college football’s most storied programs will be battling for the title. 2 comments

The real McCoy

The Heisman Trophy will be presented to the top player in college football this Saturday at 5 p.m. Here is my opinion of the top candidates in the nation. 1) Colt McCoy 3512 YDS 27 TD 12 INT 147.5 RAT 70.5 CMP% The only player that can lay claim to be at, or near, the top of the list the entire year.

USD Basketball competes against the best in the nation

Since day one, Coach Rich Hill has always put a high emphasis on the caliber of teams he schedules to play during the season in non-conference play. He believes that playing quality teams throughout the year will better prepare us for the post-season NCAA Tournament.

One on one with Player of the Year Peterman

I have always taken a liking to others named Ryan. I spend my off-seasons training with Ryan Howard and I play poker with Nolan Ryan on Thursday nights But what I enjoyed the most was taking Spanish 101 with USD senior defenseman and WCC Player of the Year Ryan Peterman.

Kobe time

The decade is coming to an end just as fast as this semester is dwindling down to finals. It seemed like yesterday the Y2K bug was going to ruin our lives, evidently that bug bit Tiger 10 years later. When I think about the world of sports this past decade so many images and events race through my mind that is all too saturated with thoughts about finals, grad school and random things relating to Colorado.

Rocky week as Toreros drop their fourth straight game

Toreros look to get back on track against stiff out of conference competition over break

After an impressive showing in the Alaska Shootout over Thanksgiving Break, the Toreros returned to the mainland for a trio of big games. First up was cross-town rival San Diego State, where a packed JCP witnessed the most exciting game of this young season, but the Toreros fell 69-62 in overtime.

December 3, 2009

Parity fading in the NFL

After the New Orleans Saints obliterated a very good New England Patriots squad on Monday Night one question remained. Where has the parity gone? The National Football League has billed itself as a league typified by parity. Salary caps and free agency were implemented to guard against a sustained run of supremacy by one team but this past decade has nevertheless been dominated by a few great teams.

Pacquiao cements his legacy as the best ever

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the nerves began to take hold. My mind drifted through a sleepless daze, hopped up on red apples and pure adrenaline, and I began to seriously consider the possibility of Manny Pacquiao losing the fight.

Torero athletes light the night for Haggy

The staff and students of USD Athletics walked to cure leukemia last year in support of men’s tennis coach Tom Hagedorn, who was a survivor at the time. They walked again this year, but this time in memory of Coach “Haggy”. Coach Haggy was one of the most beloved members of USD Athletics.

Season review: Toreros have ups and downs

The 2009 Torero football season played out like your average, disappointing Hollywood blockbuster. You’ve seen it a dozen times before. There was plenty of hype going in before it even began and it started out by living up to the hype, but it took an early stumble and spent the majority of the time trying to get back on the right track.

My team, my family

I woke up last Thursday morning extremely early. I couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t because I had class. I was up early because I was excited. I thought my Oakland Raiders could establish a two game winning streak, especially against the inconsistent Dallas Cowboys.

Toreros duel way to finals at Great Alaska Shootout

Toreros shock ranked Oklahoma Sooners, cage Houston Cougars but fall to Washington State

The University of San Diego men’s basketball team placed second in the Great Alaska Shootout over the Thanksgiving holidays. The Torero men posted a 2-1 record in Anchorage while beating big name opponents such as the University of Houston and Oklahoma University.

Lady Toreros trying to find groove

Young team looking at conference championship

The University of San Diego women’s basketball team opened the season on November 14th with a 19 point victory over cross-town rival UCSD. Junior forward Emily Hatch led the team with a career high of 21 points, as the Toreros beat the Tritons 88-69.

November 19, 2009

Toreros chop down Cardinal but tamed by Pacific Tigers

The 2009-2010 basketball season got off to a promising start as the Toreros dominated a talented Stanford team at the JCP on Friday night. Seniors De’Jon Jackson and Brandon Johnson led the way with 18 points apiece, and the Toreros won their home opener for just the second time in seven years.

The house of tennis

A few days ago I was prancing around my house pretending I was Kobe throwing down dunks and dominating with a refined back to the basket game. When I tripped over a tennis racket, I literally came crashing back down to reality. I was no longer Kobe Bryant, I was Ryan Sidhoo; the man on the floor wondering who leaves a tennis racket and tennis bag in the middle of the hallway? If you answered a USD tennis player, you answered correctly.

Fandom Manifesto Part 2: Step up Torero fans

Right now USD fans are like Smalls at the beginning of “The Sandlot.” We’re new on the college sports block. Thanks to Benny, Smalls kept up with the mainstays and became one of the guys. If USD fans stick to the principles of the Fandom Manifesto, we can do the same.

