COS & CVC Hoop Notes, Digging the Beanpot, Reminiscing, & Those Rational, Christian Raiders...

 February 14, 2026 (Happy Valentine's Day)!

COS Men's & CVC Hoop Notes.  

The visiting Giants rallied on Wednesday Feb. 11 to hold off Fresno City 62-56.  Cameron Kelly continued his stellar Sophomore Season with 24 points and 6 rebounds...Fellow sophomore Mason Dorsey chipped in with his typical impressive line-10 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists...Sophomores Kareem Barnett (8 points, 6 assists), Zaquien Whitehead (8 points, 9 rebounds) continue to thrive in their exemplary, complementary roles...the Giants improved to 19-6, 10-1 in the Central Valley Conference. COS travels to 3rd place Merced (8-3, 11-14)  on Valentine's Day, while league-leading Columbia (21-4, 11-0), journeys to the 'Ville (Porterville). Circle Friday, February 20th on your calendar, that is the night when Columbia makes the trek to Porter Field House in Visalia!

COS Women's & CVC Notes.

Despite jumping out to an early 9-2 lead, COS trailed CVC-leading Fresno City 30-23. The second half however, would be all Giants! COS outscored the Rams 34-18, in route to the impressive, hard-fought 57-48 victory...COS improves to 8-2 in conference (15-11 overall), while FCC (18-7, 8-1) suffers its first conference loss of the season...Clovis High alum Alyssa Kern paced the Rams with 14, while Bakersfield Christian's Sara Shein added 13. The key stat on this night-the Rams scuffled from behind the arc, connecting on just 1-18 three-point attempts...both of these teams are postseason bound, and will be worth keeping an eye on. The Rams  play an important game in Lemoore tonight, as the Golden Eagles lurk with a 7-2 mark (18-7 overall)...

Personal Note-Let's Play 2!.

I will be on the call for CSU Bakersfield Baseball Sunday, February 15, as the Roadrunner host Southern Indiana in a doubleheader...due to rain headed our way, the game originally scheduled for Monday, was moved up a day-thus, I will be in the booth for two games! You can follow the action on ESPN Plus...the first game is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the second to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1...the Roadrunners held on for a 8-7 win Friday Night-the Screaming Eagles plated 4 runs in the 9th to turn Opening Night into a nailbiter...the tying run, was out at home on a veryyyy close play! 

Tip of the Cap #1:

Baylor's Tyce Armstrong with the Night of Nights! This Bear blasted not one, not two, but 3 Grand Slams on Friday Night! Here is a clip,via X: Tyce's Trifecta! 

Tip of the Cap #2, Silver and Black Style:

Well...have the Raiders figured a couple of things out? The hiring of Seattle's Klint Kubiak appears to be a prudent move...while Kubiak himself appears to be calm and calculated. I  appreciated that the Raiders and Kubiak have interviewed several coaches from the Seattle, New England, Denver and L.A. Rams staffs-even a 49er assistant or two...nothing like nabbing from the best, and at minimum, gleaning intel from the league's best! Kubiak, also appears to be a devout Christian...adding quite a unique and welcome mix to the Raiders building--not to be the cart in from of the Raider...add Fernando Mendoza to the mix in April, and it would appear the Raiders are trending in multiple right directions!?!

Tip of the Cap #3, Boston's Beantpot:

On Monday February 9, I was fortunate to take in the finals of the Beanpot Classic, a 4-team Hockey Classic featuring Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard...BC prevailed over BU 6-2, in simply a splendid sports evening! For Sports Enthusiasts, this might be an event to put your list!?! For those keeping score, the last time I attended a BC sporting event, the 1984 Cotton Bowl! On that day, Doug Flutie and Co., took on the Houston Cougars...I fondly recall my short trip to Wylie Texas, eating okra and riding a horse...thank you to the Fonsecas and Apples (and Peterson's I believe), for making a Texas Sized trip! Ironically, on that day the wind chill hit 0 degrees-the coldest I had ever been until chilling in Boston last week with temperatures hovering around-you guessed it 0 degrees!

Have a great week everyone, remember, when you see me on the court or ball fields, please say hello. March Madness is looming....

                                                Enjoying the Beanpot, with my fav Bostonian!

                                                 Watching Hockey down low is an absolute treat!

                                                  Until the next time Boston (TD) Garden!

                                                              Good Sport Everyone!

Super Edition with a Splash of Champaign: Crunch Time in the CVC, Diamond News, a Master's Tale, Former Reedley College Tigers & Stags in the Snow!

 Saturday, February 7th

Sports abound: With the Super Bowl set to kick-off in 30 hours so, the Olympics underway, and Winter and Fall sports merging, brevity is the rule of the day! Postseason hoops and March Madness are right around the corner!

A couple of quick shout-outs:

#1: Cooper Steele and his Cougars for upending mighty Clovis West in high school girls basketball. Coop has built a mighty program at Clovis High...a first class program! Keep it rolling Coop! One of Cooper's players--Long Beach State bound Sadie Sin--a joy to watch! Plenty of season left for the Cougs...

Clovis High & Coop

#2: Another former player, Cliff Hodge, is balling away for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Professional League...Cliff was always personable and gritty...I came across his picture on Instagram this week...one thing Cliff could always do well--block shots! Cliff attended Lemoore High School...

Cliff on Father's Day

Cliff Balling!

(Note to self, a reunion with my former Reedley College guys needs to happen in the next couple of years. 2029 will mark the 29th anniversary of our trip to Selland Arena & the Elite 8.) 

#3. Fairfield Lacrosse Men's Lacrosse with the thrilling OT win on Saturday, Feb. 6...Let's just say I know a guy, more on that down the road....here is a look at the Stags--celebrating in the snow!

Fairfield Lacrosse

I digress....

Personal tidbit: I am jazzed to share I will be calling a slate of CSU Bakersfield Baseball on Softball games streamed on ESPN +....the first baseball game will be Sunday, Feb. 15 as Southern Indiana completes a 3-game stand in Bakersfield...I will also be behind the mic for games with Utah Tech and St. Mary's...as a NorCal guy, it is always a special thrill to announce teams I have a connection to and with--I earned my Master's Degree from St. Marys...God is a Gael after all! Yes it's true...anyone can earn a Master's Degree, I am living proof. (Although I have to credit Chico State Head Women's Basketball Coach Brian Fogel with the inspiration to attend grad school. Foges uttered something like this in my ear: "...B if I can do it, you can do it!" I am also looking forward to calling the Fresno State Softball team when they play in Bako on March 3...years ago at Sac State, I covered softball for the State Hornet--the university's student newspaper--and one thing I remember about watching Bulldog Softball back in the day: the Dogs could mash! First collegiate softball HR was off of the bat of a Bulldog...one other player I remember, Cal's left-handed fireballer Michele Grainger...the former Bear and Olympic Champion rocked the heat! Pure gas...

Super Bowl Prediction, Kind of Sort of:

Like the season, I can see this game going many ways...my gut says 19-13 Seattle, but...my gut is often is often wide left...I can see this game coming down to a drive at the end however...the result could easily be 20-19 Patriots...speaking of the Pats, Tony Eason where are you Champaign Tony?!? Tony the former Delta High QB, who later started at American River Community College (Sacramento), then at the University of Illinois...similar to Tony, Mike Vrabel's Patriots...well, they are hard not to like! Speaking of liking...I am darn near giddy about the Raider's new hire Klint Kubiak...Coach K and Fernando Mendoza bringing Hope and Hope to the Raiders...both Dudes are devout Christians...after selling their souls for Las Vegas, perhaps the Raiders are headed in the right direction?!? Things are indeed looking "Up" for the Silver and Black...

Quick CVC Basketball Notes: 

It will be an important night in Visalia, as COS hosts Lemoore...on the Men's Side, Lemoore comes in 13-10, 6-3 in conference. The Eagles are currently chasing COS, who currently sits alone at second place, 17-6 overall and 8-1 in conference...the #21 ranked Giants are hoping the Reedley Tigers upset league-leading Columbia (#12, 19-4, 9-0 in the CVC)...plenty of playoff implication on the line this evening in the Porter Field House...reminder, the Claim Jumpers visit COS in 13 days--Friday, May 20. 

On the Women's side, #11 ranked COS currently resides in 3rd place with a 6-2 record...#8 Lemoore is in second, at 7-1...back in January, the Giants were cold in the Eagles' 75-56 win...both teams are chasing Fresno City...Alex Fletcher has his #6 ranked, and 7-0 (17-6) Rams rolling! FCC hosts Merced this evening...the possibility of a 3-way tie in play...COS would have to knock off both Lemoore and COS, and then hope for a little help--ideally from Lemoore!

Here is a look at my setup at COS...I am forever grateful to the Giants for the opportunity to broadcast their sporting events on the Sequoias Sports Network... College President Brent Calvin, Athletic Director Brent Davis, along with Assistant AD & Asst. Men's Basketball Coach Tommy Lu all have made me feel right at home on Mooney Ave...announcing the Reedley College games a kick, although, it sure didn't make me feel any younger! Here are the box scores from the games on Wednesday Night, February 4. Both teams have players that 4-year coaches may just want add to their recruiting lists!?!  (2/4: COS vs. Reedley Men's Box Score; 2/4: COS vs Reedley Women's Box Score)

   See you on the court (or fields!)...remember to stop by and say hello. Enjoy your sports weekend!