WCC Champions earn NCAA tournament spot

After tie against Geals USD seeded 11th overall entering postseason play

The University of San Diego men’s soccer team captured the WCC championship after a 0-0 tie against the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Friday afternoon in Torero Stadium. Along with the WCC title, the Toreros earned a first round bye and the 11th overall seed in the NCAA tournament. 1 comment

Toreros can't top Gaels

After an extremely valiant battle, the USD women’s volleyball team lost a difficult match. The Toreros lost their last match to the 23rd ranked Saint Mary’s Gaels three sets to two. After losing two sets right out of the gate, USD tied the match up with the following two sets, ultimately losing the final and determining set.

Winners? No such thing

Trent Dilfer or Dan Marino? Jason Varitek or Barry Bonds? Leon Powe or Karl Malone? Any sane person would take the latter of the pairings and that’s how it should be. So what if the trio has never won a ring while the others have? There is no such thing as a winner. 2 comments

The season begins and we are looking good

season was a reality check for me and the team. Although we had played a few games against other teams before the season officially began, the fact that we are truly beginning our fight for the season hit home for me. The game against Stanford was an exciting one.

High potential as 2010 season looms large

The 2010 Torero baseball team has finished its fall ball schedule for the year. It wrapped up its sixth weekend of practice and scrimmages with the 2009 banquet and a Hawaiian celebration. This is a tradition that has been going on for years with Rich Hill as the head coach.

November 12, 2009

Volleyball has it's bumps and spikes

Last week turned out slightly bittersweet for the USD women’s volleyball team. In their first match of the week the Toreros were victorious over the Santa Clara Broncos. Taking the match after all five sets, the team improved their record to 16-5 overall and 8-2 in West Coast Conference competition.

Dugout warfare: mind over matter

The Torero baseball team is always practicing the three C’s: courage, competitiveness and class. But when it comes to the West Coast Conference everything becomes fair game. The dugout atmosphere becomes almost like the 10th man on the field because we have to make up for our lack of attendance in the stands.

Brandon is back: My return to the game I love

The feeling I got when my name was called in our starting lineup was one that cannot be put into words. When it was announced that I was back, I can honestly say that I almost began to cry. The road to recovering to play with my team again was one that was long, tedious and filled with many setbacks.

MNF crew sizzles

Nobody watches a game to listen to the announcers, yet I have always heard people gripe about their poor performances. Whether it be Dennis Miller’s overzealous use of his minimal comedic talents, Chip Caray’s inability to accurately call even the simplest of plays or Tony Kornheiser and his offbeat commentary, people have always complained.

Coach Grier calls on students to be sixth man

Head basketball coach Bill Grier was recently interviewed for last week’s issue of The Vista and was asked a number of questions regarding the upcoming season. At the end of the interview, he was asked to make any other comments he felt appropriate for the season ahead.

Fandom Manifesto: Why college sports are superior

There are three reasons college sports are undeniably better than pro sports. First, the players play harder. College athletes are not paid (obligatory Reggie Bush/Chris Webber jokes notwithstanding), so obviously there are no contract disputes and no holdouts.

Just don't do it

Don’t go to the USD men’s basketball home opener tomorrow. The team doesn’t need your support. They prefer to play when no one is in the stands rallying them on and maintaining a high engery level. I know for a fact that the coaching staff and players hate it when fans show up to their games.

The Sports Guy visits San Diego

Bill Simmons is an immensely popular sports columnist known to his loyal fans as “The Sports Guy.” Unlike most other columnists, Simmons writes from the perspective of the average fan in the living room rather than the columnist in the locker room.

October 15, 2009

Having fun with the Suns at USD

The Phoenix Suns decided to hold their training camp at the Jenny Craig Pavilion last week. The new look Suns will be reverting back to their run and gun style since the firing of half court enthusiast Terry Porter and the removal of the interim tag on current Head Coach Alvin Gentry. 1 comment

Tucker Max gives off-beat words of advice to college kids

If you are a college student and you do not know who Tucker Max is by now, let us introduce you to the life of a narcissistic playboy. Five years ago, Tucker collected 27 of what he considers to be his best personal life stories into one book and published it as “I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell. 3 comments

Talkin' with Tucker

A tape recorder, the infamous Tucker Max (with a drink in hand at 10:30 a.m.) and me; naturally our conversation started off with the universal alpha male language: sports. Here is a portion of our conversation before we talked about his book turned movie "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell": Tucker: So, you go to USD? Ryan: Yeah.

Back to reality

Press passes, watching sports all day long, interviewing star athletes and then appearing on television to talk about it. Sounds like the perfect life, right? Not really. For my internship during the fall semester I landed a position at KGTV 10 News, an ABC affiliate.

More Than a Game: Fitting title for phenomenal film

Coffee barista, burrito peddler, and seller of women’s shoes are the jobs listed on Kristopher Belman’s resume. Oh yeah, and also the director of the documentary "More Than a Game.” The film follows the journey of LeBron James and his best friends from their middle school days to their well publicized run at St.

October 8, 2009

Torero Diaries

Coaching departures upset one Torero

If you are from San Diego you know USD is the most prestigious and athletically sound school in the area, therefore, making the rivalry between USD and San Diego State an exciting and intense event. This got even more controversial between the baseball teams when two of our Torero coaches decided to take jobs on the staff of Tony Gwynn’s team.

Torero Diaries

Why USD was the perfect fit

In terms of my recruiting experience I was not highly recruited throughout my whole high school career. This was due to the fact that I did not focus all of my attention on basketball until my junior year, when I placed in the top 25 in a tournament of more than 100 players.

Josh Johnson has solid first start in losing effort

Josh Johnson, the former dual threat quarterback for the Toreros, made his first NFL start on Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs faced the Washington Redskins in the nation's capitol, which is known for being one of the toughest places to play in the league.

Ryan's jock jams

Since it is tough being a Raiders fan writing about sports on a Sunday after watching your quarterback look like he should be playing Pop Warner, I needed something to cheer myself up. Inspired by YouTube, here are the top five music videos by famous athletes.

Having fun with the Suns during training camp at the JCP

Toreros defeat LMU, drop tough battle to Pepperdine

The University of San Diego Women’s Volleyball team began WCC play this Thursday against the Loyola Marymount University Lions and continued their week with a match against the Pepperdine University Waves on Saturday. The Toreros, even with the added motivation of having Ali Troost named the WCC co-player of the month, looked vulnerable against LMU and were finally defeated by Pepperdine.

October 1, 2009

Toreros conquer Aztecs, look to keep rolling

The nationally ranked USD Women’s volleyball team continued their dominance on Friday night as they beat local rival San Diego Stage University 3 games to 0 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The win gave head coach Jennifer Petrie her 200th career victory and gave the Toreros confidence heading into WCC play.

September 24, 2009

What if, Trojans?

Stop me when this starts to sound familiar. Coming off a big win against a top ranked opponent, the USC Trojans head into a Pac-10 road game as heavy favorites, and lose. For the fourth consecutive season the Trojans dropped a crucial game against a much weaker conference foe, ostensibly derailing their hopes of a BCS title.

With Polamalu out, fate lies with Fitzgerald

Sports fans eagerly raced to the nearest video game store to purchase the latest edition of Madden NFL 2010. Having been around many years, it is always at the top of the list for many sports addicts and gamers. Aside from forcing kids and young adults to lock themselves inside all day and be mesmerized by the game, Madden NFL has arguably had other effects and repercussions.

Men's soccer loses heartbreaker to Dartmouth

The Torero Men’s soccer team had a successful week of practice putting their recent loss against Penn State behind them. USD was mentally and physically prepared for their match against fifth ranked Dartmouth Friday night under the lights at the Torero Stadium.

Pretty boy

Call him what you want: arrogant, talented, immature, a businessman, a perfectionist or the greatest. Maybe even label him a pompous jerk. But what is one appropriate title to stick on the flamboyant Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather? His dominating victory over Juan Manuel Marquez last Saturday at MGM Grand in Vegas was beautifully crafted and so one-sided that I thought Marquez may have pulled a Roberto Duran and just flat out quit.

September 17, 2009

Revamped backfield leads Toreros in 2009

This year the Toreros success on the grid iron will be determined by their running game. Third-year Head Coach Ron Caragher and the Toreros started their 2009 season with much of the emphasis expected to be on the running game. The team has incredible depth at the position, with four players expected to split carries throughout the season.

Federer's legacy

Let me preface this by saying one thing: Roger Federer is not my favorite tennis player. He is nowhere near my top 10 actually. Richard Gasguet is at the top of my list. But, outside of Tiger Woods, Roger Federer is undoubtedly the most dominant athlete of our generation.

USD's all-time leading scorer keeps scoring

re may not be hearing chants of “GYNO, GYNO, GYNO,” that he was accustomed to hearing at the JCP, but he is still playing the game he loves. He may not be lacing up his sneakers and wearing his Torero jersey anymore but Pomare, the all-time leading scorer for the men’s basketball team and Torero alumnus, has found a new arena to pursue his hardwood dreams.

Be like "Mic"

With the media plastering Michael Jordan’s bald head and 6’6 frame everywhere, it was difficult to not root for the Bulls at some point during my childhood. M.J. was the one I emulated in my driveway when I was throwing down thunderous dunks on my seven foot rim in my backyard.